How to Turn Your Tablet Device into a Retro Gaming Machine
Do you remember retro gaming? Old consoles like the NES, SNES, Sega Megadrive and the Gameboy were common devices for children growing up two decades ago. Unfortunately, most of our old consoles are probably broken, sold or we just can’t find them for reasonable prices anymore. To remedy that, why not turn your existing tablet or mobile device into a retro gaming machine?
Did you know that your tablet device, despite being so small, is hundreds of times more powerful than a typical retro gaming console? It’s true! And did you also know that you can download emulators to play all your favourite retro games on your tablet? It makes sense considering a tablet device is so much more powerful. You can play almost every game from the old MS-DOS days of PC gaming to even Playstation 1 games. Here are a couple of things you’ll need to turn a regular tablet device into a retro gaming powerhouse.
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A Case or Housing
You can design some amazing arcade machine cabinets or boxes for your tablet device so you can slide them in to create a makeshift “TV” that houses all the hardware. These can be custom designed by you and a bit of woodwork, or you can buy them from designers and manufacturers from places like Amazon and eBay.
A Television Connection
If you don’t want to use a case or arcade machine styled housing, then your other option is to buy a cable to connect your device to the television. There are dozens of different adapters you can buy for both Android and iOS devices, and if a cable doesn’t sound like something you’d enjoy then you can also use screen mirror if you have a smart TV and a tablet that’s capable of screen mirroring. This has great uses for watching videos and movies as well and doesn’t exclusively have to be used for gaming.
A Gamepad
What retro gaming machine wouldn’t be complete without a gamepad? You can buy ones that are styled after classic consoles such as the NES and Sega Genesis, but if you prefer a multi-use gamepad to use with the latest games as well then you can get one with thumbsticks as well. If you like retro arcade games, then you can even buy arcade sticks to plug into your device. If you’re making an arcade-styled housing for your tablet, then it can add a fantastic touch of authenticity. If you’d like to learn more about the choice of controllers, check out http://www.ithingum.com/game-controllers/.
Some Emulators
Depending on what type of games you want to emulate, you’ll need to check your app store for emulators. There are paid varieties and free ones, but whether or not you pay money usually doesn’t affect the quality of the emulator. Try out different ones and read reviews so you know what you’re getting yourself into. Old consoles like the NES and Sega Genesis are easy for most devices to emulate, but 3D consoles like N64 and Playstation 1 might require higher powered tablet devices.