Apple Watch Running Gameboy and Gameboy Color Emulator is a Heavy Dose of Portable Nostalgia [VIDEO]
The Apple smartwatch is actually an impressing piece of machinery, but so far the device has only really been used to tell the time and to inform users of different notifications. While there are a few apps and functionalities that are included in the device, not a lot really justifies the device's extremely high price point.
Now, an iOS developer has released a new app that is meant to be a proof of concept to show users what the device is really capable of. According to a report from ARSTechnica, an iOS developer named Gabriel O'Flaherty-Chan was apparently able to port the famous GameBoy and the GameBoy Color emulator called "Gambatte" into the Apple Watch OS.
GameBoy emulators are of course readily available on a lot of platforms and devices, including Android smartphones, tablets, PCs, and even the NES Classic Mini console. However, O'Flaherty's app will be the first time that the emulator has made it into an Apple smartwatch device. The developer apparently had to remap the app in order to fit in the GameBoy's controls into the tiny screen.
The app, which the developer lovingly called the "Giovanni," is apparently able to run on both the original Apple Watch and the second generation Apple Watch 2. Additionally, the emulator has been tested to run a number of GameBoy and GameBoy Color titles, such as Pokémon Yellow and even Zelda games.
As of the moment, the "Giovanni" app, named after the villain in Pokémon franchise, is still quite rough around the edges. According to Gizmodo, the app still crashes and lags when running different GameBoy titles. The controls are also quite hard to use, considering that the 1.65-inch display may not really be conducive for touch-based gaming.
The project was also reportedly just made over a few days, which means that there is still quite a lot of room for improvement. The source code for the emulator has been made available to the public, should anyone else be interested in developing it even further.