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Citra 3DS emulator reaches 100k+ installs on Android in 4 days

Atheerios

Atheerios

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,097
nQOEyw.png


Citra, the Nintendo 3DS emulator, was released on the Google Play Store 4 days ago as an Early Access title, and now has reached a very noteworthy number of more than 100k installs.

It's crazy to see so many people interested in emulating 3DS.

Citra also includes a Premium version that you can purchase inside the app for $4.99 that unlocks filters and dark mode.

play.google.com

Citra Emulator - Apps on Google Play

Handheld console emulator
play.google.com play.google.com
 
Menx64

Menx64

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,774
Raspberry PI for the win.

Wonder if all 100k own the games the are going to emulate...
 
Serious Sam

Serious Sam

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,354
Menx64 said:
Wonder if all 100k own the games the are going to emulate...
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When Youtube channels like LinusTechTips with 11M subs doesn't bother with legit games in their emulation videos, do you think general public does? Heh.

EDIT: Didn't know piracy concerns aren't permitted in emulation threads. I thought this was important point and was just sharing what I saw in videos. Won't make any more posts about piracy in this thread.
 
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Midgarian

Midgarian

Alt Account
Banned
Apr 16, 2020
2,619
Midgar
User Banned (3 days): Advocating piracy
Menx64 said:
Wonder if all 100k own the games the are going to emulate...
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Glio said:
You know the answer.
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Wider ubiquity and accessibility to the library of Video Games is always the main thing I think of with emulation and hacked consoles.

Piracy concerns are less important than that. A few lost sales is perfectly fine collateral damage for the inspiration and passions that can be lit for people who otherwise wouldn't have had access to the library.

I'm still adamant that the most ardent Video Game pirates end up spending more money on videogames as a result of piracy than they would have otherwise because of the passion that is lit within them. The average videogame spend of a pirate is probably higher than the average of the average gamer, because pirates and enthusiasts heavily overlap.

Altera said:
Is it really crazy to see how so many people are interested in pirating 3DS games?
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Why does it have to be such a dirty and negative angle you look at it from?

Isn't it beautiful that 100,000 are playing 3DS games?
 
Lant_War

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
The Fallen
Jul 14, 2018
23,543
Midgarian said:
Wider ubiquity and accessibility to the library of Video Games is always the main thing I think of with emulation and hacked consoles.

Piracy concerns are less important than that. A few lost sales is perfectly fine collateral damage for the inspiration and passions that can be lit for people who otherwise wouldn't have had access to the library.

I'm still adamant that the most ardent Video Game pirates end up spending more money on videogames as a result of piracy than they would have otherwise. The average videogame spend of a pirate is probably higher than the average of the average gamer, because pirates and enthusiasts heavily overlap.
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Piracy concerns over an emulator when the actual consoles are very easy to hack is laughable.
 
sensui-tomo

sensui-tomo

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,629
wonder how well this emulator will run on an Nvidia tv shield pro unit.
 
criteriondog

criteriondog

I like the chili style
Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,079
3DS has such a good library of games. I loved my 3DS.
Fire Emblem Awakening + Kid Icarus Uprising were my two favorite games on that system. They were both so cool.
 
Leo-Tyrant

Leo-Tyrant

Member
Jan 14, 2019
5,081
San Jose, Costa Rica
Midgarian said:
Isn't it beautiful that 100,000 are playing 3DS games?
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If they paid for them? Sure.

I do emulation as well, but I always have the original game and console around.

Your "this is a great awareness campaign" point of view sounds great, but there is this very tangible scenario of people that could still buy these 3Ds titles officially, and will simply not, because there is a free option on their existing device.

There are other scenarios as well, like my own, or people that get exposed to the game, like it, and then buy it officially, but the scenario above does exist.
 
Fadewise

Fadewise

Member
Nov 5, 2017
3,210
I'm curious what the physical logistics of playing 3DS/DS games on an Android touchscreen device are. On the surface, it seems to make perfect sense when you think about a portrait oriented phone with a touchscreen mapping pretty well to the two vertically stacked screens, but what about controls? pretty much all of the "phone clip" style solutions to mounting a phone to a full-sized controller won't accommodate portrait orientation, and likewise with the "vice" style controllers. Seems like the only good option would be using a hacked Switch running LineageOS Android with a FlipGrip. Are most people just using a side-by-side orientation instead?
 
Niosai

Niosai

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,919
Fadewise said:
I'm curious what the physical logistics of playing 3DS/DS games on an Android touchscreen device are. On the surface, it seems to make perfect sense when you think about a portrait oriented phone with a touchscreen mapping pretty well to the two vertically stacked screens, but what about controls? pretty much all of the "phone clip" style solutions to mounting a phone to a full-sized controller won't accommodate portrait orientation, and likewise with the "vice" style controllers. Seems like the only good option would be using a hacked Switch running LineageOS Android with a FlipGrip. Are most people just using a side-by-side orientation instead?
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Isn't there a vertical Switch stand? I could've sworn they made one for one of the vertical SHMUPs. That would mitigate the issue quite a bit.

Edit: Granted you're using a modded Switch, obviously. For phones, I'm not sure there's a clear solution outside of some kind of custom stand peripheral.
 
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inner-G

inner-G

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
14,473
PNW
Professor Beef said:
Why not just...buy a 3DS
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You can play in much higher resolution if you don't use original hardware


Fadewise said:
I'm curious what the physical logistics of playing 3DS/DS games on an Android touchscreen device are. On the surface, it seems to make perfect sense when you think about a portrait oriented phone with a touchscreen mapping pretty well to the two vertically stacked screens, but what about controls? pretty much all of the "phone clip" style solutions to mounting a phone to a full-sized controller won't accommodate portrait orientation, and likewise with the "vice" style controllers. Seems like the only good option would be using a hacked Switch running LineageOS Android with a FlipGrip. Are most people just using a side-by-side orientation instead?
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It's really not bad, I can't think of any 3DS games that treat both screens as one like some DS games did. Having differently sized/proportioned screens that are and aren't 3D kind of made that impossible

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Alo81

Member
Oct 27, 2017
547
Thats awesome. That Switch port is also particularly interesting. Really cool seeing Quality emulation come to such small devices.
 
Chief Malik

Chief Malik

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,734
Land of the free, Home of the slave
Atheerios said:
It's crazy to see so many people interested in emulating 3DS.
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It's mainly the hardware, even for it's time I hated it. I continued buying games and not playing them up until like the new 3DS XL dropped. The 3D effect on the new 3DS actually working helps make up for the screen being so awful but even then some games started ignoring it. I hate playing them on my PC for the most part because the text and UI looks awful. I'm finally enjoying my games now thanks to this app. So much stuff to catch up on.
 
dyelawn91

dyelawn91

Member
Jan 16, 2018
470
Professor Beef said:
Why not just...buy a 3DS
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I broke out my OG 3DS to play Ocarina of Time 3D a couple of months ago, and it shocked me just how miserable of an experience it was using that device in 2020. It was cramped, the weird thumb slider was annoying to use, and the screen just looks like total shit in a way I could barely tolerate. Not condoning piracy, but I absolutely understand why someone would want to play 3DS games on something besides a 3DS.
 
JetstreamRorschach

JetstreamRorschach

One Winged Slayer
Member
Dec 30, 2017
1,820
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And I'm one of them! I was really impressed being able to play SMT IV at 1080p/30 FPS with my Snapdragon 845 (Xiaomi Mi 8). Unfortunately, the game crashes after speaking with Walter in the intro. The bug is already submited to github tho.
 
Professor Beef

Professor Beef

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Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,498
The Digital World
dyelawn91 said:
I broke out my OG 3DS to play Ocarina of Time 3D a couple of months ago, and it shocked me just how miserable of an experience it was using that device in 2020. It was cramped, the weird thumb slider was annoying to use, and the screen just looks like total shit in a way I could barely tolerate. Not condoning piracy, but I absolutely understand why someone would want to play 3DS games on something besides a 3DS.
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You were probably miserable because you were playing Ocarina of Time, I know that I certainly hate playing that game. But I've been (re)playing Link Between Worlds and having a blast, so maybe it's just you.
 
jwhit28

jwhit28

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,048
I don't really need a phone version but I'm thankful for citra. I can't get comfortable playing handhelds anymore. Even with Switch I end up doing tabletop when I have to.
 
Flon

Flon

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Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,120
dyelawn91 said:
I broke out my OG 3DS to play Ocarina of Time 3D a couple of months ago, and it shocked me just how miserable of an experience it was using that device in 2020. It was cramped, the weird thumb slider was annoying to use, and the screen just looks like total shit in a way I could barely tolerate. Not condoning piracy, but I absolutely understand why someone would want to play 3DS games on something besides a 3DS.
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Yeeeeah, my 3DS XL was the only gaming device I just simply stopped playing altogether because the screen and ergonomics were genuinely uncomfortable, it was not an exaggeration to say it gave me headaches and hand cramps. I moved over to a cheapo 2DS where the screen was a lot clearer but the buttons are so mushy and playing anything on that resolution is tough. It's just not a good experience no matter what I did.

Anyway, this topic is really surprising to me. I actually had no idea Citra was this far along, as I was still in the mentality that it required a ton of power to run it on PC. I long backed up a lot of my 3DS games so I wonder if my Ryzen 2400G can play any of them at HD resolutions... that'd be cool.
 
Phellps

Phellps

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,800
Huh, had no idea it had an Android version. Will give it a shot just to see how it runs.
 
maximumzero

maximumzero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,906
New Orleans, LA
Honestly kind of glad this is releasing so late in the system's life. I wonder if we would have seen a DS-style implosion of 3DS software releases if this was released a few years back.
 
inner-G

inner-G

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
14,473
PNW
mute said:
Probably better than no 3DS?
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Ok, but this is a thread about the Android version that has touchscreen support.

I was originally replying to someone who dropped in to say somthing about the 'Raspberry Pi FTW' though - this seems decisively better than the Pi or a PC for 3DS emulation.
maximumzero said:
I agree, honestly, though we're surely in the minority. Playing 3DS games without the stereoscopic display feels pointless
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What about the 2DS?

I think the games look way better in high resolution even without 3D. If 3DS would have never been 3D but had been higher resolution in the first place, it would have been a way better system.
 
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