The preservation of video games has a vast history. Companies and organizations such as Internet Archive or Vimm’s Lair, have been preserving games for years and making sure everyone has access to some of the world’s most popular games. The struggle with preserving games is that emulation has taken the internet by storm. While being able to play your favorite retro games or even new games for completely free is fun, it is also very illegal. The fight for emulation has been raging for years and won’t stop anytime soon.
The first emulator was created back in 1965. This was used to run IBM 7070 programs on an IBM 360 (BBC). This was the start of cross-platform PC emulation. One of the most prominently emulated consoles is the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The first emulator for this could only run simple NES games but was still a step forward for industry-standard emulation. As you may know, companies do not like it when people play their games for free. Companies will file lawsuits and cease and desist against emulators by providing paid games for free. This falls under copyright law and is considered internet piracy. Nintendo is a company that is no stranger to these lawsuits. People may remember the lawsuit against Yuzu, a Nintendo Switch emulator used to play Switch games for free. According to the developer of Yuzu, Bunnei, “Piracy was never our intention, and we believe that piracy of video games and on video games should end.” (PC Gamer) They sued and won against Yuzu making them payout over 2.3 million dollars. This also caused the company to shut down permanently.
Recently a new emulator has made huge advances in emulating the PS4. This was caused by the uproar of Sony fans wanting a Bloodborne remake. Bloodborne is a game developed by From Software specifically for the PS4, because it was an exclusive, Sony refused to release it elsewhere. It has almost been 10 years since the release of Bloodborne and no news has come from Sony for a remake. In return, emulation developers have fast-tracked the development of a PS4 emulator called ShadPS4. In the last 6 months, this game went from not even opening the game to running it flawlessly. It now runs even better than the original game with mods and improvements created by the community. This is the first time a PS4 exclusive has ever been emulated and in a playable state.
The emulator ShadPS4 has existed for over a year now and could initially only emulate 2D indie games that don’t require much reworking. At first, people weren’t worried about a potential shutdown of the software. As it has made shocking advancements in the past few months, people have become nervous about the future of ShadPS4. Sony hasn’t had too much of an issue with emulation in the past. Now that they have an exclusive running for a very relevant console, Sony may act soon. Although Sony is for emulation, they are also a company that must make money to survive.
The future of emulation is a very hard thing to predict. The ability to play any game anywhere at any time for basically zero cost is a very appealing thought, even though it could cost the companies you wish to support. ShadPS4 is growing stronger and making incredible advances in technology and emulation. The community hopes to see more of the ShadPS4 team without Sony interfering with the progress.
