Commodore 64 emulator hits iPhone A Commodore 64 emulator - complete with 64 retro titles - has gone on sale for the iPhone and iPod Touch. And it's official. Well, as official as its gets when it comes to Commodore these days - the original company went bust in 1994, and it exists as little more than a brandname today. Commodore 64 on iPhone C64: old …
I have only a single game on my iPhone, and I can't play it because of the touch-screen. The screen doesn't really allow the sort of thumb movements needed (continuous thumb contact as if you are using a Nintendo DS directional pad). A lubricated screen is needed. (Unless some of you out there are using special stick-on smooth coatings?)
Put Elite on there!!!!!!!!!
Maybe some clever bofin can combine that with the tilt/rotate option so you don't need a joystick to fly it?
I'd possibly salivate on the screen of course if they did that.
Yes, I am geek enough to buy an iPhone, if it had Elite on it... o.0
I agree with Richard Porter (are you the Richard Porter that writes Sniff Petrol? If so, get back to it. The gap between editions seems to be getting wider!).
Hours spent on the Tube would disappear with a copy of Citadel or Repton 3 on my iPod Touch.
Ah the joy.
Grammar Nazi icon (can I be pedantic and say that the tool tip text for the icon should really have 'nazi' with a capital 'N'?) 'cos we had Beebs at my school.
"The games are legally free from C64.com so why should iPhone users have to pay for them?"
As far as I'm aware, it's because Apple's policy on iPhone apps prohibits offering products that can run arbitrary code, even if that arbitrary code is running on something as limited as a virtual C64.
This was the reason given for it being banned first time round, and it's notable that this time it comes with a fixed set of games and BASIC disabled. This (presumably) is also why you can't download free apps (i.e. arbitrary code) from elsewhere.
'Course, the fact that Apple will probably make more money from selling a restricted set of games through their own store is some nice icing on the cake for them, I'm sure.
" And it's official. Well, as official as its gets when it comes to Commodore these days - the original company went bust in 1994, and it exists as little more than a brandname today. "
Read that as *nothing* more than a brand name. The C64 ROM images were never sold by CBM's liquidators, and are now mostly orphan works -- this includes the character set ROM (which you can clearly see has been included in this bundle), BASIC and the KERNAL routine code.
While most coders eschewed KERNAL routines in favour of writing their own specialised code, I'm pretty certain that at least some of the games included in this bundle use them.
So the app is technically infringing, and while no-one's quite sure who is legally entitiled to sue, it would appear most likely that the rights have reverted to the original coders. In the case of BASIC, that's Microsoft. I'm guessing that the solution coming soon is a separate abstraction layer emulating BASIC in the app, rather than running BASIC in the emulator. BASIC being so slow on the 64, there aren't many BASIC progs out there that really need accurate timing. A non-cycle-exact emulation would be sufficient for most purposes.
Oh, and @Aron... C64.com isn't any more legal than any other so-called "abandonware" site. They've not sought permission, so they ain't got no permission to distribute the games, which means they're basically operating illegally.
"World of Spectrum" does actually have permission for the games and the Sinclair ROMs (permitted by Amstrad, the legal owners) for all that they distribute for free. They also don't copy new games that are still being distributed, nor ones where the rights holders are still in the business (Rare, Codemasters) and have denied permission.
Of course, Apple wouldn't touch anything they can't monetise. This 'Commodore Gaming' lot have been 'licensing' stuff to plug-in TV games and Wii downloads for a while now, but I too wonder how much they really own...
not liking the idea that I would have to BUY the games I have again. Would prefer to get them off tape (...erm...) and then synch them to the iPhone accordingly..
...actually, hang about... nah, forget it. Sounds like there's too much development envolved.. especially as it's a bit of fun. Time to dust off the C64 from the loft!
So, yeah, nice :o)
As far I know C64.com has been operating for several years without being threatened. With that in mind I see no reason why we can't load d64 and t64 images ourselves with a a C64 emulator.
The other thing that perplexes me is why I am so shit at playing those old classics now that I used to play so well when I was a kid :(
Anything copyrighted can still not be downloaded free legally unless the author has made the software available for download.
Of course, it can be hard to find the originals now and I would argue that sharing the games at least prevents them from disappearing due to bit rot.
The iPhone C64 emulator seems very lacking in games. I think the modplayer for the iPhone has the right idea, build in a web browser so you can download the files into the software.
"I might even get one if there is any chance of some Jeff Minter stuff (4 the win)."
I'll second that - some Mutant Camel goodness would be great. While we're talking about Yak, could someone please, please, please try and persuade him to do a version of one of the Lightsynths for the iPod (and iPhone) - if there's a C64 emulator then surely Psychedlia might be possible?
Here is the text from their site:
Unfortunately Apple this night pulled the C64 App from the App Store. We had agreed with Apple to remove basic from the application, but as we believed it would be possible to convince Apple to let it in later on, we left it in the app to be activated remotely by us when we had “go” from Apple.
Due to the extreme publicity the app has received over the weekend and the fact that several users found a way to enable the basic back, Apple decided to remove the app from App Store until we have solved the issue.
This is very frustrating as we had no intention of tricking basic into the app and the fix was done in a few minutes the moment we found out - a new version has been submitted to Apple, and we can only hope Apple will appreciate our efforts to apply the changes they need in order to put it back on.
Until now - thank you so much for your overwhelming support, it´s a pleasure to read all your kind mails and suggestions. If we´re unable to answer all mails please understand, we do our best!
"As far as I'm aware, it's because Apple's policy on iPhone apps prohibits offering products that can run arbitrary code, even if that arbitrary code is running on something as limited as a virtual C64."
Actually, not true. There are several other games in the AppStore that run inside an interpreter, such as a few Sega games.
The reason for this app to be rejected the first time however, if i remember correctly, was that the app allowed executable code (the games) to be downloaded and run (inside the interpreter/emulator) outside of the appstore.
This basically bypasses the appstore. In this case it would probably only be used for games, but if this business model was allowed by Apple, it would allow one to write a framework with its own downloadable utilities, bypassing the AppStore's business model entirely.
And also Apple could not guarantee the performance and/or security issues if downloadable executable code would be allowed without their approval.
Of course, you can take this any way you want (personally i *think* the businessmodel-implications would weigh heavier than the performance issue). But it's Apple's ballpark.
it may be the case that the sega games run thru emulation. I suspect that if this was given the same publicity and the fact that you can just download megadrive bin's and load them, then perhaps this will be pulled as well.
Apple may be after getting money, but it's the developers who get the bulk of the monies from appstore, much more than most delivery systems.
Yeah, but I wasn't talking about World of Spectrum -- a better retrogaming resource you will never find. 100% legal and the work of a very dedicated, hard-working bunch of people. Sadly I never did find anything from the MIA list in my cupboard, but it was fun looking!
WoS, we salute you!
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