Editing Video game console (section)

==Emulation and backward compatibility==
{{Main|Video game console emulator|Backward compatibility}}
Consoles, like most consumer electronic devices, have limited lifespans. There is great interest in [[video game preservation|preservation]] of older console hardware for archival and historical purposes, as games from older consoles, as well as arcade and personal computers, remain of interest. Computer programmers and hackers have developed emulators that can be run on personal computers or other consoles that simulate the hardware of older consoles that allow games from that console to be run. The development of software emulators of console hardware is established to be legal, but there are unanswered legal questions surrounding [[copyright]]s, including acquiring a console's [[firmware]] and copies of a game's [[ROM image]], which laws such as the United States' [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]] make illegal save for certain archival purposes.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.pcgamer.com/the-ethics-of-emulation-how-creators-the-community-and-the-law-view-console-emulators/ | title = The ethics of emulation: how creators, the community, and the law view console emulators | first = Wes | last = Fenlon | date = March 28, 2017 | access-date = July 31, 2020 | work = [[PC Gamer]] | archive-date = November 18, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211118222042/https://www.pcgamer.com/the-ethics-of-emulation-how-creators-the-community-and-the-law-view-console-emulators/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Even though emulation itself is legal, Nintendo is recognized to be highly protective of any attempts to emulate its systems and has taken early legal actions to shut down such projects.<ref name="game over white paper">{{cite journal | title= Use of a Game Over: Emulation and the Video Game Industry, A White Paper | first1= James | last1= Conley | first2= Ed | last2= Andros | first3= Priti | last3= Chinai | first4= Elise | last4= Lipkowitz | first5= David | last5= Perez | journal= Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property | volume= 2 | issue= 2 | date= Spring 2004 | url= https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njtip/vol2/iss2/3/ | access-date= September 2, 2020 | archive-date= November 18, 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211118235114/https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njtip/vol2/iss2/3/ | url-status= live }}</ref>

To help support older games and console transitions, manufacturers started to support backward compatibility on consoles in the same family. Sony was the first to do this on a home console with the [[PlayStation 2]] which was able to play original [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] content, and subsequently became a sought-after feature across many consoles that followed.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Generational Transitions in Platform Markets— The Role of Backward Compatibility | first1 = Tobias | last1 = Kretschmer | first2 = Jörg | last2 = Claussen | journal = Strategy Science | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | pages = 90–104 | date = June 2016 | doi = 10.1287/stsc.2015.0009 | doi-access = free | hdl = 10398/542b2963-1b69-4890-9ab5-7a99fc8fe804 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> Backward compatibility functionality has included direct support for previous console games on the newer consoles such as within the [[Xbox]] console family,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Orland|first=Kyle|date=July 16, 2020|title=Xbox Series X won't support Kinect hardware, games|url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/07/xbox-series-x-wont-support-kinect-hardware-games/|access-date=July 17, 2020|website=Ars Technica|language=en-us|archive-date=July 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717053550/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/07/xbox-series-x-wont-support-kinect-hardware-games/|url-status=live}}</ref> the distribution of emulated games such as [[Nintendo]]'s [[Virtual Console]], or using [[cloud gaming]] services for these older games as with the [[PlayStation Now]] service.