DreamEngine lets you relive the glory days of 16-bit gaming [video] 15
by Robert Werlinger Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:49 am EDT
In the world of game emulators that are now available to webOS users thanks to the recent webOS 1.4.5 update (I know, I know, sorry AT&T and Verizon folk), VisualBoy Advance isn't the only name in town. DreamEngine aims to bring the days of 16-bit gaming glory back into the fold. Like most emulators you'll have to supply your own ROMS, though two - Magical Chase and Tennis - come pre-installed. Performance is generally smooth thanks to the miracles of overclocking, though I found that the hardware keyboard controls can take a little getting used to and the view port is somewhat on the small side. Still, it's great to see more options like these bubble up in the 'Catalog.
Hit the break for a video of DreamEngine in action!
15 Comments
So.... what type of games does this play? All you mention in the article is "16 bit" games. What does this mean?
It runs PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 console games.
It's a Turbografx-16 Emulator.
Is there a SNES emulator for the Pre?
I actually never owned a TG-16, I was more a Genesis kid back then, and then added all the crazy stuff to it like Sega CD and 32X. Man that thing was quite the frankenstein when it was done. Cool beans though I like it.
TG-16 had a CD addon, too... and later a RAM expansion card (though no 32-bit module). It was perhaps the most highly underrated system of its time in the US... color palette w/ simultaneous on-screen display to rival the SNES, and processor speed to rival the Genesis. Too bad very few good titles ever made it the states.
I wonder if this emulator can play CD ISOs? I'd absolutely love to revisit classics such as Lords of Thunder and Y's 1 & 2, but will settle for the cartridge based games like Soldier Blade and Order of the Griffon.
This is really amazing. I love emulators of retro-games. The only problem is you can't do much more with it than show off to your friends because it's completely impossible to actually have serious gameplay on the Pre keyboard. It's just too tiny for that.
If someone ever figures out how to hook up some sort of game controller to the Pre this would change but for now it's unfortunately not more than demo-ware to me.
I'd be surprised if bluetooth keyboard support isn't added now that HP is in the mix. Once that happens, I'm sure homebrew will take care of the rest.
I've been playing VBA a lot lately using the keyboard. While it is cramped, I've been able to feel comfortable enough to play. It uses WASD for movement and K/L for the B & A buttons.
A slider phone like the Droid 2 would probably be perfect for emulator games. However I really like the Pre's vertical slider in everyday phone use. I'm torn on whether the next Palm device should have a vertical or horizontal slider (or none?), but that's a whole other discussion.
Final Lap Twin, the greatest RPG/Racing game ever created. Period. Exclamation point.
++++1000
There are no words that equal how much I agree with you. I have been hoping beyond hope that it was eventually released to the Wii virtual consol but alas I still wait.
Do you know where I can get a ROM of Final Lap Twin? I have not been too successful finding one.
Curse You Verizon!! Where's my 1.4.5? MUST. EMULATE. TG16. ON. PHONE!!!
Awesome news. I'm a huge PCE/TG-16 and Palm Pre fan. Anyone know how to pull the data off my CD games to turn them into ROMs? Very excited.
Found this floating around... http://www.filesavr.com/TVcXh6dT
I was able to use a WiiMote on my Palm Centro to play NES, SNES, TG16, GameGear, Genesis, and GameBoy Advance games thru bluetooth in a app called LPJ it was a excellent multi-system emulator. LPJ runs thru the Classic Emulator app, but there is no bluetooth connectivity or keyboard support even, Just four on-screen buttons, (lame). I love the games that have come out on the Pre but the on-screen controls suck! come to think of it, the PS3 controller is bluetooth too, there's two options for joysticks! Now i wish i knew the first thing about coding! :( :(