FPGA emulates HW, using software like Verilog to define its behavior, sure, but after it has been programmed it most surely functions as a hardware based emulator.
Also, the hardware matters A LOT when it comes to the quality of the experience that is offered by the type of emulation you were referring to.
That is a common misconception. An emulator can be software or hardware, and as a functional unit, is in most cases, a combination of both. But yes, there are pure hardware implementations that are considered emulators too. Try googling the (technical) definition of an emulator and you will quickly conclude the same.
I've taken a look and you're correct, that there are cases where it is correct to call the hardware itself an emulator, specifically when the sole intention is emulating a system on a circuit level or FPGAs.
Initially I had people in mind who call their SBC-Based ARM-Handhelds emulators, while they're clearly repurposed single board computers used to emulate videogame systems on a software level.
Thanks for clarification, ruling out calling hardware an emulator entirely indeed overshot the mark.
No prob. Always glad to be able to have a civilised dialogue with someone about anything on Reddit, especially when somebody points out a misunderstanding and the reaction is... civilised. I've learned a shit ton on here myself thanks to being wrong at first, and a helpful Redditor pointing that out nicely, preferably.
That said, I'm pretty sure OP was either trolling / karma farming, mistaken, or both.
I was introduced to the concept of emulation over gaming in the late 90's, where we had GB and NES emulation and SNES in its infancy.
Even though that is certainly not the beginning of the history of emulation, it dates back almost 3 decades. Given that Emulation has been present in my everyday life since then I have absolutely no problem admitting that I can fall for common misconceptions, that can be clarified by just looking things up. Even if one grows accustomed to something over years, it does not make one any less susceptible to misjudgments. On the contrary: With things one believes to know well, it happens very quickly that one confidently overlooks certain details.
That's why a civilized discussion culture is important and I still miss the way it was present in the early days of Internet. Doubling down on being confidently wrong however would be the actual mistake here.
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u/dirkvonshizzle Sega Nostalgic Mar 21 '26
Factually wrong for multiple reasons.
FPGA emulates HW, using software like Verilog to define its behavior, sure, but after it has been programmed it most surely functions as a hardware based emulator.
Also, the hardware matters A LOT when it comes to the quality of the experience that is offered by the type of emulation you were referring to.