N900 gains PS3 Sixaxis control over SNES gaming (video)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted February 5th 2010 4:17AM
posted February 5th 2010 4:17AM
Even if the N900 isn't quite ready for mass market appeal, that doesn't mean that it's not the perfect device for many of the Engadget elite. With impressive power and out-of-the-box hackability, this QWERTY handset is a tinkerers dream. In fact, Tomasz Sterna has already recompiled the kernel to add joystick (and mouse) support. He then pieced together enough code to turn the N900 into a portable Sixaxis gaming console that brings SNES gaming to any TV. Fire up the N900's Bluetooth, then kick back and immerse yourself in a land of 16-bit dinosaurs and chubby Italian plumbers -- good times. See the finished product after the break.
Is that NOKIA hires guys to do such "STUNTS" to make their hardware more popular among masses?
@suland highly doubtful. The Maemo community is very enthusiastic about the OS and its possibilities. I'm sure these N900 hacks we see are all self-motivated. Nokia, is of course pleased as it should be.
@Thomas Ricker
i would have totally up voted you
@Thomas Ricker I too would have.
@suland Btw, this "stunts" are free publicity...
People are impressed by this, maybe your phone of choice can do better...
And I need to disagree with Ricker here.
This phone it is more than ready for mass market. Dunno why you guys keep on saying that it isnt. I have N900(personal), E72(company) and iPhone 3G(personal). From my perspective there are loads of things N900 can do that iPhone cant. Same way as other things that iPhone can do that N900 cant.
This kind of comment is one of the reasons people might post absurd stuff here making Chris to go crazy...
@Thomas Ricker TV out is the newcomer to maemo. there has always been bluetooth controller controls for emulators on N810.
Mameo developers have always been there. You are just begging to notice them. Maemo is still maemo regardless of the UI enhancements. the difference about Maemo developers is the caliber. these developers actually use and love there device. so quality is there in all the apps. Keep your eyes on Maemo. turn your head for a second and you will miss a lot. Nokia knows what they are doing here. they have been cookin up maemo for 5 years now. surely its no suprise that the Maemo developers would know the in and outs of the OS by now. Maemo is by far the easiest Mobile platforn to develop for. it has Python. Its Friggin Linux. Makes you resent that N900 review even more huh??????
Ps: since the N900 review didnt mention this, News flash the N900 has tv out!!!( and the cable is included)
@Mr w00t
uhhhhhh and why do you have 3 phones?
and of course they're all awesome
@ale the company i work for gave me an e72 when i joined but i already had an iphone. and i bought the n900 out of my pocket cos i bought into the hype that took europe...
man i could not be happier. btw, if u wanna buy a french iphone with w00t on the back let me know :P
Oh my god, THIS IS SO AWESOME!
@MeisterDon
Yeah, finally I have an excuse to take my PS3 Joypad along with my mobile!
I love Nokia! And I love the fact that they are providing more and more open/free programs/services/OSs. Go Nokia, go!
@pavelgr
though I still have my nokia e71 i use it as a phone only and cut the data. Until mail for exchange has html support i can no longer buy their products. i dont get how this is a corporate device with such a weak email client.
You can play SNES (or NES, or GB, or GBA) with any bluetooth game controller on the N900... just use Zeemote.
S60 does this also by the way.
@Pancakes
You mean I can use my sixaxis controller to steer the new Volvo S60 I just pre-ordered? That is SWEET!!!!! Just wait till my wife freaks out with me driving from the back seat.
that's pretty damn awesome, altho' what'd be even more awesome would be the ability to control your ps3 with the phone - aka. turn it in to a controller :)
@mrqs
http://tabletui.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/preview-bluemaemo/
@wazd nice, now make that for android :)
@wazd,
what up, my brother! Good answer. Nothing Maemo can't do. In fact, nothing any phone can do this can't. We're refining the PIM features and UI, but everything's in place. Once Symbian^4 is released to share our Qt app ecosystem, THEN Maemo will really matter. Right now, we're just perfecting time travel and nanophysics. :P
@fatjoe I agree! N900 is not an "appliance" and it automatically falls into the "niche" category. But it is a great/true gadget.
@pachi72
If Fostering Maemo for 5 years straight, releasing 4 internet tablets(2 devices in 2010) is not love and support what is???????
thats 5 maemo devices.
That's awesome! I wonder if it plans to support Wii remotes (and attachments) at some point too.
@carsonb They did that months ago and it needs no hacking, just installing a single file :)
@carsonb
For your laziness not to search :)
Wiimote on N900
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qJT7qA-1UM
hi i need help am stuck between nexus one and the n900 wich one is beter
@titoelrey1 Man, this is a very heavy thing to answer. Depends on what you want the phone to do.
If you rely a lot in Google services go for the Nexus One. I think it is very well built around the idea of bringing Google services to your hand. I personally dont want to rely in Google more than just for search. I had all of my service in google once and they locked me out for no reason at all. They scared me away with that and those quotes about privacy.
Having said that, I have a N900 and I think its much more capable than the Nexus Ones as a computing platform. I get very good integration with skype, browser is state of art, I have several e-mails configured on it, sharing pictures is just awesome, camera is 5mp with great quality, calendar is very good. Media player is more or less but hey, I can use FM transmitter in my car. I have downloaded maps for entire europe and I dont need to rely on internet transmission.
Both have great communities. Concerning support, I think Nokia is better.
@titoelrey1, depends what you need from a device. There is no general better/best device - there is only better/best device for you. If you can live without 1000s of mainly pointless apps (tho there are some gems), and big brother telling you what you can and what you cannot do on your device, and you can live without native Google services (tho you can access all of them with the N900's browser), and are comfortable to wait for some general phone functions (MMS, USSD, custom contact ringtones, voice dialing etc.) - go with the N900 and you won't regret it.
It all boils down on what exactly do you need from your device.
@titoelrey1
Are you a programmer, are you familiar with Linux and related compiler tools, or do you at least want to learn them? Do you want full and unrestricted access to all your phone's potential, with the only real limit being the hardware? If you said yes to any of these, get the N900. You can always dual-boot to an Android install later, or whatever OS strikes your fancy.
Are you afraid of your hardware and OS, and want a software company (and/or cell carrier) to dictate the limits of what your phone can do, no matter what the hardware is capable of? Then get a regular Android phone. Maybe program an app or two using their API -- it's safer because it keeps you at arms-length from the OS, and only gives you a virtual machine to play with. Nexus One is a good Android phone right now. At least they finally deemed it worthy of multi-touch, well after hardware multi-touch support was final.
Just don't get an iPhone, unless you don't like owning the hardware you've paid for. Apple will make your life easier, in the same way Fascist Dictators make day-to-day decisions a lot easier -- they decide everything for you, whether you like it or not.
hey thanks incognito and mr woot your advise was very help full am gonna order my n900 today thank you guys alot
And it looks like the next thing I need to buy is a game controller. w00t! It seems that everytime I get excited about one aspect of of my N900 someone else comes along and gives me something more exciting to play with.
@(Unverified) I checked everyday, if not every few hours, at maemo.org to see whatelse I can do more on the N900 :)
Does the phone not respond too well/accurately to the controller input or does the person playing Mario 3 realllllyy suck?
This guy sucks at mario.
@Ebonwumon I played Mario better then that when I was 2
maybe tomorrow when i wake up, i will find M900 could shave my beard too
As a N900 owner, I do agree that it is not ready for the "mass" market unless Nokia can change the mind what the "mass" think.
The reason is the "mass" market is expecting, because the name of Nokia, it is a full-featured phones, rather than a mobile gadget with phone features from their tablet series.
They will certainly be disappointed with mediocre phone features the N900 is providing now. It will do no good to N900 or Nokia and higher than expected return rate.
Good that it's posted here so people get to know N900 more. I have been following it since video was uploaded to youtube, the 2nd comment is me.
The Engadget effect: last night I checked the view count was less than 1000, 2 days after it's posted (might be 300 or 700, not sure), after a few hours in Engadget, it's more than 5000 views.
I still can't connect my six axis to my Mac with out a USB cable. WTF?!
When I try to do so under XP, my Bluetooth keyboard and mouse quit working. Shiiit.
Damn, that is awesome!
I hope they bring this to jailbroken iPhones too!
Love the idea when consoles use standards: bluetooth.