Stephen Dobbs

I built Albert because I wanted to experiment with porting some of my own game code to other platforms, and couldn't find a dedicated emulator for the Tatung Einstein. The only other option, MAME, can run Einstein games, but it's fiddly to configure just for that. Albert gives it a proper Windows interface instead - insert and load a disc image in a couple of clicks - plus a debugger mode for anyone doing development work on the machine.

I should be upfront that I can't take credit for the actual coding: Albert was built with Claude Code over a weekend, and my role was confined to directing, testing and orchestrating the development. I think that's worth being transparent about, since AI-assisted development is a cause of contention in the retro gaming community. That said, if someone had wanted to hand-code a dedicated Einstein emulator, I'm sure it would have come into existence years ago - it hadn't. At least now the source is out there for anyone who wants to take it and build something better.

My hope is that releasing Albert generates a bit more interest in this obscure but charming computer, and maybe even encourages some new game development for it.