Games, you like them right? Want to relive the glory days of gaming on your tablet? Read on, dear friend, read on. Getting the best console games of yesteryear on your Android Honeycomb tablet is easier than you think. This is the beauty of Android – openness, freedom, and community collaboration. Follow the simple directions below, and watch the videos, and you should have your Honeycomb tablet playing your favorite games in no time – and with an actual controller, no less. Read on.

Well, we at Android Authority are all about good times. So much so in fact, that we’ve put together this comprehensive guide on how to relive the glory days of classic gaming with consoles like the SNES, N64, the original Playstation One, Gameboy, and more, on your Android phone or tablet. While this article is geared towards those with a tablet, the instructions will still work for you if you want to get things working on your Android phone too! Having an Android tablet will result in a better gaming experience, as you will be able to connect a USB controller, like the Playstation controller, or a XBOX controller, and get that nice tactile experience we have all come to know and love. Plus, more screen real-estate! Furthermore, if you decide to get an HDMI cable involved in the setup, well then you’ve got a totally portable gaming solution that will work on the big screen too.

Instructions

1. Why is this cool?
2. Things you will need
3. How to do it
4. Conclusion

1. Why is this cool?

First off – are you kidding? This alone is worth buying an Android tablet over an iPad, in this writers opinion. Emulators have the power to bring you back to a simpler time, a time of pixelated 8 bit goodness, where button mashing techniques returned loyal players higher scores. Android devices are almost all at the level that they can handle most PSX and N64 games now, and it’s not that hard to set up. Still, having tried a ton of emulators in the market, I have to say I wasn’t interested in them until now. Why? Simply because with my new Android tablet, and the Android 3.1 update, I can connect a USB controller, to free up screen real estate, and get my old-school gamer on. Another little awesome secret is that your Android tablet will, in all likelihood, charge your USB controller, which is always nice to have.

Things you will need:

1. EBAY: micro USB to USB Cable USB-OTG Female (OTG Cable)
2. Playstation or XBOX Controller
3. Android 3.1 update for your Tablet: In order to play with a USB controller (Xbox 360 or Playstation controller)  on your emulator of choice, you must have the Android 3.1 update for your Tablet . It also means that other controllers like the WiiMote will work too.
4. Emulators (explained below)
5. Roms (explained below)

How to do it:

1. First off, make sure you are updated to the latest version of Honeycomb, Android 3.1. This update has been forthcoming to the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, but is slower coming to other tablets. While you could wait, there are options to get the latest version on your tablet now, if you are feeling brave and impatient. More on that here.
2. Go and download your emulator of choice here, at Slideme.org
3. Follow the videos below, courtesy of awesome tech guru sleeplessninja. He’s got a ton of great how to videos on his site, and clearly understands how to get the best PSX, N64, and other emulators working, and he documents it for all to see! If you want to get the most out of your Android tablet, we highly recommend you check out his site!

Videos

How to get Playstation 3 controller working on your Android tablet

How to get Xbox 360 controller working on your Android tablet

How to get Playstation Emulator working well

SNESoid overview for Android Honeycomb

n64oid overview for Android Honeycomb

 

Bios files

As with all emulators and ROMs, we expect that you own the console and the game itself. You also need to download BIOS file in order to get the Playstation emulator working, and you will find the link below.

• Download file Bios file for PS here.
• If this doesn’t work just Google the file “SCPH1001.BIN”, and you will find it.
• The best site I found to get Roms (games) for your PS, or for any of the other consoles, is Emuparadise.
• You don’t need a bios for n64oid, but to install you have to go to settings, then applications, and click on unknown sources to install the n64oid apk, or any other emulator for that matter.

FAQ

Where can I find the emulators?

Go to Slideme.org, and search for “N64oid”, or alternatively, click the link here to go directly to it.

Also, there’s a ton of emulators to be found, all created by the same developer that had his emulators pulled off the Android Market, and they can all be found here

Where can I find the ROMS (games) ?

Just head on over to Emuparadise and find the ROMS for your platform of choice! We highly recommend you create a separate directory to store them in, as it makes finding them much easier, and it’s nice to have them all in one place.

Our suggestions

Remember, Google pulled the emulators from the market. As such, we just wanted to reinforce that that emulators are not easy to build, and very few developers can do what Yongzh has done. We suggest that if you are enjoying reliving the glory days of gaming on your console of choice on your Android phone or tablet, that you make a small donation to Yongzh to show your appreciation. After the emulators were pulled, he didn’t have to go and upload them to Slideme.org, but he did. This is a very nice gesture of good will, so we hope you return the favor.

Also, we are not responsible for any legal matters, any problems you have, and you do this all at your own risk. We fully expect you already own the games and consoles whose experience you are trying to recreate on your Android honeycomb tablet.

A big thank you goes out to SleeplessNinja for creating these awesome videos! Check out his site, it’s a real treasure chest for those looking to get the most out of their Android Honeycomb tablet, plus he’s got a ton of great videos.

What Android Honeycomb Tablet do you want to try this on? It will work on any of them, as long as they have Android 3.1 on board. Anyone excited? Going to give this a try? Let us know!

Sources: SleeplessNinja
Image Credit: BooYaaGadget
Emulators: Yongzh