Game & Watch Simulators for your computer

[Plasman]

A friend has linked to this site on her blog, and I think it is both frickin' awesome and relevant to our interests:
MADrigal's Handhelds Simulators
Home of FREE downloadable versions of your favourite handheld games!
NB: that green box thing that appears on the front page is just an ad - click the [x] to kill it and check out the site.

This page has a list of all the titles currently simulated. Note that the game is not just inside a regular windowpane - it's actually presented within an image of the device itself, hence the "simulation". It's like having the actual handheld right on the screen. What's more, the downloads are each such tiny .zip files that it should take only a minute or two to get the games you want.

Screenshot of the Donkey Kong Game & Watch simulation

If you've ever wanted to play these classic games (such as the Donkey Kong two-screen game) without having to shell out bucks on eBay, this is the next best thing! Enjoy!

EDIT: I forgot to include the magic word... D'oh! That was the most important part!

[SvZurich]

Thank you! This reminds me of when I was little.

[Ashes]

Sweet. This will save me the expense of buying a DSi and then downloading the official Nintendo DSiWare versions of these games.

--edit--

D'OH! >_< Windows only!

[arex]

--edit--

D'OH! >_< Windows only!

JOIN USSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS...



Hnngh.

[Plasman]

@Ashes: I'm assuming that means you have a Mac or Linux setup. Can't you use a Windows emulator to run them?

He he... using an emulator to run a simulator.

Besides, I don't think they have every single game available. But then they also have some of the table-top games not made by Nintendo, so if you can get them working somehow... Bonus!

[Wic]

omg, I had parachute when I was a kid. Then I got curious and disassembled it and couldn't put it back anymore.

[Coda]

@Ashes: I'm assuming that means you have a Mac or Linux setup. Can't you use a Windows emulator to run them?

He he... using an emulator to run a simulator.

It's sort of hit-and-miss. Most pure Windows programs work, but .NET programs fail miserably unless they're specifically written with working on non-Windows platforms. (See my rant in the Elysian Tail thread.)

That said, this targets Windows 95, so it has a very high chance of working -- and in fact, I'm trying it right now and it does seem to work.

[Ashes]

@Ashes: I'm assuming that means you have a Mac or Linux setup. Can't you use a Windows emulator to run them?

There's a few myths about "Windows emulators" which I'll take this opportunity to clear up.

There is no such thing as a Windows emulator. There are PC emulators. There are translation layers. There are virtual machines. But there are no Windows emulators.

Translation layers (DarWINE) suck, but if they didn't suck then they'd be close to the mythical Windows emulator. With PC emulators and virtual machines you still have to buy Windows and install it, as if you had a brand new computer with a blank hard drive.

Also I am fucking poor, so I haven't been able to afford or justify the cost of buying Windows for a few years now.

[Alfador]

@Ashes: I'm assuming that means you have a Mac or Linux setup. Can't you use a Windows emulator to run them?

There's a few myths about "Windows emulators" which I'll take this opportunity to clear up.

There is no such thing as a Windows emulator. There are PC emulators. There are translation layers. There are virtual machines. But there are no Windows emulators.

Translation layers (DarWINE) suck, but if they didn't suck then they'd be close to the mythical Windows emulator. With PC emulators and virtual machines you still have to buy Windows and install it, as if you had a brand new computer with a blank hard drive.

Also I am fucking poor, so I haven't been able to afford or justify the cost of buying Windows for a few years now.

YARRRRRRRMATEY

[Coda]

Translation layers (DarWINE) suck, but if they didn't suck then they'd be close to the mythical Windows emulator

DarWINE's an ANCIENT project; I don't even know if it's maintained anymore. I use CrossOver (admittedly, CrossOver's not free) and it works quite well for every non-.NET program I've bothered throwing at it. I know it's not perfect and I know compatibility's not 100% but it's good enough for me. It can even handle the Windows version of WoW, and by installing the Windows version of Firefox you can even use it to run Windows-only ActiveX plugins.

[Plasman]

There's a few myths about "Windows emulators" which I'll take this opportunity to clear up. (etc.)

Eeep. Sorry. Silly me, I shoulda realised that. (Stupid me playing around with console emulators for too long)
I'd offer you my legit version of Win95 but a) that only works IRL and b) it's only Win95, which I don't even use anymore. Oh, and c) it would be silly just using it to play a Game & Watch simulator.

Link to that CrossOver software Coda mentioned (but you probably worked it out on your own). I dunno if that's within your budget... being ing poor sucks.

omg, I had parachute when I was a kid. Then I got curious and disassembled it and couldn't put it back anymore.

Heh he heh... a LOT of my toys (including hand-held games) wound up with the same fate. Damn curiosity pulled apart most of my childhood.

[Ashes]

CrossOver is a translation layer? I thought it was virtualization software. Whoops! Sorry.

And there's a free trial! Whee! Thankyou!

[Ashes]

And Crossover doesn't work with the .Net Framework! Lovely! The main things I was interested in were a) my friend's programs which he writes in VB.Net, and b) the D&D Character Builder and Monster Builder which were written in VB.Net

grumblestupidmicrosoftgrumble

On the upside the Game&Watch simulators run perfectly!

[Plasman]

Well, at least you've solved one problem: which games did you get, by the way?
I downloaded the Donkey Kong game, and I think the Mario game as well - unless I'm getting confused with the newer-model Super Mario handheld I got that don't work properly...

Incidentally, the friend who passed this link on to me happens to have a couple of the *original* Game & Watch consoles hidden in her personals trunk. And despite missing the battery covers the games still work perfectly fine; testament to a company that's remembers to invest quality in their products.

[Coda]

And Crossover doesn't work with the .Net Framework! Lovely! The main things I was interested in were a) my friend's programs which he writes in VB.Net, and b) the D&D Character Builder and Monster Builder which were written in VB.Net

I was griping about this earlier -- it's a problem with .NET, not CrossOver; .NET programs ARE NOT Windows programs, they just happen to have a .exe extension.

You can try to run them with Mono, though, which has a native Mac version. Best of luck with that, though, because Mono doesn't/can't implement a lot of Windows-specific stuff.