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Search results for "n64"

N64 Emulator For Jailbroken iPhones On The Way?

TUAW link

“ZodTDD, the developer behind GpSPhone (a Nintendo Gameboy Advance emulator for the iPhone and iPod Touch), announced the development of an N64 emulator for the iPhone and iPod touch. Zodttd believes that the current generation iPhone and iPod touch have the graphic CPU horsepower necessary to run those games. “…I can’t promise it will run games top notch just yet, as things are too early to say. There’s hope though, with a 3D accelerated graphics plugin, as well as an ARM dynarec.”

Now, I’m quite skeptical about it. I was a beta tester of the PSP emulator years ago (when I was following the PSP homebrew scene, God blesses Pspupdates) and it never worked, let’s face it. Could an iPhone emulator do better?

I doubt it.

Podcast Rewind: Weird Sliding Handhelds, Sky, and Wishes for Apple Intelligence and Shortcuts

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, John shares his first impressions of Sky, the alpha AI-powered Mac automation app from the creators of Workflow and Shortcuts, and then he and Federico share their Shortcuts and Apple Intelligence wishes for WWDC 2025

On AppStories+, John and Federico consider what AI means for developers and the App Store in the year ahead.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Notion: Try the powerful, easy-to-use Notion AI today.
  • P: The water reminder and hydration app.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, with the Switch 2 launch just around the corner, Federico and John round up the latest Switch 2 news, get excited for a bunch of weird and wonderful upcoming handhelds, and more.

On NPC XL, John walks listeners through the setup process for installing NVIDIA GeForce Now on the Steam Deck, and Federico reveals a new controller and plans to stream from his gaming PC to handhelds when he’s away from home.

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The Latest from NPC: Next Portable Console and AppStories

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, Federico, Brendon, and John cover the latest in Nintendo emulation, a mysterious Nintendo device appears at the FCC, John has a Switch surprise, Microsoft reveals its best-looking controller yet, and Federico mods his Legion Go.

AppStories

This week, Federico and John share the iPhone Lock Screen and Control Center controls that they’re currently using them.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Memberful – Help Your Clients Monetize Their Passion

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The Latest from AppStories and Ruminate

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

This week, I am joined by Jonathan to preview watchOS 11, which is one of the most feature packed OSes being updated this fall.

On AppStories+, John reports on how his travel tech setup fared.

  • Setapp – the place to get apps. Use the code appstories20 at checkout for 20% off.
  • MusicHarbor – New Music From Your Favorite Artists and Record Labels.

This week, Robb is this snackplier this week, and I had a sour patch kids situation, and we both discuss Samsung’s renaming of a train station.

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The Latest from Magic Rays of Light, Comfort Zone, and MacStories Unwind

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Devon is joined by guest co-host Jonathan Reed to discuss Jonathan’s first impressions of Apple Vision Pro, new Apple Original documentary series Omnivore, 72 Emmy Awards nominations for Apple Originals, and Devon’s experience seeing Fly Me to the Moon in theaters.

This week, Chris can finally talk about iPadOS 18, Niléane goes on a quest for great dynamic wallpapers, and Matt brought a tea kettle for some reason. Then they all say nice things about new browsers and Chris has a “visionary” new challenge.

This week, John decides to take the iPad-only travel plunge, and Federico advises on which gaming handhelds to bring on a trip.

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The Delta Videogame Emulator Launches on the App Store

Delta, the videogame emulator for a long list of Nintendo systems, is now available worldwide. In the US and many other countries, you’ll find it in Apple’s App Store, while in the EU, it is part of the AltStore alternative marketplace.

I’ve been using Delta for years. The app was available using a clever system that took advantage of an Apple Mail plugin and developer account to allow it to be side-loaded onto iPhones. It wasn’t the most convenient way to use the app, but it worked, and legions of classic videogame aficionados flocked to it for its excellent performance and design.

Today, however, anyone can download Delta from the App Store for free, load their game files, and play their favorite NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, SNES, N64, and Nintendo DS games on the iPhone. Delta has been in development for years, so the experience of playing your old games on it is superb, incorporating native features like haptic feedback and quality-of-life enhancements like the ability to save a game’s state, fast forward, and use cheat codes. Delta also supports controller skins, local multiplayer, and syncing of save state, save data, and more.

Delta is the Nintendo emulation standard bearer on iOS. I expect we’ll see other emulators that work with the same games, as we did briefly last week, but Delta is going to be a tough app to beat.

Apple Amends App Review Guidelines to Permit Game Emulators and Make Other Changes

Yesterday, Apple announced an update to its App Review Guidelines in a brief post on its developer site. The changes to sections 3.1.1(a) and 4.7 of the guidelines, which apply globally to all apps distributed through Apple’s App Store, address three items:

  • game emulators,
  • super apps, and
  • linking to the web from inside music streaming apps to make purchases outside the App Store

Historically, game emulators were forbidden from the App Store. As a result, an emulator like Delta, which can play games released for Nintendo systems through the N64, could only be used on iPhones through a clever combination of developer tools and a Mail plug-in. In contrast, there are plenty of emulators on the Google Play store for Android users to download.

Revised section 4.7 of the App Review guidelines specifically allows retro gaming emulators:

Mini apps, mini games, streaming games, chatbots, plug-ins, and game emulators

Apps may offer certain software that is not embedded in the binary, specifically HTML5 mini apps and mini games, streaming games, chatbots, and plug-ins. Additionally, retro game console emulator apps can offer to download games.

Presumably, this will allow Delta and other emulators onto the App Store, so they can be used to play game files stored on iPhones.

The change to section 4.7 also says that “mini apps and mini games, streaming games, chatbots, and plug-ins” of the sort found in apps like WeChat must be created with HTML 5, a clarification of the language previously used.

Finally, section 3.1.1(a) of the App Review Guidelines allows music streaming services to link out to the web from their apps so customers can make purchases outside the App Store. The change addresses the anti-steering provisions for which Apple was fined $2 billion by the EU, and Apple has said it will appeal.

A Comprehensive Guide to Gaming on the Apple Vision Pro

The lack of any kind of port significantly limits the type of gaming you can do in the Apple Vision Pro – or does it? Sure, even one USB-C port would make a big difference to gamers looking to play titles outside the App Store, but there is a surprisingly wide array of ways to play almost any game on the Vision Pro with the help of a combination of apps and hardware. The solutions run the gamut from simple to complex and span a range of price points. I’ve tried them all and have pointers on how to get started.

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Apple Adds Nintendo Online Classic Controller Support to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV

It seems that Apple slipped a little extra controller support into yesterday’s updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS: Nintendo Online classic controller support.

Nintendo sells wireless versions of its classic NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64 controllers, plus the Sega Genesis controller for use with its Nintendo Online Service for Switch. The controllers are a fun way to play the games from those old systems that are offered as part of Nintendo Online and its Expansion Pack add-on service. Yesterday, Steve Troughton-Smith tweeted that the classic SNES controller works with iOS and tvOS 16.1:

Sure enough, it does, along with iPadOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura. With each OS, the controller shows up as ‘SNES Controller’ in Bluetooth settings when in pairing mode. Federico has confirmed that the Nintendo 64 controller works, too, but neither of us has an NES or Sega Genesis controller to test.

The Nintendo 64 controller paired with the new iPad.

The Nintendo 64 controller paired with the new iPad.

This isn’t the first time Nintendo’s wireless versions of classic controllers have been adapted for use beyond the Switch. Steam added support for the controllers in July.

Pairing my SNES wireless controller to my iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Pairing my SNES wireless controller to my iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Apple has gradually added deeper and deeper support for third-party controllers over the past few years. The latest official additions, which were first announced at WWDC, are the Nintendo Joy-Con and Pro Controller. Some third-party controllers like the 8BitDO SN30 Pro+ that emulates other controllers can be paired with Apple devices, too, but they show up as generic controllers.

I love many of the retro games available on Apple’s platforms that are inspired by Nintendo’s early systems. What’s great about the support for the wireless controllers is that now they can be played with the controllers of the systems that inspired them. The Nintendo 64 controller is perpetually out of stock, but if you’re interested in picking up any of the others, they are available on Nintendo’s online store.