Emulation boxes: Difference between revisions

An '''emulation box''' is a device built for the specific purpose of running emulators. 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 better alternatives being readily available (like computers, mobile devices, and game consoles). There are generally two types of boxes:

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.

|Offical Taito product designed to emulate various Taito arcade games. Includes 40 games, 10 more bundled with optional paddle+trackball controller, and more purchasable games released in the form factor of SD cards.  

|Modular system. First emulation box with CD support and one of the few to run on an Intel processor instead of ARM. Emulates PS1, Saturn, Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, TG-16/CD, Neo Geo CD, NES, SNES (only disc-based systems are supported out of the box, cartridge-based systems requires a separate add-on for each system).   

|[[Arcade emulators|Arcade]]

|$30-$170 (Depends on model and peripherals)

|[[MAME]], [[FinalBurn Alpha]] (Older ones) / [[RetroArch]] (Newer ones)

|A kind of plug & play device filled with hundreds of pirated arcade game ROMs, which was designed to be used as substitutions for actual arcade boards in commercial arcades. Emulation quality is always hit or miss, with issues like unbearable slowdowns, input latency, and screen tearing in some games.

A first party box may prove to be lacking due to its game catalog missing some essential title. This is often the result of messy licensing issues that continue to plague consoles today, as many games are a nightmare to relicense due to some external factor. It doesn't help that first-party boxes often lack the ability to load games externally. This is done to prevent the manufacturer from having to admit support for cartridge and disc formats that the emulation community uses, as it would by extension imply support for unofficial emulation.

Some redistributors of third party boxes that pre-load them with games (which in itself is illegal to redistribute with the game images preinstalled) may contain game images that aren't 1:1 identical to the originals either due to possibly cobbling them from various sources. Use the guides on the website where possible for obtaining game images.

If you 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 single-board computers tend to be cheaper and offer more than a first party box will:

:[[Recommended_linux_distros#Emulation_focused|Emulation focused Linux distros]]