8BitDo Makes Mac Perfect for Retro Gaming – iPhone? Not So Much 

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On the iPhone, 8BitDo’s SN30 Pro is a waste without emulator support. 

8BitDo SN30 Pro has been repeatedly cited as one of the best controllers for playing retro console games, especially designed for the Super Nintendo “SNES”. This makes sense as its design is based on his SNES controller.

A new firmware update from 8BitDo has made this controller work better with Apple platforms like his Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. This is good news for those who want to play classic 16-bit games on the Mac, but is wasted on iPhones, iPads, or Apple TVs as there are no Retro Console emulators on those platforms.

Certainly, firmware updates aren’t just for the SN30 Pro. 8BitDo’s Ultimate Controller 2.4g, Pro 2, and Lite SE also received a firmware update. So are the SN30 Pro variants, SN30 Pro Plus, and SN30 Pro for Android. The Ultimate Controller, Pro 2, and Lite SE are not intended as retro controllers, but as great all-rounders. This is a welcome addition for those who love games such as Apple Arcade.

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However, 8BitDo is arguably best known for its craving for retro games. For example, controllers like the SNES and Sega Genesis are paired with Analogue’s meticulously engineered FPGA-based Super Nt and Mega Sg consoles designed to play original SNES and Genesis cartridges. I was. The SN30 Pro is also a popular controller for playing classic SNES games on Nintendo’s Switch Online service. The company has recently tried to differentiate itself from its retro controllers.
I was able to use his SN30 Pro on my Mac before, but it was unsupported and could cause issues with games, certain keys, etc.

 

 

To upgrade your controller’s firmware, you can download 8BitDo’s upgrade tool, available for macOS and Windows. Your Mac should also be updated to at least macOS 13.2. This also applies to iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, which must run iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3 and tvOS 16.3 respectively.

The Complex Story of Gaming on Mac
It’s been written over the years that the Mac is not the ideal platform for gaming. The main reason for this is that for the most part the “hardcore gamer” type of games were mostly mediocre ports of Windows.

These ports became an even bigger problem when Apple switched from the x86 architecture and Intel chips to its own ARM-based silicon. On the other hand, modern Macs are much faster than older Intel Macs (especially when it comes to graphics). So when game developers bring native versions of their graphics-intensive games to modern Macs, the performance is very impressive. . Apple is working with developers to bring games like Resident Evil Village and No Man’s Sky to the platform, charging those making Apple Arcade games for iPhone and iPad that they also support the Mac. I’m here. No Man’s Sky hasn’t been released yet, but Resident Evil Village has been impressed with his Apple Silicon Mac. Unfortunately, both of these games fall short of what he can play on his Windows PC, and the Mac’s support for his Apple Arcade games is often nominal at best, with cumbersome controls and interfaces. is clearly not well adapted to mobile.

 

However, the Mac has always been a powerful platform for playing emulated retro games. DOSBox is alive and well on the Mac. I’m a big fan of OpenEmu. OpenEmu is his Mac-only multi-platform emulator for retro games, with his excellent UI. If you’re not too attached to a nice UI and don’t mind the out-of-control features and Linux vibe (I’m sure many of you do), you can also run his popular RetroArch emulator on your Mac. increase. OpenEmu is still an x86 app, but for the most part works fine with Rosetta. RetroArch Offers Apple Silicon Version

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