iPhone gets SNES emulation

by Justin McElroy { Jan 23rd 2008 at 7:00PM }

In Japan, the phone gaming technology has accelerated so far beyond what we have here in the states, that it makes a Blackberry look about as high-tech as an actual blackberry. Thankfully, it looks like we're finally able to play a bit of catch-up with this sexy new SNES emulator for Apple's iPhone, the appropriately titled snes4iphone.

OK, it's still in the early stages. And yes, we're fairly sure our beefy thumbs will have trouble pushing just one button. But if we don't have a phone to believe in, what do we have left?

[Via Engadget]

Tags: iphone, snes

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

The Artist formally known as Jesus @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:09PM

snes4iphone

I'll be sure to remember the name
XD

GoldenS1104 @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:10PM

That can't be that easy or fun to play with. You'd have to constantly look at the bottom part of the iPhone to make sure you're hitting the buttons because you wouldn't be able to feel them.

GoldenS1104 @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:12PM

*hands over flame shield*

You're gunna need that. Trashing the person who posted the article is never a good idea unless you're ready for a long, pointless arguement.

Joshua @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:34PM

zhu..wha..?

GoldenS1104 @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:36PM

Derek made an offensive comment before, but it got moderated (deleted). I was replying to that, but my reply did not get deleted.

deaftly @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:13PM

nice knowing ya.... actually not really

DeltaP42 @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:17PM

Ummm..... I want an actual SNES controller accessory for the iphone then, that looks ridiculous. My thumbs would hit all four buttons at once, unusable by me for sure. My #1 question is what is that playstation logo doing on the front end menu? Is that an early PS1 emulator??? Or perhaps nothing more than a link to the playstation site.... a tear...

KeenCommander @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:19PM

This is about as useful as the DS emulator for PSP, although in this case it at least does something other than be a tech demo. Still, I don't picture anything but RPGs being playable with those controls. Then again, there's plenty of good SNES RPG's, so I guess it's not a total loss.

Rob @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:18PM

although i don't recommend it for games like street fighter or Mario, the iphone does work really well for playing classic rpg's like Final Fantasy or Swords and Serpents(NES). Some of my classes will definitely become more interesting when this is released. :D

Derek @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:28PM

hey GoldenS1104, you say this will start an argument? stealing roms is illegal, you can't argue that..only a moron would try to argue something as clear cut as that...Oh and by the way, last time I checked it was a free country, and if you don't like my comments, don't read Joystiq. There is a reason for comments sections: so people can voice their opinions. I think maybe you need to go change your diaper, crybaby...

mark @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:36PM

thankfully it is a free country and i can say "go to hell"

Pro-Truth League @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:45PM

I see absolutely nothing wrong with pirating roms.
Even less wrong if it's stuff that is not available on any of the download services, and likely never will be.

theCardinal @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:48PM

It's an emulator, not a rom stealing program. Emulation isn't illegal.

GoldenS1104 @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:50PM

At what point did I ever say I didn't agree with you? All I said was that voicing such an extreme opinion on a touchey subject like emulators is bound to start flame wars. I personally think modding consoles to play downloaded games and using emulators is wrong except when it is to back up games you already have. Provided you brought the original copy of the game you're playing, I have no problem with emulators (and I've also heard there is some loophole where if you own the game that the game file came from, it is completely legal, provided you don't share it with your friends).

My point in my original comment is that many people either:
a) support emulators

or

b) would get offended that you had to resort to calling the author of the post an asshole

Farseer (GDI) @ Jan 24th 2008 9:36AM

"...last time I checked it was a free country..."; "I think maybe you need to go change your diaper, crybaby..."

Wow, don't do that dude! I hate flashbacks to elementary school...

Farseer (GDI) @ Jan 24th 2008 9:43AM

"...last time I checked it was a free country..."; "I think maybe you need to go change your diaper, crybaby..."

Wow, don't do that dude! I hate flashbacks to elementary school...

ClarkyCat @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:40PM

Indeed, attaching a controller which is bigger than the phone itself and which requires two hands to operate would be much more practical.

Lifted 0ne 4l9 (NDF - Fire!) @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:41PM

wow dereq aren't you just the asshole of the day

Evan @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:52PM

Man, am I the only one that noticed that the background music was most definitely not Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit?

And that the guy couldn't even be bothered to steer while playing F-Zero.

BPM4:Guns of the Idiots @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:52PM

News flash: Emulation IS legal. The only thing that is illegal is downloading ROMs from the net (but, who REALLY cares about that?).

BPM4:Guns of the Idiots @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:54PM

Well, it looks to play well, at least. I mean, hey, it does Chrono Trigger alright. That's more than I can say for the SNES DS emulator.

But, yech, the music in that video was horrible. I muted my computer for that.

KeenCommander @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:35PM

Which DS SNES emulator? I play Chrono Trigger just fine, actually it's one of the fairly few games that runs really well. A lot of the have weird glitches. This is in SNEmulDS.

BPM4:Guns of the Idiots @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:40PM

Looks like I was using SnezziDS. Guess I'll have to look into SNEmulDS, hmm!

Farseer (GDI) @ Jan 24th 2008 9:43AM

Any good suggestions on a NES Emu for an R4 or M3 DS Real?

Farseer (GDI) @ Jan 24th 2008 10:23AM

Any good suggestions on a NES Emu for an R4 or M3 DS Real?

glutto @ Jan 24th 2008 5:57PM

I'm not sure if that emulator can emulate sound or music. I couldn't stand listening to it, either. Rather than fast-ff through the video I just stopped it.

Spartacus @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:55PM

I would just like to exploit this rare opportunity on joystiq to say that the iPhone, like the iPod, is an overpriced piece of hardware that sells on marketing and name brand rather than actual functionality. To own Apple products is more about being "hip" than being an informed consumer and is why I generally dislike electronics with a white paint job.

The iPhone is a great toy, but not a very good PHONE. Likewise the iPod looks cool, but lacks the features and quality of other less expensive MP3 players. Don't even get me started on Mac computers...

---

There, that should make for some rather rabid replies ;-)

ill trooper @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:21PM

Still the bitter anti-Apple hack you've often shown yourself to be, eh Spart? Just like all the lonely ones on Digg that can't let a single Apple-related post go by without poo-pooing it for little reason other than you're just not secure enough with your own choices to let others be, if they happen to buy what they want to buy? (That's rhetorical, by the way - we already know the answer.) Go read 'Siddhartha' or something and gain some insight on relating to others and their choices.

signed,

an Apple user

Mr Khan @ Jan 23rd 2008 9:41PM

My only fault with Apple are those fucking PC vs Mac commercials

If they don't lie, they totally warp the truth to make Windows advantages look like disadvantages (like the one that made the fact that PCs can be readily upgraded look like a bad thing)

Spartacus @ Jan 23rd 2008 9:58PM

I'm not sure what you're talking about Trooper. I very rarely EVER comment on Apple products, let alone here on joystiq. I simply chimed in here due to the fact that I got razzed today by a Mac user who is a good friend of mine. A friend of mine who has a lot of income and who likes to have all the new toys- even though he rarely knows what they are used for and usually just spouts whatever "features" the latest advertisement on TV happened to claim. These are the Mac (and electronics in general) users that I have a beef with. If you are a Mac user who did his research and chose a Mac because it offered you genuine advantages for you over a PC for the applications/tasks that you require, then I applaud you. However, if you bought a Mac because of Justin Long, as my friend did, then I take issue with your decision. It's the Mac users who claim absolute superiority over PC's that give the rest of you a bad name. For me a Mac offers no benefit besides stability, but that is a benefit that is greatly outweighed by price, lack of games (which IS relevant on this blog), lack of hardware options, and having to master a new GUI. To each his own, but please, for the love of all that is holy, do some actual research before you buy.

Signed,

An Informed Consumer

Raikage (Wii FC 5508 0487 4434 0992) @ Jan 24th 2008 1:47AM

I've owned a Mac for a little over a year now, I've used PCs forever, worked with the school district up-keeping them Etc. and I just put Vista on it so I can play some games. When comparing the two on performance, it's ridiculous...

Why can't Windows be HALF as stable as Leopard(heck it's even newer!), I seriously don't get it! How can Gates be content with releasing this buggy piece of crap when the competition is years ahead of them and it's 5 years old?

Of course there is price, compatibility issues. If you half-way know computers compatibility isn't a problem, only price. On the issue with price... It's worth it.

They have to be using some quality hardware, correct me if I'm wrong but it's kinda crazy when my 2.16ghz dual core, 1gb ram, 1600 ati can run Bioshock all settings on high at 1600x1080

In conclusion if you want a nice stable quality computer, almost headache free (worked on my parents PC recently, I was seriously screaming at it...) get a Mac...

Raikage (Wii FC 5508 0487 4434 0992) @ Jan 24th 2008 1:47AM

danny. @ Jan 24th 2008 8:30AM

I got my iPhone a week ago and I love it. I didn't have any kind of music player which sucks on the bus/train to and from work, and my Sony phone I had was dead (almost as expensive when I bought it and it lasted all of 2 years). 1.1.3 update did some good things for the maps, text messaging, and internet... I don't know what they were like back at 1.1.1 but It's a great phone now...

And now I get laid everyday.

AirIntake @ Jan 24th 2008 9:58AM

Raikage- I have no idea how you manage to crash Vista. Vista might not offer any new features other than DX10, but it sure doesn't just randomly crash. It only crashes if you have bad or incorrect drivers, which is something you can say of the whole NT line, including XP.

GoldenS1104 @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:59PM

I think it's not just the fact that they are "hip". I think the simplicity of Apple products is the reason for their popularity. I'm sure there are other features an mp3 player can have besides the features the iPod has, but a lot of people don't need more. To be fair though, there are just as simple mp3 players that are cheaper than an iPod. Maybe people like the convenience of iTunes and its compatability with the iPod. It's really inexplicable. As for Macs, I don't know where you were going with that (other than they are overpriced). I've used Macs before and from what I can tell they don't offer anything less than I would be able to get out of a PC.

Spartacus @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:16PM

Yeah, the biggest gripe against Macs is the price. But that's a BIG gripe. There is very little a Mac can do that a PC can't, so you're paying a HUGE premium for what essentially, for most home users, is an Apple logo and the ability to use OSX (which granted can be a nice perk).

On the other hand, there is a LOT you can do with a PC that you can't on a Mac- like gaming, custom built rigs, hardware modification/upgrades, wider software support/compatibility (face it, a Mac running Windows IS A PC) and all for hundreds and sometimes thousands less.

Macs are good for some things and definitely serve a purpose in the computing world, but they are not even on par with PCs for other things let alone heads and shoulders better than PCs overall like the Apple evangelists would have you believe. Unless you NEED a Mac for certain applications or for certain professions, a PC will do everything the Mac would and for much less money. This fact alone would make a PC the consumer's choice if it were in any other market. But Steve Jobs is a marketing genius and he is able to make his 5% of the market look and sound superior to the other 95%... All while paying a premium and having less hardware options and flexibility.

GoldenS1104 @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:33PM

Thos points seem reasonable. For me, a Mac would work just as well as a PC cause I don't use computers for anything you listed in your post. So, for some one like me who needs minimal functionality out of their computer, the only real difference is the price (which as you said, is a pretty big difference).

Derek @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:03PM

uh, what good is an emulator without roms? this is just a stupid legal loophole. Look, I'm not trying to be an asshole, I just think people need to respect the industry and not support things that undermine it. And that includes blog posters! It amazes me how morals fly out the window on the internet....just trying to throw some props to the industry I love

GoldenS1104 @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:11PM

As I said before, roms are only illegal if they didnt come directly from the cartridge (or disc) that you bought (at least this is what I've heard, some one would need to double-check me on that). Obviously people are going to download these roms illegally, and while I don't support it, it doesn't do much harm to the industry. Emulators of previous consoles are very popular, so they might decrease VC sales here and there (but those are all profit anyway, plus, the majority of the Wii user base is casual and would not know about emulators). As for the people who emulate games for current generation consoles, many of them use their own copies of the game to burn the file, and of the ones that dont, it's such a small number that it's insignificant compared to the number of people who end up buying the actual game anyway. I don't see emulating as enough of a threat to the industry that it warrants calling Justin McElroy an asshole for even posting about it. The emulator he's posting is crappy anyway. The controls look sucky and after a quick google search I found out it's really glitchy anyway. There's no reason to get so intense about this article.

StarFoxA @ Jan 25th 2008 12:17PM

If they come from a disk, then they're called ISOs.

Beatz @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:06PM

Finally, I can play Final Fantasy 6 on the go! Wait...

StarFoxA @ Jan 23rd 2008 8:27PM

Two words sum that up:

Damn awesome.

maverick_saturn_626 @ Jan 23rd 2008 9:13PM

Everybody loves nintendo ^^ Lets steal all thier old games :O

Derek @ Jan 23rd 2008 11:38PM

yeah GoldenS1104, maybe I did flip out a little bit. Your response was very intelligent and I give you props for that.You found a middle ground between the two stances. It was refreshing to hear some intelligent debate on this forum for once...

hvnlysoldr @ Jan 24th 2008 12:16AM

Grumbles at random music put into Youtube videos. Is it too much too ask for Easy Listening? I mean I can't stop thinking this is more like P Kirby's YTMND than anything useful.

Also since the thread got degraded into piracy. Pirates wore something something for something something.