Old Hardware Emulated :POSE Emulating The Palm Pilot (Part 8)

 

The Genesis Of Modern Mobile Gaming

Zap!!, a Xenvious clone, running under POSE.

It was only a matter of time before game developers started to support the color capabilities of the latest Palms. There was widespread support for color graphics with many Palm games during this time. When I was testing out the capabilities of the emulated m505, I came to the realization that while the games on this device were still very different from what were used to today, their was a very uncanny quality that one could put there finger on. This was the Genesis of modern mobile gaming. 

The Palm Pilot had a very massive software library. There were thousands of games and apps that one could download onto there device. Many of the games supported the touchscreen as well. These games had a mobile aesthetic to them considering the device that they were running on.

With that noted, there were also very massive differences between these games and the titles that one would be accustomed to today. Several of the games didn't support the touchscreen, and the controls were mapped to the buttons located on the bottom of the game. The only time that modern mobile gamers would typically use buttons is if they use either a Bluetooth keyboard or game control. However, these accessories are optional as the core game could still be controlled exclusively using the touchscreen. This wasn't always the case with several of the games released for the Palm. As such, playing with many of these games could be awkward using the physical buttons.

While a emulator might not provide such a experience, I have used a IBM WorkPad before, and I could attest that some of the game could be difficult to control using the bottom buttons. The original developers of the Palm Pilot never envisioned their creation of being a gaming platform. However, the Palm became one, and a very popular one at that too.

Gamers on the Palm typically preferred games that they could quickly pick up and then put down again. This is why the Palm Pilot has always been a popular platform for arcade conversions and puzzle games. There was no shortage of these type of games on the handheld. Some have already been covered in the previous article covering Palm gaming.

For mobile gamers, there were no bounds for what the Palm could do. One could play there Space Invaders, Breakout, and Tetris clones. If one wanted to play some ice or air hockey, then there was nothing stopping them to score some points. As shown in the screenshots, there was a clone of the Mario Brothers arcade game, Maryo Bros.

There wasn't anything stopping anyone from becoming the Pinball Wizard either......

Ever Since I Was A Young Palm,

I've Played the Digi-Ball

From DragonBall Down To ARM

I've must Have Synced Them All

But I ain't seen nothing like it

on any Psion or Newton

That small wee and unassuming Palm

Sure plays a mean pin ball! 

(Followed by epic guitar rift)

Sim City for the Palm supported the color display as well. If one wanted to watch a tornado, alien invasion, or nuclear meltdown inflicted there city in color; the choice was there now. Playing God never looked better on the Palm.

V-Rally supported the color screen as well. One could get their arcade racing on the Pilot too. However, it would be eclipsed by Napalm Racing, a game created by Alexander Semenov. This game takes the crowing achievement of what was capable on a handheld Motorola 68k device. This game is a racing game that uses true, polygon graphics. the game is actually very hard to control. However, if one wanted to show their friends what the game is capable of, there is a cool looking demo mode that shows what the title is capable of.

I was actually shocked that POSE was able to run such a game because I have to make the assumption that parts of this game was probably coded in assembly machine language in order to pull of 3D graphics on this type of device. If this is the case, then this only makes Napalm Racing look even more impressive.

It has to be noted that there is no Doom for the Palm though. Sad for those that wanted to fulfill there thirst for blood by blasting away demon-possessed soldiers and hell-spawned creations with a shotgun and plasma rifle.
This is the watershed moment for mobile gaming. While these games still played differently from what most are accustomed to now, the general execution was there now. There would be a device with a massive software library with titles that could be operated via a touchscreen. These games would have a mobile aesthetic to them making them popular for the casual gamer on the go. The Palm was created as a simple organizer, but it became much more than that. It became a device that one could get email, the Internet, share pictures with, and play games that would be somewhat recognizable to today's casual titles.

In the first article, I've noted that the Palm Pilot was basically the Roman Empire of handheld devices in that everything before it was classic while everything after it was modern. While still different, it had features that many modern Smartphone and tablet users would immediately recognize as the norm. There is going to be one more article on early Palm before covering the rival systems that compete with the Palm. I'm going to examine the emulators provided with the SDK's for Blackberry, Symbian, and Microsoft. Windows CE is going to be covered in depth. In distant articles, I will be covering the waning years of the Palm, and there eventual demise. Every empire has a fall that's just as big as there rise, and Palm is no exception.
Articles of Interest

Palm V - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_V

Palm OS Emulator - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_OS_Emulator

Palm, Inc. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm,_Inc.

Palm IIIc -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_IIIc

Freescale DragonBall - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freescale_DragonBall

Palm (PDA) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_(PDA)

3Com - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3Com

Palm m500 series -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_m500_series

Palm V -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_V

Palm VII -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_VII

Palm’s progress: The rise, fall—and rebirth—of a legendary brand - https://www.fastcompany.com/90246716/palms-progress-the-rise-fall-and-rebirth-of-a-legendary-brand

Palm: The Rise and Fall of a Legend - https://www.technobuffalo.com/palm-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-legend

Palm m500 series - https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Palm_m500_series

Palm m500 specs (CNET) - https://www.cnet.com/products/palm-m500-p80800row/specs/

Palm m500 and m505 officially launched - https://www.geek.com/mobile/palm-m500-and-m505-officially-launched-545768/

Nokia 9210 Communicator - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_9210_Communicator

Symbian - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbian

Psion Series 7 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Series_7

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