Ads From The Past 131: Captain America and the Avengers (Genesis)

Here is an awesome ad! Now, this is a really awesome ad if you ask me. It makes me wanna start collecting comic books! Also, I didn't know the game came with something extra, pretty neat indeed.

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Emulation News 037: Updates for 4-30-11

So here are today's updates as usual be sure to check them out. Have a good weekend!


MESS SVN r11388

"r11388
[ABC802, ABC806] Added ROM dump for ABC55/77 keyboard. [robcfg, Curt Coder]"

Source

Wine v1.3.19

"- New sound driver architecture for MMDevAPI.
- Better support for relative mouse events in DInput.
- Debugger support for the ARM platform.
- Various improvements in D3DX9.
- More MSVC runtime functions.
- Various bug fixes."

Source

GameEX v11.70

"- Fixes theme picker causing crash within the interface.
- Fixes Screensaver issues if running GameExtender or if other emulators set to run with screensaver."

Source

Dolphin SVN r7495

"r7495
Add a partial fix for 4xSSAA in D3D9 (issue 4090)."

Source

Bsnes v078

"bsnes v078 released 2011-04-30

Finally, a new release. I have been very busy finishing up SNES box, cartridge and PCB scanning plus cataloguing the data, however this release still has some significant improvements.

Most notably would be randomization on startup. This will help match the behavior of real hardware and uninitialized memory + registers. It should help catch homebrew software that forgets to initialize things properly. Of course, I was not able to test the complete library, so it is possible that if I've randomized anything that should be constant, that this could cause a regression. You can disable this randomization for netplay or to work around any incompatibilities by editing bsnes.cfg and setting snes.random to false.

The GUI also received some updates. Widget sizes are now computed based on font sizes, giving it a perfectly native look (because it is native.) I've also added a hotkey remapping screen to the input settings. Not only can you remap inputs to controllers now, but those who did not know the hotkey bindings can now quickly see which ones exist and what they are mapped to.

Please enjoy.
Changelog:
memory and most registers are now randomly initialized on power-up
fixed auto joypad polling issue in Super Star Wars
fixed .nec and .rtc file extensions (they were missing the dot) [krom]
PPU/accuracy now clears overscan region on any frame when it is disabled
PPU/compatibility no longer auto-blends hires pixels (use NTSC filter for this)
added hotkey remapping dialog to input settings window
added a few new hotkeys, including quick-reset
phoenix API now auto-sizes widgets based on font sizes
file dialog once again remembers previously selected file when possible
updated mightymo's cheat code database to April 19th release"

Source

ProGammaX v1.04.6

"-fixed bugs."

Source

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Ads From The Past 130: The Humans (PC)

This is the ad previous to the console release of this game. Apparently it looks like lots of fun but I'll have to eventually see and play it for myself to have a definite conclusion. I do feel bad for that caveman that's about to go from some hot pleasure to some big pain...ouch!

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Retro Game of the Week 078: Ehrgeiz (PS1)

One of the more obscure games with Final Fantasy characters came out on the Playstation. With Squaresoft growing power with such great titles as Final Fantasy VII and Saga Frontier it was time to take it to the ring with their own style. Enter Ehrgeiz! With such a unique way that rivals those of Tobal who of course was also made by Squaresoft. The game itself is a joy to play especially as there are different ways to play it. You have the basic story mode which you'll pick a character (including Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth) To battle against others to the end. I played through it and it's quite an enjoyable experience especially if you find the bugs to make the fights even easier. The does show the Squaresoft brand with the quest mode as you can pick from two characters that will go to the dungeon, level up, and explore. This is where this game hits the high point. If you want an incredible explorer experience with RPG elements, then this is all you need to look for.



The game's music is lacking as there isn't any. the game is as quiet a game will get. I'm not sure if this is the same deal with the Japanese release but we'll just leave it at that. The sound effects though are enduring and sound like how they are supposed to. Even the Final Fantasy characters have voices believe it or not which are brief but understandable.

The graphics are very good and sharp. The game does deliver some of the best graphics for its day. Squaresoft did a good job making the characters look how they are supposed to. Just think about this, remember how the Final Fantasy VII characters looked in the game? Well, look at them in this game and tell me they don't look better. Tifa's boobs are yummier than ever!

The gameplay as I mentioned before is quite enjoyable. You can play through the story mode in less than half an hour but the quest mode will take a lot longer. You have to use your best skills in order to get through the quest. But, the controller will take you to wherever you need to go, that's for sure!

As for replay value, you have a lot to replay here. If you want to beat the story mode with all the different characters, you can do that although you'll battle through all of them in the same order which makes it repetitive. This brings me to the fact that you are better off playing the quest mode as there are different places to explore and it will keep you interested over and over. But once it's over, you are welcomed to try again.

The big showdown is waiting! Cloud vs Sephiroth!

Overall it's a great game that you shouldn't miss and even though it could be a little pricey on the bay, I wouldn't mind spending the extra bucks for it. I hope you enjoyed this week's retro game of the week. Until next week!

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Retro Gaming News 027: Grandia 2 PC Italian translation patch released!!!

"After eight years ( yeah…8 years) of blood, tears, works over this great, neverending game the italian translation patch is finally out. It comes with a self-installing file containing translations and graphics and a stand-alone files containing re-encoded and subtitled videos."

Source

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Emulation News 036: Updates for 4-29-11

Happy Friday and hope you have a great weekend! Don't forget to check out today's emulation news! ^_^

Atari800 v2.2.1

"** 2.2.1 released on 2011-04-28

2011-04-28 Petr Stehlik
* configure.ac: generalization for sound configuration

* ui.c, videomode.c, sdl/input.c: slight optimization for snprintf()

* monitor.c, rdevice.c, screen.[ch], sio.c, ui.c, ui_basic.c, util.c,
videomode.c: replace unsafe sprintf() with snprintf()

* sdl/input.c: fix for over-optimized LPT TRIG, sprintf() removed

* README.1ST, atari800.spec, DOC/README, DOC/NEWS, atari.h, util/export:
updated for a new release


2011-04-27 Petr Stehlik
* DOC/ChangeLog: blank lines added, "src/" from filenames removed

* ide.c: fixes for IDE emulation from Ivo - fix for
8-bit mode with an odd number of reads and adds a command line option
for enabling CF mode (slightly different from normal HD mode)

* configure.ac: fixes non-SDL sound (example: X11 target) for Linux and BeOS
and also adds support for SDL sound on Falcon and other platforms
(like for example *BSD, which should fix the Debian Atari800 package)

* debian/*: updated for a new release, dropping non-SDL binary packages.


2011-04-23 Kostas Nakos
* android/*: Speed up fileselector on orientation update & bugfix mount/insert"

Source


WinArcadia & AmiArcadia v15.7

"* "Settings|Speed|Adjust..." command.
* Arcadia: improved PDC/UDC demultiplexing (improves Space Attack,
Space Mission, Space Vultures, The End).
* Arcadia: sprite editor can now view PDCs.
* New debugger CLI command: DOKE.
* Miscellaneous improvements and bug fixes."

Source


MAME Plus! v0.142u2 r4866

"r4865
fixed USE_DRIVER_SWITCH (work again)
r4866
[MAME] Updated to MAME 0.142u2
[MESS] Sync with MESS (rev 11303)"

Source

Raine v0.51.10


"Both :
- gui improvements
- some valgrind fixes (related to memory usage)
- pause the game when loosing focus. Not sure everyone will like this one, it
was done mainly for a live cd, but I'll leave it for now.
- fix black screen in windows when in fullscreen and using overlays + double
buffer (well all those who had fullscreen problems in windows should try
again, this one should have been fixed earlier, but I very rarely use
windows now...).
- Handling of urls in the history file (you can access this by "about this
game").
- some workarounds for compiz in linux (I don't even use compiz anymore now,
but it can be useful !).
- now supports aalib and caca in linux, totally useless, but fun !

neoraine :
- some songs had their 1st 2 seconds cut on some tosec neocd dumps using
indexes, fixed.
- when loading a game working in 304x224, the screen is now totally cleared
when changing the resolution, after the 1st loading animation.
- you won't get anymore errors when saving a game after playing too long in
kof, now the savegames use lists for the uploads and not a limited array.
- ask for neocd bios if it can't be found (mainly useful for osx).

Raine :
- lots of simplifications for writing the drivers. Nothing major, but it makes
drivers shorter and more readable. Maybe one day someone will appreciate
this in the unlikely event where someone wants to add a new driver !
Some of the changes are limited to the megasys1 driver, which was one of the
biggest one.
- screen rotation was broken in cps1/2 (playing with -rol or -ror command line
option to be able to physically rotate the screen !).
- plotting doesn't hang anymore if you try to load it after playing plgirls2
(this one is a bug from version 0.28 and before, a long standing bug !).
- you can now exclude clones from the game selection dialog.
- roms included in a folder inside a zip file are finally accepted now !"

Source


NeoRaine v1.2.12

"Both :
- gui improvements
- some valgrind fixes (related to memory usage)
- pause the game when loosing focus. Not sure everyone will like this one, it
was done mainly for a live cd, but I'll leave it for now.
- fix black screen in windows when in fullscreen and using overlays + double
buffer (well all those who had fullscreen problems in windows should try
again, this one should have been fixed earlier, but I very rarely use
windows now...).
- Handling of urls in the history file (you can access this by "about this
game").
- some workarounds for compiz in linux (I don't even use compiz anymore now,
but it can be useful !).
- now supports aalib and caca in linux, totally useless, but fun !

neoraine :
- some songs had their 1st 2 seconds cut on some tosec neocd dumps using
indexes, fixed.
- when loading a game working in 304x224, the screen is now totally cleared
when changing the resolution, after the 1st loading animation.
- you won't get anymore errors when saving a game after playing too long in
kof, now the savegames use lists for the uploads and not a limited array.
- ask for neocd bios if it can't be found (mainly useful for osx).

Raine:
- lots of simplifications for writing the drivers. Nothing major, but it makes
drivers shorter and more readable. Maybe one day someone will appreciate
this in the unlikely event where someone wants to add a new driver !
Some of the changes are limited to the megasys1 driver, which was one of the
biggest one.
- screen rotation was broken in cps1/2 (playing with -rol or -ror command line
option to be able to physically rotate the screen !).
- plotting doesn't hang anymore if you try to load it after playing plgirls2
(this one is a bug from version 0.28 and before, a long standing bug !).
- you can now exclude clones from the game selection dialog.
- roms included in a folder inside a zip file are finally accepted now !"

Source

MESS SVN r11381

"r11381
Fixed device inheritance. (nw)"


Source


DOSBox SVN r3704

"r3703
Improve wildcard handling with directories in copy for FA CD installer (ripsaw)
r3704
Tiny speed up"

Source


PSXjin SVN r714

"r714
number of joysticks no longer loaded on savestate (thus disabling joysticks, etc)."

Source


MAME Plus! Plus Kaillera v0.142u2 r62

"r60
sync to r4865
r61
0.142u2
r62
v0.142u2
sync to r4866"

Source


WinTVC v1.0.1

"- full, cycle exact Z80 CPU emulation with undocument opcodes
- almost full Motorola CRTC 6845 emulation
- single channel sound emulation
- WD1793 controller and disk drive emulation
- tape emulation via WAV files
- cartridge support
- full joystick and keyboard emulation, with support for symbolic keymapping
WinTVC v1.0.1 Changelog:
- improved WD1793 disk controller emulation
- adjustable colour saturation
- improved parallel printer emulation handling
- other small bugfixes"

Source

DeSmuME SVN r3996

"r3996
OpenGL:
- fix alpha blending (fixed storm clouds in NSMB at the beginning);"

Source


Glitch64 SVN r238
"r238
More missing combiners for Pokemon Stadium 2 implemented."

Source



So that's all for now. Take care and have a great weekend!

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