• March 2013 - DCEmu Turns 9 Years Old and Still Going Strong

    Its Now March 2013 and DCEmu the Homebrew & Gaming Network is now 9 Years old. I actually started the sites back in 2002 but joined them under the DCEmu name back in 2004 when the site was foremost a Dreamcast Site, since then we have expanded and cover all homebrew scenes as new consoles come into play. To make sure the site gets back to what it does best i have merged the discussion forums and unmerged all the news forums, which for everyone makes for a better reading experiance, no one wants to search for PS2 news on a PS3 merged news forum because it takes ages to find it. Also this month we have launched new sites for PS4, GCW Zero and also an Open Source Handhelds website. Thanks for visiting DCEmu and please join in the discussion and remember if you are a coder then you can upload to our forum instead of using crappy internet upload sites.

  • Wii U News

    WiiU Priced at £199 according to Amazon UK 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 13th, 2012 22:56
    1. Categories:
    2. Console Hardware News,
    3. Wii U News
    Article Preview

    Amazon UK have today gone out on a limb and put up a preorder price of £199 for the WiiU, the newest of Nintendo`s consoles that is due to be released before this Christmas, the price of £199 is much lower than other prices from shops like Shopto who put a price of an RRP of £279.99 only a few days ago.

    Heres some details about the WiiU:

    Discover a wealth of exciting new ways to enjoy home entertainment with Wii U, Nintendo's next home console. With a revolutionary new touch screen controller, precision motion controls, and full HD graphics, a whole new world of play styles and gaming possibilities is on the horizon. The time is coming to truly expand your idea about what a game console is - and can be. The system launches in 2012 and includes the new Wii U console and amazing new controller.

    A New Wii Console Experience

    According to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, "Wii U redefines the structure of home entertainment by fundamentally changing how the TV, the game console and the Internet function and interact together", he continues, "The experience enabled by Wii U and its new controller takes players deeper into their games, while reaching out wider than ever before to be inviting to all kinds of gamers".
    A new Wii console experience that fundamentally changes how the TV, game console and the Internet function and interact together.
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    A unique new controller packed with advanced features.
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    An exciting roster of new games and software available at launch, as well as backwards compatibility to all Wii games.
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    Wii U combines motion-sensing gameplay with the ability to support full HD graphics. Each Wii U console will be paired with a new groundbreaking controller, with its 6.2-inch wide screen. Previously, video games played on home consoles have been confined to the TV and offered identical viewpoints to each player in a multiplayer environment. The Wii U controller enhances that experience with different viewpoints available in-game and in differing games/game situations. Also, watching TV and playing console games have been completely separate experiences. The new controller removes these boundaries, creating a more dynamic and fluid gaming and entertainment experience. Examples of this new functionality include:
    Within Single Player Games:
    • While in-game the new controller can display information on its screen that does not appear on the TV
    • The information and viewpoint can also change in the new controller based on the orientation of its gyroscope

    Within Multiplayer Games:
    • The player using the new controller can have a different experience than those looking at the TV creating a wider variety of competitive and cooperative opportunities

    The New Controller

    In addition to its 6.2-inch screen, the new controller also features an accelerometer and a gyroscope, a rumble feature, an inward-facing camera, a microphone and speakers. Adding these features to the Classic Controller button scheme -- two analogue Circle Pads, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons -- will enable a breadth of gameplay experiences while appealing to both casual and dedicated video game players. The Wii U system can also use up to four additional Wii Remote or Wii Remote Plus controllers and is backward compatible to all Wii games and all Wii accessories. The Wii console has sold more than 86 million units globally and greatly expanded the overall audience for video games. Wii U aims to expand that audience even further.

    The Wii U Release Software Lineup

    Wii U will feature a wide variety of exciting first and third party games and software at the time of system launch. Just a few of those players can expect include:

    • New Super Mario Bros. Mii
    • Darksiders II
    • DiRT
    • Aliens Colonial Marines
    • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online
    • Metro Last Light
    • Tekken
    • Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge (working title)
    • And Nintendo Mii-based software yet to be confirmed

    Technical Specifications

    • Console Size - Approximately 1.8-inches tall, 6.8-inches wide and 10.5-inches long.
    • New Controller - The new controller incorporates a 6.2-inch, 16:9 touch screen and traditional button controls, including two analogue circle pads. This combination removes the traditional barriers between games, players and the TV by creating a second window into the video game world. The rechargeable controller includes a power button, home button, +control pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons. It includes a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, rumble feature, camera, a microphone, stereo speakers, a sensor strip and a stylus.
    • Other Controls - Up to four Wii Remote (or Wii Remote Plus) controllers can be connected at once. The new console supports all Wii controllers and input devices, including the Nunchuk controller, Classic Controller and Wii Balance Board.
    • Media - A single self-loading media bay will play 12-centimetre proprietary high-density optical discs for the new console, as well as 12-centimetre
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    Iwata on Wii U’s Software Lineup 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 13th, 2012 22:48
    1. Categories:
    2. Wii U News
    Article Preview

    During a recent analyst Q&A session, company president Satoru Iwata responded to questions pertaining to Nintendo’s software strategy for Wii U. He first noted that what the company showed at this year’s E3 are launch and launch window games, defining this window as “titles that will be released early next year or not long after the hardware launch.”
    But what about after launch? Apparently, plans are already in the works - and Iwata seems to suggest we’ll be seeing some new properties to complement the usual suspects. “We do have ideas of what kind of software we will be releasing after those two periods, and Mr. Miyamoto as well as I are both directly involved in the development process,” Iwata said. “Those include both our traditional franchises and of course new propositions as well.”
    We already know Mario and Link are heading to Wii U... but what are these new propositions?
    As for why the company is keeping mum on its future software prospects, Iwata explained that competition (and copy cats) play a huge role in that decision. “Because we are now in the era when similar proposals can be made by the others just one year after we introduced a brand-new hardware system proposal, please understand that we really can’t say much about what else we are planning,” he said.
    I suppose we’ll just have to wait to find out what the company has up its sleeves… but it’s a safe bet that Retro’s secret project somehow factors in.

    http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/06/1...oftware-lineup     ...
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    Iwata on Wii U’s Relative Hardware Power 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 13th, 2012 22:46
    1. Categories:
    2. Wii U News

    n a recent analyst Q&A session, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata responded to questions about Wii U’s hardware, specifically how it fares from a power standpoint compared to systems like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Iwata responded by reminding the audience that the Wii U’s hardware is still relatively new. As such, it's only natural that developers haven’t yet realized its full potential as they have with consoles they’ve been working with for more than half a decade.
    “While existing platforms have engines that development teams have tuned and optimized for six to seven years after their respective launches, the Wii U is a new platform that has slightly different architecture and, since development teams have only just begun development on software for it, they are only at the halfway point to utilizing its full potential,” Iwata said.

    http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/06/1...hardware-power     ...
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    Wii U achievements not mandatory for devs, friend codes to change for the better 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 13th, 2012 01:16
    1. Categories:
    2. Wii U News
    Article Preview

    There won't be a pervasive "achievement" system on Wii U, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime suggested to Kotaku. Referring to the 3DS's system-specific achievements, which honor StreetPass-based activities in the system software, "We will have that," Fils-Aime said. "Once you start getting into game-specific [Achievements] that's developer driven."

    Fils-Aime hinted at changes to the friend code system for connecting to online friends, calling the new system "friend codes, but it's not the existing friend code system." He added, "you will be able to identify people as friends and have a certain level of interaction versus a different level of interaction for the more general population. The method by which you identify someone as a friend is a lot simpler than what's happening today with Friend Codes." However, he didn't go into detail.

    Fils-Aime also had good news regarding the announced content filtering system. It turns out that messages that aren't flagged by an automatic scan won't be subject to manual scanning. If a message is flagged by that, and then by the community, then Nintendo steps in.

    http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/12/wi...odes-to-chang/     ...
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    Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime: Wii U GamePad won't feature multi-touch 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 13th, 2012 01:00
    1. Categories:
    2. Wii U News
    Article Preview

    The Wii U's 6.2-inch killer feature might look a whole lot like a tablet, but prospective buyers shouldn't expect it to function like one at all. In a recent interview with Kotaku, NOA prexy Reggie Fils-Aimeconfirmed that multi-touch capabilities will indeed be purposefully absent from the upcoming GamePad. It's a puzzling omission for sure, but not one made lightly on Nintendo's part. According to Fils-Aime, the existence of hardware buttons on the controller itself render that full-blown slate functionality redundant, not to mention cost-prohibitive and "unwieldy." So you see, the Big N giveth and the Big N taketh away, but all in the name of user convenience. You can check out the full blow-by-blow with the House that Mario built's American keeper at the source link below.

    http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/12/w...e-multi-touch/     ...
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    Wii U "must cost under $300" to succeed 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 12th, 2012 11:31
    1. Categories:
    2. Wii U News

    US analyst Michael Pachter believes that Nintendo must price the Wii U below $300 – that translates to £190 – if it is to succeed at retail.
    Ideally, he told CVG, he’d like to see it priced at $250 or less. That would mean a highly unlikely £161 in the UK.
    MCV’s understanding is that it is the price of the Wii U GamePad that will prevent the machine selling for such a price. Indeed, the decision on whether or not to include two GamePads in the launch SKU – and how to price them separately on the High Street – is going to be pivotal.
    Pachter also delivered a less than impressed assessment of Nintendo’s E3 presentation, though does speak positively of the Wii U hardware itself.
    "Nintendo is intent upon repeating their success with the Wii," he said.
    "While I agree that the Wii U controller is sufficiently novel and different from traditional controllers, I am not sure that there is a killer app that will drive Wii U adoption the way Wii Sports did for the Wii.
    "At E3 I was not particularly impressed with many of the games, and in particular found Sing baffling. I don't understand why I need a tablet to read Karaoke words rather than reading the words on the TV screen instead."

    http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/wii-u...succeed/097795     ...
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    Tank! Tank! Tank! is E3's least effective Wii U showcase, is fun regardless 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 10th, 2012 22:30
    1. Categories:
    2. Wii U News

    Tank! Tank! Tank! may not be what I would have shown off at E3 with innovative new hardware. It's fun in a profoundly goofy, vintage-arcadey way, but it's hardly pushing any new ideas or making any graphical leaps. In fact, it's not even a new game -- it was originally released as an arcade cabinet in 2009.

    It doesn't make particularly interesting use of the WiiPad, either. In the demo shown in Nintendo's booth, one player saw the action from behind their own tank, while up to four other players could play on the TV with Wiimotes -- after everyone passed the WiiPad around to snap avatar portraits. The gameplay was the same -- even the view was the same -- just on another screen.
    http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/10/ta...owcase-is-fun/
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    ShopTo estimates £279.99 RRP for Wii U 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 9th, 2012 22:27
    1. Categories:
    2. Wii U News

    Retailer ShopTo has become the first to guess the retail price of the Wii U.
    It is currently accepting pre-orders for the device at £279.85, with an estimated RRP of £279.99. Both the black and white SKUs are available.
    It carries the following disclaimer: “All information on this product page, including our price, is subject to change. Normal pre-order price promise does not apply to this product at this time. Price may change pending full details from Nintendo.”
    No suggested release date is given.
    Nintendo does not officially issue RRPs to retailers in the UK, preferring instead to set a trade price that lends itself to a specific price tag.
    £280 would roughly be in line with estimates from Nikkei earlier this week, which suggested the machine would sell for £250 in Japan.
    ...
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    E3 2012: Zelda Wii U in R&D 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 9th, 2012 09:44
    1. Categories:
    2. Wii U News

    Iconic Nintendo IP in the works for next-gen console

    Nintendo has confirmed that a Wii U The Legend of Zelda game is currently underway at a research and development stage.
    “With the last game, Skyward Sword, that was a game where you had motion control to use your weapons and a lot of different items, and I thought that was a lot of fun, but there were some people who weren’t able to do that or didn’t like it as much and stopped playing partway through it,” Shigeru Miyamoto told Entertainment Weekly.

    “So we’re in the phase where we’re looking back at what’s worked very well and what has been missing and how can we evolve it further.”
    And according to Miyamoto, the game is at a very early stage; so early, in fact, that event the intended audience and type of gameplay experience are yet to be decided.
    "One thing that’s interesting is we’re seeing how the way that tastes are broadening in video games and you have some people who prefer more casual experiences, and you have some people who prefer sort of those more in-depth experiences.

    http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...da-Wii-U-in-RD
     ...
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    The Wii U accessory onslaught begins in the Scribblenaut-iest way 

    by
    wraggster
    Published on June 8th, 2012 00:40
    1. Categories:
    2. Wii U News
    Article Preview

    With a new console comes a world of new accessories. I encountered my first Wii U accessory in PDP's booth, and it's glorious. To go with the Wii U version ofScribblenauts Unlimited, PDP has concocted a cover for the WiiPad designed to mimic Maxwell's "rooster hat."

    Now that it exists, every Wii U controller that isn't in a rooster hat is a missed opportunity.

    http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/07/th...enaut-iest-wa/     ...
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