Monday, March 29, 2010

Lou's Pseudo 3d Page.
















Louis Gorenfeld has written a very extensive page on psuedo-3d that was used in old games from the late 80s to the early 90s.

Check out his page here: http://www.gorenfeld.net/lou/pseudo/

Friday, March 26, 2010

MSX in Saudi Arabia & Kuwait.








Sakhr AX170









Sometimes you don't think things can't get anymore obscure but the Msx was infact released for the arabic market.

From wikipedia we learn:

"In the 1980s, Sakhr (صخر) Computers (Developed by Al Alamyyeh, a Kuwaiti company), started the production of the first Arabian version of MSX computers. They started producing a Yamaha AX100, but also a few other models including MSX2 models. The most popular and affordable model in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf was the Sakhr MSX AX170. They were also the first to Arabize BASIC and the MSX LOGO"







Sakhr Arabic Basic





It seems there were in total 7 arabic msxes released:


MSX1 models released by Al Alamiah in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia:

Made by Yamaha

Sakhr AX100
Sakhr AX170
AX-150
AX-170

MSX2 models released in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia:

Made by Sanyo

AX 370

Made by Yamaha

AX 350
AX 500




Al Alamiah also released a few exclusive and localization titles for the arabic market and here are some pictures of some of them:

Ali Baba (1989)











Rainbow Stories (1986)











Shater Hassan (1987)











The Holy Quran (1987)




Thursday, March 25, 2010

Zelda Majora’s Mask debug rom dumped.



Some nice fellow has dumped the Majora's mask debug rom , you can read more about it in this thread http://zelda64.net/forums/index.php?topic=2437.msg

Watch Macaw play boring but obscure pc88/98 games!.

Free video streaming by Ustream

Macaw is my friend and hes like the Crocodile dundee of pc88/98 gaming (hes an aussie) , you can watch him play obscure and very very boring games sometimes in this stream , it's very good to watch if you want to fall asleep!.

Spinouts Zelda 64 god mode hack



Spinout has made a god mode hack for Zelda 64 that enables you to do alot of fun stuff with the game.


Grab the files for compiling the god mode hack here
Check out his other crap here

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Laserdisc support in openMSX

















Yup theres actually laserdisc games for Msx made for the special laserdisc player addons and now you can enjoy these games in openMSX that now has laserdisc emulation!.

openMSX Windows 32-bit
openMSX Windows 64-bit

You can also grab macintosh builds here: http://openmsx.fixato.net/ and read more about the Msx laserdisc hardware here: http://www.mccw.hetlab.tk/93/msxlaserdisc/en.html

Doom Theme TurboGrafx-style



Arkhan who made the commercial homebrew game Insanity has made this awesome conversion of the Doom theme for the Turbografx.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

List of useful console repairing sites.
















Just thought i'd make a collected list of useful urls for my friends and others that I can point to if they ever have problems with their consoles.


Fixing the clock battery for Philips CD-I:
http://cdii.blogspot.com/2009/03/picture-guide-of-cd-i-battery-repair.html
http://cdii.blogspot.com/2007/11/locating-cd-i-timekeeper-battery-in-cd.html

Fixing the laser and other issues for Atari Jaguar CD.
http://www.linkovitch.me.uk/jaguar/cdrepair/

Fixing the laser and other issues for Panasonic 3DO FZ-1.
http://www.datacentra.net/other/3do/index.html

Reviving a dying Sega Saturn laser:
http://www.mrvfone.com.au/sega/saturn.htm

Replacing a dead fuse in a Sega CD/Mega CD model 2:
http://www.mrvfone.com.au/sega/fuse.htm

Friday, March 19, 2010

Weirdest console tribute album ever


















Considering Japan had one single exclusive 32x game (Sangokushi IV) I find this japanese tribute album to 32x a very odd choice to release!

Heres a google translation of the japanese article (Ahoy engrish and gibberish!)

http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20100319_355799.html

"Uebumasuta Corporation, CD album "SUPER 32X 15th Anniversary Album" released in Japan on March 31. Price is 3,625 yen.

"SUPER 32X 15th Anniversary Album", a SEGA video game consoles released in 1988 was "mega drive" from 16bit to 32bit Appuguredobusuta to juice up the "Super 32X" Release of the 15 anniversary music CD. Super 32X line of music that was released for the game software.

Super 32X music for games, the only sounds sampled PWM have been made by the instrument, which impressed the fans. This music CD is an impressive total, especially music and games among them three CD tracks 128 are fully recorded.

Main titles, became a hot topic in the mobile gaming port of the arcade version of souped-up version of "Virtua Racing Deluxe", including shooting flight "Suteraasaruto" and Kuotabyushutingu code "Pallas," and "Sonic "Robots and colleagues also designed the familiar series Senoue Makoto FPS" Metal Head "and has become."

Mame w.i.p news











Haze has posted a neat article where he compares a korean bootleg version of Mr Driller to the original thing , check it out here http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/2010/03/13/digging-home-the-point/ its pretty much a straight ripoff :)

And Luca got a very colorful puzzler running called Mouse Shooter GoGo.



http://www.lucaelia.com/mame.php/2010/Metro-s-Mouse-Is-Back


Thursday, March 18, 2010

C64 Party In BELARUS!!!!!!!!












Here is something I stumbled over today , its a C64 party in Belarus!.

Since the site is in Belarusian I had to use google translator and this is what the site says:

"So, we have long thought at all yet decided on this fully:) Unlike last HT'2009, we decided to come over to the case thoroughly, reporting the event in advance and include, along with ZX-Spectrum, a platform Commodore C64. Hackers Top will be held April 24-25, 2010, in the glorious Belarusian city of Grodno. We sincerely hope that more than two months enough time, that would make a lot of interesting work;). We sincerely believe that the snow by this time will go, but the people will wake up from hibernation and will please us, a couple of other releases."

Keep on rocking commodore people of Belarus! :)

Check out their site here:
http://party.c64.su

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The history of the world wide web on consoles Part 2



Atari Jaguar

The Atari Jaguar voice modem was never a commercially released product but it seems that it supported atleast one game and that was Ultra Vortek.













Source: http://www.atarihq.com/museum/jaglynx/jagmodem.html


Philips CD-i

Even the illfated philips cd-i that was released in 1993 had two modems released in the US and for the EU market but good luck finding them!.

Here is a dutch ad about the online service for the cd-i



22ER9080 (Tele-CD-i Assistant)

External modem for all CD-i players, developed by Philips and CD-Matics. Features a 2400 bps data and 9600 bps fax function. Only for professional applications, like the Bose In-store CD-i title.



22ER9985 (CD-i Internet Kit)

This kit consists of an external 14.400 bps data/fax modem and access software for CD-i. Sold in Europe as CD-Online and in the US as Web-i. It allowed CD-i owners to browse the Web, write and receive e-mail messages and view Usenet newsgroups.


There were actually some games that supported online gaming on the cd-i , one game that I think supported this was Atlantis - The last resort.



Source: http://www.philipscdi.com/accessories/network.htm



Apple Bandai Pippin


Apple Bandai Pippin which some say is the biggest console flop ever had a builtin 14,4k modem (possibly 28.8, 33.6 in later models). The main purpose of the modem was mainly just to surf the web since the Pippin was supposed to be a "media" console and not just a gaming console so I don't think any of the games made use of the modem but I might be wrong!.



The @World Browser is to be packaged with the company's new Pippin World, an easy-to-use Internet surfing device that brings the excitement and information of the World Wide Web and multimedia CD-ROMs to the standard consumer television."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Bandai_Pippin



Sega Saturn


Sega Saturn also had its own modem called Sega NetLink and it was released in Japan,EU and the US.







Tiger Electronics Game.com

The Game.com was a crappy handheld released by Tiger Electronics in 1997 but it had a modem that would let you upload high scores , check your email and browse the web.






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game.com




Sega Dreamcast

"In most regions the Dreamcast included a removable modem. The original Asia/Japan model had a 33.6 kbit/s modem and consoles sold in Japan after September 9, 1999 had a 56 kbit/s modem. All American models had a 56 kbit/s modem, while all PAL models had a 33.6 kbit/s modem. Brazilian models manufactured under license by Tec Toy did not include a modem, which was available separately. The regular modem could be replaced with a broadband adapter that was sold separately."





The DC actually had two broadband adapters, the official one and one that was meant for homebrew development and that one is a bit cheaper than the official one but it does not work with games as far as I know. Just like with saturn the dreamcast used the SegaNet online service but Europe used something called Dreamarena.



Nintendo 64/DD

"Nintendo 64DD was a peripheral for the Nintendo 64 games console. It plugged into the N64 through the EXTension Port of the Nintendo 64's bottom side, and allowed the N64 to use proprietary 64 MB magnetic disks for expanded data storage. Although it had been announced before the launch of the N64, the 64DD's development was lengthy. It was eventually released in Japan when the console was in its twilight years. It was a commercial failure, and was never released in either the US or Europe"





"The released version of 64DD included a modem for connecting to the network RANDnet, an audio-video (female RCA jack, and line in) adapter called the Capture Cassette to plug into the main cartridge slot, and a mouse and keyboard that plugged into the controller inputs."

Most of the games on the 64DD were later brought over to n64 or gamecube so theres not many exclusive games left on it.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64dd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randnet#RANDnet

The SharkWire Online was a gameshark cheating device for N64 that came with a modem so you could directly download the latest cheats.



"While subsequent GameSharks were released for the N64, the SharkWire Online was not updated, and more games continued to be made that it was unable to unlock, and were unplayable using it. Before InterAct closed down operations SharkWire Online and all other trademarks of GameShark where sold to Mad Catz."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SharkWire_Online

Nintendo Gameboy

World Port GBX was a modem released by Datel that worked on both the GBC and GBA and seems to have had as much use as the Game.com modem.



Sony Playstation 2

Playstation 2 was the second console with a ethernet adapter after the dreamcast but something that is lesser known is that in Japan it had a online service that is the predecessor to PSN that you accessed using the PlayStation Broadband Navigator disc that only works on Japanese ps2s. It should be noted that this only works on fat ps2s since it requires you to install the disc onto a hdd , something is possible on a ps2 slim since it does not have any ide port.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Broadband_Navigator


Nintendo Gamecube

The Nintendo Gamecube had a ethernet adapter that plugged into a port underneath the gamecube , this adapter became very popular cause you could boot homebrew with it using a backdoor in the game "Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II"

Only Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus, and Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution from Sega, and Homeland made use of this adapter for online gaming and all the PSO games can today be played on other platforms which leaves Homeland to be the one single exclusive gamecube game that you can't play online on a wii cause it requires the BBA.




And from here it went on to Microsoft creating the Xbox Live Service for Xbox 1 which is today used by the 360 while PSP/Playstation 3 has PSN and DS has DSI Shop.

Oddly enough PSX which was the most successful system of the 90s had no modem! but there was a i-mode cable released for it supported by Motorola cellphones used by a handful of games.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The history of the world wide web on consoles Part 1

Heres a chronological list of all consoles that in some way had online connectivity.


The first device/service in this post did not use a modem or the telephone lines but I still think it deserves to be in this list.



Intellivision










"The PlayCable system, introduced in 1981, allowed local cable-TV system operators to send Intellivision games over the wire alongside the normal TV signal. Subscribers to the service could then use a special converter—the PlayCable Adapter—to download the games to play on their Intellivision game consoles."

So here we possibly have the very first device for a console that would let you download games using the telephone lines and it was called CVC GameLine for the Atari 2600.

"In the early 1980s a cable pioneer named William von Meister was looking for a way to use his innovative modem transmission technology, recently acquired in ill-fated attempts of sending music to cable companies. Legal issues caused cable providers to step away from the service, leaving Von Meister with a delivery tool and no content.
He then converted his variable speed adaptive modem technology to download games from central servers to individual households. This allowed users to call up a system and, for a fee, download games to their GameLine modules. The game would typically work for 5-10 plays, after which the user would have to connect to GameLine again and pay for another download.
Physically, the GameLine looked like an oversized silver Atari cartridge, it had a phone jack on the side that was used to link the GameLine with the CVC computers. The GameLine module was able to transmit with pulse or tone dialing, this allowed the unit to be versatile in the field. The games on Gameline were all from third-party gamemakers, the largest of which was Imagic. Gameline tried, but failed to obtain licensing agreements from the largest game makers, such as Atari, Activision, Coleco, Mattel, and Parker Brothers."


















Nintendo Entertainment System - Famicom


Nintendo 8bit - Yes even the king of consoles had a modem but only in Japan and even if there were some games that made use of it it was mainly meant for getting game cheats, jokes, weather forecasts, and a small amount of downloadable content. It could also be used to make live stock trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange!.



















A very unfun looking horse betting game that made use of the Famicom Modem:



There was also a modem produced for the US market but it was sadly cancelled and it was called Teleplay Modem you can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleplay_Modem


Sega Genesis - Megadrive






















XBAND - Released on the US market for snes and genesis 1994-1995.












The genesis/megadrive actually had one more modem released for it and it was only released in Japan and later on in Brazil called Sega Meganet. Sadly the only two available videos of this in action is made by a Brazilian that likes to scream so I recommend muting the video when watching ;)




Sonic Eraser released exclusively on the meganet service in Japan:



Super Nintendo - Super Famicom

The Snes Satellaview only released in Japan 1995.

"The Satellaview system was developed and released by Nintendo to receive signals broadcast from satellite TV station WOWOW's satellite radio subsidiary, St.GIGA. St.GIGA was responsible for file server management, maintenance, and vocalization for "SoundLink games." Nintendo data broadcasts were given a fixed time-slot known as the Super Famicom Hour (スーパーファミコンアワー?) during which scrambled Satellaview-related data was streamed via radio waves to be unscrambled by St.GIGA's "BS digital tuner" (BSデジタルハイビジョンテレビ BS Dejitaru HaiBijon Terebi?). As a subscription-based ambient/New Age music station, St.GIGA listeners were already equipped with "BS tuners" prior to St.GIGA's contract with Nintendo, however Satellaview owners who lacked a "BS tuner" had to purchase one separately from St.GIGA (at a price of ¥33,000 as well as sign up for Nintendo's and St.GIGA's monthly joint membership fees. Alternately, users could rent "BS tuners" from St.GIGA for a 6-month period at a price of ¥5,400. Despite the price, by March 1997 St.GIGA subscriptions peaked at 116,378 households; by June 2001 the number of subscribers had dropped to around 46,000."




Saturday, March 13, 2010

Rockman 8 PC-Famicom incarnation






This is something very cool , a 8bit-style homebrew version of Megaman 8 for PC made by a japanese guy and it's hard as hell.

You can grab the game here: http://loda.jp/rock8/?id=220.zip/
And you can check out his site here: http://www31.atwiki.jp/rockman8/


Friday, March 12, 2010

Laserdisc gaming youtube spam post.






The first laserdisc games came out in the 80s and were mainly meant for arcades like for example Dragon's Lair and later on American Laser Games released a bunch of games like Crime Patrol and Mad Dog Mcree (ported to every damn system out there, even Wii). And then when the Laseractive came out in the beginning of the 90s another wave of laserdisc games came out and these are the interesting ones cause alot of them were produced in Japan.








J.B. Harold Murder Club , also released on Pc-Fx,Saturn,Psx but with japanese voice acting so the Laserdisc version is the best one to own from a western perspective since it's in english.


Pyramid Patrol, also ported to 3DO under the name Pyramid Intruder and only released in Japan.



Triad Stone released by Data East, also released on Saturn and 3do under the name Stahl.



Hyperion , as far as I know this is a laserdisc exclusive and i'm just guessing but I think it's made by the same team that made Pyramid Intruder.



Vajra is a laserdisc exclusive made by the now disbanded Data west (they are japanese but have nothing to do with the other company called Data East), these guys also made the excellent 2d rpg Brave Prove on PSX and the Rayxanber games on Turboduo.



Vajra must have sold well enough cause Data West also made a sequel.



Road Prosecutor also more commonly known as Road Blaster was quite successful on megacd and it was later on also ported to saturn and psx but the laserdisc version just blows these versions away in quality of course.





Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Maybe one of the last rpgs for Ps2






















The game release list for ps2 is getting smaller and smaller , now the only big game left for the west is the Sakura Wars 5 localization (a game that came out way back in 2005 in japan) so unless the ps2 magically makes it into 2011 then i'm gonna bet that Summon Night Gran-Thesis is one of the last rpgs for ps2.




And even if the ps2 does make it into 2011 then it will probably be just cause of disney releases,pachinko/mahjong games and Madden 2012.



Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Very simple cd-i joystick modding tutorial

So you bought a philips cd-i but you only got this piece of shit joystick with it?






(The "CD-i Wired Controller" also known as "The worst piece of shit game system control ever made , yes even shittier than the atari jaguar gamepad cause atleast you could play Flashback with the jag pad , you can't with this!")







Well then heres a small tutorial on how to make an actual gamepad out of the pcb of this piece of shit.

First we find another pad that has enough space inside it to be able to fit it with the pcb of the CD-i Wired Controller cause it has a custom chip inside it so you can't just solder the cord input onto another joystick pcb! (yeah great going there philips.)





















So what we're gonna do is use another joystick pcb as a host and just solder wires from the CD-i Wired Controller cross/buttons to that pcb, it's very easy. I have chosen a snes:ish clone pad as my victim.


To be able to fit the CD-i Wired Controller pcb inside the new joystick I have sawed the host pcb into two parts and just kept the cross and button sections since we will need all the space we can get.

And here I have soldered all the wires from the button/cross section from the first cd-i pcb to the new host pcb , easy as pies.





















Ok now comes the hard part: getting the crap to fit inside the pad:






















It helps not being stupid like I was and used long wires , use shorter wires and you won't have to spend 10 mins trying to get the stuff to fit inside ;)
















Aannnnnnd we're done



















I had to use a hot glue gun to get it shut since I was forced to cut off all the screw holes to make the crap fit inside ;)

And now we can finally enjoy The Apprentice using a real pad.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Alone in the Dark 2 3DO PORN!




















So you're sitting there with your 3DO playing "Plumbers Don't Wear Ties"? but you're very disappointed cause you never actually get to see any full frontal nudity in the game!. Well then I have news for you, just grab your legally bought copy of Alone in the Dark 2 for 3DO and insert it into your pc and download the following tools: OperaFSReader.exe,3doresexplorer.exe cause you're in for some hot steamy boobs!

First we extract the files using OperaFsreader, Big.cel is the file we're after:













Then we convert all the files using 3doresexplorer.exe so we can view them (some leftover garbage on this disc , "Battle Chess" pictures for example):

















And now finally we can view the boobies! yay!:




















(Yes the aspect ratio of the picture is like that when you open it.)


Thank you coder at Infogrames for leaving this on the disc! , if anyone knows the origin of this picture then please leave a comment!