On April 5, 2024, Apple allowed external developers to publish retro game emulators on the App Store. This opportunity appeared as part of the opening of the Apple ecosystem to the EU and relaxations in the App Store policy.
What does this mean for the average smartphone user?
Most likely, after some time we get a number of applications with which we can be nostalgic for childhood games or catch up on unsuccessful projects.
In this article, I decided to make a few assumptions about what emulators are appearing and why they quickly disappeared.
Which emulators appear first?
The first thing that appears in the application store are emulators of the first consoles such as NES (Dandy, if it’s easier for anyone), SNES, SEGA (in all its variations) and PS1. This is if you take stationary consoles. There are plenty of examples of emulators, but most of them fit into one retro combine called RetroArch.
RetroArch is an interesting system. Essentially, this is a large shell that contains many cores of different systems with various improvements to graphics, game speed and resolutions. Yes, you will need to tinker with setting it up, but the result is worth it – launching a near-console interface with different games with one icon is cool. Especially for pre-fixes.
But some things work better separately than as part of RetroArch. For example, DuckStation is a PS1 emulator.
Among its main functions, it is worth noting the ability to fix the main problems of all games on PS1. It was in the image rendering method, which is why modern shaky textures are created on modern screens. DuckStation fixes this and significantly improves the picture.
Well, about laptops. Inside RetroArch there is a core for running games with all technologies Gameboy and even SEGA Gaming Equipment. But from personal experience, it’s easier to launch games on the Game Boy Advance through a separate mGBA emulator, which has already appeared in the App Store and disappeared literally within a day.
In total, for classic games we are waiting for the following emulators:
1. Retroarch all at once
2. Snes9X EX And NES.emu for 8-bit and 16-bit versions of Nintendo
3. MD.emu for everything related to Segoy from our childhood
4. M64Plus FZ for those who want to play games from Nintendo 64
5. Yaba Sanshiro 2 for fans of projects with exotic SEGA Saturn
6. DuckStation as an example of the best PlayStation 1 emulator
7.mGBA for games with Game Boy part
What about heavy cavalry? PS2, Nintendo, PSP
But the emulator market is limited only to deep classics. After the PS1 there was the good Dreamcast, the interesting Nintendo GameCube and the mega-successful PlayStation 2. You can run emulators of these consoles on Android devices. I am sure that they will be transferred to iOS.
More specifically, what remains is the best sequel to the Dreamcast launch on a phone Re-dream. Just use an emulator with good gamepad support and great compatibility. Design in Sonic adventure or draw graffiti in JSR – that’s it.
For PlayStation 2, everything is also clear. AetherSX2 is literally the only PS2 emulator on smartphones. Excellent functionality with the disadvantage of image upscaling is combined with a high level of optimization.
But there is a nuance: the developers of AetherSX2 are using a program without its main element – the BIOS file of the console itself. This protects it from claims of copyright infringement on the one hand. On the other hand, you are expected to use a custom BIOS image, and the only legal way to do this is to copy it from your physical console (according to the developers).
Obviously there is workaroundbut I didn’t tell you that.
Nintendo is getting more interesting. There is such a coating called Dolphin. This is a hybrid emulator that runs two generations of consoles at once: GameCube and Nintendo Wii. Further with an exorbitant level of improvement and ease of use of the program.
It features a clean user interface, decent game support, customizable on-screen controls, support for hardware controllers, and more. There are no other emulators that can do what Dolphin does.
In the portable segment of game consoles, everything is very clear.
For PSP there is a classic and functional PPSSPP with upscaled images, a cool interface and with regret I launch even amateur ports.
And for Nintendo DS you will need DRASTIC DS, simple and convenient. True, in the case of the DS and 3DS (it emulates Citra), I still recommend using the console initially, the screen form factor determines the two.
In total, in the “something more powerful than the first Sonya” segment we expect:
1. Re-dream for Dreamcast. Powerful and reliable
2. EterSX2 for the sake of PS2. Enjoy replaying God of War and Devil May Cry
3. Dolphin to close the device on the best Nintendo projects
4. PPSSPP how to fill the need for a portable classic Sony model
5. DRASTIC DS And Zither for those who are willing to compromise for unique pocket games
What do PS3 and Xbox 360 emulators mean?
I close the list of expectations that I will be something that we most likely will not see on the platform for one reason or another.
Most likely, no one will try to port PS3 and Xbox 360 emulators to iOS in the coming years. The reason is very simple – it all comes down to the power of smartphones. Yes, we have reached the time when phones have their own ports of large projects from PS4 and PS5, but emulation requires significantly more resources.
But with the Nintendo Switch emulator everything is more complicated. Nominally, it exists on smartphones, but just recently, thanks to the company’s software lawyers, all development was completely stopped, and the emulator itself was mercilessly removed from all visible sources. Including on PC.
And this situation with YUZU (switch emulator, actually) gives me very dark thoughts.
Most likely this will not end well.
On paper it all sounds cool. Apple is making very big concessions to its content distribution system. But the devil is in the details. The company has already clarified that it will block publications of applications that distribute pirated retro games, which sounds extremely logical.
However, it is not yet possible to use the BIOS console, which will be emulated. Nominally The very fact that an emulator exists is not piracy. Until you offer a BIOS image from the console at its root.
In an ideal world (according to the developers of AetherSX2) you must remove it yourself dampen personally consolidate and put it in the root of the emulator. Now let’s admit it to ourselves – who will do this and who owns this technical resource? That’s what I’m talking about.
Emulators are designed to run images of personal games. Naturally, no one checks this, but the fact remains a fact.
Based on this, we can immediately conclude that when emulators appear, for them to work you will need to bother setting up and searching for the BIOS, and it is also advisable to find a source. The same RetroArch can download games from sources, but, obviously, this is contrary to the policy of Apple itself.
And I also have big questions about monetization. Practice shows that any attempt to monetize an emulator will sooner or later anger lawyers.
The recent case of Citra and YUZU is such an example. Nintendo destroyed them primarily because the developers openly made money on their product. Putting emulators on the Alt.Store and App Store completely free of charge is not beneficial to anyone.
But wait and see. Everything written above is just my humble analysis, based on messages from various developers and observations of the emulators scene. The same Hendrik Ridgard (creator of PPSSPP) He said that he would release an emulator without the ability to download content from under it (available including BIOS) there is not much point, but he will try.
And in the comments write your speculations about all this. Have a good day!
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
