Are you an import-savvy gamer who not only purchased Phantasy Star Complete Collection last Thursday, but have also played through all the included games? Well, don't toss that unsightly Sega Ages box onto your shelf just yet, because there's more Phantasy Star included on the disc!

Sega Japan announced today the method for unlocking a couple of bonus titles for the game. Simply hold right on the D-pad while pressing start at the title screen, and you'll get the option to play Phantasy Star Adventure and Phantasy Star Gaiden, both originally for the Game Gear.

Adventure is set in the same world as Phantasy Star II and has players investigate a mysterious happening on the planet of Dezolis. Sega has updated the game with a pause feature, allowing you to pause play midway through and continue at a later point. The original was password-based.

Gaiden offers an original look at the Phantasy Star universe. Set 450 years after the original game, players lead Alec and his childhood friend Mina on an adventure to rescue Alec's father from prison. The game is set on a planet that was discovered by the original's hero, Alis.

With these two titles, the four main entries in the series both in Japanese and overseas formats, and the eight mobile scenarios featuring PSII's Nei character, Phantasy Star Complete Collection really does appear to be complete! Although we're all hoping Sega will make it incomplete with the announcement at some point of a real Phantasy Star V.

SAN FRANCISCO (March 2008) - SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced that Viking: Battle For Asgard™ for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system has shipped to retailers in North America. Developed by acclaimed studio, The Creative Assembly, Viking: Battle for Asgard is a new and horrific twist on Norse mythology that allows players to feel the power of a true Viking hero.

Viking: Battle For Asgard™ thrusts players into a mythological world overrun with demonic warriors unleashed by Hel, the Norse goddess of the underworld. As Skarin, a rage-fueled Viking hero, players will wage all-out war to free mankind from the grip of evil and ultimate annihilation. Players can command dragons and wield fire, ice, and lightning, laying waste to enemies in either small skirmishes or epic battles featuring hundreds of warriors. Enemies will suffer graphic dismemberment with disturbing realism from an array of Skarin’s melee, range, and magic attacks. Upgradable combat skills and Skarin’s otherworldly abilities create an ever-changing landscape of epic violence and heroic victory.

Viking: Battle for Asgard for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 systems is rated "M" for Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board and will retail for $59.95. For more information on the game, please visit www.sega.com/viking. Screenshots and artwork can be found on the SEGA FTP site at: http://segapr.segaamerica.com.

t least some of you must realize that developing Makaron is a time consuming process. Time I could very well be spending doing things that bring me money. I have expenses you know, mostly PC hardware and software but also Dreamcast games and other stuff (like a new oscilloscope, as the old one died on me sometime ago).
I'm happy people use my emulator and find it useful, but I also belive it's only fair I got someting out of it as well.

Having said that I've came up with an idea of Pay to Play system for Makaron - prepaid style. Makaron will be free to download and try out but to play longer you will need to purchase an activation code. Simply put, in exchange for money you'll be given a limited time to use my emulator. Once that time is up you'll need to pay again, very much like you would for a cell phone number.
Payment options will include credit cards and other common money transfer services, but I haven't yet decided on the rates so it'll take a few days to set everyting up. I will be done with the activation code shortly too.

This is the last free version: Makaron T10.

UPDATE: I've changed my mind - I'm going to start with payment system right now. If you've managed to download the free T10 then consider yourself lucky.

That's crazy talk! While all of your friends could be enjoying Contra 4 on the DS or SOCOM on the PSP, you can show off this solar-powered unit that can handle all sorts of NES classics.

Sure, it treads a little carefully on the legal front, but the MediaStreet eMotion PMP comes preinstalled with both NES and Sega Genesis emulators.

What this means is that you have full access to such classics as Ecco the Dolphin, Dr. Mario, and yes, even Excitebike. In addition to the emulators, this PMP also gets equipped with a 3-inch color display, 2GB of internal memory, video support, audio playback, photo viewer, SD memory expansion, and an integrated speaker. It's also got a Game Gear-esque form factor.

But the real kicker, in case you haven't noticed, is that this thing is solar powered, meaning that you will never need to find a power outlet ever again. Price has been set at $169.

A blog post on Nokia's official N-Gage site has revealed that the service is set to properly launch within 'the next few weeks'.

It has already been available in a 'first access' beta version, although this was limited to use on Nokia's N81 mobile phone.

"Our development team is working as hard as it can in order to implement as many changes and fixes [to the First Access programme] as they can in time for our rollout in the next few weeks," said the post.

Only a month and a half after v1.2, and it's time to release Mupen64Plus v1.3. We have more new features and bug fixes in here than you can shake a stick at! Ebenblues did most of the work for this release, but okaygo, nmn, and myself have also contributed. The RELEASE file gives most of the changes, but the highlights are:

- New feature: Glide64 video plugin for 32-bit and 64-bit systems
- New feature: Combine mupen64 and mupen64_nogui into a single binary
- New feature: ability to change icon size in GTK GUI
- New feature: support different directories for install (plugins, icons, etc) and config (save games, config files)
- New feature: support for creating and using ~/.mupen64plus dir for storing user data
- New feature: support for multi-user installation via "make install" or "./install.sh"
- New feature: support for plugins given via command line option in GUI mode
- New feature: pause/continue functionality with LIRC
- Change fullscreen hotkey to Alt+Enter
- Bugfix: segfault in Goldeneye and Perfect Dark for 64-bit dynarec
- Bugfix: 64-bit dynarec bug in genld()
- Bugfix: GTK GUI: Exiting via File -> Exit wasn't writing out config file to disk
- Bugfix: GTK GUI: "About" menu does not pop up while emulation is running
- Bugfix: Added plugin error checking before emulator is started
- Bugfix: Segfault in plugin_scan_directory()
- Bugfix: Closing emulation window now stops emulator
- Bugfix: GTK GUI: "Toolbar Style" now works
- Bugfix: Many other minor bug fixes, GTK warnings fixes, translation corrections, etc

Mupen64Plus has a new Home Page over at Google Code, with lots of useful information, screenshots, a bug tracker, a discussion forum, etc.

Reverted something as i was getting sick of people reporting bugs with Speedhacks enabled, which left me chasing something which doesnt exist.

* Fixed SCSP sound formation processing.
* Fixed SCU DMA end interruption processing.
* Fixed Memory access weight processing.
* Fixed cache processing.

Version of the state saving data changed.

The option which the index position inside the track/truck of CD makes effective was provided.
Because Saturn can do CDDA playback with index appointment.
When it makes effective, index information is retained below the CDIndex folder.
Because option function of ReadCD command is used to index search,
Perhaps it becomes error depending upon drive.

Yesterday Kotaku ran a rumor that Def Leppard, one of the last remaining rock bands of the '80s to not be featured in a music/rhythm game, will be making their virtual debut in Guitar Hero 4. This rumor originated from an interview with the band on the Rockline radio show, where Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen told a caller that three of their tracks would appear on the unannounced but inevitable GH sequel: "Photograph," "Animal," and "Rock of Ages."

Let's add a little fuel to this fire with our take. On today's episode of 1UP Yours, 1UP's senior reviews editor Garnett Lee suggests that the Def Leppard tracks Collen mentioned will actually be showing up relatively soon as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III. And while we can't name names, this rumor rings true with whisperings we heard from some trustworthy sources.

The idea of the Def Leppard tracks as DLC rather than GH4 songs makes sense when you look at the history of the series. Numbered Guitar Hero games have historically never had more than one track from one band, whereas DLC for the series tends to come in groups of three. The Def Leppard pack would also be a major score for Activision, which has been floundering in its efforts to compete with the aggressive downloadable offerings of primary competitor Rock Band.

Also of note, along with the Def Leppard news, 1UP has been told that tracks from the upcoming spin-off game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will not be made available as DLC for Guitar Hero III or Guitar Hero 4. If you want to rock out like the trailer from earlier today, you'll have to throw down cash for the full game. At least that's the word today; you know how these things can go. It wouldn't come as a shock to see a new Aerosmith DLC pack a few months after the game's release.