The Radio Shack TRS-80 had its share of devotees, especially as one of the earliest options and a lower-cost alternative to the 1977 Apple II. Choplifter, Lode Runner, Autoduel, and Karateka were no problem for these emulators in our tests. (Remember to change this back when you’re done!) The best locally installed emulator we found was the open-source AppleWin, which lets you drag disk images over to the two virtual drive icons and boot up the system. It just requires a plug-in install on our IE8-equipped test system, we had to change the ability to install unsigned ActiveX controls from “disable” to “prompt” before the plug-in worked. In this section, we’ll step through some of those systems, show where the coolest emulators are, and offer some tips on getting everything up and running.Īpple II lovers can start by heading to -it’s a browser-based Apple II and IIGS emulator that runs hundreds of games. If you’re anything like us, one or two systems in particular meant the world to you, especially during those crucial geek formative years. Finally, we’ll conclude with some details on a few treasured books that truly capture the glory of the vintage gaming scene.īetween 1977 and the early 1980s, many 8-bit computers hit the scene. We’ll also include some discussion of peripherals and controllers, all of which have changed over the last 10 years.

You’re bound to find true gaming goodness, no matter where your loyalties lie. To that end, using just a Windows PC, we’ll show you how to emulate vintage machines of all the major types: 8-bit and 16-bit home computers, 8-bit and 16-bit video game consoles, arcade games, and older DOS and Windows 95–compatible PC titles. But for many of us, only the originals can satisfy. Some even have retro-inspired game play, which makes putting up with 1980s-era graphics and balky user interfaces seem pointless. The best have stellar graphics, amazing musical scores, and captivating stories. Today, there are lots of terrific games to play. It’s true that most veteran gamers have long since moved on to newer fare like StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Madden ’11, and Mass Effect 2. That’s not an insignificant thing, especially when you consider the now well-known issues surrounding historical video game preservation. It turns out you can relive virtually all of it-or experience it for the first time, if you want to see for yourself how the game industry unfolded.

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