News via http://www.aep-emu.de/PNphpBB2-file-...c-t-15773.html

byuu has released another version of his SNES emulator bsnes.

Quote:
"bsnes the project itself is not discontinued, by taking the project private I mean that I will be releasing the source code, and leaving it to others to distribute binaries. I am currently undecided on whether I will be distributing bsnes binaries based on the phoenix GUI or not. For this release, I have chosen to release a 64-bit Windows binary utilizing phoenix and the accuracy core. The current Qt GUI is still there, as are the compatibility and performance emulation cores."


Quote:
"[...] my own personal binaries will be very stripped down and minimal, with no support for legacy cruft. The Qt GUI with all of the features that people are used to will be passed off to any willing developer to post binaries and to add additional features as requested by users. So essentially, for those who want to stick with the feature-filled Qt port, it just means you will need to wait a bit longer after a source update is made before Windows binaries are available to download.

It is very important to note if you choose to use my binaries, the phoenix port does not support: ROM images with copier headers, ROM images that do not end in .sfc (for SNES cartridges), .st (for Sufami Turbo cartridges), .bs (for BS-X flash cartridges), or (.gb,.gbc,.sgb) for Game Boy cartridges, compressed images, software filters, rewind support, fullscreen mode, IPS patches, cheat searching, movie recording, native OS file dialog boxes, asciiPad simulation, video region cropping, layer/channel toggle, slowdown, etc. It is meant to be minimal, and if this is a problem for you, please stick with the Qt port."


Quote:
Changelog:

fixed a regression in the accuracy/compatibility CPU core with IRQ masking; fixes World Heroes 2

fixed OAM address reset on $2100 writes for performance PPU core; fixes Mahjongg 2 and others

DSP-1 always returns high 8-bits of status register; fixes Ace wo Nerae! freeze [Jonas Quinn]

performance core can now take advantage of serial support

pixel shaders now use a unified XML format; in the future they will support multi-pass shaders and textures

major code restructuring

first public release of phoenix GUI port

mightymo´s cheat code pack is now an external file for the phoenix port

phoenix port stores cheat codes in XML format as well, unifying all file formats to the same markup language


https://code.google.com/p/bsnes/downloads/list ...

On Friday, Apple issued an official statement regarding the issue of preinstalled Adobe Flash on the freshly unveiled MacBook Air.

According to Apple, Flash will not come preinstalled on Macs as a way to best ensure that users will not be deprived of the latest version of Flash. Instead, Mac users are encouraged to download the latest from Adobe. Similarly, all future Macs will come without Adobe Flash pre-installed. Apple spokesman Bill Evans reportedly stated the following to Engadget:


Quote:
"We're happy to continue to support Flash on the Mac, and the best way for users to always have the most up to date and secure version is to download it directly from Adobe."

http://modmyi.com/forums/mac-news/73...lash-macs.html ...

Etsy artisans GeekUnique have found a unique use for old console controllers: iPhone/iPod docks. The husband and wife team guts the old pads and retrofits them with official Apple sync cables. On offer: NES, PS1, N64 -- even a Zapper! They also mod game carts and ... 8-track tapes? ...

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/21/co...ay-youd-think/ ...

In Red Dead Redemption's Land Grab Mode – set for multiplayer free roam as part of the intriguing Undead Nightmare add-on – players fight for control over a section of land in one of seven different towns in the open world epic's online game world.

When one of seven posts marked Land Grab is activated, a countdown triggers and players are given control over a radius of territory, Rockstar revealed on its website.

In order to lay claim to the land, you must remain inside the radius and defend against oncoming enemies. Leaving at any time will surrender your claim, as will being killed by another player.

While the land grab is active you'll add to the XP pot awarded at the end of the match. But watch out for sneaky enemy players – all they need to do is activate the post themselves to take control.

All players can participate in an active Land Grab, Rockstar said, but only players that have the Undead Nightmare Pack can initiate a game. Screens showcasing the mode are below.

The Undead Nightmare add-on will release next week on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live and set you back £7.99 or 800 Microsoft Points (£6.80 / €9.60).

The new campaign sees you attempt to rid the land of a zombie plague. Expect new weapons, new characters and new locations.

Undead Nightmare is the fifth DLC pack for the open world epic, following Outlaws to the End, Legends and Killers, Liars and Cheats, and Hunting and Trading.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...land-grab-mode ...

Cult Dreamcast game ChuChu Rocket! will be released for the iPhone, iPod Touch and in HD on the iPad "very soon", SEGA has announced.

The iPhone/iPad version will cost £2.99 / €3.99 from the App Store. The iPad version will set you back £3.99 / €5.49.

The mobile version has over 145 puzzles and 24 multiplayer levels for up to four players via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

The iPad version has an exclusive multiplayer battle feature that allows four players to play on one iPad.

ChuChu Rocket! – from Sonic creator Yuji Naka – was originally released in 1999 for SEGA's final home console the Dreamcast.

The game's existence on iDevices appears to be the result of you, the fans.

Last year SEGA revealed it was brainstorming ideas for iPhone and iPod Touch games and wanted to know what gamers fancied.

Ideas were to be gathered on Twitter, Facebook and on the SEGA forums and put to a panel. Requests included Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi, Outrun and... ChuChu Rocket!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...cket-very-soon ...

Gaming appears to be most popular app genre for Apple's iPad, according to a recent survey by Nielsen.

While findings revealed that 32 per cent of iPad owners rather surprisingly claimed they were yet to download any Apps, 62 per cent of those who had revealed they're tried games.

In total, 38 per cent of the iPad owners surveyed online had downloaded games, making it the top paid App category.

However, only 400 iPad owners were questioned in total, as part of an online survey covering 5000 owners of tablet devices - also including Kindles and smartphones.

Game companies are fast taking advantage of the iPad's seven million worldwide sales to date, with yesterday seeing Zynga release a new version of Facebook titan Farmville for the iPad.

Like the earlier iPhone version, the title is free to play, microtransaction-funded and runs in a client independent of Facebook (though nonetheless requires an account).

"The iPad is a spectacular gaming device, and the new FarmVille app leverages its larger touch screen interface and enhanced graphics," said Zynga's president of studios Steven Chiang. "FarmVille on the iPhone was an instant hit and now we are giving people another Apple device to play on."

Meanwhile, Rovio studios have immediately leapt to the top of both the iPhone and iPad App Store charts with a new Hallowe'en-themed version of the ubiquitous Angry Birds.

Nielsen's iPad user survey also found that the audience was 65 per cent and 63 per cent under 35 years of age. 39 percent of those surveyed earned more than $80,000 per year.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...s-top-category ...

THQ's UK marketing director, Jon Rooke, has told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is "confident and fully expecting" the Wii and DS markets to bounce back this Christmas, following a slow rest of the year - mirroring sales activity in 2009, when the Wii platform in particular took off in the final two months of the year.

The news comes as the publisher launches a major marketing campaign for its Kids, Family and Casual line-up called 'Great Games, Great Value' - a campaign which echoes a push back in 2006, when the company needed to plug a revenue gap at Christmas left by the delay in release of Disney Pixar's Cars movie.

"We had a number of key learnings from that initial campaign, one of which was that we never really partnered closely enough with retail on it," Rooke explained. "We had a great umbrella brand which worked for the consumer, wrapped a lot of titles together and allowed us to put titles onto TV which on their own might not have received the weight of spend we'd have wanted - but the delivery of that at retail fell short of where we wanted it to be.

"It was a successful campaign, however - it absolutely achieved what we were looking for at that point in 2006," he added.

That partnership with retail will see a range of ten titles sold under the GGGV umbrella brand in a move that has universally been welcomed, said Rooke - in part thanks to the challenge for retailers in having enough space to dedicate to family or casual titles, as well as the challenge of marketing spend for each title individually.

"We went out to retail, we presented the proposal, and the response was unanimously positive," he said. "They all loved the idea, that we were coming to them with a solution to a problem at Christmas, and every single retailer brought into the umbrella campaign. The process we've been going through ever since has just been fine-tuning those plans with retail - which titles are they taking, what are their hero titles.

"The whole campaign is focused with retail in mind, so all the TV will be tagged with a retailer. A 30-second ad might have two or three titles in it, and the end message will be something like: 'Great games, such as Megamind, available now from ASDA' - at whatever the pricing is."

While the decline in overall core videogame market numbers has been blamed in some quarters on a sharp fall in Nintendo platform software and music game genre sales, Rooke echoed comments made previously by THQ CEO Brian Farrell in believing the Wii behaves more like a toy than a traditional videogame product in terms of seasonality.

"When you look back, in particular at the Wii software market, last year - and we looked into this in a lot of detail - it started very strong coming out of Christmas [2008], then declined as you'd expect and flattened out through Summer and Autumn," Rooke explained. "Then in the tail end of October, and through November and December it really started picking up again - and in those last two months of the year it started doing massive volumes.

"It's one of those challenges that everyone forgets - what's happened before. The Wii is behaving a bit more like a toy - people get it out at Christmas, start playing with it again. It's not depressed in that people aren't engaging with the Wii - there are a lot of active users out there, they haven't put it away and it's still set up next to the TV in the living room. But they probably just haven't had a really compelling piece of software to get hold of to really engage with.

"I think seasonality is part of that, and we've always been forecasting through this year to be in a position where we're depressed at this point in time. But we're confident and fully expecting that market to come back; despite Kinect and Move maybe coming a bit into that space, we still see a lot of active users out there.

"Both Microsoft and Sony would have to sell a lot of those motion gaming peripherals to start to cut in significantly to that market," he added.

Titles to be marketed under the GGGV umbrella brand, and released on either November 19 or November 26, include: Barbie, Hot Wheels, Megamind, Truth or Lies, Superhero Squad, Pictionary, Penguins of Madagascar and The Biggest Loser.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...s-market-surge ...

If you're a fan of videos featuring commercial actors mugging for the camera and jumping around in a semi-comical manner, you are seriously in luck. That's right, it looks like Ballmer and Co.'s $500 million marketing blitz has resulted in some totally spasmodic TV spots for the Kinect. As befits a technology that emphasizes movement over the controller itself, there is very little actual hardware shown -- but boy, do those kids look like they're having fun! See for yourself after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/22/o...y-large-rooms/ ...

Who knew a support thread on corporate WiFi login issues would lead to anything we'd care about? Cut to Google code's Android forums, where an anonymous Google engineer confirms that this problem will be patched in the "next major release" of Android, specifically version 2.3. So... does this mean Android 2.3 is the oft-discussed (and close on the horizon) Gingerbread? Not necessarily -- while possible, there isn't any indication to that effect, and logic doesn't arbitrarily equate the two. After all, recall that Eclair was both 2.0 and 2.1, so there would be some historical precedence to this 0.1 leap being nothing more than sprinkles on frozen yogurt.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/22/a...ogle-engineer/ ...