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Nokia shows off SNES on N900, quickly thinks better of it
A little bit of emulation is a basic rite of passage for a modern day device that allows open software development, and the N900 is no different. We first saw the device rocking some SNES way back in September, but apparently Nokia couldn't pass up an opportunity to demonstrate the phone's prowess and put up its own video of a few emulators in action. Unfortunately, while emulators are completely legal, the ROMs that run on them are rarely legit, and despite Nokia's odd assertion in the video that "most publishers allow individual title usage provided that the user is in possession of the original title," the phone giant has since pulled the video from the internets, and Nintendo is reportedly looking into the matter. Of course, N900 emulatin' is still easy to come by from third parties -- check one out after the break. [Thanks, Nirvan]
SNES / Sega Genesis USB cartridge adapter now available for pre-order
Looks like our old friend, Matthias -- the developer of the USB SNES cart reader -- is back on the scene, and this time he's going commercial. His newest project, Snega2USB, adds Sega Genesis, read and write for battery-backed SNES games, open source firmware, and up to four gamepads to the homebrew fave of classic gaming fanatics world o'er. This is a work-in-progress, but all the pieces are in place to have all orders met on the December, 2009 street date. Pre-orders will be taken until October 31 for $90 in the United States or €75 in Europe. Video after the break.[Via Gadgetoid]
The question of emulators
Gizmodo recently posted this video, which is beautiful to any PSX-era gamers: it's Final Fantasy VII running right on the iPhone, like buttah thanks to the 3GS hardware. How is this possible? Through the magic of emulation -- ever since computers got powerful enough to pretend to be other computers, people have resurrected old consoles and hardware by writing code that makes old games and software think its right at home in the computer it belongs in (an old NES system, a Genesis, or even a Playstation or Nintendo 64). As a result, by loading up ROMs into an emulator program, you can play old games you can't find (at least working) in the store any more.But the problem, as it usually does, lies in the legality. Even though those games are hard to find, companies still often own the copyrights on them (Square, for example, just released FFVII in an official emulator on the PSP, and they wouldn't be very happy with someone else releasing it on the iPhone). So while it's very easy for someone to write software that pretends to be an old NES (and there are lots of jailbroken apps around that will do just that), it's not easy to get all the rights and legal sign-offs to make it legit. Legit enough for Apple to keep it in the App Store, anyway. And while the video Gizmodo shows is awesome, and is possible on a jailbroken phone, it's not likely we'll ever see that app make it through Apple's approval. Not to mention that even when people jump through the legal hoops, Apple isn't happy with running other systems' code on their hardware anyway. Lame.That doesn't mean that the old games are gone forever -- there are certainly emulators of open-sourced or expired hardware on the App Store (here's one for Chip-8), and obviously there's a commercial reason for companies who do own the copyrights on popular games to bring them into the App Store officially. But as great as it would be to have a GBA emulator that automatically played any GBA game ROMs you loaded into it, that kind of stuff will have to stay in the jailbreak underground for now.
SNES USB cartridge adapter should set eBay aflame
Sick of having to use your inconvenient mouse and keyboard to do "internet searches" for ROMs of your favorite retro games? Well a gentleman named Matthias might just have the answer to your prayers -- a USB SNES cartridge adapter. The enterprising DIY'er has created a combo hardware and software solution that allows you to plug in your dusty carts directly to your rig, and see the ROMs appear as standalone files which you can then load into the emulator of your choice. Apparently there are still some kinks to work out (like getting data rates up for larger games), and Matthias already has plans underway for a multi-system solution. Still, this is impressive stuff, even if it means we'll have to repurchase any titles we're missing from reputable online auction houses. Hey, at least it'll cut down our visits to "Russian porn sites." Check out the video of the whole thing in action after the break.
Deconstructing Street Fighter II
Capcom's marketing machine sure did a number on us. If you need proof, just look at how terrible Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix looks in this video (after the jump)! Wasn't it supposed to be über sexy? Oh, wait. We've just been informed that this isn't HD Remix, but a deconstruction of the SNES version of Street Fighter II. Our collective bad. Using various programs -- including one horrendously named "Tile Molester" -- Rom hacker/bender Dylan Hayes has reduced SFII to nothing more than hit boxes, a few birdies and one giant fish. By breaking the classic down, Hayes shows off the game in its most basic -- yet, still completely playable -- form. Capcom, it looks like we just spotted your big E3 XBLA announcement: Street Fighter II Blocky Mess Remix. [Via Offworld]
Modder shoves emulator, ROMs into actual NES controller
This one has been around the block a time or two, but considering you have absolutely nothing else to do on a Sunday, you might as well dust off that DIY kit and get to work. What you're looking at above is a genuine (albeit modified) NES controller playing a bona fide classic on a laptop. Amazingly, all of the software required for such a marvelously good time is stuffed tight within the controller itself. Take a step back and digest that -- your very own NES emulator (with ROMs), shoved inside a Nintendo Entertainment System controller. Does it get any more awesome than that? Hit the read link to start building your own and let us know. Video of the action after the jump.[Via Hack-A-Day]
Illegal ROMs at Wizard World? What?!
I recently attended Wizard World Philadelphia, not because I'm a huge comic nerd or anything, but because my friends are. So, with a couple of buddies, I headed on down to the Philly Convention Center and prepared myself to be underwhelmed by the gaming action on tap and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cosplayers there.Imagine my surprise when I actually stumbled on something I could write about. Well, it's not something I'm actually happy to be writing about. You see, for some odd reason, a vendor was allowed to be set up on the show floor, selling CDs chock full of illegal ROMs.
Toys "ARRRR" Us: Piracy in the Philippines
Pirated video games in the Philippines is certainly nothing new -- we remember seeing counterfeit Famicom carts being sold there back in the day -- but its ubiquity in the Southeast Asian country is startling. GameOPS' John Phillips Bengero sent us some pictures to illustrate just how dire the DS and GBA bootlegging situation is. Far from being confined to Manila's seedier markets, these shots were taken at a recently opened Toys "R" Us branch in TriNoma mall! Bring a pocket full of pesos past the post break for the photos.
Capcom CPS-3 arcade board finally cracked
The Capcom CPS-3 arcade board only ran a handful of games, including JoJo's Venture, Street Fighter III, and Red Earth, but that hasn't stopped the emulation community from cracking the board's code, which puts them one step closer to emulating the board itself. And considering CPS-3 debuted in 1996, it's about time!Posts on Haze's Mame WIP as well as the more technical-oriented Notas de Andy (translation) show that the decryption has opened up the developers to make further progress, as David Haywood has already gotten the two JoJo games to "execute some of the game code, rather than just bios." We look forward to watching their progress.[Via Engadget]
Explainer: running Ninty games on XB360
This video's absent any meaningful sound (except the hum of the Xbox 360 next to the television screen), so it'll take a little 'splainin. Here's what it is: an NES emulator running at "almost full speed" on the Xbox 360. Here's how it works: this is accomplished by firing up a web browser-based Java emulator on a Windows Media Center PC and then streaming the content displayed in that web browser window via Microsoft's Media Center Extender software to the Xbox 360. It's not the 360 emulating the old games, it's the Media Center PC. The Xbox 360 simply displays whatever's going on in the browser back on the PC that's doing the emulating. Basically, any program that can be run in a browser on a Windows PC can be run on an Xbox 360 through this method.
