Tapwave Turns Down Gameboy Emulator

Tapwave has refused to "sign" Crimson Fire's Gameboy emulator. Without this digital seal of approval, Firestorm gbaZ can not use many of the features of Tapwave's gaming-oriented handhelds.

Designed for high-resolution Palm OS 5 devices, Firestorm supports Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance ROMs.

As it couldn't get Tapwave's approval, Crimson Fire won't release the Zodiac-specific version of Firestorm.

Crimson Fire isn't being singled out. It was told by a Tapwave spokesperson that, "Tapwave will not be able to sign any GB, GB Color or GBA Emulators for Zodiac."

Last year, Nintendo was granted a patent on emulating any type of gaming platform with software. It has used this to try to stop companies, most notably Crimson Fire, from making applications that allows handhelds to play Gameboy games of various types.

Crimson Fire says on its web site, "Crimson Fire stands by our belief that Firestorm does not violate any of Nintendo's copyrights or patents, and we are prepared to prove that in a court of law. It is unfortunate but understandable that Tapwave has bowed to Nintendo's pressure."

Tapwave did sign previous versions of Firestorm, but declined to sign the latest one, the first to include Gameboy Advance emulation.

The standard version of Firestorm gbaZ is still available, and Crimson Fire hopes to be able to modify this to allow full-screen mode on the Zodiac. However, this version won't be able to use the Zodiac's sound and graphics chips.

Related Links

• Nintendo Moves to End All GameBoy Emulation Software