N64 emulator for jailbroken iPhones on the way?
There's an exciting announcement at All Tech Related this week that has us saying, "We can't wait!"ZodTDD, the developer behind GpSPhone (a Nintendo Gameboy Advance emulator for the iPhone and iPod Touch), announced the development of an N64 emulator for the iPhone and iPod touch. Zodttd believes that the current generation iPhone and iPod touch have the graphic CPU horsepower necessary to run those games. "...I can't promise it will run games top notch just yet, as things are too early to say. There's hope though, with a 3D accelerated graphics plugin, as well as an ARM dynarec."
As iPhone Savior points out, the toughest challenge could be fitting the controls onto the screen in an unobtrusive yet usable way. That was my main complaint about Resident Evil for iPhone [iTunes link] -- my hand is often in the way of what I'm trying to see.
Note that this will require an jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch.
[Via iPhone Savior]
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There's an exciting announcement at All Tech Related this week that has us saying, "We can't wait!" ZodTDD, the developer behind GpSPhone...
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I wish he'd focus on getting the playstation emulator running correctly, maybe with customizable control schemes, transparent buttons and real performance. This guy can't even get SNES with sound running decently on an iPhone let alone N64.
November 05 2009 at 1:19 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyControl issues or not, the Wii homebrew scene has had issues emulating N64, and it took a really long time for any PC emulators before that. I'll just be impresses to see it as a proof of concept, good luck!
November 04 2009 at 11:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI too would like to know what the hell happened to the iControlPad project. Why isn't there a LEGITIMATE Apple-approved accessory yet now that 3.0 brought us accessoryd?
November 04 2009 at 7:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAgreed- I'm also waiting for a buttons addon for my Touch, especially now that such devices can get Apple's blessing.
I tried some emulators on my jailbroken Touch, and some games work OK, but touch controls aren't sufficient for even games like Mega Man. And once you go up to N64 control complexity, things get even hairier- controls will have to be smaller, making them harder to use. It's tricky mapping N64 controls even onto a keyboard or USB gamepad- it'll be even trickier on a touchscreen.
The only way I can see to make it even remotely work is if there's multiple control setups, probably built around popular games, so you can pick the setup that works best (i.e. one built with Zelda in mind, one with Mario Kart, etc.) I used a similar setup with sixtyforce (www.sixtyforce.com)
I'm also kinda doubtful about the speed- unless N64 emulation has drastically improved recently, my old 15" Powerbook (1.5 GHz G4, 64 MB Radeon 9700) couldn't run games like Zelda Ocarina of Time, F-Zero, or even Mario Kart at full speed. They were playable, but I really can't see the 3rd gen devices having sufficient power to even reach that level.
All skepticism aside- this would be awesome, and another reason for me to upgrade from my 2nd gen Touch. :)
Quite simple. Joining the Made for iPod program is required, but the few samples I have for small to medium size companies suggest that Apple either focuses on big companies, think Nike, or they don't have the resources to deal with all companies with nice ideas for cool products. As far as I've heard they charge some bucks per the license which shouldn't be an issue for most products.
November 11 2009 at 3:32 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI actually don't agree with gib, right now there are a lot of games that have a joystick type controller on the iPhone. Albeit its they are not perfect, they the trick. Also, a great deal of the 14 buttons you mention are hardly used. Remember Mario is being played on this, there no way you need more then 2 or 3 buttons for that game. Still, if this manages to run well on the iPhone its interesting. I've actually tried the PS emulator and its just about useless simply because the games run at 5fps.
Monica S
Los Angeles Computer Repair
http://www.sebecomputercare.com
Sure, Mario wouldn't NEED all the 14 buttons. It did use them (for camera work or other functions) but you could argue they wouldn't be COMPLETELY necessary. But that is only one game...
There are many different games besides Mario, and many ways to hold the N64 controller based on that particular game's button layout/needs. "The Nintendo 64 controller's design seems controversial with its trident shape, making for three ways to hold the controller. The most used way in games to hold the controller was for the left hand to hold the center grip, so the thumb could move the analog stick and the index finger could press the Z trigger. The right hand would be on the right grip of the controller and have access to all the main face buttons, and the R button." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamepad#Nintendo_64)
Even if they removed the buttons not utilized by a game, it would have to be implemented on a game-by-game basis (read: pain in the butt to develop the emulator). They would also need to have specific emulator ROMs that do not include certain buttons (read: pain in the butt to develop ROMs). That just ain't gonna happen...
Playing the Mario 64 port on the DS was already a painful enough experience without a joystick, I really REALLY would not want to attempt to play any n64 games on my iPhone without some sort of external gamepad attachment.
November 05 2009 at 8:06 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI'd love to play some Diddy Kong Racing or San Francisco Rush 2049...
November 04 2009 at 5:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySF Rush is the reason I'd get it too :)
November 04 2009 at 7:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMan, I'd LOVE to play a little Goldeneye on my iPod!
November 04 2009 at 5:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhere would the R button be!? haha, under the iphone?
November 04 2009 at 7:56 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI wonder if it'll be a paid app. The GBA emu is paid, yet the SNES emu is free, so I guess we'll have to see.
November 04 2009 at 5:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt will most certainly be paid man, Zod doesn't put work into something difficult without getting paid; that's how he justified all the work he put into GPSphone to optimize it to what we have now.
That said, this is retarded unless iControlpad ever gets off their asses and releases something (and even still, as there probably isn't enough buttons still.) I get the feeling they're delaying to try to make it work with the 3Gs, but it really pisses me off, as we've been waiting for years now. Release it, and then work on an updated version for 3rd gen hardware!
Without some real external controls (or an external display, which defeats the purpose) there is _no_ way you'll ever be able to play any N64 game effectively, as the screen real estate for all the buttons simply doesn't exist.
I don't think this will be easy/worthwhile to control. NES or Genesis emulators are one thing, you only have to place 8 buttons on the screen (including the D-pad). But moving up to the N64 you have triggers, analog joysticks, shoulder buttons, etc. That's 14 buttons, plus however they would implement the analog stick. Good luck fitting those all on the screen, let alone making them feel like they belong...
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