For the retro-obsessed console gamer, Console Classix is a nice and easy shortcut to PC emulation of the greatest hits from Atari 2600, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, GameBoy, and Genesis. Atari 2600 and Nintendo games are free with required e-mail registration, while the other platforms are available in various, fairly inexpensive subscription plans.

The creators of Console Classix avoid breaking copyright law by keeping a large number of copies of each game, then providing emulation of the owned games. The program consists of two applications: a browser for searching the game database, and the actual gaming application.

Though it certainly is fun to play classics such as Yar's Revenge, Donkey Kong, and Defender at the touch of a button, we're not sure if the system is sufficiently scalable. We experienced some significant slowdowns and program crashes during our testing, which seemed to be due to server lag.

It's hard to tell whether Console Classix can support a large user base, but we have to give them plenty of respect for creating a well-designed and comprehensive retro gaming system.