Virtual reality

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3DNes VR

Virtual reality (VR) is a field of technology surrounding direct interactivity with virtual 3D environments. This is often achieved with a head-mounted display and some form of input tracking. Some new emulators and forks of established emulators have support for VR headsets. There are a lot of different ways the emulators use the features of VR headsets. A lot of them allow you to play the game on a big screen inside your headset. Some of them have a virtual game room where you can play on a CRT TV or arcade cabinet. Some of them allow you to play games in 3D, either by emulating the original experience of a native 3D system like Virtual Boy or by giving a new way to play a traditional 2D system like NES or GameCube in 3D.

Emulators with VR support

Name Emulates Operating System(s) Latest version Type Headset(s) Active Recommended
PC
3dSenVR Nintendo Entertainment System Windows, macOS, Linux V3 Preview ($) Rotatable 3D-view HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, WindowsMR
Dolphin VR Nintendo GameCube, Wii & N64 VC Windows 5.0-250 360, SBS, cinema screen HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
VBjin-OVR Nintendo Virtual Boy Windows 3.0 Oculus Rift
RetroArch Multi-system Multi-platform 1.18.0 SBS ?
Emukit N64 VR Nintendo 64 Multi-system Git 3D ? ?
PPSSPP VR Sony PSP Windows 1.1.1 360 inside game Oculus Rift ?
Mobile
ePSXe Sony PlayStation Android 2.0.10 ($) Google Cardboard ?
FPse Sony PlayStation Android 0.11.198 ($) Oculus, GearVR, Google Cardboard, Homido, etc. ?
PPSSPP Sony PSP Android 1.17.1 Cinema screen Google Cardboard ?
RetroArch Multi-system Multi-platform 1.18.0 SBS ? ?
VR MAME Arcade Android 1.0.1 Cinema screen Google Cardboard ?
VR VICE Commodore 64 Android 1.0.3 Cinema screen Google Cardboard ?
Standalone
VirtualBoyGo Nintendo Virtual Boy Android 1.2 ? Oculus Go ?
GearboyVR Game Boy/Color Android 1.0 Cinema screen Oculus Go ?

Comparison

3dSenVR
Converts two dimensional NES games to 3D and allows you to rotate and change the viewing angle. Was previously know as 3DNes VR, name was changed for upcoming release on Steam and itch.io.
Dolphin VR
3D Games can be played in Virtual Reality with accurate life-size scale, full FOV, a 3D HUD, independent aiming, and the ability to look around. 2D Games can be played on a life-size virtual screen at the correct angle, sometimes even in 3D. Supports Wii, GameCube and Nintendo 64 Virtual Console games. There are also romhacks that can be used to make games more VR friendly, an example being this Ocarina of Time romhack.
VBjin-OVR
Has a Head Locked mode where the screen is fixed in view and head tracking is ignored and a Immersive mode where the screen is placed in the world and head tracking is used to allow you to look around. This mode should be considered experimental and suffers from artifacts inherent to the Virtual Boy's implementation.
RetroArch
Can output side-by-side video for 3D games. This can be used to view the game in 3D with a VR headset, 3D TV, 3D projector or Android phone with cardboard. With these glsl-shaders it is possible to play both anaglyph systems (like Virtual Boy) and active shutter stereoscopic 3D games (like Famicom 3D System or SegaScope 3-D). For PC, use something like Bigscreen and enable SBS3D mode to show SBS content in your VR headset, for Android it should work right away.
Emukit N64 VR
Web based N64 emulation in 3D.

VR game room simulations

A VR game room simulation provides a simulated game room; within that room there are arcade machines or one or more classic consoles connected to ordinary 2d screens that the user can interact with as they would a real-life TV.

Name Emulates Operating System(s) Latest version Type Headset(s) Active Recommended
EmuVR Multi-system Windows Beta 90's game room HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, WindowsMR
New Retro Arcade: Neon Multi-system Windows Steam ($) 80's arcade HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics Sega Genesis Windows, macOS, Linux Steam ($) 90's game room HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

Comparison

EmuVR
Let's you play around in a virtual 90's gamers bedroom. Pick up games, connect cables and play them on your CRT TV. Uses RetroArch to run the games.
New Retro Arcade Neon
Virtual 80's/early 90's arcade. You can walk around, play arcade machines and other games. Uses libretro.
SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics
Segas official emulator for Genesis games. Has a virtual 90's gamers bedroom. Look at game covers and play them on your CRT. Has mod support, it's possible to play your own ROMs and to play the official ROMs in other emulators.