The first native emulator of the Sony PlayStation 3 console – aPS3e – has appeared on Google Play.
Support is still limited, and the process itself is not the easiest. To play, you need a powerful smartphone with a top-of-the-line processor (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2/3 and above), at least 12 GB of RAM, and the ability to connect a gamepad — preferably a Sony DualShock.
To run games, users will have to download the PS3 firmware themselves and follow the instructions provided in the emulator's description. After that, they can run compatible games - the list of supported titles is quite short at the moment.
The most popular console releases, such as The Last of Us, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, God of War III, and Heavy Rain, have yet to launch. However, Terraria, Limbo, and Rayman Origins run at a stable 30 FPS, while Castle Crashers and Flower run but are unstable.
According to users, the emulator is unstable and often crashes. They note that even flagship smartphones are not powerful enough for smooth emulation, and advise using RPCS3 on a PC. In addition, aPS3e was accused of borrowing code from the same project, but later the developer opened the source code on GitHub.
The PlayStation 3 debuted in 2007 and became a major part of console history, delivering The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid 4, the Uncharted series, God of War III, Demon's Souls, and other iconic games. Due to the console's complex architecture, many games remain exclusives to this day.