Emulate Nintendo on Your MessagePad

Green and Geeky writes "That Marvel of a PDA, the Newton MessagePad, has always been a good product. It does a lot of things: plays MP3s, connects to the Internet wirelessly, can be used to bludgeon someone, fits in your pocket (if you're a giant), etc. Now, it plays Nintendo games. Strange, yes, but still pretty cool. I can't play Legend Zelda, Final Fantasy, or Dragon Warrior on my Palm V." And I don't need to waste money on a Game Boy Advance!

Bandwidth Fun

Newtendo has hit the big times! However, earthlink just let me know that if I get much more traffic this month, I'm gonna be shut down until next month.

Well, it was nice knowing you.

Re:Bandwidth Fun

Another example of the inconsiderate slashdotting factor.

Would it really be such a pain for pudge/whoever to setup a little mirror before slashdotting the fuck out of the poor guy?

That said, it seems like a good project... maybe I'll buy my friend Dr Mark a Newton now -- he never had a NES.

"Eat up Martha"

Re:Bandwidth Fun

Nintendo does not profit from people buying their 15 year old games from a thrift store, either.

Anyone figured out how to...

...install Newton OS on an iPaq?

The iPaq's with ARM chips are basically a Newton with a color screen and more memory. Then we really wouldn't need a GBA.

Re:Anyone figured out how to...

The Newton uses a huge number of custom proprietary chips relating to things such as its operating system and Newton data soups that have thus far made emulation entirely impossible. The mere fact that the iPaq uses an ARM chip won't allay those problems.

Re:Anyone figured out how to...

The operating system is ROM. The data soups are implemented in software.

Re:Anyone figured out how to...

Uh, and it doesn't run anything even remotely similar to the Newton OS.

What I want is a little handheld computer that runs Mac OS 6. It wouldn't be that hard to do and you have a literal ocean of abandonware out there you could use with such a device.

A Compact Mac in the Palm of your hand...

What I want is a little handheld computer that runs Mac OS 6. It wouldn't be that hard to do and you have a literal ocean of abandonware out there you could use with such a device.

Here you go. [palmone.com] PalmOS up to version 5.x is basically the equivalent of MacOS 6 before the Multi-Finder. It's no accident...the people who wrote the PalmOS were former MacOS developers. A Palm, to me, feels like a Compact Mac [lowendmac.com] shrunk down to a handheld size and weight.

Now if only I could make my m125 chime when I turn it on and make the generic Mac system beep when it encounters an error...

Re:Anyone figured out how to...

What I want is a little handheld computer that runs Mac OS 6. It wouldn't be that hard to do and you have a literal ocean of abandonware out there you could use with such a device.

Merry Christmas [killefiz.de]

Re:Anyone figured out how to...

IIRC, the Newton has one truly custom chip (which does memory interfacing, DMA, interrupts, timers, A/D for the tablet and so forth).

The kernel makes extensive use of the ARM 610's MMU (especially its domain and sub-page-granularity protection features), so porting the OS to another platform would be quite exciting, but the application (Newtonscript) world is pretty isolated from the wacky stuff going on the OS. You could probably fake-out a fair amount of the OS and the apps would run.

Here's a reference [nec.com] to a paper on the Newton OS that we presented at CompCon in 1994.

Why do this?

If you want to emulate nintendo games, there are native emulators for the iPaq and other PocketPC platforms. Just check out pocketNES [retrogames.com] for example. It runs at full speed, no frame skip, and even COLOR, something that the newton does not have.

Here it comes

I smell a cease and desist letter on it's way, $5 bucks says the term DMCA will be used ATLEAST once!

Re:Here it comes

Given the number of NES emulators out there, I doubt this one is very special.

Amazing

Most Slashdotters are too young to remember the NES

Re:Amazing

there is an SNES emulator for the tapwave zodiac, And there are also SNES emulators available for PocketPCs The zodiac though has the best layout for SNES IMO. The snes emulator for the zodiac is currently being beta tested, and runs very well.

Re:Amazing

the old Slashdotters never left the slashdot.org. They were just modded down.
Surf safely. Don't Slashdot and Surf

Re:Amazing

I'm not dead yet! I feel happy! I feel happy! [thwack!]

Re:Amazing

Aye, but some of us don't need to emulate as we still have them :)

Re:Amazing

Most slashdotters are too young to remember The Newton

Nintendo games? bah..

it's not the same without the original gamepad

Portability is a bit of a pain...

I actually quite like the Newton, though I think it was a bit ahead of its time and tried to do too much. It's a cool hack to get it playing Nintendo games, but would you really walk around with a bag to hold the 'pad, to play games on ?

It's useful when allied with a briefcase. I can't see it really as a games platform (on the other hand, my phone plays Doom quite well, (Nokia 9000 :-) so whatever floats your boat - the phone's easier to carry though :-)

Simon

MIRROR

http://hnsg.net/~cpace/ninendo/ I'm only on a 512 line, but this should hold for a while, lets keep earthlink off his back!

Re:MIRROR

shit, forgot the clickable one. HERE [hnsg.net]. preview, preview, preview, i know.

Google Cache Version

Why doesn't Slashdot link to Google cached versions [216.239.41.104] of pages instead of slamming webmasters using little Earthlink accounts with ~10 MB of bandwidth? Oh well. There's the google version.

Newton's still the best.

If you've never actually seen the latest version of Newton handwring recognition in action, take a look here under Newton Usability [newtenlightment.de]. "Eat up Martha", my ass. Makes Graffiti look like the kludgy hack it is.

And did you know you can sync your Newton with iTunes [pixell.net] wirelessly? Even the latest iPod can't do that.

Apple got everything right with the Newton except the size. What a foolish mistake they made cancelling it as a product instead of redesigning it in a slightly smaller form factor.

"Best"?

"Eat up Martha", my ass. Makes Graffiti look like the kludgy hack it is.

Sorry, I have a MP2100 and the famous Simpson's reference was not far from the truth at all. You had to be exceptionally careful with your handwriting, and still often had to correct it. It would misinterpret taps, and it was impossible to correct letters out of order(say, you forgot to cross your t- out of order scribbling got me 90% of the time).

Graffiti is not a "kludgy hack", its a system that is designed to quickly and accurately enter data, which is what a PDA needs; my Handspring was much better for most of the typical PDA usage- entering phone numbers or appointment times. Sure the Newton's natural system is faster for writing large amounts of text(assuming you have perfect handwriting) but people just didn't(and still don't) use PDAs for that sort of thing. They use- gasp- notebooks(and I don't mean the electronic kind)

Best!

I've heard this before, and it just doesn't ring true for me. Graffiti requires you to be much more "exceptionally careful" with your handwriting. If you can make Graffiti work for you, you can certainly make the Newt's much more flexible handwriting recognition engine work with much less effort.

I think it's a conceptual problem, really. The Newton attempted to recognize all handwriting, and thus many users blamed the Newton when it couldn't decipher their illegible script. It was Apple's fault, not theirs.

But the Palms didn't even pretend that they'd recognize your handwriting. They simply forced users to learn a new way to write. If Graffiti failed to recognize what you wrote, well, then you must not be doing it right. So people blamed themselves instead of the device.

my Handspring was much better for most of the typical PDA usage- entering phone numbers or appointment times

I think entering phone numbers and appointment times became "typical PDA usage" because that's all you could conveniently do with Graffiti. That's my experience anyway, YMMV.

Sure the Newton's natural system is faster for writing large amounts of text(assuming you have perfect handwriting) but people just didn't(and still don't) use PDAs for that sort of thing.

I'd say that there's an amount of text between the size of a phone number and a "large amount of text" which is what the Newton was really designed for. Short notes, quick e-mails, reminders, that sort of thing. And lots of people have been very successful using it for just that.

Again, whatever works for you, works for you. But I personally really liked what the Newton did, and would've loved to see what a 2004 Newton OS and handheld would be like.

Windows CE

Pocket PC and Windows CE devices have been emulating PS1, GBA / GB, NES, Genesis, MAME, and many other consoles for a number of years now. Even PS1 runs incredibly fast due to the coding talent and dedication put in by various developers.

While this may be news for this specific platform and OS, emulating NES is very old hat when it comes to the world of PDAs in general.

Dan East

I miss my Newt.

I used a MP2000 as my primary computer for almost two years. I was "commuting" between the US & UK and used it - along with a Ricochet (R.I.P.) in the US and Nokia cell PCMCIA card in the UK - for browsing, email, telnet (with PT100, killer app!), etc. So I was wireless when mobile, and on Ethernet when at a desk... All pre-802.11. This was circa 1997 BTW.

It was nice to carry virtually all my computing needs in a "daytimer" sized case. People bitch about the Newt's size, but compared to a circa-97 brick of a 7lb laptop? Is was VERY small.

To date the NewtOS was pobably the most elegant OS ever created... and I've run them all. The only thing it didn't do well, at least until now, was gaming. I played a lot of NewTRIS, and I seem to recall a snood, or snood-like game too but Newtgaming was limited to puzzles or very simple action games (like a sub depth-charging thing that I can't recall the name of)

I might have to charge it back up now and play some old NES game. =) Nice to see the Newt still breathing.

Gameboy for Palm OS

I can't play Legend Zelda, Final Fantasy, or Dragon Warrior on my Palm V.

Um, actually you can. Gambit Studios [gambitstudios.com] has had a gameboy emulator out for the palm os for quite some time. Some of the older palms are a little sluggish, but it works.

Re:Gameboy for Palm OS

Actually, Zelda DX [gamefaqs.com](Otherwise known as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX) is a colorized version of the Gameboy game Link's Awakening from 1994, with a bit of extra stuff added.

Maybe you should watch a little closer the next time she plays it.

Eulogy for the Newton

Progress isn't guaranteed. Innovation, once it hits the marketplace, is not destined to take root. The Newton was the first PDA platform, and going on six years after its demise, it's still the best. It had, essentially, one deficiency, and that was in its size. This was easily rectifiable, especially with the technology of the day. It's death was the result of ego rather than sound business, and perhaps the largest mistake Jobs made in turning Apple around.

Now, even though we have machines who's hardware is more than equal to the old newton, none have its ease of use, utility or ease of development enjoyed by the Newton. It's utility as an everyday computer in the modern age is a testament to Apple's software engineers, who Got It Right the first time out, and a condemnation of Palm, Microsoft, Symbian and Sharp, who still can't approach it so many years after its demise.

SoupIsGood Food

1997 Technology?

The Apple Newton was discontinued in 1998.

The Newton browses the internet wirelessly via Airport (a.k.a. Wi-Fi or 802.11);
http://www.ff.iij4u.or.jp/~ngc/eng/newtwave.htm

syncs with nSync (OS X)
http://www.everchanging.com/newton/

syncs your MP3 collection with iTunes
http://www.pixell.net/newton/

runs a Java Virtual Machine (waba)
http://cs.gmu.edu/~sean/projects/newton/waba/

there's been a VNC client since... ever
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/saweyer/newton/vnc.h tm

A processor accelerator is available
http://shop.pixsolution.com/catalog/product_info.p hp?products_id=29

Apple was one of the original investors in the ARM technology, from way back before Intel ever dreamt of buying it. The Newton runs a RISC StrongARM at 162 Mhz (compare to a 2003/Tungsten T2 running OMAP/ARM at 140 Mhz !!!)

If anything, the major weakness of the system is its limited memory heap, but we are talking about a 1997 design here.

Can you say... Apple ahead of its time?

Re:1997 Technology?

Being ahead of your time is a good thing if you're a scientist but a bad thing if you're a publically traded commercial concern.

Now if only..

Now if only these brilliant hackers can get the handwriting recognition to work! Then I'll be impressed!

Gatta hand it to 'em...

...I swear this thing has the most loyal cult following ever. For a product that didn't sell well (or as well as it should have), I'm still amazed that people are still modding these things up. Great works folks!

What's that?

No NES on Palm?

BOO! [kalemsoft.com] - NES, SMS, GG and Turbografx16 - sure it's for PalmOS 5.x so it won't actually work on a Palm V... And it's not OSS.


But there was an OSS GB emulator for PalmOS 4 if i remember right.

Xbox

I want to play Xbox games @ my Palm m100. Would it be possible? =)

My Newton

You wouldn't beleive the looks I get when I pull it out in public (my newton) but I still love it, and the NES emulator makes it so I can waste even more time in class.

I have been following the NES emulator and have been using it since version 0.12. Right now several people are working on getting a NES controler working on the newton so we can play with a contoler.

I wonder how many people are going to be storming the J&K Sales store to buy a newton now...

Am I missing something?

"I can't play Legend Zelda, Final Fantasy, or Dragon Warrior on my Palm V."

A quick google-search for palm nintendo emulator [google.com] turns up this [palminfocenter.com] as the first result...

Newton Revival

What apple needs to do is bring the newton back. It was way ahead of its time ( well, and expensive ) but now the public has caught up.. The time is right for the return of the only true PDA ever.. ( bastardized versions of windows or the clunky 'palm-OS' don't really count.. )

Wasted moolah

And I don't need to waste money on a Game Boy Advance!

Or on a Palm V! I have a spiral notepad and a pencil stuck through the wire. The nub on the end of the wooden stylus acts as a special deleting function, and text is automatically saved into the new-age graphite-wood memory system. Guaranteed never to crash.

What's wrong with GBA?

"And I don't need to waste money on a Game Boy Advance!"

*sigh* Yeah, it's such a waste of money what with two original Metroid Games, Golden Sun, FFT Advance and all... Not to mention all the ports of SNES games. I'd just as soon play NES games in black & white on my Newton. Seriously... It's not like a GBA is *that* expensive. Especially when you consider that most of its games retail at $30 or below.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think being able to play NES games on a Newton is cool, but comparing it to a GBA seems rather ridiculous.

Re:Emulate Nintendo on Your MessagePad

You must be new.

Welcome to Slashdot.

Around here, people do things just to SEE if they're possible.

On the contrary...

If you buy a GBA with the intention of playing NES games on it, you are wasting money (and probably need to be smacked in the head). I'd say it's still a good deal if you want to play GBA games, though. ;-)

Re:Still another example...

"...of Apple products having a longer life. "

That's more a testament to the fans than to the engineering of the product. No doubt Apple is an innovative company, but when you choose the underdog, you fight harder for it.