17-04-2008
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The GP2X F-200 is open source, available now, and can play nearly anything you throw at it. So why isn't it better known? Ars reviews the gaming handheld. Read More...
...[Read]
19-11-2007
Developer ZodTTD has released a new update to gbSPhone 0.0.5, a GameBoy Advance emulator for the iPod touch and iPhone.
Although it is a small increment from 0.0.4, the developer said that it is a crucial update, introducing an improved graphical user interface and enhanced sound support – which the author credits to help from Nes.app creator NerveGas.
 Some performance fixes were implemented as well, through the default frameskip settings and some dynarec tweaks.
The gpSPhone project is completely open source, and is available directly from ZodTTD's website.
Since gpSPhone is a third party application, users interested in running the software are required to 'jailbreak' their device, a practice that Apple has consistently disabled with new releases of the iPhone firmware.
Check on http://www.zodttd.com/ ...[Read]
02-04-2007
YokimaSun writes "Homebrew coders push the boundaries on the PSP again, StrmnNrmn has released a new version of his Nintendo 64 emulator for the PSP that has been confirmed to play Mario 64 at Full Speed on Sony's Handheld. A full Compatibility listing is available with games such as Starfox64 playble too."
...[Read]
02-04-2007
Nostalgic gamers remember Commodore. Ah, yes. I recall first getting into serious gaming in the mid '80s with my old Commodore 64, the innovative computer that looked like a bloated keyboard, boasting good sound and graphics for a gaming computer of its time.
...[Read]
21-11-2006
ENTHUSIASTS REJOICE . The world's best underdog handheld is back is and it's better than ever. The people who brought us the GP32 handheld have recently released its successor, the GP2X and while it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea it does appear to have strong geek appeal.
...[Read]
19-11-2006
We spoke with Namco Networks' Vice President of Sales & Marketing Scott Rubin, following the company's announcement that it had acquired the rights to localize and release North American mobile versions of the company's classics Mr. Do! and Mr. Do's Castle.
Question: First off, can you give me a little background on the success Namco Networks has had with its retro mobile releases, and why you anticipate these two Aruze titles will be mobile hits?
Scott Rubin: PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN were some of the first games available on JAVA and Brew phones and continue to be two of the most downloaded games across wireless devices. Not only do arcade classics, such as Dig Dug, Pole Position II and Galaga, have nostalgic appeal, but they are also perfect for mobile phones, with the up-down-left-right game play making it easy to control.
Because of our experience with these retro titles, we can recognize which arcade classics are fun and would work well on mobile. Mr. Do! and Mr. Do’s Castle were extremely successful in the arcades. They are classics designed to be instantly addictive. Personally, I think that they are fun because there are multiple ways to clear a level which puts an interesting spin on the game. We think that these titles will be extremely popular among fans of arcade classics and casual games.
Q: As Aruze is a Japanese company with no US division, how did this relationship come about? Was there any help from Namco Bandai in Japan?
SR: In addition to the original games we are releasing, one of Namco Network’s strengths is developing and publishing perfect ports of arcade games on phones, so it’s a natural choice for companies with arcade classics to partner with us. We are always thinking about arcade games that consumers will enjoy on mobile. We remembered how these were great hits, enjoyed by fans worldwide; so, we are working directly with Aruze to bring these games to the U.S. mobile market.
Q: Can you provide any information about plans beyond these two titles? Does Namco intend to bring over other Aruze titles, or retro titles from other Japanese publishers?
SR: At this time, we haven’t announced other titles that will be coming out in the US as a result of our partnership with Aruze. We are also in contact with many other video game publishers regarding the publishing of their content, such as our partnership with G-Mode that will enable us to distribute future titles.
Q: Is it too late for Japanese or other Eastern game companies to set up American branches? Gamevil is just getting started self-publishing in America, and seems optimistic. Do you believe we're going to see more Japanese developers opt to have their mobile titles distributed and/or localized by American companies? Do you believe Namco is in a better position to fill this need than other publishers? Why?
SR: Namco has been involved in mobile gaming from the inception of the technology. During the past five years, we have built an organization that is dedicated to being a leading provider of fun, high-quality entertainment for wireless device owners.
Developers, both nationally and internationally, are eager to work with Namco to utilize our expertise and our experience. From our focus on quality to our strong relationships with carriers, partnering with Namco provides companies like Aruze, G-Mode and others with a strong competitive edge within the U.S. mobile game industry.
Q: In a broader sense, how is this going to change the mobile gaming landscape? What does this shift mean for publishers, and for consumers?
SR: This partnership allows us to bring quality and unique games from Japan. Because of this, consumers will have access to a larger catalog of fun, casual games.
Q: Is it a two way street? Should U.S. mobile companies be doing more to actively seek Japanese or Korean partners, or is the foreign landscape more ripe for them to set up shop themselves?
SR: While Namco has a worldwide presence, I can only speak to the U.S. market.
Q: Anything else you'd like to add about this emerging dynamic you see of Japanese companies partnering with Western publishers?
SR: With experience and success as a leader in this space, we very much understand what consumers are looking for and expecting in mobile games, which is beneficial for international publishers looking to get into the U.S. market. We are eager to work with Aruze to bring Mr. Do! and Mr. Do’s Castle to the U.S. to be enjoyed by consumers. ...[Read]
13-11-2006
Nintendo and Sony aren't the only big dogs in the portable video gaming market. Gamepark is issuing a minute offering in the GP KiDS, a handheld that loads up its goodies via MultiMedia Cards. On the face, you'll find an analog stick and four face buttons.
...[Read]
24-10-2006
 We look at the future of past games on the Nintendo DS with this newly announced arcade collection from Konami.
From courtroom adventures to cooking sims, you can find just about any type of game on the Nintendo DS by now. But surprisingly, the seemingly ubiquitous retro games compilations that have appeared on just about every platform are nowhere to be found on the DS...yet. The first classic game compilation announced for US release is Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits, and we took a look at a couple of the titles in this collection to see how they hold up after all these years.
The Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits compilation includes more than a dozen games from the publisher's stable of arcade titles from the 1980s. The list of games isn't final yet, but the titles that have been confirmed are Circus Charlie, a side-scrolling platformer where you have to guide the hapless Charlie through six circus events such as the tightrope walk; Contra, the classic side-scrolling shooter that has you wielding a variety of guns as you mow down enemy soldiers and aliens; Gradius, the horizontally scrolling space shooter; Roc 'N Rope, a platformer that has you climbing across ropes and avoiding enemies to reach the top of the screen; Rush'n Attack, a side-scrolling shooter where you can use knives, guns, grenades, and more to dispatch dozens of enemy soldiers; Time Pilot, a scrolling shooter that has you blasting everything from biplanes to UFOs; Track and Field, the classic sports game that lets you compete in six Olympic events by furiously mashing buttons; and Yie-Ar Kung Fu, an early one-on-one fighting game. ...[Read]
23-10-2006
Classic shooter joins Gradius, Track and Field, and more in Konami Classics collection for Nintendo's double-screen handheld.
Konami has already graced the PSP with a compilation of its Gradius series of old-school shoot-'em-ups, and the company has announced plans to release three more arcade-shooter collections in Japan. Now Konami is sending some retro love the Nintendo DS's way, as the publisher has unveiled Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits for Nintendo's portable system.
While the final lineup for the package hasn't been determined yet, Konami has said it will feature more than a dozen games, with eight titles already confirmed. Players can expect to see side-scrolling action games Contra and Rush'n Attack joined by shooters Gradius and Time Pilot, as well as Track and Field, Yie-Ar Kung Fu, Circus Charlie, and Roc 'N Rope.
Konami is working on Wi-Fi functionality for the games and already plans to let players save segments of gameplay as short videos that they can then send to friends. There will also be an archive for art and music from the games.
Konami Classic Series: Arcade Hits is scheduled to be released exclusively for the Nintendo DS in March of 2007. For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's hands-on impressions. ...[Read]
13-10-2006
Taito has packaged 25 of its games on a PlayStation Portable UMD. We check out how well it has reproduced its arcade classics on Sony's handheld.
As one of the most influential arcade manufacturers of the '70s and '80s, Taito has been encountered by most people at one point or another. The company may be less influential now, having been purchased by Square Enix in 2005, but this Power-Up collection hearkens back to Taito's glory days, with 25 classic games squeezed onto a UMD. Of these 25 titles, 21 can be shared wirelessly with other console owners thanks to the PSP's game-sharing mode
The current benchmark for PSP retro collections is Namco Museum Battle Collection, which pulls together 16 arcade titles as well as four modern updates of classic games. Judged on numbers, Taito Legends usurps Namco's effort by offering 21 classic games as well as four updated titles.
The games in the Power-Up package span a total of 11 years, from 1978 to 1989, starting off with Space Invaders and ending with a lesser-known game called Cameltry. The latter game has been updated along with Crazy Balloon, Balloon Bomb, and The Legend of Kage, with 2005 remixes to offer sparkly new graphics. These four updates have also been adapted to the PSP's widescreen format, but apart from a few improved textures and animations they still don't really push the hardware.
Every game in the Taito package has been emulated with élan on Sony's portable hardware, and they are all arcade-perfect. By default, each game is presented in the same 4:3 ratio as the original, but this takes up only around a third of the PSP's screen. There's also a choice of two other image sizes, one which is slightly bigger than the default and another which fills the entire screen. Both of these modes result in some visual flaws, and watching the stretched version is like watching an old 4:3 TV show pulled across a 16:9 widescreen TV. Some games, such as Space Invaders, are flipped 90 degrees and stretched vertically, meaning that you have to turn the console in your hands to adapt.
The arcade controls have been well adapted to the PSP, and you can use both the digital pad and the analog nub for movement. The four face buttons are set out for actions by default, but everything can be changed before you start each game. The left shoulder button tops up an unlimited amount of credits in each game, while the right shoulder button is used to start the game or continue if you die. And if you're new to any of the games, the main menu displays a handy guide as well as the top score to beat.
While the selection of games in Taito Legends covers most of the classics, some of the games that were included in other Taito compilations are sorely lacking here. There's no Bubble Bobble, which was one of the games that made the company so successful in the arcade. Nor is there Rainbow Islands, which was considered by many to be one of the greatest Amiga games of all time. It's also unfortunate that none of the games in Taito Legends can be played in two-player mode, possibly because this would require some complicated emulation trickery to work.
Of the selection of games, Space Invaders, New Zealand Story, and Phoenix stand out as highlights. At the same time, it's sobering to find that some of Taito's several forgettable titles have made it onto this compilation. It's also a shame to see that little effort has been made to expand Taito Legends beyond including emulated versions of classic games. Many people buying this game will no doubt be doing so out of nostalgia, and it would be great to see some sort of unlockable artwork or a history of the company and its games.
At the final build stage, Taito Legends looks to be one of the better retro titles on the handheld market, and with 25 games to play through, there's plenty to keep nostalgia fans happy. It's good to see that the PlayStation Portable's features have been used to allow wireless game sharing, but aside from the games themselves, there's little to keep you going for a long time. We'll put the full game to the test soon to see if it's worth the budget price. ...[Read]
07-10-2006
Namco Networks, the official wireless game company for DigitalLife and leading publisher and developer of wireless games and network content, today announced a series of PAC-MAN and Galaga mobile gaming tournaments that will take place at the consumer technology and entertainment show, DigitalLife in New York, October 12-15.
...[Read]
27-09-2006
 The homebrew community has beaten Sony to the punch, releasing the first PlayStation (1) emulator for PSP, called PSX-P. But, as this is simply the first public beta version, the emulator suffers from speed issues, among other defects. Riiiiidge Racer is reported to clock in at a paltry 10 fps.
PSX-P is compatible with PSP firmware v1.00–2.71 (an eLoader is necessary beyond firmware v1.50). ...[Read]
23-09-2006
 It could be a sign of becoming a certified Geezer (I turned 29 back on August 30th), or the fact that marquee video games are costing as much as mid-level movies to produce these days, but I've become interested in game emulators again recently, including three that run on the Mac: MacMAME, Sixtyforce, and Boycott Advance.
...[Read]
17-09-2006
 Chinese company Onda is set to roll out its VX737 portable media player in the next few weeks. Staying true to its obvious inspiration, the 3.94" x 1.97" x 0.45" device doubles as a classic NES simulator. That's right. Now you can get in some quality Mario time when you're bored with all your MP3, OGG, FLAC, and WAV tunes; AVI, MPEG4 SP, XviD, and DivX videos; and JPG, BMP, and GIF photos.
The VX737 sports a 2.5-inch TFT QVGA display (320 x 240), but the bigger news seems to be the Freescale MC9328MXL processing and Philips UDA1380TT audio decoder chips under its hood. The chips must score pretty high on the power-consumption scale because the player's lithium battery can provide 10 hours of music and 5 hours of video entertainment (though not much content can fit onto the pathetic 512MB built into the device). Other features include an FM radio, voice recording, text viewer, and integrated speaker.
There's no word on pricing or availability, but we don't expect to see it on U.S. shores anytime soon.
Check the Onda [Chinese language ] web site. ...[Read]
02-09-2006
Game creator Electronic Arts has announced the release of "EA Replay," a compilation of its '90s-era titles reprogrammed for use on Sony's PlayStation Portable.
Even with the upcoming launches of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii consoles, the game industry can't ignore the marketing potential of nostalgia.
"Wing Commander," "Virtual Pinball" are among titles to be rereleased as part of "EA Replay" package.
...[Read]
30-08-2006
 Back in the '90s, Sensible Software made a big impact on the gaming market with a handful of very popular games.
Recently, some of these titles have made a comeback, such as Sensible Soccer, which was updated and released a couple of months ago.
Now, another classic game from the Sensible stable is being reprised for the PlayStation Portable--the darkly comic wartime shooter Cannon Fodder.
"War has never been so much fun" was at the beginning of the original '90s game for Amiga (among others).
Wait for it in Spring 2007.
...[Read]
18-08-2006
An anonymous reader writes "Sega has announced what may be the coolest retro collection yet in a compilation of 30 Sega Genesis games for the PSP and PS2. 1up has a great breakdown of the games in the collection, which features everything from the Phantasy Star games to the Golden Axe games, to the Shinobis, to the Vectormans. Pretty cool stuff."
From the article: "Sega's doing its part to give these games context with numerous unlockable interviews with the original developers and a museum with trivia on the disc. According to Sega, the games will be reproduced with 'the utmost accuracy to the originals as possible' by developer Backbone Entertainment. And as a special cool bonus, the PSP version will allow -- for the first time ever -- wireless multiplayer for several of the games. "
Check the original story here too. ...[Read]
16-08-2006
 If emulating the Nintendo DS is something that interests you, you might like to know that the guys at Nocash have finally launched their own version, promising "almost full NDS support" including 3D.
Check this story too on Addict3d. ...[Read]
17-08-2005
 You may have heard about Bochs Open Source X86 Emulator... well, Matan Gillon has done it!
Now you can run Windows 95 and DLX Linux, the distribution that comes as an example with Bochs, on your PSP.
How useful? How usable? Matan reports it's quite slow but still usable.
Maybe still not so usable for Mame playing...
Full instructions included. .... ...[Read]
07-06-2005
That's the traditional phrase that programmers display when they create their first piece of software for an unfamiliar operating system.
Owners of Sony's handheld PSP game system were delighted to hear May 5 that a hacker had managed to write a small program that displayed those words on a PSP.
They wondered what would be next. ...[Read]
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