Emulators
Very early on we did have a NES and SNES we got in the household for cheap from a friend. At some point I got a computer and learned about being able to play games for other consoles on just my little PC. I could finally play some of the games my friends talked about that I could not find or afford myself. These always tended to be older titles though. We still had a solid era where we burned PSX discs.
Following here is a list of places to get different emulators for different systems. Listed are the ones I use or used. Sometimes I would check up after noticing an emulators hasen't updated in 2 years to find the site gone. This could still happen! Always look around a bit yourself, too!
All in 1 -
Android
GBA -
Android
GBC -
Android
NEO GEO -
Android
N64 -
Android
DS -
Android
GC -
Android
NES -
Android
DREAMCAST -
Android
SEGA SATURN -
Android
PSX -
Android
PS2 -
Android
PSP -
Android
SNES -
Android
To run most emulators, you will need a BIOS File. Legally I cannot be seen throwing those out there (Wizards of the Coast watch my Mediafire), but these are not terribly hard to find.
ROM's
A ROM is simply the game file. Sometimes the company that published or produced the games will go on an internet hunt to kill as many ROM sites as possible. Always look around a bit yourself! You never know when a site gets nuked to quickly stop legal devastation. USB drives are your friends.
Coolrom
Zophar's Domain
Sony ISOs