GoKawiilHadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR The team behind the ARMSX3 emulator for Android has released a stream of updates in recent days.
These updates add features like support for folder-based games, save state support, and a new default audio backend.
These updates also bring a variety of fixes and performance improvements.
ARMSX3 was released last week as the third PS3 emulator for Android. However, we were particularly excited about this release as the development team has a reputation for blazing-fast updates, as evident by ARMSX2. There’s good news if you want ARMSX3 to have a similar streak of updates.
The ARMSX3 team has already issued a stream of updates on GitHub since the initial releases last week. These updates include support for folder-based games, PKG game files with RAP licenses, trophies, ANGLE wrapper functionality, and functional save states. We also get improvements like shader caches being removed when uninstalling a game, pause functionality actually working, and more reliable firmware installation on slower devices.
The v0.7 and v0.7.2 updates were released in the last 24 hours and also bring a host of fixes and improvements. This includes Oboe as the new default audio backend, a fix for water not rendering in Oblivion on some Snapdragon chips, and general improvements for mobile GPUs.
What else to know about recent ARMSX3 updates? All these updates have also brought improved compatibility and performance. The developers say Armored Core: For Answer and Sonic The Hedgehog are now playable. Meanwhile, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows now “works.” Finally, titles like Saint Seiya: The Sanctuary, Sonic Unleashed, and the God Of War 3 demo now boot.
For what it’s worth, I can confirm that 1942 Joint Strike is playable on my AYANEO Pocket S Mini. I also tried UFC 2009, but gameplay turned out to be a slideshow. Meanwhile, Birds of Steel crashed before entering gameplay.
Nevertheless, ARMSX3 is clearly making plenty of progress in a short period of time. We’re not expecting every PS3 game to be playable, but it certainly looks like PS3 emulation on Android is shaping up to be more than a curiosity.
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