Chris Double has released a bug fix version of the Nintendo DS emulator, DSemu.

whats new:

The interrupt registers have been split so a seperate register is kept for the ARM7 and ARM9. Even though they have the same register address, each CPU actually has a different register. This affects IME, IE and IF. Interrupts were pretty much broken in the previous version of DSEmu without this fix.
Added the 'ARM7 specific IWRAM' memory area from 0x03800000 with a size of 64K. Thanks to DSTek for providing this information. Previously only the 32K Shared IWRAM area at 0x03000000 was implemented and ARM7 binaries greater than 32K were crashing the emulator as well as trashing the shared IWRAM.
A few signed/unsigned comparision issues was causing the emulator to enter infinite loops.
The VCOUNT register is now a single register rather than having one per lcd screen. Demo's that checked for the VCOUNT being in the VBlank area would hang due to this never being updated. Unfortunately these demo's still run very very slowly due to the 'busy loop' polling this register. I hope to have this fixed in the next release.
The SWI values were wrong in the switch statement that handled these calls. This resulted in the wrong SWI call being made. The main result of this was the ARM7 code would do a 'halt' instead of an SWI Delay which meant any ndslib based code would have no ARM7 support.
Fixed a problem with ARM7 interrupts meaning most IRQ code should work fine now.
ndslib Console output would display incorrect characters. This has been fixed.
With the exception of Space Invaders, all my demo programs run under this version of the emulator in some form or another. Sound doesn't play but the touch screen values are updated and directional keys are processed, etc.
Using 'animated step' in the debugger now updates the display. Previously no graphics would be displayed while stepping.
Using 'debug run', followed by pausing, then stepping, would not work. The stepper would be broken from then on. Fixed.

Download from here --> http://nintendo-ds.dcemu.co.uk/dsemu.shtml ...

Smealum has released a new homebrew shoot em up for the Nintendo DS

Download here --> http://nintendo-ds.dcemu.co.uk/earthinvadors.shtml ...

Jandujar has released a new Homebrew Puzzle game for the DS that looks like a clone of the Polarium commercial game, download here --> http://nintendo-ds.dcemu.co.uk/follarium.shtml ...

The PlayStation 3 hardware used at E3 last month was running at only 75 per cent of the final system speed, according to reports which have emerged this week - confirming comments made by SCEE development boss Phil Harrison at the show.

"It only gets better from here on in," Harrison told GamesIndustry.biz at the time, referring to the performance of the system. "As you get closer and closer to production hardware, you're using more and more like the final silicon, which will be more and more like the final clock speed."

Now Japanese website ITmedia has revealed that the development kits used to run demos including Epic Games' stunning Unreal Tournament 2007 demo were running on hardware clocked at just 75 per cent of the final projected speed.

The Cell chip in the development kits runs at 2.4GHz, according to ITmedia, while the final chip will be at 3.2GHz; and the graphics part used for the demos wasn't the final RSX chip, but rather a different NVIDIA GPU which may not have been optimised for the PS3's high-speed RAMBUS memory interface.

Of course, Sony wasn't the only company showing off titles on unfinished hardware at E3. Microsoft claims that the Xbox 360 titles it showed off weren't representative of the final games, since they were running on alpha-version development kits which have as little as 25 per cent of the power of the final system. ...

The latest issue of Otonafami magazine gives a glimpse at how the next-generation handheld war between Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS is shaping up in Japan. According to a survey conducted with 1,000 gamers above age 20 by the magazine, 14 percent said they owned a PSP, 25 percent said they owned a DS, and 19 percent said they owned both. Out of the remaining gamers who don't own a next-generation handheld, 31 percent said they are planning to get a PSP, while 35 percent said they want to get a DS, 19 percent said they want to get both, and 15 percent said they didn't want either of the handhelds.


Otonafami reports that the average PSP owner in Japan owns one to three games for the handheld; 27 percent said they owned one game, 25 percent said they owned two games, and 23 percent said they owned three games. The statistics for the DS were a bit different, with 23 percent of its owners saying that they owned more than six games for the handheld. Curiously, two percent of the users for both the PSP and DS said they had no games, which makes one wonder what they play.

Owners of both handhelds also seem to think that they aren't taking full advantage of their machine. Seventy-five percent of PSP owners replied "no" when asked if they were using all of its hardware capabilities. Many PSP owners commented that they don't understand how to use its multimedia functions or that they find it too troublesome.

The comments also show that users view the PSP as a multimedia device more than a gaming machine. Sixty-seven percent of DS owners answered "no" when they were asked the same question. However, DS users complained that their DS's Wi-Fi capability goes unused, especially if they live in the countryside where nobody owns a DS.

When PSP owners were asked what they thought about their handheld, they praised its fantastic graphics and entertainment functions and commented that they found its battery life surprisingly long. The main PSP complaints were that its games were mediocre, its game library had too many ports, its load times were too long, and that some games froze often.

DS owners said they enjoy its backward compatibility to GBA games and touching the handheld's screen. On the other hand, they also said that the audio in DS games isn't loud enough, there aren't titles for adults, and the screen sizes are too small.

When looking at the two handhelds in terms of sales figures, the Nintendo DS has sold approximately 2.2 million units in Japan since its launch on December 2, versus the PSP's 1.39 million units since it went on sale 10 days later. The top-selling games for the two machines in Japan are listed below.

CUMULATIVE GAME SALES

Nintendo DS
WarioWare: Touched! : 740,000 units
Super Mario 64 DS : 710,000 units
Nintendogs: 400,000 units
Pokémon Dash: 320,000 units
Kirby: Canvas Curse: 190,000 units

Sony PSP:
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee: 350,000 units
Ridge Racers: 260,000 units
Dynasty Warriors: 260,000 units
Tales of Eternia: 170,000 units
Metal Gear Acid: 110,000 units

SURVEY RESULTS

Q: How many Games do you have?

PSP:
None: 2%
One game: 27%
Two games: 25%
Three games: 14%
Four games: 8%
Five Games: 10%
More than six games: 11%

DS:
None: 2%
One game: 16%
Two games: 20%
Three games: 19%
Four games: 12%
Five games: 8%
More than six games: 23% ...

According to Satoru Iwata, Nintendo is currently working with a new technology that would bestow their classic games with an updated look in time for their next-gen debut. However, he did not divulge the nature of the enhancement, nor did he hint at whether the technology would be integrated into the Revolution’s hardware or be a part of the downloaded game itself. Theorists speculate that it may entail reskinning some or all of the classic games in Nintendo’s lineup, as was done for the compilation Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES (shown at bottom right). Then again, Nintendo may choose the simpler route of merely incorporating a filtering or anti-aliasing method to improve the quality of the existing graphics. Certain N64 and SNES titles could benefit greatly from a method such as this.

Moving on, Iwata also promises that the classic gameplay of each title will remain absolutely unchanged, which, after all, is what these games are really remembered for. Right?.

What’s your take on all of this? Should Nintendo not be allowed to tamper with the timeless look of their own creations, or are some classic games in dire need of a graphical overhaul in this era of dynamic shadows and spiffy particle effects? After all, was Mode 7 what really made Star Fox and F-Zero great?

CORRECTION: As Thomas was quick to point out, Star Fox’s 3D animation was provided courtesy of the in-cartridge Super FX 3D accelerator chip, not mode 7 as I insinuated. I should have said Super Mario Kart, but the fact that I was late for work dictated that this post a bit rushed. Alas, ‘tis a cruel world where blogging does not pay the bills. ...

We’ve heard that the Xbox 360 will be compatible (to some extent) with the Sony PSP. But until now, it was assumed that this meant you could share files (music, photos, and video) between the 360 a Memory Stick Duo docked in the PSP. Just recently, some cryptic new info was released that suggests Microsoft has developed the technology to allow the 360 to interact with the PSP and Nintendo DS in unique ways:

”The technology would allow users of the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS to connect with the Xbox 360 and then play Microsoft’s games online.”

Microsoft has yet to confirm or deny these rumors, which suggest that Microsoft has plans to release online games for play on its rivals’ handhelds. Very interesting… ...

If this is the patent for the Revolution’s controller, then I’m baffled as to why Nintendo feared that a rival would mimic it if it was revealed at E3. After all, it doesn’t feature anything that we haven’t been speculating about for months now. And to top it all off, the patent’s wording is just vague enough to make me wonder if they weren’t referring to the next iteration of the Game Boy (the buttons certainly match up, after all). But, if you believe gamesradar, then here’s the gist of the Revolution’s revolutionary control interface: gyroscopic motion-sensors, a touch screen, a d-pad, two face buttons, two shoulder buttons, and the ever-ubiquitous start and select buttons. Simply speaking, think of it as a GBA with a touch screen and a built-in copy of Kirby’s Tilt ‘n Tumble.

As usual, the gyroscopes are the most intriguing feature of the unit. gamesradar hints that the gyroscopic technology will be used for analog control in the absence of an analog joystick, though mewonders if the controller would feature weights to aid in recentering the unit. Once again, this could be a very cool control scheme if well-implemented into the game.

However, the touch screen is what worries me. As many, many people have already pointed out, current touch screens lack any kind of force feedback, and cannot be touched at more than one point without becoming confused. And, judging by my own experience with Metroid Prime Hunters, reaching your thumb across half the controller to use the touch screen is more than a little uncomfortable. Of course, clever design on Nintendo’s part could potentially lessen my worries. And, as usual, no prototypes of the controller have been leaked to the public yet. ...

Messianic hairstylist Kotaku has a poster showing information about Nintendo’s Revolution console. There’s jack squat as far as information goes, but it does confirm the launch date: March 2006. Maybe the Revolution will be that they’ll actually show us some new games. ...