NES emulator on the iPhone
Wow-- something I've noticed after my little vacation last week is that the iPhone application community is at a full sprint (no pun intended) on making applications. When I left, people were dropping Hello World, and now we're up to the evolutionary step of NES emulator. By this time next week, we'll have a screenshot grabber (oh wait, we've already got that-- guess it's time to go for Open Office).
Wily programmer "stepwhite" has brought the InfoNES core onto the iPhone, along with Mario, Zelda, and all your favorite NES roms. As you can see, it's not quite done-- the emulator runs too slowly to be playable, and the controls are implemented with an actual controller image which, as the programmer says, "...while cute, sucks."
I don't know if theres any way to save states, either. Not a problem for Super Mario Bros., but Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy might be a little long to have all in one go. But it is awesome, and just amazing that we've already gotten to this level on the iPhone. At this rate, we may not even need an SDK.
Thanks, Karl!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-06-2007 @ 9:06PM
Steve said...
whoaaa!!!!!!!
iPhone is wayy better than PSP.
is there a chance that Linux will be on the iPhone or will we even need it?
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8-06-2007 @ 9:11PM
Erica Sadun said...
Steve: iPhone already runs Unix
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8-06-2007 @ 9:12PM
matt said...
ehhh not so sure about that. he seems to switch between games really fast, i kinda have a feeling this may be a video . . . but what do i know? it could be real. i would like to see longer clips of each game, thats for sure!
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8-06-2007 @ 9:15PM
matt said...
i would love for someone to prove me wrong though!
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8-06-2007 @ 10:07PM
Damien said...
http://code.google.com/p/iphonenes/
Thats the project homepage with downloads and more.
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8-06-2007 @ 10:28PM
Anthony said...
Now that is sexy!
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8-06-2007 @ 10:28PM
Anthony said...
Now that is sexy!
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8-06-2007 @ 10:31PM
Anthony said...
Now that is sexy!
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8-06-2007 @ 10:34PM
Victor Agreda Jr said...
Oh no! Don't do it! You'll bring down the entire Eastern seaboard! Because clearly a bunch of hacked apps will be safer than an honest-to-god SDK, right Steve? (or probably more accurately, right Stan?)
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8-06-2007 @ 10:40PM
Ian MacLeod said...
Oh my, Chrono Trigger iPhone edition isn't far away now :)
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8-07-2007 @ 12:01AM
Martin said...
Sorry to disappoint you, Ian, but Chrono Trigger is one of the more difficult games to emulate properly. Here's hoping though!!!
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8-07-2007 @ 1:30AM
PSM said...
Why doesn't he have to hold down the directional button to keep running? Is that some kind of feature?
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8-07-2007 @ 1:31AM
Chris said...
An NES emulator is great and all, but has anyone posted instructions on how to use a native ssh client on the iphone yet?
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8-07-2007 @ 1:56AM
Wolf said...
I'm just worried about the controls.
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8-07-2007 @ 3:05AM
Jack Daniel said...
Kick ass! I hope we will se better controls in the future where you be able to slide de finger on the d-pad without the need of lifting your finger. If this is possible it will be really great.
It would also be better if the emulator where in landscapemode and the buttonlayout where more like on the DS with the screen in the middle. But it wouldent look as beautiful as now with the NES-controler but it would probobly be better and a more natural feel.
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8-07-2007 @ 3:38AM
PRguitarman said...
Did he just push the B button to Jump in Mario Bros? And the frame-rate looks awful
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8-07-2007 @ 4:22AM
steve said...
Good point, he's running without actually hitting the pad and using B to jump. Stupid digg users
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8-07-2007 @ 5:49AM
aidan hornsby said...
so does anyone know yet what happens when you load more than 16 applications onto the iphone? can you just not access the others on the main screen?
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8-07-2007 @ 9:51AM
dep said...
OMG, the control looks HORRIBLE to the point of unplayable. Mario continues to move forward even when you're not touching the screen? so there's no way to stop him from moving? no digg.
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8-07-2007 @ 4:39PM
Celestial Home Omnibus said...
Sure, Steve. The iPhone is better than the PSP. Lay that on me again when you can play PS1 games on the iPhone, and then I'll believe you. In the meantime, I'll be at the bar playing Metal Gear Solid on my PSP. :)
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