From: DJ Vollkasko (DJ_Vollkasko_at_gmx.net)
Date: Sat Mar 13 2004 - 02:42:31 PST
>Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 10:02:14 -0500
>From: Eagan Rackley <eagix_at_earthlink.net>
>Subject: [NTLK] Nintendo Patent and Newtendo?
>
>Can I ge the list opinion on this issue? Eckhart brought this to my
>attention, and now I'm begining to give it a second thought :).
>
>Nintendo has just received a patent on Emulation:
>http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,672,963.WKU.&OS=PN/6,672,963&RS=PN/6,672,963
>
>It seems to be related to Gameboy, Color Gameboy, and Gameboy Advance,
>and not the little grey NES box, but I don't know as much about law as I
>should.
The links posted as Reference are really interesting, it looks like the
complete Gameboy Emulator's Who Is Who, the 2000 edition. ;=}
It'd really be a shame about barring Gameboy emulation (okay, I dig their
motivation, as they still market this platform and games are still
available). A Gameboy emulator on the Newton would have provided at last
some apps that I'd been longing for.
But doesn't the patent barr *commercial* exploitation only ("emulating a
handheld video game platform [...] on a low-capability target platform
{e.g., a seat-back display for airline or train use, a personal digital
assistant, a cell phone}")? Non-commercial reverse engineering *may* be exempt.
Admitted, the Gameboy isn't the most powerful platform processorwise, but
there is a genuine mountain (well, mount, actually) of brilliant audio
tools available, from high-$$$ solutions for game developers to free and
shareware stuff that people actually use to make music with! There's even
Gameboy-bands, a Gameboy-music club where folks jam (in Vienna, of course -
must be something in the water there... First Psychoanaysis, then Lomo
photography, now this... ;=} ) and a Gameboy-music compilation CD. And they
even have some software to synchronize several Gameboy's replay (by cable
only, though - Newton could do via Bluetooth or on the cheap with IR...) !
"From a musician's point of view a GameBoy device is a kind of simple
analogue synthesiser, with a raw and at the same time interesting
retro-sound. While connected with a suitable software it can be used as
drum machine or groovebox." (Gameboyzz)
I really wish some of this stuff would be available on the Newton, too.
The touch screen offers a much nicer, spontaneous and intuitive interface
than a few pushbuttons (not that I'd mind a proper up-down button on the
Newton...).
Some links - check 'em out, you'd be amazed!
http://blackbox.resource.cx/prods02.html - Music Box 1.3 (music and
soundeffect system, tracker)
http://www.devrs.com/gb/files/hosted/GBSOUND.txt - Gameboy audio specs
http://www.excite.co.jp/world/url/body/?wb_url=http://f28.aaacafe.ne.jp/~stepgirl/&wb_lp=JAEN
- Sass Step Girl (real time step sequencer)
http://www.gameboymusicclub.org/ - "group of players who are enthused over
micromusic and whose aim is to create an easy access to the endless world
of today's (contemporary) music for everybody"
http://gameboyzz.prv.pl/ - Gamboyzz Orchestra Project from Poland (check
out their concert "Live In Paris")
http://www.littlesounddj.com - Sequencer, 59 phonems for programmable
speech, drum kits sampled from TR-606, TR-707, TR-727, TR-808, TR-909,
CR-78, CR-8000, KR-55, DR-55, DR-110, DMX, Drumulator, RhythmAce, TOM and
LinnDrum; synch with Nanoloop or MIDI - would be most brilliant on a MP or
eMate.
http://www.nanoloop.de - Nanoloop (synthesizer/sequencer - wow!), Nanovoice
(sample-playback with a looped sample generated from harmonic wave forms,
based on Javoice) - both would be great to have on a MP.
http://members.fortunecity.com/lemon26/ - Lemon Music Player
http://mind.riot.org/krawall/ - replay mod-files
http://www.pusstracks.com/ - this Gameboy-duo from Sweden uses a gameboy
interface to navigate their site! Neat (okay, clumsy to use with a mouse,
but a nice experiment, nonetheless).
http://www.rhinoplex.org/8cylinder/software.html - Sludgeon (arpeggio style
tone generator), ShitTracker (drum sequencer/tracker - I want one for the
Newton! Please, Mum! ;=}), Pounder (samples played when buttons pressed -
one thing I'd love for Newton)
http://www.teamtendo.net/ - Gameboy-band from France. Another nice
Gameboy-interface. ;=}
Cheers,
DJV.
-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
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