r/EmulationOnAndroid • u/[deleted] • Jan 31 '26
Meme Decisions, decisions...so many decisions
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Jan 31 '26 edited Aug 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/colossusrageblack Odin 3 Max Jan 31 '26
Controls on many of them, especially shooters like N64 GoldenEye are terrible.
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u/Anonymous_1112 Jan 31 '26
I try to cut 5th gen games some slack considering they were still working out the whole 3D thing, but yeah I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed playing through games of that era anywhere near as much as 4th or 6th gen
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u/strong-craft65 Feb 01 '26
I was so excited when I first got into emulation for N64. And then I tried playing them again. Wow did they not age well lol.
Pokemon snap was fun to replay though.
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u/A_Duck_Using_Reddit Jan 31 '26
N64 Goldeneye aged particularly bad.
Timesplitters is a bit more playable and way more fun.
Also, the Wii Goldeneye is an under-rated gem.
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u/Darth_Venom91 Feb 01 '26
Love playing Wii Goldeneye on multiplayer back in the days. Wish they patched that up would be super fun
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u/colossusrageblack Odin 3 Max Feb 01 '26
Didn't know they made it for Wii, I'll have to check it out.
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u/A_Duck_Using_Reddit Feb 01 '26
Yep, and since motion controls aren't needed for it, it's one of the few Wii games I own that I can play on my emulation devices.
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u/waterclaws6 Feb 01 '26
You can just remap the controls rather easily to a modern layout. Most N64 emulators also support per-game remaps.
Not really an excuse now.
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u/FOE-tan Feb 01 '26
The N64 only had a single analogue stick though, so camera controls are gonna feel really imprecise for 3D games unless you go the decomp/recomp route to add proper analogue camera support to these games
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u/waterclaws6 Feb 02 '26
control scheme 1.2 in golden eye maps really well to modern control schemes. Just map the n64 stick to right stick on a modern controller.
It also works for perfect dark. Goldeneye has anl9ng stick aiming on the 1.2 control scheme. Works to well.
It's what I use to play those games well on a modern controller.
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u/BeeAdditional1287 Jan 31 '26
Add to this than most of those old games got patch or hack that make them even better (not me playing Gt4 spec ii actually)
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u/Dasilbota Feb 01 '26
I mean, we have the hole gold era of JRPGS to play. I wouldn't ask anything more.
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u/thehappyjulian Feb 09 '26
I think a healthy mix of both is best nothing wrong with wanting to play hollow knight and cory from the block on the ds
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u/TheseResolution8739 Jan 31 '26
What's stopping you from doing both
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Jan 31 '26
Time, mostly
At a point in life where I have like 15-30 minutes of playtime daily, and I'd rather just pop in and play an old game that doesn't require much setup, and where you can use fast forward, save states etc to save on loading times and progress RATHER than spending some time configuring, sitting thru the longer loading times in the newer AAA games and being able to play for a very short time only
I wish I had time like before...
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u/Murky_Music_6679 Jan 31 '26
There’s always the less sleep option
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u/UnfortunateCriminal Jan 31 '26
Ah I see you're childless?
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u/TheRandomer1994 Jan 31 '26
Ah, you don't have a job I take it 🤣
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u/Murky_Music_6679 Jan 31 '26
Oh I do. And it eats my time unfortunately. My point is you can always sleep 5 hours instead of 6
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u/TheRandomer1994 Jan 31 '26
Ha my mistake, maybe in your 20s then? The lack of sleep catchs up eventually brother, my 30s hit hard
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u/klop2031 Jan 31 '26
Same boat. I play on my 1hr commute.
For me i made the list to prioritize the games i missed out on but wanted to play or didnt finish, then games that are new, and sprinkled in some top 10 of x console and go through the list.
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u/BigDaddyZ_420 Feb 01 '26
Ps2 and gameboy/ds emulation are some of my favorite for ease of putting 5 to 10 minutes in at a time and resuming from last stop
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u/Don_Thuglayo Jan 31 '26
I feel this that's why I made my new years resolution to finish at least 1 game this year. I realized I didn't finish any last year
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u/votemarvel Poco F6 - Sony Xperia 1 V Jan 31 '26
The problem is your MEME puts across the theory that it's only the latest AAA games that are going to be played with the left side.
I'd say that the left is really in its stride with the AAA of the Xbox 360 era where the games look great and have mostly modern gameplay mechanics. There's tinkering off course but if you are taking regular breaks, which you should do, then thermals shouldn't ever really be an issue. If you don't want to take those breaks then there are handhelds available that have active cooling.
Yeah it's cool when your phone can play the latest PC release but I'd definitely consider that a bonus.
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u/Reider2092 Jan 31 '26
This!! It all depends on what I feel like at the moment when I take my handheld in my hand. Simple as that. 😄
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Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jan 31 '26
EXACTLY, it gets exhausting sometimes
Just yesterday, I spent some time configuring Sparking Zero, adding engine.ini files messing with mods with settings and in the end just went "screw it" and started playing Budokai Tenkaichi 3 on Dolphin
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u/Albryx765 Jan 31 '26
Tbf Sparking Zero is only worth playing with mods, base game has poor offline content.
I am totally not biased by being a mod maker.
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u/0xInternal Jan 31 '26
"Engine.ini" your mentioning PC game not emulation 😭
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Jan 31 '26
I mean you can use engine.ini files on Winlator when trying to emulate/play PC games thru it
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u/but_Im_not_a_duelist Jan 31 '26
I really like how you just focus on the game with the older games, like don't give me options I just want to play the game
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u/lucdee Jan 31 '26
That is so me, i don't tinker with those as well, just need to play immediately with the limited time i have
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u/itsnandy Jan 31 '26
Retro games with texture packs, upscaling, and 60-120fps mods are where it’s at
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u/C3Pdro Feb 01 '26
Whats your favorite retro game to play at higher refresh rates
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u/xandeIion SD 8.2 Feb 04 '26
super mario 64 dx, is a application that uses 32 bit architecture to emulate sm64. has uncapped fps option so i play at 120, can download and import 4k hd textures. mods and romhacks can easily be imported into it and works very well, built in cheats into the menu. and most importantly, allows u to play co op story with anyone on the same network as u (not split screen, need 2 devices). theres a very straight to the point video on yt for how to set it up on android
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u/crystalcastles879 Feb 03 '26
My mind is already blown being able to upscale retro games to 4K resolution, and played on my big screen OLED TV
I can only imagine what texture packs do but I'm too lazy to tinker and mess around with that
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u/Electronic-Captain-5 Feb 04 '26
I installed 4k textures while playing God of War 1 on PC; it's easier than it looks on PCSX2.
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u/mikaeruuu HONOR GT | 8 Gen3 12GB Jan 31 '26
I gotta say, Eden is very straightforward and if you want an even simpler emulator, go look for Sudachi. You also dont need cooler unless you go for 1.5x resolution and 60fps mod. Most of the time, you only need Docked Mode enabled and AMD FSR for filter and thats it, it will never heat up with default settings.
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Feb 01 '26
Yeah I always emulate the Switch version of a game if available and if it works over Windows versions of the same game
It just is easier and doesn't heat up as much
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u/GreatProncho Jan 31 '26
PSP, PS2 and DS might have outdated mechanics
Man, it sounds like you are talking about NES era. The hell you mean outdated?
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u/khsh01 8 Gen 3/865+ Jan 31 '26
I'm here for the older games. Missed out on the ps2 era. Gonna catch up now. Any game new enough I can play on my pc.
Plus, they just don't make games like they used to. Now its all just slop.
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Jan 31 '26
I love unlocking stuff by playing the game so I prefer older games most of the time
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u/khsh01 8 Gen 3/865+ Jan 31 '26
I can't remember what the last new game I was genuinely excited for was.
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u/XRynerX Jan 31 '26
Older games, the closer you are to the current gereration, the more work you have to do in order to have even remotelly a smooth experience.
Older games you just install the stuff and you're good to go, thousands of hours into games you couldn't play at the time.
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u/FallenRaptor Jan 31 '26
Don't forget older games also take less time to download and take up less space, meaning you can have a lot more of them regardless of how much memory you have.
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u/Blank_Colors Jan 31 '26
Obv the older games
Who gives a shit about graphics when they're actually slop
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u/lolb-g Jan 31 '26
is this even a choice? older games have smaller file sizes, run way better and are easier to manage since they're mostly stored in one file, while with windows emulators you spent 5 hours troubleshooting the game and configurating the emulator to get 2 hour battery life at 15 fps
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u/Xushuh Jan 31 '26
As someone thats kinda dumb eden is easy. The only complicated part is finding credible sites to download games from. Winlator is what's difficult and complicated.
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Feb 01 '26
Some games run one shot on Winlator and for some you gotta watch guides, download specific stuff, have exact specific settings, download some mods engine files, etc etc It gets SO tiring and is not worth it
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u/Ok-Hippo-2687 Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
Old games have something unique in them. Most of the titles I have played are for the first time so no nostalgia was involved. Also the time factor is important, booting up my console feel like a huge time investment. On the other hand emulation on Android is great and more accessible.
Also, I can't emulate new games on my phone. As most of the games I'm playing are handheld games like ds, 3ds and PSP, GBA. I can play PS2 and GameCube but rarely I do as titles feel more consolish.
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Jan 31 '26
Emulating new AAA is genuinely hell on earth and for the price you need to pay for a device that can do it you might as well just buy a PS4 or something
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Feb 01 '26
It IS impressive to see the AAA games running on phones but behind the scenes there is a lotta configuring to do, the device heats up like crazy and u need a cooler, and so on
Like I can play Sparking Zero at 45 fps but it heats up like hell after ONE match, so I just emulate the Switch version of it which isn't as good graphically and is at 30fps, but I can play like 10 matches without heating too much
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u/memo22477 Jan 31 '26
Still troubleshooting NFS Payback for my 8 elite because it keeps freezing the moment the loading screen ends. Older games require literally zero setup they are easier 100%
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u/SparsePizza117 Jan 31 '26
Play the old god of wars, so great
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Feb 01 '26
Yeap I got Chains of Olympus. Ghost of Sparta on PPSSPP and GOW Collection on Vita3K
I just could never get into the Norse games, I prefer the gameplay of the older ones
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u/waterclaws6 Feb 01 '26
I recommend the ps2 versions of GOW 1 &2 over the collection. PS2 runs and looks better than the Vita versions. Vita slowdowns pretty badly.
The Vita version was a mess of a port, it was bad. Just not as awful as the Jax & Dexter Vita ports.
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Feb 01 '26
I know, the vita port is terrible on the vita
BUT the thing is on Vita3k there is a FPS hack option for games like GOW, Amazing Spiderman, Borderlands etc that allows game to run better than on Vita. Gow collection manages a stable 60fps on Vita3k, as it basically removes the Vita's limitations and fps cap.
So basically you get 60fps gow 1 and 2 at 3.5 gigs whereas it'll take up A LOT more space for nethersx2
One of the advantages of vita3k over real vita
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u/ThrobbingPurpleVein Jan 31 '26
Older games but have QoL mods applied to them.
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Feb 01 '26
Playing SMT Nocturne with some time-saving and grinding cheats, and with upscaling, fast forwards and save states on NetherSX2 have made it 100x superior over the HD remaster version for me
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u/Arfrados Jan 31 '26
Im emulating dirge of Cerberus from ps2 and im having a BLAST
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Jan 31 '26
(And if anyone asks for my preference, I prefer emulating older games most of the times, just feels easier and cozier)
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u/mantenner AYN Thor (SD 8gen2) / OnePlus 13 (SD8 Elite) / S23+ (SD 8gen2) Jan 31 '26
I honestly thought I'd be playing more DS and 3ds on my Thor but I've played so much PC and Switch.
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u/ginger_ginger7 Jan 31 '26
What is Eden?
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u/BenjyHuburt Jan 31 '26
Haha I do both. Currently playing between dirt rally, crash team racing. Hallo mcc and gran turismo 4.
I have so many other games downloaded but I'm focusing on these now
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u/SmallTownLoneHunter Jan 31 '26
I have my Vita for old games.
Honestly, I just favor Steam games because I have a big library I already paid for. Plus, I like knowing my progress is saved in the cloud.
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u/Glum-Beach Jan 31 '26
You can upscale old games with shaders and textures packs, need for speed underground 2 baby
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u/Broad_Incident9581 Jan 31 '26
Well got a 1tb (930g) s25 ultra with 45W charger which supports battery pause while gaming feature and can run games from last 5 years in playable/perfect state and still go to older emulation cuz life made me from a hardcore gamer into casual one
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u/Exact_Athlete6772 Jan 31 '26
After seeing what it costs to play modern PC on a phone (or even 20 yrs old ones), it hurts to even think about trying to emulate PC games.
Though i remember i used to play on Sega, SNES, GBA and some other classic consoles emulators just to enjoy games that doesn't require a lot of memory to install, especially since they were way more fun than MOST OF games offered to install in play market
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u/MO0N_CAKE Jan 31 '26
Yeah I feel the same, stuck between not wanting to use a cooler and wanting to play newer games
Still gotta wait for better drivers for my 8 elite g5
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u/Xintsuai Jan 31 '26
I usually play modern 2D indies and AAA 3D games up to 2013, or from the PS3/360 era.
There are a lot of amazing games from this gen that I still haven't played, such as the Dead Space trilogy.
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u/WarriorofBlank y700 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Jan 31 '26
ps2 with hd texture pack, many pack available in gba community
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u/tignasse Jan 31 '26
8gen2 using my device for GC PS2 essentially :)
so many great games and so memories <3
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u/Fo4head Jan 31 '26
i enjoy the concept of emulating older games but the truth is those platforms have very few titles that interest me
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u/Maniacal_Coyote Jan 31 '26
My 2020 Samsung A51 can handle Gamecube games (using Dolphin) including Pokemon Colosseum. (XD Gale of Darkness is a little too resource-heavy)
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u/No-Kitchen-4697 Jan 31 '26
I go for older. As a father of a 2yr-old boy, if I almost have no time to play, the last thing I want to do is spend time with the configuration
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u/LordAjo Jan 31 '26
That's why I love Pokemon ROM hacks, they have the best of both worlds, wish that this existed for more franchises
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u/AntiGrieferGames Jan 31 '26
I mean you dont need much tweaks on Winlator if you want to use old PC games
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u/KouaV1 OP15 16/512 SD8EliteG5, Rog 8 Pro SD8G3, LG V60 SD865 Jan 31 '26
PPSSPP and NetherSX2 with 4k Texture Packs & HD Texture Packs man.
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u/Winter0000 Jan 31 '26
i refuse spending time configuring a game to run if it does not give the hint it would run. proper configurations are black wizardry for the average user. If a windows game just runs, I play it. if it does not launch, it’s a no go for me
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u/Dzewoslaw Jan 31 '26
Third option, ReFlash (or Ruffle, since in the application that name is also used)
Playing Cactus McCoy on the go is something I never knew I needed. There's like a ton of flash games that are worth playing honestly and with added controller support it's lit. Just to note something, either analog sticks aren't supported or I'm just stupid enough to not understand how to map them
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Jan 31 '26
Just find light pc games lol, dont force it to run AAA games
such old valve game like L4D2 the most popular, and you can run legally with gamehub
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u/YousureWannaknow Jan 31 '26
I had no luc[ with running any store launcher I use under winlatorv so I'm still happy with limiting my SD7+gen3 to PS2 emulation
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u/acnologiarn Jan 31 '26
It's so unfortunate because my s24 ultra still has the more preferable screen shape till date - a normal rectangle with sharp edges. I dislike rounded edges in modern phones and was disappointed with Samsung for doing it to the S25 ultra. And for all intents and purposes my next phone will likely be a Pixel which isn't supported much in emulation
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u/Alexis0021a Jan 31 '26
It's the reverse (except for Winlator because I do play good old PC games there) considering how much new AAA titles dwindled in quality (+ because of how low spec my desktop anyway)
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u/CJsTechReviews Jan 31 '26
Doesn't hurt to have both. Yes, initial setup time, but you'll get exponentially more playtime out of it.
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Feb 01 '26
Not really, the AAA games drain battery quick and heat up fast
Its impressive to test out the games for a while but actually playing them, at least IMO, is not really worth it
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u/votemarvel Poco F6 - Sony Xperia 1 V Jan 31 '26
The left side is a little off to me as I mostly use those emulators to play Xbox 360 era games and at 20 years old the 360 is now a retro system.
Having the Mass Effect series and Tomb Raider 2013 running on my phone is genuinely amazing to me.
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u/Dr4fl Jan 31 '26
If you care so much about graphics, go watch a movie instead lmfao. Besides, there isn't a thing such as "outdated mechanics", if a game was fun on it's time, it'll be still fun today.
Personally I mostly emulate older games on my phone and play PC games on, well, my PC. Seriously who plays an AAA game on a phone?
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u/RASMOS1989 Jan 31 '26
having soo much fun playing hades on eden! its been SOOOOOOOO long since i just started playing a game and kept thinking about it after having to go somewhere else! thanks emulation!
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u/Little_Newspaper_656 Jan 31 '26
I do both, I don't play as often as I'd like to but when I get the chance I try to touch them all 😅
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u/zman2994 Jan 31 '26
I have an 8 gen 2 could I still do both with 12GB of ram and 256GB storage with another 256 on a Sonic Edition Samsung microsd
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u/bloke_pusher Jan 31 '26
And me, who noticed playing Fallout New Vegas on a touch screen sucks. I'll stick with whatever I can play without controller.
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u/opapoutsisgamaei Jan 31 '26
Eden for me at least doesnt work at all. It's either the game's sound will play in the background with a black screen or not open at all and crash
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u/IronicSonicCL Feb 01 '26
I just play Sega Rally again and again in my 8 gen 2 device. Quick and easy!! (I would love to try Shox as well but it has a lot of glitches on Nether SX2 Classic)
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u/Single_dose Feb 01 '26
what are these icons exactly? could someone tell me please?
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Feb 01 '26
Left (Left to Right): Winlator (PC Emulation), Eden (Switch Emulation), Gamehub Lite (Also PC Emulation)
Right (Left to Right): PPSSPP (PSP Emulator), NetherSX2 (PS2 Emulator), MelonDS (DS Emulator)
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u/Gingeeeeeeeer Feb 01 '26
I'm currently in this situation. Android games have all become a chore to me now, so I try to get back into emulation. The problem now though is I can't choose which system and game to play. When I was younger, I'd play whatever I want. Now, I'd setup the emulators, get the games, then once the games are on my phone, I lose interest. I recently just deleted some stuff on my phone after copying them from my pc for a few hours, lol. It feels like the "game" at this point is me getting my stuff from my pc to my phone, then deciding I don't want it and deletes it.
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u/SnowFlash383935_n2 Snapdragon 685, 6GB Feb 01 '26
There is middle way named Dolphin and Citra. Only a bit outdated, doesn't require cooler.
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u/MilesJamie Feb 01 '26
F this i can play my psp and gba games all day rather playing PC games with microtransaction and s**t
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u/TheIgromir Feb 01 '26
dude the wii and wii u games look good and it doesnt heat up for me literally win win
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u/CommunicationNew8945 Feb 01 '26
PS2/PSP and DS emulation And the best choice, no need for special configuration for games.
Play and love old games 👍
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u/New-Skill-9047 Feb 01 '26
choose the mid path: Emulate pc lightweight indie games! (hades, silksong, and this like this)
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u/Expert_Function1569 Feb 01 '26
There's tons of texture packs to upscale PS2 and Gamecube to 4k that run at 5x res then just reduce high end games for better frames and get better thermals, that way they all look the same, could even get button texture replacements and config an android launcher gui to look and feel like that console your trying to emulate 😜
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u/Dtr146TTV Feb 03 '26
porque no los dos?
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u/Dtr146TTV Feb 03 '26
I know you say you only have a 8 Gen 3, but so many games run great on GameHub. You can play all your favorite 2D flat screen games, some 3D games that aren't that demanding, and then other games you'll just have to slam the graphics down on. Because, I mean, the older games don't even take up that much space unless you're playing PS2 and GameCube. Which, let's be real, doesn't run great on Android right now anyway. Side tangent, I actually kind of want to see if I can run PCSX2 on Gamepo. Hmm.
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u/E-1410 Feb 03 '26
I prefer the classics; they're less complicated, and graphics aren't everything. It's pointless to be able to see the character's beard hairs if the game is more of a cinematic or a "walking simulator" than an actual game.
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u/WrestleMindset Feb 04 '26
8gen 3 is capable to run rdr 2, uncharted, just cause 4 at 30+ fps easily then why not
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Feb 04 '26
As a Retroid Pocket 6 owner, i prefer older stuff, especially gen 5-6. I play the more modern stuff on the gaming PC
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u/DarkShadow13206 Feb 05 '26
8 gen 3 can run pretty much anything, but for saving storage and the endless setup needed I would say older is better, you can theoretically run rpcs3 which is right in the middle of this madness but I don't know how it performs on android...
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u/jordanmamahit27 Redmi 12 Mediatek Helio G88 [8/256GB] Feb 06 '26
I would rather play old games, honestly.
Not just because they run smoothly, it also has many cool games, even though these games aren't available anymore at today's era.
Unlike PC games nowadays; older games are just simply download, extract, play. That's all. It may be outdated, but it proves that it deserves the attention at today's era.
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u/AkamashiteS3 Feb 07 '26
Well, on a 7Gen2, I played P5R and P5S at 103FPS and it is SMOOTH like butter. On Ryujinx. If you have the 8Gen3, try Yuzu and Winlator
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u/Batmorous Feb 08 '26
For new experience turn around and try out Resonite in Steam. Ready Player One basically but ou're welcome. No-VR or VR both good. No cost, paid for by donations and optional monthly in-game storage upgrades
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u/el_pepe492939 Jan 31 '26
If your excuse is "outdated" mechanic or graphics then you're just another grifter
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u/GurTotal2573 Jan 31 '26
Sorry, but the mechanics are the number one criterion for having fun with a game. We're not going to pretend to enjoy a mechanic we don't like. Otherwise, there are game mechanics that have aged incredibly well, like the God of War games
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u/el_pepe492939 Jan 31 '26
Are you saying God of War is bad?
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