How to Play Console Games on Your Mac

Control console games with your Mac's keyboard.

Traditionally, the Apple Mac has been regarded as the poor cousin of Windows-based PCs when it comes to gaming: far more games, both blockbuster and low-budget, are released for PC than for Mac. However, diligent coders have developed emulation programs for the Mac that simulate many popular home consoles, allowing you to choose from hundreds of older titles to run on your computer. Emulation software is freely downloadable from many sites on the Internet.

Instructions

1. Go to a site offering emulation software for Apple Mac and click the name of the console you wish to emulate on your machine.

2. Choose an emulator for your console of choice and click the program's name to download it.

3. Double-click the downloaded file to mount it. Drag the program icon to your Mac's "Applications" folder.

4. Make a folder in your "Applications" folder named after whichever system you wish to emulate ("SNES," "Genesis" etc). Place ROM files for your system of choice in this folder. ROMs can be downloaded from many sites on the Internet.

5. Double-click the application icon for your emulation program to open it. Open the "File" menu and choose "Open" or "Load," then navigate to the folder where you keep your ROMs. Double-click a ROM to open it and start playing.

Tips & Warnings

• Generally, the emulators that have been in development for the longest or are listed as the most popular are likely to be the ones that will work best on your computer, but experimenting with different emulators for the same console will help you find the program that works best on your machine.

• Emulation programs can be controlled with the keyboard or a plug-in USB joypad. Open the "Control Settings" or "Preferences" menu from the menu bar to set your controls.

• The Entertainment Software Association forbids the downloading of certain commercially-available games. Only download ROMs from sites that are compliant with ESA protection, such as that listed in Resources. Visit a site's "Contact Us" or "Policies" section to check this.

References

• "Help File: ZSNES;" ZSNES Team; 2010
• "Help File: Kega Fusion;" Steve Snake; 2009
• "Help File: Visual Boy Advance;" Adam Green; 2010

Resources

• Zophar's Domain: Emulators for Mac OS
• The Emulator Zone: Mac Emulators
• Cool ROM: ROM Files