This thread is for discussing how feasible it is; not whether or not people should create emulators.
It's a curious question, because in hardware terms, an AMD APU should be right there to execute the same codebase. It'd come down to SDK and libraries I suppose, although various Windows or whatever overheads would likely require a bit faster APU to emulate. You'd also want the same BW, so ~200 GB/s for XB1 for an ideal emulation, which isn't happening any time soon. Maybe when we get fast, stacked RAM on an APU, it'll be possible.
I understand however I thought I was basically saying it wasn't feasible in making all the effort because there is a bit of a difference now as opposed to pre-PS2 generation hardware.
Your right an Amd Apu with 8 cores at a higher clock and 1000 or so shaders could do a decnt job at emulation. I wonder when we can expect a product like this to be released?
That assumes the AMD APU hardware for consoles wasn't customized to prevent future outside emulator development or hacking. Just on clock speed alone and matching cores, just may not be enough.
AMD or even Intel have made different CPUs even if similar for different markets...surely the shared technology in current consoles does not equal the related PC parts just like xbox one and PS4 are somewhat distant cousins.
Then again I also don't want to assume that the engineering behind the development of these consoles basically had an "anti-emulators" agenda but resisting hackers goes hand in hand.
A working emulation may well end up being (or trying to be) blocked by copyright acts. It's one thing to emulate an outdated machine, but another entirely to emulate an existing product on a fully programmable, hackable, pirateable platform. For one thing, use of the OS would be a copyright violation (compare to Amiga Emulators that required you to copy the OS from you hardware to use). There'd also be security hacks required to get software to run.
So I'm not sure a consideration of when is relevant. We should stick to 'can it'.
I find it interesting how there are GameCube and PS2 emulators (they took years and needed PC parts that were generations later) yet as mentioned there really isn't a comparable xbox 1 emulator despite how closer to PC parts that old console was compared to current Xbox one or PS4.
The xbox 1 and 360 were hacked but initially it was a somewhat popular encouraged challenge (if you remember) and later to just pirate and cheat on xbl...
I would imagine that despite any current hacking that Microsoft took steps and by relation so would Sony and Nintendo to add a layer of hardware that just increases the effort and complexity of making even a working emulator to boot at all.
I'm not saying it's hopeless but specially last generation's hacking and piracy horrors, you would think lessons were learned.
I would like to say it depends or that it's definitely possible but then these companies would have dropped the ball if there's working emulators too easily made or too soon.
Just to reiterate my feelings that there has to be interest to motivate the effort to make such emulators...even if there is, it may not be feasible even in the long run considering these emulators are hobbies.
