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iPhone Emulator

An iPhone emulator is a software or an App that fools the iPhone into thinking it is another computer, machine or game console. Then it allows you to run the emulated machine's programs and/or games on your iPhone.

iPhone emulator can run gamboy games on iPhone

For example, when you run an iPhone NES emulator on your iPhone, the iPhone can then run old Nintendo NES games . Similarly, when you run a Palm or a Mac plus emulator on an iPhone, you can make the iPhone run Palm and Mac plus application.

Mac plus iPHone emulator

A whole new archive of games and applications will immediately be available to you besides the thousands of other iPhone apps. This area of the iPhone is expanding quickly in Cydia and as the iPhone hardware improves, the iPhone becomes more and more powerful to emulate other machines.

It is difficult to release those types of apps on the App Store though. Different licenses might be required from the emulated machine manufacturer and/or software owners. And of course you must own the games, cartridges or applications you want to run on an iPhone emulator. Check pure-mac.com for good information about iPhone emulators.

Many emulators run at full speed on iPhone 3GS, but might be a little slower on iPhone 3G because emulators use heavy processing power. Also, you might be interested to read about iPhone game controllers to control games with a bluetooth device like the Wii Remote.

 

The advantages of iPhone emulators:

Running applications or games designed to run on other machines is fun to some people like me. Some times you might just want to experiment with a new operating systems, or you want to try an application from a different platform. It can be completely just for fun.

C64 is commodor 64 emulator for the iPhonerun sega genises games on iphone with iphone emulator

The other reason can be need. Imagine being able to play the old game you used to spend lots of time when you were a kid. Maybe you have a big collection of ROM files that you can easily play on your iPhone. Or maybe, you mastered a piece of software on another platform and you want to run it on your iPhone.

iPhone emulator can run gamboy games on iPhoneRun palm OS applications on your iPhone with StyleTap iPhone emulator

There are iPhone nes emulators that run old Nintendo games, Commodore 64 emulators, Sega Genesis, Atari, and other console's emulators. There is even a windows 3.1 and Windows 95 iPhone emulators.

Most of the the following iPhone emulators are available for free on Cydia. However, some cost $3 and more. Others are available from the App store and allow you to buy games within the emulator app itself like the Commodore 64 emulator.

 

What iPhone emulators are available?

The following is a list of all available emulators for the iPhone in both the jailbreak community from Cydia and from the App Store. Please feel free to add more in the comments area at the bottom if you know other ones.

 

Play commodor 64 games on your iPhone with c64 iphone emulatorC64:

This is a Commodore 64 emulator for the iPhone. It is an official iPhone emulator from the App Store.

It allows you to play some free Commodore 64 games and also allow you to purchase some other games within the app itself. C64 is commodor 64 emulator for the iPhone






run Sega genises games for iPhone emulatorgenesis4iphone:

This iPhone emulator allows you to play Sega Genesis games.

run sega genises games on iphone with iphone emulator














Run game boy games with iPhone emulatorgpSPhone:

This is a GameBoy advance emulator for the iPhone.

iPhone emulator can run gamboy games on iPhone
















Run gameboy games on your iPhone with gameboy4iphone emulatorgameboy4iphone:

With this emulator you can run GameBoy color and GameBoy black and white on your iPhone.

Play gameboy advance games on your iPhone with the gameboy iPhone emulator







run arcade games on iphone emulator with mamemame4iphone:

This iPhone emulator will allow you to run many of the old Arcade games from the 70's to 2000.

run Mame arcade games on iPhone









MiniVMac:

This is a Mac Plus emulator for the iPhone. You need to add "http://apt.namedfork.net/iphone" to your source list in Cydia in order to find it. Visit the Cydia page to learn how to do that.

Mac plus iPHone emulator



run Mac Plus applications on your iPhone with Mini vMac iPhone emulator











NES.app:

If you miss NES games, then this is an emulator for you to play Nintendo Entertainment System. Visit the iPhone nes emulator page for more details.

Run NES nintendo games on your iPhone with iPhone emulator like NES for iPhone

 



Play nintendo intertainement system or NES games on your iPhone with iPhone emulators












nes4iphone is an iPhone nes emulator with a different interface, Nintendo NES emulatornes4iphone:

This is the best NES emulator for the iPhone. Not only it allows you play Nintendo NES games, but also control the games with a WiiMote or a Wii Remote.

Visit the iPhone nes emulator page to read more about this amazing emulator.


















iPhone emulator can run Play Station 1 gamespsx4iphone:

This is a good concept emulator that will run Play Station One games. It works but not at full speed even on an iPhone 3GS.

Play Station one for iPhone emulator

 

 



















Super NES for the iPhonesnes4iphone:

This is a Super Nintendo emulator.









Run Super Nintendo games on iPhone emulator








Nintendo64 or N64:

This is a Nintendo 64 emulator. Nice emulator, but doesn't run at full speed yet.

Play Nintendo 64 games on your iPhone with N64 iPhone emulator


Nintendo 64 emulator for the iPhone allow you to run N64 games on your iPhone












Run Palm OS on iPhoneStyleTap:

This a Palm OS emulator. If you have some old palm applications, then it is time to use StyleTap. However, it costs $29.

You need to add http://cydia.styletap.com to your source list in Cydia. Visit the iPhone Cydia page to learn how to add a repository source.

StyleTap use web tools to install Palm applications on the iPhone. Click here to learn more about the Palm emulator.

Run palm OS applications on your iPhone with StyleTap iPhone emulator

Run palm os applications on iPhone using an iPhone emulator






Bochs: (pronounced (box))
:

This is a PC emulator for the iPhone. You can run Win 3.1 and Win 95. Although, they run very slow, the project has a good potential. Check out the bochs web page for more details about this project.

run win 3.1 on iPhone with bochs iPhone emulator

run win 95 on iPhone with bochs iPhone emulator

You can find Bochs in Cydia for free by adding http://cydia.xsellize.com/ to your sources list. Learn how to add sources by visiting the Cydia page.







ScummVM:

This a point and click emulator for the iPhone. It allows many other Operating System games to run on the iPhone at full speed. You can find Atari ST, Amiga and other old point and click games that are compatible with ScummVM.

Run point and click games from differernt platforms on your iPhone with ScummVM

 

How to install emulated games or applications?

In most of those iPhone emulators, once you install the emulator, a directory called ROMs will be created in var/mobile/Media/ROMs/ on your iPhone file system. You can then copy rom files to that directory for the specific emulator. Other emulators use the web to install applications on the iPhone.

Rom files are images of games or applications for different platforms. Therefore, each platform has its own rom files which store the game. Those rom files come in a form of compressed zip file, img file, iso file or other types of compressed formats.

You must have a jailbrocken iPhone in order to connect to your iPhone and be able to copy files to those directories. Read more about iPhone jailbreak to learn more.

After you copy the rom file to the right directory, you can start it in the emulator and play it on your iPhone. The results with most emulators are very good except for the controls.

Since the iPhone has a touch screen, it is very difficult and less enjoyable to play those classic games without buttons. Therefore, some companies are working on solutions to control those classic games using an external iPhone game controller.

 

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