What to Know About Apple Allowing Game Emulators in the App Store

[Cameront9]

I would be curious to see if Apple allows something like mini vMac on the iPhone.

I’d say that’s doubtful but who knows. You can already play around with vintage Mac OS online on infinite Mac though.

Apple does specially say console though if that’s the case then thr Commodore 64 emulator shouldn’t be allowed. So who knows!

 

[Shirasaki]

There is no real definition of retro except for it loosely being of recent past.... that would mean Xbox one, PS3 and Wii U and older...

Would be cool if apple hardware can emulate those Cell processors at greater speed.

 

[thadoggfather]

Huge W from Apple! Hats off on this one

 

[joevt]

What are the chances of seeing an Apple ][ emulator on iOS? Loadrunner, Hard Hat Mack, Olympic Decathlon...

"ActiveGS - Best Of FTA" is an Apple IIGS emulator on the iOS App Store. It was created 13 years ago, went away for awhile, and is now back. Not sure if it's possible to get your own disks in there.

 

[svish]

Good article. Great to see emulators on the app store.

 

[mithrandil]

concerning the commodore c64 and Amiga machines

you can install them as PWA web app on your homescreen with the share button

vAmigaWeb Amiga emulator iPad iPhone

cycle exact Amiga emulator in html5 / javascript. This Amiga emulator is compatible to the progressive-web-app (PWA) standard.

vAmigaWeb.github.io

vc64web C64 emulator iPad iPhone

C64 emulator iPad iPhone demo browser csdb. Compatible to the progressive-web-app (PWA) standard.

vc64web.github.io

vc64web and vAmiga are sandboxed in WebKit, no ads, no tracking, full featured, solely done by enthusiast 😎

 

[mrmax86]

Whenever I read that there's no written definition on what's retro, my first thought was PS2-Xbox and older.

Whatever can run without modification on current tech should be the boundary. I don't see an iPhone being able to handle GT5.

Also, the ROMs for PS3/Xbox 360 would be pretty big, relative to iOS storage sizes.

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

It's crazy that Apple is allowing this now.

 

[DanTheMan827]

"Retro," wow. They are really being vague there. I get they are trying to be nice and help out, actually. Which is cool. Do not think for a minute Nintendo won't come after any app that lets their games be played with it. Same for Sony. If it persists, they'll hit up Apple next.

My subjective opinion of “retro” is anything a person grew up playing in their early childhood and would end up re-buying as a working adult.

Roughly anything 12 years old is “retro” in my eyes, and yes that includes Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, and PS Vita.

Someone should make an iPhone 6 emulator that can play the old games…