Apologies for the lack of updates. I've not had internet access at home since moving flat at the end of August. My ADSL was activated today so I'm finally up and running again. I can't believe how long it's taken!

Between the flat move and a busy few weeks at work (getting ready for the Tokyo Game Show) I've not had that much time to work on Daedalus, but I have made some progress on a really cool feature people have been asking for for some time, namely savestate support.

For those not familiar with savestates, the basic premise is very much like 'hibernate' or sleep modes on PCs and laptops. A savestate can be created at any point during emulation. At a later time the savestate can be reloaded to restore the emulator to the exact state it was in when the savestate was created.

What's really useful about savestates is that they work even if the underlying save mechanism used by a rom isn't supported properly. I'm hoping that by adding savestate support Daedalus will become significantly more usable for many roms. Savestates also make development a lot easier as it means I can jump straight into the middle of a game when debugging/profiling rather than sitting through the title sequence dozens of times.

I still have a little bit of work left to do on the savestate system, mostly on the UI side, but there are a number of additional optimisations I want to finish off before I release R13. I'm currently planning to get everything ready for release on either the weekend of the 29th Sept, or possibly the first weekend in October.

-StrmnNrmn

September 19, 2007 - With Kaz Hirai presenting the opening keynote at this year's TGS, all eyes are on Sony to see what titles the company will present for its high powered console. At a pre-TGS press reception, Sony showed off a number of their key titles for the rest of 2007 as well as 2008. No announcements were made, which gave the impression that a larger statement would be made by Hirai to open the show, but most of the titles shown featured new content of some kind. Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction on the PS3 was paired with a new and previously unknown entry in the Ratchet universe for the PSP, Secret Agent Clank. There weren't many other PSP titles featured, although the redesigned PSP Slim was on hand, all showcasing the system's Remote Play functionality.

New levels of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune were placed next to stations of Little Big Planet, Wipeout HD, Lair and Gran Turismo HD Concept. While White Knight Story wasn't present at the event, Folklore held down the RPG side of things, while NBA 08 and Hot Shots Golf 5 covered the sports side of the games. Shooter fans were allowed to take on competition with Unreal Tournament III, while puzzle fans were able to check out LocoRoco Cocoreccho! on the PS3.

The PSN wasn't left out in the cold either, with titles such as Go! Sports Ski, Everyday Shooter and Pain highlighting what PS3 owners will be able to download and experience sometime in the future. These were supported by pre-existing titles such as PixelJunk Racers and the expansion to Flow. EyeToy functionality was also showcased, with the most prominent title being Operation Creature Feature, which had players sweeping blobby monsters into exits.

We'll have more detailed information on the various titles shown at the Sony press reception shortly.

[12:27] Ah, the big moment--Hideo Kojima comes out to present Metal Gear Solid 4. First, a new trailer. No English interpretation provided on this one. Bear with us, folks.

[12:28] First we see a character who's probably Naomi Hunter, talking frantically about the Foxdie virus into the camera, as if someone is approaching.

[12:34] Okay, we haven't seen that much concentrated craziness since MGS4 was unveiled. Give us a moment to digest. Konami has promised you'll be seeing a nice clean version of this trailer online once TGS starts.

[12:48] Yeah, so how about that MGS4 trailer? It was totally nuts. TOTALLY.

[12:49] Okay, we've got a script for that trailer right here in front of us. In English. Joy!

[12:50] In that first scene with Dr. Hunter, she talks about how Liquid Snake is holding her prisoner and forcing her to hijack the "system" because she knows how Foxdie works. She begs Snake to rescue her.



Hideo Kojima takes the stage to talk a whole lot about Metal Gear.[12:53] The next scene showed Meryl, the bald African-American character from previous trailers named Ed, and a few other armed soldiers moving cautiously through an enclosed car park. Meryl says "These guys are Liquid's private army. Shoot first, think later." They soon engage in a firefight with a number of soldiers in metallic, futuristic armored suits, before Solid Snake emerges from the shadows and saves the team.

[12:54] Meryl talks about the network of nanomachines in each of her soldiers' bodies, which allows her and her team to literally share each other's senses and "operate as one."

[12:56] All throughout these sequences, titles popped onscreen: "Final Chapter of the Metal Gear Saga."

[12:56] "Final Mission of Snake."

[12:56] "Finally, Everything Will Be Revealed!"

[12:58] Next up, we see Snake talking to a slightly shady new character who calls himself Drebin. The guy's a "gun launderer" who takes the genetically-encoded weapons of MGS4's future private military companies and unlocks them for use by anyone. The guy describes himself as "neither enemy, nor friend," but it sounds like his services will come in pretty handy. The guy apparently likes to keep a small primate around with him. Comic relief, anyone?

[1:00] Snake questions Drebin on the identity of the Patriots, asking if they're even human. "Not anymore, they ain't." Then we get shots of a strange little girl named Sunny, who Otacon says was taken by the Patriots at birth.

[1:03] Snake encounters an older, wrinkled blonde woman who compliments his close-quarters combat technique. She says "Call me Mama. Big Mama." But this script we've got reveals her name as Eva! Seems like everyone in any Metal Gear, ever, is showing up in this purported last installment.

[1:06] Excitement in the trailer reaches fever pitch by this time. Finally we see Snake taking a stand against Revolver Ocelot/Liquid Snake, who appears to be piloting the same Metal Gear RAY unit he was last seen escaping in at the end of MGS2.

[1:06] Lastly, dialogue between Naomi and Sunny, during which Sunny says "Her name was Olga... my mother." See? Every character ever.

This week, market research and analyst firm DFC Intelligence released its latest report, titled "DFC Intelligence Forecasts Video Game Market to Reach $47 Billion by 2009." As the title suggests, the San Diego-based research firm thinks the worldwide game industry's worth will increase by $14 billion in the next two years from its estimated $33 billion 2007 worth.

In addition to its pan-platform market predictions, DFC also handicapped the three-way race between the most recent crop of consoles. It predicts that sales of all three systems--the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360--will total between 180 and 210 million units by 2012. In the shorter term, DFC believes the Wii will continue its winning streak until at least the end of 2008, at which point the PS3 could start taking over.

"We could have a situation where the Wii sells more hardware units, but by 2012 the PlayStation 3 is generating more software revenue," said DFC analyst David Cole.

Cole also believes that although the battle is far from over, the Xbox 360 will likely be relegated to third place when the dust finally settles. He says Microsoft's dependence on the US and Canadian markets are hampering its efforts to make the console a worldwide phenomenon. "The Xbox 360 will need to build a strong base outside North America to avoid being in a fairly distant third," forecast Cole.

DFC analysts also looked at the portable market, predicting that handhelds generally and the DS in particular will continue to see strong growth. "Revenue from portable game software has more than doubled in recent years," said Cole. "We think that the Nintendo DS could eventually become the best-selling game system ever in five years."

The company also augured that the worldwide PC gaming market will be worth more than $13 billion by the year 2012.