Emulators, cores, and the architecture behind preserving and playing classic games today.
Measure and reduce retro-gaming latency across controller, emulator, renderer, operating system, cable, display mode, scaling, and synchronization.
Build a maintainable arcade cabinet with safe power, documented controls, stable device IDs, layered per-system profiles, restricted service access, and backups.
Build RetroArch playlists from verified content, audit every database match and core assignment, and preserve custom thumbnails across updates.
The staged shutdown that culminated on March 27, 2023—and why continued redownload access is not equivalent to permanent preservation.
How Dolphin 5.0-12188 added RVZ in July 2020 to preserve complete GameCube and Wii disc data while achieving practical compression.
Why MAME's 2016 relicensing mattered for reuse, preservation tooling, and the distinction between emulator source and copyrighted game data.
After reversing an earlier shutdown in 2021, Sony set staged PS3 closures beginning in 2026 and broader PS3/Vita closure for July 2027.
How to verify cartridge and disc dumps with hashes, DATs, repeatable acquisition, provenance, lossless masters, documented derivatives, and fixity audits.
Why classic systems sound different: channels, oscillators, envelopes, filters, sample memory, bus timing, and the limits composers turned into instruments.
How tile maps, pattern tables, palettes, sprites, scanlines, and hardware limits produced classic 2D graphics—and what an emulator must reproduce.