Emulators

Rumors of Nintendo porting their most famous titles to iOS have been floating around since the first iPhone was launched in 2007. As it turns out, the App Store is not the place to find Super Mario Brothers or Zelda. Nintendo watchers are at it again after the publication of a patent filed by Nintendo titled "Hand-held Video Game Platform Emulation".

The focus of the patent is on emulating Nintendo game platforms such as the Game Boy Advance on various modern devices. iPhones and iPads could be included in the broad definition, as well as built-in screens in airplane and train seats. The patent explains that software emulation would model "a native platform liquid crystal display controller using a sequential state machine" and provide high quality graphics and sound.

The popular Gameboy Color and Game Boy Advanced emulator for iOS devices won't die! After surviving a DMCA take down by Nintendo, GBA4iOS, was sacked by an iOS 8 patch that killed the workaround which was required to install it on non-jailbroken iOS devices, but now the emulator is back in action! iPhone and iPad users running iOS 7 - 8.1 can download GBA4iOS 2.1 by simply visiting http://iemulators.com/gba4ios on their mobile browser.

Version 2.1 of the emulator does not require a jailbroken device, date trick and it works with iOS 8.1. You can learn more about the open beta of GBA4iOS 2.1, how to install it and how to add games to the emulator by watching the official video here. Remember, adding games you do not own is considered piracy.

Anyone who tries to avoid pirating music, movies and video games will tell you sometimes companies make it hard. For example, when a studio refuses to release a specific film to DVD or Blu-ray fans have no choice but to download it illegally or keep a VCR handy. Or how about when you try to start watching a new television series, and only episodes 4, 5, 6, 22 and 24 are available On Demand? These scenarios can be frustrating and it sometimes forces customers to search for alternatives such as video game emulators.

As most iOS gamers already know, NIntendo refuses to release its titles to mobile devices. Nintendo's no mobile game policy has caused some fans to use emulators such as GBA4iOS to port Nintendo games to their iPhone or iPad. Last night, GBA4iOS creator Riley Testut confirmed via Twitter that Nintendo sent a DMCA notice "requesting gba4iosapp.com to be shut down".

Looking to emulate GBA/GBC games on your iOS device? Another hidden emulator has sneaked into the App Store until Apple catches on and pulls the app. The app is called Slider Puzzle, and it masquerades as an innocent sliding puzzle game with four different images.

Players can put their own images into the app via iTunes to see them converted into new puzzles. The real fun happens with a series of inputs that activates the hidden GBA/GBC emulator. The great thing about this secret is no jailbreak is required to play ROMs right on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

We've been watching the iControlPad since it was first announced as a prototype in 2008. Now thanks to ThinkGeek this gaming accessory for the iPhone is finally available! The iControlPad has gone through several redesigns since its conception but the final product remains a Bluetooth-connected physical control pad for gaming.

In fact, thanks to its Bluetooth connectivity the iControlPad is compatible with a wide variety of smartphones, tablets, consoles and computers. Adjustable brackets mean the iControlPad can be directly attached to a variety of mobile devices, and flash memory means the firmware of the accessory can be updated