What’s the point?
Your phone’s so powerful it can pretend to be another piece of kit entirely, and the programs you run won’t even notice! Here’s how to make the most of your mobile’s emulating ability.
Is it free?
Some emulators cost money, but some are free!
Sold! How do I do it?
1) Pick an emulator
The quality of your emulator will dictate the performance you see from your mobile. To see a good emulator and top-notch coding in action, check out SCUMMVM – it’s designed to make your phone run retro PC adventure games.
You’ll be able to tell if an emulator’s running well if it’s fast, responsive, suffers no graphical glitches and gobbles up your games (also called ROMs) without any complaints.
Always trial an emulator before you pay money for it. If it struggles to work with your games, it’s almost certainly the software that’s at fault, not your game files.
2) Hardware matters
Emulation is a tricky task, not just for the programmers making it happen, but for your phone. Interpreting what is essentially alien code will push your phone’s processor to the limit. If you’ve got a weedy phone, forget it. You’ll see stuttering performance and hear broken sound – that’s if it even works at all.
3) Clear our your memory
Even if your phone’s powerful enough to cope with an emulation, it’ll need a helping hand. Top-notch phones like the N95 are perfect for running emulators, but struggle if they’re running low on memory. Help yours out by exiting any extra programs that are running at the same time, and making sure the phone’s own storage has a bit of space left. Don’t worry about the memory card though, that’s a separate concern.
4) Memory upgrade
Your memory card only needs attention if you’re thinking of running lots of games. Depending on their age, and the system you’re emulating, they can take up a lot of room. Upgrade your storage to squeeze more in, and always have an arsenal of retro titles ready to play on your handset.
5) Software spruce-up
Most emulators are made by groups of programmers. As a result, they’ll issue updates more often than one person coding alone. Keep up to date with their newest software, as the leaps in performance between software versions can be staggering. Also, always keep your phone running the latest firmware. Nokia’s software updates often provide system-wide improvements to your phone’s efficiency, giving a little bit more grunt to throw at that emulation software you’re so fond of.