This update just made playing retro games on the PS3 a lot better

A few weeks ago, Sony released a surprise update for the PS3, prompting many gamers to dust off their old PS3, boot it up, and relive some nostalgia. However, if your PS3 is long gone, or you have never had one, there’s a new way to experience playing PS3 games, all powered by the smartphone in your pocket.

RCPS3 is a well-known PS3 emulator that is completely open-source. Until a few weeks ago, it only ran on Windows, Linux, and macOS. At the beginning of March, its co-founder, DH, released an early alpha build of the emulator ported to Android, allowing users to run PS3 games on their Android devices (via Android Authority). That initial build was basic, with limited features, but that is all changing now.

A new alpha build of the RCPS3 emulator has been released for Android devices. The app now has a new settings menu, which makes it much easier for users to customize the emulator. Before this update, users had to go into text files to change the settings, so this new menu will simplify optimizing the PS3 emulator for your device.

The update is available for download now

You won’t find it on the Google Play Store

If you’re interested in trying out the PS3 emulator on Android, you won’t find it on the Google Play Store. The latest build of the RCPS3 alpha for Android, which includes the new settings menu, is available only on GitHub. The download provides the APK, so you’ll need to sideload the app onto your phone.

The new settings menu offers a range of options to customize the emulator to your preferences, including the ability to adjust video settings, such as the graphics renderer and display resolution. The minimum display resolution is 720p, but you can increase it if your phone has the hardware to support higher resolutions. You can also adjust audio settings properly now and add custom GPU drivers.

As noted by Android Authority, one downside of this current alpha build is that it doesn’t yet support Bluetooth controllers, such as an Xbox controller. This is likely to change in a future update. Since the development of this Android build of the RCPS3 emulator only began in late February, the progress achieved thus far is quite impressive. All this was made possible by RCPS3’s recent ARM update, which made the emulator easier to get running on mobile devices.

Related

In case you missed all the leaks, here’s the first official look at the Pixel 9a

Google’s entry-level Pixel 9a offers impressive specs for a reasonable $500 price.