Damn, just typed this long post and lost it. Oh well.

So anyway, before my previous deployment I purchased an IPAQ mostly to serve as my portable entertainment device.

Back then I installed a variety of software such as programs to help me convert and watch DVDs on my PDA, games such as Zuma, Ms Pac Man, Galaga, Warefare Inc, etc, Pocket Music Player, etc.

Quite awhile ago I had heard about SCUMM-VM and the Pocket PC version. I just didn't have the extra SD cards to copy my CDs of Full Throttle and The Dig to. Well, I recently picked up a couple 2GB cards with this program in mind and they run flawlessly in landscape mode on my small device. Now I'm considering searching for more of these old games to enjoy on my PDA.

Also, I recently did a search for Donkey Kong for Pocket PC and discovered that there are a variety of freely downloadable emulators available for PDAs. Now I know that the topic of specific emulators and roms is taboo so I won't name any specific programs, games, systems, or sites but I can say that installing an emulator for a rather old and popular system on my PDA has been one of the worst things I could have done for my productivity at work.

Please, post your mobile device entertainment solutions.

Let's put it this way: NetHack on PSP.

This could keep me entertained all day if it came to that. I've also got a few movies for it and other games (GTA Vice city).

You know, I did install that but didn't put the effort into learning how to play it. Of course I know it is an old classic and it is almost blasphemous for me not to play it. Any general tips for how I can better get interested in it? I know that is a wierd question and not worded well. To expand, I basically start it, read through the opening text, and then get to a map and I'm like, "now what"

Now you repeatedly die in various unexpected ways.

First, read this. It will give you enough information to get going without spoiling much. Every item is either blessed, uncursed, or cursed (in addition to being unidentified). You usually want to identify the blessed/uncursed/cursed status of these items before wearing or using them. It's always a bummer to wield a cursed two-handed sword.

Another common source of pestilence for noobs is food poisoning. It's completely avoidable if you know what you're doing. Corpses are only good to eat 50 turns or so after death (except for two kinds), then they go bad. So only eat freshly-killed stuff. If you do happen to get food poisoning, #pray and your god may cure you. Unless you're a valkyrie or barbarian, it's a good idea to nurture your starting pet. He's a lot more powerful than the early stuff you'll be facing. Just keep him well-fed and keep him with you (he must be in an adjacent square to you as you move to another level or he will remain on the previous level). If a charmed monster remains on a different level than you for too long, it will become wild.

Never quaff potions or read scrolls unless you've either identified them or price-IDed out the harmful ones. Reading a scroll of amnesia or quaffing a potion of polymorph at the wrong time can really ruin your day. If anything else, just remember potions and scrolls are incredibly powerful and can either make or ruin your day. You just have to kind of remember that object-identification is one of the many endearing qualities of NetHack. You have to develop strategies for identifying them. Noting how much shopkeepers offer for stuff is one such strategy. And make sure to #name things to reflect your newfound knowledge.

Other than that, just get as low an AC as possible, it's probably your most important stat. Pay attention to your resistances. Don't eat poisonous monsters (kobolds, nagas, some spiders and snakes among others) unless you are poison resistant.

I don't want to give too much away because it's such a rich game and figuring stuff out is part of the charm. Like, I just about wet myself when I discovered the blindfold/telepathy strategy.

It's a very deep, fun game. I've been playing for years and I've only come close to ascending once (damn you giant eels!)

Is it that good?

I was addicted to Cave Story for the past week, but it's getting dull and boring now.

More adventures you want to check out for ScummVM:
By LucasArts (for which ScummVM was originally developed):
Maniac Mansion
Maniac Mansion 2: Day of the Tentacle
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
Sam and Max Hit the Road
The Secret of Monkey Island
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
The Curse of Monkey Island
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Loom

Other games:
Simon the Sorcerer
Simon the Sorcerer 2
Broken Sword
Broken Sword 2
Gobliiins
Gobliins 2
Goblins 3
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

Free games:
Beneath a Steel Sky
Flight of the Amazon Queen

And many more I've probably forgotten or never played.