PS3 emulator RPCS3 for Android enters alpha phase

Game console emulation on mobile is growing, thanks to a large number of gaming handhelds running Android being available on the market. The same goes for iOS, as Apple now allows emulators on its App Store. While a good number of old consoles like the PSP can be emulated on both these platforms, PS3 emulation has yet to make its proper debut on smartphones, and it seems that won't take long.

Last week, the founder of RPCS3, a popular PS3 emulator on PC, shared the alpha Android port. Surprisingly, this came after the team shared that the mobile port wouldn't land on mobile anytime soon, which was less than three months ago. Back then, the team noted the toxicity around the community was the reason why they were not keen on working on the project, but it seems that the tides have changed.

Of course, given that it's a very early build of the Android PS3 emulator, a lot of things won't go as they should. For example, many games may not launch at all, and the ones that do, they may not play correctly. There aren't any integrated controls either (Razer Kishi mobile controller curr. $31.97 on Amazon).

Even so, this is a good level of progress, given that, late last year, the team didn't offer much hope for RPCS3 landing on iOS and Android this soon. Worth noting that this became possible thanks to the ARM release of the PS3 emulator, which happened last December.

That said, the founder, DH, has yet to make a proper announcement about the Android port of RPCS3. However, it's available to download on the official GitHub page.