Zumba Fitness has retained the top spot in the UK software chart in a week which saw only a moderate reshuffling of existing titles, one new entry and the return of two older games into the top 20.

Disney's Cars 2 took second spot from eighth last week, pushing Call of Juarez: The Cartel back down into third. Just Dance 2's extra song pack made fourth with recent usual suspects completing the top ten.

The only new entry is The Sims 3: Town Life Stuff, which debuts at twelve. Both Fight Night Champion and Battlefield Bad Company 2 return to the chart in eighteenth and twentieth respectively.

Last Week This Week Title
1 1 Zumba Fitness
8 2 Cars 2
2 3 Call of Juarez: The Cartel
18 4 Just Dance 2: Extra Songs
4 5 LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean
7 6 Dirt 3
3 7 Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2
9 8 FIFA 11
19 9 L.A. Noire
5 10 Call of Duty: Black Ops
6 11 Dungeon Siege III
New Entry 12 The Sims 3: Town Life Stuff
14 13 LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4
20 14 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
12 15 Brink
Re-entry 16 Sims 3
10 17 LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Re-entry 18 Fight Night Champion
16 19 Wii Sports Resort
Re-entry 20 Battlefield: Bad Comapny 2

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-zumba-fitness ...

Programmers don’t need to get good at a game to achieve a high score, they code a bot for that instead. Take [hypnotizd] for instance. He was learning to write in the C# language and decided to make a bot that plays Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. He figures he took between 48 and 72 hours of coding over a couple of weeks, but remember, he was learning the language at the same time. We think you’d be hard pressed to achieve a 1.5 million range score by yourself, even with that amount of practice time.

We spoke with [hypnotizd] yesterday afternoon to get a bit of background on how he made this happen. His code (he’s not releasing it so you’ll have to write your own) scrapes the screen image as input. You can see at the beginning of the video after the break that he sizes his app to properly align each jewel in its grid. The program then identifies each game piece by finding the center of the cell and taking a 25 square-pixel average color. Many of the jewels are easily recognized in this first pass, but some are harder and require several different tests to identify. That’s the difficult part, choosing the best move is just a matter of coming up with your own rules on how the bot should play the game.

http://hackaday.com/2011/07/30/bejew...look-just-sad/ ...

[Frank], like many people, has a soft spot in his heart for the Commodore 64. He prefers to play his C64 games on his computer nowadays, but likes using his old school Competition Pro rather than some modern controller with remapped buttons. The only problem with using the controller is that his new computer doesn’t have any ports that accommodate its 9-pin D-sub connector.

The VICE emulator maps keyboard inputs to controller actions, so he decided to build himself a D-sub to USB adapter that implements a virtual USB keyboard. He wrote a firmware package for the Freescale MC9S08JS16L microcontroller that allows him to send keypresses to his emulator whenever he performs an action with his Competition Pro joystick.

The circuit looks easier to duplicate than some other C64 interfaces we have seen before, and as you can see in the video below, it works quite well. We imagine that this setup can be used to connect all sorts of old input devices to modern PCs with little to no tweaking.

http://hackaday.com/2011/07/31/commo...r-for-your-pc/ ...

After Progskeet and PNM, Judges, members of a forum Psx-scene, comes an adaptation for teensy + +. Quote:

Here is my initial version of a flash for the PS3 called "Norway." I know there are other projects, but I'm impatient, so I decided to create my own solution. It is a port of "noralizer" Hector Martin (marcan), a very good job done to flash the PS3, based on another FPGA (programmable logic circuit).


To use this installation, you must retrieve the archive that contains the elements necessary to flash your NOR: \ teensy \ NORway.avrsln - Source code for the Teensy + + 2.0 (AVR Studio 5.0) \ teensy \ default \ NORway.hex - compiled hex file for Teensy + + 2.0 (AT90USB1286) \ serial_install.exe - Drivers for Windows Teensy \ NORway.py - Python Client You must also have: - Python 2.7.2 - pyserial 2.5 (win32) Use: 1) Install Python and pyserial. 2) Install the drivers. Connect the Teensy. 3) Flash with the "NORway.hex" and restart when finished. 4) Go to Device Manager, expand the line (COM & LPT) you should see something like "USB Serial (Communication Class , Abstract Control Model) (COM4) " Remember the port number. dump procedure: - PS3 off - At the command prompt, type: NORway.py

- Turn on your PS3, it should not start
- At the command prompt, type:
NORway.pyflash.bin dump
- When the dumping is finished enter:
NORway.pyrelease
- Turn off your PS3 (Teensy disconnect it from the PS3 it does not start on reboot) Author's note: Before you flash anything, always check your backup dumps, compare for example CORE_OS_PACKAGE.bin dump your version of PS3update effect on your console. Tested on seven X86, should work under XP. Does not work in 64X, pyserial problem with. Should work with Linux. A tutorial for the downgrade will be released soon. Homepage: PSX-Scene deaphroat Thanks for the information .

http://ps3.gx-mod.com/modules/news/a...p?storyid=2870 ...

Nintendo once again gives cover in the fight (endless?) Against linkers, with yet another firmware update for 3DS. Officially, it is supposed to improve system stability, but it is of course obvious unofficially, it is neither more nor less than blocking the use of linkers.

It is of course obvious that before updating your console 2.1.0-4, we must first think about updating your linkers (provided they have the appropriate update)! The early returns would suggest that Nintendo was not so bad this time, and that most linkers are still functioning properly ... to be confirmed.

http://mobiles.gx-mod.com/modules/ne...p?storyid=9644 ...

via http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index....ic,7114.0.html

Nickname: miguel28
Projet name: Super Smash Bros Crash! DS (Demo10)
From: Mexico
Division: Retro GAME
Platform: NDS
Original enter: NO
Support Motion: NO
In last NEO Compo this project have won in the top 10: YES

Project description:

It is a remake of the great Super Smash Bros. I did for the DS. The project is a demo, but has 29 characters, 29 stages, 2 CPUs, good music and sounds that accompany us throughout the game and 5 game modes(Free Battle for time, Free Battle for stocks, Classic Mode, Allstars Mode, Stadium ) and new background animatios. You can take pictures of the battle and saved in BMP format pictures in the folder Photos inside the folder SSBDS, and can be viewed later in the vault menu.
You can create Custom Stages with the stages builder, and can be played later.

Characters:


•Diddy Kong (Super Mario)
Fox (Star Fox Adventures)
Ichigo (Bleach, anime)
Link (The Legend of Zelda)
Luigi (Super Mario)
Mario (Super Mario)
Pikachu (Pokémon)
Sanji (One Piece, anime)
Yoshi (Super Mario)
Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Capitán Falcom (F-Zero)
Toon Link (The Legend of Zelda)
Sasuke (Naruto, manga y anime)
Kirby (Saga Kirby)
Peach (Super Mario)
Falco (Star Fox Adventures)
Marth (Fire Emblem)
Marco (Metal Slug)
Meta Knight (Kirby Adventures)
Young Link (The Legend of Zelda)
Zelda
Ness
Megaman
Lucario
Shadow
Sora
Ice Climbers
Ike
Pit
•

Stages:
* Princess Peach Castle (Super Mario)
* Hyrule Temple (The Legend of Zelda)
* Yoshi Story (Super Mario)
* Metal Fight (Super Mario)
* Battlefield (Battlefield)
* Final Destination (Super Smash Bros.)
* Corneria (Star Fox)
* Pirate Ship (The Legend of Zelda)
* Jungle DK (Donkey Kong)
* Dream Land (Kirby Adventures)
* Safron City (Pokémon)
* Konoha (Naruto, manga y anime)
* Sociedad de Almas (Bleach, manga y anime)
* Sky (Princess Peach´s Castle)
* Dream Land
* Safron City
* Konoha
* Sociedad de Almas
* Hyrule Castle
* Going Merry(One piece)
* Mute City
* Green hill zone
* Castle Siege
* Onett
* Spear Pillar
* Dr. Willy Hideout
* Huecomundo
* Battlefield (melee)
* Mansion de Luigi
* Mission One (Metal Slug X)
* Twilight Town
* Great Bay
* Sky Kingdom

How to use:

First of all we installed in the Flash Card, putting the download folder at the root of the Micro SD.

Then select the only mode with the A, since the other so far do not work, only works in free battle. Then we will choose our character, for it must drag the red piece to our (below left) to a character, and repeat with the CPU. We pressed Start. We repeat the scenario, all this time there is no tab, just leave the pointer on the stage we want it and click Start again (the stage Preview does not work).

For those unfamiliar with the saga, it is not dead leave the opponent, but actually off the field. You only have to give a beating to come out or fall. The issue is that the more you hit, the farther you go to hit the second time, and so on. The as per cent of the upper display indicates this.
Controls:

* Pad Up: Jump.
* Pad Down: Crouch.
* Pad Right: Move to the right.
* Pad Left: Move left.
* A Button: Attack, when combined with the pad out separate attacks.
* B Button: Special Attack.
* Button Y: Final Smash (Only when you have caught).
* R Trigger: Protect Yourself.
* Start: Pause. In the pause menu, R + L + Start: End game.

Tested on flash cards and the following firmwares:

* Flash card SuperCard SD / MiniSD / MicroSD / CF with firmware 1.85 and( file dldi.scp )
* Flash card TTDS (Top Toy Ds) with firmware 1.17a12
* Flash card M3 DS Real with unknown firmware
* Flash card with firmware 1.45 M3i Zero
* Flash card DS ONE Super Card with unknown firmware
* Super Card DS Flash card with firmware ONEi EVOLUTION OS
* Flash card Acekard AKAI 2i with firmware 1.5.1
* Flash EZ Flash V card with firmware 2.0 RC10
* Flash card ITouchDS with firmware 3.3c
* Flash card R4 DS and R4i SDHC with firmware 1.24b


Download Link
http://www.mediafire.com/?s4o3mg9g8m5a85z

Blog
http://ssbcrashds.blogspot.es/ ...

via http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index....ic,7110.0.html

Nickname: Nakano
Projet name: Company v1.0 - Story Edition
From: Nakano & Motuk
Division: Retro GAME
Platform: PSP
Original enter: YES
Support Motion: NO
In last NEO Compo this project have won in the top 10: NO

Project Description
Company is a card game where winning takes strategy and luck. Your goal is to open a company and earn more money than other players (cpu). Task is not simple as they try to prevent you from earning money by using threat cards or stealing your company incomes. It is important to protect the money and store it in your bank account! For more details how to play the game, see rules.doc.

Changelog
* Switched to LuaDEV.
* Dropped old primary graphics as new graphics would have been required.
* Bug fixes: Banker calculated wrongly if multiple players had the card. Some other bug fixes too.
* Improved cpu logic.
* Four new playable bonus cards.
* Added sound effects, music and analog support.
* Original story mode.
* Tweaked arcade mode:
- Shows bonus news flashes.
- Can see big images in Card List.
- Possibility to faster increase/decrease cards in Card List.

Download Via Comments ...

via http://boards.openpandora.org/index....pe-2011-07-28/

If you followed the recent threads you knew that I was visiting a company today which would be a good candidate to produce Batch 2 (and hopefully many more later batches) of the Pandora.

Doing something like this is always exciting.

Can the company produce the boards?
Do they want to do the job?
Can they do it for a good price?
Will they help you with your project? Or simply do what you tell them to do?
Are they friendly, open and honest?

There's so many stuff swirling around in your head before visiting a company... the future of the Pandora depends on finding the right partner.

Well, I'm pretty sure you all want to know how it went today, right?

Right.

The company I paid a visit today is called Global Components and is located in Oberhaching, near Munich. It's about 90km away from me, so it's not too far and I can easily visit them whenever I need.
I arrived at about 11:10am.
Do you know the rare feeling when you enter a building and just know you've come to the right place?

Well, I had that feeling today. I had a real nice meeting and was greeted heartily.
Everyone I've seen there was motivated, they have a great working atmosphere in there.
For me, this is a very good and important sign. It's always a sign of high quality.

The meeting was very assuring.
First I was given a nice company tour. They got high-quality machines in every room, it looks very organized and tidy. I also saw some boards from current production runs and they use even smaller SMD parts than the Pandora.
From what I've seen, I'm pretty sure they can easily produce our boards, and that's one of the most important things!
I brought some pictures with me. Just a little insight into the whole company. I'm happy that i'm allowed to make a movie of the birth of a Pandora board as soon as production starts.

As I had a Pandora PCB with me, their main technician took a look at it. He explained me some things I always wanted to know (like how PoP is being done and how the full population process works, etc.).
He also suggested a solution to place the shoulder buttons way better so we won't have manually fix the plastic with some buttons.

All in all, things looked pretty good for me. They agreed that they want to produce the PCBs
I'm now awaiting a quotation from them (this will take a few weeks), then we'll need to check on the leadtime of the parts and while waiting for those, the production will be set up.
This surely will all take a while. There's no company that can just get the gerber files and start with the production the next day.
The PCBs will take a few weeks to produce, the parts have a certain leadtime and the machine also needs to be setup and programmed.
However, once this is done, PCBs will be finished very fast. I'll get the amount of Pandora PCBs they can produce per week within the next weeks.

Oh, on a side note they mentioned that they would try to help us fix boards with issues as well, in case CC doesn't really move forward here.
I'll send them a few ones of them over, so that they can check if a repair is possible and much it would cost. So if CC doesn't do much, we might move the repairs of the remaining boards of Batch 1 to Germany as well.

Parts, setup, etc. need to be paid upfront, so this is another issue we need to take care of. CC did cost us a lot of money, and we still don't know how fast they'll send us more boards - there still are 1000 missing!
The iControlPad helps us earning money as well, which is great, but the faster we have the total amount of needed money available, the faster the production can start.
That's why I'm also checking for additional solutions to raise money faster. I'll keep you informed on that!
If anyone knows someone who'd like to support us, get in contact with me! I'm sure we can make some good deal here.

Well, anyways, it seems we found a new company that can do the production!
I'm very happy about that, as you never can be sure before visiting them.

The next steps for now are:

* Get a quotation from them, check what parts are needed and how fast
* Make a proper new business plan (including total costs, estimated times, etc.)
* Make sure to have money ready when payments are due
* Try to squeeze as many working boards out of CC as possible

Oh, and of course (as soon as got the top priority things done):

* Continue to work on HotFix 6
* Update the website (REAAAALLY needed!)
* Fix the remaining RMAs
* Check the remaining PCBs I got here

I'll let you know any further steps that happen, as usual ...

via http://www.planetvb.com/modules/news...hp?storyid=326

Have you ever heard of Game Expo '95? No? Well, that's not surprising given the fact that this one time event that was held in March 1995 in Tokyo was neither well announced, not well attended or even well visited. Since Nintendo was one of the few attending companies and featured a huge Virtual Boy booth, this odd little show should still of interest for Virtual Boy fans, so I have compiled a little article with all the known info about Game Expo '95. Be sure to also check out the additional material you can find on the report page like article scans or a two minute video from the show floor! ...