News via http://www.emucr.com/

Fceux SVN r2211 is released. FCEUX is a cross platform, NTSC and PAL Famicom/NES emulator that is an evolution of the original FCE Ultra emulator. Over time FCE Ultra had separated into many separate branches. The concept behind FCEUX is to merge elements from FCE Ultra, FCEU rerecording, FCEUXD, FCEUXDSP, and FCEU-mm into a single branch of FCEU. As the X implies, it is an all-encompassing FCEU emulator that gives the best of all worlds for the general player, the ROM-hacking community, and the Tool-Assisted Speedrun Community.

Fceux SVN changelog:
r2211
try fixing lua drawing alpha blending stuff
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News via http://www.emucr.com/

puNES v0.22 is released. puNES is a NES emulator. Currently the program supports mappers 0, MMC1, UNROM, CNROM, but the sound is not yet available. It uses the SDL libraries and it works on both Linux and Windows.



In the future I will use this post to announce new releases and changes.

puNES is an emulator under development that works on Linux32/64 and Windows32. It needs of SDL library to run. Uncompress the zip/tar file in a subdirectory. Run it with the name of the rom as the first argument (or, in Windows, if you don't want use the commandline, drag the rom on the icon of the emu).
P.s. doesn't support zipped rom yet

Current version : 0.22

Changelog:
0.22
Implemented all illegal opcode.
Rewrite from scratch MMC3 emulation and now really work with every rom that I've tested (for two weeks I've tryed all 5118 MMC3 GoodNES roms including Blargg mmc3 test) except for few bootleg and some chinese roms (why??).
Implemented fix for young indiana jones chronicles (thx James).
0.21
Correct some bugs in the MMC3 (NTSC and PAL) and now
all the roms that I'have tried works well.
0.20
Implemented illegal opcode 0x80 for the "Beauty and the Beast (E) [!].nes" rom
0.19
complete APU emulation.
This is my first attempt with sdl sound and perhaps there may be some bugs. For now, without the implementation of frameskip, the emulator has to work 100% for not having problems with sound skip and crackle.
Changed the structure of the code and now the emu takes less than 100Kb.
Correct many many many bugs.
0.18:
added AxROM (mapper 7) emulation.
0.17:
fixed another bug and now Incredible Crash Dummies run without problems.
0.16:
correct a couple of bugs in the mmc3 emulation.
0.15:
added MMC3 emulation.
0.14:
Correct a a bug in the controller routine (thanks Dwedit).
0.13:
Correct a little bug and now all cpu_interrupts_v2 test roms passed.
0.12:
Implemented reading of $2004 during the rendering.
(thx to Quietust for the info and for the read2004.nes test rom).
0.11:
I worked hard on the CPU and PPU emulation and now many
of test roms worked perfectly (thanks blargg).
Added OpenGL support.
Implemented APU Frame Interrupt (only this for now).
Many bugs are gone.

Mappers supported : 0, MMC1, UNROM, CNROM, MMC3, AxROM.
Sound : Implemented.

keyboard:
arrow keys = left, right, up, down
a = button A
s = button B
z = Select
x = Start
1 = 1x
2 = 2x
3 = 3x
4 = 4x
5 = no filters
6 = scale2x
7 = ntsc (press more time to switch between composite, svideo, rgb, monochrome)
. and , = switch between PAL palette, NTSC palette and Sony CXA2025AS US decoder, monochrome and greenchrome.
f = toggle fullscreen
o = switch between opengl and software rendering
p = toggle stretch in fullscreen

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News via http://www.aep-emu.de/

The Zod Engine is an open-source remake of the game Z from the Bitmap Brothers.


Quote:
The big overhaul for the new expanded production window is now done.. Also I want to make it so if you are selecting a unit you can click the portrait and a big menu showing all the choices will come up and then you just select one. The overhaul was that I had to separate the selector code so I might finish the portrait selector first.

http://zod.sourceforge.net/ ...

News via http://www.aep-emu.de/

"StepMania is capable of playing many game types. Currently, it supports games similar to Dance Dance Revolution, Pump It Up, EZ 2 Dancer, and Para Para Paradise. In the future, it will support games similar to BeatMania, Guitar Freaks, DrumMania, and more.

The games played by StepMania are rhythm games. Notes scroll up from the bottom of the screen, and the player must hit the corresponding button on the controller in time to the. All games can be played using the keyboard, but the real fun comes when using specially designed controllers, like a dance pad or hand sensors." Quoted from the homepage. StepMania is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.


Quote:
2011/07/03
----------
* [Player] Bring mMods from OpenITG over. Also, a metric was added,
"MModHighCap", to cap the speed mod if required for playing songs like
Tsuhsuixamush. Set the metric to 0 or less to remove the cap. [AJ, sharksoda,
Wolfman2000]

2011/07/02
----------
* [ScreenEdit] Fixed a crash when hitting Enter in the F1 help menu. [AJ]

2011/06/30
----------
* [NotesAll] Use #FIRSTSECOND, #LASTSECOND, and #LASTSECONDHINT instead of the
former BEAT equivalents. Split Timing has made this a necessity thanks to
certain files that abuse Stops/Delays more than usual. [Wolfman2000]
* [ScreenEdit] Add a function in the Area Menu to designate the current beat
as the last second of the song. Please try to be smart and not use this too
early. [Wolfman2000]

2011/06/28
----------
* [ScreenEdit] Add a function to copy/paste the TimingData of a player´s
choice. Remember to be in the appropriate mode when copying and pasting.
By default, the song timing is already located in the clipboard, ready for
use. [Wolfman2000]

2011/06/27
----------
* [Steps] Make sure #ATTACKS are copied when requested. [Wolfman2000]
* [ScreenEdit] Have Step Author up front instead of Chart Style. This is
probably going to be better overall. [Wolfman2000]
* [TimingData] Preserve the length of time for Speed Segment scaling when using
beats. [Wolfman2000]
* [NotesLoader/WriterSSC] #OFFSET is to be before #ATTACKS. This is required if
we pursue beat based attacks and not just second based. [Wolfman2000]

2011/06/26
----------
* [UnlockManager] New metric: AutoLockEditSteps. Use this to hide bonus charts
until the Expert steps are beaten. No guarantee that this works with no
challenge steps in the song. This defaults to false. [Wolfman2000]
* [UnlockManager] New metric: SongsNotAdditional. Set to true to keep the
default behavior, false to have the AdditionalSongs folder contain
unlockable material. This is set to true to start. [Wolfman2000]
* [ScreenEdit] Allow jumping between all segments, not just Label segments.
You still use Ctrl + ,/. to jump, but now you use Ctrl + N/M to cycle the
segments. By default, it starts with Label. [Wolfman2000]
* [PlayerOptions] No longer display StepAttacks in the player´s list.
Instead, show NoAttacks if attacks are disabled. [Wolfman2000]

2011/06/24
----------
* [Actor] Implement compound(length,tweens) in _fallback/02 Actor.lua. [AJ]
* [UnlockManager] Add a new unlock reward: StepsType. This is similar to
unlocking Steps, but it is targeted for one step in one stepstype rather
than one step in all stepstypes. This needs testing. [Wolfman2000]
* [ScreenEdit] Add the option to convert delays to beats. Just find a better
song to use this on besides Uprock. [Wolfman2000]
* [ScreenEdit] Fix a crash if you don´t save any steps on a new song.
[Wolfman2000]
* [NotesLoader/WriterSSC] Add support for Step #ATTACKS. Furthermore, Song
Attacks (or rather, Step Attacks as it should be called now) are turned on
by default instead of off. [Wolfman2000]

2011/06/19
----------
* [EditMenu] Allow all songs to work in Practice Mode, regardless of folder
location. This fixes a crash if everyone had songs in AdditionalSongs.
[Wolfman2000]

2011/06/17
----------
* [LifeMeterBattery] Fixed a bug where MinesSubtractLives was not being honored.
Also added LifeChanged message to changing of life on holds. [AJ]

2011/06/15
----------
* [TimingData] Added many lua bindings for the other timing segments. GetWarps,
GetCombos, GetTimeSignatures, GetTickcounts, GetFakes, GetScrolls, GetSpeeds.
This should cover all of them now. [Wolfman2000]

2011/06/13
----------
* [InputHandler_DirectInput] Fixed MouseWheel input not resetting. [AJ]
* [ScreenTextEntry] Make it so only the keyboard´s Enter key can finish the
screen. Should fix issues with buttons whose secondary function is MenuStart. [AJ]
* [InputMapper] Modify default mappings. Use the Hyphen key instead of the
Numlock key for Player 2´s GAME_BUTTON_BACK. This should address some
issues with Player 2 being unable to back out if they use a laptop.
[Wolfman2000]
* [NoteDisplay] Add two new metrics.
* DrawRollHeadForTapsOnSameRow: bool, similar to DrawHoldHeadForTapsOnSameRow
* TapHoldRollOnRowMeansHold: bool, true means hold and false means roll
* No noteskins should require updating, as these were placed in common/common
for ease of use. [Wolfman2000]
* [LifeMeterBattery] Added ChangeLives(int) Lua binding. [AJ]
* [LifeMeterBattery] Added DangerThreshold metric. [AJ] ...

Zumba Fitness has retained its position at number one in the UK software chart for a third week, outselling the games in second to fifth places combined despite a five per cent drop in sales.

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean sits in second, pushing L.A. Noire down to third and FEAR 3 to fourth. Wimbledon week has undoubtedly helped to push Virtua Tennis four up from 20th to fifth.

New entries are sparse in another quiet release week, with Resident Evil 3DS managing a debut at 21. The only other new entry, UFC Personal Trainer from THQ, sits one place below at 22.

Last Week This Week Title
1 1 Zumba Fitness
5 2 LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean
2 3 L.A. Noire
3 4 FEAR 3
20 5 Virtua Tennis 4
17 6 Transformers: Dark of the Moon
4 7 DiRT 3
10 8 Top Spin 4
9 9 Brink
7 10 FIFA 11
6 11 The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D
8 12 Duke Nukem Forever
15 13 Wii Sports Resort
19 14 Portal 2
11 15 inFamous 2
13 16 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
21 17 Call of Duty Black Ops
28 18 The Sims 3
32 19 Red Faction: Armageddon
14 20 Dungeon Siege 3

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-uk-number-one ...

OnLive is celebrating "Indie-pendence" Day with a massive sale on -- you guessed it -- a random selection of mainstream blockbusters and popular underground games.

The sale includes Batman: Arkham Asylum, Darksiders, Just Cause 2, a pre-order deal on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and of course an inundation of hit indie titles such as Braid, The Maw, Osmos and Amnesia: The Dark Descent. OnLive's "Indie-pendence" Day Sale runs through the completely unrelated day of July 4, so hurry and check out your options after the jump before this thing vanishes like smoke after a firework.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/03/on...xplosive-sale/ ...

Microsoft announced today that on July 11th, their Games for Windows marketplace will be merging with its console equivalent. According to a spokesman,
"All of the same content from GamesForWindows.com will be available on Xbox.com so members of communities across Xbox 360 and Games for Windows can purchase and get details on their favorite games, all in one place. All account information will remain the same and community members can still take advantage of their Xbox Live profile in their Windows games and stay connected to friends who are playing on the PC."

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/0...g-With-Xboxcom ...

Google Chrome's rise in popularity has been remarkably fast and it's just hit a new milestone: more than 20% of all browser usage, according to StatCounter. Chrome rose from only 2.8% in June 2009 to 20.7% worldwide in June 2011, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer fell from 59% to 44% in the same time frame. Firefox dropped only slightly in the past two years, from 30% to 28%. While other browser trackers show Chrome with a lower percentage, there's a reason: StatCounter tracks total surfing, not the number of users. It's the Web's power users who are pushing Chrome to new heights

http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/07/0...ontinues-Slide ...

World Of Warcraft Starter Edition has been hailed as a "brilliant strategic move" by industry analysts.

The news that Blizzard was making the first 20 levels of WoW free-to-play emerged earlier this week, and while the Starter Edition strips away several key features, it is significantly more generous than the preceding 14-day trial.

Speaking to IndustryGamers, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter described the offer as a reaction to the growing threat from free-to-play MMOs, and a "pre-emptive move" against Bioware's The Old Republic.

"It's a great hook to attract new subscribers," he said. "People new to MMOs will have to think about whether to buy Star Wars or WoW, it's actually a brilliant strategic move."

Arvind Bhatia of Sterne Agee speculated that the Starter Edition is evidence of Blizzard, "getting closer to the launch of the next expansion pack for WoW."

David Cole of DFC Intelligence is more reserved, however, positing that simply attracting more players to WoW is enough of an incentive to open up its first 20 levels.

"I think it is more an issue of WoW has reached somewhat of a saturation point and while it has held steady it hasn't seen a great deal of growth," he explained. "The competition I think is once you reach a certain level of success it gets very hard to find new people willing to try it."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...strategic-move ...