Running Windows Emulators on Mac Using a Windows Emulator

steiney · October 9th, 2009, 22:48

Hi All,

I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with the following scenario and how it worked:

I have a Macbook Pro. I have been using a few different video game emulators such as Snes9x. There is limited availability, though, of emulators for Mac, especially when it comes to PS2, etc. whereas there are many more for Windows.

My thought is to run a Windows emulator, either Parallels or VMWare Fusion, and then run whichever video game emulator inside the Windows emulation. It seems like it would work, but I'm curious to see if anyone has tried this or if anyone thinks this would work/not work.

I'm open to suggestions, comments, questions, etc.

Thanks,

steiney

Spyhop · October 9th, 2009, 23:30

I know you can run many opengl and d3d games through vmware fusion or parallels with 3d acceleration. Obviously, you're going to need enough ram to accomodate the overhead. Not really sure if emus will work the same way tbh.

Ahielia · October 10th, 2009, 00:15

So, you want to run an emulator inside an emulator?
Good luck with that

I see no problem with it, but that's just me I guess.
If your hardware is good enough, it shouldn't be a problem.

Spyhop · October 10th, 2009, 02:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ahielia

So, you want to run an emulator inside an emulator?

A virtual machine is not an emulator.

Squall-Leonhart · October 10th, 2009, 04:03

a Virtual Machine IS an emulator.

Quote:

A virtual machine (VM) is a software implementation of a machine (i.e. a computer) that executes programs like a physical machine.

The Dictionary Definition of Emulate (Emulator, Emulation) Defines its status as an emulator.

Last edited by Squall-Leonhart; October 10th, 2009 at 04:03.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

Spyhop · October 10th, 2009, 05:59

Sigh. I knew some nickpicky fool was gonna have to chip in his 2 cents and completely sidetrack the issue.

It's not an emulator in the way he's describing, and VMs emulate a machine, not windows. Windows is running natively, and should be capable of doing what he wants, provided he has the resources to do so and there's no weird emu issue (with the game emu I mean)

Last edited by Spyhop; October 10th, 2009 at 06:21..

Mad · October 10th, 2009, 14:40

You can ran some old console emus inside a VM.
But dont expect to run anything after DC on it.

Your better guess would find linux emus from those consoles, and try to compile them on Mac OS.

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aceloop · October 10th, 2009, 15:27

Just dual boot in to M$ Windows, or if they is something like Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator (i put this here just in case some people/person think Wine is an Emulator)) for mac, unlike a VM which is an Emulator.

VT-Vincent · October 10th, 2009, 15:42

You may want to look at VMware Fusion 3 when it comes out, they are making huge strides in supporting Direct3D and OpenGL and version 3 is supposed to be one of the best implementations yet. For the most part though, I would recommend dual booting Windows with boot camp as your primary option. Running a VM requires a lot of overhead and as such, it will never perform to the level of an OS running directly on the hardware.

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Lex_Light · October 10th, 2009, 20:46

Even if WINE says that "Wine Is Not an Emulator", it's an emulator.

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xZabuzax · October 11th, 2009, 02:22

Running an emulator inside an emulator?, i was experimenting with that and i managed to run the dos version of zsnes inside dosbox 0.73, i tried f-zero and to my surprise dosbox runned dos-zsnes at 30 fps, with nearly perfect audio and it was quite playable.

Of course i tried dosbox with more emulators (gbc, nes, snes) but zsnes was the one with better results. I'm surprised that dosbox could run a playable snes emulator inside it on my old pc.

Athlon 3200+
GeForce 6100
Win XP Professional
2gb Ram

October 9th, 2009, 22:48	#1
steiney Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: FL, USA Posts: 1	Running Windows Emulators on Mac Using a Windows Emulator Hi All, I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with the following scenario and how it worked: I have a Macbook Pro. I have been using a few different video game emulators such as Snes9x. There is limited availability, though, of emulators for Mac, especially when it comes to PS2, etc. whereas there are many more for Windows. My thought is to run a Windows emulator, either Parallels or VMWare Fusion, and then run whichever video game emulator inside the Windows emulation. It seems like it would work, but I'm curious to see if anyone has tried this or if anyone thinks this would work/not work. I'm open to suggestions, comments, questions, etc. Thanks, steiney

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October 9th, 2009, 23:30	#2
Spyhop Banned Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: SPAAACCCCE Posts: 7,343	I know you can run many opengl and d3d games through vmware fusion or parallels with 3d acceleration. Obviously, you're going to need enough ram to accomodate the overhead. Not really sure if emus will work the same way tbh.

October 10th, 2009, 00:15	#3
Ahielia I'm sexy and I know it! Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: VIKINGLAND! Posts: 4,370	So, you want to run an emulator inside an emulator? Good luck with that I see no problem with it, but that's just me I guess. If your hardware is good enough, it shouldn't be a problem.

October 10th, 2009, 05:59	#6
Spyhop Banned Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: SPAAACCCCE Posts: 7,343	Sigh. I knew some nickpicky fool was gonna have to chip in his 2 cents and completely sidetrack the issue. It's not an emulator in the way he's describing, and VMs emulate a machine, not windows. Windows is running natively, and should be capable of doing what he wants, provided he has the resources to do so and there's no weird emu issue (with the game emu I mean) Last edited by Spyhop; October 10th, 2009 at 06:21..

October 10th, 2009, 14:40	#7
Mad AKA snkmad Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Brazil, Fortaleza-Ceará Posts: 4,030	You can ran some old console emus inside a VM. But dont expect to run anything after DC on it. Your better guess would find linux emus from those consoles, and try to compile them on Mac OS. __________________ Main PC:Win 7 SP1 PRO X64 - Asus P5G41C-M LX - Intel Q6600@2.4Ghz - OCZ 2x 2GB DDR2 1000Mhz - Sapphire Vapor-X HD5770 1GB GDDR5 - 19" LCD SyncMaster T190 - Samsung SATA II HD322HJ 320GB HTPC:Acer Aspire AR1600 - Windows 7 PRO X86 - Atom 230@1.6Ghz - 3GB DDR2 800Mhz - Nvidia ION LE - SATA II WD 160GB + Seagate GoFlex Desk 2TB USB 3.0 Notebook:Dell Inspiron 14R N4110 - Windows 7 SP1 PRO X64 / Ubuntu 12.04 X64 - Intel Core i5 2410M@2.3Ghz - 8GB DDR3@1333Mhz - Intel HD 3000 - WDC SATA II 640GB + SSD Kingston V200 128GB +WD Scorpio Blue 320GB USB 3.0 CASE

October 10th, 2009, 15:27	#8
aceloop Me > You Join Date: May 2008 Location: Hotel Dusk Posts: 1,519	Just dual boot in to M$ Windows, or if they is something like Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator (i put this here just in case some people/person think Wine is an Emulator)) for mac, unlike a VM which is an Emulator.

October 10th, 2009, 15:42	#9
VT-Vincent VTemulation.net Founder Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 149	You may want to look at VMware Fusion 3 when it comes out, they are making huge strides in supporting Direct3D and OpenGL and version 3 is supposed to be one of the best implementations yet. For the most part though, I would recommend dual booting Windows with boot camp as your primary option. Running a VM requires a lot of overhead and as such, it will never perform to the level of an OS running directly on the hardware. __________________ Twitter \| Facebook \| YouTube

October 11th, 2009, 02:22	#11
xZabuzax Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Dominican Republic Posts: 478	Running an emulator inside an emulator?, i was experimenting with that and i managed to run the dos version of zsnes inside dosbox 0.73, i tried f-zero and to my surprise dosbox runned dos-zsnes at 30 fps, with nearly perfect audio and it was quite playable. Of course i tried dosbox with more emulators (gbc, nes, snes) but zsnes was the one with better results. I'm surprised that dosbox could run a playable snes emulator inside it on my old pc. Athlon 3200+ GeForce 6100 Win XP Professional 2gb Ram