Updates: November 2000

Beta testers sought for action games!

[ Thursday, November 30 ]

I just spotted this message on the PureCE Pocket PC Software forum requesting beta testers for new action games under development. You've got to be quick, though, because the message states that only the first two applications for each processor type (ARM, MIPS,  SH3) will be accepted. Good luck!

NeoGeo emulator on the way?

[ Thursday, November 30 ]

Check out the news for 11/28/2000 on NeoPocott, where the top item is about the possibility of a Pocket PC port of a NeoGeo emulator. Kudos to Stv for spotting this and reporting it in this BrightHand thread.

Pipe Down!

[ Thursday, November 30 ]

As spotted on LudiPocket, there's a chance for you to test your plumbing skills with PipeDone from Mono-Q.

Cubicle Chaos: More fun to come!

[ Wednesday, November 29 ]

Microsoft's Pocket PC department have made a new game available to download in the form of Cubicle Chaos. The game, which is in the style of a Break Out clone can be played by either one or two players and is noted as being "one of the games in the upcoming Microsoft Pocket PC Games Pack". Special mention to newdaddy for spotting this and mentioning it on BrightHand.

NesCE update!

[ Wednesday, November 29 ]

Thanks to Vinsisan for letting me know that NesCE has been updated with a new build for the iPAQ from Domenico Dato. There is expected to be a further update in time for the weekend which will incorporate various fixes for different devices, including the Aero.

New PDA Games Site!

[ Wednesday, November 29 ]

There's a new PDA gaming site on the scene with the arrival of pdagamer.net. As of yet, it still appears to be very much in early stages of development so don't expect too much in the way of content just yet. Unlike this site, however, it will be covering more than just the Pocket PC (at least, judging from the links on the sidebar), with information relating to Palm-sized PC's, HPC's and Palm devices.

PocketNES beta 2, revision 2: The Details!

[ Wednesday, November 29 ]

The PocketNES site is working again (for me at least - thanks to Joeco for alerting me to this fact!), so I can now provide details of what's new in revision 2 of beta 2. As explained earlier, this update is for Cassiopeia and Jornada users for whom it provides "a major speed increase" and means that "all games now run at a playable speed".

Sea Battle

[ Tuesday, November 28 ]

Thanks to Alex Titoff for letting me know of his game, Sea Battle, which although designed for older versions of Windows CE, should work on the Pocket PC. The game, a Battleships clone, doesn't have a homepage of its own but can be found at ce4you. Please note that you need also to download and install the appropriate PocketC runtime.

New PocketNES revision

[ Tuesday, November 28 ]

Thanks to Vinsisan for letting me know that PocketNES is now at beta 2, revision 2. Unfortunately, I've not been able to access the PocketNES site recently (hopefully, this is just temporary!) so I can't confirm what the improvements in revision 2 are, although according to a post in the ongoing BrightHand PocketNES thread, it's only for those with MIPS (Cassiopeia) or SH3 (Jornada) devices.

Palmware: New game every week!

[ Tuesday, November 28 ]

Palmware have let me know that new, better games are now available. In addition, they've promised to make a new game available every week!

Rocky Fighter: Demo available, testers sought!

[ Tuesday, November 28 ]

As spotted on the excellent LudiPocket (French), a demo version of Rocky Fighter is now available for Jornada users. The author, Kitti Prempinij, is also seeking iPAQ and Cassiopeia users to test the game on their devices.

KSE Entertainment Pack 3 released

[ Tuesday, November 28 ]

KSE Software have released KSE Entertainment Pack 3 for the Pocket PC, which comprises six games in total. These are Backgammon, Cruel (a card game), Snake, Solitary, Tetragon and Yachtzee. There doesn't appear to be a product homepage up yet, so for the mean time, take a look at the Handango product information page.

PocketNES: New version!

[ Monday, November 27 ]

PocketNES version 1.0 beta 2 is now available, which promises more speed (40 frames per second on the iPAQ!) and the ability to customise the keys. In addition, there's a brand new logo and snazzy-looking controller graphics!

Yet More NES News!

[ Sunday, November 26 ]

PocketNES now has a new home to bookmark; unfortunately, the site seemed extremely sluggish when I tried to access it, but let's hope that it was down to opening day nerves! Also, check out this BrightHand discussion thread for a preview of a new controller image coming soon from 999.

Also, NesCE doesn't yet work on the iPAQ. However, according to an e-mail I received from Domenico Dato, this should be fixed fairly soon as he sending the author "source code patches".

PocketNES: Casio version improvements

[ Saturday, November 25 ]

It's not often that you hear of an author buying a Pocket PC specifically because his software doesn't work on that particular device as well as it might, but this is what's happened in the case of Richard Rice, author of PocketNES. An update on his site reveals that he is investigating why the emulator runs so slowly on Casio Pocket PC's and has already released an improved version which "fixes the buttons so that games can be started" and provides "a 4x speed improvement". Now that's service!

CEBalls for Pocket PC released

[ Saturday, November 25 ]

CESoftware.dk have released CEBalls for the Pocket PC. The board game, also known as "Classic Balls", is shareware and costs $10 to register.

Pocket PC Games.NET - opinions sought!

[ Saturday, November 25 ]

I'll be updating the Pocket PC Games.NET pages at some point in the future and am soliciting comments, suggestions and ideas. There's a brief outline of my proposals and a chance to discuss them in this BrightHand thread.

NesCE now available for ARM, SH3

[ Saturday, November 25 ]

Along with PocketNES, NesCE now supports all three different Pocket PC processor types. The ARM and SH3 versions are, however, untested.

SMS/Game Boy emulator confirmed!

[ Saturday, November 25 ]

Confirmation of the existence of a Sega Master System and Game Boy emulator in the works would appear to have been provided with this post by Domenico Dato on the Come Back 64 messageboard. Seems like it's a good time to be an emulation fan!

Quake challenge accepted!

[ Saturday, November 25 ]

As detailed in this BrightHand thread, the challenge to port Quake over to the iPAQ has been accepted by Nathaniel, along with two other students. Not an easy challenge, I suspect...

PocketNES released!

[ Thursday, November 23 ]

Thanks to Sethsez, Richard Rice and Frank for all letting me know that PocketNES is now out! What's more, there are versions for all Pocket PC's, including the iPAQ! See this BrightHand thread for discussion.

Get your Pocket MUDdy!

[ Wednesday, November 22 ]

As found on Pocket PC Thoughts, InterString have developed a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) client, PocketMud.

Moara released

[ Wednesday, November 22 ]

Vtarnu Software (no website available, e-mail support) have released Moara, a two-player board game involving skill and strategy. The game can be played against either another human or a computer opponent, and costs $15. You can find production information and a downloadable demo at the relevant Handango page.

NesCE takes shape!

[ Wednesday, November 22 ]

The amazing new NesCE (BrightHand discussion) now has (preliminary) support for buttons, which means that games can actually be played. If you have a Casio Pocket PC, be sure not to miss this one! What's more, the source code is available, so there is a chance that some talented programmer(s) out there will take up the challenge of porting it to other devices...

$200 Quake Challenge!

[ Wednesday, November 22 ]

Mark Rejhon would like someone to port Quake to the Pocket PC, and he's offering $200 to the first person who does it! Before you dismiss his idea as utterly crazy, it should be noted that the Quake source code is freely available so, at the very least, it would be legal! Take a look at this BrightHand thread in which he details his arguments and decide for yourself if the game will ever make it to the Pocket PC...

Virtual Fun - or is it...?

[ Wednesday, November 22 ]

Palmware have developed MPS, a multi-platform system capable of running programs on virtually all PDA's, including Pocket PC's. It's an impressive and laudable achievement but if the games I tried out are anything to go by, it's got a long way to go to become popular.

Bluetooth brings wireless multiplayer games!

[ Wednesday, November 22 ]

This has actually been mentioned before, but this was quite some time ago and as it popped up recently on the excellent Pocket PC Thoughts site, I thought it could do with a re-appearance. All the information is in this press release, which details the cooperation between Socket Communications and ZIO Interactive in developing wireless multiplayer games (starting with a multiplayer version of ZIOGolf) with the use of Socket's (yet to be released) CF Bluetooth card.

N64 emulator for iPAQ?

[ Wednesday, November 22 ]

Keep an open mind before looking at this BrightHand thread, in which it is claimed that an N64 emulator for the iPAQ is in development. Personally, I'm extremely doubtful - this sounds far too good to be true, considering that the average desktop PC would struggle with an N64 emulator - but I would be more than happy to be proved wrong!

MAMEBoy 1.1 released

[ Wednesday, November 22 ]

Version 1.1 of MAMEBoy has been released, with enhancements relating to key configuration and in-game speed issues.

Play Cruel!

[ Tuesday, November 21 ]

SlateWare Software have released Cruel, an "addictive Solitaire game that was first available in the Windows Entertainment Pack". A demo is available, while the full version will set you back $5.

Landscape mode for iPAQ too

[ Tuesday, November 21 ]

According to a post in this BrightHand thread from Boxter S, Jimmy Software's landscape mode software currently under development will support the iPAQ as well as the Casio Pocket PC's.

PocketNES expected early 2001

[ Tuesday, November 21 ]

According to a post from Stephen Ankelen in this BrightHand thread, the iPAQ NES emulator, PocketNES, is expected to be available "early in the new year". In addition, the official PocketNES site at PocketNES.com should be up and running soon.

Matrix, Friends questions for PM

[ Tuesday, November 21 ]

Yet more questions for Pocket Millionaire, the themes this time being The Matrix (the film) and Friends (the hit TV sitcom).

Seven colours, one game

[ Monday, November 20 ]

There's a freeware beta version of a puzzle game called Seven Colours available to download (138 Kb), courtesy of François Pessaux (at the time of writing, his homepage hadn't yet been updated).

Houston, we have a Pocket PC...

[ Monday, November 20 ]

ce4you pointed me in the direction of  Moonlander, a Lunar Lander style game from Brask Software. At the time of writing, the game wasn't available to download from the game homepage, but you can get it from this ce4you page.

NES emulator for Cassiopeia!

[ Monday, November 20 ]

As found on this BrightHand thread, there's a NES emulator under development for the Cassiopeia range of Pocket PC's in the shape of NesCE. As of yet, it's still in the early stages of development so all that it currently allows you to do is watch the opening sequence of games, but hopefully that should change soon.

Check out Checkers!

[ Monday, November 20 ]

As spotted on ce4you, Ask4Soft have released a beta version of Checkers for the Pocket PC. You can try out the demo version which provides "15 day limited full functionality" after which time "some functions are disabled". The game is shareware, with a registration price of $15.

Video Poker hits Pocket PC screens

[ Saturday, November 18 ]

PDAutilities.com have just released Video Poker for the Pocket PC. The game, for which a playable demo is available, costs $7.99.

Simon Says...

[ Saturday, November 18 ]

Simon CEs is a game where the object is to successfully remember and repeat a sound and light pattern that becomes increasingly longer. The game, by Scott Lunsford of NotAPalm.com, is shareware.

Sega games on Pocket PC?

[ Saturday, November 18 ]

According to this article by French magazine, Transfert, Sega are rumoured to be interested in developing for PDA's, and in particular the Pocket PC (thanks to new French site, iPAQ Paradise, where I first discovered this news). Sonic on your Pocket PC? It just might happen...!

Solskia update

[ Saturday, November 18 ]

KPoole Software's RPG, Solskia, has been updated. The new release is primarily to fix as many bugs as possible, although problems with the combat remain.

MAMEBoy is new kid on the block!

[ Saturday, November 18 ]

There's a new MAMECE port on the scene in the form of MAMEBoy, courtesy of Marconelly. MAMEBoy has been designed for the EM-500 and E-125 and is the fastest MAME emulator in town for those devices.

Pocket Millionaire updated; more questions available!

[ Friday, November 17 ]

Pocket Millionaire has been updated to version 1.2, the major improvement being that the limit on the number of questions that the game can handle (previously 200) has been removed. Also, if you haven't already, check out the questions page as lots more questions have recently been submitted!

Hangem: Now for everyone!

[ Friday, November 17 ]

Arn Cota's  free Hangman game, Hangem, is now available for all Pocket PC's.

Pocket another Flight Sim!

[ Friday, November 17 ]

Thanks to the excellent new (French) site, LudiPocket, I recently discovered a flight simulator in the works that I hadn't known about before in the shape of Pocket Flight Sim. As of yet, there's no actual game to play; however, there is a downloadable game engine demo which allows you to rotate a 3D, texture-mapped aircraft. You can also sign up for a newsletter to keep you up-to-date on the project's status.

NES emulator for iPAQ!

[ Thursday, November 16 ]

Be sure not to miss this BrightHand post from Stephen Ankelen, in which he states that he is developing a NES emulator! The emulator, initially only for the iPAQ, will include sound support and run at 100% full speed. It is expected to be shareware, with a price tag of around $20.

Free Hangman!

[ Thursday, November 16 ]

Arn Cota has just released a freeware version of everyone's favourite word game, Hangman! At the time of writing, Hangem was only available for ARM-based machines (i.e. the iPAQ), but this should change very soon.

Spectrum Emulator: Your Help Needed!

[ Wednesday, November 15 ]

Palmtop Software have recently introduced their first Pocket PC products. However, after writing to them asking if they had any plans to make an iPAQ-compatible version of their free Spectrum emulator, they replied as follows:

Thanks for your mail. Currently, we do not have plans to release the Spectrum emulator for the iPAQ. However, we have filed your suggestion and will use it as input.

If you would like to see a Spectrum emulator on your iPAQ, write in to Palmtop Software today!

On a roll...

[ Wednesday, November 15 ]

A clone of the popular dice game, Yachtzee, is now available courtesy of Arn Cota. Yahtz is still in development (so the author is open to comments and suggestions), and is freeware.

Entertainment PocketPak page up!

[ Tuesday, November 14 ]

Along with the new-look PocketPC.com site comes a new page choc-a-block with information on and screenshots from the newly-released Entertainment PocketPak.

Leo's Flight Sim update!

[ Tuesday, November 14 ]

The amazing Leo's Flight Sim has been updated to Beta 3, which now offers faster rendering, more New York scenery, new planes, save/load options and weather simulation. Not bad at all! Thanks to Pete for letting me know of this!

New Game Boy emulator on the way?

[ Tuesday, November 14 ]

After the seeming disappearance from the face of the Earth of the PalmGB author, Hayes Haugen (if anyone knows anything, please let me know!), it would appear that a new Game Boy emulator might be on the cards. Bartman is the potential hero of the hour - see this BrightHand thread for the details.

New Windows Media Player!

[ Tuesday, November 14 ]

Microsoft has just made available a "Technology Preview" version of a new Windows Media Player for the Pocket PC, which supports streaming audio and video files. Thanks to ckohler for spotting this one in this BrightHand thread.

New aEmu: More games, more speed... more fun!

[ Tuesday, November 14 ]

There's a new version of aEmu, the arcade emulator written specifically for the Aero 1550. Version 1.1 sports a shiny new interface, supports more games and, if that wasn't enough, manages to run faster as well!

Shadowgate Classic scoops gold!

[ Tuesday, November 14 ]

Infinite Ventures' RPG adventure, Shadowgate Classic (review), has received a Gold award in the PDA Entertainment Category in this year's Invasion Winners judged by NewMedia.

Landscape mode software for Cassiopeia!

[ Monday, November 13 ]

Jimmy Software have announced the upcoming release of software which will allow Cassiopeia users to use their devices in landscape mode.

New PocketSwap skins, suggestions sought!

[ Monday, November 13 ]

PocketFun.co.uk have just released a skin pack for PocketSwap, which is available as a free download from Handango. Also, suggestions are being sought for PocketPop II - you can voice your opinion via e-mail.

BrightHand reviews Rat-Splat

[ Sunday, November 12 ]

There's a review of Rat-Splat up at BrightHand. Rat-Splat, a "whack-em-up", is a free game courtesy of Daniel Jackson.

Microsoft release Entertainment PocketPak!

[ Sunday, November 12 ]

Microsoft have released the Entertainment PocketPak, as spotted by Gerry on the Pocket PC newsgroup. At the time of writing, a product homepage wasn't available, so here's a link to the product information page at the Pocket PC eStore.

The product is a compilation of the following ten games: Blackjack, Chess, Cinco (a word game), FreeCell, Hearts, Minesweeper, Reversi, Sink the Ships (a version of Battleships), Space Defense (a Missile Command clone) and Taipei (tile-matching game). The Entertainment PocketPak is a 2.9 MB download and costs a rather hefty $29.95.

Video Poker coming soon!

[ Saturday, November 11 ]

Unless PDAutilities.com are bluffing, Video Poker could soon be on the way to the Pocket PC! No information as yet, but this could be a title to watch out for...

Pocket Millionaire updated

[ Saturday, November 11 ]

There's a minor update to Pocket Millionaire, the major fix being that reaching a guaranteed amount now actually guarantees you that sum of money!

Free Sokoban game

[ Saturday, November 11 ]

There's a new free Sokoban game available at Handango. The game is written by Ronald F. Lens, although it would appear that he is currently uncontactable which explains why there is currently no game homepage available.

Pocket Millionaire Question Writer released!

[ Friday, November 10 ]

Thanks to Scott Luchetti of OKSeriously.com for letting me know that he has written a question writer for Pocket Millionaire. This free application allows you "to easily write question files" for Pocket Millionaire on your desktop or laptop.

Skins: The Final Frontier

[ Friday, November 10 ]

Take a look at Fred Block's Dashboard Skins Page for some dramatic space artwork to brighten up Dashboard, along with some images for New York Giants and Jets fans. There's also a whole host of astronomy-related today banner replacements, as well.

Dicey new KSE offering

[ Friday, November 10 ]

KSE Software have released Yachtzee for the Pocket PC. Unfortunately, a product homepage didn't seem to be available as yet, so here's a link to the product information at Handango.

Dash for new skins

[ Friday, November 10 ]

There's a new site offering a nice collection of skins for Dashboard. Robert's Dashboard skins site houses skins relating to science, the Pocket PC, art, nature and techno.

The Gadgeteer reviews Pow Wow

[ Wednesday, November 8 ]

ZIO Interactive's new arcade shooting game, Pow Wow, has been reviewed at The Gadgeteer.

Very, very puzzling...

[ Wednesday, November 8 ]

There's a new time-waster on the scene in the form of PocketPuzzler, a collection of 3D puzzles that includes pyramids, cubes, octahedra, dodecahedra and more.

Next CB64 version "not too far away"?

[ Wednesday, November 8 ]

Take a look at this post in the Come Back 64 messageboard from the author of Come Back 64, Domenico Dato, which talks about the next version of the C64 emulator, whose release "should not be too far away".

Dashboard gets fun!

[ Tuesday, November 7 ]

Registered Dashboard users can try out a version of Mastermind, PegMaster, which has been designed as a My Dash module. The object of the game is to guess the correct colour sequence from the hints given.

Pow Wow demo available to download

[ Tuesday, November 7 ]

Thanks to Eddie Yusoff for letting me know that ZIO Interactive's Pow Wow demo is now available to download. I found the site to be incredibly slow when I tried, however, so plenty of patience may well be required.

KSE's snake charmer

[ Monday, November 6 ]

KSE Software have released a Pocket PC version of Snake, a colourful version of the classic that has become an instant hit on mobile phones.

New MAMECE-10X build

[ Monday, November 6 ]

There's a newly uploaded MAMECE-10X build whose main advantage is speed, along with a new readme file to peruse!

Turjah: The Debate Continues

[ Friday, November 3 ]

The debate over whether Turjah is as good as it's cracked up to be shows no signs of abating just yet. You can see both sides of the argument, including an interesting and spirited defence of the game from 999, in this discussion thread at the Jimmy Software forum. Don't forget to cast your vote on the matter in the poll if you haven't already!

MAMECE3 site in Pocket format

[ Friday, November 3 ]

There's now a preliminary Pocket Internet Explorer-friendly version of the MAMECE3 site for mobile surfers to enjoy.

ZIO reduce prices

[ Thursday, November 2 ]

ZIO Interactive have reduced prices of all their products by US$5. Unfortunately, there's still no sign of a demo for Pow Wow, however...

5lines goes 3D!

[ Thursday, November 2 ]

The freeware puzzle game, 5lines, has been upgraded to version 1.1 which offers a new 3D look.

Deflektor port released; arcade emulator for Aero!

[ Thursday, November 2 ]

Check out Boris' site for a Pocket PC port of Deflektor (for all devices), as well as an arcade emulator for the Aero 1550 which (currently) supports eight games.

Turjah: A second opinion

[ Thursday, November 2 ]

Clinton Morell has submitted a review of Turjah, the highly acclaimed space shoot-em-up from Jimmy Software, that offers a different take on the game to the normal one. Does he have a point, or is he being unfair? You can have your say on the matter by voting in the new poll.

It's official: Pocket PC more fun than Palm!

[ Thursday, November 2 ]

Or so said a rather convincing 495 voters in the last poll, compared to the mere 36 who decided that Palm devices had the better games. Allegations of bias remain completely unproven... ;-)