Sega Europe is abandoning plastic packaging for its physical games, after it today announced the introduction of recycled cardboard cases for all its PC products.
The news comes just months after Sega subsidiary Sports Interactive revealed it would be using specially designed recyclable cardboard cases for Football Manager 2020.
Studio director Miles Jacobson said at the time that he hoped the wider industry would soon follow suit.
Now, three months later, Sega Europe has expanded upon the work done by Sports Interactive to deliver recyclable packaging across its entire PC portfolio, starting with Total War: Rome II - Enemy at the Games Edition, which is set to release next week.
Much like the packaging used by Sports Interactive for Football Manager 2020, the new cases are more expensive to produce, but are made from 100% recycled and recyclable materials.
This increase is partially offset by savings in shipping costs, thanks to the reduced weight overall. Sega Europe quoted Jacobson's initial statement on the additional cost, saying it's "a price worth paying to help secure the planet's future."
"This initiative underlines Sega Europe's commitment to reducing its plastic waste and its ongoing efforts to implement environmentally friendly business practices," said Sega Europe president and COO Gary Dale.
It was estimated that the decision to go green with Football Manager 2020 would prevent up to 20 tonnes of plastic waste. Sega were unable to provide figures on how much waste this portfolio-wide move could prevent, but suggested it would be exponential.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-all-pc-titles ...

MAME v0.217 is released. MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. When used in conjunction with images of the original arcade game's ROM and disk data, MAME attempts to reproduce that game as faithfully as possible on a more modern general-purpose computer. MAME can currently emulate several thousand different classic arcade video games from the late 1970s through the modern era.

What's news in MAME:


MAMETesters Bugs Fixed
----------------------
- 00232: [Graphics] (skyfox.cpp) exerizerb, skyfox: Missing parallax effect. (sasuke)
- 04344: [Graphics] (galivan.cpp) ninjemak and clones: Continue countdown on game over displays incorrectly. (sasuke)
- 05380: [Interface] (apple2gs.cpp) apple2gs: Command-line media options not recognised for cards set in INI file. (R. Belmont)
- 05387: [Timing] (snk6502.cpp) nibbler: Some animations run too fast. (AJR)
- 05606: [Gameplay] (crvision.cpp) crvision and clones: Sound plays too slowly causing game delay issues. (Michael Zapf)
- 06782: [Gameplay] (apple2gs.cpp) apple2gs [chsm2100]: Chessmaster 2100 player clocks do not count. (R. Belmont)
- 06946: [Misc.] (galivan.cpp) dangar, dangara, dangarb, dangarbt, dangarj: Black warp screen between areas is missing. (sasuke)
- 07196: [Timing] (snk6502.cpp) nibbler: Game slows down periodically in two-player mode. (AJR)
- 07482: [Color/Palette] (apple2.cpp) apple2, apple2e and clones: Graphics colors do not match the original machines. (R. Belmont)
- 07493: [Graphics] (galivan.cpp) dangar, dangara, dangarb, dangarj, galivan, galivan2, galivan3: Incorrect text colors. (sasuke)
- 07494: [Graphics] (terracre.cpp) horekid, horekidb, boobhack: Coffee break doesn't show. (sasuke)
- 07501: [Sound] (snk6502.cpp) nibbler: Snake sound missing when materializing in two-player game. (hap)
- 07502: [Sound] (ms32.cpp) f1superb: Machine is flagged as lacking sound emulation, but plays sound. (ArtLine)
- 07510: [Cheat System] An unnecessary separator is displayed at the top of the cheat menu. (kunikuni)
- 07524: [DIP/Input] (subsino2.cpp) new2001, queenbee, squeenb: Input settings are not saved. (hap)

New working machines
--------------------
Bondwell Holding Bondwell Portable Computer Model 14 (German keyboard) [rfka01]
Cosmo Gang (US) [hap, Lord Nightmare, coolmod, The Dumping Union]
CXG Systems / Newcrest Technology Sphinx 40 [hap, Berger]
CXG Systems / Newcrest Technology Sphinx Dominator (v2.05) [hap, Berger]
France Double R La Regence [hap, anonymous]
Intec InterAct Complete Video Game 89-in-1 [Sean Riddle, David Haywood]
Lexibook JG7415 120-in-1 [TeamEurope, David Haywood]
MiWi2 16-in-1 + Drum Master [David Shah, David Haywood]

New working clones
------------------
200 in 1 Retro Arcade [eanbowman]
Acorn Computers / Slogger Acorn Electron (Stop Press 64i) [Nigel Barnes]
Arlington Horse Racing (v1.40-D) [Brian Troha, The Dumping Union]
Magic Bubble (Adult version, YS1302 PCB, set 2) [hammy, The Dumping Union]
Mandinga (Electrogame S.A. bootleg of Amidar) [ClawGrip, Rampa]
Megatouch 5 (9255-60-50 R0G, Bi-Lingual GER/ENG version) [TeamEurope, Brian Troha, The Dumping Union]
Mera-Elzab Meritum I (Model 1) [element853, Robbbert]
Osborne Osborne-1 with SCREEN-PAC [Vas Crabb]
Snow Bros. 2 - With New Elves / Otenki Paradise (Nyanko) [jordigahan, Heckler, ClawGrip]
Tron (5/12) [cdjump @ klov]

Machines promoted to working
----------------------------
Jungle Soft / Ultimate Products (HK) Ltd Zone 40 [David Haywood, BeckyRGB]
Lexibook Zeus IG900 20-in-1 (US?) [David Haywood, Sean Riddle]
Star Wars Arcade (US) [O. Galibert, Caps0ff]
Wing War (World) [O. Galibert, Caps0ff]

Clones promoted to working
--------------------------
Channel Three [TeamEurope, Grull Osgo, Ivan Vangelista]
Star Wars Arcade (Japan) [O. Galibert, Caps0ff]
Wing War (Japan) [O. Galibert, Caps0ff]
Wing War (US) [O. Galibert, Caps0ff]
Wing War R360 (US) [O. Galibert, Caps0ff]

New machines marked as NOT_WORKING
----------------------------------
21 (Sigma) [Yasuhiro Ogawa]
BaoBaoLong BBL380 - 180 in 1 [zhongtiao1]
Buttobi Striker [SpinalFeyd, R. Belmont]
Cars 2 (JAKKS Pacific TV Game) [Sean Riddle, David Haywood]
Chameleon RX-1 [starlord, ClawGrip, Recreativas.org]
Digital Equipment Corporation VT52 [Dalby Datormuseum, Matt Burke, AJR]
EOD Performance Inc. Vanguard MK1 [Caps0ff]
Fantasy Story [David Haywood, caius, The Dumping Union]
Fish Life Amazon Playful Edition (Japan) [Musee Bolo]
Golden Tee Golf (JAKKS Pacific TV Game) [Sean Riddle, David Haywood]
Golden Winner [@LosTrastosDeXaX, ClawGrip]
Hasbro Playskool Heroes Transformers Rescue Bots Beam Box (Spain) [Sean Riddle, ClawGrip]
JAKKS Pacific Inc Star Wars Blaster Strike [Sean Riddle]
JAKKS Pacific Inc Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Hero Portal [Sean Riddle]
Kattobase Power Pro Kun [SpinalFeyd, R. Belmont]
Lexibook Compact Cyber Arcade - Star Wars Rebels [TeamEurope]
Lexibook JG7425 221-in-1 [TeamEurope]
M&D unknown M&D handheld [zhongtiao1]
Majesco (licensed from Konami) Konami Collector's Series Arcade Advanced [Sean Riddle, David Haywood]
Oxford Instruments ITC-4 Intelligent Temperature Controller (Version 2.04) [ClawGrip]
Pro-Nets Technology Speedcom VD56SP [ClawGrip]
Pub Time Darts [jordigahan, ClawGrip]
Rowe International CD-100B LaserStar [unknown]
Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party (satellite) [SpinalFeyd]
Sweet Land [anonymous]
Takara / Sammy / DCT / SSD Company LTD Gachinko Contest! Slot machine TV (Japan)
[Sean Riddle, Peter Wilhelmsen, ShouTime, David Haywood]
Techno Source Handy Boy 11-in-1 (TV Play Power) [Sean Riddle, GameHistory.org]
Toy Story Mania (JAKKS Pacific TV Game) [Sean Riddle, David Haywood]
unknown VRender0+ bowling game [SpinalFeyd, hammy, The Dumping Union]
Virtual Ping Pong (Conny / SDW Games) [Sean Riddle, David Haywood]
VTech Genius Junior Profi (Germany) [TeamEurope]
VTech Genius Tabletop Black Magic CX (Germany) [TeamEurope]
VTech PC Super Color (Spain) [ClawGrip]
VTech V.Baby [Sean Riddle, ClawGrip]

New clones marked as NOT_WORKING
--------------------------------
Abit 486 EISA-AE4 [rfka01]
AEG Olympia Olyport 40-21 [rfka01]
Aquarius System (ASI) MD-4DUVC [rfka01]
Arche Technologies Inc. KMA-300G-25 [rfka01]
Blood Bros. (Modular System) [jordigahan, ClawGrip]
Bull ...

RetroArch v1.8.2 is released. RetroArch is a multi-system emulator for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and *BSD. It is formerly known as SSNES. Its design and background is quite different than most other emulators as RetroArch does not implement an emulation core itself. RetroArch talks to libretro, a generic emulator core API. This means that RetroArch is core agnostic, and it does not care which emulator core is running.

Currently there are libretro implementations for systems such as SNES, NES, GBA, GB/GBC, Genesis, and even arcade games (Final Burn Alpha).

libretro isn't only usable for emulators. A preliminary port of an open source reimplementation of Cave Story has been ported to libretro as well.

RetroArch believes in modularity. The application itself is a command-line driven application suitable for HTPC and/or headless use. There also exists a GUI frontend for RetroArch, supporting every single config option available in RetroArch.

http://www.libretro.com/

http://www.emucr.com/2019/12/retroarch-v182.html ...

Ootake v2.92 is released. Ootake is a PC Engine emulator for Windows. Ootake is the most frequently updated PC Engine emulator available for windows, and Ootake is also one of the more complete. Also, Ootake is FREE unlike Magic Engine.

http://down.emucr.com/v3/5153129330900992

http://www.emucr.com/2019/11/ootake-v292.html ...

When Blizzard president J. Allen Brack got up in front of a BlizzCon audience last week and took responsibility for a recent "tough Hearthstone esports moment," it would have been difficult for anyone not in tune with recent events to tell what he was taking responsibility for, given the lack of specifics in his statement.
Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan, however, was not at all vague in his response when The Washington Post asked him his thoughts on the six-month suspension of Chung 'Blitzchung' Ng Wai from professional Hearthstone competitions over his vocal support of Hong Kong protests in a post-match interview last month.
"I was relieved when they reduced his suspension," Kaplan said. "And I think the suspension should be reduced more or eliminated. But that's just me.
"I'm obviously a huge supporter of free speech; it's something that's very important to me. It got to me personally. I think the punishment was too harsh and I was greatly relieved when they gave his money back. I think that was extremely important."
Kaplan makes clear that this is his opinion as an individual, and that Blizzard employees across all levels and departments have their own thoughts. He added, though, that the Overwatch League's own process for determining a ban or suspension is not as hasty as what happened with Blitzchung.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-or-eliminated ...

• A full month hasn't even passed since the last update of RetroArch, 1.7.9, which released earlier this October, and added new touchscreen gestures for those using the mobile version of the program. Now, with the newly released version 1.8.0, even more improvements have been made to the UI in general, for mobile users. Some new improvements and additions include a new method of scaling menu sizes for a variety of different resolutions and DPI, animated transitions between menus, a navigation bar which makes changing settings more effortless, and other visual optimizations.
  

  With version 1.7.9, we already improved the mobile UX significantly by adding touchscreen gestures and better touch responsiveness.
  
  This however pales in comparison to what has been done for version 1.8.0 in this department. We will quickly go over the major highlights, most of the text here has been written by jdgleaver (the author of these changes) with only minimal edits by myself –
  
  New menu scaling
  At present, Material UI is scaled according to screen resolution and hard-coded magic numbers. This ‘kinda-sorta’ works on some mobile devices, but in general (and specifically on desktop computers and tablets) the interface is too large, and scaling is highly inconsistent when resizing windows. To combat these inadequacies, there existed a ‘DPI override’ feature which allowed the user to set a specific scale – but this didn’t work in real-time (so adjustments were blind), and it’s not user friendly (since the average user can’t be expected to know the correct DPI setting for their screen).
  
  This new version modifies the scaling of Material UI such that it uses the hardware-reported DPI value of the display, with empirical adjustments to accommodate very large and very small screen sizes (where normal DPI scaling fails). This should ensure an appropriate default interface size regardless of hardware. Moreover, it removes the ‘DPI override’ and replaces it with a generic Menu Scale Factor under User Interface > Appearance, which is a simple fractional multiplier (much easier for the user to understand!). This Menu Scale Factor is now also used by XMB (instead of the previous XMB-specific scale factor) – it is intended that Ozone and menu widgets will obey this setting in the future.
  

  • DPI Override Removed – Menu Scale Factor comes in its place – starts out at 1.00x and can be made smaller or higher than the default value
  • Material UI now correctly readjusts its layout when screen orientation changes on mobile devices
  • Material UI now resizes in real-time when the user manually sets the Menu Scale Factor (this never worked properly with the old DPI override)
  • Material UI no longer leaks memory on ‘context reset’

  
  Menu animations
  A new ‘Menu Transition Animation’ option has been added under User Interface > Appearance. When this is enabled, menu transition events are animated.
  
  All sorts of animations have been added – fade-in effects, slide effects, etc. If you dislike any of these, you can always turn the setting off completely to go back to the previous behavior.
  
  System bar
  A new Android-style ‘system bar’ has been added. This shows current core name, clock and battery level.
  
  Navigation bar
  
  The navigation bar is now shown at all times – i.e. it is an actual navigation tool, rather than a ‘top-level-menu’ curiosity.
  
  Two new context-sensitive buttons have been added:
  
  On the bottom left we have a ‘back’ button. This performs the same function as tapping the menu bar, but the button is in a more ergonomic/standard position. This should address most of the complaints Android users have about RetroArch ignoring the hardware back button.
  
  On the bottom right we have a ‘resume content’ button. This means we can easily change/test runtime settings without performing finger gymnastics. e.g. we can change a core option or apply a shader and immediately toggle the menu off without having to hit back to get to the quick menu, and scroll up to the resume content entry.
  
  Auto-Rotation
  A new ‘Auto-Rotate Navigation Bar’ option has been added under User Interface > Appearance. When enabled (this is the default setting), the navigation bar is moved to the right hand side of the screen when using landscape screen orientations. It looks something like this:
  
  
  If you don’t like this and you want it to always appear at the bottom of the screen, turn this option off.
  
  Title bar
  The title bar now uses a larger font, and the sublabel font has also been enlarged a little, to more closely align with Material Design standards.
  
  Optimize Landscape Layout
  A new Optimize Landscape Layout option has been added under User Interface > Appearance. This is intended to address the rather uncomfortable appearance of Materail UI in landscape orientation on wide displays (particularly on the desktop). The option is disabled by default on mobile platforms (like iOS/Android), and enabled by default everywhere else. When enabled, it looks something like this:
  Click to expand...

  PC and Linux users also get some nice new features, with two bounty requests having been fulfilled. Rinnegatamante has added "graceful switching" for video drivers, meaning

...

If you've been running out to buy a black mourning outfit every time the Death of Games Consoles, PCs or any other gaming platform has been proclaimed, bad news; it's another one for the mothballs, it seems. Having drawn gasps from bystanders and mild panic from shareholders when it was originally unveiled, Google's Stadia -- the game streaming service that's meant to be a nail in the coffin of the quaint idea of just running a game on a cheap piece of consumer hardware you bought in a shop -- is arriving in less than four weeks.
Yet for all the hoopla around its unveiling, Stadia's launch is a strangely muted affair. The chorus of the doom prophets is nowhere to be heard. The inexorable approach of the streaming black hole that will swallow gaming within its event horizon appears to make scarcely a sound.Alright, I'm over-egging it slightly, but it is honestly peculiar that with less than a month to go before the supposed entry of one of the world's biggest tech firms (indeed, one of the world's biggest companies full stop) into the games business, the launch is making hardly a ripple on the water. It feels like an inordinate amount of the anticipation for Stadia is contained within the rather rarefied bounds of the investor community, many of whom are seeing this as a landscape-altering event on a par with Microsoft's market entry all those years ago. On the consumer front though, and even among developers, the response to Stadia is far more measured -- "wait and see" appears to be the order of the day.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...idence-opinion ...

Wine v4.18 is released. Wine is a project to allow a PC running a Unix-like operating system and the X Window System to run x86 programs for Microsoft Windows. Alternately, those wishing to port a Windows application to a Unix-like system can compile it against the Wine libraries.

Wine v4.17 Changelog:
Many new VBScript functions.
A number of cleanups and improvements in Quartz.
Fixes for several test failures.
Various bug fixes.

http://www.winehq.org/

https://www.emucr.com/2019/10/wine-v418.html ...

WinUAE v4.3.0 Beta 1 is released. WinUAE is the commodore amiga emulator for Windows. WinUAE is a mostly complete software emulation of the hardware of the Commodore Amiga 500/1000/2000. A Commodore Amiga, for those who don’t know, is a 16/32 bit computer system based on the Motorola 680×0 CPU and a few specially designed custom chips that provide very good graphics and sound capabilities. Its first incarnation, the A1000, appeared in 1985, followed by the highly successful A500 and A2000 models. WinUAE is a port of the originally written for Unixish systems UAE; but over time, it seems the Windows port, WinUAE has become the best version available on any platform. WinUAE is free software: you are welcome to distribute copies of it and/or modify it, under certain conditions. There is no warranty of any kind for UAE. For more details concerning these issues, please read the GNU General Public License, which describes the terms under which WinUAE is distributed.

https://www.emucr.com/2019/10/winuae-v430-beta-1.html ...