Emulators have always existed alongside their consoles.
That’s to only way you get enough talent involved in a project like that.
Difference is these days computers are fast enough to emulate the consoles much better and the architecture they use is a lot closer to what the PC is using anyway in a lot of cases, or at least a documented strain of ARM with a few custom tweaks.
The people working on the emulators are pioneers forging a path that takes a massive amount of time and effort. Trial and error, tweaking and ironing out the kinks can last years.
Emulators have always existed alongside their consoles. That’s to only way you get enough talent involved in a project like that. Difference is these days computers are fast enough to emulate the consoles much better and the architecture they use is a lot closer to what the PC is using anyway in a lot of cases, or at least a documented strain of ARM with a few custom tweaks.
The people working on the emulators are pioneers forging a path that takes a massive amount of time and effort. Trial and error, tweaking and ironing out the kinks can last years.