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iMame app pulled from iOS App Store after a few short days of freedom
Apple has officially pulled iMame, the free, ROM-playing arcade unit emulator, from its App Store, killing one of the very few venues for getting old arcade games onto your iOS device of choice. The move is presumably due to Apple's long-standing policy of not allowing applications running on its devices to play emulated software (despite a few exceptions in Capcom and Atari). As with other emulators to have somehow sneaked past Apple's App approvals process, it wasn't long before Apple got wind of iMame's uses and shut it down. That said, if you already snagged yourself a copy of the free App, it can't be taken away, though it can't exactly receive updates either. Unfortunate, yes, but at least you've got a few months of unadulterated, portable, emulated gaming ahead of you!
iMAME app gets pulled from iTunes
In barely enough time to get out of the app store and into the hearts of retro gamers everywhere, the iMAME emulator on iOS has already been erased from iTunes -- just days since its release. Alas, that lack of any official endorsement may have reared its ugly head. Well, it was good while it lasted. Guess we'll carry on saving up for that Vita purchase... [Thanks Zac]
Arcade emulator iMAME punted out of App Store
Fans of vintage arcade games know that the popular and free emulation tool MAME (stands for "Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator") can be used to recreate the experience of classic coin-op and console videogames on PCs, Macs and jailbroken iOS devices. The catch, of course, is that in order to run the old games you need a copy of the game ROM code; said copies are essentially unavailable via legitimate licensing (except for a few Exidy games). The other catch is that full-scale emulators aren't particularly welcome on the iOS App Store; the ones that have made it through the review process are careful to lock down the ability to run arbitrary third-party programs. That's why it was more than a little bit surprising to see iMAME show up in the App Store this week. The game emulator (which, if you judge it by its splash screen, seems to be a straight-up clone of the jailbreak-only iMAME4All app) plays the ten Exidy legit games as one would expect. The unsung trick, however, is that by using a file transfer tool like PhoneView or iExplorer, it's trivially easy to throw in additional ROMs and have iMAME spin them up. (I've been playing Track & Field for days and still haven't gotten past the long jump.) It seemed too good to last, and sure enough it was. Running arbitrary emulated code is an App Store no-no, and as of 1:30pm today the iMAME app is no longer available in the US store. Sad news for everyone who ran out to buy a discounted iCade cabinet for the holiday. Commenter Spencer points out that he & at least one other developer have built patched versions of the jailbreak-only iMAME4All project that will compile in Xcode and install on properly provisioned, un-jailbroken devices. This only applies, however, to active participants in Apple's $99/year iOS developer program; otherwise there's no way to install the patched app.
Free MAME client appears on iOS
An unofficial port of the MAME arcade emulator is up on the App Store right now, for free. iMame comes with a selection of legal demo ROMs, but if you can find a way to get your own MAME ROMs onto your iPhone (Gadget Lab suggests an app called PhoneView), you can play genuine arcade games on your phone. The app even supports the iCade controller, so iPad owners don't have to use the miserable-looking touch controls. Oh, by the way: please only use legally acquired ROMs with this program. Apple has taken a dim view of emulators in the past, but seems to have calmed down in that regard, allowing programs like the Turbografx-16 GameBox, C64, and Capcom Arcade to live on the App Store. Still, just to be safe, we suggest grabbing this nowish if you want it.
iMAME emulation app hits the App Store, humanity cheers in unison
No interest in snapping up an iCade? No sweat. Jim VanDeventer has just pushed today's app-to-end-all-apps into Apple's App Store, and while it's only been live for a few hours, iMAME is already on a mission to change the world. Built-in titles include Circus, Crash, Hard Hat, Fire One, Robot Bowl, Side Track, Spectar, Star Fire and Targ, and while it's not officially endorsed by Nicola Salmoria or the MAME Team, you can certainly pretend. It's available now in the source link for precisely nothing, and yes, both the iPhone and iPad (and iPod touch!) are supported. Get it while the gettin' is good. [Thanks, Gary]
