Video game conversion
Encyclopedia
In video gaming parlance, a conversion is the production of a game on one computer
or console that was originally written for another system. Over the years, video game conversion has taken form in a number of different ways, both in their style and the method in which they were converted.
s. The first known examples were conversions of Atari
's Pong
in the form of consoles with this one game built-in, as well as consoles that included a number of variations on the game. Atari produced their own "official" conversion of the game for home use, but a number of other imitators such as Sears
' Telegames Pong IV were also on the market.
With the begin of the video game era, Atari released their 2600 console
for which they licensed and produced a number of home conversions of popular arcade titles, including Pac-Man
by Namco
, Space Invaders
and Defender
. Later, other third-party developers and publishers such as Activision
and Coleco
became involved producing, among others, games like Donkey Kong
for the Atari 2600
.
Atari also sublicensed a number of their Atari 2600 conversions to be reproduced on home computers such as the Commodore 64
, on which cartridge
-based versions of games like Pacman and Pole Position
were produced under the Atarisoft label.
In 1983
, Nintendo
entered the fray, producing the Nintendo Entertainment System
which partly acted as a platform for bringing Nintendo's own arcade games to the home, firstly in the middle of 1983 in Japan
, then later in the year in the United States
. These games included Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Clu Clu Land
, Punch-Out!!
and Hogan's Alley
.
In 1985
, Sega
released the SG Mark III, which was re-released in the United States in 1986 as the Sega Master System
. This also was partially a platform for bringing conversions of Sega games to the home, which resulted in home versions of (among others) Shinobi
, Out Run
, Space Harrier
and After Burner
.
The mid-1980s and the mid-1990s saw a flurry of conversions of popular arcade games to home computers such as the ZX Spectrum
, Commodore 64
, Amstrad CPC
, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST
. These games were mostly developed and published by groups who were not involved with the original developers, but who had bought the rights to create faithful reproductions of these games. Console versions of these arcade games, however, were often produced by the original developers of the arcade title, leading to a higher degree of accuracy in translation. This was most prevalent in the 1991-1992 conversions of Street Fighter II
. The Super Nintendo
and Mega Drive versions produced by Capcom themselves were highly acclaimed. The home computer versions were, however, less successful, with US Gold converting the game, not having access to the original source code
and being forced to "imitate" the game.
The arrival of the era of 32-bit consoles such as the PlayStation
and the Sega Saturn
ushered in a new era of video game conversions. The Amiga and Atari ST
were, at this point, at the end of their commercial lives, and the only remaining home computer that was considered a viable gaming platform was the PC, specifically with the arrival of Windows 95
and the DirectX
development platform. The dominance of these platforms, the tendency for arcade developers to convert their own titles, the photographic quality of the graphics and audio that they were capable of providing, together with the decline of the traditional arcade
, meant that conversions of games from the arcade were not just "pixel-perfect" (an industry term to describe accurate one-to-one conversions), but also sometimes exceeded their original source material in terms of quality, adding extra features, enhanced graphics and higher-definition sound.
As the traditional arcade game continued to decline, a greater focus on converting games between the home computer and console platforms began to take shape. Whereas games for home computers have been considered to be more sophisticated in scope, console games tend to be simpler in nature. Some home computer games such as Command & Conquer and Civilization II
have been ported to the consoles in a simpler form to accommodate the target audience and technical limitations, and a number of "console-style" games have also found their way onto home computer systems. With the decline of the traditional arcade, this is a trend that is likely to continue in the field of video game conversions.
, and source-based conversions could not be reproduced on systems with other processor
s, rendering the original source code useless. Also, while most third-party developers had access to the original graphics and audio, they could not be faithfully reproduced on older home computers such as the ZX Spectrum and developers were forced to recreate the graphics and audio from scratch.
In recent years, source-based conversions of games have become more feasible and one-to-one pixel perfect conversions are commonplace. In examples of open source games such as Neverball
, BZFlag
and Battle for Wesnoth
, this conversion has literally been one-to-one - the game has been precisely converted from platform to platform (usually Linux
to Windows
) thanks to the free availability of the source code, and differences between the versions are negligible or non-existent.
It has been known for a developer to create a "clone" of one of their own games. Escape (now Westone
) produced a clone of Wonder Boy for the NES by the name of Adventure Island
to circumnavigate a number of legal issues surrounding the Wonder Boy
name and character.
, Missile Command
, Asteroids and Space Invaders. Sega have also been active in reproducing a number of their older 16-bit era titles with 3D graphics for the 5th generation of consoles (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube)
Volume 1, and many similar packages have since been released by Sega, Midway
, and Taito
among others. This is usually carried out by means of custom emulator
s, which reproduce the activity of the original arcade ROMs
.
Nintendo's Game Boy Advance
is often considered to be a retro gaming console, which has led to hundreds of conversions of older games being reproduced for the console, including games originally written for the SNES, the hardware of which forms the basis of the Game Boy Advance.
68000). However, the ST's graphics and sound hardware was inferior to that of the Amiga's. Nonetheless, some conversions between these two machines (or conversions to these two machines at the same time) were very similar.
A number of criticisms have also been launched against conversions of games between home computers and consoles, particularly post-1995.
The conversion of Ridge Racer
was one of the most earliest notable examples of suggested "pixel-perfect" arcade conversion. This was thought revolutionary as although pixel-perfect conversions had been produced in the past, they were usually of games that had been produced well before the console or computer itself came into being, and thus the games rarely stretched the machine's capabilities. Produced by Namco themselves as a launch title, Ridge Racer was intended to showcase the abilities of the PlayStation. However, in fact although it was an impressive conversion, Ridge Racer ran at only 30 frames-per-second, and was not displayed in the same resolution as that of the coin-op. Similar cases included the Genesis/Mega Drive conversions of Strider and Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, which were widely perceived as being 'arcade-perfect' when they were not.
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
or console that was originally written for another system. Over the years, video game conversion has taken form in a number of different ways, both in their style and the method in which they were converted.
History
The earliest video game conversions were almost exclusively home versions of popular arcade gameArcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s. The first known examples were conversions of Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
's Pong
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
in the form of consoles with this one game built-in, as well as consoles that included a number of variations on the game. Atari produced their own "official" conversion of the game for home use, but a number of other imitators such as Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
' Telegames Pong IV were also on the market.
With the begin of the video game era, Atari released their 2600 console
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...
for which they licensed and produced a number of home conversions of popular arcade titles, including Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
by Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
, Space Invaders
Space Invaders
is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to...
and Defender
Defender (game)
Defender is an arcade video game developed released by Williams Electronics in 1980. A shooting game featuring two-dimensional graphics, the game is set on a fictional planet where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts...
. Later, other third-party developers and publishers such as Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
and Coleco
Coleco
Coleco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and...
became involved producing, among others, games like Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong (video game)
is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. It is an early example of the platform game genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game, Jumpman must rescue a damsel in distress, Lady, from a...
for the 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...
.
Atari also sublicensed a number of their Atari 2600 conversions to be reproduced on home computers such as the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, on which cartridge
ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, sometimes referred to as a cart, is a removable enclosure containing read-only memory devices designed to be connected to a computer or games console....
-based versions of games like Pacman and Pole Position
Pole Position
Pole Position is a racing video game released in 1982 by Namco. It was published by Namco in Japan and by Atari, Inc. in the United States...
were produced under the Atarisoft label.
In 1983
1983 in video gaming
-Events:* A major shakeout of the video game industry begins. By 1986, total video games sales will decrease from US$3.2 billion to US$0.1 billion.* MCA Universal files suit against Nintendo, claiming that the latter company's video arcade hit Donkey Kong violated Universal's copyright on King Kong...
, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
entered the fray, producing the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
which partly acted as a platform for bringing Nintendo's own arcade games to the home, firstly in the middle of 1983 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, then later in the year in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. These games included Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Clu Clu Land
Clu Clu Land
is an arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System game released in 1984 and was later released in North America on the Wii Virtual Console on September 1, 2008 and in Europe on March 6, 2009. The game was called Vs. Clu Clu Land in video arcades...
, Punch-Out!!
Punch-Out!!
is a 1983–1984 boxing arcade game by Nintendo. It was the first in a series of successful Punch-Out!! games that produced an arcade sequel known as Super Punch-Out!!, a spin-off of the series titled Arm Wrestling, a highly popular version for the NES originally known as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!,...
and Hogan's Alley
Hogan's Alley
-Popular culture:* Hogan's Alley , an 1890s comic strip that featured the character The Yellow Kid* Hogan's Alley , a 1984 video game from Nintendo* Hogan's Alley , a magazine about the cartoon arts...
.
In 1985
1985 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* Brøderbund releases Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the first game of the prolific Carmen Sandiego series* Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, which eventually sells 40 million copies making it the best-selling video game of all time until 2008.*...
, Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
released the SG Mark III, which was re-released in the United States in 1986 as the Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
. This also was partially a platform for bringing conversions of Sega games to the home, which resulted in home versions of (among others) Shinobi
Shinobi
Shinobi is the Japanese word for male ninja. It may also refer to:*Shinobi , a series of video games**Shinobi , the original video game in the series developed by Sega**Shinobi , the PlayStation 2 sequel...
, Out Run
Out Run
is an arcade game released by Sega in 1986. It was designed by Yu Suzuki and Sega-AM2. The game was a critical and commercial success. It is notable for its innovative hardware , pioneering graphics and music, a choice in both soundtrack and route, and its strong theme of luxury and relaxation...
, Space Harrier
Space Harrier
is a third-person rail shooter game, released by Sega in 1985. It was produced by Yu Suzuki, responsible for many popular Sega games. It spawned several sequels: Space Harrier 3-D , Space Harrier II , and the spin-off Planet Harriers ....
and After Burner
After Burner
is a 1987 Japanese flight simulator arcade game by Sega. It is one of the first games designed by Yu Suzuki. The player flew an F-14 using a specialized joystick , and the game spawned several sequels.-Gameplay:...
.
The mid-1980s and the mid-1990s saw a flurry of conversions of popular arcade games to home computers such as the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
. These games were mostly developed and published by groups who were not involved with the original developers, but who had bought the rights to create faithful reproductions of these games. Console versions of these arcade games, however, were often produced by the original developers of the arcade title, leading to a higher degree of accuracy in translation. This was most prevalent in the 1991-1992 conversions of Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
. The Super Nintendo
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
and Mega Drive versions produced by Capcom themselves were highly acclaimed. The home computer versions were, however, less successful, with US Gold converting the game, not having access to the original source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
and being forced to "imitate" the game.
The arrival of the era of 32-bit consoles such as the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
and the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
ushered in a new era of video game conversions. The Amiga and Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
were, at this point, at the end of their commercial lives, and the only remaining home computer that was considered a viable gaming platform was the PC, specifically with the arrival of Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
and the DirectX
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
development platform. The dominance of these platforms, the tendency for arcade developers to convert their own titles, the photographic quality of the graphics and audio that they were capable of providing, together with the decline of the traditional arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
, meant that conversions of games from the arcade were not just "pixel-perfect" (an industry term to describe accurate one-to-one conversions), but also sometimes exceeded their original source material in terms of quality, adding extra features, enhanced graphics and higher-definition sound.
As the traditional arcade game continued to decline, a greater focus on converting games between the home computer and console platforms began to take shape. Whereas games for home computers have been considered to be more sophisticated in scope, console games tend to be simpler in nature. Some home computer games such as Command & Conquer and Civilization II
Civilization II
Sid Meier's Civilization II is a turn-based strategy computer game designed by Brian Reynolds, Douglas Caspian-Kaufman and Jeff Briggs. Although it is a sequel to Sid Meier's Civilization, neither Sid Meier nor Bruce Shelley was involved in its development.Civilization II was first released in...
have been ported to the consoles in a simpler form to accommodate the target audience and technical limitations, and a number of "console-style" games have also found their way onto home computer systems. With the decline of the traditional arcade, this is a trend that is likely to continue in the field of video game conversions.
Direct conversions
Direct conversions of video games can take several forms - those created by the original developers, or those sublicensed to a third party developer. Historically, conversions of titles performed by the original developer tended to be more accurate, but this was due to third-parties not having access to the original source code. While licensing issues were indeed a factor, technical issues were also prevalent - most games pre-1995 were produced in assembly languageAssembly 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...
, and source-based conversions could not be reproduced on systems with other processor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
s, rendering the original source code useless. Also, while most third-party developers had access to the original graphics and audio, they could not be faithfully reproduced on older home computers such as the ZX Spectrum and developers were forced to recreate the graphics and audio from scratch.
In recent years, source-based conversions of games have become more feasible and one-to-one pixel perfect conversions are commonplace. In examples of open source games such as Neverball
Neverball
Neverball is a 3D platform game similar to Super Monkey Ball. It is currently available for Windows platforms, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, Dreamcast, AmigaOS 4, iOS and Maemo...
, BZFlag
BZFlag
BZFlag is a free, open source, online multiplayer video game.A first-person tank battle game, similar in concept to Battlezone, it was originally written by Chris Schoeneman for SGI graphics workstations running IRIX, but has now been ported to other operating systems including...
and Battle for Wesnoth
Battle for Wesnoth
The Battle for Wesnoth, or simply Wesnoth, is a turn-based strategy game with a fantasy setting, designed by David White and first released in June 2003. In Wesnoth, the player attempts to build a powerful army by controlling villages and defeating enemies for experience. White based Wesnoth...
, this conversion has literally been one-to-one - the game has been precisely converted from platform to platform (usually Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
to 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...
) thanks to the free availability of the source code, and differences between the versions are negligible or non-existent.
Imitations/clones
Imitations of popular arcade games were common, particularly in the early days of video gaming when copyright violations were treated less severely. While the game was fundamentally the same, the title, names, graphics and audio were usually changed to avoid legal challenges. Most imitations were of titles such as Space Invaders and Pacman. As video games became increasingly sophisticated, clones of games began to deviate from their source material in varying ways.It has been known for a developer to create a "clone" of one of their own games. Escape (now Westone
Westone
Westone is a manufacturer of hearing healthcare products and high-end earphones, otherwise known as in-ear monitors , used by professional musicians and audiophiles.-Background:...
) produced a clone of Wonder Boy for the NES by the name of Adventure Island
Adventure Island
Adventure Island may refer to:* Adventure Island , or its sequels:** Adventure Island II** Adventure Island III** Adventure Island IV ** New Adventure Island** Super Adventure Island...
to circumnavigate a number of legal issues surrounding the Wonder Boy
Wonder Boy
is a series of video games published by SEGA and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment .The series itself consists of the main Wonder Boy series, and the Monster World sub-series. Games may be part of one, the other, or both. This has resulted in a sometimes confusing naming structure resulting in...
name and character.
Remakes
Particularly in recent years, developers have been remaking older video games with modern technology. Usually, this has been by the development firm themselves or companies sub-licensed by these developers. This was a particular phenomenon during the late 1990s with numerous 3D updates of games such as FroggerFrogger
Frogger is an arcade game introduced in 1981. It was developed by Konami, and licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct frogs to their homes one by one. To do this, each frog must avoid cars while crossing a busy road and navigate a river full of...
, Missile Command
Missile Command
Missile Command is a 1980 arcade game by Atari, Inc. that was also licensed to Sega for European release. It is considered one of the most notable games from the Golden Age of Video Arcade Games...
, Asteroids and Space Invaders. Sega have also been active in reproducing a number of their older 16-bit era titles with 3D graphics for the 5th generation of consoles (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube)
Retro/Emulation
Advances in technology and a rising interest in retro gaming have incited a trend whereby collections of "classic" games, usually arcade games, are re-released on modern gaming systems in their original forms. The original "retro pack" is widely thought to be Namco MuseumNamco Museum
Namco Museum refers to the series of video game compilations released by Namco for various 32-bit and above consoles, containing releases of their games from the 1980s and early 1990s...
Volume 1, and many similar packages have since been released by Sega, Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
, and Taito
Taito Corporation
The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....
among others. This is usually carried out by means of custom 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...
s, which reproduce the activity of the original arcade ROMs
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
.
Nintendo's Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
is often considered to be a retro gaming console, which has led to hundreds of conversions of older games being reproduced for the console, including games originally written for the SNES, the hardware of which forms the basis of the Game Boy Advance.
ZX Spectrum/Amstrad CPC
The Spectrum and CPC were exceptions during the 1980s when conversions were generally quite different from system to system. The reasons, being a tendency to write in assembly language and the considerable differences in the hardware, did not apply between the Spectrum and CPC. Although the graphics hardware differed between the two machines, they shared a common processor (the Z80) and sound chip (the AY-3-8912), which allowed relatively easy porting of Spectrum software to the CPC to save time and money. However, this practice was largely frowned upon by CPC users, who perceived it as a waste of the CPC's abilities.Atari ST/Amiga
The 16-bit machines of the 1980s and early 1990s often found more or less identical ports between the two machines. As with the Spectrum and CPC, this was down to easy porting being made possible by an identical processor (the MotorolaMotorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
68000). However, the ST's graphics and sound hardware was inferior to that of the Amiga's. Nonetheless, some conversions between these two machines (or conversions to these two machines at the same time) were very similar.
Criticism
Criticism has been made of converting video games in the past. Critics of arcade conversions often point to a lack of depth or sophistication that these games offer, especially in comparison to titles written especially for the console. Some contend that arcade conversions are produced exclusively to make money, as the design work is for the most part already carried out. This is, however, countered by the numerous extra features that modern arcade conversions often offer.A number of criticisms have also been launched against conversions of games between home computers and consoles, particularly post-1995.
Ridge Racer
Ridge Racer
Ridge Racer may refer to:*Ridge Racer , an arcade game first released by Namco in 1993, later ported to the PlayStation*Ridge Racer , a series of sequels and spin-offs based on the arcade game...
was one of the most earliest notable examples of suggested "pixel-perfect" arcade conversion. This was thought revolutionary as although pixel-perfect conversions had been produced in the past, they were usually of games that had been produced well before the console or computer itself came into being, and thus the games rarely stretched the machine's capabilities. Produced by Namco themselves as a launch title, Ridge Racer was intended to showcase the abilities of the PlayStation. However, in fact although it was an impressive conversion, Ridge Racer ran at only 30 frames-per-second, and was not displayed in the same resolution as that of the coin-op. Similar cases included the Genesis/Mega Drive conversions of Strider and Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, which were widely perceived as being 'arcade-perfect' when they were not.