Homebrew Across the Scenes - One mans View
Apart from a few spikes the homebrew scene has been quieter of late especially in the once all mighty PSP Scene, heres my viewpoint on the scene as a whole with regards to homebrew.
PSP
As ive already stated the PSP scene has been much quieter over the last year, thankfully the likes of our very own zx81 has kept emulation of older consoles alive and also our very own Zack has had a dabble in Snes emulation, also great is the N64 emulator still being worked on. Im sure most people like myself are praying that the M33 Team and Dark Alex release a new Custom firmware. Hopefully the PSPGo will be cracked for homebrew soon, then i might actually buy one.
Nintendo DS
On the emulation side of things the DS has gotten stagnant but thankfully the Gaming side has been awesome, id say one of the biggest releases this year was the GBA Emulator that used the DSIplayer Flashcart, it does make the mouth water to see what else is doable with the DSIplayer.
Nintendo Wii
The Wii is still the king of the present gen consoles for homebrew and the credit must go to wiibrew for becoming a fantastic unbiased release source for coders, the recent release of the N64 emulator for Wii has to be a real crowning point for the wii scene, thanks to the guys at emulatemii for that.
PS3
Sadly still no major breakthrough for the PS3, im sure most are praying for a custom firmware that allows region free PS2 and PS1 gaming and full emulation, we can but dream.
Xbox360
The free60 project has brought some emulation to the Xbox360 but sadly that major breakthrough is yet to happen.
Iphone/Ipod touch
Whilst a great system for games from amateur coders the powerful machines are void of homebrew apart from zodttd, lets hope we see more emulators soon.
Dreamcast
Been a quiet few months but the console still soldiers on with the odd release, if you havent ever had a dreamcast your missing out on an awesome homebrew scene, trust me.
GP2X
Whilst theres no more gp2x consoles being made the homebrew scene is still very active, mainly due to the excellent forums over at gp32x, a great homebrew handheld if you can get one ;)
GP2x Wiz
The Wiz is probably the 2nd most active console for homebrew releases and has lived up to expectations, personally id like to see a working N64 emulator on the handheld but maybe thats not possible, certainly a good future ahead :)
Dingoo A320
Probably the best homebrew device this year, Dingoo Linux has been the release of the year for this handheld and has brought many of the star coders to release their emulators and games on the dingoo. If you havent got one then your missing out bigtime.
GP32
The handheld may be considered dead but only a month or so ago Slaanesh released a new version of MAME for the GP32 that easily beats versions of most of the newer consoles, dust off that GP32 and get some arcade gaming going :)
Pandora
The most powerful handheld is coming, if the console does Dreamcast, N64 and PSX Emulation at a playable speed then you have a major player in the world of homebrew.
Do you agree with my thoughts or have your own, let us know via comments
