If you like the world of consoles and games, you have plenty of possibilities to enjoy those titles from your childhood again. You will be able to play all these games from your tablet, computer or mobile but, if you have an Amazon Fire TV, you will be able to do it on the big screen in your living room. If you miss those games from the Super Nintendo, SEGA Genesis, Game Boy, or even older consoles, take note. so you can emulate each and every one of these systems on your Amazon Fire TV Stick device. Go for it.
Emulators + ROM's, how do they work?
If you've never heard of the world of emulators and ROMs, you're probably wondering what they are and how they work. To be able to play retro titles we need two fundamental elements:
- emulator or kernel: This section, explained in a simple way and without going into too many technicalities, is the application that will act as the console. It will be in charge of emulating any old game console you can imagine such as the SNES, Amstrad, Neo Geo Pocket, Spectrum or even some more modern ones like the PS1.
- ROM's or games: Well, without further ado, as its name indicates, it is the game (with an extension compatible with the emulator, yes) that we want to play.
So the first thing you need to find are these two elements to start using and enjoying the titles of your childhood. We cannot give you information about where you can find the games (although you can find everything on the internet), but we can explain to you how the installation process from the emulators on your Fire TV.
Regarding the legality of the process, you will not be breaking any law as long as you own the original copy of the games that you are going to use on your Amazon Fire TV Stick, since the law protects the user to load 'backups' in emulators. Even so, it will be your job to find or make those backup copies, since it is illegal to link to that content on the Internet.
What are the best emulators out there for Fire TV?
There are many emulators available on Android, which, after all, is the system on which Amazon's Fire TV is based. Many of them are compatible with the TV dongle and allow you to bring the emulation experience to your living room. Not all of them work properly, so we'll stick with the ones that work best on Fire TV. They are the following:
- RetroArch: It is not an emulator as such, but an application that groups different emulators. RetroArch is today the most widely used system to emulate on any machine due to its versatility and the large number of tutorials that are available. The app works with modules and not all of them will work on your Fire TV, but we guarantee that you will be able to play most retro games without problems.
- My Boy!: is a GameBoy Advance emulator. RetroArch supports this console, but if you are only interested in the titles of this Nintendo handheld, you can directly install this emulator and save a lot of time configuring.
- Classicboy: If you want to relive the SEGA classics, this is your application.
We believe that the easiest way to emulate games on Fire TV is through RetroArch, because by activating the necessary modules, you will be able to enjoy the games of dozens of different classic systems again.
How to install emulators on Amazon Fire TV
We get to work with this procedure. You have to know that, if you follow the steps that we will be commenting on now, it will not be too complicated and it will only take about 10-15 minutes.
First, to use the emulators, we will need to install the app from RetroArch. The drawback of this is that you will not find it in the Amazon app store, but we will have to download it from its own website. To be able to do this, we must first install another application (which is found in the Amazon store) called Downloader. This is the gateway for any application that is not in the Amazon store, so take note and do not uninstall it once you have completed this process. It may help you later to perform other procedures with your Amazon gadget.
Once this application is functional on the Amazon Fire TV you must follow these steps:
- Opens Downloader.
- In the upper bar you have to place the RetroArch website to access it. That is, write www.retroarch.com.
- Once the downloader app shows you the interface of this website, you must download the Fire TV controller until you find the RetroArch download button. The correct option is the one with the name “Download Stable”.
- Pressing that button will start the download. Once finished, click on “Install”. You will probably see a sign mentioning that you must access the Fire TV settings to give permissions to install unknown apps. Accept all the permissions that this process requests because each and every one of them is necessary.
At the end of all this process you will already have RetroArch installed among the rest of your applications on the Amazon device. Now we need to move the games to the Fire TV to continue the process.
Send ROMs to Amazon Fire TV
As we have already mentioned, we cannot tell you where you can download the games compatible with these emulators. However, we recommend that you do a few searches on Google, because they can be found relatively easily. What we can do is explain the procedure to transfer them from your computer / mobile to the Amazon gadget, since this can be somewhat cumbersome. We have two possibilities to send those files:
- USB: Luckily, all Amazon Fire TVs are compatible with the use of USB HUBs through their microUSB port. Therefore, in this way we will only need to insert the ROM in a pendrive (formatted in FAT32 from the PC) and connect it to the Amazon equipment. We will discuss the following steps a little further on in the next section, but they are not to be missed.
- Wireless: In the event that you do not want to buy one of these accessories to carry out this process, you should know that you can also do it simply using your mobile phone and an app called Send Files to TV. The procedure in this case is also very simple.
To do this last method, the first thing will be to install this app both on the phone and on the Amazon computer. Then, with the ROM previously downloaded on your smartphone, all you have to do is:
- Enter the download folder of the phone.
- Select the game file in question and click on the share icon.
- Among the different options you will see "Send Files to TV". Click on it with the app open also on Fire TV itself.
- After a few seconds of waiting, your Amazon accessory should appear in the list of devices available for shipping. Click on it to start sending.
In the event that you get an error, it is most likely that this application is missing some permission within the Fire TV. Give him all the ones he asks for because, once again, they are important for his correct functioning.
Move ROMs with a File Manager
Now we have the app that will be in charge of supplying us with the emulators (RetroArch) and the ROM that we want to play in the download folder of the Amazon accessory. But, before opening RetroArch, we must place the ROM in the proper directory. For that you will have to download one more application, a file manager. In our case we have used ES File Explorer, which you can find within the Amazon app store.
DOWNLOAD ES FILE EXPLORER HEREOnce again, after installing this application on your computer, you just have to follow these simple steps:
- Sign in ES File Explorer.
- Access the download folder.
- Here you will see the file of the ROM in question that you sent from your smartphone. Select it by holding down the action button on your remote, then slide over to the three-dot menu on the bottom toolbar and click on it.
- In the options that you can see now, you have to choose "Move to". This will allow us to select the new route where we want to send it.
- Click on the back button to go to the path of the internal memory of the device, then you must go to RetroArch > Downloads and select this folder to send the file.
The truth is that it would be worth any folder in the internal path of RetroArch but the most logical thing is to place it here. And that would be it, now all that remains is to choose the appropriate emulator.
Connect a controller to the Amazon Fire TV Stick
Another detail that you should know before entering this application is that it must be used through a Bluetooth gamepad. Therefore, before accessing, we must Pair your remote with your Fire TV. Almost any wireless controller you have at home will be compatible with this system, so you won't have to buy anything. To make the connection, follow the following steps that we explain below:
- In the main menu go to «Configuration«.
- Once here, go to the option «Bluetooth controllers and devices«.
- Now click on «Game controllers«.
- Activate the synchronization of the gamepad and, once it appears in this list on the screen, select it.
Once this is done, you can now use your Bluetooth gamepad to play games on your Fire TV.
Install emulators from RetroArch
Now yes, the time has come to open RetroArch. When doing so, with the gamepad previously synchronized, you must not touch any button other than the one on this controller. When you press any key, a message will appear telling you that the pairing has been successful. Now you can manage this interface through the gamepad.
Once inside, we need load the emulators in the app. We will do this from the "Load core" section and, of course, depending on each title we will have to choose one emulator or another. In this list there are different options for each emulator so that, if one gives you some kind of problem or incompatibility, you can delete it and load another option. Once the correct emulator is installed, it is time to access the games from the “Load content” option and accessing the path where we had previously placed the ROMs. By clicking on one of them the game will start automatically.
Gamepads to play retro emulators
As we have already mentioned a few lines ago, to be able to use RetroArch you will need a controller, also known as a Gamepad. There are a large number of options of this type of accessories that you can purchase to play these games. But, to make your search work a little easier, here is a list of some of the best options that you could decide on:
View offer on Amazon View offer on Amazon View offer on AmazonWhat consoles can I emulate with a Fire TV Stick?
When it comes to emulating video games, the limit is in the power of the device. The emulator is nothing more than a kind of code 'translator'. It will try to adapt a language written for an old chip and make it easier for a modern chip to execute. While the ARM chip in a Fire TV Stick can be several times more powerful than that in any console from the XNUMXs, emulating video games is quite a demanding operation. Therefore, the greater the power, the greater the number of consoles we will be able to emulate.
Limitations of Fire TV Lite and Standard
If you have a standard Fire TV Stick, you can emulate Nintendo consoles up to the SNES and Game Boy Advance. Classic console games from before the early 90's also perform very well on these devices. 16-bit games perform great on these basic dongles. However, if you are looking for slightly later titles, it is advisable to go for a higher model.
Limitations of Fire TV 4K, 4K Max, and Cube
With the 4K model you can also easily emulate the Nintendo 64, the Original playstation and even the SEGA Dreamcast. However, with RetroArch, testing different platforms is quite easy. It is a matter of installing the kernel that you are going to use, insert the games and try. Knowing the limits of the hardware is as simple as trying out platforms and games. In addition, RetroArch has different kernels that you can try. Some perform better than others depending on the chip we use, so don't hesitate when testing, as it is very easy to try one and the other until you find the most suitable one.
If what you are interested in is emulating more modern consoles, the Fire TV Stick will be too small for you in all its variants. However, RetroArch works exactly the same on all systems where it is present. Therefore, once you master it on the television, you will be ready to install it on a computer and be able to get even more out of it.
All the links you will find in this compilation are part of our agreement with the Amazon Affiliate Program and may earn us a small commission from their sales (without ever influencing the price you pay). However, the decision to publish them has been made freely, under the editorial criteria of El Output, without taking into account suggestions or requests from the brands involved.