USB enabled gameboy camera mod.

"Recently a few of my mods have been called into question regarding their complexity, rather than seeing this as a negative i saw this as a challenge to do better. So I have been working on a few more complex mods.

First I gotta thank nitro2k01 for sticking by me on this project, there were a few times when I was going to give up on this, but staying up late, bouncing ideas off each other made this project happen

So this is my USB enabled camera, it is a Gameboy Camera with its ROM chip replaced with a flashable chip, and a USB programmer wedged in there too.

What’s the point? Well now the camera works like a real digital camera, i can plug it straight into the computer and dump the saves without a gameboy or a programmer. If littleFM works i can put the camera software on there and other roms too like LSDJ. If I can work out how the camera part works then i could make some interesting home brew software which uses the camera."

---> http://nex.gg8.se/modblog/2010/06/usb-enabled-gameboy-camera/

Orbatak - Cancelled 3DO-Arcade game.

Orbatak is a cancelled 3DO game made by American Laser Games that was meant to be inside a arcade cab played with a trackball, the encrypted prototype has been floating around for a year or so which can't be booted in Freedo or on a real 3DO but i've extracted some pictures found inside the disc image.

Edit: Orbatak has now been decrypted , added a youtube video of it in action (crappy sound in freedo).

Edit 2, 2011: I see this page has been posted on mameworld forums and people might be wondering how to actually get this game running.

You have to run the game through Charles Dotys "3DO Homebrew Signing Toolkit" which decrypts the game: http://www.rastersoft.net/3DO/HomebrewToolkit.rar .

You'll need some tools to extract the iso, like 3DO Commander and 3doresexplorer which can be found here: http://madroms.free.fr/3do/

Now maybe the MESS team can fix the joystick layout for this game thus making it playable :).


Orbatak flyer/manual: http://arcadeflyers.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=4409

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

3DO Homebrew Signing Toolkit released.

"3DO Homebrew Signing Toolkit version 0.6a by Charles Doty

This is the first public release of the 3DO Homebrew Signing Toolkit.

The tool will take an Opera formatted CD and sign it so that it will play on
a normal 3DO console system. The CD can be created with OperaFS[De]Compiler.
The CD will work with an emulator or on a real 3DO system.

The main purpose of releasing the tool is enabling the release of homebrew
software for the 3DO."

3DOHomebrewSigning.rar
http://rastersoft.blogspot.com/2010/06/3do-homebrew-signing-toolkit-released.html

21fx - Fmv/Cd-music on the Snes.

Chrono Trigger fmv intro from the psx version running in Bsnes.

Flashback with cd quality menu music.


"21fx is a new SNES hardware device. It gives the SNES the ability to stream up to 4GB of data, and to play back CD-quality 44.1KHz 16-bit stereo sound. These two combined allow the SNES to stream high-quality full-motion video. The above image is real, and it really does run 240x160 video at 20fps with 32KHz stereo audio. To be fair, this particular demo uses the S-DD1 memory mapper, but it shows the potential of 21fx: it will be even better via more storage space and higher quality audio.

Now I should be more specific. The hardware doesn't currently exist. You see, it's a chicken and egg problem. Without the hardware, no software will be made; and without the software, no hardware will be made. So what I am doing is using my emulator, bsnes, to create a software implementation of 21fx before the hardware exists. Please keep in mind that it is my ultimate goal to see this hardware exist in real life. The entire device has been designed with real-life hardware constraints in mind. It does nothing a real SNES could not do.

You can think of the device as what the SNES-CD would have been, sans the cartridge portion. Just the base unit: mass storage and high-quality audio. Nothing more, nothing less."


http://byuu.org/21fx/

PlaySoniq for MSX.

"After months of preparation we are now at a point that it is safe to announce our next product the PlaySoniq:

This exiting new multi-expander for MSX compatible computers will open up a great deal of new possibilities. It’s main features are:

*Sega 315-5246 Audio/Video chip (found in latest Sega Master System II game consoles)
*PAL/NTSC Encoder (50/60Hz real-time software switchable)
*MOS Technology 6581 or 8580 Sound Interface Device (SID), also found in the Commodore 64/128.
*Up to 32 Megabit RAM (4MB) addressable memory
*Memory switchable between MSX or Sega Master System mode
*Spartan FPGA running at 80Mhz
*SCC/SCC-I (in FPGA) + 512KB Konami mapper, compatible with romload, loadrom and others
*JTAG Connector
*PSG to SCC redirecting in FPGA hardware, software switchable
*Real-time Joystick, Keyboard and OPLL to MSX remapping when in Sega Master System mode.
*Support for +/- 400 Sega Master System, SC-1000 and SG-3000 games
*Software switch for VDP addresses: MSX1 Mirror mode, SEGA (Franky) or Colecovision mode
*Total of 13 extra sound-channels, SID filter controllable
*Gold plated slot-connector for durability"

"At the moment the production of the PCB and the SMD components has started. Afterwards, we have to finalize the PCB’s and product packaging. Some final testing and programming also needs to be done. We hope to start shipping in August. We’ll do our utmost best to keep the final sale price between a Moonsound and a OPL4 shockwave. We have published a little video about the manufacturing process for you. Enjoy!"

http://supersoniqs.com/2010/06/20/supersoniqs-announces-playsoniq/

Chu Chu Rocket for NES!

Dwedit over at the romhacking forums has released a very nice looking homebrew version of Chu chu rocket for Nes.

Download it here: http://sharebee.com/840d2ca4

"There is no sound or music yet.
It does not yet keep track of which levels you have cleared.

Puzzle mode is basically complete.
Stage Challenge mode isn't finished:
* Missing the 30 second time limit
* The 100 mice and Cat Soccer levels don't do anything.
There is no multiplayer mode yet.

The layout of screens and such is subject to change. Can anyone design better looking "Stage Cleared!" windows?

Controls:
* Start or A: Confirm or select something
* B or Select: Cancel or go back

Puzzle Mode:
* A + Arrow: place an arrow, replace an arrow, or pick up an arrow
* B: Take back the latest placed arrow
* Select: Quit, or return to puzzle mode if the game is running.
* Start: Set the game in motion! Also toggles double speed mode while the game is running.

Stage Challenge:
* A + Arrow: place an arrow. You can only have 3 on at a time, and can not place arrows on top of another. Arrows last for 10 seconds before they expire.
* Select: Quit

Emulator Compatibility:
Works great in FCEUX, Nintendulator, Nestopia, VirtuaNES, QuickNES, Mednafen."

Source: http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=11008.msg164303#msg164303

A pile of Satellaview rom releases.

http://superfamicom.org/blog/ & Matthew Callis released a pile of interesting Satellaview snes roms back in May , check them out here:

1) http://superfamicom.org/blog/2010/05/rom-release-rush-featuring-tamori-no-picross/

2) http://superfamicom.org/blog/2010/05/rom-release-rush-tsuu/