Retro Replay Retro Gaming History, Reviews & Emulation
Emulation History
A year-by-year account of the programmers, communities, debates, breakthroughs, and preservation work that shaped emulation.
Emulation began as a way to keep software working when computers changed. Later, home computers and consoles turned it into a field of its own. This timeline follows the evidence year by year, linking each chapter to its people and projects.
Jump to the people behind the code ↓
Timeline
- 1960–1989: Before Console Emulation — How the Idea Was Born
- 1990: The Birth of Console Emulation – Family Computer Emulator
- 1991: Yuji Naka and the Secret Famicom Emulator for Mega Drive
- 1992: Gameboy68000, ToyBoy, and the Game Boy Emulator That Wasn’t
- 1993: Pasofami, fMSX and the Birth of Portable Emulation
- 1994: MegaDrive, VSMC and the 16-Bit Emulation Breakthrough
- 1995: Virtual GameBoy, Commercial Emulation and the Internet Scene
- 1996 Part I: iNES, Snes96 and the Nintendo Emulation Race
- 1996 Part II: The Websites That Held Emulation Together
- 1997 Part I: MAME, NESticle, and the Year Emulation Broke Open
- 1997 Part II: The 16-Bit Race, PlayStation Dreams, and a Public Fallout
- 1998 Part I: The Arcade Race and the Websites That Carried It
- 1998 Part II: The Console Race Reaches the PlayStation Era
- 1999 Part I: When Emulators Met the Lawyers
- 1999 Part II: The Emulators Keep Coming
- 1999 Part III: The Websites That Made a Scene
- 2000 Part I: PlayStation Emulation in Court and on the Desktop
- 2000 Part II: The Hard 3D Machines
- 2000 Part III: The Emulators Everywhere Else
- 2000 Part IV: The Websites That Held the Scene Together
- 2000–Present: Dreamcast Emulation — Homemade Discs, Old Games, and Sega’s Second Life
- 2001 Part I: The Emulator Becomes the Platform
- 2001 Part II: Consoles, Courts, and the Websites Between Them
- 2002: DOSBox, Xbox Ports, and the PS2 Frontier
People behind the code
Browse the people named in this history. New profiles added beneath the People page appear in this index automatically.
- _Demo_
- |darc|
- 007Cheater
- Aaron Giles
- Acidfly2000
- ajax16384
- Alastair Bridgewater
- Alex Krasivsky
- Anders Nilsson
- Anthony Pesch (inolen)
- baktery
- BlackAura
- blueminder
- Brad Levicoff
- CaH4e3
- Charles MacDonald
- Chris George
- Chris Hickman
- Christuserloeser
- Chui
- Cyrus64
- Dan Boris
- Dave (Conjuror)
- Dave (Final Burn)
- David Herpolsheimer
- David Michel
- DCGrendel
- Deunan
- dmb062082
- Donald Moore
- DreamZzz
- Dylan Cuthbert
- Epsilon
- Eric Bole-Feysot
- Eric Traut
- FanWen Yang
- flyinghead
- Fox68k
- garrofi
- Gary Henderson
- GiGaHeRz
- Gollum
- Haruhisa Udagawa
- Icer Addis (Sardu)
- Jabo
- James Ponder
- Jamin Vander Berg (Sin)
- Janne Korpela
- Jeremy Chadwick (Y0SHi)
- Jerremy Koot
- Jez San
- Joel Middendorf (schibo)
- John Saeger
- Jordan DeLong
- Joseph Zbiciak
- JoseQ
- Ken Friece
- Larry Bank
- Larry Moss
- Lawrence Sebald (BlueCrab)
- Li Jih Hwa (Nao)
- M. Kami
- ManBeast
- Marat Fayzullin
- Marcin Dudar (Duddie)
- Marcus Comstedt
- Mark Thomas
- Martin Nielsen
- MasJ
- Megan Potter
- MetalliC
- Michael Tedder (Breakpoint)
- Mike Brent (Tursi)
- Mike Livesay
- Mr N00b
- nakamichi
- Neil Bradley
- Nicola Salmoria
- Nobuaki Andou
- Olivier Jolly (Zeograd)
- Omar Cornut (Bock)
- Paul Robson
- Per Hedbor
- Pete Bernert
- Peter Bortas
- PsyMan
- Quzar
- Randy Linden
- Razoola
- RealityMan
- Richard Bannister
- Richard Bush (Antiriad)
- Roel van Mastbergen
- rudy
- Sam Michaels
- Scherzo
- Simon Douglas
- skmp (drk||Raziel)
- Stéphane Dallongeville
- Stephen Richards (The Fox)
- Steve Snake
- Stryfe
- Stuart Tucker
- Takayama Fumihiko
- The Careless Gamer
- Thierry Lescot (ShinobiZ)
- Tim Eckel
- unai
- Warmtoe
- Wind (DEmul)
- XPort
- Yuji Naka
- zilmar
- ZNullptr (ZeZu)
- zsKnight