News from Divineo China

The most popular (probably because of its superior quality and reliability) brand for dev. device on GBA/SP has dropped significantely its prices for his all range of product. The perfect time to buy is now!

Heres more info if you dont know what it is:



Overview of the product

A 2Gig cartridge compatible with the Flash 2 Advance ULTRA, the most popular and top quality back up/development unit for Gameboy Advance. The biggest cartridge on the market with 2G MEMORY! IMPORTANT: Requires a F2A USB or Parallel linker to function.

Specifications & extra information

Product Features:
Built-in Real Time Clock and Real Time Save functions.
SRAM size inside the Cart has been significantly increased to 8M.
100% compatible with all the saving functions with today's GBA
Available to directly play Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire with 100% hardware compatibility
Using Japan-made ASIC to independently design and produce the mask

More info at Divineo China ...

Alongside pirates and cowboys, Dwarves are highly-favoured amongst the CVG team. They covet shiny things, they live underground, drink like famished camels, but most importantly they're really good for crushing snooty elves in RTS skirmishes.
There's not many Dwarves in these new Battle for Middle-Earth II 360 screenshots sadly, but they've got our demand for pointy-eared war games surging none-the-less. We've already sampled the game on PC through a mouse and keyboard, but the 360 version promises tussles over Xbox Live and joypad controls that hopefully won't have us throwing our TVs out of the window in frustration.

The Battle for Middle-Earth 2 lands on Xbox 360 in June, hooded riders will no-doubt not be far behind.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=137169 ...

We've been fannying about with Nintendo's Brain Age on the tube in the morning, ever since we got hold of it at GDC this year. As great as it is though, it's still all a bit po-faced and (whisper it) a little too much like actual work. Step in Big Brain Academy for the DS then, taking the basics of Brain Age and whipping them up into a more family-friendly outing. Now, Nintendo's revealed a little more about Big Brain Academy and it's sounding splendid.
Unlike Brain Age, which runs tests to figure out the age of your bonce muscle (the optimal age being twenty), Big Brain Academy rates the weight of your brain based on your performace during Thinking, Memorization, Computation, Analysis and Identification activities in Training Mode - obviously, the heavier the better. The game then identifies the areas where you need some improvement, meaning you can practice until your brain's positively humungous.

Big Brain Academy also features multiplayer shenanigans for up to eight people, using a single game card - unsurprisingly, the goal's to compete in all the activities and see who's got the biggest brain. Winners get to wear the Sizeable Hat of Victory (or at least they would if we had any say in the matter).
Courtesy of Nintendo, here's a gander at some of the different activities tucked away inside Big Brain Academy.

Think:

Heavyweight - Choose which object weighs more - it's not so easy with three different scales.

Pathfinder - Look at the creature on the top screen and draw a line that will lead him to his friend.
Memorize:

Sound Bites - Carefully listen to people and animals as they make noise, then try to touch them in the correct order.

Memo-Random - Examine the panels on the top row, then touch the correct one when the panel is replaced by a question mark.
Analyze:

Missing Link - Look at the red line in the picture on the top screen and draw it into the picture on the touch screen. Watch out! Some pictures will be inverted.

CubeGame - Count the blocks, being careful not to forget the ones hiding at the bottom of the stack.
Compute:

Coin-parison - Choose the panel with the greater amount of money.

Written Math - Read the problems in word form, then solve them by tapping the number pad on the Touch Screen.
Identify:

Shadow Shift - Tap the images on the Touch Screen that match the spinning shadows on the top screen.

Matchmaker - Look through a number of colorful panels to find the matching pair.
Big Brain Academy is set to hit stores in Europe later this year.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=137163 ...

We've been fannying about with Nintendo's Brain Age on the tube in the morning, ever since we got hold of it at GDC this year. As great as it is though, it's still all a bit po-faced and (whisper it) a little too much like actual work. Step in Big Brain Academy for the DS then, taking the basics of Brain Age and whipping them up into a more family-friendly outing. Now, Nintendo's revealed a little more about Big Brain Academy and it's sounding splendid.
Unlike Brain Age, which runs tests to figure out the age of your bonce muscle (the optimal age being twenty), Big Brain Academy rates the weight of your brain based on your performace during Thinking, Memorization, Computation, Analysis and Identification activities in Training Mode - obviously, the heavier the better. The game then identifies the areas where you need some improvement, meaning you can practice until your brain's positively humungous.

Big Brain Academy also features multiplayer shenanigans for up to eight people, using a single game card - unsurprisingly, the goal's to compete in all the activities and see who's got the biggest brain. Winners get to wear the Sizeable Hat of Victory (or at least they would if we had any say in the matter).
Courtesy of Nintendo, here's a gander at some of the different activities tucked away inside Big Brain Academy.

Think:

Heavyweight - Choose which object weighs more - it's not so easy with three different scales.

Pathfinder - Look at the creature on the top screen and draw a line that will lead him to his friend.
Memorize:

Sound Bites - Carefully listen to people and animals as they make noise, then try to touch them in the correct order.

Memo-Random - Examine the panels on the top row, then touch the correct one when the panel is replaced by a question mark.
Analyze:

Missing Link - Look at the red line in the picture on the top screen and draw it into the picture on the touch screen. Watch out! Some pictures will be inverted.

CubeGame - Count the blocks, being careful not to forget the ones hiding at the bottom of the stack.
Compute:

Coin-parison - Choose the panel with the greater amount of money.

Written Math - Read the problems in word form, then solve them by tapping the number pad on the Touch Screen.
Identify:

Shadow Shift - Tap the images on the Touch Screen that match the spinning shadows on the top screen.

Matchmaker - Look through a number of colorful panels to find the matching pair.
Big Brain Academy is set to hit stores in Europe later this year.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=137163 ...

The study of fear and the borders of human imagination... A trip to the darkest corners of consciousness, in all of us... A trip to the hell of the subconscious and not necessarily to return..." That, in a scary nutshell kind of way, is not your average working day at CVG, but a brief description of Sadness, a Revolution horror game that's just been sneaked out from the darkest of recesses - i.e. announced - by Nibris, and small-ish dev outfit based in Poland.
We've been in contact with Nibris to discover a little more about Sadness, and in response the developer's explained that Sadness is "gothic horror" in atmosphere and, from what we can gather, lays heavy emphasis on psychological terror and shock value and is set during a time when a hollowed out half-lemon was employed as a contraceptive device. "If you're counting on shooting, litres of blood and piles of dead bodies then unfortunately you won't find this here," Nibris revealed, promising that "We are preparing for a mood which will not leave you till the very end of the game."

Spooky, very spooky, and the developer went on to talk about an "irregular scenario" for Sadness that "decides on such issues as schizophrenia or narcolepsy" and is "extremely complex and rich-in-the-shocking-factor". We're not exactly sure what that means, but it's enigmatic enough to have us intrigued. And we're also intrigued by the fact that the game will be in black and white - now how weird is that!?
Nibris additionally fed our insatiable, and yes gaping, maw with a few information morsels on how it'll employ Revolution's innovative controller in Sadness: "Imagine driving away rats with a torch, throwing a rope (as a lasso) when you want to climb over the wall, or slitting the throat of a persecutor with a piece of glass... All of this with the help of the Revolution controller. And this is only the beginning... We'll take you on a journey to which no one has taken you before. The only question is are you ready to experience it?"

Erm, can we answer that one at a later date?

Nibris told us that "Innovative ideas and scenarios allowing the player to completely identify with the heroes of the production, created by us" are the main driving forces behind its games and, in a message to players, added: "thanks to our games, we want you to experience genuine feelings - emotions, sadness, fear or joy. You'll really feel them now!"

Nibris expects to have Sadness out the - no doubt ominously creaking - door in 2007.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=137199 ...

To those who dont know what this is ill let you in to what this is.

This is a rather unique experiment if you like of a public interview of up to 40,000 people who are members of the DCEmu Network. We are all here for the love of homebrew and gaming and so the questions will be based around that subject.

With the new Network Forum i only need to post this once for it to show on all the sites

Heres question 2

What got you interested in the Homebrew and Emulation Scene ?

(as usual i answer first)

Well if i remember right it was back in around 1996 when i first got a PC, someone installed a Snes emulator on the computer and i was shocked and amazed at seeing Super Mario World on my pc.

If im talking about homebrew only then its the Dreamcast, Boob Dreamcast Research was the premier site at that time and talk of a Media Player and Gameboy Emulator were the hot topics.

OK thats me done, over to the masses ...

Source Digitimes

Qware Systems & Services, the builder and operator of the city-wide broadband WLAN WiFly system in Taipei, and Sony Network Taiwan, the operator of local Internet-access services So-net, are cooperating to provide users of Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) consoles in Taiwan with free wireless broadband access to the Internet via WiFly.

Sony launched its PSP WLAN services globally first in South Korea in September 2005 and second in Hong Kong and Taiwan around the end of last month, with So-net responsible for the operation in Taiwan. PSP WLAN Internet surfing is available at hot spots, while WiFly extends the services to many indoor and outdoor places in main urban areas of Taipei, according to So-net. Users of PSP consoles need to use Sony's NUD (Network Utility Disc) to surf the Internet through WiFly and download contents.

More than 70% of PSP users in Taiwan have played on-line games through ADSL or WLAN, So-net pointed out. According to local retail channels, more than 200,000 PSP consoles have been sold in Taiwan. ...

winnydowsxx has again updated his Video Converter for the PSP, heres whats new:

Removed menu Tools.
Removed not used DLL libraries and filters from VirtualDub and BeSweet.
MSharpen it is used as a method of increase of clearness by default. Very much results are good .
For Speed Mode 1 pass and codec DivX is by default used. For HQM 2 passes and codec XviD are by default used.
Fixed - parameters of blocking of filters were not remembered at an output if was used Speed Mode.
DVD filter ColorMatrix was updated up to version 1.10.
Minimal requirements to system have changed. Installation DivX and XviD no more required. Only must exist any decoder. It can be the codec-pack, ffdshow or codec DivX and XviD.
Names of modes of coding have changed on more logical and clear - High Quality Mode and High Speed Mode.
Rigid check on version AviSynth is entered.
Now in the menu does not appear hibernate, if its system not потдерживает.
The program is completely localized.
Now all dialogues have icons.
Work with DVD containing DTS tracks is corrected.
Coding DVD now stops, if it was not possible to take a sound correctly.
After coding DVD clear more trash.
The form does not fade by default.
In the name of the program percent now are displayed. On bad DVD percent can be displayed incorrectly.
Everywhere where it possible progress the bar moves intelligently. On bad DVD progress can move incorrectly.
Fixed Coding DVD were present Russian letters.
PMP_muxer was updated to version 2.00.
While is not present normal player for PMP 2.00, in section Output can be chosen PMP 1.02 or PMP 2.00.

Download & Give Feedback Via Comments ...

themouton from the forums at the premier French Homebrew Forum Player Advance.org has released a new puzzle game for the PSP, heres a rough French to English Translation:

The goal of the play is to leave tomato all these infames malicious numbers while passing by all the boxes. Can be that one day there will be the princess tomato to save!! Each box with a number, it indicates the number of times where it is necessary to pass above (clearly?).
It is necessary to arrive on the last one puts, the white checkerwork, to finish the level.
For the moment there is that 5 types of boxes.
box 1: to pass once
box 2: to pass 2 times
box 3: to pass 3 times
box 4: to pass 4 times
the box checkerwork: to pass that at the end, when all the other boxes disappear.

You can move tomato with the directional cross.
And cross touches it makes it possible to make a screen printing. The image will be put in the repertory of the play.
touch direction: move tomato
touch cross: screen printing

Fact:
graphics: 50 %
stopwatches: 75 %
level: 75 %
the tomato: 75 %
the engine of play: 50%
the graphic engine: 50%

To make:
other boxes: jump, car movement in the 4 directions, téléporter
menus
Can be to remake the tomato drawing and its animates
the engine graphs to be improved
musics and sounds
full with tricks

At the technical level, I program in C++ with the devkitPro and Visual Studio 2005 (It is useful just for the make and the completion). I use lib png for the images. I have to develop a lib which makes it possible to post sprites and tiles, to make various operations above. With a system of hierachie and groups.
I develop rather gently because I make tests on possibilitées of the PSP at the same time, I bump also on another project which has anything to see but which takes much time (8 hours in made = job) and I have also a life

This preview makes it possible to see animate them and the principle of the play.
Here finally the bond for the 1.5 in kxploit

For PSP 1.5: Tomato.zip (706ko)

It goes with also with FileAssistant and them bootloader. For the 1.0 I do not know how the file is made. Thus if somebody knows?

Thank you

anyone translate this better please do so

Download, Screenshots and Give Feedback Via Comments ...