alternative ipod use

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cts

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OK, not a hack to the 'pod itself, but an alternative use - revive your old retro spectrum games collection. Tapes are dead, let's face it, so donwload the game of your choice, from worldofspectrum.org convert to wav file, amplify to a resonable amount then use you iPod to load the games. Emulators are fine but there's nothing like playing on the REAL hardware...

c-t-s
 

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cts

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kloan said:
I'm lost.. what exactly is that? Games that are WAV files??
spectrum? early home PC, marketed by clive sinclair in the mid eighties in UK, games/applications loaded by a cassette player, thus an ipod does the job well, and its smaller and you can carry many games and applications. they have to be WAV files because compressing the audio (which is essentially a sequential data stream) degrades it such that it won't load.... it doesn't make good music, but that's not the idea! -cts
 
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Stunt

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Wait, I don't get this can you explain fully how you did this, because my friend has the iPod Mini too and he's in love with video games. Please explain.
 

cts

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Stunt said:
Wait, I don't get this can you explain fully how you did this, because my friend has the iPod Mini too and he's in love with video games. Please explain.
gee, you really want to get into retro gaming? OK....

step 1) buy your self a ZX spectrum:
ebay would be the best place to start: search.ebay.com/zx-spectrum_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8

step 2) go to worldofspectrum.org pay a visit to the archive games sections, there's a couple of 1000 to choose from - all legal since the games are so old it not worth trying to charge anything for them

step 3) convert the tzx image files into a wav file. i found i needed to edit the wav file to get full amplitude, 100% modulation - some thing like goldwave.com will sort that out.

step 4) drag and drop the 'games' (i.e. wav files) onto you ipod like you would a normal mp3 song

step 5) connect you ipod earphone output to the spectrum 'ear' input and type
LOAD "" <RTN>
on the console, choose the game on your ipod, press play and load it onto the speccy.

step 6) sit back relax, play the game

-cts

Of course you could go to worldofspectrum, download a spectrum emulator, negating the need for the actual spectrum, but that negates the need for the ipod cause you can load the image tzx files directly... which kinda misses the point.
 

bobb-mini

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mrdantownsend said:
Can someone please explain how you can play games on WAV files?
The game (program) was saved as a sound file. This is the ole days (Jimmy Carter era) before HD, before floppies.

Go ahead, try to save Doom in this format, and tell me what size iPOD would one need, and the time needed for the transfer.

And does this console involve a screen?
The Sinclar and many "computer" of that era hooked directly to a TV, 'cuz that's all the resolution one needed, and usually B/w only.

This thing fascinates me...
OK, if u like pong games, like the brick game in the iPOD.
 

omgli3k

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mrdantownsend said:
Can someone please explain how you can play games on WAV files?

And does this console involve a screen?

This thing fascinates me...
The same way programmers used to utilize cassette tapes to make backups of files or programs we were working on, or even general backup; the Spectrum utilizes for gaming. Like said before, the audio is a sequential data stream, still interpretted by the computer in 0's and 1's. You can record any sort of data on anything that can be interpreted by a computer ( or won't run away from you, hehe ).

Cliffnotes: Playable games interpreted by console via audio.
 

cts

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my next plan would be to get the ipod to "record" an output data stream, and by carrying around a small LCD screen, a 9V battery pack, I could have a spectrum based laptop for word processing. web broswing is going to be painful, connected to a mobile phone....

-cts
 
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