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For years, Apple prevented developers from launching console game emulators on the App Store, but that changed earlier this year amid antitrust investigations in the EU. Interestingly, years before all this App Store drama, Steve Jobs once proudly unveiled a PlayStation emulator for the Mac at one of Apple’s events.
The year was 1999 and Apple was about to announce upgrades to the iMac G3 and the new Power Mac G3 at Macworld Expo. During the event, Steve Jobs often emphasized that Macs were also great gaming machines, but there’s one particular demo that’s worth rewatching.
Jobs, together with Phil Schiller, unveiled Connectix’s Virtual Game Station (VGS) on stage. It was the first PlayStation emulator capable of running games at full speed for any platform. VGS was coming to the Mac first, and to show this, Schiller played Crash Bandicoot: Warped emulated live at the keynote.
“Our goal is to have the best gaming machine in the world,” said Jobs when comparing the Mac to the original PlayStation, considered the most popular games console in the world at the time. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could play some of those titles too?” Jobs said before announcing VGS. “It’s just a phenomenal idea,” Schiller later said.
VGS cost $49 and was officially compatible only with original PlayStation game CDs. Unsurprisingly, Sony didn’t like the idea and filed a lawsuit against Connectix for copyright infringement. The plot twist? Connectix won the case and Sony then had to buy the emulation software to shut it down.
Years later, Apple completely changed its policies when it came to emulating games. From the very beginning, the App Store forbade emulation software. That’s why it’s so interesting to see Jobs and Schiller excited about a game emulator. But of course, we’re talking about the same era when Macs shipped with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
Now, although Apple doesn’t say much about it, game emulators are finally allowed in the App Store – and there are a lot of them available for download.
Are there any other memorable moments from Apple keynotes that you remember? Let us know in the comments section below.
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