Although Nintendo isn't likely to actually officially allow any
Nintendo games on your iPad anytime soon that doesn't technically mean you can't do it. If you are willing to jailbreak your iPad and install
snes4iPhone, you too can experience all the magically and revolutionary retro console gaming that you want.
How To Install SNES ROM's On iPad:
Follow the step-by-step guide below OR you can check out the video guide at the bottom!
What you'll need:
- iPad (obviously)
- Wiimote or iPhone / iPod Touch (as a controller)
- iPad/iPhone/iPod Sync Cable
- A Mac, Windows, or Linux Computer
Step 1: Jailbreak
The first thing you need to do is to make sure you have a jailbroken iPad. To do that, download and use a copy of the
Spirit Jailbreak. It works for iPads running iOS 3.2 and rus on Mac, Windows, and Linux - requiring just a single click. Before you jailbreak though, you should take note of two things: one, it could potentially screw up your iPad irreparably (although this is pretty rare) and second, you should sync and back up everything first in case you have issues.
Once you are done doing all of that, quit iTunes and open Spirit Jailbreak. It'll let you know in the window if the iPad is connected. If it is and Spirit is ready, just click the Jailbreak button. When it's finished it just quit the application at this point.
If everything went well, you should now have a jailbroken iPad with Cydia installed (it should show up somewhere on your home screen after you jailbreak). Pretty simple, you are ready for the next step!
Step 2: Download snes4iPhone
Once you find Cydia somewhere on your homescreen, Launch it and click "Cydia Store: Products" once everything has loaded. This will give you a screen filled with popular for-pay apps. Luckily, snes4iPhone is one of them and you can get it for $6. Click on snes4iPhone and then click "Purchase" in the upper right-hand corner. once you do that you'll be prompted to authenticate using your Google or Facebook account and then pay using your Amazon or PayPal account. Doesn't matter how you get the app, some of you may download a cracked version of the app, however you do it is entirely up to you. Once you've paid, snes4iPhone will download and you will be ready to load up some games.
Step 3: Installing the ROMs
There are a few ways to load games onto your iPad for use with the emulators. For those of you know know how to SSH into your iPad, do that and copy the ROMs over. Your ROMs are stored here:
/var/mobile/media/ROMs/
For the SNES there will be another directory inside of ROMs called SNES (assuming that you have already launched snes4iPhone). If you have other emulators, it is pretty likely that their ROM directories will be here as well. Alternatively, you can browse for ROMs online (or upload yours and put the link into snes4iPhone) and download them directly onto your iPad by going to the Browse section of snes4iPhone and clicking Search in the upper righthand corner of the screen.
Step 4: Syncing your Wiimote
The last step is around the corner for you to enjoy! Syncing the Wiimote is actually pretty easy, all you have to do is open up snes4iPhonego into the options panel and turn on Wiimote Support (it's the last option). Once you do that, relaunch snes4iPhone and you'll see it searching for a Wiimote. When it does this, grab your Wiimote and hold down both the 1 and 2 buttons. Fairly quickly snes4iPhone should find the Wiimote and you'll be all set to go.
If you are having any issues or problems arise, you should turn off your iPad's Bluetooth in your iPad's settings. This may seem counterintuitive at first but because snes4iPhone uses another method to connect to Bluetooth devices (bstack) your iPad's Bluetooth software may interfere.
How To Install SNES ROM's On iPad - Video Guide:
Alternative: SNES HD
This isn't the only method for playing SNES games on your iPad and you aren't limited to just one console. Cydia has other emulators (NES, N64, etc.), many of which also contain Wiimote support, that you can download. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and would prefer to use that as a controller instead of a Wiimote, you can do that with SNES HD (follow the instructions on THIS page for adding the ncessary source to Cydia to download it). Be aware that you'll need to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod Touch in order to use it as a controller. If your iPhone and/or iPod Touch isn't
his isn't the only method for playing SNES games on your iPad, and you also aren't limited to just one console. Cydia has other emulators (NES, N64, etc.), many of which contain Wiimote support, that you can download. If you have an iPhone or iPod touch and would prefer to use that as a controller instead of a Wiimote, you can do that with
SNES HD (follow the instructions on that page for adding the necessary source to Cydia to download it). Be aware that you'll need a to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod touch in order to use it as a controller. Spirit may be able to take care of that for you as well, but it doesn't support every iPhone and iPod touch so be sure to check before you dive in.
