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{{WIP}}
listed provenance
[[File:openemu-wimp.png|thumb|[[OpenEmu]] with a <abbr title="Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer">WIMP</abbr> interface]]
[[File:attractmode-htpc.png|thumb|Attract-Mode with a HTPC interface]]
'''Frontends''' are programs that address a quality-of-life issue that emulators may not fulfill. For example, some emulator developers skip the user interface portion of development by having the user launch them from the command line. This usually means opening Command Prompt in the folder where the emulator is installed and typing something like <code>emulator.exe game.rom</code>. From a usability perspective, this is not optimal; running emulators from a shell can be considered tedious if commands aren't already scripted by the user (and they can't be expected to know how to set up such a thing if their first time loading the program is a black window that pops up and then disappears). To avoid this, many emulators will try to incorporate some kind of ''graphical user interface (GUI)'' in their standalone builds. For the emulators that never receive one however, a separate frontend project usually emerges.
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://playnite.link/ [Playnite]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://playnite.link/download.html 7.9{{PlayniteVer}}]|WIMP, HTCPHTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://www.gameex.com/ GameEx]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.gameex.info/forums/files/category/33-gameex-installs/ 16.40 {{GameExVer}} (Free)]<br />[https://www.gameex.info/forums/store/category/4-gameex-pinballx-and-spesoft-products/ Lifetime pass ($60)]
|HTPC
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|[https://github.com/theMK2k/MetropolisLauncher/releases 1.2.0]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✓✗}}
|-
|[http://feelfrontend.altervista.org/ FEEL]
!colspan="7"|Mobile / ARM
|-
|[[LaunchBox]https://digdroid.com/ Dig]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.unbrokensoftwaredigdroid.launchbox 0alman.33 ($4dig 1.99)38.3 {{IAP}}]|Touch
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[http://attractmode.org/download.html 2.6.1]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||?{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://pegasus-frontend.org/ Pegasus]
|[https://pegasus-frontend.org/#downloads Alpha 13]
|HTPC, Touch
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||?|-|[https://digdroid.com/ Dig]|align=left|{{Icon|AndroidTBD}}|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digdroid.alman.dig 1.37.1 (<abbr title="Offers in-app purchases">IAP</abbr>)]|Touch|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||?
|-
|RESET Collection
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.retroloungelab.resetcollection 1.0.12 ($4.99)]
|Touch
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||?{{TBD}}
|-
|[[HyperSpin]]
|[https://hyperspin-fe.com/files/category/445-hyperspin-android/ 1.1]
|Touch
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?{{TBD}}
|}
<references group="A"/>
==Integrated emulator types==
These "frontends" have a graphical user interface that lets you launch emulators that are included with the system, meaning it's not possible (or very difficult) to incorporate other emulators. They may or may not contain original emulator cores. If a program has mostly original cores, then it's called a [[Multi-system emulators|multi-system emulator]] and is not included here. If you're looking for a full Linux distribution to run on a Raspberry Pi or similar, check out our [[Emulation_Boxes#DIY_Solutions|Emulation Boxes]] page.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
|{{~}}
|{{✓}}
|?{{TBD}}|-|[[Provenance]]|align=left|{{Icon|iOS|ATV}}|[https://github.com/Provenance-Emu/Provenance/releases {{ProvenanceVer}}]|HTPC|{{✓}}|{{✓}}|{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://retropie.org.uk/ RetroPie]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}<ref group=I name=retropie>RetroPie for x86 Linux is only available Ubuntu (16.04 LTS or later) and Debian based distros. See these [https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Debian/ install instructions].</ref>
|[https://retropie.org.uk/download/ 4.5.1{{RetroPieVer}}]
|HTPC
|{{✓}}
|[https://retropie.org.uk/ RetroPie]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://retropie.org.uk/download/ 4.5.1{{RetroPieVer}}]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|??
|HTPC
|? ||? {{TBD}} ||?{{TBD}}
|}
<references group="I"/>
|[https://github.com/doZennn/steam-rom-manager Steam ROM Manager]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/doZennn/steam-rom-manager/releases 2.23.2211]
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|[https://ludo.libretro.com/ Ludo]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/libretro/ludo/releases 0.11.2{{LudoVer}}]
|Most non GL cores
|HTPC
|[https://github.com/Swordfish90/Lemuroid#supported-systems Limited]
|Touch
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||?{{TBD}}
|-
!colspan="8"|Consoles
;[https://ludo.libretro.com/ Ludo]
:A minimalist HTPC frontend with sane default settings, configuration is always optional. It's like an easier to use version of RetroArch.
;[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Games Games (Gnome)]
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|?{{TBD}}
|-
|[http://www.mameui.info/ MAMEUI64]
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|?{{TBD}}
|-
|[http://babelsoft.net/products/negatron.htm Negatron]
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|?{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://github.com/strippato/gnome-arcade gnome-arcade]
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|?{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/pfemame/ pfeMAME]
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|?{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/mameplus/ M+GUI]
===[[Mednafen]]===
Mednafen is a command line program with no graphical interface whatsoever. These programs generally ease the process of launching games, but doesndon't address things like controller configuration , which is still done by pressing hotkeys in-game.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
|[https://github.com/Speedvicio/MedGuiReborn/releases {{MedGuiRebornVer}}]
|WIMP
|{{~✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|[[Mupen64Plus]]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||?{{TBD}}
|-
|mupen64plus-gui / m64p
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/m64p/mupen64plus-gui Git] <small>(frontend only)</small><br />[https://m64p.github.io/ 2020-02-19{{m64pVer}}] <small>(m64p package)</small>
|[[Mupen64Plus]]
|WIMP
|? ||{{✓}} ||?{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://github.com/dh4/cen64-qt CEN64-Qt]
|[[CEN64]]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||?{{TBD}}
|-
|[http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,159733.msg1680224.html Sega Model 2 UI]
|[[Model 2 Emulator]]
|WIMP
|? ||{{✗}} |||?{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://www.supermodel3.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1636 Sega Model 3 UI]
|[[Supermodel]]
|WIMP
|? ||{{✗}} ||?{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/hxlh7l/ive_released_my_supermodel_sega_model_3_emulator/ SupermodelsAssistant]
|[[Supermodel]]
|WIMP
|? ||{{✓}} ||?{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://www.emu-land.net/consoles/saturn/emuls/windows?act=showonly&id=4227 MedSat]
|[[Mednafen]] (Saturn core)
|?
|? ||{{✗}} ||?{{TBD}}
|}
