What is Snes9x?
Snes9x is a program designed for SNES game emulation - in other words,
it lets you play Super Nintendo games on your computer. This
emulator is Windows-based and comes in second only to ZSNES.
What is ZSNES?
ZSNES is also a Super Nintendo emulator. This emulator stands
above the rest in features such as sound, visuals, and framerate, and many
others as well. That's because it runs in DOS. Except it has
some problems with my Sidewinder gamepad, though.
What Is an MOV?
MOV files are movies that can be played in QuickTime. Recent
versions of QuickTime will play these in the browser window upon being
clicked. Click
here if you don't have the QuickTime player, or if you'd just like to
check for updates.
What is a ZMV?
A ZMV file is a movie recorded by the Zsnes emulator program. It
contains the gameplay from a selected SNES game.
What Is a Gif?
Files with extensions labeled *.GIF is a GIF file - in other words,
it's a picture. GIF stands for Graphical Interchange Format.
It was developed by CompuServe many years ago and is still used widely
today. It is an image comprised from a 256-color palette, and can
have any of the colors tagged as "transparent", which makes the
background of a website show through it. It can also be made into
animated GIF files - most all animated images you find on the net are in
GIF format.
Most all browsers (versions 1 and up) support this kind of image file.
What Is a JPEG / JPG?
JPG (also known as JPEG on Macintosh) is another image type used a lot
on the internet. But this format uses True Color, which is why it is
used mostly for photography. It uses different levels of compression
- the higher the compression, the lower the file size will be, but the
image quality will go down with it.
Most all browsers (versions 1 and up) support this kind of image file.
What Is Midi?
The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is a music format
created to allow electronic instruments and computers to communicate with
each other. Unlike other audio formats, MIDI doesn’t contain digitized
versions of the sound waves. It’s more like sheet music for computers,
telling which instrument (or computerized imitation of an instrument) to
play which notes when. As a result, MIDI files are much smaller than
digital audio files.
If you would like to upgrade your computer so that its Midi is played at a
better quality, I suggest downloading one of the following: Windows
Media Player, WinAmp, Quicktime,
or Yamaha XG for lower-class PC's.
What Is an MP3?
MP3 is the acronym for MPEG-1, Layer III, the latest popular format
from the Motion Picture Experts Group. It uses a mathematical formula to
interpret sound waves, much as a human ear would, and discard unnecessary
information. As a result, it can reduce music files to about one-twelfth
their original size and retain quality close to that of a CD. The
compressibility has made MP3 the preferred format for downloadable music
on the Internet.
If you would like to upgrade your computer so that it may play this sound
format, I suggest downloading one or more of the following: WinAmp,
Windows Media Player. And to
get a whole truckload of Mp3's, head to the Napster
website.
What Is An SPC?
An SPC file is a music file ripped straight from the SNES ROM coding of
a game. With the right stuff, you'll be able to rip songs and then
listen to them in Winamp.
- To rip a song from an SNES game, open the game in ZSNES (or another
emulator that supports SPC). Right when the song you want starts
playing, hit the F1 key. A window with a short list of options
will pop up. Select "Save SPC Data."
- Next you'll need the Winamp plugin (if you don't already have
Winamp,
click here
and go get it). Click
here to download the plugin. When the transfer has
completed, extract the contents of the zip file into your Winamp/plugins
directory.
- Open winamp, open the file, and voila! You're listening to
SNES music!
