How to turn your Apple Mac into the ultimate retro game machine

Image credits: MasterTux/Sony Interactive Entertainment

The global videogame industry is said to be worth more than $150 million and its popularity doesn’t appear to be waning. In recent months we’ve seen gamers patiently waiting to get their hands on the latest consoles as demand far outstrips supply. We’ve also seen a growing number of services being launched of late, among them Apple Arcade which, since 2019, has allowed us to play gems such as Grindstone, Manifold Garden, Atone, Beyond a Steel Sky and Creaks.

We’re certainly spoiled for choice and yet we’re not even restricted to playing the latest titles. Thanks to the magic of emulation, your Mac is able to run games developed for a huge number of older home computers and consoles. It’s a great way to relive the memories of the age-old favourites you used to play and a perfect opportunity to check out games that you never got around to trying.

Over the course of the next eight pages, we’re going to be exploring the best emulators for a wide range of machines. We’ll look at how you can get hold of lots of retro games and we’ll examine services that not only aim to do all of the hard work for you but remove any legal grey areas in the process. As you’ll see, for the most part, emulation has become far more straightforward over the years, especially for consoles. Gamers see it as a way of preserving the past since those old floppies, CDs, tapes and carts are unlikely to last forever.

There are other benefits too. If you’re emulating past home computers, you’re not even restricted to running games. You can try old apps or maybe get your hands dirty with a spot of BASIC programming. Indeed, if coding is your bag, then why not check out a free range of old computer books from publisher Usborne (https://usborne. com/books/computer-and-codingbooks) to get you in the mood? Who knows, you may emulate some of the great developers of the past and create some amazing games of your own.

Create your own classic console hub

If you want to play games made for a host of different consoles on your Mac, OpenEmu is the perfect solution. Designed to be as easy to use as possible (and created entirely for the Mac), the open source software provides an intuitive frontend for as many as 32 different emulators. Once you’ve loaded it up with classic games, retro fun is a mere click or two away.

Get started with OpenEmu

When setting up OpenEmu, you can choose which classic games machines you want to emulate. The app will then ensure that the relevant system cores for those consoles are installed, taking care of most of the complexities involved in getting them running. You can be ready for action in just a few minutes.