July 10, 2005 20:25 - SNES emulator for Pocket PC
I'm always in search of the perfect Pocket PC emulator. Except for the odd download, my iPaq 4150 didn't take too kindly to some of these emulators. As they are specifically designed to run off of a hard-wired game console, it can be difficult to find great downloads.
It made me somewhat nostalgic to run some good-looking SNES game roms off of my iPaq. I found that in general it is easier to find SNES emulator software that works well with Windows Mobile 2003 than it is to find GBA emulators for my PDA.
My latest update to this site will hopefully help you to steer clear of the 'lemons' of the bunch.
I'll be checking frequently for updated downloads, but there truthfully hasn't been a whole lot of updates. A lot of users in a lot of discussion forums are not too happy with 'official' emulators. I decided to stay clear of these and only test ppc freeware. View
July 13, 2005 22:16 - The Dell Axim x50v - PPC Game Hardware Acceleration Now Capable
In spite of being a hardcore IPaq owner, I still keep my eyes peeled for gaming technology advances. As it turns out, Dell Axim owners can sit up and take notice. The Dell Axim x50v chipset supports graphics hardware acceleration. This bodes well for 3D graphic processing and will give frame rates a significant boost for action based Pocket PC games.
I located a brief blog news entry on the opengl.org site. Check the February 2005 entry.
Surprisingly, game developers are making some serious strides. OmniGSoft - 3D Chopper Fight 1.0 takes advantage of the new technology. It uses the OpenGL graphic library set.
The demo video is certainly impressive. You can view it on the pocketgear.com site and judge for yourself.
July 17, 2005 23:27 - Does the Anthelion: Galactic Alliance 3D Pocket PC game still live up to its hype?
Anthelion is still one of the most popular downloads even though this Pocket PC game debuted in 2003. See what I mean in my latest comprehensive review of this excellent space 3D PDA game. (Read Article)
July 23, 2005 12:26 - Pocket PC Jawbreaker - Tips, Strategies and Gameplay Details
It's been a busy week at work. It's going to be an even busier weekend. After all, it's barbeque season!I'll just make sure that I take my iPaq out with me. It's hard to resist an opportunity to break out the PDA and impress folks with it. It seems to be easier to impress folks with the sheer volume of games on my Pocket PC. The flashier the better when demonstrating its gameplay capabilities.
I've been playing the Jawbreaker game for Pocket PC quite a bit. I became hooked when I first bought my PDA, and I forgot how challenging the deceptively simple game can be.
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July 24, 2005 18:56 - Jawbreaker Strategy Secrets Revealed
I've been asked repeatedly about my long-promised Jawbreaker strategy page. I've finally got around to posting my article, so just click the 'View' link at the bottom of this entry.You'll find some basic gameplay strategies, and I've also posted some Megashift mode Jawbreaker strategy tips as well. I'll have something compiled for the moderately more difficult Standard game mode in a few days, so stay posted.
In short, if you find Jawbreaker for your PDA as addictive as I do, you'll appreciate the read. I'm still working on the coding to invite comments to this blog, so soon enough I'll be able to provide in-depth strategy guides by the most requested PDA games. View
July 25, 2005 23:58 - Pac Man Fever and Mobile DirectX On Your PPC
I was researching my future best of Pac Man page when I stumbled across an intriguing factoid. A video game song was written in 1981 by Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia. Pac Man Fever gripped the nation and quickly climbed the charts. You can read more about this here.
I've also got some excellent news about Windows Mobile 5.0.
According to Microsoft, this will come with programming capabilities that include Direct3D. There hasn't been much developed for this on the games side so far, but I'm hoping that this will change.
As the desktop PC gamer crowd may know, Direct3D is one of the components of DirectX. This is the programming interface that is supported by all hardware acceleration cards.
"Windows Mobile DirectX" will pit the versatility that we MP3-and-Pocket-PC-movie-loving PDA gamers enjoy squarely against gaming consoles like the Tapwave and Nintendo DS.
I know for sure that I'll wind up purchasing a Pocket PC with Direct3D capabilities as an upgrade. Sometimes, cost is no object where technology is concerned. There will be an inevitable delay as game developers catch up to the technology.
There's an article posted on the Microsoft site with some more details.
Soon to be posted:
The best Pac Man resources for your PDA (both free and retail)More Jawbreaker strategy - Standard mode gameplayAlso check my Jawbreaker article for detailed Megashift game mode strategies. Click 'View' for the complete article. View
July 27, 2005 23:14 - Egyptian Prophecy: The Fate of Ramses - New Arcade Adventure for the Pocket PC
There's a new release out for PPC owners looking for a some arcade adventure, and not in the same old Myst tradition, either.Egyptian Prophecy: The Fate of Ramses has been newly released to the Pocket PC platform by TetraEdge. They're the developers of the... (Read Article)
July 28, 2005 22:24 - Jawbreaker Pocket PC 'Standard' Game Mode Strategies
Seeing as Jawbreaker Pocket PC comes part and parcel with Windows Mobile 2003, the strong appeal for this Pocket PC puzzle game is spread amongst those new PDA owners will go through that initial dry gaming spell. This usually occurs immediately after a PDA... (Read Article)
July 29, 2005 23:25 - Update Fixes Audio Issues for HP iPAQ hx4700 Owners
If you own a PDA, I'm willing to bet that your audio quality is important. I came across on HP update that may be of some interest if you're playing .mpgs or listening to MP3s on your device. This may be especially significant if you use anything besides Windows Media Player for playback.
As it turns out, third party players may not be too kind to your unit if you own an hx4700 Pocket PC. There's the potential for speaker damage, for example.
There are also some third party applications floating around that claim to crank up your audio without the use of speakers.
An audio driver download posted on the HP site will protect hx4700 series PDA speakers from incurring damage.
Sometimes, the hardcore gamers amongst us eagerly try every third party app out there in the hope of improving our PDA game quality. Looks like this is HP's way of protecting us from ourselves (and cost-prohibitive damage to our PDAs).
