Filed under: Gaming, iPod Family, iPhone
GameBoy App for iPhone released
A group of iPhone hackers has just released version 0.0.5 of gpSPhone. gpSPhone is a GameBoy Advanced emulator for iPhone. As with all first releases, it's still a bit on the iffy side. Although "many games are playable", sound output is pretty awful and the GUI and instructions are being worked on. If you feel like giving this a try, here are a few things you really need to know:
- You have to run it from /Applications. The programmers obviously hard coded search paths and the app just will not work from any other location.
- You need to supply your own BIOS. You can easily google for instructions on dumping your own gba_bios.bin. If you decide to download one instead, the correct MD5 for a working bios is a860e8c0b6d573d191e4ec7db1b1e4f6. Stick the bios file into the .app folder.
- You need to supply your own games. We happen to already own Hello Kitty Party in physical ROM form. So that's what I decided to test out.
- Playback is...early. I'm sure that playability will improve in future releases but for now, it's not really in the "fun" category; more "interesting because this may grow into something usable". Add your games to /var/root/Media/ROMs/GBA.
Thanks Wayne
Gallery: GBA Emulation Gallery
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
kyle said 7:34PM on 1-27-2008
Does any one know were te saved files get saved. Cause i was playing pokemon and im 10 hrs into the games and all of a sudden my icons are gone and i wana grab it off my itouch befor i restore e-mail me llama369@gmail.com
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ishcabittle said 2:32PM on 11-13-2007
I found a working gba_bios.bin here:
http://files.filefront.com/gba+biosbin/;6021104;/fileinfo.html
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tim said 2:43PM on 11-13-2007
can we just start calling them 'iphone developers' please? it's hard to call it hacking when you go to a website to get it done automatically.
come to think of it, it almost seems like they are the ones to be hacked when doing so...
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Dasutin said 3:06PM on 11-13-2007
Alright if they can do GBA games then where are my SNES games
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SmileyDude said 3:05PM on 11-13-2007
can we just start calling them 'iphone developers' please? it's hard to call it hacking when you go to a website to get it done automatically.
Except in this case, it was done by the people who are putting together things like that website that automatically does everything on your iPhone or Touch. So, calling them iPhone hackers is appropriate here.
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mingistech said 3:59PM on 11-13-2007
Re: Dasutin
Thats just what I was gonna ask. I'd love a SNES Emulator over any others. :)
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Simon Arch said 3:42PM on 11-13-2007
"Alright if they can do GBA games then where are my SNES games"
The GBA similar to, but not exactly the same as a SNES. Give it some time.
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Balazs said 3:55PM on 11-13-2007
I tried it out, and it works. A bit sluggish, right directional button doesn't seem to want to work. But as a 0.0.5 release I can hardly complain. It is quite awkward using a touch screen as an interface for a GBA emulator though. Hopefully in future releases they can size the screen better to give a larger view of the ROM.
Great work to the zodttd (I actually talked to zodttd on IRC the other day about this very same app, was waiting for a nice release!)
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Alex McKee said 3:59PM on 11-13-2007
Ugh. Don't call it a Gameboy Advanced!!! It's GameBoy Advance.
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Chris said 4:01PM on 11-13-2007
Where is a good place to get the ROMS?
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wayne said 4:19PM on 11-13-2007
thanks for the blurb, so far dragonballz and mario kart are my favorite games, just do some google searches for roms or hit me up via twitter direct style waynesutton
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Slacker said 9:27PM on 11-13-2007
Why did you already own Hello Kitty?
http://askaslacker.blogspot.com
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Dawson said 4:45AM on 11-14-2007
It's "Game Boy". Two words, dummy.
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CUBSWILLWIN said 4:08PM on 11-14-2007
This is cool
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Farrizx said 8:43PM on 11-18-2007
I got it working! Thanks =D
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Farrizx said 8:47PM on 11-18-2007
i got it working!
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6742/071811165515pj2.png
Thanks!
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Kristian Freeman said 12:33AM on 11-19-2007
@1: Don't know if that's allowed, but thanks anyways :P
@8: One letter... does it really matter? That's like getting mad for Ipod versus iPod.
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Joe S said 6:57PM on 11-20-2007
i dont get it i have the bios and the everything but how do you put it in the .app folder; do you have to use ibrickr?
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razr said 11:27AM on 11-23-2007
Can someone send me or give another mirror for the gba_bios.bin file? The above URL is no longer valid.
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sTeFFo said 1:01PM on 11-27-2007
Well.. Can anyone tell me how i get this into my Iphone? I´m a bit sucky at this =P
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