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An '''emulation box''' is an unofficial term for a device built with for the specific purpose of running emulators. They generally consist While it can technically be any small computer, the emulation boxes we list here are primarily single-purpose embedded devices intended to capitalize on nostalgia despite a multitude of overpriced locked-down ARM microcomputers and some are more so just "collector's items". They should be avoided as other better alternatives being readily available devices (i.e. like computers, mobile devices, and game consoles) may provide better performance.There are generally two types of boxes:

=;First-party boxes:Use the official branding of a console, with the support of the company who made it. More often than not, modern console manufacturers are not the ones who come up with the idea, and are usually approached by some other company who offloads some or all of the work of getting it running.;Third-party boxes:Use their own branding because they don't have a license to use the actual companies' trademarks. A legal ruling for emulators has allowed them to use the name of the console in marketing (such as advertising the ability to play games from a specific console on the packaging), but not as the name for the box itself. Emulation boxes are frowned upon because, aside from a first party box's value as a collector's item, the hardware in an emulation box is often nothing more than a cheap, locked-down, ARM-based system-on-a-chip, and the price you pay for obtaining it is marked up by the designer in order to make easy money. To make matters worse, numerous boxes have been found using emulators illegally, due to a prohibition in the emulator's license (like commercial distribution or locked down hardware), resulting in many controversies unfolding over the matter. ==First-party boxes===

|Official SEGA product designed to only emulate the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. Includes 42 games. Interestingly, it has the same specs as the (S)NESC. The emulator used was develop developed by [[wikipedia:M2 (game_developer)|M2]], who are best known for handling emulation of various re-releases of games including several Sega ports and the Genesis Virtual Console on the Wii.

|Official Konami product. Includes 57 games (58 in Japan) and has about an equal mix of American and Japanese exclusives. The casing and branding has the same regional differences as the original (Japan is the original white PC Engine, Europe is the Core Grafx revision, and the USA is the TurboGrafx-16). The emulator used was develop developed by [[wikipedia:M2 (game_developer)|M2]], the same company that did the Sega Genesis Mini and other console ports. Releases March 19, 2020 exclusively on Amazon, pre-order is now open.

===Third-party boxes===

==ControversiesControversy==Some of those products have attracted ===Poor catalog===A first party box may prove to be lacking due to its game catalog missing some essential title. This is often the ire result of parts of the emulator community over messy licensing issues not necessarily related that continue to the product's qualityplague consoles today, but ones related as many games are a nightmare to relicense due to open source emulatorssome external factor. In some cases, itIt doesn's because negotiations with open source emulator and/or frontend developers fell through and t help that first-party boxes often lack the company used a "lesser" option as a replacementability to load games externally. In others, an arrangement was reached, contracts and money were exchanged only for This is done to prevent the project maintainers manufacturer from having to turn out not to have gathered admit support for cartridge and disc formats that the complete consent of all contributorsemulation community uses, some parts are licensed as a strictly non-commercial license, and similar issuesit would by extension imply support for unofficial emulation. Sometimes, it might  These limitations have caused many to [[Modding Consoles/Flashcarts#NES.2FSNES.2FPSX.2FMD_.28GEN.29_Classic|modify]] their systems just to do with an incomplete source code release from companies that have be able to abide by GPLv3 obligations. And get more use out of course, the company might be acting malicious towards emulator developersit.

Since ===Licensing===Some of the problem with these is primarily a meta problem that doesn't products have much attracted the ire of parts of the emulation community over issues not necessarily related to do with the product's actual quality, but ones related to open source emulators. In some cases, it's because negotiations with open source emulator and is /or frontend developers fell through and the company used a "lesser" option as a controversial subject even within emulator developer circlesreplacement. In others, an arrangement was reached, contracts and money were exchanged only for the project maintainers to turn out not to have gathered the complete consent of all contributors, this section is about listing some parts are licensed as a strictly non-commercial license, and similar issues. Sometimes, it might have to do with an incomplete source code release from companies that have to abide by GPLv3 obligations. And of those casescourse, the company might be acting malicious towards emulator developers.

* Capcom Home Arcade: Capcom has licensed (with compensation) FinalBurnAlpha from Since the project's maintainer, however this has lead to some [https://www.google.com/search?q=capcom+home+arcade+illegal&oq=capcom+home+arcade+illegal controversy] and outrage by fellow FBA developers (who didn't agree problem with this movethese is primarily meta, and eventually made their own fork) and MAME developers (where some of FBA's code comes from)is controversial within emulator developer circles, as FB Alpha's license isn't cleared to allow for commercial use and many of those developers think they may not affect the FBA's license is an ugly mess of contradicting licenses experience that should not existthe box itself provides.* Retron5 (Hyperkin)Some examples where this has happened: Is using RetroArch, Snes9x, Nestopia, VBA-M and Genesis Plus GX. While they did release their source code, the latter four have a non-commercial license. Retroarch's source code used was partial, and had DRM going against GPLv3 obligations.

Outside of * Retron5: Its problems are explained at [[Retron5#Controversy|its page]].* Capcom Home Arcade: Koch Media (under license from Capcom) announced that the product would use [[FinalBurn Alpha]] as the backend for games on the Capcom Home Arcade. This is despite the emulation community, some people have complained fact that FinalBurn Alpha was developed and released under a license that some forbids commercial use (which was taken from versions of these products are lacking or disappointing[[MAME]] before they had relicensed in 2015). This is either due to poor performanceWhen other FBA developers were questioned on the issue, high pricesthey were completely unaware that this happened, or resulting in the selection of games determined to be "worthy" of being preloaded to the systemproject maintainer revealing that he had greenlit its use. The issue of not having certain games is mainly due resulting fallout led to either licencing fees or the original developer's company not existing anymore. These limitations have caused many to creation of [[Modding Consoles/Flashcarts#NES.2FSNES.2FPSX_Classic| modifyFinalBurn Neo]] their systems just to be able to get more use out of it.

If you still want some kind of "emulation box", but don't want to be limited by any consumer product, but still have something you can technically call an "emulation box," you can make one yourself! These other SoCs are relatively single-board computers tend to be cheaper and offer more than a first-party boxesbox will:*;Nvidia Shield TV (:An Android TV box fast enough for 2D & and 3D emulation of many consoles).*;LattaPanda (:A Windows 10 computer with integrated Arduino. Fast enough for Saturn emulation.)*;ODROID (Decent :Has decent speeds for Saturn emulation).*;Raspberry Pi (Eg. :A very popular single-board computer that can run projects like Lakkaoff an SD card. It recommended You'll want to use the a Raspberry Pi 3 or higher newer for decent performance.)It is best if you use some kind of For more convenience, a [[Frontends|frontend]] to run the emulators as it will provide more convenienceis recommended with these devices.

==References==<references /> ==External Linkslinks==