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Gameboy Emulator Released for PSP

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tue May 10, 2005 08:33 AM
from the let-the-hackalanche-continue dept.
Portables (Games) Classic Games (Games) Emulation (Games) Hardware Hacking PlayStation (Games) Sony
HelloGamer writes "The first real Gameboy emulator has just been released for the PSP. It currently only works with the Japanese 1.0 PSP and doesn't have sound support - but it's amazing how quickly these homebrew apps are being developed."
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  • Gameboy emulator widens appeal (Score:5, Funny)

    by johnamus (872886) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @08:35AM (#12487755) Homepage
    I'm going to buy one of these PSP's solely to play gameboy games!
    • That's funny...I'm gonna buy a DS to play Gameboy Advance games ;P
      Plus it'll make a neat little pocket PC once the DS Linux [dslinux.org] project goes a little further. Too bad the touch screen's not pressure sensitive for Gimp use...

      • Re:Gameboy emulator widens appeal (Score:5, Interesting)

        by jericho4.0 (565125) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @01:00PM (#12490518)
        If you expect linux-on-a-DS to be anything more than a geeky proof of concept, you might want to hold off on buying one. Unfortunately, the DS is pretty underpowered, IIRC, it doesn't even have the power to decode mp3's in realtime....Still, the porting effort is coming along nicely, and the price is right. I'm waiting for linux-on-a-PSP, myself.

        On that note, I've become convinced that the folks behind psp-linux.org are fools or scammers. Their posts in the forum show a deep lack of skills/knowledge (they thought they could start by hacking on debian-mips/had no knowledge of Magic Gate), they say "only a small minority is qualified for this project" (you have to apply to contribute), and they keep asking for donations to get the work done faster. I've posted some (polite) criticism on these points, and had my posts deleted.

        These guys [sourceforge.net] seem to be the ones to watch.

            • That's actually an add-on which was designed for the GBA, a machine which is most definitely too weak to decode MP3s in real-time. This device just happens to work on a DS, as well, and so they market it for both platformns, though it only uses the DS in GBA mode. Thus, this is *hardly* proof that the DS can't decode MP3s on it's own. In fact, I see no reason why the 66 Mhz ARM9 in the DS couldn't decode MP3s in realtime, with the ARM7 feeding the results to the DS's sound code.
    • Well it just might be .....

      Some of the guys over at DSDev have some test code to show how presure sensitivity might work. According to the official doco from Texas Instruments on the touch screen it should support it. Something to do with the area over which the pressure is applied based on some special formula. It's all very technical but definitely possible.

      Check it out at .....

      http://www.natrium42.com/blog/?p=18 [natrium42.com]

      Enjoy!

  • Thanks for the crap blog link editors! (Score:5, Informative)

    by garcia (6573) * on Tuesday May 10 2005, @08:36AM (#12487756) Homepage
    Thanks for linking to a crap blog. Let's try for some real content: PS2Dev Forum [ps2dev.org] and the PSP Hacker [psphacker.com] link which contains two QT movies.
  • Author: Amaterasu
    Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 8:57 am
    Post subject: The first GB emulator for PSP was released!

    Message:
    Ladies and gentlemen, hello. I am Japanese who one of the PSP fans.
    GB emulator for PSP was released by Mr. MIRAKICHI in 2ch that was
    the most famous forum in Japan a little while ago.

    It links with the file.
    http://psp.holybell.to/uploader/upload/gbemu1.zip [holybell.to]
    screen shot
    http://psp.holybell.to/uploader/upload/PICT0791.jp g [holybell.to]

    Please rename a GAME ROM to ROM.GB and put it to the same folder as EBOOT.PBP. In the firm only version 1.00, operation is confirmed.
    Please enjoy it!!!

    • Extremely reliable source (Score:5, Informative)

      by Audigy (552883) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @08:44AM (#12487835) Homepage Journal
      the holybell.to guy is the one who made SNES9xJ4U, which is the world's fastest and best SNES emulator for PocketPC. Two thumbs up, highly recommended. :)
    • I currently have version 1.5 from japan (installed when i got it)
      Is there any info on the progress of the version for Firm-ware 1.5 atall .
      I know most shipped now are comming with 1.5 I will give it a try on 1.5 see what hapens though .
        • I imported mine from lik-sang.com , There are a fair few on ebay aswell although since the announcment of the EU pricing for some odd(as in obvious sarcasm) reason now the PSP imports have gone up in price .

          I did try it on 1.5 and it just dosnt apear unfortunatly .Although i had heard they are making inroads as to API development for the psp and mapping out things .
          Intrestingly i am quite suprised sony hasnt released some form of API itself for this type of thing .

          I am fairly sure it would garner then s

  • Nintendo Industry American Association? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by aussie_a (778472) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @08:41AM (#12487809) Journal
    So how long until the NIAA goes after PSP users for being criminals?

    It's crazy enough to just might work.

  • Nice! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by georgep77 (97111) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @08:42AM (#12487821) Homepage Journal
    Sony should be encouraging "home brew" apps for the PSP as much as possible. I believe that much of the early success of the Palm Pilot was due to the community of developers that flocked to the device.

    There are *free* roms available for GBA so I guess the GBA emulator isn't TOTALLY copywrite infringment facilitating software.... :-)

    Cheers,
    _GP_
    • Sony should be encouraging "home brew" apps for the PSP as much as possible. I believe that much of the early success of the Palm Pilot was due to the community of developers that flocked to the device.

      It was :) I had the "pilot 1000" moments after it was released and there weren't many applications. The Pilot had 128k of ram, of which less than 100k were avaliable to the user. I would decide each morning *what* application i wanted that day -- there was only room for the one. Nevertheless some of th

    • Re:Nice! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by r_benchley (658776) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @09:18AM (#12488172)
      Sony could give a rat's ass about the homebrew market. If it sells a few more units, they would be pleased, but they need people to buy games. Palm actually made money when they sold their PDAs, so things like homebrew software was a great selling point. Sony (and other video game hardware makers) lose money on the console and generate profits from game royalties. The Dreamcast has a wonderful homebrew/emulation scene, but that didn't help Sega's financial position. If you can't sell licensed software for a video game console, you're dead in the water.
      • If Sony doesn't care, then why exactly did they allow PSPs to run applications off of memory sticks at all? Why does the PSP have so many extra little features?

        I've talked about this before. I suspect that Sony wants to generate an underground development movement with the PSP to help draw people to it. Handheld platform competition is brutal, but the hackability of the PSP really makes it stand out compared to the DS (and previous consoles).

        Sony will still make money with licensed games, the UMD format i
    • The Palm hardware isn't sold at a loss. Sony plans of making its money off of licensing fees and royalties. First off they can't get that kind of money out of homebrew devs, secondly it acts as competition for the companies who HAVE paid. They're not going to encourage that.
    • This is the number one reason that I don't own one yet.. unlike the GBA, I am unaware of any open non-$$$$.$$ compiler chains.

      Has someone gotten gcc linking PSP programs yet?
    • There are *free* roms available for GBA so I guess the GBA emulator isn't TOTALLY copywrite infringment facilitating software.... :-)

      Even if there weren't free ROMs, it's perfectly possible to use an emulator legally - say I have a whole stack of old Gameboy games but my Gameboy broke and now I only carry my shiny new PSP around. AFAIK it's fair use for me to shift the games from separate GB carts to a folder of ROM dumps that run on my PSP.

  • Excellent. (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It's about time the PSP got some worthwhile games.
  • The trick will be getting a ROM legally. Obviously, the person who wrote this will be getting some flack. Also, if the PSP can emulate the GBA, couldn't it be possible that someone will eventually create a console gaming system that has native support for both DS and PSP? And would it be called DSP?
    • Actually, I can get rom images off of my GBA easily. Very easily.

      All I have to do is plug my fash2advance cable into the GBA and my computers USB port. Then I insert a cartridge (any one) and then store the file on my hard drive.

      Wham. Legal Rom Image. (Though some do still argue against that.)

      I actually copy my favorite games onto a 256 meg flash cart and carry only it around instead of my originals. The 256 meg cart is enough for at least 4 decent sized games and many more smaller ones.
      • Where did you pick up these flash cables and such? I looked at Lik-sang (I believe) a long time ago, but honestly I got lost trying to find anything useful. Is that still the only decent (read: reputable) source?

        I'd love to slim down some games onto a single cart, my GBA carrying case is strained trying to hold all the old GB game cartridges as well as the GBA ones.

        Offtopic to a point, sorry. I've no plans on a PSP nor a DS until some point much later in the future, after price cuts and better game lib

  • Sony will keep putting out patches... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Audigy (552883) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @08:51AM (#12487920) Homepage Journal
    ...In the meantime, I will stare at my USA-purchased 1.5 firmware PSP and wait.

    I'm not sure when that will be cracked. I do look forward to it, though.

    I refuse to update my firmware any more though, for sure. :)
  • Reminds me of a post a couple of days back when they got linux to load on a Gameboy.

    Would really like to see a psp running a gameboy emulator running linux. Wrap that with wine and guess what, we'll have quake on a PSP.

    Wowie ... that is progress!

  • Looks Amazing, But (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ultimabaka (864222) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @09:07AM (#12488051)
    If the PSP's screen resolution is 480x272, and the GBA's resolution is 240x160, then why does the image look so incredibly small? Sure, this thing is still in beta (right?) but for this, I might as well just keep carrying around my GBA. Maybe they shoulda finished the thing before showing it off so much.

    • Re:Looks Amazing, But (Score:5, Informative)

      by Audigy (552883) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @09:33AM (#12488316) Homepage Journal
      ....because it's not a GBA that's being emulated.

      It's an original Gameboy. You know, Gameboy Color, monochrome Gameboy - the big carts instead of the smaller ones... four buttons and a d-pad instead of 6 buttons and a d-pad.

      Different processor, apples and oranges.

      I'm sure that zooming and other things aren't implemented yet, just like sound playback isn't implemented yet. I would consider this emulator an alpha release, at best.

  • For a broken firmware that is (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MajorDick (735308) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @09:14AM (#12488121)
    The japaneese 1.0 firmware isnt available to the masses, and really wont be, expect Sony to make SURE this wont happen on later revs.

    I bought a PSP SPECIFICALLY to run "HomeBrew" apps , but the truth is for the Current version its pretty far off, there was a hack for the 1.0 that let you boot off memory , this IS NOT the case for later versions.

  • I am both ridiculously amused by this, and also deeply saddened. While the DS is not particularly great right now, at the least it had the 'Full library of GBA games' to go along with it. Now the PSP does too. Nintendo's made some pretty dumb moves with the DS, but if they let something like this slip pass their radar, I'll have lost all hope for them. I don't expect this to last very long with both Sony AND Nintendo gunning for it.

    • This isn't a GBA emulator yet.

      Plus, this requires people to either do s0m3 qU3st10nAbl3 s0rch1ng to find the ROMs to play on the emulator, or get special hardware to transfer their games from the cartridges, then somehow get the emulator and ROMs to boot. All the while DS' GBA emulation is "just stick the cartridge in, power on, and tap 'Play GBA game' or push down-down-A."

      (Okay, DS doesn't play mono-GB or GBC games either. Big deal, I seem to favor new games and I have GBA and GC GBPlayer for those mom

      • However, the main thrust of what you say will probably turn out to be true. GBA back-compatibility on the DS was a big plus for the system, particularly given that its native games lineup is still looking pretty weak, even by comparison with the newly released PSP. If there is a well-known, easily accessible GBA emulator for the PSP, this could be a significant factor in deciding the overall result of this particular round of the console wars.

        No, no, no, no. Unless the GBA emulator comes preinstalle

  • I wish there were a way to use my familiar Linux development environment to crank out networked multimedia apps on PSP. The PS2 at least had a version of Linux that ran on it, for some development action. What does it take to port a small Linux game to PSP?

  • At last! (Score:4, Funny)

    by iapetus (24050) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @11:46AM (#12489673) Homepage
    Finally I can play all my old Gameboy games on a portable device.

    No, hang on a second...

    • Re:Quickly? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by MyDixieWrecked (548719) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @08:41AM (#12487811) Homepage Journal
      it's only been about a week or two since a method for running code was discovered. I don't even think an API has been fully created or the memory map fully um, mapped out.

      anyway, I already upgraded mine to the 1.5 firmware, but my friend didn't, yet, so I'm gonna have to try this. now to figure out what game is worth playing.
      • And what is your point? The GBC is older than the GBA and the GBA will run GBC games. It's not surprising someone can emulate the GBC when people are emulating the newer GBA just fine.

        • Re:Surprising? Naaah... (Score:5, Informative)

          by Jagasian (129329) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @09:48AM (#12488454)
          Actually, GBC and GBA games use two completely different sets of hardware. Most gamers confuse this issue because the GBA and GBA SP systems contain a GBC on a chip for backwards compatibility. This is possible because the GBC hardware is so old that it can now be reduced down to a single chip. Note that the Nintendo DS has removed this feature, so it can only play DS and GBA games, but not GBC games.

          My point is that if you can emulate GBA games, it does not mean that you can emulate GBC games. They are two completely different things to emulate. Furthermore, some emulators go ahead and combine GB, SGB, GBC, and GBA emulators into one application, again, because gamers wouldn't understand why each emulator was separated into its own application.
        • You know damn well that people are going to be pirating most if not all of the games they run on their emulated GB....
          • This comes up every time one of these discussions starts. It is the same thing for music, the same for movies, the same for games, and basically the same for every kind of IP! Where is the alternative? I actually did go google search, I went to Nintendo's site, to Square's, etc. I can't find any place where they will even sell me these games, *let alone* as simple ROMs. Often, the games aren't for sale period (as in the case of old SNES games). I want to give them my money!

            This old saying is very, very tr

        • Because that's what most people use emulators for, developing their own software! Give me a break.

          But you're right, it is I who needs to buy a clue.

    • Re:Great Potiential (Score:5, Informative)

      by Audigy (552883) on Tuesday May 10 2005, @09:35AM (#12488335) Homepage Journal
      It is not a bloody Gameboy ADVANCE emulator.

      It is a monochrome Gameboy/Gameboy Color emulator.

      Different processor, different emulation method. :(

      You could fit hundreds of GB/GBC carts on a 1GB Duo stick. Many of them are 32K or smaller.

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