I use a Gameboy emulator called VisualBoyAdvance. When you press space, it speeds up the emulator very fast, which makes using the game so much easier. However, that puts a lot of strain on my CPU, and therefore my fan. I want to know if overuse of this function may result in damaging my hardware.

over use of anything, will cause it damage eventually .just ask Deep Throat

But, will this cause damage in a low amount of time? Like, in the next month or whatever? It drives my CPU usage to like 80% or so and makes my fan spin very loudly.

it could who know for sure ,it good die tomorrow for all i know ,what cpu are you running

Intel Centrino. It's about a year old. I'm just asking if intense fan usage will cause the system to die or age faster.

Intel Centrino ,so its a laptop ,my answer is still the same .intense usage ,yes in my opinion ,especially if the fan stop working ,then the cpu will quickly overheat