A new emulator has been released on the iOS platform, which allows users to transform their smartphone or tablet into a Gameboy. The newly released Gameboy emulator lets you access classic console titles from a browser launched in your device.
Created by Ben Midi, the Gameboy emulator operates on your devices Safari browser, meaning that there is no need to install or download any software. The same controls as the original device are recreated on your touchscreen and it operates in both portrait and landscape modes.
There are currently 13 different Gameboy games available on the emulator. These include Mario Land, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Bomberman, Kirby’s Dream Land, Kirby XXL, Space Invaders, Motocross Maniacs, Bomb Jack, Boxxle 2, Castelian, Centipede and Stopwatch.
These types of emulators may become more and more popular, as a recent report by App Annie stated that mobile content had outsold handheld gaming for the first time last year helped by the viral craze ‘Flappy Bird’ and other such titles.
The data-intelligence group found that the combined sales on the iOS App Store and Google Play were three times the size of revenues generated by the dedicated handheld video gaming market by the third quarter of 2013.
Analysts are putting this “dramatic shift in game spending on mobile” down to a number of factors. Not only do smartphone devices offer more convenience and multi-functionality over dedicated handheld game consoles, but the content available is also much vaster. Free or low pricing of apps, as well as easy access to video gaming sites like miniclip and butlersbingo.com, makes the mobile platform more appealing to the gamer demographic.
The Gameboy emulator isn’t the first of its kind either. As handheld gaming appears to be dying out, more mobile content is focusing on console gaming titles. Other recent emulators that bought the classic era of gaming up to date with the smartphone generation include GBA41OS, which lets iOS7 users play a number of Gameboy titles without having to jailbreak, as well as webNES, a mobile emulator for NES games.
It is not known yet whether or not Nintendo are aware of the Gameboy emulator site. However, seeing as the site appears to be providing access to genuine Gameboy games, and with the gaming firm hoping to launch into the smartphone market in the near future, it seems likely that Nintendo’s lawyers will attempt to put an end to it.
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