Homebrew Enthusiasts Emulate Macintosh Plus on Nintendo 3DS

[MacRumors]

While the Macintosh Plus was discontinued over 25 years ago, two developers have brought the old school machine back to life in the form of a Nintendo 2DS and 3DS.

The first developer, who uses the pseudonym TarableCode, managed to port the Mini vMac emulator to Nintendo 2DS and has since shared pictures and technical details of her homebrew accomplishment on video game community GBAtemp. The code for Mini vMac for Nintendo 2DS/3DS is available on GitHub.

The photo shows the Nintendo 2DS is running Macintosh System 7.5.3, retroactively called Mac OS 7, released in 1996. The 2DS's directional pad functions as arrow keys, while the L and R shoulder buttons are the mouse buttons, the Y button toggles the on-screen keyboard, and both the circle pad and touchscreen move the mouse.

A fellow homebrew enthusiast who uses the pseudonym LarBob Doomer has since uploaded a YouTube video that shows the emulated Macintosh Plus experience in action on Nintendo 3DS. In the video, he scrolls through a functional version of System 6, and opens apps, inputs text from the keyboard, and eventually powers off the device.

The practical applications of 20-year-old Mac software running on Nintendo 3DS are obviously limited, but the homebrew emulator is a unique proof of concept. In the past, developer Nick Lee similarly managed to get both Macintosh System 7.5.5 and Windows 95 to run on an Apple Watch.

(Thanks, Mitch!)

Article Link: Homebrew Enthusiasts Emulate Macintosh Plus on Nintendo 3DS

 

[smacrumon]

Why?! But good on them. This kind of thing makes me laugh with appreciation.

 

[vertsix]

What a time to be alive.

 

[GeneralChang]

I certainly am in no position to judge somebody for doing something hilariously unnecessary just for the lulz, so I'll just say kudos. Despite my obsession with the obsolete, I am in no way this dedicated to old software.

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Always cool to see people tinkering with older stuff like this and making it work on hardware that it was never designed to work on.

 

[garirry]

Why?!

Why are you asking yourself this? Isn't it obvious?

Also, yeah, this is pretty amazing. Love this kind of stuff.

 

[jm001]

Love this stuff. Great to see old 7.5.3 running again and on a 3DS no less! I may just unpack my IIsi and turn that sucker on. Those old systems ran great had very quick boot times and programs loaded on them very quickly. I still have MS Word 4.0 and no spinning beachball there.

 

[okboy]

Pretty cool. But am I the only one who thinks calling this "running Mac OS" is a little inaccurate? This goes for the Windows 95 on Apple Watch too. This is just running an emulator. I know this is as close as anyone can probably get without getting the source code. But "Mac OS emulated on Nintendo DS" seems like just as good a headline.

 

[cableguy84]

What is the point

 

[blacktape242]

I SO CANT WAIT for the NES mini to come this NOV!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mac 128]

Love this stuff. Great to see old 7.5.3 running again and on a 3DS no less! I may just unpack my IIsi and turn that sucker on. Those old systems ran great had very quick boot times and programs loaded on them very quickly. I still have MS Word 4.0 and no spinning beachball there.

The only problem I have is that Apple has always been a hardware and software solution company. It's not as interesting to me running on ugly hardware.

 

[emm386]

This is pretty awesome! Good work and nice proof of concept - I really hope Apple doesn't go after them, though I highly doubt it.

I still love my Mac Plus, not gonna give it away! It still works, after power-cycling it like 3 times to remove weird graphics...

Sheesh... The good old days...

 

[radiology]

This can be quite useful since Macintosh is a species in danger of extinction if we don't stop Tim.

 

[Mr. Donahue]

It'd be cool if Apple and Nintendo teamed up and made a video game console or portable gaming device. It'd be amazing.

 

[Xavier]

Just image when this software was released, the kind of hardware it required. And now it is on a portable handheld device. Interesting.

 

[Wiencon]

I thought it was new macbook pro on the photos
[doublepost=1472153111][/doublepost]

It'd be cool if Apple and Nintendo teamed up and made a video game console or portable gaming device. It'd be amazing.

With 16gb base storage and 100$ for every next capacity option?
Or with iris pro gpu?

 

[napabar]

I got a Mac 512Ke and a 3DS to share files, but I never got an article on Macrumors.

Go figure.

 

[mzeb]

What is the point

Because then you can say you did it . For someone who was a kid hacker that left his mark in places to show that I could do something (but never did) I very much understand this. It has less to do with the result and more to do with the journey and passion to get there.

 

[emm386]

It'd be cool if Apple and Nintendo teamed up and made a video game console or portable gaming device. It'd be amazing.

Joke:

What do you get if you put two sick patients into one bed?

A Pippin.

 

[GeneralChang]

With 16gb base storage and 100$ for every next capacity option?
Or with iris pro gpu?

Your comment got me wondering, so I did a little research. I couldn't find actual benchmarks of the Wii U GPU, so I had to go with a desktop equivalent. So this information obviously isn't perfect, but it paints an interesting picture. The GPU in the Wii U is based on the Radeon R700 architecture, which powered the HD 4000 series of desktop GPUs. I'm sure it's been optimized for Nintendo's console, but if you go look up some benchmarks for the performance of a mid-to-upper level HD 4000 series GPU (say the HD 4870) versus some of the more recent iterations of Intel's Iris Pro graphics, you might be surprised how similarly they perform.

 

[Zoboomafoo]

Can it play Maelstrom? Give us what we wanttttt

 

[davester]

I'd buy one just to play Dark Castle again!

 

[jm001]

The only problem I have is that Apple has always been a hardware and software solution company. It's not as interesting to me running on ugly hardware.

It's not the look of the 3DS, but that IT IS a 3DS that makes this so interesting. By the looks of the video it is running smoothly without lags. I'm more impressed with the emulation and the person who was able to port the emulator to the 3DS.

 

[dwaltwhit]

The point? It's a hobby. Don't bash people's hobbies.

 

[SteveW928]

Why?! But good on them. This kind of thing makes me laugh with appreciation.

Good question... but it does at least give one something to do with a 3DS. Seems like about the same era of hardware involved in either case, so it's a good fit.