What Is OpenEmu: How to Play Retro Games on Your Modern Mac (2024)

As companies move away from older consoles and new operating systems render many games unplayable, it becomes harder to play all your favorite games from the past. Game conservation has never been more important, butthe industry as a whole has mostly failed here.

Valiant efforts have been made by the Internet Archive and GOG.com to preserve classic arcade, console, and computer games, but the major game developers could be doing more.As nice as it is to have subscriptions to Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, or Nintendo Switch Online, those services can be shut off at any time.

There are anumber of waysto enjoy the old console games you grew up playing—includingbuilding your own machineor buying a retro console—but the most accessible is the emulator, a program that lets you play any game in any operating system.

Unfortunately, the web is now littered with dozens of programs promising different results, and not all ROMs are compatiblewith current operating systems. What's worse—all the focus seems centered onemulating games with your Windows PC, but what if you have a Mac? Don't despair:OpenEmuis the perfect solution for retro gamers who only have access to macOS.If you have a Mac and fond memories of game consoles past, read on.

What Is OpenEmu?

(Credit: PCMag / OpenEmu)

Released in 2013, OpenEmu is not actually an emulator. Instead, it's a robust front end for other console emulators. On its own, that's nothing new; front ends have existed for a long time. OpenEmu differentiates itself by working a lot like a streamlined iTunes—that is, if iTunes were smooth and fast, not sluggish, confusing, and dead.

For example, OpenEmu has a built-in library that shows you box art for each of your games, and automatically sorts by platform. It also lets you make custom collections across multiple platforms anduniversalizes controller schemes for each emulated system. It all comes wrapped in an easy-to-understand and attractive interface.

The best part is that OpenEmu provides the emulators for each platform right out of the box. When you download the program, it already comes packaged with a large selection of emulators, or integrated cores. You don't have to hunt down the right core that is compatible with the ROM you have. Some systems also have multiple cores included, so there's never an issue with incompatibility.

What Consoles Does OpenEmu Support?

OpenEmu has the ability to play games from a large collection of home consoles. Supported systems include the Atari 2600, Super NES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PSP, and more. For a full list, see the table below:

In theory,OpenEmu is also compatible with some arcade ROMs, but support is experimental and your success getting these games to run may vary. In general,MAMEROMs are the only type that can be played inside OpenEmu. If you come across JAMMA or Neo Geo games in your search, they won't work.

Games for home computers from the '70s and '80s are not supported—you'll need separate emulators for, say, theAtari 800or1040ST. Also, more complex older systems like the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Xbox are not supported either.

How to Play Games on OpenEmu

Extra: Add Screen Filters

(Credit: PCMag / OpenEmu)

This one is not strictly necessary, but it becomes screamingly obvious on a modern monitor how low-res all of these games were if you don't add a screen filter. To apply one, head to OpenEmu > Preferences > Gameplay and open the Shader drop-down menu.

Play around with what you like best—the CRT and VCR filters, for instance, make games look like you're playing on an old TV screen with scan lines and everything. Just make sure to close and reopen the game so the new styles can be implemented.

Extra: Add BIOS Files For Certain Consoles

(Credit: PCMag / OpenEmu)

One major complication when playing retro games is that some systems, such as the original PlayStation and Sega Saturn, require BIOS files to work. These special ROM files emulate the operating system of the console. OpenEmu has auser guide on BIOS files, but it's not too complicated that you can't figure it out yourself.

The good news is that OpenEmu is smart enough to know what's missing. If you run into this issue, a message will appear on the screen to tell you exactly what files you need to download. From there, it's just a matter of hunting down the right files and getting them into the system.

For PlayStation games, you will need several BIOS files: scph5500.bin, scph5501.bin, and scph5502.bin. If you can't find the last one, but have found scph5552.bin, you can simply rename it to match the necessary file name. Sega Saturn games need: sega_101.bin and mpr-17933.bin. Some console add-ons like the Sega CD, Sega 32X, and the TurboGrafx-CD are supported, but may also be a little finicky.

Instead of adding these BIOS files into OpenEmu like a game ROM, you will have to drag them into the~/Library/Application Support/OpenEmu/BIOSfolder directly.Go toOpenEmu > Preferences > SystemFilesto see which cores require additional BIOS files to work. You will also be able to see which ones you have added and which you still need.

Remember to Clean Up Your Library

(Credit: PCMag / OpenEmu)

Keep in mind that OpenEmu doesn't just move a ROM's location, it actually duplicates the file itself—one version in your Application Support files and another will continue to exist in your downloads folder (or wherever you have it saved).

This is important only because you should probably keep an eye on how much you're downloading. While most 8- and 16-bit game ROMs only take up a few kilobytes or megabytes of room, files for more modern system will begin to take up hundreds of megabytes or even several gigabytes. Some games can even require you to download multiple discs to get the whole game.

Having duplicate files around can lead to storage crunch, so you can safely delete the file you originally downloaded once you confirm the game works in OpenEmu.

Want to Avoid ROMs Altogether? Try Homebrew Titles

(Credit: PCMag / OpenEmu)

If you don't feel like messing with ROMS at all, OpenEmu actually includes a decent number of custom-built games called Homebrews. These titles are built by hobbyists to run on proprietary hardware, resulting in games that look and feel like classic console installments but are actually modern inventions.

Open the program's main menu and select the Homebrew tab to view the list of games available. You'll find fan-made titles like Halo 2600 for the Atari 2600, an SNES remake of the Donkey Kong arcade game called Classic Kong, and a compilation of several Pac-Man titles called Pac-Man Collection for the Atari 7800.