DCEmu Featured News Articles

On September 17th, 2019 Filler, MrRichard999, Proveaux, Dr.Floppy, and Cccmar released an English language translation patch for Gunhed: The New Battle (a.k.a. Gunhed: Aratanaru Tatakai ガンヘッド 新たなる戦い) a game originally released for the Nintendo Famicom in 1990.
Gunhed: The New Battle is a strategy game based on the manga by Kia Asamiya and the live-action film of the same name. The game is set on an island which has been taken over by a fully autonomous super-computer called “Kyron”. Lured by the prospect of an energy resource located on the island you race against competing forces to defeat the computer and secure this “super-energy”.
A previous war zone, the island is littered with the wreckage of past battles. You’re able to search the island for parts to upgrade your forces, and usable items which can give you an advantage. According to the readme you “assemble about 30 mechs in order to be able to assault Kyron’s hideout” once you have a mech of a high enough level.
The patch translates the game into English and is fully playable. Further details are available in the readme.

https://projects.mattsmessyroom.com/

http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=29285 ...

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on Nintendo Switch is No.1 in the UK Boxed Charts.
Link's Awakening is the latest Zelda remake from independent developer Grezzo. The company previously created the 3D remakes of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for 3DS. Link's Awakening is Grezzo's biggest Zelda launch in the UK yet, surpassing the record set by Ocarina of Time 3D by 27%.
It's actually only the third time Zelda has been No.1 in the UK charts. The last time was way back in 2003 with the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker on Nintendo GameCube. Before then, Ocarina of Time was No.1 on N64 back in 1998 just before Christmas. It followed Nintendo air-lifting copies of the game to stores after it sold out in its first week.
It's the fastest-selling Switch game released this year, surpassing the record set by Super Mario Maker 2.
The biggest Zelda launch on Nintendo Switch in the UK was Breath of the Wild, which was a launch title for the system. In fact, Breath of the Wild is still in the charts today, and saw a 22% increase in sales over the last week (it's currently at No.16).
Indeed, a number of Nintendo Switch games performed well this week, coinciding with the launch of the new Nintendo Switch Lite console. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is back at No.3 after a 23% rise in sales, Super Smash Bros Ultimate is at No.18 with a 15% increase in sales, while Super Mario Odyssey is at No,.24 with an 18% sales bump.
Also new this week on Switch is Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, which initially launched on PS3 back in 2013. The Switch version debuts at No.23, while a new PS4 version came in slightly lower at No.26.
Last week's No.1, Borderlands 3, drops to No.2. The 2K game was the fastest selling game in the UK so far this year, but it fell 69% in sales during its second week. Other big new releases last week also fell quite hard. Gears 5 drops from No.2 to No.4 after a 74% sales fall. Efootball PES 2020 falls 73% and is at No.5, while Greedfall drops all the way from No.5 to No.28 after a 78% sales drop.
It's worth remembering these are just physical game sales. Digital sales are not included in this chart.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...3-in-uk-charts ...

Other than GBA emulation, Dreamcast emulation also received some love and this comes in the form of some positive developments relating to Flycast. Developed by flyinghead, this emulator is the only open-source Dreamcast emulator capable of running Windows CE-based games and Naomi arcade titles making it pretty noteworthy especially to those interested in creating ports for other platforms.
The Switch is a pretty capable portable and with efforts from the homebrew community, it can do even more such as better Dreamcast emulation!

According to a post on the libretro blog, the emulator saw some significant developments recently including:

• The Windows CE variant of the emulator got merged into the master branch
  
  • This wasn’t done before because the MMU codepath required by Windows CE hurt performance in non-Windows CE titles
  
  
• Much better performance with an average improvement of around 30% thanks to SSA optimisations
• AICA (the Dreamcast’s sound processor) emulation is now much better and considered to be feature complete thanks to the addition of low-pass-filter and pitch LFO
• Fixes to rendering on AMD GPUs namely in relation to per-pixel alpha sorting
• Some RetroArch core-specific improvements

Other than the above good news, a Flycast RetroArch core is coming to the Switch thanks to work by Datamats allowing for even better Dreamcast emulation on the console. Furthermore, m4xw is working on an ARM64 JIT for the emulator to allow for good performance on the Nintendo Switch.
If you wish to play some Dreamcast games on your Switch now, you can use its port of Reicast which allows you to play select titles pretty well including Crazy Taxi.

http://wololo.net/2019/09/17/emulati...hanks-to-m4xw/ ...

The time has finally come to start the release cycle for ScummVM 2.1.0.
The release is going to be big, and these new games require testing:

• Blade Runner.
• Hoyle Bridge.
• Hoyle Children's Collection.
• Hoyle Classic Games.
• Hoyle Solitaire.
• Hyperspace Delivery Boy!
• Might and Magic IV - Clouds of Xeen.
• Might and Magic V - Darkside of Xeen.
• Might and Magic - World of Xeen.
• Might and Magic - World of Xeen 2 CD Talkie.
• Might and Magic - Swords of Xeen.
• Mission Supernova Part 1.
• Mission Supernova Part 2.
• Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness.
• The Prince and the Coward.
• Versailles 1685.

Also, with this release, we are finally enabling cloud support for save games and game data. So far, it works only on desktops, you may find a description of this feature in our User Manual.
The complete list of the games that require testing for this release can be found on our Wiki.
Please use a stable daily build of ScummVM for testing. In case you encounter any bugs, there is a place for them to be reported at our issue tracker. Additionally, please track your progress on the forum thread so we can cross the tested game titles out on the wiki. Make sure to follow our guidelines for release testing which can be found here.
It would be great if you could help with updating the ScummVM GUI translations. The description of the steps you need to follow is on the Wiki.

https://www.scummvm.org/news/20190917/ ...

We are already here with the second issue of NGC Magazine, this time with number 61 from December 2001.
First we take a look at the covers story, which is the Japanese review for Luigi's Mansion. Continuing on with the review for Wave Race Blue Storm, as well as Sega's arcade smash Super Monkey Ball.
Finally we take a look back at the N64 with a feature called the making of Super Mario 64.
Enjoy!

http://www.outofprintarchive.com/cat...agazine61.html ...

We need you! Join the Supernova crew for an unforgettable journey to witness the death of a star.
Have you ever dreamed of becoming an astronaut? Being abandoned on your own on a broken spaceship? Dying asphyxiated? Being electrocuted? Being shot at? Getting lost in a pyramid? Being caught stealing a dinosaur's head and being sent to prison? And if that is not enough you can even disable the improved mode in ScummVM and experience the frustration of clicking and pointing your way through a twenty-five years old computer game.
We are proud to announce that Mission Supernova Teil 1: Das Schicksal des Horst Hummel and Mission Supernova Teil 2: Der Doppelgänger are now both supported in ScummVM. In addition we have also translated both games to English and you can decide to play either in German or English. The games can be downloaded for free on the developer's website, so you have no reason not to play it!
Please help us test the games and report any bugs or translation issue you find on our issue tracker. You will need a recent version of ScummVM and the supernova.dat file (if it is not included in the ScummVM package for your platform). You can also see some basic information on the game controls on our wiki or access the game manual in game using the F2 key.

https://www.scummvm.org/news/20190913/ ...

The PlayStation 4 has now surpassed 30 million sales in the US.
That's according to Niko Partners' analyst Daniel Ahmad, who revealed the milestone via Twitter and noted that this means the US accounts for around 30% of all PS4 sales.
Ahmad added sales figures from other key markets for the PS4, including the 8.3 million units sold it its home region of Japan, 7.2 million in Germany and 6.8 million in the UK.
Sony has not released official sell-through figures since December 2018, when it revealed 91.6 million units had been sold worldwide.
However, recent financial reports show 100 million units have been shipped to stores around the world and Ahmad's tweet suggests the console is close to reaching this figure in sales.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...nalyst-reveals ...

NBA 2K20 enjoyed a strong launch week, topping the European charts for combined digital and retail.
Despite attracting criticism for its aggressive monetisation -- complete with overwhelmingly negative Steam user reviews -- consumers' thirst for the annual basketball title appears unaffected.
Also a new entry in the latest charts is a remaster of the 1999 meme-factory Final Fantasy VIII, which came in at No. 2.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Six Siege continues to have a strong presence in the charts, four years after its release, coming in at No. 3. The latest charts place it at No. 3 the week prior too, but previous charts had Switch-exclusive Astral Chain in that spot. This is because Ubisoft's data was incomplete when the charts were originally posted.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy returns to the charts once again, climbing from No. 66 to No. 4, helped along by the recent PC release.
Then, reliable as the tide itself, Grand Theft Auto V continues its chart omnipresence. Though down a few spots from the week prior, it still sits happily at No. 5.
Supermassive Games' interactive horror movie The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan, has slipped from No. 1 the week prior to No. 6, still resonating with consumers despite more lacklustre reviews than its predecessor, Until Dawn.
Gears 5 -- one of two AAA exclusives published by Microsoft this year -- has snuck into the charts at No. 7. While this could be considered a lacking performance from an Xbox tentpole release in launch week, the numbers are no doubt impacted by the title's inclusion in the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, meaning it's impossible to tell how popular the game is without figures directly from Microsoft.
Spurred on by huge sales in digital, Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration has squirmed its way into the combined charts, coming in at No. 8, up from No. 314 previously.
Another new release breaking into the charts is Catherine: Full Body. The PlayStation 4 exclusive performed notably better at retail than digital.
Finally, Red Dead Redemption 2 rounds out the charts, up four places from the week previous, to place at No. 10.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...in-launch-week ...

After years of murmurings and speculation, 5G internet is finally upon us. Whilst the signal strength, speed and availability is largely dependent on your location, the majority of UK users should be able to access 5G pretty readily by the end of the year.
In essence, 5G is a supercharged version of the 4G internet most of us currently enjoy on our mobile devices. Users will benefit from lower latency, faster download speeds and more stable connections, all of which will lend themselves to a better gaming experience. But what does the advent of 5G mean for gaming as a whole?

Reaching For The... Clouds?

As innovative a concept as cloud gaming is, it needs a quick and stable connection in order to fulfil its full potential. Although PlayStation Now hasn't been the rip-roaring success that it promised to be, it has done a decent job in introducing the concept of cloud gaming to the general public. With projects such as Google Stadia set to launch at the end of the year, the timing couldn't be better, and 5G could well be the platform which allows Cloud gaming to reach new heights. It also won't hurt that Cyberpunk 2077 has recently been confirmed for Stadia - this will only further the growing interest in the technology and by this time next year, cloud gaming may have already taken its place at the top table.

The Impact on the Online Gambling Market

As the online casino industry evolves, the need for more powerful technology increases. With most online casino platforms now offering live casino and immersive experiences, those with slow internet connections are somewhat disadvantaged. However, 5G will allow players to experience live streaming on the go and will also help those who play online slots too. As those who play Gemix slot and other similar games can attest to, modern online slot games are awash with various different bonuses and features, as well as HD graphics and high-quality sound. From a mobile gaming standpoint, those with faster internet speeds will have no problems enjoying these extra features on their mobile device. In addition to this, the advent of 5G will also allow developers to add more to their games in the coming years.

Competitive Gaming and eSports

The European eSports market is worth a whopping €240 million (£212 million) thanks to games such as Fortnite and PUGB. Those who play battle royale games will already be well aware of the importance of internet speeds. To this end, companies in China are already exploring the capabilities of 5G technology and assessing how it can benefit eSports moving forward. With the renaissance of PUBG and Fortnite on Android platforms, it's not difficult to see how faster internet will benefit players who prefer to do their gaming from their mobile device.

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A post shared by Fortnite (@fortnite) on Jul 30, 2019 at 7:00am PDT

The Future of 5G

At the speed with which technology advances and evolves, it's difficult to predict the future. Many 5G sceptics will simply cite virtual reality technology as an example of something which has failed to deliver on its many promises. When all is said and done, isn't 5G just a slightly faster version of 4G? Can it really change the gaming landscape as much as it promises to do so on paper? The truth is that no-one really knows. However, if we revisit the topic again in a year's time, we may just have the answers.

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