PocketNES
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Not to be confused with the Pocket Famicom or the unrelated PocketNES emulator for Pocket PC.
PocketNES is a NES emulator which runs on the Game Boy Advance, written by Neal Tew (Loopy) and Fredrik Olsson (Flubba). It can run on a GBA through use of flash cartridges, or with the GBA Movie Player. The emulator has been released into the public domain, yet it remains under active development.
It is believed that PocketNES inspired Nintendo to re-release several of their NES games on the GBA through the e-Reader accessory, Animal Crossing GameCube game link feature, or Classic NES Series collection. Some also believe that the PocketNES emulator has displaced the e-Reader and Classic NES series from store shelves since people could download ROM images for old NES games for free instead. [citation needed]
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[edit] NES Gameplay issues
The GBA screen has a lower vertical and horizontal resolution than a NES's display. PocketNES compensates either by scaling the image down vertically, or by scrolling the image up or down. Such scrolling can either happen automatically, following the position of a sprite or value of a memory address, or manually using the GBA's L and R buttons. Sound is reproduced via the "classic" Game Boy PSG channels, rather than a software emulation of the NES's sound hardware; this is done to reduce CPU usage. As a result, it does not sound exactly like the original NES, although it is a close approximation.
[edit] Commercial Use
PocketNES's source code is in the public domain. As a result, it has been used by game publishers and pirates alike. None of the companies have credited the original authors of the program.
[edit] Jaleco
Jaleco used PocketNES in Jajamaru Jr. Denshouki - Jaleco Memorial to emulate five of their Famicom games. The emulated games are:
- Exerion
- Formation Z
- City Connection
- Ninja Jajamaru Kun
- Jajamaru no Dai Bouken
[edit] Atlus
Atlus used PocketNES in the Kunio kun Nekketsu Collection series to re-release Technos's Famicom titles on the GBA. They released three different volumes, each containing two games.
- Volume 1 contains Super Dodge Ball and Nekketsu! Street Basket - Ganbare Dunk Heroes.
- Volume 2 contains Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai and Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball Bu - Soccer Hen.
- Volume 3 contains Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki da yo Zen'in Shū;gō! and Ike Ike! Nekketsu Hockey-bu: Subette Koronde Dairantō (Crash 'n the Boys: Ice Challenge).
[edit] Hudson
Hudson Soft used PocketNES for their Hudson Best Collection series. There are six volumes available, each containing 2-4 games.
- Volume 1 contains Bomberman and Bomberman II.
- Volume 2 contains Lode Runner and Championship Lode Runner.
- Volume 3 contains Challenger and Milon's Secret Castle.
- Volume 4 contains Nuts and Milk, Binary Land, and Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom.
- Volume 5 contains Star Force, Star Soldier, and Hector'87.
- Volume 6 contains the four Adventure Island games.
[edit] Bootleg Use
PocketNES has also appeared without authorization on many bootleg GBA cartridges. Usually the pirate cartridges combine one or two Game Boy Advance titles with many pirated NES games to create multicarts.
[edit] Patent Issues
Nintendo filed for and was granted a patent on the vertical scaling method used in PocketNES in 2002, despite PocketNES's using it in 2001.
