Late last year when TurboGrafx-16 GameBox [Free] first hit the App Store, I was beyond excited our review. I'd still list the TurboGrafx-16 as one of my favorite game systems of all time, and the potential that an officially sanctioned emulator has is still something I'm still glad to have, I just wish it had more games. Hudson has slowly been leaking out updates to the emulator with new packs of games included, but like most other official emulators, it's sorely lacking in the classics department. Not to say that Bonk isn't a classic, but come on, where is Blazing Lazers, Keith Courage, and other phenomenal TG16 games?!
Anyway, the newly included games are Bonk's Big Adventure, Image Fight, Break In, Devil's Crush and Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu PC Bangaihen (say that one three times fast). Payment still works the same way in that there's a daily rotating free game, or individual titles can be permanently unlocked for $2.99 a piece. Devil's Crush is worth checking out, I'm not so sure about the other four.
We've been tracking Elite's retro game releases through its ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection [App Store] and associated apps for some time now. This weekend, Elite released another emulated classic that many gamers on both sides of the pond will recall fondly: Barbarian from Palace Software.
Barbarian (distributed in the U.S. by Epyx as Death Sword), originally released for the Commodore 64 in 1987, is a hack and slash fighter that places you, the barbarian, in a series of fighting pits on a mission to slash your way through warrior after warrior and ultimately defeat the evil wizard Drax and rescue the ample Princess Mariana. It's all in the spirit of Conan. The game was noted for its realistic character animation (despite its simplistic graphics), considerable gore, and pleasant dose of wit. More than all of these, perhaps, it was noted for its racy box cover art featuring a bikini-clad Maria Whittaker, who had recently made an appearance as a topless Page Three girl in The Sun, and some dude. The outcry was dramatic.
Being a title running in Elite's ZX Spectrum emulator, Barbarian: ZX Spectrum is, of course, the ZX Spectrum version of the game. Unfortunately, this was not one of the strongest ports. Due to limitations of the Speccy's hardware, the actual play area and the characters within are rendered in monochrome. The detail is there, but the presentation feels pretty sparse. Another negative in this emulated iOS release is the control scheme. Despite Elite's "iDaptive" control system, where button (or key) layout can be custom arranged, the types of wildly varying moves that you need to pull off in rapid succession to excel in this game are not particularly conducive to touchscreen-style D-pad play. Happily, the customizable controls let you move the D-pad out of the way of your character in landscape mode, but that doesn't help with the feel of the controls.
Barbarian for the C64 and other platforms of old featured both a single player campaign mode (the quest to rescue Mariana) and a two-player challenge mode. It's worth noting that the version presented here offers only a single player mode.
See a video of the game as played on the ZX Spectrum.
Barbarian: ZX Spectrum is a stand-alone title with versions for both the iPhone [link] and iPad [link], and will be appearing as part of a new download pack for Elite's ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection [link] on Friday, when the number of available games in the collection will reach 108.
As a fan of what I knew as Death Sword on the Apple II back in the day, I was happy to see Barbarian arrive on iOS, even if it's come in a non-native fashion. I'd wager that the happy customers here are going to be other oldschool gamers who have fond memories of gut kicks and decapitation as Palace delivered them. Those unacquainted will probably find this one wanting.
Early this morning Atari released perhaps the most significant single retro gaming application yet to appear in the App Store. Atari's Greatest Hits [link] is a free Universal application for the iPhone and iPad that comes bundled with their first game ever, the 1972 classic Pong. And, while the games-for-free situation ends there, the fun certainly doesn't -- not by a long shot.
By way of in-app purchases, Atari's Greatest Hits can deliver to your iOS device up to 99 more games from the historical studio's back catalog, a mix of both arcade and (then) cartridge-based VCS / 2600 releases that you just might've grown up with. These games can be had in four-title game packs available at $0.99 each, as well as in a 68MB lump download of the entire library for $14.99. (The path you take here will reveal to you just how much of a bull geek retro gamer you are, so choose wisely.)
One hundred vintage Atari games for fifteen bucks. It's quite a proposition. But, what are we talking about here?
The almost awkwardly long list of game packs and the titles within them can be seen in our earlier post about this release.
Regular readers who also happen to be oldschool gamers from the UK have likely been enjoying legendary studio Elite System's forays into retro gaming on iOS. ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection [App Store], and the standalone Jet Set Willy [App Store], make for some quality virtual Z80-based nostalgic gaming.
Word on the street is that in 2012, Elite will be re-releasing the ZX Spectrum, in a manner of speaking. It seems that the studio will be bringing out a a bluetooth keyboard in the form of a ZX Spectrum that will connect to the studio's iOS apps and deliver a rather close to authentic, emulated ZX Spectrum gaming experience to iOS gamers. And, while it's not confirmed, we're expecting rubber keys.
That's about all we've got on this right now, but we'll keep you posted as news breaks.
Here's one that will make a select few of our readers stand up and shout, while merely drawing a faint "hmm" from the rest. But, as Arnold and myself are among the standers and the shouters... Last night, in honor of the 20th anniversary of their founding, the Free Tools Association (or FTA) released a free bundle of their classic demoscene productions and games wrapped in their ActiveGS Apple IIgs emulator as the Universal application ActiveGS - Best of FTA [App Store].
FTA and the associated groups Apple Chemical Software (ACS) and Second Sight Software were well known in the pre-web online Apple II communities for their to-the-metal, assembly-coded demos, games, and utilities that pushed the Apple II to its limits. Among the included productions are Nucleus and Modulae, probably the most well loved and beautifully executed demos to be found on the IIgs, as well as the playable demo of the group's take on the pseudo-3D shooter Space Harrier. Those checking out this collection who have no Apple II in their past should note that the Apple IIgs, which was released in 1986, is an 8/16-bit computer that runs at 2.8MHz -- and that's in "fast" mode.
The Modulae demo, running under emulation on a Windows machine:
The group's ActiveGS emulator used in this application is a front-end for the multiplatform KEGS, which emulates the Apple IIgs and, by extension, the Apple IIe. It's available in both stand-alone applications and as a browser plug-in and is the primary emulation system behind the Virtual Apple ][ website where hundreds of Apple II programs can be run online.
In this iOS version, the emulator simply provides hard coded execution of FTA's demos, so it won't work as a general emulator.
UPDATE: Developer Olivier Goguel has chimed in on the comments thread and provided a link to a video of a version of ActiveGS running on the iPad, loaded with many more Apple II demos and games than are featured in the App Store release. But don't get too excited...
For approval reason, this version contains only FTA product! For a sneak preview of the full version, have a look at this video, but don't expect it to be live soon...
Back in December, Hudson somewhat surprisingly released an emulator app for their cult-classic 16-bit console TurboGrafx-16. This emulator, called the TurboGrafx-16 GameBox [Free], features a free-to-download shell that includes the full game of World Sports Competition and houses a hefty selection of other titles that can be unlocked via in-app purchase for $2.99 each. There's also one new rotating tile per day that gives you a chance to play that particular game for 10 minutes, up from the initial 3 minutes offered on the app's release, as a sort of demo to decide if you want to purchase the full version.
We really liked the TurboGrafx-16 GameBoxin our review, noting that its virtual controls were about as good as they come on an iOS device that emulates games designed for physical controls and a favorable save system ensured that you could retry tricky sections easily without causing too much frustration. The initial selection of games available for in-app purchase in the TurboGrafx-16 GameBox featured a range of very good to mediocre titles, with a couple of must-haves like Bonk's Adventure, Ninja Spirit, or R-Type. Today Hudson has released an update for the TurboGrafx-16 GameBox that adds 5 new titles to the in-app catalog which are listed below:
Bonk's Revenge by Hudson Soft
Detana!! TwinBee by Konami
Kaizouchoujin Shubibinman by NCS/extreme
Double Dungeons by NCS/extreme
Benkei Gaiden by Sunsoft
Like a few of the games in the initial release of TurboGrafx-16 GameBox, 3 of the 5 new titles are the PC-Engine versions of the game, the Japanese counterpart to the TurboGrafx-16. As such, their menus, dialogue, and instruction manuals are entirely in Japanese with no option for an English version. For a game like Detana!! TwinBee this isn't as much of an issue, as it's just a vertical shooter and knowing what's going on is secondary to blasting stuff out of the sky. But in the case of Benkei Gaiden, it's a heavily dialogue-driven RPG which will be hard to enjoy if you aren't able to read Japanese text.
Also worth noting is that the full version of Bonk's Revenge is currently free to play as part of a special promotion. Seeing as this will likely be the title that most people are interested in, it's a great chance to actually try it out yourself before committing the cash to unlock the full version. Make sure to update your game to the latest version and give Bonk's Revenge a spin and check out the other 4 new titles in the TurboGrafx-16 GameBox.
As mentioned in our post from this morning, the original iDOS fiasco last October was an incredible one. We constantly updated our initial post on the emulator throughout the day as we were more and more blown away by just how capable it was until Apple finally pulled the plug later that same day. Not long after, I reminisced on just how important iDOS was, hoping developers utilized the iDOS emulator framework to bring DOS classics to the iPhone.
As of today, iDOS is back, and free. The update text warns to "think thrice" before updating, as part of getting iDOS back on the store involved removing the iTunes functionality that allowed users to just drag and drop whatever executables they wanted within iDOS right in to iTunes to sync. You'd think that this would be the end of the iDOS saga, but forum member BoxOfSnoo informed us that the initial iDOS emulation rabbit hole is still there... It's just a little more complicated to get to.
Using the freeware utility iPhone Explorer, adding additional games to iDOS is as simple as browsing your apps in iPhone Explorer, opening the iDOS folder, and then dumping whatever files you want inside of the iDOS documents folder. These files will be available in iDOS, as /Apps/iDos/documents/ is the equivalent to C:\ inside of iDOS. This does not require you to be jailbroken.
What Apple's response will be to this discovery is anyone's guess. Technically speaking, I'm not entirely sure if iDOS is breaking any of the developer agreements since adding games is done entirely through an unsupported third party utility. Regardless, it seems that this version of iDOS is just as capable of the original version, just with a slightly different way for loading additional games on to it. If you haven't yet, you should really consider downloading iDOS. It's free and may not last long.
Oh, and of course, the thread on our forums for iDOS 2.0.1 is going wild again with people installing all kinds of crazy stuff on their iOS devices.
You may remember last October when a little app called iDOS snuck its way into the App Store. Every once in a while the review team at Apple falls asleep at the wheel and approves an app that probably shouldn't be allowed in the App Store. iDOS was one of those apps. It was a version of the DOSbox emulator that let you run DOS on your iOS device and load up all sorts of crazy old PC software.
Ah yes, I remember the iDOS day well. It was so much fun watching our article on iDOS constantly getting updated with whatever new feat of magic was discovered by the eager members in our forums. Many classic PC games ran incredibly well in iDOS, with full keyboard and mouse support, and the coup de grace was actually installing Microsoft Windows 3.0 on an iPad and playing the classic version of Solitaire included with it.
Like all good things though, the iDOS phenomenon quickly came to an end, and the app was removed from the App Store almost as suddenly as it appeared. Being able to load and run entire outside programs from within the iDOS app is a big no no according to Apple, and the thousands of people who had downloaded iDOS quickly backed up the app to their hard drives for safekeeping.
Then last night, iDOS surprisingly showed its face again in the App Store. In order to get it through the approval process, developer FAST Intelligence closed up the iTunes file sharing rabbit hole that was the gateway to loading whatever DOS programs you wanted, but has added some other nice functionality to try and compensate.
There are now 6 legal shareware games preloaded in iDOS which can be downloaded for free from the new “iDOS Store” within the app. The games can then be launched easily by selecting them from your collection, and no knowledge of DOS commands is necessary to get them going. For those that want to though, there is still access to the full DOS prompt for launching games.
Other additions include a full virtual joystick/d-pad and buttons rather than just a virtual keyboard, the ability to play on the iPhone/iPod touch in portrait mode just like the iPad, and Bluetooth keyboard support for text-based games. The virtual gamepad is actually really good, and makes playing games like Wolfenstein 3D a whole lot more enjoyable.
While it is pretty disappointing that you won't be able to go nuts running programs using the new iDOS, it's actually a pretty solid little emulator and still fun to play around with. Word on the street is that jailbroken devices can still load whatever games they want into this new version using file managing programs, but that doesn't seem very exciting to me since iDOShas been available as DosPad in the jailbreak App Store Cydia for a long time now, and offers that same functionality.
These screenshots show the new portrait mode gamepad controls for the iPad (left) and the iPhone (right). Click either image to enlarge.
If you missed out on iDOS the first time, it's still worth checking out this new version despite its limitations, especially as it's now free to download. Be warned though – if you have the original version of iDOS in your iTunes library, this new version is actually an update that will replace that one, so it's suggested that you back up the original app before downloading version 2.0. There's a brand new thread in our forums for discussing this rereleased version of iDOS, and hopefully this time Apple will let it stick around for longer than one day.
Early last month we posted our exclusive preview of Manomio's much anticipated iAmiga emulation system that will shortly be used to bring a list of old school Amiga classics to the iPhone and iPad. In the time since that post, developer and CEO Stuart Carnie has provided us with a number of new builds of the iAmiga development test system which have each brought various fixes and improvements to the environment.
I wanted to list some of the changes that we've seen in these recent builds, for readers who are waiting anxiously for iAmiga to do its thing in the App Store.
Basic iPad support now working (display appropriately scales to the device's screen)
TV-out is now supported on Retina display devices and iPad. Hot plug / unplug handed gracefully.
New mouse control system implemented -- greatly enhances the feel of mouse-based titles (behaves nearly identically to a trackpad, now)
CPU is more stable
Shadow of the Beast no longer crashes
IK+ no longer exhibits graphics glitches during intro
CPU tracing system implemented, able to generate gigabytes of log data for issue tracking, at need
Audio now pauses properly when switching between Game / Settings tab (no looping)
Carnie has also shared with us a list of near-term "to do's" that we can look forward to, shortly:
Finish integrating the CRT effects OpenGL ES engine (using GLSL shaders). List includes: No effect, 50% scanlines, aperture 1x2 RB and aperture 1x3 RB
Aspect ratio selection (full screen, 4:3, whole pixel)
Save / Resume support
Defender of the Crown cabinet shell and graphics
It's been loads of fun testing out a slew of Amiga games on the iPhone with these new builds, and I can't wait for everyone out there to get the chance to enjoy so many Amiga classics, delivered through Manomio's emulation system. We'll bring more news from the studio as iAmiga development continues.
Few releases on the App Store have made me squeal in greater delight than Hudson's TurboGrafx-16 GameBox [Free], for several reasons. First off, while most were busy arguing whether or not Sega does what Nintendon't, I was busy having the time of my life playing classics such as Blazing Lazers, Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, and Bonk's Adventure. Secondly, this might be one of the best implementations of a console emulator we've seen so far on the App Store.
Downloading the actual emulator itself is completely free, which gets you access to World Sports Competition as well as a daily rotating free demo game which you can play for three minutes. (Today's is Salamander.) From there, you can view the catalog of currently available games, which it sounds like Husdon has plans to constantly expand. These games are $2.99 each, and once you unlock them via in-app purchase you can play them to your heart's content.
Much like the original TurboGrafx-16 system, the emulator has a D-pad and two buttons, along with a turbo mode for each button that can be toggled on and off. The games I've tried control about as well as you would expect a console game designed for a controller to play with virtual controls. They're entirely workable, but don't expect the same precision as a physical controller.
The controls situation is alleviated somewhat by a great save state system that allows you to save and resume games at any time. If a jump is coming up that's particularly tricky, just save your game state, attempt it, and instantly load where you were again if you fail. Sure, it's a little cheesy, but it has substantially lessened the frustration I usually experience when I die in these types of classic ports due to the lack of precision from virtual controls.
Right now the game selection in the emulator isn't the best, and aside from the previously mentioned World Sports Competiton and Salamander, it also comes packed with Gradius, R-Type, Bonk's Adventure, Bomberman '94, New Adventure Island, Vigilante, Ninja Spirit, Military Madness, Victor Run, Soldier Blade, Jaseiken Necromander, Dungeon Explorer, World Class Baseball, and China Warrior.
TurboGrafx-16 GameBox is a marvelous emulator packed with nostalgia for anyone around during the TurboGrafx-16 glory days. It's substantially cheaper than picking up a TurboExpress and the real game cards... which is easier said than done due to the systems being afflicted by the capacitor plague, making functional units very hard to come by. There are a ton of games I'd like to see included with future updates, but this is a great start. Now only if Sega would release something like this instead of packaging all their games individually...
Indie development studio Manomio, whose proud motto is "in retro we trust," first grabbed our attention last summer when their Commodore 64 for iPhone [link] emulation app was rejected by Apple, putting some of the App Store's boundaries under the spotlight. Happily, though, C64 eventually got the green light and has been warming the hearts of retro gaming enthusiasts for just over a year, now. It's beautifully executed and is a favorite here at Touch Arcade.
Early this year, Manomio let us know that they had a whole lot more retro heart warming in store and shared details of their upcoming Amiga emulation system, now known as iAmiga, that would allow them to license and release various classic Amiga titles to be faithfully rendered on your iPhone screen. On hearing this we were -- readers and editors alike -- thrilled at the prospect of enjoying some of the true gaming gems that sit among the vast library of Amiga releases. A short tech demo video was provided in short order, showing two games in play, that served as quite a teaser, making us very anxious to get our hands on the studio's latest.
I'm happy to report that, yesterday, Manomio CTO Stuart Carnie was merciful enough to finally put an end to our suffering and provide us with an exclusive early build of the iAmiga system, packed with a bundle of sample games, to put through its paces. Yea, it's dirty work, but somebody's got to do it.
After spending some serious time with the iAmiga system, I can tell you that, for an early build, it is truly impressive. While it's true that a few of the games that I tried glitched at some point, the vast majority ran perfectly and buttery smoothly on my iPhone 4. I'm talking about totally accurate sound, flawless graphics, glass smooth animation -- just as if the games were being played on the standard config Amiga 500 that iAmiga emulates. Right now there are keyboard, mouse, and joystick input systems that can be activated with a tap, but (especially in the case of the keyboard) they are quick and dirty solutions that will be replaced with much more refined components before anything lands in the App Store, Stuart assures me. The overall portrait / landscape control mechanics, like those found in the studio's C64, will be preserved, however.
As for what's under the hood of the iAmiga system, Manomio has taken the UAE4All Amiga emulator and tied it to Stuart's own ARM assembly optimized, emulated 68000 CPU core. In the name of performance, the core relies upon the ARM7x architecture and, as such, only iPhone 3GS / 3rd gen. iPod touch devices and up can play. iPad support is coming, as well.
The original plan was to take this emulator and wrap it around various licensed Amiga titles and release them as stand-alone games. That's still part of the plan, but as certain App Store restrictions have loosened a bit of late, there will likely also be a sort of Amiga shell app released that that allows the stand-alone games to be played in a richer Amiga emulation environment that may offers things like OpenGL ES 2.0 shader effects to add scan-lines, CRT glare, and even TV-out and iPad play using a tethered iPhone as a controller. Just the kind of things that make die-hard retro nuts rather weak in the knees.
Stuart has given the okay for us to record and share sample gameplay footage of his emulation system, and so I've put together a fairly lengthy mix of 10 Amiga games that you just might remember.
The games shown in the video are the following, in order: Defender of the Crown, Battle Squadron, International Karate +, R-Type, R-Type II, Speedball, Stunt Car Racer, Shadow of the Beast, Virus, and Xenon 2: Megablast. It should be noted that this list does not represent the list of games that will necessarily be coming to the App Store through the iAmiga system -- these are games simply used to test the system in its developmental state. (In fact, some of these I added from my own collection of Amiga disk images.)
As far as what we will be seeing in the way of iOS Amiga releases, Manomio has licensed various titles from Cinemaware, so Defender of the Crown, It Came from the Desert, Wings, and others are on the way. The studio is currently in licensing discussions with several other IP holders to secure additional titles for iOS release, including Factor 5 (Turrican I, II, III), The Bitmap Brothers (Xenon II: Megablast), Magnetic Fields (Supercars), Cope-Com (Battle Squadron), and Archer MacLean (IK+). Additionally, they are in talks with an unnamed major mobile publisher that's very interested in putting Amiga classics in the hands of today's gamers.
As you can see from the video, what we're in for is a wave of excellent games that are retro, true, but not so retro that they lack mainstream appeal. (Yes, the Amiga was that advanced 25 years ago.) This is big news, not only for iOS gamers, but for mobile gaming in general. In my personal experience, Amiga emulation has been quite a bit more difficult to manage than other age-old platforms on proper Macs and PCs due to the complexity of the original hardware. The thought of having easy access to these games in a tap-and-go fashion -- even standing in line at the bank -- is just amazing. I call this some of the very biggest news in iOS gaming that we've ever covered and can't wait until all of you out there get a chance to enjoy these great Amiga titles on your iOS devices, as well.
For readers unfamiliar with the Amiga, it is a 16-bit computer released by Commodore in 1985. A far more complex system than the C64, the Amiga featured a powerful central processor (the same found in the early Macintosh), various custom co-processors, and a multitasking operating system that, together, enabled audiovisual feats previously unseen in a consumer system at that point in time. While it did not see enormous popularity in the United States, it was wildly popular in Europe and is considered by many to be one of the very best game platforms ever created. InfoWorld called the Amiga the "third milestone" in computing after the Apple II and IBM PC.
We'll be tracking Manomio's iAmiga project closely and will pass along any further details that emerge, as we get them.
UPDATE: The developer has indicated that iAmiga will gain AGA support sometime after the first version is out the door. AGA (for Advanced Graphics Architecture) is the third generation Amiga chipset that brought a 24-bit color palette and more overall graphics horsepower to the platform. (Many of the most recent Amiga games are AGA-only.)
Early last month we took a look at Elite's ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection (Vol. 1) for the iPhone, a collection of 8-bit, British classics wrapped in a capable emulator, designed to deliver nostalgic gaming reverie to the iPhone- or iPod touch-wielding player. Late last week Elite released ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection HD [App Shop] for the iPad, featuring not only Vol. 1 but Vol. 2 of their game collection, making it the ultimate iOS ZX Spectrum experience.
The Elite Collection HD features all of the games from Vol. 1:
As with the earlier iPhone release, the iPad Elite Collection plays the games very smoothly with decent controls -- about as good as can be managed in a multi-touchscreen adaptation of a system of this sort. I've particularly appreciated these collections as I've long had an interest in experiencing the UK games of the 8-bit era but, being unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the Spectrum systems, I've had trouble with traditional emulators. Having everything neatly packaged up here has been a big win for me.
Though U.S. gamers never really had the chance to play many of these classics on their 8-bits back in the day, classics they are, and ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection HD is a great way to get to know these titles.
Last week we reported that premier '80s game studio Elite Systems would soon begin bringing classic ZX Spectrum game titles to iOS (via emulation) with the coming release of ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection (Vol. #1) [App Store]. This weekend the game went live in the App Store, shortly following a press release issued by Elite, meant to manage expectations of the unreleased title.
In the release, Elite's Steve Wilcox said,
The media and consumer reaction to the announcement, in late September, of Apple's approval of ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection has been extensive and enthusiastic. Our concerns now are to ensure that both groups understand that Vol. #1 of the App is a work in-progress, a rough diamond if you like and that we're committed to developing the App (eliminating some of its more obvious shortcomings and adding new features) over the weeks and months ahead.
...
If we're to achieve our goal of offering (and enabling others to offer) access - via mobile and wireless devices - to many of the thousands of fantastic ZX Spectrum games, we need to restore some order to the market and adjust expectations amongst developers, publishers and players.
Wilcox promises that the application will always be priced at £0.59 (Euro 0.79, US $0.99) and that within a month, six more game will be released via a free update (Vol. #2), with a further free update to come within the following month (Vol. #3), bringing with it an in-app game shop.
This Volume 1 release features the following six popular Spectrum titles:
The bundled games in this release features on-screen, directional "key" controls configured for each specific title. Gameplay can be carried out in either portrait or landscape mode, depending on player preference. Audio is fully reproduced, as well, bringing the Spectrum's lavish soundscape to discerning iPhone gamers. (A bit of wit there...)
See Elite's brief trailer video.
I've not yet spent a great deal of time with this one, but can say that the emulation seems to be running games at full ZX Spectrum speed. (And I'm happy to say I've not hit a single R Tape loading error.) We'll be following Elite's progressive releases in this series closely.
Last week we reported that, thanks to Apple recently relaxing its iOS SDK agreement, Manomio submitted a major 2.0 update of Commodore 64, their C64 emulator / game system, to the App Store with BASIC reenabled (and fingers crossed). We're happy to report that the app has been approved and is now available for download [link].
I had a chat with developer Stuart Carnie yesterday, shortly after he received word from Apple that Commodore 64 v2.0 was approved, during which he shared further details concerning this notable update.
With BASIC back, so too is the full C64 keyboard. Carnie is excited about the prospect of users having full and complete access to every game presented, which, in some games, can only happen when a full keyboard is available. And, while it's here in v2.0, the keyboard hasn't gotten any attention since it was removed back in November and, as such, a near-term update will address the absence of a few missing keys (semi-colon, colon) as well as a lock mode for the RUNSTOP, C=, and SHIFT keys, to use in conjunction with others.
A bit further out will come cycle-exact emulation on newer hardware (ARMv7), to resolve digital sound issues with Space Taxi and enable a few free games from Beam Software, such as Exploding Fist.
We've seen a lot of anticipation from readers for an iPad version of C64, and Carnie tells us that it's big on the roadmap. Thanks to Apple allowing BASIC, he really wants to create a great experience for iPad users wanting to experiment with the language, including a finely tuned keyboard and even Bluetooth support. "Think 'full' C64 experience," says Carnie. Due to Manomio's work on the upcoming Amiga classic titles, these more significant upgrades are slated for release next year -- and we can't wait.
As for additional games on the horizon, Carnie was able to reveal that they're in the progress of bringing several more Thalamus titles on-board: Creatures I and II and Retrograde. Also on the way is MYTH: History in the Making from System 3, which requires emulated 1541 floppy drive support and a disk-swapping user interface (which is already in the system).
Thanks to Apple for their relaxed stance on the SDK agreement and thanks to the folks at Manomio for giving retro fans like myself so much sweet candy to enjoy.
An App Store favorite of our readers who relish the retro is surely Manomio's Commodore 64 [link], the C64 emulation system / game store that does a great job of putting an expanding list of 8-bit classics right in our pockets. We first got wind of Manomio's emulation effort in June of last year, when it was submitted to Apple and rejected, as it was determined to be in violation of the iPhone SDK agreement.
Then said Apple,
Thank you for submitting C64 1.0 to the App Store. We've reviewed C64 1.0 and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it violates the iPhone SDK Agreement; "3.3.2 An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise. No interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple's Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s)."
It was the system's included BASIC interpreter that was the sticking point for Apple, it turned out. Manomio disabled (and then removed, as it was deemed necessary) the BASIC interpreter and the app finally found its place in the store, and in Apple's good graces.
Last Thursday, Apple made significant changes to the iOS SDK agreement, relaxing restrictions on development tools used to create iOS applications. One of the areas of the SDK agreement affected was section 3.3.2, the specific part of the agreement that Apple determined Manomio had violated with the initial releases of C64. Upon hearing this news, Manomio CTO Stuart Carnie was quick to read over the new Apple document and found the following, updated section 3.3.2.
3.3.2 An Application may not download or install executable code. Interpreted code may only be used in an Application if all scripts, code and interpreters are packaged in the Application and not downloaded. The only exception to the foregoing is scripts and code downloaded and run by Apple’s built-in WebKit framework.
As can be seen in the new language, interpreted code is now acceptable under certain circumstances. In light of this fortunate turn of events, the developer has put together an updated version of C64 (v2.0) with BASIC enabled. Wanting Apple to be fully aware of his re-inclusion of the BASIC interpreter, Carnie extensively underscored his changes in the Reviewer Notes section of the submission form and additionally sent a courtesy e-mail to Apple on the issue. Since then, the developer and Apple have had further correspondence regarding the update and the response so far is positive. Apple will, understandably, spend additional time reviewing the application, but Carnie says he remains cautiously optimistic.
If Apple does end up rejecting the update, Manomio's plans are to remove the BASIC interpreter, but leave in place the other enhancement that this update brings, Carnie tells us. Those other enhancements include:
FIX - fix crash when attempting to use the "Download All" feature and many games are queue
FIX - Add additional controls to Hunter's Moon
FIX - iPad landscape view is no longer partially off the screen
NEW - Upgraded to OpenFeint 2.6.1 (includes time-scoped leader boards)
NEW - iOS 4.1 tested
NEW - New "Always use keyboard" option to access additional in-game features
Apple's recent update to the SDK agreement gives developers of all manner of apps more flexibility, but is a particular boon to developers of retro system emulators and games. We've got our fingers crossed that C64 with BASIC enabled is given the nod by Apple and that other developers are inspired to bring others classic systems and games to our favorite mobile device family.
