Lost that old Spectrum powerpack? Was the Commodore 64 chucked out in the great loft clear out of ’92? Fear not, for there are still ways and means of playing the oldest games on the block without recourse to their original machines. The rapid development in PC technology has enabled bright things to develop emulators for the Spectrum, C64, Amiga and Atari ST.

The original emulators were slow, weak and painful to use, but things have moved on apace (you can even emulate GoldenEye 007 from the N64 on your PC!). Thorny legal problems surround emulation, and the IDSA (Interactive Digital Software Association) is trying to stamp out the whole scene by removing game content from leading emulation Internet sites, such as Dave’s Videogame Classics.

But it’s all a little mealy mouthed. Playing one of your favourite Speccy games on a PC is hardly depriving the original programmers of a living. Moreover, the emulation scene ensures the rich history of videogaming is not forgotten. Imagine if you could never play Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys (or whatever your favourite old album is).

An organisation called CLEAR (Campaign to Leave Emulation Alone) has been formed to champion the rights of those who want to play old games. Let’s hope common sense prevails.