You can get an emulator running on just about any device at this point, and while ROM files and save back-ups are more or less standardised across various emulators, the cloud conveniences of modern tech haven’t entirely infiltrated the world of emulation. Now, Afterplay.io aims to change that by letting you keep a cross-platform library of ROMs accessible in any browser across any device.
Afterplay.io is a browser-based implementation of mGBA which lets you upload a ROM and immediately start playing. You won’t have all the features you’d see in a standalone emulator, but the site currently features remappable controls and automatic save states, so you can pick up your progress any time, anywhere. It’s cross-platform, too, so you can start playing on a PC browser and then load up and continue playing on mobile with touch controls, if that’s your jam.
Developer Patrick Corrigan describes Afterplay.io as a “passion project”, but he’s got big plans for it, including support for many more platforms. Super Nintendo support through Snes9x was added in a recent update, and Corrigan hopes to eventually include everything up through the original PlayStation and Nintendo 64.
You can see a demo of all Afterplay.io’s features in the video below.
Methods for playing old games will apparently never cease to multiply, and that’s a very good thing.