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Mame on the Nokia N-Gage

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the start-your-lust dept.

wraggster writes "The Nokia N-Gage has now joined the club of consoles for whom the excellent MAME (Multi Arcade Machine Emulator) was ported to. Staffan Ulfberg has ported EMame over to the N-Gage - the emulator supports a mass of games."

43 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. System was dead before it was out the door... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Honestly, who actually wants an N-gage. Even if it could emulate a GBA and SNES to perfection I wouldn't go 10 feet near it. Who the hell wants to talk into a taco? Worst design ... EVER.

    1. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      "This is Al Gore, and I am so totally sidetalkin' at you right now!"

    2. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by Frymaster · · Score: 3, Funny

      ... and how are you going to cram four people around it for guantlet 2?

      --

      2 1337 4 u!

    3. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by TonkaTown · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually it's not, I can tell you've never been near one for at least three reasons:

      1. If you use it traditional phone style, you really don't have to hold it in the exagerated sidetalkin' style, it's fine held more discretely and a hell of a lot more comfortable in the hand.

      2. It comes with a wired headset, which has a few uses, it's the antennae for the built in FM radio, it means you get to hear our MP3s in stereo, and you can use it for non taco-stylee phone calls.

      3. Oh yeah, it's got Bluetooth too, and Bluetooth headsets are great, you keep the phone in your pocket and your hands are free for driving or whatever.

      The only possible reason I can see for sidetalkin' with the N-Gage is that it does look pretty funny and maybe it's a good way for spotty teens to visually shout out "LOOK AT MY NEW TOY".

    4. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by thesolo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually it's not, I can tell you've never been near one for at least three reasons:

      I have to disagree, it's still dead on arrival for one main reason: changing games.

      Those three positives you mentioned (and bluetooth is a big one, in my opinion) don't outweigh the fact that to change games on an N-Gage, you have to do the following:

      1) Turn the unit off (which means, turn your *phone* off).
      2) Flip it over, and remove the battery cover & battery.
      3) Take out the very tiny game chip, replace it with a new game.
      4) Replace battery & battery cover.
      5) Turn unit back on, wait for system to load, go to the right menu, and then start your game.

      Compare this to a GBA, where the steps are turning it off, removing the game cart, putting in a new one, and turning it back on. Especially compare this to a GBA if you're on a train, bus, streetcar, or any other form of public transit. Try easily changing a game on the N-Gage while crammed into a seat on a subway.

      This flaw in their design absolutely kills any of the positives of the system, and makes it, at least to me and many other people, D.O.A. Not to mention that I personally really don't want to turn off my phone when I swap games.

    5. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by TonkaTown · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Changing chip based games sucks, I couldn't agree more.

      But that only applies to some of the N-Gage games, downloadable games are selling better than originally expected, and I'm even cynically wondering if Nokia deliberately left hot-swap capabilities out to try to get games companies out of their cartridge fixation.

    6. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by duslow · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Another problem with this gadget is that you will be unable to play it while flying in an airplane (at least in the U.S.). Airlines will not allow you to turn on your "cellphone" even if all you plan to do is play games on it.

      I was asked to shut mine off even after I explained to the flight attendant that I was not on the phone, just playing a game. I even showed her the screen. Her reply was that no cellphone devices of any kind were to be powered on while the plane was in flight.

    7. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by Kris_J · · Score: 2, Informative
      Sorry, no. The game swap issue is not a deal breaker, given that hundreds of games and at least four emulators supporting possibly as many as 5,000 games total can all just be loaded onto a single MMC. Heck, with the cracked games doing the rounds, you can have them on your MMC too. There are 512MB MMCs that are compatible with the N-Gage.

      I have at least 150 games with me on my N-Gage. When you're carrying around a GBA, how many carts do you have with you? The answer is often one, making swapping games completely irrelivant.

  2. Even games... by jayhawk88 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...that don't look like ass?

    Seriously, have you seen those "This is where I..." ads for this thing? The game screenshots they show look like total crap. I don't know about you, but if I was a developer, I'd be embarrassed to see my game on national TV looking like it was running on an Atari Lynx.

  3. This Is A Hoax by lewp · · Score: 4, Funny

    For this to be true, someone would actually have to own an NGage. Come on, nobody's that dumb.

    --
    Game... blouses.
  4. n-gage? meh... by twiggy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I forget the name of it, but a new n-gage like competitor is coming out that supposedly may cost as little as $100... It also won't require you to remove the battery just to change games...

    MAME is cool and all, but man... even geeks don't seem to like the N-gage (they hate it more than most).. I wonder why someone bothered with this...

    --
    http://www.babysmasher.com
    http://www.openingbands.com
  5. Re:Yeah ... and? by xeno_gearz · · Score: 2, Offtopic

    True there are few good games out for the Ngage but I was pleased with the graphics of Red Faction, and Tony Hawk. Still, it seems quite overpriced and two games does not make for a good library.

    Perhaps it would just be better to have a cheap cell phone and a gameboy advance.

    One advantage of the Ngage is the bluetooth multiplayer gaming. FPS deathmatch in class!

    --
    *
    troll blacklist. Please mo
  6. Also supports other phones by rjbrown99 · · Score: 5, Informative

    You guys bashing the N-Gage are missing the point. I have a Nokia Series 60 3650 phone. It's based on the same Symbian OS that the N-Gage uses. I can use this on my phone. The 3650 is very widely deployed in the US and Europe. This is a great thing not just for the N-Gage folks, but regular guys like me who happen to own one of the Series 60 phones.

    I can't wait to try it. My phone has a 128mb MMC that can store a ton of games. Should be a lot of fun.

    1. Re:Also supports other phones by rjbrown99 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It may be ugly, but it has a great OS, has expandable storage (which the 7650 does not), and has excellent bluetooth support. I can get online with my laptop via Bluetooth and GPRS. It's about the speed of a 33.6k modem, but hey I can be in the car or on a train when I use it. For the US, that's pretty impressive! :)

      To me, the expandable storage is the key. With that feature, you can play movies, install tons of applications, and have a lot of games to play.

      Round keys suck no doubt, but you can't knock the features of the phone.

    2. Re:Also supports other phones by Kris_J · · Score: 3, Informative
      I can use this on my phone.
      Actually, you can't -- you don't have enough RAM. 6600 owners can use it though.
  7. Re:Yeah ... and? by Tumbleweed · · Score: 4, Informative

    Did you miss the article? Thanks to this port of MAME, there are now many good games for N-Gage! :)

    Besides, what games for a dinky little screen like the N-Gage's would anyone want other than Tetris? Well, maybe Pac-Man.

    I find it amusing the 'screenshots' on this project page aren't even FROM an N-Gage.

  8. i wonder... by simcop2387 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... how long it will be before Mame can emulate N-Gage Games, then it'd only be a matter of time before it could emulate itself!

    1. Re:i wonder... by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 2, Funny

      No! Whatever we do, we can not let such a piece of software exist! The creation of a singularity in software would make black hole that could destroy all life on this planet as we know it!

      Or, barring that, open up a whole to an alternate dimension where the N-Gage doesn't make you look like you've got a metal taco sticking out the side of your head.

      --
      52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
  9. So does... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So since it's been found many n-gage games, including Sonic-N, can be run on other smartphones, such as the Symbian, without any modification, does that mean other smartphones can now run mame too?

    1. Re:So does... by albat0r · · Score: 2, Informative
      many n-gage games, including Sonic-N, can be run on other smartphones, such as the Symbian First of all, Symbian isn't "another smartphone", it's an OS. Second, there's a lot of smartphones that use Symbian OS, and one of them is the Nokia N-Gage. Other Symbian OS phones include the SonyEricsson P800, Nokia 3650, BenQ P30, Motorola A920, Sendo X Smartphone, etc.So, if a game is able to run on the Nokia N-Gage, for sure it runs on Symbian OS! (but probably not all devices running Symbian OS...)
    2. Re:So does... by TonkaTown · · Score: 2, Informative

      A little clarification on this.

      Many N-Gage games will work on other Symbian Series 60 smartphones (such as the 7650, 3650, 6600, Siemens SX1, Sendo X), no big surprise really, as the N-Gage is a member of the series 60 family of devices.

      There's an interesting article on MAME and other games on Symbian devices on Mobitopia

  10. what about multiplayer? by Comsn · · Score: 3, Funny

    does mame on n-gage support multiplayer? finally! pong! head to head!

    1. Re:what about multiplayer? by AndyBusch · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, MAME no longer supports Pong. Pong didn't run in a ROM-style architecture. So, when it emulated Pong, it was all in the source code, which means they were distributing a game internally to the code, which went against the spirit of MAME, so it was removed from the code somewhere around .55.

  11. Re:MAME for Windows? by dcgaber · · Score: 2, Informative

    I am not sure if this is a troll, but will respond anyway.

    There is MAME for Win-32. Requires DOS commands to run the ROMs, but there are also plenty of MAME frontends for windows that are very GUI and let you adjust all your settings and organize your ROMs and point and click to run a game.

    Go here to get it, and look for the FAQ on finding frontends. I have used a few, and they vary. Forgot which I liked best.

  12. Bah! by musingmelpomene · · Score: 4, Funny

    You kids and your fancy game systems.

    My Vectrex works perfectly fine for me.

    But I would like to get one of those Nintendo things. I hear there's a game on there about some plumber that jumps on turtles and stuff to save a princess. That sounds pretty high-tech!

    Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to playing Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Game. You suckers with your Playstations don't know what you're missing!

    1. Re:Bah! by GoRK · · Score: 2, Informative

      Man, the Star Trek vectrex game was horrible even by Vectrex standards.. It was just an endless shoot-em-up space game and it had nothing to do with Star Treck except that they were both set in space.

      The Vectrex could draw text on the screen. They should have at least pretended to add a bit of a plot (one line of text would have improved the game 10000%!

  13. You are talking into a Taco by tepples · · Score: 3, Funny

    You are already talking into a (Slashdot story posted by Cmdr)Taco.

  14. Can't miss an opportunity... by gklinger · · Score: 3, Funny

    Forget MAME, get SideTalkin'!

  15. Re:MAME for Windows? by Comsn · · Score: 3, Informative

    a search on google for "windows mame" returns MAME32, a beautiful windows port of mame.

    http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32/

  16. The N-Gage has one winning feature... by heironymouscoward · · Score: 5, Informative

    It is the only tax-deductible gaming system.

    Seriously... in European high-tax countries this means that the state gives a discount of 40-50% on the item (plus VAT back!).

    Even grown men like to play games now and then. And the N-Gage is surprisingly snappy, not like playing Java games on other GSMs, which is slow and boring.

    MAME on N-Gage is a great addition, Nokia should try to license these arcade games since many of their potential clients (men aged 30+) are probably more familiar with some of them than with the "real" games actually available on the thing.

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
  17. How Long... by da3dAlus · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Until Nokia sues somebody for this? I'm sure they'll say that their product was hacked, even though it might actually add some value to that PoS. Maybe people will actually buy one just to run MAME......naah...

    --

    Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
    1. Re:How Long... by rbeattie · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, Nokia is promoting the use of MAME on its N-Gage site.

      -Russ

      --
      Me
  18. They won't by ColourlessGreenIdeas · · Score: 3, Informative

    The NGage is an open system, so anyone can write games for it. That's why it costs so much*; Nokia has already got enough profit when you buy the device and they don't care if you never buy an official game. The hack simply means that cartrige games can be pirated and run on other Series 60 phones. It's always been the case that anyone can go out and write software for the NGage without paying Nokia a penny. (There's a special games SDK that comes with some games libraries or somesuch that costs money, but this won't use it)
    *Actually, it's now available for free with a contract here in the UK, but the network is subsidising that, not Nokia.

    --
    In soviet russia stale jokes recycle you!
  19. Re:MAME is great but.... by Echnin · · Score: 2, Informative
    Ever heard of eMule?

    Here are a few games for you.

    Site is VERY slow, but obviously as soon as you get the links in your client, you'll enjoy P2P and stuff.

    Alternatively, you can download from Suprnova with BitTorrent.

    So there you have it! Have fun buying memory cards if you want to bring all those games with you at once.

    --
    Lalala
  20. Re:MAME is great but.... by kidgenius · · Score: 2, Informative

    or, for the cost of media, u can get the roms from theFreeMameRoms project.

  21. Not Another One by nathanh · · Score: 4, Funny

    What hasn't MAME been ported to? Wouldn't it be easier to just have articles listing the rare mobile phones and cameras without MAME? I can just imagine a future article...

    MAME Not Ported To Enigma Machine
    mame-maimed-in-spain department 2006-01-04

    In news that has shocked the MAME community, a project to port MAME to the 1940s Engima machine - used for encryption and decryption by the German forces during WW2 - was cancelled yesterday due to lack of interest.

    Miguel De Mameiza said "We were halfway through the port when we just decided to stop. We already have MAME ported and running on buildings, phones, cameras, watches, books, elephants, asteroids in the deepest part of the Kepler belt. We looked at each other and said 'OK, enough is enough, let's stop there'. We unanimously agreed that MAME is pretty much everywhere it needs to be; we don't need it ported to what is essentially an advanced mechanical typewriter."

    The gaming community had mixed reactions to the news. "I'm really glad they stopped" said one gamer. "MAME is everywhere. It's more pervasive than the SoFreakingBig virus." [Ed: referring to the Windows virus that crippled international commerce in 2005 when it managed to infect 140% of all Windows computers, an intrusion level that still baffles mathematicians] "Yesterday I bought a loaf of bread from the store and some bastard had ported MAME to the RFID tag. It's really weird to have your shopping basket bleeping Pacman music while you're waiting in line. And the checkout chick gave me the oddest look when I asked for my change in quarters."

    But others were angry at the decision. One MAME enthusiast maliciously commented "bleep bleep bleep bwowowowow" and then disappeared in an explosion of pixels. The journalist unfortunately had no change so could not ask for clarification.

  22. MAME - greatest thing... ever? by strictnein · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Given a choice between MAME and any other invention (even sliced bread!) I would nominate MAME as the greatest thing ever.

    I love my MAME cabinet. Support up to 4 players on thousands of games. It's just great. My latest obsession is now NBA Jam TE (which I have determined that the CPU players cheat like crazy). Before that it was Street Fighter Alpha 2.

    Yeah, it's illegal (except for NBA JAM TE for me, I own the ROM =), but you show me someplace I can go and pay to play all of those games and I'll be there. I know it will never happen, but as I've stated before, if I could buy a license for my MAME cabinet I would. I would gladly pay $300 - $400, maybe even more. Hell, how about a monthly fee, I don't care. And it's not like I didn't spend 10 years of my life plugging all the money I had into arcade machines anyways.

    The MAME scene might start running into a little more trouble soon now that they're getting close to emulating some of the newer, still commercialy viable games (Tekken 2 works, but is choppy and without sound, Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag are almost there, along with a number of other pretty new games like Blitz 99, Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey, Mace: The Dark Age, CarnEvil and San Francisco Rush).

    --
    Casual Games/Downloads
    1. Re:MAME - greatest thing... ever? by Aelfy · · Score: 2, Informative

      you show me someplace I can go and pay to play all of those games and I'll be there

      Try:
      StarROMs

      *Very* limited selection of legal ROMs for purchase - pretty much only about 50 Atari ROMs at the moment, but I'm sure the catalogue will grow, given enough support.

  23. N-gouge has GAMES now?!?!?!?!!? by doublem · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cool!

    Now that you can actually play games on this sucker, it might be worth owning...

    Naaah.

    --
    "Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
  24. What I want to know is... by webslacker · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why isn't there a MAME for PalmOS yet? There are NES, C64 and AtariST emus, but what I'm really wanting is MAME!

  25. Re:Too bad the NGage runs like a 386 by homer_ca · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For that matter, what's the framerate like with Pacman? The N-Gage has a 100Mhz ARM CPU. Even on a 400Mhz Xscale (same processor family) Pacman in MAME is a little choppy with the sound on. Native execution on something like a GBA SP still has a big advantage over emulation. Compare the size, price and battery life of a GBA SP to a PocketPC or N-gage running MAME.

  26. Re:Slashbot Astroturf by strictnein · · Score: 2, Informative

    You don't like the X-Arcade? Interesting, I've tried a lot of different setups, from home brewed to some other professional companies, and I think the X-Arcade is by far the best. And I don't quite get where you find the x-arcade "flimsy". The wood they use is pretty damn solid. I've had a number of pretty large parties since I've finished my mame cab, and the controllers have been beaten to hell and had beer spilled on them and everything, the only thing I had to do was replace a couple sticky buttons (a $5 fix).

    Of course, I overcome the "desk-sliding" part by having the two that I own built into a stand that is attached to the cabinet.

    The lack of a trackball or spinner does suck, but there's only one game that I would ever play that uses either of those (arkanoid). /. will use the icon at every opportunity since they make 15%

    How do they make 15% when they don't even link to x-arcade.com?

    --
    Casual Games/Downloads
  27. StarRoms by JMZero · · Score: 2, Informative

    For money, they sell legal Mame roms. They've made the deals - it's perfectly legit. Use them, and perhaps they'll expand their currently limited catalogue.

    --
    Let's not stir that bag of worms...