Table of Contents
Tapwave Zodiac
Tapwave's Zodiac was the biggest attempt at turning PalmOS into a gaming platform, and it's one that almost succeeded. Launching on November 1st, 2003 in the USA, the Zodiac was very successful at launch, but was unable to keep it's momentum past 2004 with the release of the Nintendo DS. When it comes to specifications, the Zodiac contains a Motorola i.MX-1 ARM9 CPU, 10 MB of ram, and either 32 or 128 MB of internal storage depending on the model. Resolution-wise, the screen is 480×320 with 16-bit color. Since it was a PalmOS device, it also functioned relatively well as a PDA and “media player”, although plenty of games released for it on physical media w/o compatibility on other devices, which has the Zodiac firmly enter the category of “game console”.
Operating Systems (Motorola i.MX-1 ARM9)
Console emulation (potential)
Whether these emulators support operating systems for these consoles is unknown; it must be looked into further. Consoles without meaningful OSes are not included.
https://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/zodiac.cgi?0,0,0,0,5
NEC TurboGrafx-16 – GuineaPig 015.1 DreamEngine Demo, Little John Palm OS 1.2
Nintendo Entertainment System – Little John Palm OS 1.2
Super Nintendo Entertainment System – Little John Palm OS 1.2
Nintendo Game Boy (Color) – Little John Palm OS 1.2, Firestorm Demo
Nintendo Game Boy Advance – Firestorm Demo
Sega Genesis – GuineaPig 015.1, Little John Palm OS 1.2
Sega Master System – GuineaPig 0.15.1, Little John Palm OS 1.2
Sony PlayStation 1 – PalmPSX
Emulation Nest
This device runs an operating system which is known to emulate various devices with EOPs. See the AmigaOS, DOS, and MSX pages.
Linux?
Tapwave had a linux but it got lost.
No trace of this outside of a forum post from Spring 2012. Could use Garux?
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/official-tapwave-zodiac-thread.52123/page-4
PC emulation (potential)
Whether these emulators support operating systems for these computers is unknown; it must be looked into further. Computers without meaningful OSes are not included.
https://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/zodiac.cgi?0,0,0,0,5
Atari STs – CaSTaway 1.1.2u
Commodore 64 – FrodoZ 0.1
Commodore Amigas – MyUAE 0.8.27
Sinclair ZX Spectrums – Zspectrum 1.1
x86 – PalmDosBox
Stock OS
What came with the system. Due to it’s PDA+Console nature, this has a fair amount of usefulness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz3nNKQRnNQ (bad video)
Internet
Wi-Fi SD Card
Web Browser is already included on the CD-ROM shipped with every Zodiac.
Included a web browser and “enhanced mail application”.
Version & Revision Guide
For general information, see the Game Console Revisions Overview.
Versions
There are two versions of this console, arranged chronologically.
Zodiac 1 (2003-2005)
One of the few, if not the only PalmOS-based games console to release. Featured a variety of cartridge and freeware games, interesting SDIO addons, PDA features, and more. Easily identified by it's case being in a lighter shade of grey. Came with 32MB of storage rather than 128MB.
Zodiac 2 (2003-2005)
Almost identical to the Zodiac 1, except for slightly better specifications. Easily identified by it's case being in a darker shade of grey. Came with 128MB of storage rather than 32MB.
http://videogamekraken.com/tapwave-zodiac
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapwave_Zodiac
https://www.engadget.com/products/tapwave/zodiac/1/ (Zodiac 1 color)
https://www.retroplace.com/pics/zod/packshots/68264--tapwave-zodiac.png (Zodiac 2 color)