Ludo is an Emulator Frontend able to run retro video games. Ludo does not emulate the consoles itself, but does it through emulator plugins called libretro cores. Libretro cores are well known emulators (like Snes9x or Genesis Plus GX or PCSX) stripped from their user interface. They contain only console specific logic.
Separating the frontend from the emulation logic has the following advantages:
Frontend developers only have to code the user interface once
Developing a new frontend functionality can benefit all the emulators at once
Emulator developers can benefit from a mature user interface without coding it
Gamers can configure emulators all at once
The user interface, configuration, and storage are consistent across emulators... More Info »
From the gamer perspective, Ludo is a universal retro game browser and player. It offers a gaming experience optimized for TV and joypads, but can also be used on a traditional PC with a keyboard.
How is Ludo different from RetroArch?
Ludo will stay smaller than RetroArch by only implementing the core features and by targeting less platforms.
By not adding advanced functionalities we aim to deliver a stable frontend for beginner users on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux.
Some design choices are different, for example we support less cores, and choose cores for the user. The cores are packaged in the frontend so no additional step is required to launch a game.
