Fabrizio Zavagli, author of Space Treat Deluxe for the Atari 2600, has created an Atari 2600 emulator for the powerful GP32 gaming handheld called VCS32. Fabrizio's emulator is a port of Dan Boris' Virtual VCS emulator with a few updates to further improve the emulation. To run the emulator, you need a GP32 handheld console from GamePark. The GP32 is a 133mhz machine with enough horsepower to allow emulators to run well on it, with a nice 320x240 resolution screen that allows the whole game area to be displayed. Additionally, you can easily download homebrew games and applications through USB to the console's memory (a standard SmartMedia card).

This first release of the emulator supports most of the 2600 hardware, including sound, both joysticks and console switches. Paddle support has not yet been implemented. A menu system is provided for easier configuration. ROMs are automatically recognized using data from the Stella.pro file. Compatibility is far from 100%, but many games work quite well.

A short list of games that have been tested:

Aquaventure, Astroblast, Barnstorming, Berzerk, Crackpots, Defender, Demon Attack, Dig Dug, Discs of Tron, Dodge 'em, Dragonfire, Freeway, Haunted House, Joust, Jr. Pac-Man, Jungle Hunt, Keystone Kapers, Lock 'n' Chase, Mario Bros., Moon Patrol, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man, Pitfall!, River Raid, Sky Diver, Sky Jinks, Skiing, Space Invaders, Space Treat Deluxe, Sprintmaster, Stampede, Taz

Please check the vcs32.txt file for additional information and acknowledgments.

You can discuss the GP32 Atari 2600 emulator with Fabrizio and other AtariAge users in our Atari 2600 Forum. If you'd like to see what else Fabrizio has been up to, please visit his website at www.rasty.com.

Additional information about the GP32 for the curious:

Official GP32 homepage:
http://english.gamepark.com/

A nice GP32 review:
http://www.gbax.com/gp32review.html

GP32 interest sites (news, downloads, etc.)
http://www.gp32emu.com/
http://www.gp32news.com/
http://gp32.emu.pl/

A screen capture of the GP32 2600 Emulator menus, taken within a GP32 emulator:

Pictures of the emulator running on a GP32:

Berzerk	Dragonfire
Mario Bros.	Ms. Pac-Man
River Raid	Space Treat