Stella for the Palm OS - Please !

[MaxSpeed]

Anybody heard of anybody trying to port this ?

[Room 34]

I have done a bit of searching on this matter, and I've found there have been several pleas similar to yours hoping that someone would do it. I found a page that was in Italian or Portuguese (I can't remember, though I think it was from Brazil so it'd be Portuguese) outlining a recommended development process for it (but not offering to actually DO the development), but that's as close as it's come.

 

Yes, please! Someone try to do this!

 

I say "try" because I bet Palm devices aren't powerful enough to run a decent 2600 emulation. You'd think emulating the 2600 would be easy, but of course as we all know by now, the 2600 used so many "tricks" based on the way a TV draws the video display that it's really complicated to emulate! In the Mac world, I haven't seen Stella run at an acceptable speed on anything less than a G4! (OK, Activision's Atari 2600 Action Packs worked well on slower PowerPC processors. But the point is, that's still a LOT more powerful than a Palm.)

 

Maybe rather than emulation we could just convince someone to write some decent clones of favorite games. There's a guy out there who's done a few 2600 clones, but I'm not too impressed with them visually (things like using his own head as the Mad Bomber in a Kaboom! clone, etc.).

 

Does anyone here do Palm development? If so, maybe we should have a vote on people's top 5 or top 10 picks of 2600 games to clone for the Palm, and set said Palm developers to work!

[Velvis]

I do some Palm programming and I think I better idea is to program an emulator rather than trying to write individual games to the platform. (which invariably leads to someones INTERPRETATION of a game, which I hate)

 

Caveats:

None of the older Palm devices are fast enough to pull off 2600 emulation, and few have a button layout suitable for playing either.

 

The new Tungstens might be fast enough (i dont know much about them, or what kind of overhead an emu would need) and I THINK the center button does support 8 way movement but I am not sure. That said the Tungtens start at $500.

 

A better choice would be picking up a new PocketPC for around $300 or an older used one $100-$150 and using PocketVCS.

 

The PocketPCs are far better suited for gaming than Palms and there are already a number of emulators for them. check out www.pocketgamer.org

(Coleco, gameboy, gameboy color, among others)

 

Assuming the Tungsten is fast enough and the button layout will work as a gamepad, I would assume someone will port an emulator to the Palm.

 

Up until the release of the Tungsten the hardware just wasnt there, now its at the point of someone starting a project.

[Cupcakus]

I use PocketVCS quite a bit... especially on trips... It works perfectly on my Jornada... however it was a bit slow on my EM500.

[Albert]

I'm also of the opinion that most Palm devices aren't powerful enough to support 2600 emulation, which is probably the main reason you haven't seen an emulator. If you want to play games on a PDA, I also suggest getting a PocketPC device. There's a huge selection now, they have 320x200 resolution, and many of the screens look great. Palm sat on their platform for too long while only making small, incremental improvements and PPC has far passed them by.

 

..Al

[MegaManFan]

I'm also of the opinion that most Palm devices aren't powerful enough to support 2600 emulation, which is probably the main reason you haven't seen an emulator.   If you want to play games on a PDA, I also suggest getting a PocketPC device.  There's a huge selection now, they have 320x200 resolution, and many of the screens look great.  Palm sat on their platform for too long while only making small, incremental improvements and PPC has far passed them by.

 

..Al

 

Hey Al, which PocketPC do you recommend personally? If it can do 2600 emulation and support a Cart Commander type program, plus accept input from one of those fold-up mini keyboards (the ones that feel like a real keypress interface) then I'd buy one in a heartbeat and write it off as a business expense. (Hey, I really WOULD use it for business.. at least half the time.)

[Goochman]

What ever happened to the guy that was going to make portable 2600 systems???

 

I think he made 2 but did they ever get out of his basement?

[AtariDude]

I'm also of the opinion that most Palm devices aren't powerful enough to support 2600 emulation, which is probably the main reason you haven't seen an emulator.   If you want to play games on a PDA, I also suggest getting a PocketPC device.  There's a huge selection now, they have 320x200 resolution, and many of the screens look great.  Palm sat on their platform for too long while only making small, incremental improvements and PPC has far passed them by.

 

..Al

 

Hey Al, which PocketPC do you recommend personally? If it can do 2600 emulation and support a Cart Commander type program, plus accept input from one of those fold-up mini keyboards (the ones that feel like a real keypress interface) then I'd buy one in a heartbeat and write it off as a business expense. (Hey, I really WOULD use it for business.. at least half the time.)

 

Me too. I have been considering getting a PDA but have been holding off to wait for the price to drop. But if I can find one that does a good job of emulating the 2600 and allows me to use Cart Commander, I will buy it in a heart beat.

 

Please let me know what you would suggest Al.

[Albert]

Hey Al, which PocketPC do you recommend personally?  If it can do 2600 emulation and support a Cart Commander type program, plus accept input from one of those fold-up mini keyboards (the ones that feel like a real keypress interface) then I'd buy one in a heartbeat and write it off as a business expense.  (Hey, I really WOULD use it for business.. at least half the time.)

 

I'm still using an older Cassiopeia E125, so I haven't done any research on them in a while (just read bits and pieces now and again). However, I just asked a friend who does game development for the PPC platform, and he said, "the original ipaq 3670 rocks, but don't get the 3800 or 3900". He said the 3670 is still available and the price has recently dropped. In addition, stay away from anything using a MIPS or SH3 processor.

 

Here are two great PPC websites you might want to check out (there are tons more):

 

Handango.com

PocketGear.com

 

Take care,

 

..Al

[SS]

I am seriously considering one of the new Dell AXIMs.

 

http://www.dell.com/us/en/gen/topics/segtopic_axim.htm

http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-27098...982.html?tag=ld

 

$350. 400mhz Intel XScale processor, 64 mb RAM, 48 mb ROM, Flash Card and Secure Digital expansion slots. Plus a $50 mail-in rebate.

 

Granted, it's a bit bulkier than the average PDA but at that price and with those spex, it seems the way to go.

[krisjohn]

What ever happened to the guy that was going to make portable 2600 systems?

 

http://www.classicgaming.com/vcsp/

 

I think he's made and sold heaps. He's just built a wooden version according to his website.

[Room 34]

I'm also of the opinion that most Palm devices aren't powerful enough to support 2600 emulation, which is probably the main reason you haven't seen an emulator.   If you want to play games on a PDA, I also suggest getting a PocketPC device.  There's a huge selection now, they have 320x200 resolution, and many of the screens look great.  Palm sat on their platform for too long while only making small, incremental improvements and PPC has far passed them by.

 

..Al

Unfortunately, up until Dell's new PocketPC handhelds, the PocketPC devices were almost as expensive as a low-end desktop PC! That's why I went with the Treo 90 a couple months ago when I finally decided to get a PDA. Of course, now Dell's selling PocketPC devices for the same price ($300)!

 

However, there's one simple reason why I wouldn't want any handheld other than a Treo -- THE KEYBOARD!

 

An unrelated note, on the controls -- I agree that adapting a lot of 2600 games (or any classic, joystick-based games) to the Palm platform would be a challenge. Take the Midway Classics for Palm (Defender II, Joust, Spy Hunter, Root Beer Tapper, and I think one other I'm forgetting), for example... visually they are amazing! They are fairly true to the arcade games. But they are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to play because of the godawful controls! Joust is probably the best, since you just have to move left and right, but the "flap" button can't duplicate the button on the arcade machine, so it's programmed to repeat if you just hold the button down. That, of course, almost defeats the purpose of the game, which is to get out your aggressions by repeatedly pounding on a button! (But I digress...)