Retro Gaming Hacks

Run NES Emulators on the Mac

Make the switch without losing your Nintendo homebrews.

Ah, the bastion of classic gaming for generation Y—the Nintendo Entertainment System. The eight-bit era had a profound impact on the videogame industry, and many people late at night, after downing that second glass of store brand whiskey and half of a leftover burger in the fridge, want to relive the so called “glory days” of gaming. Sure, it’d be simple if it was on their PC. But you’re a hipster with a Powerbook and a massive collection of CDs from indie bands. It’s not that easy. Don’t worry, as this section of the book will walk you through just exactly how you go about playing those NES classics on your Mac.

Before you even worry about stock piling ROMs for the hours upon hours you’ve freed to relive your youth, you’re going to need an emulator. This is the program that allows you to play the ROMs on your Mac. Now, there are a variety of options, and there are a couple really top-notch programs available. Here’s a list of the NES emulators for the Mac:

RockNES

Available at http://www.bannister.org/software/rocknes.htm, this is the premier emulator for NES games on a Mac. The problem is that it isn’t entirely universal. Users with older computers are going to experience some slowdown due to cycle-exact emulation, and the creator recommends at least 1Ghz for proper performance. Testing this program with a 867Mhz G4, I found his statements to be true, as it was choppy at best. When I tested it on ...