Emulators Books

What an absolutely awesome book! Mr. Kohler did a wonderful job. I love this book and recommend it to everyone interested in retro gaming. It is packed full of useful and insiteful information. To top it all off, the book is in a fun, easy-to-read and enjoyable format. I can't recommend it enough.

I hope Mr. Kohler does a revised and updated edition of this book. The information in it is too good to be allowed to just fade away. I'll definately buy an updated copy.

Just one comment to the author Chris Kohler should he read this review: How about a hack about the Scot Adam's text adventure series for the section of your book on Text Adventure games? Scot Adam's was big in the early 80s.

Thanks!

A great reference for those who like to tinker with the hardware side of retro games. I found this book to be a very good reference, well thought out and very applicable to the hobby of retro gaming and will appeal to the enthusiast at all levels.

Chris Kohler's RETRO GAMING HACKS: TIPS & TOOLS FOR PLAYING THE CLASSICS tells how to emulate classic games on cell phones to computers, how to locate vintage game hardware, how to convert gaming tools, and how to write your own retro-style games in various programs. From playing old games on original hardware or making conversions, RETRO GAMING HACKS is for avid gamers who want to tweak the experience.

Some of these 'hacks' I knew about, many i did not. But every 'hack' in here offered some level of detail that made my retro gaming experience just that much better.

The bulk of the hacks are focused on emulators - how to get them, how to use them, etc. Which means that you will be Retro-gaming on your PC. Before I nabbed this book, I thought that would be a slightly less than awesome experience. Mainly because the controls leave a lot to be desired (who wants to use a keyboard to play Satan's Hollow.) But thanks to one of the hacks, I now know where to go to get retro game controllers that fit right into your PC.

While retro-gaming on the PC is the the focus of the book, it by no means describes all the content. There is tunds of cruncy goodness in here on obtaining old platforms and cartridges, to hacking your old cartidges / games into your modern platform.

All in all a joy to read, and even more fun to implement. Pick it up! Its a good 'un.

Are you an avid game player, programmer or video game journalist? If you are, then this book is for you! Author Chris Kohler, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that shows you everything you need to know to get your retro game on.

Kohler, begins by showing you how to play the real thing, setting up classic game systems, fixing broken hardware, and getting good deals on buying games. Then, the author covers new hardware and software that plays old games, whether on an all-in-one joystick or on the PalyStation 2. He continues by covering MAME from all the angles, learning how to play classic arcade games on the PC and other platforms. Next, the author shows you how to play classic console games. Then, the author brings back those classic computers, showing you how to set them up or emulate them. He also shows you how to play with text adventures. Then, he shows you how to get DOS games to work properly under modern operating systems, or even get DOS up and running again. The author continues by showing you how to play at game design. Finally, the author shows you how to hack around inside games, exploring glitches and bugs to your advantage.

The author of this most excellent book shows you how to emulate classic games on everything from cell phones to computers. More importantly, after reading this book, you will have everything you need to have to rediscover classic games in style.

If you are just getting into embedded systems and you want to understand the myriad of interacting concepts, this book is a good start. You will get a solid overview of the basic elements, such as hardware, software tools and techniques, memory and peripherals, processing controls and design strategies.

As with any embedded systems book, there has to be some alignment with specific hardware and application examples. The author uses these examples to tie together embedded elements, but the integration is a bit choppy.

The book is organized as a general introduction to embedded systems. About half the book describes the system elements and about half provides full system examples. A single book cannot cover all topologies and development platforms, so I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is trying to solve a specific problem on his/her embedded application. For cases like that, your vendors and FAEs are probably your best bet.

So if you are trying to learn embedded systems development, this is a great resource. If you intend to use it to guide a current project or debug an embedded problem, it may become more of a distraction.

This book is the much needed update to the book on embedded systems also published by O'Reilly. This book assumes that the reader already has some programming experience and is at least familiar with the syntax of the C language. It also helps if you have some familiarity with basic data structures, such as linked lists. The book does not assume that you have a great deal of knowledge about computer hardware, but it does expect that you are willing to learn a little bit about hardware along the way. This is, after all, a part of the job of an embedded programmer.

The book contains 14 chapters and 5 appendixes. The chapters can be divided into two parts. The first part consists of Chapters 1 through 5 and is intended mainly for newcomers to embedded systems. These chapters should be read in their entirety and in the order that they appear. This will bring you up to speed quickly and introduce you to the basics of embedded software development. After completing Chapter 5, you will be ready to develop small pieces of embedded software on your own.

The second part of the book consists of Chapters 6 through 14 and discusses advanced topics that are of interest to inexperienced and experienced embedded programmers alike. These chapters are mostly self-contained and can be read in any order. In addition, Chapters 6 through 12 contain example programs that might be useful to you on a future embedded software project.

Throughout the book, the authors strike a balance between specific examples and general information. Minor details have been eliminated making the book more readable, at least in my opinion. You will gain the most from the book if you view the examples primarily as tools for understanding important concepts. Try not to get bogged down in the details of any one circuit board or chip. If you understand the general C programming concepts, you should be able to apply them to any embedded system you encounter. To focus the book's example code on specific concepts, these examples have been left intentionally incomplete. For example, certain include files and redundant variable declarations are omitted. For complete details about the code, you can refer to the full example source code on the book's web site. I discuss this book further in the context of its table of contents:

Chapter 1, Introduction - Explains the field of embedded programming and lays out the parameters of the book, including the reference hardware used for examples.

Chapter 2, Getting to Know the Hardware - Shows how to explore the documentation for your hardware and represent the components you need to interact with in C.

Chapter 3, Your First Embedded Program - Creates a simple blinking light application that illustrates basic principles of embedded programming.

Chapter 4, Compiling, Linking, and Locating - Goes over the ways that embedded systems differ from conventional computer systems during program building steps, covering such issues as cross-compilers.

Chapter 5, Downloading and Debugging - Introduces the tools you'll need in order to iron out problems in both hardware and software.

Chapter 6, Memory - Describes the different types of memory that developers choose for embedded systems and the issues involved in using each type.

Chapter 7, Peripherals - Introduces the notion of a device driver, along with other coding techniques for working with devices.

Chapter 8, Interrupts - Covers this central area of working with peripherals.

Chapter 9, Putting It All Together - Combines the concepts and code from the previous chapter with convenience functions and a main program, to create a loadable, testable application.

Chapter 10, Operating Systems - Introduces common operating system concepts, including tasks and synchronization mechanisms, along with the reasons for adding a real-time operating system.

Chapter 11, eCos Examples - Shows how to use some features of the eCos real-time operating system.

Chapter 12, Embedded Linux Examples - Accomplishes the same task as the previous chapter, but for the embedded Linux operating system.

Chapter 13, Extending Functionality - Describes options for adding buses, networking, and other communication features to a system.

Chapter 14, Optimization Techniques - Describes ways to decrease code size, reduce memory use, and conserve power.

Appendix A, The Arcom VIPER-Lite Development Kit - Describes the board used for the examples in this book and how to order one for yourself.

Appendix B, Setting Up Your Software Development Environment - Gives instructions for loading the software described in this book on your host Windows or Linux computer.

Appendix C, Building the GNU Software Tools - Shows you how to compile the GNU development tools

Appendix D, Setting Up the eCos Development Environment - Shows you how to build an eCos library appropriate for your embedded system so you can compile programs to run on your system.

Appendix E, Setting Up the Embedded Linux Development Environment - Describes how to install the embedded Linux tools for your Arcom system and build and run a program on it.

Programming Embedded Systems with C and GNU Development Tools appears in its second updated edition to include even more real-world and Linux examples, and is a recommended pick for programmers with a familiarity with C. It's been used as a college textbook and covers everything from basic debugging skills to determining the applications and needs of real-time projects. In updating details and clarifying routines, the 2nd edition of Programming Embedded Systems should be considered both a classroom and lending collection standard.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book gives an excellent overview of programming embedded systems. It provides numerous examples of real-world hands-on embedded programming. I'd recommend that you have experience in C. Experience with operating systems concepts (such as interrupt service routines) would also be helpful.

Unlike usual programming books, you won't be able to pick up the book, download something, and start working. You'll need to have an embedded system that you can use. The authors use a system from Arcom that will run you about $300. I've not used it and was very wary about it when I first started reading, but as I read through the various examples I gained a great appreciation for the system. It looks like a great way to gain hands-on experience with embedded programming.

Before getting this book I read through the Lego Mindstorm NXT documentation and felt very lost. I didn't understand the symbols on the schematics and they used strange acronyms (like I2C and PWM). I also have an Iguanaworks USB infrared transceiver. I bought it to use in a MythTV system I am building. This book has enabled me to understand the schematics of both the Mindstorm and the transceiver as well as the documentation of both systems. I now feel ready to do my own embedded systems programming.

That said, I did not like everything in this book. They gloss over areas that I felt would have helped me (such as how to use a JTAG adapter and how to create an interrupt service routine under Linux). There are areas where the writing does not flow well and is redundant. The book switched from using an embedded x86 processor in the first edition to using an ARM processor in the second and there are still references to the old processor.

Even with its faults I am glad I got this book. It filled in many of the gaps that I have as a software engineer who is wanting to learn about embedded systems programming. I feel a whole new world has just been opened up to me and I can't wait to jump in.

get crazy sometimes. I'm a pretty big gamer so I share some of the experiences the writer has. Some of the stories can really get outrageous sometimes but they're really funny. If you're not a gamer, avoid this book. About half of the book may not make any sense to you since the writer assumes alot of things from the reader. I really dig his quiz though. It brought me back to memory lane.

If anything, the author presents an entertaining and comedic take on his experiences with video gaming. Of particular amusement to me is his hilarious take on his early video gaming years. As a young video game player in the early eighties and nineties, I can easily relate to the author's stories of fighting over quarters pizza parlors, the excitement of opening the box of the latest game systems, and challenging the "Street Fighter" masters at the local arcades. The book also includes a pretty comprehensive section on emulation, and the quizzes scattered throughout the book will pick your video game brain. If you're looking for a candid look at a true gamer's experience and want a time capsule of what's gone on in the video game market over the last 2 decades, this book may be for you.

A lot of research and work went into the publishing of this book. It is very comprehensive and makes the processes simple and easy to understand. I will highly recommend it.

The interest in VPC and virtualization, in general, is growing exponentially. I was surprised, then, to find so little (zero) material on this topic. This easily-digestible book certainly served my need to understand the product prior to installation on a critical computer. Other unique books include Mann's coverage of SharePoint web parts.

It is quite surprising how little information has been published for Virtual PC, especially when compared with VMWare documentation, even Microsoft's website is very weak for this product. That said, this is a slick little book, just like the type of manual which used to be included with a software purchase. It will get you started and help you with some basic performance tweaks. The book begins with Virtual PC concepts and then progressively builds from there. Each of the settings is covered and explained. Overall a very well done guide, it is well organized, easy to read and makes a nice operating reference.

I am very happy with the book. It is well written, has great advice, and has a sense of humor. It covers all the pertinent information in a crisp, easy reading style.

This is a $10 PAPER VERSION OF THE HELP FILE ... I have never wasted my time on a negative review before, but I bought this based on the 5 star reviews given by other readers, particularly since the only documentation given by Microsoft is the obligatory "Help" file. I'm sorry to say that most of this information was ALREADY in the Help file. I was looking for scenarios and examples of how to set up simulated networks to give me a quick start, but INSTEAD I've had to go SEARCHING for articles and information on the INTERNET. It's really too bad that Microsoft takes their customers (support) for granted, when the purchase price is less than the usual $1000 or the buyer isn't a locked-in "corporate account" ... This is my first and last book from Rational Press.

This book was ok, but you need borland C++ unless you want to do some major porting... The back said that you only need borland OR microsoft c, but that is a lie. The only reasion I gave it a 4 was becouse of this. You could tell that a program wrote it and not an author. If you want a book on os programing get it

The author really made the text flow by providing a high level view and then peeling back each layer to reveal the working of the kernel. In addition, he judiciously intermixed, text (historical, theoretical, practical, opinions) with diagrams, and code segments, which made the book easy to read, and concepts easy to follow.

The code was written in a clean and consistant style, amply annotated with comments which explain what the code does, as opposed to just paraphrasing it. A student or inexperienced "C" coder will see the practical uses of portability techniques, ifdef debugs, type defs, etc., which are frequently ignored in academic works.

Lastly, I'm glad the author resisted the current trend of dumping everything but the kitchen sink into a text just to see how much shelf space he could take up (most professionals are to busy for that nonsense). This is a nuts-and-bolts approach; what are the concepts, why is done, how is done, here's the code (and its all on a companion disk).

If your looking to learn about DOS, kernel implementations, or some good "C" code examples/idioms, this book is highly recommended.

This is my second pass on this book.And each pass gives more pleasure.Excellently designed while obeying ms-dos compatability.Excellent explanations.Highly commented programs.I have got the overall picture.But the f-node related functions are somehow harder to understand and needs more explanation.I have made pass 1 on Podanoffsky's dissecting dos.This book is much better than the latter.If there had been a table showing the functions and the files they are in it would have been better. I am looking for a similar book on a multiprogramming OS and as easy to grasp as this one.

I've said it many times. The series Alien Nine is an absolute materpiece that anybody should read. Emulators is a sequel to the three volumed manga.
Kasumi, Yuri, and Kumi are now in junior high, and still are alien Fighters. They meet up with a girl named Monami, who is a Sybiote, like Kumi and Kasumi (I'll say that since it is a sequel) and is fused with a completely different alien then a 'Borg/Drill Clan.
If you were left out of Alien Nine's first three, do not read this. You will be utterly confused beyond all reason. Vets (ones who read the series, anime viewers will probably be in the same boat as the newcomers) will be a little confused but get the basics of the plot.
Everything is more hectic. Things, THINGS, happen. Many, many things. It's more confusing this time around, and you must read it more than once. That's the point of a manga, though, ne?
I, Scarfed Kai-kun, also must say that this isn't as good as the first three. Still, it's a good read for A.9 fans. Seriously.
There are also some good ministories... heheh... ^__^

This rare species on the topic of FEPI will probably be used more than ever before as we look towards web enabling the legacy systems. This book gives excellent coverage of the required topics for working with FEPI in CICS, and on how to use it as a communication facilitator from CICS

Reviewing books is a very subjective process. The review is colored by personal reaction as your level of expertise runs up against who the authors and the editors expected as the prospective audience for the book.

Given that my level of knowledge differs from another person who may be interested in a book, I will try to provide as much info as I can so that an interested party can make their own judgment about a particular book. To that end, I will assign a pass/fail grade to each chapter. The pass/fail grade will be assigned based on the following context and assumptions:

* The book title. What specific technology does it focus on?
* Are the examples and explanations clear and to the point?
* Evaluation of the topics in the context of the title and intended audience of the book.

Chapter 1: Introduction to the wireless web and the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit

This was a rather long chapter (58 pages). It starts out with a general introduction to the various mobile devices and the their limitations regarding connectivity, screen size, memory and processing power. Along the way some rather interesting information on items such as Connectivity options and a basic introduction on how WML is delivered to Microbrowsers are covered. This was well written and I rather liked the background that was covered.

The next section of the chapter gets into the actual Mobile controls themselves with sample code snippets. The controls cover the gamut from the general input controls to list and validation controls.

All code samples are in VB.Net

Grade: Pass

Chapter 2: Introduction to the Microsoft .Net Framework

A fundamental assumption that I made when reviewing a book that is focused on Mobile .NET is that the reader already knows what the .NET framework is and also that the MMIT is an extension of ASP.NET. In short, I am assuming that the reader is already familiar with both of these ideas/technologies and does not need it repeated to them.

Well, this chapter does just that. It covers everything from getting and installing the framework to explaining what a web service is. I personally found this chapter redundant. Getting an introduction to the what the framework is was NOT something I was looking for in this book. In addition, there was no attempt to slant the explanation to anything remotely mobile related.

Grade: Fail

Chapter 3: Learning ASP.Net Covered the ASP.NET architecture and the web controls.

Items covered ranged from the usage of a DataGrid(!) to Validator controls. Again, I found this chapter redundant.
I am NOT looking for an intro to ASP.Net in a book that is supposed to talk about .net mobile capabilities.

Grade: Fail

Chapter 4: Using Mobile Device Emulators

A very detailed chapter that talked about the various mobile emulators that are out there, where to get them, installation and configuration instructions etc.
A very valuable chapter for any mobile developer that is targeting multiple devices.

Grade: Pass

Chapter 5: Developing mobile applications using the MMIT
This chapter was a disappointment for me. Given the chapter title, I really was expecting to get into the guts of the mobile controls at this point.

But only superficial examples are given. A majority of the information in this chapter seems to be a rehash of the MMIT documentation on MSDN. One of the more powerful controls that is present in the MMIT is the objectList. Beyond a written description of what it is, NO further information is provided. Very disappointing!

Grade: Fail

Chapter 6: Data Access with ADO.NET

One of the beauties of the MMIT, is that you can use all of the same data access technology that you use with Web forms and windows forms. Given that, I again found this chapter redundant in the context of Mobile applications.

I do NOT need an explanation of the ADO.NET object model, not to mention info on how to update/delete using ADO.Net. It did not teach me anything new that was relevant to my reason for getting the book in the first place, namely learning about Mobile .net technologies.

Grade: Fail

Chapter 7: End-to-End Microsoft Mobile Solutions

This chapter went into great detail about how to install and configure the Microsoft Mobile Information Server and how to configure Exchange 2000 to work with this product.

At the end of reading this chapter, I was ... confused. I had no idea why this chapter was in a book that was titled .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide. Yes, the Mobile Information Server is a Microsoft technology that does allow you to deploy a mobile solution that allows you to read your exchange inbox from a phone and various other capabilities. BUT, it has nothing to do with MMIT!

Grade: Fail

Chapter 8: Creating a Mobile Movie Ticket Purchasing Application

I liked this chapter!. It gave extensive documentation on System/Process flow, Database schema, components that were built to abstract data access as well as a UI storyboard for the application. Then it got into the code.

It is a rather straight forward application, but the supporting design documentation made it very useful from a developers perspective especially as there was discussion of the code and design tradeoffs. In addition, it also provided extensive screenshots of how the app would look in a variety of devices.

Grade: Pass

Conclusion:

Based on my personal criteria, 3 out of 8 chapters passed. As mentioned above, your needs in what you are looking for in a book might vary, but hopefully I have provided enough info for you to make up your own mind.