GladOS ringtones

As a true geek I have set out on a journey to make my iPhone speak to me in GladOS voice and I am glad to report that this is easier than one might think - it is enough to combine this excellent article on creating custom GladOS speech with this free program, (there are convoluted tutorials on making iPhone ringtones available on the web, but I'd go for the simple appraoch) and your phone will now be a testimonial to your geekiness. This is how my phone is now addressing me when someone calls me:

Recipe for good humour

I know I have written recently that I want ZX Spectrum emulator for my iPhone. Indeed I do, but out of the blue I was struck by other emulator that I also wanted to see and I fell in love with my iPhone even more. Just look at this video :

Then combine it with the following list. Add this news. Result? Silly smile glued to my face all day long.


Yes, it all means in just a couple of days I will be able to play Final Fantasy VI in its first original version on my jail-breaked 1.1.3 iPhone. SNES, FTW! (Sorry, couldn't help it.)

It also means that I will have to finally write a note about Final Fantasy VI. I have intended to do this for quite some time, last occasion being a port of FF6 to Gameboy Advance (some time early last year). I have actually bought GBA to play this game, got disgusted by the quality of the port and sold it later. Nevertheless, I consider sixth part of the series to be on par with Final Fantasy VII when it comes to the story and characters.

So right now I am biting my nails, waiting impatiently for a public release. Hurry up, guys!

Gaming on iPhone

Yes, we all know that iPhone is cool and all, but the very first question every true gamer should ask is "Are there any games on it?". (I admit that my first thought I've had when I first heard about running unofficial code on it was "I wonder if I there will be ZX Spectrum emulator for iPhone?", but we all know I'm a freak.)

I didn't check gaming prospects right after buying the damn gadget, because I was too busy with jailbreaking and hacking SIM (umm, yes, there were problems). Also, my non-digital life was pretty busy, so the guilty pleasure of gaming unfortunately had to wait.

Finally, I have now investigated the subject and I am pleased to announce that the situation is better then I expected, even though there is no ZX Spectrum... ahem. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, the situation is as follows :

• we have a port of Doom that is supposedly nearly playable in widescreen, if you trust YouTube video that is
• we have a NES emulator that I don't really give a damn about since Contra is unplayable on touchscreen (but hey, for showing off it is good enough)
• we have a SCUMMVM port that might allow me to finally finish Day of the Tentacle
• we have a PSX emulator that is molasses slow and probably will never reach playable speed (but if I'm wrong, I will be very happy)
• we have some wicked physics game that looks intriguing (in fact it is just a port of Crayon Physics)
• and, last but not least, we have a quite good Gameboy Advance emulator!

Final Fantasy Tactics

The last one is my grand favourite so far. There are still glitches, speed needs improvement, some games are not emulated - but heck, being able to play Final Fantasy Tactics on my damn cellphone makes up for all of it.

Arcade games won't ever be the same experience, because touchscreen makes it impossible to have the same reactivity level as on the regular pad and buttons combo. This is what makes NES emulator so crappy (though I appreciate the effort). Gameboy Advance, however, has a large library of premium RPG and strategy games that don't require that fast reaction time and allow for accidental pressing of wrong direction button. Advance Wars, Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy IV, V, VI... It's a pity that Golden Sun doesn't work yet, but hey, it's just the beginning.

Advance Wars

Although there is still room for improvement, I am fairly certain that the successive updates will bring this emulator into near-perfection. After all, when GBA emulation begun on PSP, it was much worse in the beginning, but then became full-fledged emulator. And iPhone has more processing power onboard, even if it doesn't have dedicated graphics unit, so the chances are we will be seeing solid improvements relatively soon.

Now, about that ZX Spectrum emulator port?...

Status update - iPhone hacking, Japanese, Ubuntu on M200

This time instead of pitifully justifying my absence, I will just briefly let you know what has been devouring my time :

- I try to revise Japanese for my JLPT exam. Due to other activities this is not going well and I am probably going to fail it. Here are some cool pages that are very helpful when studying Japanese : Kanji test, Kanji reference, Japanese Word of the Day.

- I bought Toshiba M200 tablet on Ebay. Great piece of hardware and I have been secretly lusting for a tablet for a long time. I intend to use it for digital drawing and also it is small enough to carry around. I am setting it up for use, making it dual-boot with Ubuntu. This is time-consuming as hell.

- I bought iPhone. Yes, you heard that right. I have already hacked the activation lock (following this excellent tutorial), but still am struggling with hacking SIM cards and installing extra software (yay for BSD subsystem!).

- Programming a 2D game engine in SDL for a game we are working on with Bellamy, who currently is working in Japan. You have read the post about XML library - that was just one step on the way to create a full 2D alpha version of the game.

- There has been an outburst of PSP games recently : Castlevania, Silent Hill Origins, Syphon Filter : Logan's Shadow, Manhunt 2 (with the whole story behind it, including creating uncensored version).

- Also, my private life has suddenly exploded (to paraphrase Leonard Cohen). Not at all computer related, but also time-consuming.

The bottom line is that probably it will take a while for the next post to appear.