Filed under: Gaming, Hacks, Odds and ends, iPhone
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!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Steve said 9:06PM on 8-06-2007
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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Erica Sadun said 9:11PM on 8-06-2007
Steve: iPhone already runs Unix
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matt said 9:12PM on 8-06-2007
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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matt said 9:15PM on 8-06-2007
i would love for someone to prove me wrong though!
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Damien said 10:07PM on 8-06-2007
http://code.google.com/p/iphonenes/
Thats the project homepage with downloads and more.
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Anthony said 10:28PM on 8-06-2007
Now that is sexy!
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Anthony said 10:28PM on 8-06-2007
Now that is sexy!
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Victor Agreda Jr said 10:34PM on 8-06-2007
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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Anthony said 10:31PM on 8-06-2007
Now that is sexy!
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Ian MacLeod said 10:40PM on 8-06-2007
Oh my, Chrono Trigger iPhone edition isn't far away now :)
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Martin said 12:01AM on 8-07-2007
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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Chris said 1:31AM on 8-07-2007
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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PSM said 1:30AM on 8-07-2007
Why doesn't he have to hold down the directional button to keep running? Is that some kind of feature?
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Wolf said 1:56AM on 8-07-2007
I'm just worried about the controls.
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Jack Daniel said 3:05AM on 8-07-2007
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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PRguitarman said 3:38AM on 8-07-2007
Did he just push the B button to Jump in Mario Bros? And the frame-rate looks awful
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steve said 4:22AM on 8-07-2007
Good point, he's running without actually hitting the pad and using B to jump. Stupid digg users
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aidan hornsby said 5:49AM on 8-07-2007
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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dep said 9:51AM on 8-07-2007
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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Celestial Home Omnibus said 4:39PM on 8-07-2007
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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