It is the power under the hood, however, it lacks an interface that lets you start the emulators and games graphically.
RetroArch is the software that takes care of the actual emulation of your gaming console.
Before I explain how to get started, it is important to know the exact functionality for each of these programs. To be able to play games from, for example, the Super Nintendo or the Nintendo 64 within one environment, two programs are required on your laptop, RetroArch and EmulationStation. The setup may seem like a bit of a hassle, but it is totally worth it, since it is a single emulator that takes care of all your gaming needs.Īlso Read: How to Cool Laptop While Gaming RetroArch and EmulationStation
In this article, we will show you how to install and configure the software to play older NES and SNES classic games on your laptop.
In other words, those games from the past are a joy to play again! But how do you do that? Do you install an emulator for every game console in history? No, you turn your PC into one big retro game emulator. The current games may be much better and faster than those of the past but we humans are nostalgic creatures. Games have changed phenomenally in the last 25 years. Turn Your PC Into a Retro Gaming Emulator
I now have one of the old NES controllers, it really makes for an awesome nostalgic experience!Īlso Read: How to Play or Connect your PS3 to a Laptop To make it extra fun, you can also buy the old retro controllers with a USB connection. All you need is an emulator, a computer, and a controller. The advantage of emulators is that they are available in many different types: the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo Classic up to a Game Boy. The games can be downloaded, and the emulator ensures that everything works well on your computer. An emulator is actually a piece of software that can simulate the old game consoles from the past. By using an emulator, you can easily play all your favorite games on any operating system. It doesn’t even matter if you are a Windows or a Mac user. The best thing is that you don’t need an extra device enjoy these games! You can play them straight on your laptop. But what if you are on a train, for example? Then the Pi is of no use to you! There is actually a much better solution for this! You can use an emulator instead to play your favorite games on your computer. A common one is to install RetroPi on a Raspberry Pi card, but then you would need to buy a bunch of other equipment and go through a super complex process to get things to work. Usually laptops with both would have them labelled as “HDMI in” and “HDMI out”, if you only have one HDMI port then you already know that it’s not going to work!Īlso Read: How to Use My Laptop as a Monitor or Screen for Xbox One?įortunately, there are a few other solutions to playing your favorite NES/SNES games on your laptop. If your laptop had one then you would be aware of it 100%. It’s safe to say that the HDMI input is a pretty unusual feature, and it is always present in addition to an output port. Otherwise if you try to connect via the HDMI out, your console will power on via the USB port on your laptop, but you won’t be able to display anything on your laptop screen. If you have one of those then you can go ahead and connect your console. The only laptop with an HDMI in that we have seen is the Alienware series. Unfortunately, 99.9% of laptops on the market only have HDMI output ports, they do not come with an input port unless you purchase a very high-end machine. To connect a NES or SNES console to your laptop, you will need an HDMI input port. How to Connect NES/SNSES Classic to a Laptop Connecting through an HDMI in Port If you click on a link on & make a purchase, we may earn a small commission. But do you know that you can also play NES and SNES classic games on a laptop or a PC as well? Keep reading to find out more.Īlso Read: How to Play, Display or Connect Wii to a Laptop Retro games simply remain the bomb, even in a world where modern games are up on a live stream, our passion for the older NES and SNES games never goes away! Whether it’s Super Mario, the wonderful world of Zelda, old-fashioned boxes with Punch Out, or even classic PC games such as The Sims and RuneScape, they’re all a lot of fun! Now that Nintendo has released the Classic Mini, there is an easy way to play these games on your TV again.