mGBA 0.6.0 released for the PSVita and other devices
Emulation is one of the highlights of the PSVita and emulator updates are always welcome. This time around, mGBA, one of the best, if not the best, GBA emulators, has been updated to version 0.6.0.
What’s mGBA?
mGBA is an emulator that’s available on multiple systems which emulates the GBA and the GB and GBC since version 0.5. There are various systems that support mGBA and these are:
- Windows, Macintosh and Linux PCs
- The PSVita
- The Wii
- The Nintendo 3DS
The folks over at mGBA are also developing medusa which is a Nintendo DS emulator which is currently in alpha 2 stage and is available for Windows and Macintosh systems.
The emulator has a decent GUI, zip file support, frameskip support, a framerate counter and various other features for you to enjoy; all of which make it a worthwhile emulator to have on your PSVita.
What’s been updated/changed in mGBA 0.6.0?
The following is what’s been updated/added in mGBA 0.6.0:
- A library view has been added
- Translations to Italian, Spanish and German have been added for QT GUI ports (computer ports)
- Various debugging features
- Last directory loaded is now saved on the PSVita, Wii and 3DS. That means that if you opened a ROM from ux0:data/mGBA/GBA ROMs. you’ll be in that directory again when you re-open the emulator
- Various bug fixes to give you a better experience
I can’t seem to enable the library view on the PSVita so I’m assuming that it’s for the PC versions of the emulator. It is recommended you update to the latest version as it could fix any issues you may have with your games. Make sure to check the full changelog to get a more indepth recollection of what’s been changed.
How do I get it?
To get it for your PSVita, you need to do the following:
- Download the VPK from the link below
- Copy it to your Vita via FTP/USB
- Install it via VitaShell (it doesn’t require extended/unsafe permissions)
- Enjoy!
That’s it! You may now emulate GB/C/A games on your Vita without much of any issues. Remember, this is a safe homebrew so you can only access ux0:data
Full changelog: https://mgba.io/2017/07/16/mgba-0.6.0/
Download link: https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/releases/download/0.6.0/mGBA-0.6.0-vita.7z
As cool as I think this is.. I probably (Personally) wouldn’t write a PS Vita specific article related to this Emu until performance is improved.
By no way am I condemning the work they’ve put into mGBA, but it’s clear the Ps Vita is near the bottom of their priorities, same with Libretro/retroarch.
Both have those devs have had little to NO performance improvement within the months I can remember.
gPSP vita Retroarch is the closest thing we have to fullspeed GBA on the Vita, but the problem is it has stuttering that no one has bothered to figure out yet.
mGBA still doesn’t run nearly close to the speeds some PSP GBA emu’s have.
TL;DR: Neat, a new GBA Emu Update that doesn’t improve performance on the vita AT ALL.
I’m sorry if I sound salty but.. GBA is probably my second favorite handheld device ever, and it’s sad how little attention it gets on the Vita. Especially when Retroarch/Libretro is so close to getting gPSP to perform (Almost) perfectly.
Well, writing about almost everything is the job of a news website really. I haven’t played a huge variety of games but Kirby and Street Fighter II Turbo have worked well for me so I don’t really see mGBA as bad.
mGBA 0.7.0 should bring dynamic recompiler for ARM so that should greatly speed up performance.
Thank you. I love both the GBA and Vita as well, and really don’t understand this article’s focus on the Vita side of the emulator. It’s still the worst one, and barely mentioning the other platforms is poor journalism IMO.
I remember downloading the retroarch nightly just about every day and not noticing any differences.
But I distinctly recall the ePSP emulators working with 100% speed and decent compatibility, whereas the mGBA and retroarch’s GBA cores had 100% compatibility and questionable speed.
I always tested Golden Sun 2 and Fire Emblem
You remember wrong, then. The PSP GBA emu is more or less the same, if not worse (audio issues.)
More important than the speeches above:why the f is it in 7zip?its a miniscule file that doesnt open on vita shell.. how f’d up is that? huge middle finger… there’s a browser downlobtader.. not really into turning my pc on to transfer a small file via ftp, thank you so much! btw.this website sucks to open on a vita,which is pretty ironic
You like to whine, don’t you?
*** kisser! i had a point there, what’s your point here? :pp can you even be of help?
You don’t need a PC so think before you speak. Any Android or jailbroken iOS device will do.
Take it up with the mGBA devs why it’s in 7z format but I don’t see the problem.
I wasn’t hoping to get 2 people hurting.. i was sincere, but i was more like kidding in my tone. But I do know what I’m into miss :p i know about ftp via android and *jailbroken* ios’s but those are not within my reach. I do know the guy that posted the link on github is the one responsible for it being 7z and it is a middle finger to anyone who transfer it to their vitas or download it through the browser because you can’t unzip 7z in Vitashell.. that’s not “nothing wrong” ^^ imagine the guy that transferred it to their vita and forgot they should have unzipped it before, because you can’t unzip it on the vita! But, about the website, it really isnt too optimized for Vitas. Do you think you could do any about it? It’s a website mostly for Vita hacking :p BTW I knew a comment such as mine (that I think could be seen as hostile, but wasn’t the intention) would call your attention hehe ^^ sorry if you felt offended, it wasn’t my point
Was kinda hoping that 7z would be supported again in vitashell by now, or at least a separate zipp app. I also hate having to ftp things over.
it’s ok that it doesnt support 7z, the problem lies when you download something 7z with your browser (i’m loving that new featur btw). I don’t understand why people like to zip small files so much, whats the point? lol just be sure not to download big 7z files through the browser just to realize you’ll have to ftp it to your pc or delete it and try to find another website to download the file you wanted in the first place xD thankfully, winrar is usually the norm
welcome to the homebrew scene. Enjoy all the “huge middle finger(s)”.
Don’t worry.. I’m thankful for my family, friends , cats, the fl0w and wololo and stuff. I don’t take things for granted, i’m not that kind of person! but i do appreciate your concern and attempt to show me that
At the risk of sounding rude to Aurora (and I really ought not take that risk; she’s the only one on Wololo who seems to approve my comments!), this really isn’t as good as the PSP-native Game Boy Advance emulators. mGBA chugged on Namco Museum, a launch title that hardly pushes the hardware to its limits. By contrast, it runs as smooth as silk on gPSP Kai, the GBA emulator for PSP. Maybe it’d be worthwhile anyway if it runs classic Game Boy and Game Boy Color games well, but for Game Boy Advance games, its performance is not satisfactory.
Can we get a cheat function?