PC Atari Emulator is a software emulator

Emulator

In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...

 for running Atari 2600

Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...

 videogame console programs in Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 or in MS-DOS

MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...

. The latest versions of PC Atari Emulator released were 2.5 (for MS-DOS) and 2.6 (for Windows). PC Atari Emulator was originally written by John Dullea in 1996.

PC Atari Emulator was written in a combination of Borland Pascal

Turbo Pascal

Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment for the Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS, developed by Borland under Philippe Kahn's leadership...

 and x86 assembly language

Assembly language

An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...

 for the MS-DOS version and a combination of Delphi and x86 assembly language for the Microsoft Windows version. The emulator supports all Atari 2600 cartridge bank switching

Bank switching

Bank switching is a technique to increase the amount of usable memory beyond the amount directly addressable by the processor. It can be used to configure a system differently at different times; for example, a ROM required to start a system from diskette could be switched out when no longer...

 schemes (up to the year 2000) and has support for nearly all Atari 2600 titles.

Peripheral devices

The emulator emulates most Atari 2600 peripheral devices, including standard joystick

Joystick

A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...

s, paddle controller

Paddle (game controller)

A paddle is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen...

s, the Atari Video Touch Pad, the Atari Keyboard Controller, Atari Indy 500 Driving Controllers, the CBS Booster-Grip controller, the CommaVid RAM-cart, and the Spectravideo Compumate computer keyboard

Computer keyboard

In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...

. The emulator does not have support for cassette

Compact Cassette

The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

-based titles designed to work with the Starpath Supercharger

Starpath Supercharger

The Starpath Supercharger was an add-on module created by Starpath to expand the game capabilities of the Atari 2600 video game console. The device resembled a long game cartridge with a handle on one end. The Supercharger interface multiplied the Atari 2600's RAM 49-fold, from its meager built-in...

or the Coleco KidVid cassette player. If the user plays Starpath Supercharger, it will only play the first game on the tape. The user cannot advance the tape to play another title on the same tape. Also, as Starpath Supercharger ROMs have an extension of .a26, the extension must be changed to .bin for them to play at all.

External links

• Official webpage (Note: This link may be out of date)
• A more recent official webpage (As of September 15, 2007, this link has the actual emulator)
• Good Deal Games - "Changing Atari VCS Graphics - The Easy Way" (PDF file)
• "Retro Gaming Hacks" by Chris Kohler - Oct. 2005 (1st ed.), p. 143 http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/retrogaminghks/inx.html, http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/retrogaminghks/inx.html#P
• Gauntlet Web (University of Calgary publication) - "Classic video gaming for all ages"