iPhone 3GS emulates N64, blows minds in the process (Update: is it a fake?)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted December 7th 2009 2:23PM
posted December 7th 2009 2:23PM
Look what we have here -- a preview of 3G4, a N64 emulator developed by NWorksDev. Compatible with the iPhone 3GS and the iPod Touch 3G, this bad boy appears to be rendering down the graphics (as one would expect) but all in all it seems to be running pretty smoothly. Of course, this is a work in progress: the developer (who claims to be 14 years old) says that he has to overcome duplicate button registers, delayed presses, and some crashing -- and he has yet to implement the L, R, and Z keys. That said, this thing is pretty sweet! Hit up the YouTube links for info on becoming a beta tester -- but not before you see the thing in action after the break.
Update: Engadget reader and fellow Twitterati @kankuroukun brought a third video to our attention, this one purportedly showing the so-called "beta test" to be a fake. Or, as they say in Latin class, a phonus balonus. Well, it sure seems like this guy is just playing a video on his iPhone and moving his hands in time with Mario. Get a closer look for yourself after the break.
Update: Engadget reader and fellow Twitterati @kankuroukun brought a third video to our attention, this one purportedly showing the so-called "beta test" to be a fake. Or, as they say in Latin class, a phonus balonus. Well, it sure seems like this guy is just playing a video on his iPhone and moving his hands in time with Mario. Get a closer look for yourself after the break.
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May I ask Who give a ****?
@newjaruz
No. No you may not.
I doubt that application will ever make it into the store, unless it is locked into a couple included games. But then how can he include copyrighted ROMS?
It wasn't developed for the store. Not everything is
@(Unverified)
This will probably end up in cydia.
@(Unverified) its forCydia or rock app obviously
@(Unverified) Cydia store FTW!
Impressive, but largely pointless without a decent (or indeed any real) controller.
@Wolfticket agreed. Even NES was too frustrating to play on the iPhone with my meaty 'tips.
@Wolfticket I don't understand why he would include the d-pad, I don't think I've ever used it on the N64
@Mirhderer
WCW/NWO Revenge.
@Parias
You beat me to it....great game.
@Wolfticket i don't even know how i can z-cancel in smash with these virtual controls
True but things are being developed that will provide that. Hardware just takes a bit longer than software.
Think, tHe GPS boosters for any app but a dock connecting button masher that works in games.
It's coming
@Wolfticket
wouldn't the oil from the sweaty finger tips eventually wear out the screen???
@Mirhderer What about the inclusion of it without the L, R and Z buttons. Those certainly would get more use than the D pad. I mean how are you suppose to do a barrel roll?
Would be so much better on a handset with a larger screen, higher resolution and a faster processor *cough* HD2 *cough*
@Accidental
I would say it'd be better on a phone with an actual keyboard too
@Junzhi *cough* DROID *cough*
@Accidental After so many years people still don't get that clock speed has little to do with graphics.
The HD2 has ARM11 and iPhone 3GS has ARM cortex A8 with Power VR SGX.
In terms of graphics, it is actually the HD2 that will cough and go to the bin in front of the iPhone
@Girish
Ah but devs working on a REAL N64 emulator on the omap3 have stated that it's not so much a gfx issue as it is cpu.
How do we know the kid didn't just record a clip of Mario 64, impose a layer of the various N64 buttons on the video, then play the video, pretending he was touching the screen and playing N64? It may be legit, I just am not familiar enough with the iPhone/iPod touch to know.
@(Unverified) Because there are other N64 projects being worked on, and... yeah that's about it. It's news til it's fake. Then it's fake news.
Still useless without buttons... I really wish iControlPad or one of those would freaking release...
@(Unverified) No one has ever said it was impossible to emulate the N64 on the iphone. I think we should sue for false advertising...
@(Unverified)
Watch the very beginning of when he starts "playing" in the second video.
His right thumb moves left and Mario moves left, then Mario stops and his left thumb moves left and Mario does nothing lawl
@(Unverified) haha, and mario moves BEFORE he moves his left thumb! Although it would be awesome if a working emu was finally developed
@(Unverified)
Why would someone bother to make a fake video of an emulator that was missing so much functionality. If it was fake, I think it wouldn't have the downgraded resolution and missing controls at the least.
@(Unverified) "Implementing" the various missing buttons of this emulator is quite trivial for a programmer that could write/port an N64 emulator for the iPhone 3GS. I'm calling "fake" on this one.
This is pretty awesome. That iPad has to come out sooner or later..
@N900 I hope to see something similar on the N900 too - it'll be much easier with an open Linux platform too. :)
@r3loaded
for sure. they already have it so you can use a wiimote so its not a stretch at all
in the meantime, you can play on your crunchpad
@N900
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIwfpss9av0
@Wolfticket
Random question, but the PS3 controller is bluetooth. Is there any way a handset (Android, iPhone or WinMo) can pick it up with specialized drivers? I'm sure there is a decent selection of other, more compact Bluetooth controllers.
It's possible, Zottd (I think Thats how you spell it) managed to connect the wiimote to an iPhone for the NES emulator
@Accidental
Great idea! Wiimote would work great too!
@Accidental, N900 works flawlessly with external controllers - check how it handles two zeemotes at the same time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1adgozQElVg
It, of course, works with the original wiimote as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0wbLaMXeu4
@Accidental I bought a PS3 controller so I could play 64 on my Mac Mini, but the bluetoothness doesn't work under OS X, and the XP driver makes my (bluetooth) keyboard and mouse stop working. Good luck getting the controller to work on the iPhone!
Hats off to the kid that made this... very impressive in my opinion :)
What I don't understand is why the buttons would also be graphically dumbed down with the rest of the graphics. This looks fishy to me...
@Vorporeal Also, if you want a serious attempt at an N64 emulator, look at the work being done for the Pandora. Someone is writing an ARM recompiler for mupen64plus, as well as graphics plugins to work on the PowerVR SGX graphics processor. That's probably running at similar speeds, but also is processing sound and is not dumbing down the graphics at all. Also, the hardware is very similar to the 3GS, so I'm sure Zodttd'll make a 3GS build at some point.
until I see a ground stomp it didn't happen.
@cdsfire Yes, I agree. DID he create this emulator or porting system or has he used someone elses? The video says he's successfully "done" it, but who created this method of porting to an iphone? Is he getting credit for something he didn't create? hmmmmm
I can't wait until my n900 can do this.
I can't wait until my n900 arrives..
@Broderbund, N900 CAN do this: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=357924 ... And much more, at that - like using controllers and such...
If it's not based on Ari64's ARM Dynarec, I'll never believe it.
@fischju
Same.
how can this 'blow minds' when 'N64 emulator on psp' google result is dated in 2006?
@htd
Because it is a phone.
@htd
winmo phones can play ps1 games and it works with a massive amount of games including ff7 and MGS1. I wonder why that never made the news on engadget.