December 15, 2008by Chris

MANY EMULATORS are available for the jailbroken Apple iPhone or touch: SNES, NES, Genesis, Playstation 1, Gameboy Advance, TurboGrafx-16, Palm, Commodore 64, and MAME. You can play the original Doom on it as well, plus Quake, Quake 2, and even Quake Arena.

Who is ZodTTD?

ZodTTD is the leader of Apple hand-held emulator scene. The guy is responsible for the best NES, SNES, Genesis, PSX, and MAME iPhone/touch emulators available today. Current versions are available as private betas. A $5 subscription will grant you beta testing access for life. ZodTTD is also responsible for the Doom and Quake emulators.

The Emulators

The iPhone and touch are fast enough to emulate all home technology up to the Playstation 1.

PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360 emulators will not be available for current generations, however, these consoles will likely be emulated in a few decades' time with the 'single quantum processor iPhone iTernity' which will have infinite clock speed and reality distortion mapping.

Back to reality..the Playstation emulator (PSX4All) is compatible with 75% of the Playstation titles. Naturally, the 532MHz second-generation touch is recommended over the 1st generation and iPhone 3G (which both run at 412Mhz).

Successive versions of the Playstation emulator have increased in frame rate but the lack of buttons raise some issues. RPG's play better than shooters, of course.

MAME brings your iPhone or Touch over 2000 games, and the S/NES and Genesis emulators are excellent.

The emulators will function in either the touch or the iPhone. Apart from the difference in clock speed, from model and generation, there are no compatibility issues.

How does Apple touch input work?

Yes, this doesn't have anything to do with emulators but it is interesting all the same. The iPhone/touch works with your finger but not with a stylus. Why is that?

Apple's devices are the heavyweights in the touch input arena - truly cutting edge technology. The fact that they can discern multitouch with their current degree of accuracy is highly admirable.

Unlike the Nintendo DS, which uses a resistive or pressure-sensitive mechanism, the Apple touch screen includes a invisible grid that detects electrical change. The screen can sense changes at any point on the grid (a node) allowing for the processor to handle multiple relay points.

Your fingers are conductive to electricity. A plastic stylus is not. The screen senses the magical conductive properties of your fingers, determines how many are touching and where the touch points are on the grid. This info is sent to the processor which then processes it in real time, providing instant feedback and a rich experience.

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