After Google pulled the psx4droid Playstation emulator from the Android Market, the developer has decided to offer the app as a free download. As long as you have a phone that lets you install non-Market apps, you can download psx4droid 3.0 and install it manually. The developer has also released the source code for the project.

Version 3.0 of the emulator is based on the open source PCSX-ReARMed emulator, and developer zodttd says it’s faster than older versions of psx4droid. Unfortunately saved game stats from previous versions won’t work with psx4droid 3.0.

Zodttd’s move to release the source code is kind of a big deal, because he’s been accused of coding apps in the past that are based on open source software licensed under the GPL, but failing to release the code for his apps — which is a violation of the GPL terms.

According to the developer, the GPL issue had nothing to do with the app being removed from the Android Market though. He says Sony asked Google to pull the app because the app’s icon included graphics that were covered by a Sony trademark.

While psx4droid was the first Playstation emulator for Android, it’s not the only game in town anymore. The popular FPse emulator was ported to Android recently and it’s available from the Android Market for just over $5.

The first PlayStation emulator for Android devices has been pulled from the Android Market due to intellectual property issues. The psx4droid emulator has been helping bored Android users get their nostalgic gaming fix since last summer. But today the developer Tweeted that Google removed the app from the Market.

In case you’re wondering though, it’s possible that the alleged content violation likely has nothing to do with the fact that the emulator allows you to run PlayStation games. The FPSe emulator is still available for download from the Android Market. Some folks are suggesting the difference is that psx4droid is based on source from another PlayStation emulator called PCSX, but doesn’t comply with the GPL license used by that software.

If you already installed psx4droid you should be able to continue using it, and there’s nothing preventing the developer from continuing to distribute the app outside the Android Market. But psx4droid developer zodttd says he’s rather find a way to return the app to the Market than to distribute it through a different app store, because he want to make sure that customers who have already purchased the app can easily upgrade to new versions of the emulator.

Update: Android Police has another theory. Apparently Sony has a trademark on the term “PSX,” so it’s possible that zodttd could get the app back into the market with a name change. Meanwhile Engadget notes that Sony’s Xperia Play phone with support for PlayStation games is due out soon. Coincidence?

Want to play Final Fantasy VII on your Google Nexus One? Pretty soon, you’ll be able to. That’s because mobile phone hacker ZodTTD is busy building a Playstation emulator for Android.

The emulator will require a fairly speedy phone running Android 2.x, such as Nexus One or Droid Incredible to run. But it reportedly already runs faster on the Nexus One than a similar emulator on the iPhone.

Right now the user interface is still pretty rough, since it’s based on Nintendo and Gameboy Advance emulators for Android. But ZodTTD plans to add Playstation-specific controls. The emulator uses a phone’s touchscreen, trackball, and hardware buttons as controls.

ZotDD is also reportedly working on bringing the VLC media player and a Nintendo 64 emulator to Android.

via MobileCrunch