The FFVII Mobile Game Initiative (2004-2008 Era)

R

RaichuBender

Rookie Adventurer
I found several text strings within the BREW SDK files that seem to suggest that apps can be "recalled" and removed without the user's consent:

%s has been recalled and removed from your phone.
%s has been recalled and removed from your phone. Expect further information shortly.

This could simply mean that apps that have a subscription model would delete themselves automatically. (I'm hoping that's NOT the case!)
The phone also expects to still be able to download content again, which of course it can't no longer.

File Memory Full. To make enough storage space to install this app, the following app(s) will be temporarily disabled: %s. You can restore disabled apps by simply starting them, at no additional purchase cost. Proceed?

Just a warning to be extra careful about what you do. I'm too afraid to even do anything now, besides trying to get the BC demo. xD
 
NaoyaShinota

NaoyaShinota

Pro Adventurer
Shademp said:
@NaoyaShinota
Thank you for your post.

DoCoMo used to host some i-appli development tools on their official website. Fortunately sheepytina downloaded these files before the page was taken down. They shared with me those files, including an i-appli archive and a JDK for iappliTool. These resources might already be known to you but I'm linking them here now just in case.

- i-appli archive + i-mode development tools + JDK for iappliTool (199MB zip)

The tools include a limited i-mode emulator, if memory serves me right. I have personally never tried to use it, but sheepytina (who originally posted these resources on the now defunct Assembler Games website) can still be found on Twitter if you're looking for help on getting the emulator running.


One of the big walls when searching for these needles in a haystack is the difficulty to keep up the energy and continue asking around. I've sent hundreds and hundreds of emails to different sellers on eBay, asking around for English versions of lost Square Enix mobile games. Only a few ever replied back and none ever led to lost games being unearthed. Eventually it just got too tiring and it's been a long time now since I sent such inquiries. But if you can perform the same task on JP auction sites, even if only for a little while, then that's way better than doing nothing at all. Good luck. :salute:
Click to expand...

I went back to that website you told me about. And here is a strange thing. I tried downloading from that website from the archive one (wayback machine) and i was able to download it. So this gives me a theory. BCFFVII website was taken down. And the service ended, what if the phones had a way to run waybackmachine on it, and visit the website that BCFFVII accessed? P900iV and other phones when they access the game they have to go to some address right? it could work maybe it won't. This is probably just wishful thinking at my point. basically here is what I'm thinking. What if square never removed the location of the files just removed the permission to access the website. meaning maybe their is still a chance of getting the file.
 
Shademp

Shademp

420
General post about the state of emulation and preservation of old mobile games.

- Kahvibreak
Kahvibreak is a collection of Java 2 Micro Edition mobile phone games, presented using the Flashpoint Launcher and emulated via the J2ME emulators KEmulator and FreeJ2ME (the most appropiate emulator is picked for the job).
Click to expand...
As a person who knows the pain of trying to find the proper emulator and settings for mid-2000s mobile games, this project is a godsend. While J2ME is not the same thing as DoJa, DoCoMo's version of Java used for i-mode games, the Discord server of Kahvibreak has channels devoted to i-mode and BREW. There is a lot of people here with obscure knowledge in both hardware and software and there is a healthy amount of initiative here on making sure resources get saved at archive.org.

- YouTube user Ruwaga is uploading recordings of still-existing i-mode games
While i-mode won't shut down completely until 2026, purchasing new games and playing will apparently be impossible from November 2021 and onwards. In response to this, Ruwaga is devoting themselves to downloading and recording extensive gameplay of countless i-mode games. This is a massive undertaking and one we can't thank them for enough. Users over at the Kahvibreak Discord are making sure to save these YouTube uploads and are making them available at archive.org. Of course, Square Enix- and Final Fantasy Mobile already dissolved so Ruwaga has no way of acquiring and playing those i-mode games.

- Rockman EXE mobile games
A portion of the Mega Man fandom is deeply devoted to securing some lost Rockman mobile games and they have actually seen some success. One can expect this group to be more secretive about some of their efforts however, since a fan remake of Rockman EXE: Phantom Network was shut down after Capcom intervened. I suppose we should be thankful that Square Enix have not shut down the unofficial Before Crisis remake.
 
NaoyaShinota

NaoyaShinota

Pro Adventurer
Post about some files, data extraction and etc

Files: I have obtained the P900i drivers as well as the PC設定ソフト and Initial Menu (don't know what it is). pg 441 of the P900iV Applications manual explains more details on what these programs do.
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/binary/pdf/support/trouble/manual/download/P900iV_E_AP_All.pdf
This doesn't mean it is only for the P900iV, it is also avaialbe for some other phones and I have searched high and low and couldn't find them anywhere so i hope these files help you with what you need. However it seems that it can be a helping stone of some kind to connect some FOMA phones to the internet.

PC software: https://archive.org/details/foma-pc-initial-menu
P900i Drivers: https://archive.org/details/p-900i-usb-driver

Data Extraction: I am currently working on P900iV and finding a way to enable complete folder access. It will be hard but I am willing to do this. Mainly some games that i have are considered lost (sadly not BCFFVII but I am still looking). I do plan on doing this for more of the FOMA phones. My goal is that you don't have to crack open your phone just to extract some files. But do keep in mind that this is tough and a learning process for me. It will take some time. I have some wonderful and talented individuals helping me.
 
Shademp

Shademp

420
@Radigar
*likes and retweets*
It's good that people are spreading the word. Ruwaga's dedication is absolutely amazing.


Ruwaga showing off the JP version of Sonic Jump. This is one of my favorite mobile games of all time. I've played multiple J2ME versions of Sonic Jump and it's an absolute diamond among an overwhelmingly huge pile of garbage from the mid-2000s mobile game era.
 
Last edited:
Radigar

Radigar

Pro Adventurer
Haha I forgot that @Shademp already knows most of this great projects, sorry if already was mentioned in the thread.

I know that at this time is nearly imposible get something new, but see this kind of projects make me smile and dream about it.

By the way Shad your were so lucky for get the chance to try this version of Sonic Jump, seems a nice game :)
 
Shademp

Shademp

420
Each of Ruwaga's videos contain the following description.
・ガラケーの画面録画方法
docomoのSH-01CはHDMI出力があるのでこちらを使い、
【SH-01C】→【KanaaN HDMIスプリッター】→【GV-HDREC】
と、接続し録画しています。
Click to expand...
How to record the screen of a cell phone
The docomo SH-01C has an HDMI output, so I used this to record the screen.
SH-01C]→[KanaaN HDMI splitter]→[GV-HDREC
I'm using this to connect and record.
Click to expand...
So they are definitely playing it on an actual cell phone, an SH-01C, and somehow their recording software divides the screen into the gameplay screen on the left and general phone status screen on the right.
 
NaoyaShinota

NaoyaShinota

Pro Adventurer
Thanks to @RaichuBender he helped me in finding a W51H. I am now able to play the demo version of Before Crisis FFVII. And it is so much fun. The phone does require a AU SIM card to access the game. So far it seems to be any AU SIM card, but results may very. If their are those who do want to find this game it is on the W51H (or at least should be) you can find this type of phone on Buyee through Mercai, Yahoo auction Japan or other auction websites. But so far the demo let’s you play as Rod (Male). You get to play chapter one. Some features are not accessible which makes sense seeing as how it is a demo. I will still continue to do my search for BCFFVII. I hope to backup the demo someday.
 
NaoyaShinota

NaoyaShinota

Pro Adventurer
I do plan on recording footage of the gameplay of the demo. It will take some time to hunt down stuff related to the W51H that can help me record. Especially since it’s 2021. Not cause of the pandemic or anything...maybe some shipping problems, but because the fact that I’m trying to search for accessories and stuff from 2012 and later. I even had trouble with finding a charger for this phone. Here is a photo of the game. Not much I know. But we have some proof now that it does exist on the W51H. CF5719E6-F225-463F-822C-7D3562EC7E8C.jpeg
 
cold_spirit

cold_spirit

he/him
AKA
Alex T
Being able to say you're the only person to play Before Crisis since 2018 is beyond cool imo :neo:

So, I've read all the previous posts, but I still know next to nothing about how you're doing this. One question: if you (miraculously) found other phones with BC content downloaded to them, would you be able to play that content? I know the whole game isn't downloaded at once, but could you potentially find and play a chapter or part of a chapter?
 
Shademp

Shademp

420
Thank you for sharing this momentous occasion with us, @NaoyaShinota. Congratulations!

:success:

After all the stories of reset- and cleared W51H phones, even those that had been delivered under the pretense of being "untouched", hope was low on ever finding a phone that hadn't seen its EZ applications deleted. Hopefully the people working behind the scenes will be able to find a non-destructive way of extracting the EZ app data from the phone so that anyone might become in possession of the Before Crisis demo file(s). I know the search is on-going for a clean extraction method.

@Odysseus
The game can't be extracted yet without also destroying the phone, but I know people who are working on making smooth extraction a reality.

@cold_spirit
The Before Crisis demo in the W51H phone is unique in that it's an offline demo, not requiring any online connection.

Meanwhile, the "normal" game required an online connection to play. If you didn't pay the subscription to NTT Docomo and then the Final Fantasy Mobile subscription on top of that, the game would become inaccessible. Some game data might still be on the phone, like the most recently downloaded chapters or chapter segments, but you wouldn't have a way to play it. The only way to play would be by deep-hacking the phone or extracting the data to your PC and then somehow emulating it. Both are expected to require a lot of reverse-engineering.
 
Last edited:
LicoriceAllsorts

LicoriceAllsorts

Donator
Years ago when I started university, at my fresher's dinner I had to sit at the High Table next to the Regius Professor of Latin Literature, a very old man who was unbelievably excited about the recent discovery, in the Egyptian desert, of nine lines of poetry by some obscure Roman poet. "Nine lines of Gallus! Nine whole lines!"

Seeing that clip from BC, I now understand what he must have been feeling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom