For cartridge-based systems like NES/SNES/N64 etc. you can generally just use .ZIP files or leave them uncompressed i.e. .NES .SMC .SFC .N64 .Z64 .NSP etc.

• Amstrad GX4000
  
• Atari 2600
  
• Atari 5200
  
• Atari 7800
  
• Atari XEGS
  
• Atari Lynx
  
• Atari Jaguar
  
• Bandai WonderSwan
  
• Bandai WonderSwan Color
  
• Colecovision
  
• Fairchild Channel F
  
• Fisher-Price Pixter
  
• Fisher-Price Smart Cycle
  
• Interton Video 2000
  
• LeapFrog Leapster
  
• LeapFrog LeapPad
  
• LeapFrog LeapTV
  
• Magnavox Odyssey
  
• Magnavox Odyssey 2 / Philips Videopac G7000
  
• Mattel Intellivision
  
• Milton Bradley Vectrex
  
• Milton Bradley Microvision
  
• NEC TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine
  
• NEC TurboExpress
  
• Nikko Europe digiBLAST
  
• NES/Famicom
  
• SNES/Super Famicom
  
• Nintendo 64
  
• Nintendo Game Boy
  
• Nintendo Game Boy Color
  
• Nintendo Game Boy Advance
  
• Nintendo Virtual Boy
  
• Pokémon Mini
  
• Sega SG-1000 Mark I / SG-1000 Mark II
  
• Sega Master System / Mark III
  
• Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
  
• Sega Game Gear
  
• Sega Pico
  
• Sega 32X
  
• Sega Advanced Pico Beena
  
• SNK Neo Geo
  
• SNK Neo Geo Pocket
  
• SNK Neo Geo Pocket Color

This guide covers CD/DVD/UMD Based systems, there is currently no emulator that support CHD compressed Blu-Ray (PS3/PS4/XBOX ONE/Series X/S)

• Atari Jaguar CD
  
• Bandai Playdia
  
• Commodore Amiga CDTV
  
• Commodore Amiga CD32
  
• Sega CD
  
• Sega Saturn
  
• Sega Dreamcast
  
• Sony PlayStation
  
• Sony PlayStation 2
  
• Sony PlayStation Portable
  
• Mattel HyperScan
  
• Memorex Video Information System
  
• NEC PC-FX
  
• NEC TurboGrafx-CD (PC Engine CD)
  
• NEC TurboDuo
  
• SNK Neo Geo CD
  
• Panasonic 3DO
  
• Panasonic 3DO M2
  
• Philips CD-I
  
• VTech V.Flash

CHD (“Compressed Hunks of Data”) files are compressed data files that can be used on most disc based systems.

They are in a lossless compression format, meaning that they perfectly preserve all game data while reducing file sizes.

Most CD-based roms will come in bin/cue files, sometimes in multiple tracks. I've once seen a rom split in 85+ files, namDHC will combine all these into a single file.

⬇️Download[github.com] the chdman.exe and namDHC.exe files from the latest namDHC GitHub release and place these files in a folder together.

Open the namDHC.exe file and select “Add files” or "Add folder" from the Input Files section.
Choose the files you want to convert to CHD. These file types can be cue, toc, gdi, iso, or zip files. You can select many files at once.
Select your desired Output Folder and then click the “Create CHD” button.
When complete, you can read a report to verify that all CHD files were created successfully.

⚠️Note: Some prototype or unreleased builds of roms may not convert due to missing certain data.⚠️

⚠️Note: Original Xbox does not support CHD compression.⚠️ See more info here[github.com]

⚠️Note: PS3 ISO files can be converted and compressed to CHD but RPCS3 does not support them.⚠️ See more info here[github.com]

When using the Dolphin emulator for GameCube and Wii emulation, you can take advantage of a special compressed format known as RVZ.

Converting to this file is super easy, as it can be done in the Dolphin GUI.

⚠️Note: In order to do this you need to use Dolphin 5.0-12188 or later⚠️

Once you have set up and set your games file path in Dolphin emulator:

Right-click on the game and select “Convert File”

Under “Format”, choose RVZ
Choose ratio 10
Click the “Convert” button
That’s it! Depending on the game, this tool will compress the file by up to 90%.

⚠️Note: You can multi-click on the games within the Dolphin window, and then right-click and select “Convert Selected Files” to batch convert them.⚠️

Another file type that is super handy are .wua files, which are compressed files that will work within the Cemu (Wii U) emulator.

These will compress everything together into a single file: the base game, DLC, updates, etc.

⚠️Note: In order to do this you need to use Cemu 1.27 or later. You also need to install game updates, and DLC into the emulator beforehand.⚠️
Click File > Install game title, update or DLC...

Choose your game files, updates and DLC



Next click on Tools > Title Manager.

Here you will see a list of all the games, updates, and DLC loaded for each game.
Find the game under the “base” type.

Right-click on a game and select “Convert to compressed Wii U archive (.wua)” and it will confirm
all of the data that will be compressed into a single file.
Click on OK to confirm.

Choose your output folder for the .wua file, and you are good to go! Re-load this file into Cemu,
and discard the other files if you would like (you can delete them from the Title Manager tool).

Nintendo Game Cards are physical flash storage cards produced by Nintendo that contain video game software for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, or Nintendo Switch families of consoles. While most would refer to these as cartridges (Myself included) they are technically different.

• Nintendo DS
  
• Nintendo 3DS
  
• Nintendo Switch

Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS game files come in .nds and .3ds formats and do not need to be merged/compressed.

Nintendo Switch games will come in .xci or .nsp formats, NSP is preferred and can be converted from XCI files. Being that Nintendo Switch games have Updates and DLC we can combine these all into a single NSP files like with Wii U and WUA.

With Switch Army Knife you can easily combine NSP content from your switch.

⬇️Download[github.com] Switch Army Knife from github and extract the files.

Place your key file binaries in the bin folder. (prod.keys, title.keys)

Launch SAK.exe and click Update NSP.
Click open NSP and choose your base game file.
Under update click open NSP and choose your update file and DLC files if applicable.
Then click update NSP file
After a few moments the combined NSP file will be output to the Switch Army Knife directory.
Move the file to your Switch roms folder and delete the orignal files if you like.

⚠️Note: If a new update or DLC is released you can add it to and update your combined file via this same procedure.⚠️

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2911175529
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2980681260
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2933330310
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2954279066
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2546622560