Yes, Virtual Consoles is an absolutely free service. We even decided not to use any advertisement on the emulator pages for the best user experience.

Almost each emulator comes from different source so there would be differences in browser support. For best overall experience use the latest version of modern browsers like Google Chrome / Mozilla Firefox.

Most emulators can run on mobile platforms, but due to physical keyboard and/or usb gamepads needed for playing retro games, you can enjoy best user experience on desktop environments. Some of our emulators support mobile devices with touchpad controls.

It depends on the emulator. Several online emulators at Virtual Consoles can detect usb gamepads. If not you can use your keyboard which mapped to joystick controls.

First try to unmute the emulator if an audio on/off button or icon available (the default setting is mute). Most of the emulator use WebAudio API which some of the browsers not implemented yet so you should try another one.

You should try using another browser, mostly the latest version of Firefox or Google Chrome and a faster computer, as far as possible a desktop one. All the emulators on Virtual Consoles are experimental and as free services we cannot guarantee that the emulators work in all environments.

If a certain game doesn’t start it’s because the certain online emulator is experimental. If a certain game doesn’t run properly, for example it's very slow, you should try to load it on another browser and/or computer.

No, Virtual Consoles program / service provided non-commercial, free of charge, ‘as is’ and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. In no event shall the author or contributors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption). However caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage. You can find more in Terms of use page.

All of the emulators available at Virtual Consoles written in or compiled to pure JavaScript which made possible to run emulators in the browser without using any plugin like Adobe Flash Player, or Java Runtime Environment.