I’ve been very stressed lately and have been doing some window shopping to calm down. I’m interested in gadgets, but a lot of things can just be replaced with apps. I realize a phone won’t replace very large appliances like refrigerators or washing machines so I’m trying to scope my question to portable devices. So what are some portable devices or gadgets that their specialization hasn’t been replaced by smart phone apps? Extra points if they’re super useful and reliable.
If you haven’t experimented with roms and emulators yet, many old school games play great on a smartphone. The biggest downside is the touchscreen controls overlay will never compare to an actual controller, but it’s close enough that it’s… well, close enough.
Nintendo’s entire library from their inception as a company through all of their N64 content is a grand total of like 20gb, the vast majority of which being N64. Roms from previous console/handheld games are tiny.
No idea what the current best emulators are; for the games, drop into places like thepiratebay and search for things like “SNES Romset” for the entire library.
Use a VPN. Yar.
Physical controls are a necessity for retro games. Get a Miyoo Mini Plus or equivalent. They make retro games playable.
Sbcgaming or whatever its called is a good sub for that, handheld gaming has taken off, its gotten solid, you could also android phone with any of the controller cases, I just dont game as much or id be into them
Physical controls are significantly better, but not strictly necessary. The kicker is needing to press 3+ buttons at the same time, like in Mario 64 pressing forward to run, Z to slide, and A to jump is a PITA on touchscreen.
I’ve played through Mario 64, Zelda OOT and Zelda MM all on touchscreen on mobile, and it’s -again- good enough. It scratches the nostalgia itch. But 100%, if you have a bluetooth controller or something, use it.
You can get a controller for any smartphone out there. Also RPG’s play fine with touch controls, that’s how I played Pokémon games with no issues.
RetroArch is a good one, and is the go-to for most people. It covers just about every console you could want. But it also suffers from some bloat due to having so many features, and config can be kind of a pain if you’ve never done it before. If you’re just looking for a more basic “just fucking boot it up and play” emulator, maybe an app like Delta (Nintendo consoles) or Gamma (PSX) would be less bloated (and potentially run smoother.)
You could probably use RetroArch for nearly every system out there, including MAME core which could itself probably even emulate your smart fridge in the future, given enough time for developers.
There are also fan run repositories of games hosted through Myrient and the Internet Archive if you just want some specific titles or need a particular version for patching.
For emulation, personally I like RetroArch over individual emulators for simplicity. Can recommend SameBoy & Gambatte for GB+GBC, mGBA for GBA, melonDS DS for NDS, & Snes9x for SNES. All are accurate (so not likely to make a game bug out) & run fine on my midrange phone.
The touch controls work fine for games where timing/precision matters less, and for the rest I just use a BT controller. Xbox & PS ones are compatible, I believe, & there are some great quality 3rd party ones (like 8bitDo) out there.
I have a bluetooth controller with a phone mount on it. There’s a gadget for OP to explore!