Filed under: Gaming, Apple, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
C64 emulator back on the App Store
The C64 emulator that was pulled from the App Store by Apple for leaving a BASIC interpreter intact has now returned, though we presume it's minus the Apple-offending code. But while it will no longer run your own code, it will run some old-school C64 games, including eight for free with the app, and more coming with in-app purchases. It's got everything you'd expect from an emulator, including original sound and graphics, an auto-save, and the option to play in fullscreen portrait or landscape.In fact, the only thing it doesn't have is an interpreter, but of course you know why that is by now: Apple doesn't want anyone running code on their devices that they haven't approved through the App Store. The app sells for $4.99 right now, and they expect to release the in-app purchases sometime this December, with no price announced yet.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Roberto said 10:40PM on 11-10-2009
Manomio deserves all the success it's getting, all through the depletion of their market! :)
Reply
JD said 11:09PM on 11-10-2009
So remind me again, all ye Apple defenders, why it's in our best interests not to have (well-sandboxed) code-running apps? It seems to me it would be nice to be able to run my various little c programs on my iPhone, and even write new ones while traveling.
Reply
Girish said 12:04AM on 11-11-2009
@JD
That's because only developers like you will be smart enough to distinguish between harmless and harmful code.
e.g. Even if sandboxed, the tested-code could just ask the user for their apple id and password and then send it across the network to someone else.
That is why Apple wants to check and approve all the apps guarantying that its safe.
Toby said 12:19PM on 11-11-2009
@Girish, in this specific case, the C64 didn't have TCP/IP networking, so if they've emulated it perfectly, they'd also have to have added a full networking stack to pull off the scam you describe. Which is why sandboxing is a perfectly reasonable idea. But I don't want to be stuck writing little snatches of code in C64 BASIC. I'd prefer to see something like Processing ported, with its networking libraries restricted, say, to keep the paranoid happy.
JD said 3:11PM on 11-12-2009
Oy. Well, this thread is dead, but I'll reply to that terrible argument:
@Girish:
Here is what you do: ask yourself "Does my argument apply equally to any computer?" Then ask yourself "If I'm against it for personal computers, why am I for it for pocket computers?"
Amazingly, Macs and PCs can run arbitrary code, yet are not overwhelmed with apps that ask you for your private information and then send it to third parties. How is that possible? Don't we need a nanny looking out for us? Who is protecting the grandmothers? Yet somehow it works. And it works on phones without nannies too. Just because you can come up with an argument why Apple's gatekeeping might be necessary in some case, doesn't mean that it actually is necessary. Think it through, people! This matters a lot for the future of computing.
Tom said 12:36AM on 11-11-2009
I just bought the app, nostalgia... The included games are, well, awful. It's a nice way to see how things changed over the years.
And, I hate to say it, I believe this app may get into trouble soon: it's based on the Frodo C64 emulator, which is released under GPL. The information page states that you can get the Frodo source code upon request, but it doesn't say that you can get the *full* app source code upon request. There is no way one can argue that this app isn't a derived work. So unless Manomio obtained a separate commercial license, this smells like asking for trouble...
Reply
Benjamin said 12:46AM on 11-11-2009
"Apple doesn't want anyone running code on their devices"
Hang on, if we pay for them, aren’t they *our* devices?
Reply
sh1n1gam1 said 1:55AM on 11-11-2009
The funny thing is that there are plenty of emulator applications that can run user written code. All of the iPhone HP calculator emulators support user programs, for example. Now, some might argue that a programmable calculator is not as sophisticated as a BASIC machine like the C64 but in a strict sense they are equivalent by virtue of being Turing complete. In any case, a C64 BASIC program running in a sandbox can do no more damage to the iPhone OS than an HP calculator running a program. Heck, one of the HP calculator apps, i41CX+, even has extended functions that allow programs to access the internet so it could be argued that its programming environment is more powerful than C64 BASIC which is not internet aware! It's hard to understand what rationale is behind Apple's paranoia with 8-bit computer emulators...
Reply
aaalexxx said 2:21AM on 11-11-2009
As far as I remember, the first version of C64 emulator came with cracked(!) games, the german mac site macnotes.de wrote some time ago. After entering the basic interpreter they were able to run the games via LOAD "... and could even see the crack intros (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.macnotes.de%2F2009%2F09%2F09%2Fkommentar-c64-auf-dem-iphone%2F&sl=de&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8).
Can anyone confirm if that is still the case with the new version? Do they plan to sell cracked games via in app purchases ? ;)
Although these games are pretty old, they actually should be properly licensed, when being sold through someone else...
Reply
Stuart Carnie said 1:24PM on 11-11-2009
Yes, as another commenter suggested, the original IP holders have okay'd using cracked versions of the games simply because there are no other versions available.
Aron Allen said 5:32AM on 11-11-2009
They are using cracked games, simply because it is really hard to find the original games after so many years. Though the games are cracked, they are still propperly licensed.
Reply
Mecandes said 9:57AM on 11-11-2009
Prices have been announced: "We expect individual titles to be priced @ USD$0.99 and game packs for USD$1.99 - some publishers may vary"
http://twitter.com/manomio/status/5611429937
Reply
Nick said 11:12AM on 11-11-2009
So... What exactly is the license state of Frodo on which this is based?
Frodo isn't GPL, according to the source available on http://frodo.cebix.net/ . An extract from the license is: "It may not - not even in parts - used for commercial purposes without explicit written permission by the author. Permission to use it for non-commercial purposes is hereby granted als long as my copyright notice remains in the program. You are not allowed to use the source to create and distribute a modified version of Frodo."
We can only assume that they've got permission from the author?
If it is GPL, the source of c64 should be released... If it isn't, and it's using the above license, the author's permission should have been explicitly obtained but seeing as they're relying on the GPL for Frodo I suspect they haven't.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Reply
Stuart Carnie said 1:20PM on 11-11-2009
The latest version of Frodo in CVS on cebix is under GPL; however, Manomio did acquire a non-transferrable commercial license of Frodo from the author, Christian Bauer.
Reply
+. said 1:32PM on 11-11-2009
can't say as i remember any of the included games..... but, man, if this bring us closer to getting some Jet Set Willy action on my iPhone, i'm all about it.
Reply
Actionable Mango said 3:12PM on 11-11-2009
If they add M.U.L.E. or Archon, I'm in.
Reply