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Neo SNES / SFC Myth Flash cart brings emulation magic to your aged console
Oh, sure -- the Wii's Virtual Console may put you in direct contact with some of the best titles from yesteryear, but for the purists in attendance, it just feels like cheating. If you've been hanging onto that Super Nintendo (or Super Famicom, as it were) and you've recently been dealing with the emulation itch, Neoflash just might have the remedy. The Neo SNES / SFC Myth cart is pretty much the most magical cart you could ever slap into your classic console, offering up ROM support for "99.5 percent" of SNES games. Better still, titles can be offloaded from your PC and onto the cart via USB, making the entire transfer process a cinch. Of course, the $169 price tag will likely offend all but the most dedicated of retro gamers, but hey, at least you'll be staying true to those "roots" you value so highly.
ChessNET does what Nintendon't
Though homebrew competitions are always a great opportunity to see the latest games and applications coders have been working on, they also provide us a refreshing look at creative ideas and approaches that commercial developers have no interest in.ChessNET, one of 25 other entries in the NDS/GBA division of Neoflash's Spring Coding Contest, is an online chess game with an interesting feature that we've yet to see in any other online-enabled DS games -- play-by-mail-style matches. Every action is saved onto an online server, so you don't have to stay glued to your handheld all night. After your opponent moves a piece, you can wait hours or even days to deliberate over your response. Likewise, your opponent can play other games or turn their DS off while waiting for your next move. A play-by-mail option like this would have been perfect for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin and many other turn-based titles with plenty of inactive stretches. Sony Online Entertainment certainly agreed, as the developer implemented it in its Advance Wars knock-off for the PSP, Field Commander. Nintendo even neglected to provide the feature in Wii Chess, a seemingly obvious oversight.CYBER_Aeon, the programmer behind ChessNET, has plans for more features that should come standard with almost every online-enabled commercial game -- messaging, buddy lists, and account handles. [Via DCEmu]
'You sunk my Millenium Falcon!'
At first glance, Star Wars Battles looks like a bare Battleship clone with a Star Wars skin, but there's more fun to it than that! Of course, the homebrew game begins with the series' main theme and signature text crawl. After you've positioned your crafts on the grid, each called shot fires a pair of lasers at your opponent's squares, complete with the appropriate sound effect. The game really gets interesting, however, when you register a hit. Instead of automatically knocking a piece off your opponent's ship, the game takes you to a dual-screen shootout between your X-Wing and a rival Tie-Fighter, asteroids drifting in the crossfire. The champion of the duel determines whether the shot counts or not.All it needs are some StarFox-esque scripted chatter during the combat -- we've already come up with a few possible examples: Han Solo: "You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!" Gold Five: "It came from... behind!" Admiral Ackbar: "It's a trap!"
Play video game music on a piano -- just like the pros!
Taking a break from porting visual novel demos like Fate/hollow ataraxia Prologue and Snatcher Pilot, developer Multiple: Option has posted its first original project, a neat homebrew application that teaches you how to play simple video game melodies with a virtual piano. If only there was a similar program for 90s gangsta rap songs -- we would love to learn 2Pac's "I Ain't Mad at Cha!"Multiple: Option's software, Game Melody Oratorio, includes lessons for songs Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Tetris, Bubble Bobble, and The Legend of Zelda. Each melody has two modes, one for practicing the tune with visual cues, the other for playing the melody without any help once you've mastered it. Don't see your favorite video game song on the list? There's also a "Free Play" mode that allows you to experiment and play whatever you want.[Via NEO Compo 2008]
Neo's new PSP motion sensor
Apparently, a PSP peripheral manufacturer called Neo has come up with a novel -- if somewhat useless (currently, at least) -- add-on for the handheld game system: a motion sensor. It's unclear right now what the possible uses for the sensor might be, and frankly, if it's something like an accelerometer, or a light sensor, or some other, cooler, more funky sensor we haven't thought of yet. There is one thing we can tell you for sure: it won't work on your PSP slim. Apparently, the device is aimed at home-brewers and DIY'ers -- and we're pretty sure they'll find something interesting to do with the thing. The company says it's available now, but we couldn't locate the little guy, or its price... so good luck.[Via MAXCONSOLE]
NeoFlash dives into DS movement
NeoFlash's MK6-Motion is proof that not all flash cart manufacturers are out to capitalize on video game piracy. The cart's 16 megabits of flash memory gives users enough room to burn a passme ROM or a small homebrew project, but not commercial releases. As its name suggests, the MK6-Motion's appeal lies in its built-in accelerometer and gyro sensor. Since the release of the DS Motion Card earlier this year, over a dozen homebrew games have already incorporated motion sensing features. The MK6-Motion slot-1 cart improves on the technology, bypassing the need for a flashed DS or an additional passthrough device to load software. The hardware doesn't have complete compatibility with existing games yet, but developers will be able to update their homebrew projects to work with the new cart. You can pre-order NeoFlash's MK6-Motion for $49. The DS Motion Card is available at several online shops for about $30-40.[Via DSDev]
