The creators of OpenEmu, the attractive multi-console emulator front end for OS X, have released version 2.0 of the software just in time for the holidays. OpenEmu 2.0 redesigns the user interface, adds real-time rewinding for gameplay, can organize screenshots and save-states, adds more than 80 homebrew games, and makes other improvements. But the biggest reason to update is that the front end now features support for 16 new consoles, including early 3D systems like the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation.
The full list of consoles (and the emulator "cores" that are actually handling the heavy lifting) are all listed below.
- Atari 5200 (Atari800)
- Atari 7800 (ProSystem)
- Atari Lynx (Mednafen)
- ColecoVision (CrabEmu)
- Famicom Disk System (Nestopia)
- Intellivision (Bliss)
- Nintendo 64 (Mupen64Plus)
- Odyssey²/Videopac+ (O2EM)
- PC-FX (Mednafen)
- SG-1000 (CrabEmu)
- Sega CD (GenesisPlus)
- Sony PSP (PPSSPP)
- Sony PlayStation (Mednafen)
- TurboGrafx-CD/PCE-CD (Mednafen)
- Vectrex (VecXGL)
- WonderSwan (Mednafen)
Those wanting to play disc-based games will be pointed to this section of the user guide, which outlines the specific formats that your game backups need to be stored in. Many of the newer consoles will also require BIOS files to work properly.
OpenEmu 2.0 still has most of the same strengths and weaknesses as the first release—it makes configuration of gamepads and various emulation cores pretty simple, and it's a great way to visualize and organize collections of games, but it still lacks the 10-foot, controller-driven UI that you'd want if you were going to hook your Mac up to a television (the feature request is on the team's radar but doesn't appear to be a priority). OpenEmu 2.0 requires OS X 10.11, so those of you who haven't upgraded yet will want to do so first.
reader comments
65