The NES emulator is great and all but I am really wanting an SNES, Sega Genesis and N64 emulator. Could the iPhone play N64 games well? How far will the emulation get? I would think it would be N64 or maybe Playstation. Oh and has anybody heard any news on any of these emulators? Thanks
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How far will emulators get?
- Thread starter DopestGingah
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currently even the NES emulator doesn't run at full speed.. I would think SNES would be about as far as things could go.. and then there's the question of limited screen space for buttons and difficult control configurations
The SNES pad had L, R, A, B, Y X, Select, Start and a d-pad, and many of its games required combinations of buttons like L or R + X or Y, which would be extremely difficult to pull off comfortably on the phone.
The SNES pad had L, R, A, B, Y X, Select, Start and a d-pad, and many of its games required combinations of buttons like L or R + X or Y, which would be extremely difficult to pull off comfortably on the phone.
Considering the iPhone has trouble running NES games at times, don't count on emulation going any further than that. The iPhone may be an amazing media device, but it doesn't have anywhere near the capabilities to emulate a N64 or Playstation game.
We may possibly see a Gameboy or Gameboy Advance emulator, but even that might be stretching it.
We may possibly see a Gameboy or Gameboy Advance emulator, but even that might be stretching it.
GameBoy would be great. Original, Color, or Advance, any of them would be great fun...and none of them have too many buttons. GBA shoulder buttons would be a minor issue.
Seeing how quickly the NES emulator came out for iPhone...I can't image it will be very long before there is some type of GameBoy emulator, at the very least. I would run out and buy a Touch tomorrow if a GBA emulator was relesed for iPhone/iPod.
SNES might be just beyond the iPhone's capabilities though.
Seeing how quickly the NES emulator came out for iPhone...I can't image it will be very long before there is some type of GameBoy emulator, at the very least. I would run out and buy a Touch tomorrow if a GBA emulator was relesed for iPhone/iPod.
SNES might be just beyond the iPhone's capabilities though.
I don't know why everyone keeps citing the fact that NES games don't run full speed as a reason for why the iPhone will never be able to run SNES games very well. Homebrew code for the iPhone is currently VERY inefficient. When the NES code was optimized a little the speed picked up very significantly and will be improved as newer versions come out.
Also, if unnofficial 3rd party app development gets its hands on an official development kit or is able to start making very efficient code, then I don't see why playstation/n64 games aren't possible (though I doubt they'll ever run full-speed). The processing power of a n64 isn't very amazing, it's just very well optimized and isolated, so it runs what is meant to be ran on it very well. Since the iPhone has a good ARM processor and a dedicated 3D processor there is a chance that code can become efficient enough to be able to run certain elements of N64 roms.
Also, if unnofficial 3rd party app development gets its hands on an official development kit or is able to start making very efficient code, then I don't see why playstation/n64 games aren't possible (though I doubt they'll ever run full-speed). The processing power of a n64 isn't very amazing, it's just very well optimized and isolated, so it runs what is meant to be ran on it very well. Since the iPhone has a good ARM processor and a dedicated 3D processor there is a chance that code can become efficient enough to be able to run certain elements of N64 roms.
If my 3yo PockectPC can run PocketSNES almost full speed with sound on, iPhone could probably. I'd really like to see a TI-83 calc emu, which is also on PPC. Gameboy will come someday, its very well documented along with snes.
PSX and N64 will never happen, my dual g5 tower can barely run PSX and N64, and game support on those emus are limited.
Speaking of that, has anyone noticed that running Sixtyforce on Leopard beta runs alot better than on 10.4.10. Mario Party 2 and Mario Kart used to hiccup occasionaly on 10.4, 10.5 they run almost perfect. Multi-threaded opengl?? I thought that was in 10.4.7, it has to be something else making it run better....
PSX and N64 will never happen, my dual g5 tower can barely run PSX and N64, and game support on those emus are limited.
Speaking of that, has anyone noticed that running Sixtyforce on Leopard beta runs alot better than on 10.4.10. Mario Party 2 and Mario Kart used to hiccup occasionaly on 10.4, 10.5 they run almost perfect. Multi-threaded opengl?? I thought that was in 10.4.7, it has to be something else making it run better....
I doubt N64 or PSX will ever fully work on the iPhone, but I do believe you could get some menus working or something. Nothing playable, really.
The problem with comparing specs of two systems is that the software for one is optimized to be used on only that machine. When emulation comes into the picture, it requires a lot more computing power just to make things work. When a platform is developed for only one set of hardware, it runs faster than those specs would run with generic processes. So, comparing the hardware of the original system to the system that will be emulating it is not always very accurate.
The problem with comparing specs of two systems is that the software for one is optimized to be used on only that machine. When emulation comes into the picture, it requires a lot more computing power just to make things work. When a platform is developed for only one set of hardware, it runs faster than those specs would run with generic processes. So, comparing the hardware of the original system to the system that will be emulating it is not always very accurate.
What about Nintendo DS? I would think that would be a prime candidate for a touch screen control...