Disqus
Over the weekend, Google has pulled a batch of popular video game emulators from the Android Market, including N64oid, and all other -oid apps made by the same developer. The apps would allow you to play games for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, Atari, Game Boy, and others. There are still plenty of other emulators available, but another popular option, PSX4Droid was recently pulled as well, indicating there’s a Market-wide purge in progress. The developer of N64oid said his apps were pulled and his developer account removed without any warning or explanation from Google.
With the Xperia Play bringing more attention to brand-name commercial games on Android, publishers no doubt have a vested interest in claiming legitimate turf in the Market. Of course, emulators were at best in grey legal territory to begin with, but that’s not going to stop developers from finding workarounds in third-party stores or simply hosting the files personally; it just means they’ll have a harder time making money from it. Lesson? Get your quality video game emulators now while you can.
[via Engadget]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
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