hi all,
ive dabbled with quite a few emulators on the android platform, and most are a bit dissapointing, and the paid for ones are the worse of all, totally lacking in features and compatibility.
when i got my jxd s7300 i thought it would rekindle my interest in emulation, with its 7 inch screen and half decent d-pad, but ive now dug out my old psp cos the emulators on that are better than the very basic emulators on android.
whether its snes/amiga/psx/mame, the psp emulators are the complete package, but the android emulators pale in comparison.
for example, every single emulator on the psp has autofire/turbofire options in the input options, cos even back in the psp days emulator authors had the common sense to realise that the cheap tacky psp buttons were not designed to be repeatedly mashed playing some manic old school shootemup.
today, on touchscreen tablets and tablets and phones etc with very cheap and small weedy physical controls, the need to not constantly mash the buttons is even more important, and not to mention making the whole screen shake in ones hands as one stabs the buttons like a demented gibbon playing some old school manic shootemup, which were designed in the day for arcade quality joysticks and buttons which were much easier and more comfortable to repeatedly hammer.
on android, mame4droid reloaded, snes emus, final burn alpha, epsxe, and nearly all versions of various emulators for just about every old school system, AND NOT ONE OF EM has the common sense option of an autofire option in the input options, what the hell is going on ?, are todays emulator authors convinced that modern tablets and phones have arcade quality microswitched buttons on them ?
the only half decent emu with an autofire option is mame4droid, but thats old and runs only a few pre 80s stuff properly. mame4droid reloaded is much better, but the autofire option was removed !! (by mame devs i suppose), but what excuse has the author of final burn alpha, the authors of the various snes emus, amiga emus, psx emus, etc etc,
all pretty good emulators, but lacking in features and compatibility, and in the case of epsxe, not even able to sync the sound correctly.
all these emulators rendered virtually unplayable cos of lack of even the simplest autofire option, and believe you me, there are not many old school games that dont require constant stabbing of the fire buttons.
also, as an aside, ive posted for months on a few forums asking if anyone knew of an android app that could assign an autofire rate to a single button, to be effective whilst using various emulators, and to date, NOT A SINGLE REPLY to any of the posts, so it seems this avenue is not an option, so that makes it all the more important for emulator authors to implement this simple feature.
cheers
mattemat said:
hi all,
ive dabbled with quite a few emulators on the android platform, and most are a bit dissapointing, and the paid for ones are the worse of all, totally lacking in features and compatibility.
when i got my jxd s7300 i thought it would rekindle my interest in emulation, with its 7 inch screen and half decent d-pad, but ive now dug out my old psp cos the emulators on that are better than the very basic emulators on android.
whether its snes/amiga/psx/mame, the psp emulators are the complete package, but the android emulators pale in comparison.
for example, every single emulator on the psp has autofire/turbofire options in the input options, cos even back in the psp days emulator authors had the common sense to realise that the cheap tacky psp buttons were not designed to be repeatedly mashed playing some manic old school shootemup.
today, on touchscreen tablets and tablets and phones etc with very cheap and small weedy physical controls, the need to not constantly mash the buttons is even more important, and not to mention making the whole screen shake in ones hands as one stabs the buttons like a demented gibbon playing some old school manic shootemup, which were designed in the day for arcade quality joysticks and buttons which were much easier and more comfortable to repeatedly hammer.
on android, mame4droid reloaded, snes emus, final burn alpha, epsxe, and nearly all versions of various emulators for just about every old school system, AND NOT ONE OF EM has the common sense option of an autofire option in the input options, what the hell is going on ?, are todays emulator authors convinced that modern tablets and phones have arcade quality microswitched buttons on them ?
the only half decent emu with an autofire option is mame4droid, but thats old and runs only a few pre 80s stuff properly. mame4droid reloaded is much better, but the autofire option was removed !! (by mame devs i suppose), but what excuse has the author of final burn alpha, the authors of the various snes emus, amiga emus, psx emus, etc etc,
all pretty good emulators, but lacking in features and compatibility, and in the case of epsxe, not even able to sync the sound correctly.
all these emulators rendered virtually unplayable cos of lack of even the simplest autofire option, and believe you me, there are not many old school games that dont require constant stabbing of the fire buttons.
also, as an aside, ive posted for months on a few forums asking if anyone knew of an android app that could assign an autofire rate to a single button, to be effective whilst using various emulators, and to date, NOT A SINGLE REPLY to any of the posts, so it seems this avenue is not an option, so that makes it all the more important for emulator authors to implement this simple feature.
cheers
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Click to collapse
Bear in mind though that getting emulation to work- especially on Android, considering its mostly for phones- is a feat in itself. On many emulators, graphics rendering in itself is still a problem. Developers would rather make sure that a game can actually run decently rather than focus on things like autofire which (considering the beta stages of most emulators) would only slow progress down.
Android wan't designed to be a gaming system. The fact that we even have DS and PSP emulators- yes, barely capable, but still- is quite a big thing.
You seriously can't expect miracles when it comes to emulation. The developers work hard as is, trying to make things work. Autofire isn't a "common sense" feature, its an extra. "Common sense" features would include graphical rendering engines and other options such as frameskipping and display options that could help smoothen game performance. Whereas PSPs are meant to render games and the like properly even through emulation, Android wasn't. Again, bearing in mind that this is an OS that was meant to run on a phone or tablet.
End of the day though, entirely at the dev's discretion, but the dev would rather have a playable game than features which make it easier.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk HD
Soryuu said:
Bear in mind though that getting emulation to work- especially on Android, considering its mostly for phones- is a feat in itself. On many emulators, graphics rendering in itself is still a problem. Developers would rather make sure that a game can actually run decently rather than focus on things like autofire which (considering the beta stages of most emulators) would only slow progress down.
Android wan't designed to be a gaming system. The fact that we even have DS and PSP emulators- yes, barely capable, but still- is quite a big thing.
You seriously can't expect miracles when it comes to emulation. The developers work hard as is, trying to make things work. Autofire isn't a "common sense" feature, its an extra. "Common sense" features would include graphical rendering engines and other options such as frameskipping and display options that could help smoothen game performance. Whereas PSPs are meant to render games and the like properly even through emulation, Android wasn't. Again, bearing in mind that this is an OS that was meant to run on a phone or tablet.
End of the day though, entirely at the dev's discretion, but the dev would rather have a playable game than features which make it easier.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk HD
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Click to collapse
you make some valid points, and i understand android is not the ideal platform for emulation, BUT, the fact that android does have some pretty good emulators, afba (android final burn alpha), mame4droid reloaded, being two of the best, shows what can be achieved,
but its a crying shame that running some classic old school shooters in these emulators is such an awkward and uncomfortable experience due to stabbing away on the cheap and nasty controls of modern tablets and phones, and not to mention the damage visited upon on said controls after a lengthy session of frantic button mashing, thousands of presses on a single button just to maintain a steady rate of ingame weapons fire or whatever.
im not asking for the moon on a stick, just simple autofire options, and those that dont need such a thing can easily choose not to use the autofire option if they choose not to, although why anyone would rather bang away on their expensive phone/tablet buttons thousands of times in a session of flying shark on mame, or whatever, rather than simply toggle autofire on, is beyond my comprehension, yes, the original arcade game did not have autofire (some purists say), but the original arcade game had a fantastic quality joystick and big red buttons !, perfect for mashing away on.
todays phones/tablets have nothing like the dream controls of the original arcade machines, and even if they did, im sure if you were to hold an arcade cabinet in the palm of your hands you would not wish to be stabbing away on the fire button due to shaking the damn thing whilst you did so !
Developers have lives and bills to pay. Honestly alot of the emulators are made as a hobby because there isnt any real money for the amount of work that goes into an emulator. Making an emulator is one of the most difficult things to program on earth , seriously. If there was more incentive we would get better emulators. Also remember the device that the developer is using the emulator might run better than on your device.
hmmmmm
mattemat said:
you make some valid points, and i understand android is not the ideal platform for emulation, BUT, the fact that android does have some pretty good emulators, afba (android final burn alpha), mame4droid reloaded, being two of the best, shows what can be achieved,
but its a crying shame that running some classic old school shooters in these emulators is such an awkward and uncomfortable experience due to stabbing away on the cheap and nasty controls of modern tablets and phones, and not to mention the damage visited upon on said controls after a lengthy session of frantic button mashing, thousands of presses on a single button just to maintain a steady rate of ingame weapons fire or whatever.
im not asking for the moon on a stick, just simple autofire options, and those that dont need such a thing can easily choose not to use the autofire option if they choose not to, although why anyone would rather bang away on their expensive phone/tablet buttons thousands of times in a session of flying shark on mame, or whatever, rather than simply toggle autofire on, is beyond my comprehension, yes, the original arcade game did not have autofire (some purists say), but the original arcade game had a fantastic quality joystick and big red buttons !, perfect for mashing away on.
todays phones/tablets have nothing like the dream controls of the original arcade machines, and even if they did, im sure if you were to hold an arcade cabinet in the palm of your hands you would not wish to be stabbing away on the fire button due to shaking the damn thing whilst you did so !
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I may be a little off here so bear with me.
Have you tried using an actual gamepad on the device? i'm sure you have seen gamepads with autofire buttons already on them.
I use Retroarch (in my opinion absolutely fantastic bit of software) and i know that a great many differing types of game pad can be used with it, the dev/s update them all the time. All you need is the app to connect the game pad and you are all good.
Take a look at the thread, i cant be sure but i think someone mentioned autofire in there somewhere:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2116468
It also gives a good guide to what you need to do to connect a gamepad.
Hope this helps,
Creamy
I find GBA.emu, MD.emu, Snes9x Ex+, N64oid/Mupen, nds4droid, FPSE and PPSSPP to be quite good actually
Granted I use a Sony Dual Shock 3 to control them
The object of emulation is to replicate the original experience
If the original hardware didn't have autofire why would an emulator have it
That wouldnt be true to the original game/hardware
i dont think connecting a pad of some sort to a 7 inch tablet is feasable ?, does such a thing even exist, and if it did i doubt a physical autofire switch would be on it.
ive never seen a decent clip on pad for 7 inch (or 10 inch tablets), i think one is maybe due on some kickstarter project, but thats pie in the sky right now.
also, could someone help me contact the author of afba (android final burn alpha), ive tried to pm him but my message will not go through.
afba is the best emu ive seen on android so far, but how i would love a simple autofire option in the input menu.
cheers
mattemat said:
i dont think connecting a pad of some sort to a 7 inch tablet is feasable ?, does such a thing even exist, and if it did i doubt a physical autofire switch would be on it.
ive never seen a decent clip on pad for 7 inch (or 10 inch tablets), i think one is maybe due on some kickstarter project, but thats pie in the sky right now.
also, could someone help me contact the author of afba (android final burn alpha), ive tried to pm him but my message will not go through.
afba is the best emu ive seen on android so far, but how i would love a simple autofire option in the input menu.
cheers
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Click to collapse
Of course its feasable, i wouldnt have suggested it otherwise. At least try the suggestion and read the thread..........why so negative?
I run Retroarch (containing most of the popular emu's) on my Samsung galaxy Beam (the one with the 50" Projector onboard) and i use the six axis controller app to connect a ps3 pad to the phone. POW!! instant gaming on a huge screen.
Furthermore, I was in the local Tesco yesterday and saw a ps3 type wireless pad, it has autofire switches all over it and was little more than £15........Bargain.
So i think i have covered all of your needs there, you just have to see if it works for you.
As i mentioned before, you may get a little further if you read the thread i linked.
Best of luck,
Creamy
Yeah, full-featured emulator would be good (like SNES)
creamy said:
Of course its feasable, i wouldnt have suggested it otherwise. At least try the suggestion and read the thread..........why so negative?
I run Retroarch (containing most of the popular emu's) on my Samsung galaxy Beam (the one with the 50" Projector onboard) and i use the six axis controller app to connect a ps3 pad to the phone. POW!! instant gaming on a huge screen.
Furthermore, I was in the local Tesco yesterday and saw a ps3 type wireless pad, it has autofire switches all over it and was little more than £15........Bargain.
So i think i have covered all of your needs there, you just have to see if it works for you.
As i mentioned before, you may get a little further if you read the thread i linked.
Best of luck,
Creamy
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Click to collapse
ive had a look at that thread, but what i would be after is a way to physically attach ps3 pad to the tablet.
ive had a look at the 'gameclip', but it only supports certain phones, and one of the few 7 inch tablets it supports is the nexus 7, but that device is getting slagged off big time in current reviews (hardware problems after a years use)
and anyway, for comfort a tablet needs dpad on left and face buttons on right (like the jxd gamepad), and sticking a ps3 pad under a tablet is not ergonomically comfortable for long periods (the tablet overhangs the pad and its weight is not evenly distributed for comfort in the hands)
anyway, i should not need hotch potch solutions like that, the jxd has decent controls built in, but i can not enjoy them cos every single amiga/arcade/psx/cps/neo geo emu on android insists on making the player furiously stab away like a loon cos of lack of auto/turbo fire options.
I just use my psp 1000 for emulators since I hate playing oldschool games with a touch screen it just takes the fun out of oldschool games but with the psp you have actual buttons which makes it more fun to play Sega Gen games like street fighter or Atari 2600 games but I know some people Actually like touch screen for emulators I was just pointing that out
Sent from my psp 1000 and kindle fire hd
mattemat said:
ive had a look at that thread, but what i would be after is a way to physically attach ps3 pad to the tablet.
ive had a look at the 'gameclip', but it only supports certain phones, and one of the few 7 inch tablets it supports is the nexus 7, but that device is getting slagged off big time in current reviews (hardware problems after a years use)
and anyway, for comfort a tablet needs dpad on left and face buttons on right (like the jxd gamepad), and sticking a ps3 pad under a tablet is not ergonomically comfortable for long periods (the tablet overhangs the pad and its weight is not evenly distributed for comfort in the hands)
anyway, i should not need hotch potch solutions like that, the jxd has decent controls built in, but i can not enjoy them cos every single amiga/arcade/psx/cps/neo geo emu on android insists on making the player furiously stab away like a loon cos of lack of auto/turbo fire options.
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Click to collapse
Looks like you are at the mercy of the developers then pal, i doubt you are the only one who would like this feature so you could just ask the teams that make the Emu's.
I would reitterate however, as previously mentioned.....its is exactly that....a feature, and one that appears to hold low priority (otherwise it would already be there) It is also worth noting that autofire was always considered 'cheating' when these consoles were initially around, so this may be another reason that the feature isnt there.....i do however get your point about the devices getting bashed during emulation.
I also dont understand why you have to physically hold the tab instead of using it as a screen, but hey your preference is your own.
One final tip, your are coming across as frustrated and a touch miffed. I can understand that you are looking for help and that you have posted in a fair few places without response, however if someone who can help reads one of your posts (and it does read as if you consider them incompetent for not including this feature) They may be a little less willing to help you or funish you with the feature you require.
Again Best of Luck,
Creamy
creamy said:
Looks like you are at the mercy of the developers then pal, i doubt you are the only one who would like this feature so you could just ask the teams that make the Emu's.
I would reitterate however, as previously mentioned.....its is exactly that....a feature, and one that appears to hold low priority (otherwise it would already be there) It is also worth noting that autofire was always considered 'cheating' when these consoles were initially around, so this may be another reason that the feature isnt there.....i do however get your point about the devices getting bashed during emulation.
I also dont understand why you have to physically hold the tab instead of using it as a screen, but hey your preference is your own.
One final tip, your are coming across as frustrated and a touch miffed. I can understand that you are looking for help and that you have posted in a fair few places without response, however if someone who can help reads one of your posts (and it does read as if you consider them incompetent for not including this feature) They may be a little less willing to help you or funish you with the feature you require.
Again Best of Luck,
Creamy
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Click to collapse
point taken !
but i really do not like stabbing away on the fire button on handheld devices, its noisy, bad for the hardware, uncomfortable, not ergonomic, and ultimately pointless, and the small screens shake whilst doing so.
Related
Well its time to renew my contract again, My Touch HD has served me well, I would quite like to get the HD2. The only thing holding me back is performance with emulators, it seems most of the games i play on my phone as emulators. While the performance on the touch HD was OK, the touch screen wasnt ideal for game pads (lack of multi touch)
So my 2 questions are
1: can anyone comment on the HD2 for playing emulators - performance wise with sound on, and the funtionality of the multi touch for controlling it
2: If I opt for a different phone, probably one with a physical keypad to make the games easier to play, and enough power to run the emulators smoothly. What device could people reccomend, even if its not HTC (dare i say that?)
Anyway big thanks to anyone who does offer any useful advice here.
Hello everyone, curious n00b here. I have a question/idea. I don't want to waste too much of your time, so I'll go ahead and start.
I am a hardcore gamer. My game type of choice, FPS. I have an iPad and a Motorola Droid X (have had many other android phones before this one) and playing games on them is rather difficult due to controls. Playing an FPS on either of these devices is a pain only because of controls. The graphics look great, and the program itself runs pretty well. Other than the controls I can find no fault. Touch screen gaming just isn't do-able for any FPS.
hXXp://code.google.com/p/kwaak3/ (since I'm new I can't post links, just replace XX with tt)
The link above is to a Quake 3 port to android. It has keyboard support for movement (forward, backward, left, right) already but no way to look (X and Y axis) making it unplayable. What I would like to do is be able to use a bluetooth keyboard for movement, and a bluetooth mouse to look. I'm going to be getting rid of the iPad and getting the Galaxy Tab soon and would love to be able to use my keyboard/mouse combo for controls and the galaxy tab as the hardware and screen if this makes sense.
Good idea? I'd like to think so, but I haven't seen anyone else propose this so far, and I don't know how to do it myself. I'm going to be looking into this more on my own but I don't even know where to start. Is this even possible? Is it possible to use two separate bluetooth devices for input like this? It doesn't even have to be a keyboard and mouse, maybe use the PS3 controller for controls and then only have to carry that one device with me. I don't know how to implement this either. That's why I've come to you guys for help.
Before anyone jumps down my throat and says "Well that means you would have to carry a keyboard and mouse around with you at all times." I know this. I currently do this on a daily basis. I keep them in my book bag every single day, anywhere I go. If I'm the only person to do this then so be it, but I have a feeling I'm not the only one that would be willing to do this. I know I could easily carry a gaming laptop around with me at all times but that's not what I want. I love Android. I love gaming. I would like to join them together somehow.
Sorry for the long read. Maybe I'm just dumb or the idea is stupid, idk. I'd like to think it would help sell more Android/Tablets. I know Apple would never allow that, but Android is very possible. Thanks to anyone that reads this. I hope this idea can become a reality.
Considering that Ouya will be built with the same CPU/GPU/RAM specs as the Infinity, I feel like it's safe to assume that if it does even moderately well, we'll be getting to see a lot of games that truly push our hardware. We've seen many Tegra 3 games come out so far - some incredible, some disappointing, but overall not a bad start for high quality mobile gaming.
If the Ouya does really well, the TF700 gamers may wind up with an insane catalog of games that most people will only be playing at home with any decent quality. It could make the TF700 a very good competitor for portable gaming. I'm kind of excited to see what happens, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up before we start seeing the actual production of the Ouya and developer support that follows.
What is everyone's thoughts on the matter? Any specific games announced so far that your excited for?
Also, it's been said that the talked about Oculus Rift will have Android support later on, though I have no clue if much would come of that.
Nvida's tegra push did narrow my field of tablet options some. I would love to see higher end games and a more PC-like set of tools (more control options, more performance scaling, more flexibility in general), and nvidia seems to have their eye on something similar. No one Android maker has the clout or sales to make android a more serious gaming platform right now, but nvidia might. They've got a certain credibility with players and producers that stands out and raises a particular set of expectations that even the biggest maker, Samsung, can't bring to the table.
While Ouya can bring more living room games to the fold, perhaps more controller utilization, the Nexus 7 might be equally influential at broadening support through sheer numbers. Storage is the main handicap, but it still has lots of potential.
That said, I don't expect much from even a best case scenario. Game investment is a lot more complicated than many players seem to realize. My favorite small dev is trying to fund an expansion of the best Tower Defense ever through kickstarter and its not uncommon for someone to accuse them of unconscionable greed for not being able to completely self-fund from the proceeds of their first game -- this while storied studios backed by major pubs are closing their doors. It's a struggle for survival out there. Small devs doing high end original content are taking huge risks.
Best case here is more big studios/publishers start testing the waters at tegra 3 and actually produce a serious and well stocked platform at tegra 4 or 5. Infinity should have more gaming options than her predecessors, but I doubt she'll be a gaming beast.
Not likely. Ouya, at this point, is more about the idea of trying to bring the independent developers to the living room with less cost through the Android platform. As eluded to, it costs a lot of money to make AAA games on the consoles or PC. I've chosen to back them, but I'm skeptical. I think Ouya may be redundant, as you're indirectly eluding, since all you need is the microHDMI cable and blue tooth controller. It's just a matter of the game developers adding the code for the controllers.
One thing is certain, there is market for games on the mobile platform--Android and iOS--beyond these "casual" games such as Angry Birds, Plants vs Zombies, Bejweled, Words with Friends, Draw Something, and so forth. There's some indication people may want a more traditional console/PC game with some decent success of games like Shadowgun and Dead Trigger, and so forth; sorry I wasn't able to list a more diverse list, but I don't play many mobile games. Add that up, with more powerful mobile devices, you'll see the games improve. Just don't quite expect a game to look like PS3/360 game, nor give you that over ten hours game experience with cut scenes and so forth. Well, not while people are complaining about games being over a dollar, and piracy being very easy to do, like the old days on the PC.
On a side note, you may see something you're thinking with technology that OnLive is developing. That has the potentional to bring the similar game experience across multiple game platforms. I use it on the PC and my HTC Evo 4G. I tried it out on a buddy's Nexus 7.
On a side note, I did see EA did an update for Dead Space for the Nexus 7, so some developers are thinking about tablets.
I noticed that the UDK supports Android (it specifically mentions honeycomb though) which might indicate at least an industry consideration for such focus. As far as indies go, frameworks like this being offered to small-time devs will provide the potential for an Android "real gaming console". The estimated price of specifically the Ouya would make for other poorer countries to acquire and put as a target platform for development, in which case Android focus could increase world-wide (PS3 for R$1100 or Ouya for R$400?). I'm still skeptical, but the distribution of the system globally will really tell who's going to make it into a priority. If the saturation gets high enough, everyone will be jumping on that wagon.
Your Android phone isn't just for widgets, talking, Google Now and photos. It can also be one of the world's best gaming platforms, if you're willing to spend a little time on it.
Once the domain of tinkerers and super-nerds, Android devices have exploded in popularity over the last couple of years, spurred on by the emergence of superphones like the Samsung Galaxy S 4, HTC One and Google's own Nexus 4.
Despite this increase, there remains the perception that - at least in terms of gaming - Android phones are somehow a step behind the iPhone. That things like piracy, a lack of apps and convoluted system specs are hindering the development of games on the platform.
I'm here to tell you this is bull****. Chances are that if you own an Android phone, and picked it up within the last 18 months, you've got in your pocket a silent killer in terms of portable gaming.
Below you'll find four steps you can follow to turn that humble little smartphone into something a little more gamey.
1. USE GOOGLE PLAY
Well, duh. But if you're a new user, or someone contemplating making the switch, this is important.
Android users have a bad reputation for pirating software, including games, and in many ways that's a fair assumption. Pirating games for the platform is way too easy.
Don't be that guy.
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Click to collapse
You'll even find some hot exclusives. Kairosoft's entire catalogue of addictive-as-hell management games is on the Play Store, for example, while only a handful have ever made it to the App Store.
Seriously, there are enough quality games on there already that we could end the guide right here and you'd be set. Luckily, we're not ending the guide here.
Those remaining developers who either delay bringing their games to Android, or don't do it at all, usually cite piracy as one of the big concerns. The more people actually pay for apps and games on Android, the more of these developers will be encouraged to bring their wares to the platform. So do it.
2. GO RETRO
Let's say you want to play something more substantial than most mobile titles can offer. Or a classic game from your childhood that, for better or worse, isn't available on the Play Store. The great thing about Android phones is that you can still play these games, and it's a lot easier - and more legal - than you might think.
Two of the most popular means of running old PC games on modern systems - DOSBox (for old DOS games) and ScummVM (for old adventure games) - both have versions available for Android devices.
Before we go any further, then, you're going to need install these three applications:
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Click to collapse
ScummVM for Android
DOSBox Turbo for Android
DOSBox Manager
.
What DOSBox Manager does is let you create a quicklaunch screen for the games, so instead of having to enter command prompts every time you want to play a game (which is normally how DOSBox works), you just tap some box art, same as a regular app/game.
If you need help using DOSBox Turbo and/or getting your games running, the best place to start is the app's site, which has helpful (and easy to understand) walkthroughs and guides.
ScummVM is an easier proposition, but if you have trouble setting it up, the official guide gives you a great walkthrough on getting set up.
A word of caution, though: be careful which games you bring over. Your phone has limited inputs, most likely just a touchscreen, so trying to play a fast-paced RTS or shooter might not be the best idea. Slower, mouse-driven genres like adventure and turn-based strategy are a good place to start.
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Click to collapse
Unless, that is, you want to...
3. GET A CONTROLLER (OR USE A MOUSE)
It sounds crazy, I know. Buying an external controller for your phone defeats the entire point of playing games on a portable device. But the fact of the matter is, as phones become more powerful, phone games become more powerful, and it's a tragedy that people try to play something like Real Racing using touchscreen or tilt controls. Stick a pad on there and some of these newer games will feel like a console game, instead of just looking like one.
There's also the benefit it brings to the retro games you'll be playing. Use a gamepad and suddenly all those amazing old shooters are playable. Connect a bluetooth mouse to your phone and anything you can't play with a pad, you can probably play with it.
Doing this is pretty simple; provided they don't need drivers, Android natively supports bluetooth peripherals, including keyboards, mice and control pads. It'll even display a mouse cursor if it detects one. Just find your phone's bluetooth settings and pair it up.
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Click to collapse
To save you buying a gamepad, there's an app that lets you connect a PS3 pad to an Android device (though note: your phone needs to be rooted for this to work). Alternatively, you can sync a Wii Remote, since it also connects via Bluetooth (and can be configured with this app).
Again, this might sound crazy since you can do this a lot more easily on a regular computer, but consider this: old PC games weren't designed to run on giant 23" desktop monitors. You either stretch their visuals until they look like garbage, or run them in a window.
Phone screens, though, are at the cutting edge. Relatively tiny yet packing amazing colours and now sometimes even 1080p resolution, they breathe new life into your old games. Trust me, fire up something like Colonization or X-Com on a contemporary phone and it'll look better than ever.
4. GET A BIGGER BATTERY (OR BATTERY PACK)
The one major downside to the crop of modern Android smartphones is that, almost to the last, they've got terrible battery life. Most can barely last a single day, even with infrequent use. If you're planning on playing a game at home, that's not a problem, but let's be honest, how often will you be playing a phone game at home?
Running 3D graphics - or even just leaving a big bright screen on for long stretches - will kill your battery. So if you're serious about gaming on your Android phone, you should think about getting a bigger battery (if your phone supports removable batteries) or an external battery case/charging pack (if it doesn't).
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5. SIGN UP TO ONLIVE
It's easy to forget about the company these days after all the problems it went through last year, but streaming service OnLive is still around, and it works on Android devices. Your mileage may vary depending on your device - it's more suited to tablets than phones - but if you've got a gamepad solution for your phone, and your connection is fast enough to pull it off, you can play all kinds of games that would normally never be available on the platform..
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SOURCE
*Lifehacker
Great guide. Bought a NES controller and female USB to microUSB a few weeks ago. Waiting for them to be shipped! Will tell you how it works when I have them in use.
i have my OTG cable but sad to say i don't have ps3 or wii.. hehehehe..
thanks for a great info!
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
I've got a moga pocket controller its great and more and more games are getting supported. My GS4 clips right into the phone holder and im off.
Specially the onlive thing, gotta love it.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Awesome guide! I can vouch for DosBox Turbo. I have about 50+ games installed and regularly play Warcraft II networked multi-player with my buddies on their Android devices.
anyone actually get scummvm to work? i couldn't get it to recognise any games no matter what i tried.
Gloris said:
anyone actually get scummvm to work? i couldn't get it to recognise any games no matter what i tried.
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Working perfectly for me.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2
What folder structure and file type did you use? I tried zip files I tried unzipping them. Tried putting them in various folders but I can't get it to recognise any games.
We are doing just that with our new product Ingeo.
We want to turn any Android phone into a TV game console.
It is an HDMI dock and a wireless controller.
Check it out here
Any difference using it?
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app
gampad
I 've a Razer Onza
But when i connect to my s4 it does not work
Can you show me how to connect that controller to my S4
Thanks so much
duythanh90 said:
I 've a Razer Onza
But when i connect to my s4 it does not work
Can you show me how to connect that controller to my S4
Thanks so much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using OTG cable. It's that simple
"Thanks button is just to avoid "THANKS" posts in threads. Nothing more than that. Don't ask in signature or post for it and defeat the purpose why it was introduced"
Hey guys, so, I know there's a lot of you out there who are thinking of getting a controller for your shield tablet, thinking you should get a console controller w/ bluetooth or something of that nature, but I honestly think this is the best controller out there, despite some of its flaws. This isn't really a professional review, just some pictures and captions xP But I think it'll give people an idea of what to expect. The pictures were relatively big, 4000x3000, so I had to resize them all to 1024x768 on postimg. You can click the thumbnails to get a better view.
So as far as the box goes, there's nothing really much to say, it's mostly in chinese.
There's not much inside the box. Just the controller, a charge cable that's about 3 meters long, and an instruction manual.
The sheer size of this thing after first holding it literally had me laughing for about 10 minutes, just actually taking in that I'm holding this gaming device that is now about 13.5" long was just funny xD
After playing with this thing for an hour or two, going back to the Vita, the Vita felt extremely tiny in comparison.
This thing has three modes to pair, each is selected by turning the controller on while holding either X, Y, or A and pressing the home button at the same time. There is Keyboard, Gamepad(What you'd use), and mouse mode. Gamepad is X+Home.
Showing off Black Ops 2 played through Gamestream here:
The controller works very well with gamestream, practically no input lag AT ALL, but there is some video lag though that's NVIDIA's fault and will hopefully be lowered in the later months/years.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACTUAL REVIEW NOW
Now, onto some actual reviewy type stuff, the pros and cons. The build quality for this controller is absolutely FANTASTIC for $30, It feels much better than my Moga Pro in every aspect except portability, but for a tablet I'm sure you aren't expecting that anyway. The sticks feel amazing to the touch and have just the right amount of resistance, both the face buttons and the top buttons feel nice, just everything feels great and it's hard to believe this thing only costs $30, but there are some cons.
Not exactly a con: Ports
The ports are hidden as you have the controller fit as snug as possible, but it is completely possible to raise the tablet up higher while it's in the controller and have every port shown while still having a tight fit. It'll look something along the lines of this.
I kid you not I was flinging this controller up and down and left and right and even with the tablet in that high, it didn't budge at all, this controller holds your device in very well.
Pro: Works with Gamemapper
For some reason it's 2015 and we still have FPS games that don't have native gamepad support(NOVA 3). Luckily, just hold the start button and you can bring up NVIDIA's gamemapper.
(60/40) Con: D-PAD
Don't get me wrong, this is a really great D-PAD...For everything other than fighters. It feels nice, it works almost perfectly, the problem is, diagonal inputs don't read as naturally as they should. You have to kind of put more effort into getting the D-PAD in the diagonal portion of the gate to correctly get a hadouken or whatever you want out. It's kind of frustrating. A side note, for some reason, the Home button doesn't work at all. Not sure if I have a broken controller or if it just doesn't work correctly with Lollipop.
Con: L2/R2 (LT/RT for you X360 users)
Even though they feel nice to press, I can't get over the fact that these are just buttons, and not actual triggers. I don't even want to try a racing game with Gamestream because of how much it'd fail. They work fine with everything else though.
All in all, this is a very nice controller, and even with those cons, I'd recommend it to ANYONE looking for a controller for ANY tablet. Definitely the best bang for your buck.
MY SCORE: 9/10
You can purchase the controller really cheap at:
Mod Edit: Commercial links removed.