Project i-mode / EZweb, to preserve the dying unpreservable

There used to be an iMode service for PlayStation but it shut down a long time ago. Don't know if you can still do anything with that cable at all, let alone anything useful.

http://www.netfarm.ne.jp/idomov4/
^ Another emulator here

I really doubt it'll be possible to download i-mode apps with any emulator, though. You need to pay an i-mode subscription fee to even do so from a phone. Some of the apps even connect to the network to check your subscription each time they're run.

There are plenty of emulators that will run (most of) the games, though. They're just java apps (or sometimes flash) afaik. There are some to be found online, so some people presumably know how to decrypt the phone files, or there are models that don't encrypt them in the first place. I tried to read up on it but couldn't find much. Japanese people don't really talk about that sort of thing online, I suppose.

 

I admit I know very little about the i-mode service as a whole (only learned about it last week in fact) but the ps1 adapter got me a little excited because I guess I imagined it worked by allowing you to play i-mode games on your tv through your ps1? And if so would that make dumping any easier? How wrong am I, lol?

Otherwise it seems the only way this would be possible is to acquire a used phone with the software already in it and attempt a flash dump, something I know even less about. It doesn't seem like anyone even tried to yet. Is the Japanese emulation scene not as big? I'd hoped I can find answers on niche Japanese gaming boards but my Jap is very novice still.

 

I was able to locate the APK. I can confirm it is what it says it is but I didn't install it.

I want to find a safe way to do so or if somebody has a safe way to confirm the APK then I'll gladly pass the link along to whomever has use for it.

Hopefully finding the APK put this project one step closer to becoming a reality.

 

I can install it on my old phone and report back if needed.

 

I have the PS1 i-mode disc and cable, it's only a webbrowser and email client.

 

A web browser for PS1? Quaint, I knew of no such thing. Does it allow 'open' web access (ie type any URL) or just i-mode?

 

Question is how does it even connect to the web? Also is it possible to run i-mode games through something like Kemulator, or any j2me capable phone?

 

You connect a phone to the PS1 using the included cable, which goes to the 2nd controller port.
2 videos about it:

 

I don't believe KEmulator supports i-mode games, and J2ME phones definitely don't since i-mode software uses a different type of Java called "DoJa". However, you can set up the i-appli development environment and run games that way, which is better than nothing. Most other i-mode emulators just emulate the browser functions rather than the actual Java apps.

The main problem is actually finding the software, since there wasn't rampant piracy on i-mode like there was with J2ME, and there seems to be a bit of DRM in place too. Also, don't quote me on this, but from what I understand, many i-mode games were launched via the browser (like PC Java games, e.g. RuneScape) so I'm not even sure if many people would have them saved to their phones, if they even still have them. And some publishers still have their i-mode game service still up, but others don't.

Of course, there's still so much that I don't know about it, despite all the research I've been doing.

 

I had the nec n21i here in germany back in the days. The soundchip could play the NES mario theme just like if you were sititng in front of a NES. I miss it...even if imode was dead boring here in germany.

 

The main problem is to decrypt/crack the app files, which I can't imagine is even that hard. The majority of games are downloaded and run off the phone, not via the browser.