What is an emulator & is it legal?

In computing, an emulator is software that imitates the hardware of another device so that programs built for the original system can run on a different one. For example, a PlayStation 2 emulator lets your PC execute PS2 games by recreating the PS2’s CPU, GPU, and other chips in software.

Is emulation legal? Emulators themselves are legal in many countries, but distributing copyrighted BIOS or game files is not. You should dump your own BIOS and game media from hardware you own and follow the laws in your jurisdiction.

There are two common goals in emulation:

• Accuracy — behaving exactly like the original hardware, which improves compatibility.
• Performance — running fast enough on modern machines, sometimes with enhancements like upscaling.

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