Android Is it possible to make/port a ds emu for android tablets?

[Alex221]

Woudnt it be possible to make or port a ds emulator for an android tablets such as the upcoming nexus 7? I know there are some nds emulators out there for android devices right now but theyre still at a beta stage. Im not trying to ask for someone to make such a thing,im just wondering about the possibilities.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

There are ones in the works, but none run fast enough to be playable. Chances are one won't be made specifically for any device, but you could hope eventually when tablets that powerful are normally available.

 

[Shano56]

ITS IMPOSSIBLEEEEEEE!

Jokes aside, its not android thats the deciding factor, its hardware capable. Once hardware improves, chances are you'll be seeing full speed emulators

 

[Jakob95]

It is definitely possible but probably won't happen. There aren't any devs that work on emu's anymore really, I don't remember when any emulator got updated on Android for the past year. I'm talking about the big ones (GBA,N64,PS1, etc)

 

[Alex221]

ITS IMPOSSIBLEEEEEEE!

Jokes aside, its not android thats the deciding factor, its hardware capable. Once hardware improves, chances are you'll be seeing full speed emulators

I'm pretty sure the hardware is not the problem here,i mean compare the technical specifications of a ds vs a high end tablet. I think we just need some persistent devs as well as beta testers to make a great emu.

 

[Joe88]

It is definitely possible but probably won't happen. There aren't any devs that work on emu's anymore really, I don't remember when any emulator got updated on Android for the past year. I'm talking about the big ones (GBA,N64,PS1, etc)

the guy who makes the .emu emulators update them frequently and just released a gba emu
and Fpse is updated alot

 

[nl255]

Actually, it is usually fairly easy. Usually it is just a matter of obtaining the .apk and installing it manually. The rest of the time it is almost always just a matter of decompiling (unzipping) the apk, editing a couple of plain text files (or worst case, decompiling the java/dalvik code) to remove device restrictions, and then packaging it back up again. A few like Amazon Video use multiple highly obfuscated integrity checks in native code to prevent that but those are rare.

 

[Jakob95]

It is definitely possible but probably won't happen. There aren't any devs that work on emu's anymore really, I don't remember when any emulator got updated on Android for the past year. I'm talking about the big ones (GBA,N64,PS1, etc)

the guy who makes the .emu emulators update them frequently and just released a gba emu
and Fpse is updated alot

Really? I haven't got any updates from the Android market for these emu's that I have in a long time.

 

[Lastly]

It is definitely possible but probably won't happen. There aren't any devs that work on emu's anymore really, I don't remember when any emulator got updated on Android for the past year. I'm talking about the big ones (GBA,N64,PS1, etc)

the guy who makes the .emu emulators update them frequently and just released a gba emu
and Fpse is updated alot

Really? I haven't got any updates from the Android market for these emu's that I have in a long time.

Most emulators are not in the Market anymore. N64oid for example.

 

[Flame]

It is definitely possible but probably won't happen. There aren't any devs that work on emu's anymore really, I don't remember when any emulator got updated on Android for the past year. I'm talking about the big ones (GBA,N64,PS1, etc)

the guy who makes the .emu emulators update them frequently and just released a gba emu
and Fpse is updated alot

Really? I haven't got any updates from the Android market for these emu's that I have in a long time.

Fpse gets updated on a regularly basis if you dont get the updates than you have a problem with your market/app updater.

 

[raulpica]

Too bad that FPSE is absolute crap, at least on my Mali400 GPU.

Anyway, it's probably feasible. The Nexus7 has enough horsepower to run a heavily-optimized DS emulator.

Will someone work on it, or do something more than a crappy straight port? Well, that's another issue entirely

 

[TripleSMoon]

It is definitely possible but probably won't happen. There aren't any devs that work on emu's anymore really, I don't remember when any emulator got updated on Android for the past year. I'm talking about the big ones (GBA,N64,PS1, etc)

Some of those really don't even need updates though. At least for Yongzh's apps (the only ones I've used), NES, SNES, GBC, and GBA already work flawlessly. Genesis also works flawlessly, except for a transparency bug deal that was never fixed.

 

[Shano56]

It is definitely possible but probably won't happen. There aren't any devs that work on emu's anymore really, I don't remember when any emulator got updated on Android for the past year. I'm talking about the big ones (GBA,N64,PS1, etc)

the guy who makes the .emu emulators update them frequently and just released a gba emu
and Fpse is updated alot

Really? I haven't got any updates from the Android market for these emu's that I have in a long time.

Emulators need like 10x times better hardware than what they are emulating in order to play back 100% speed

 

[TripleSMoon]

Emulators need like 10x times better hardware than what they are emulating in order to play back 100% speed

That's a gross exaggeration. But you're right, they generally have to be multiple times more powerful than the hardware being emulated.

 

[Shano56]

Emulators need like 10x times better hardware than what they are emulating in order to play back 100% speed

That's a gross exaggeration. But you're right, they generally have to be multiple times more powerful than the hardware being emulated.

okay maybe more like 3x but anyways, It's probably a mixture of lack of devs (or interest) and higher-end specs.

 

[TripleSMoon]

okay maybe more like 3x but anyways, It's probably a mixture of lack of devs (or interest) and higher-end specs.

It depends completely on the hardware, honestly. Example, an older Macbook might not need to be as powerful as a newer one might to emulate gamecube and wii because the older macbooks were powerPC based, like the gamecube and wii. The more similar the hardware, the less overall powerful the emulating hardware has to be compared to the emulated hardware. But yeah, generally 3 or 4 times is about right.

 

[Rydian]

Assuming that there was a powerPC GC emulator?

 

[TripleSMoon]

Assuming that there was a powerPC GC emulator?

I'm just speaking hypothetically. I'm no programmer and I don't know the gritty details.

 

[Rydian]

Ah, just making sure you meant hypothetically.

 

[Alex221]

So basically the hardware has to be similar and we would need some dedicated devs to make a port? Am i right or am i wrong?