PSX4Droid PlayStation Emulator For Android Yanked From Market

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PSX4Droid, a PlayStation emulator for the Android operating system, has been removed from the Android Market. The emulator allowed folks to play ROMs of PlayStation games on their Android phones, and had bee on the Android Market for some time. What’s odd is that other emulators of older video game consoles are still on the Market, which is leading people to suspiciously eye the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

For those who are unaware, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is the “PlayStation Phone” from Sony Ericsson, which contains a slide-out gaming pad. It’s also the first phone to come with the “PlayStation Suite” software platform, which allows you to buy and play certain PlayStation 1 games that Sony has for sale. Not any Android phone can get get PlayStation Suite, it’ll come only preloaded on certain phones that have a specific copy protection scheme, it seems.

Anyway, some are suggesting that the removal of PSX4Droid was at the request of Sony/Sony Ericcson. Sony Ericsson and Google are certainly strong partners, as Sony Ericsson has become one of the top Android manufacturers, mainly due to the popularity of their Xperia line of phones in Europe, particularly the United Kingdom.

But, as noted by tech blog Engadget, other emulators remain on the Android Market. SNesoid (Super Nintendo), GameBoid (Game Boy) and FPSe (another PlayStation emulator) are all still up on the Market for those who wish to download them. When Google was asked for comment, they said: ”We remove apps from Android Market that violate our policies.”

Do you think Sony Ericsson was behind the removal of the PSX4Droid emulator? Is it fair, or just a roundabout way to encourage people to get their Xperia Play?