As of this writing, while the C64 emulator app still shows up in the iTunes App Store, attempting to buy it results in the above error message:

The item you tried to buy is no longer available

The availability of the item changed while you were using the store. The same item may be available with a different price or elsewhere on the store.

Whether this is just a glitch in the system, or a result of Apple pulling the app due to the BASIC interpreter still being accessible via a workaround (which would likely be a violation of the SDK license agreement), is unknown. If the latter, hopefully the developer can update and return the app to the store ASAP. Given how fast Apple has been processing Facebook updates lately, it shouldn’t take long to get a revision up, right?

[Thanks to @clayrussell for the head's up!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

C64 No Longer Available in App Store?

C64 ($4.99 – iTunes link], a Commodore 64 emulator for the iPhone (and iPod touch) is now available from the App Store, despite having been previously rejected by Apple. FCC spotlight? Phil Schiller intervention? Simple change of heart? Sounds more like a slight change of code, says the C64 blog:

Ultimately, BASIC has been removed for this release; however, we hope that working with Apple further will allow us to re-enable it.

(If you’re dying to get your BASIC on, however, reader Stooovie let us know you can still access it by enabling “always show full keyboard”, starting a game, paging over to the EXTRA keyboard, and then tapping RESET. Boom, dropped into BASIC with a ready-prompt — though we clearly don’t remember enough C64 BASIC to see if it actually does anything or just sits there blinking. Commenters?)

But, as they say, who cares about BASIC, C64’s focus is games and it ships with Dragons Den, Le Mans, Jupiter Lander, Arctic Shipwreck and Jack Attack. More games will be available in the future (via in-app purchase, we believe).

The interface is gorgeous, the passion level obviously high, and the C64 is a classic (as is the Amiga, cough, want-it-next, cough), so for fans of any of those qualities — or more likely all of them — check it out and let us know what you think.

Demo video and more screen shots after the break!

[Thanks Stooovie for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: C64 Commodore 64 Emulator for iPhone — Can Hack Basic!

Zodttd (via Gizmodo) whets our appetites for iPhone 3GS jailbreaks to come:

I now have psx4iphone running very speedy on the 3GS. It’s at the point where Final Fantasy 7 is fullspeed at very least without sound. The build is rough around the edges, as you can’t switch games without restarting the emulator, and only memory card saves are currently working, no save states just yet. Both these issues are being worked on.

For those not into the jailbreak scene, that also whets our appetite for higher-end gaming to come as well…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3GS Power a Boon for Jailbreak Console Emulators

Despite a brief mention in our forums and I believe some chatting during a podcast episode (though the exact one I can’t recall), we haven’t discussed the StyleTap emulator much here at TiPb. Here’s what it is: an emulator for the PalmOS that allows you to run their tens of thousands of apps on the iPhone or the iPod Touch. Back in February, StyleTap had created a version of it that they successfully demo’ed on a Jailbroken iPod Touch. Now we hear word that they really and truly intend to release it to the world as an official iPhone app.

Don’t laugh – there are truly a ton of Palm apps out there — many of which fall into really cool niche categories that are unlikely to be duplicated anytime soon as native iPhone apps. Stuff like Mobile Gadgeteer Matt Miller’s personal fave, a Tide Tool app that lets you check the status of the ocean tides around the world.

Thanks to Cherryhead25 for the tip!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

StyleTap PalmOS Emulator Coming to iPhone