UPDATED!~Roaring Lucky Lunar New Year Sale starting now!

February 6th, 2010, 01:19 Posted By: wraggster

New competition from Play Asia:



Kung Hei Fat Choi! It's Lunar New Year again! Some of you may be wondering what this Lunar or Chinese New Year is about: The Traditional Chinese Calendar is based on Moon cycles and starts a few weeks after the western New Year. This festival is the most important, and joyoys time in Chinese societies. People buy new clothes, sweep their house and children get red pockets.

Every lunar year is represented by an animal. Last year, it was the ox that represents hard work, and this year is the year of the tiger, promising adventures and dynamic. These big cats are natural leaders, we certainly hope that they'll lead everybody to a happy and prosperous year.

To welcome the Tiger, Play-Asia.com will start into the New year with the Roaring Lucky Lunar New Year Sale, with thousands of brilliant bargains and a chance to win awesome prizes.

Look for the goodies left on your Christmas wish list, there's a good chance that they're now available at a lower price. We have carefully reviewed our inventory and the result is a total of around 5,000 in-stock items, we have around 2000 games, 200 console accessories, 400 toys, 200 books, 800 music CDs and around 1000 movies.

We just added, and restocked more bargained items, some of them are real hot actioners such as Left 4 Dead 2, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway and Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. The greatest thing about these products is that they are Asian versions, they are not only cheaper and are region free. We know that some countries censor and cut games and we know that real gamers don't want to settle on a copy with reduced content.

Other goodies, such as Tekken 6 [Collector's Edition] gets another price cut, it falls from US$ 129.00 to $99.00. A real good deal, you get both the official fighting stick and the game in one beautiful package. Another Collector's Edition worth taking a look at is the Batman Arkham Asylum which comes with bonus DVDs and the batarang, the price just fell from US$ 99.00 to US$ 69.00.

For more details on the bargain items, please take a look at our bargains section!

But this is not all! Like we've done with our sales in the past, you will again have the chance to win fantastic prizes such as consoles, games and store credits. So what are you waiting for?

And this is how it works:

Now Tiger will guide you to where the Sales and the Lucky Draw are. The cheerful big cat will stop by the bargained products between February 2nd and February 11th, snap up the goodies and there you go, entered into the Lucky Draw. The more you buy, the more you save and the higher your chances of winning our prizes.

The winners of the 30 main prizes will be announced in this news post during the last week of February 2010 and will also be notified by e-mail.

Yet, be aware. Some products are restocked regularly, so the tiger comes back time and time again, yet for limited versions, such as toys and music, once the tiger leaves (out of stock) he never returns. Set your priorities and plan your shopping strategies.

Prizes:


1st Prize: A: PlayStation3 Slim- Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Bundle (250GB Model Asia version)


2nd Prize: Nintendo Wii™ Console [Black or White] (Japanese Version) + 2 Wii™ Games of your choice*


3rd Prize: A: Nintendo DSi™ LL Console + 2 NDS™ Games of your choice*
OR
B: Sony PSP™ Slim & Lite Console + 2 PSP™ Games of your choice*


4th Prize: GP2X Wiz Game System + Leather Case


5-10th Prize: A store credit voucher worth US$ 50 each, redeemable for any purchase at Play-Asia.com


11-30th Prize: A store credit voucher worth US$ 20 each, redeemable for any purchase at Play-Asia.com

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...-2b2-84-n.html

SEGA to Join Next Gen Console War with SEGA Zone

February 2nd, 2010, 07:01 Posted By: Mr. Shizzy





No leaks, no rumors, no teasers, no frustrated execs. Apart from revamping the Mega Drive in 2009, it seems that Sega has successfully kept itself under the radar about their plans of going back to manufacturing consoles - that is, until now. Electronics news blog Pocket-Lint has the goods on what appears to be the new Sega console.

It's called the Sega Zone, and it will launch along with 20 classic Sega titles, plus 30 more for added kicks - all from the publisher. 16 of those will be motion-controlled. For that, the package comes with two black Wiimote-like controllers with pretty much the same function.

While it's a console in the strictest sense, it doesn't appear to be a legit entry into the 7th gen war, even with its blatant Wii-ness. The Sega Zone is to launch this summer, priced at about £50, or almost US$ 80.

news source: QJ

Inhabitants

January 26th, 2010, 22:19 Posted By: wraggster

Newly released at Play Asia:



Released for a while, but the first time in stock for Play-Asia.com, the Inhabitants is another block breaker puzzle released by GOAT. Shiny and colorful, these blocks looks like gummi drops from the confection store. You have to line the same colored ones togther to blast them or even better, form a cross with five blocks to get extra points.

Play along and unlock new stages by yourself, or challenge your friends in the multiplayer mode to see who is the best brain gynast. The rules make this game even more challenging than other block blasters and requires you to seriously employ strategies to prevent your screen from being choked up.

Inhabitants is available on DreamCast, go dig it out of your attic

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...j-70-3p74.html

Ladykiller DC

January 25th, 2010, 23:35 Posted By: wraggster

News via http://www.dreamcast.es/news.php?readmore=335

Ladykiller is a set of people in the scene of GP2x, highly reminiscent of the arcade of the same name.

Attention! This game is for adults (+18). Play it at your peril.

The goal is simple: to uncover the boxes while avoiding the enemies and watch you do not drown.

Chui has been commissioned to do the port to the Dreamcast. With the R button is inserted credits, is played with the A and B to exit.

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments

Sonic hits Alton Towers

January 22nd, 2010, 16:32 Posted By: wraggster

Sega becomes official partner of UK theme park; Sonic rollercoaster revealed
A Sonic-branded rollercoaster will launch at Alton Towers next month.
The rollercoaster is part of a three-year deal between Alton Towers and Sega, which will see the publisher hold exclusive video game rights at the resort. The Alton Towers Hotel will also feature a Sonic The Hedgehog themed room, which guests can stay in and play the latest Sonic games.
The rollercoaster is an updated version of Alton Towers’ Spinball Whizzer, and will be called the Sonic Spinball as of Saturday, February 13th.
“We are delighted to be working with Merlin Entertainments and Alton Towers Resort” said Sega UK marketing director Amanda Farr.
“Partnering Sonic with one of the UK’s most popular destinations for a family day out is a fantastic opportunity for people to engage, and have fun, with the Sonic brand. I’ll certainly be there at the launch of the rollercoaster to have my turn!”

Alton Towers’ sales and marketing director Morwenna Angove added: “It’s a great joint venture between the Alton Towers Resort and Sega. The affiliation of both brands will add to the great family offering at the Resort for kids seeking fabulous family fun and adrenalin addicted adults.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/37269/Sonic-hits-Alton-Towers

Makaron WIP News

January 21st, 2010, 22:21 Posted By: wraggster

News from Deunan:

I figured I better write something on my blog after a month of inactivity so here goes. There isn't a new version of Makaron and it's not going to be ready soon. I'm not happy with the code as it is now but I don't feel like spending all my free time working on it. This isn't the only hobby I have after all.

That said, I've been doing various Dreamcast and NAOMI related things lately, some of those actually progressed to the final result stage Those of you who have NAOMI units with DIMM running in satellite mode know that some games will not work in that configuration. Those hang shortly after boot for some reason. Curiously this does not happen when the game is loaded from a GD-ROM reader. Well guess what, I now know the why this happens.
Here's a random shot made a few days ago, I had to trojan Ikaruga with my own exception handler and this is the very early version of it:


I made a pretty universal patcher to fix said games, though a handful still refuse to cooperate. I will work more on those titles sometime in the future. What you need to do is download the DIMM tools set I prepared and patch game images prior to uploading them to DIMM. There are two files here, the patcher and a separate region unlocker for those who don't want to run Japanese BIOS all the time. Patcher does region unlocking as well by the way, I only made a separate program for games (like SF3A) that work but will Error 02 for no good reason
There are no instructions included with the tools, but the usage is pretty simple. Just run those from command line, giving the game image to patch as parameter. Not exactly rocket science, trust me, if you got your DIMM working with the custom PIC this will be a breeze.

If you haven't understood a thing from the text above, this blog entry is not for you. Move along now.

Neo Myth N64 Cart Review (Flash Cart for Nintendo 64)

January 19th, 2010, 17:02 Posted By: wraggster

Heres a new product just released by Neoflash and for fans of N64 a Dream product.

A Little about the reviewer

Ive been an emulation and homebrew fan for as many years as i can remember (since around 1996 i think) but nothing i repeat nothing is better than playing on the real hardware.

Back in the Megadrive(genesis) and Snes days i owned a Super Wild Card and a Super Double Pro fighter, both cost about 300 pounds and ill admit that it was a great way to play games that i would never have been able to afford or because of stupid region lockouts.

So the day when Neoflash announced they were working on a Flash Cart for the Nintendo 64 called NEO Myth 64, i wanted one so badly, the chance to relive the best of the N64 and to play games ive never played was too much of a thrill to behold.

Now i must point out that being a webmaster of a homebrew site makes me no expert, im just as clueless as most newcomers, i like websites and i like posting news, i like to know that if i need a certain release i should be able to find it on my sites (hopefully :P).

First off Heres some screens of the N64 Flash Cart in and out its Packaging:

Front Side View in Packaging



Back Side view in Packaging



The NEO N64 Myth cart



Neo 2 Flash Cart - Which Holds SD Cards up to 8GB



The Neo n64 Myth Cart and the neo 2 Cart split apart



The USB Lead



You also get a Mini CD with a load of Drivers on for all Neo Products.

Specs of the N64 Flash Cart

Heres what Neoflash claim it does:

* Support the N64 rom size up to 512M
* Support all save type perfectly included the flash save, not need the same save type N64 game cart to work together
* Support 100% N64 games perfectly
* Download games from PC to NEO2 cart directly via USB port
* Upload/overwrite game save to PC via USB directly
* Multi-CIC support, can use any N64 cart to boot Neo Myth on N64 console
* Support Multi games, can download 2 games at the same time and swap the game via switch
* Can select the N64 menu run from Neo2 game cart or N64 inner menu flash (under developing still)
* Upgradeable! Support upgrade the N64 Myth cart CPLD logic core through the NDP upgrade kit

Getting Started

The N64 Flash Cart did come with a Mini CD of drivers but sadly there was no actual drivers for the N64 Flash Cart, so first off you need to head on over to Neoflash Forum to download the latest version of the software, once youve downloaded it (15MB) then click on to install to the directory it wants to, pretty straightforward for anyone.

Clicking on the Neo 2 Ultra Menu Icon (look on your desktop or in new programs) will lead you onto a screen that looks like this:



Now get your Neo Myth N64 Flash Cart and making sure that the cart that says 512M is inserted (or the Neo 2 Card with an SD Card inserted), connect the USB Lead to the Cart and Plugit into your Laptop or PC.

It Should have no problems and automatically find drivers installed when you installed the software above, i had no problems using Windows Vista but with Windows XP Pro SP3 it wouldnt load the drivers properly, i did post a thread at Neoflash and was given instructions on how to fix this. (Try a different USB Lead it may be that)

Adding Roms etc

Ok carrying on from the screenshot above if everything went ok youll be able to start the juicy part, first off i did a quick format of the card, it took around 30 seconds to do, so no real biggy.

Next on the list was to Add Roms to the Cart (Homebrew Roms and Emulators can be found at links Below)

Adding Roms is as easy as clicking the add rom button and going to whereever your roms are, for some strange reason the cart/software at the moment only holds 2 roms but i would think that will change in later versions of the firmware/software.

Once you have added the roms you require then click on N64 Burn, depending on how big your roms are will depend on how long it takes to copy to the cart, give it a few minutes, it also verifies each burn.

Now one thing to take into consideration is that if you have a USA N64, you will need a USA game plugged into the back of the N64 Myth Cart, If you have a Pal N64 youll need a Pal game plugged in.

I have both a USA and UK(Pal) N64 and thankfully the Power supplys/TV Leads are universal so im able to swap at pleasure.

Heres a pic of the Cart plugged into the N64



Now for Homebrew roms you dont need anything else to boot them but say you want to boot one of the games that requires the Expansion Pack



Games that need the Expansion Pack are the likes of Donkey Kong 64 and Zelda--The Majora's Mask and Perfect Dark, it also ups the resolution on many other games too.

Onto the Gaming

Ok youve Burnt your games onto the Flash cart and you have the Flash Cart installed in the N64 with the correct region game in the back, now its time to turn on:







It loads automatically into the game as you can see, if you did burn 2 games theres a little lever on the top of cart that you push over if you want the other rom to load at the start before you turn the console on.

Games ive Tested So Far

Donkey Kong 64 - Perfect
Star Wars Battle for Naboo - Perfect
Diddy Kong Racing - Perfect
GoldenEye 007 - Perfect
Perfect Dark - Perfect
PilotWings 64 - Perfect
Killer Instinct - Perfect
Star Wars Episode I - Racer - Perfect
Stunt Racer 64 - Perfect
Yoshi's Story - Perfect

Over at Neoflash theres a more complete list of whats working and save issues etc.

Conclusion

Today was one of them times when i was took back to the reasons i truly love the homebrew/Emulation scene. The Flash Cart seems easy to use, The adding of roms to the cart is as easy as they come so a big plus factor there, its a shame at this moment in time it only supports 2 roms, hopefully thats one thing that will be updated soon.

Having no drivers and documentation on the CD will make it a little hard for newbies but i would think that most people that are going to buy this are the hardcore N64 fans of old.

On the whole the roms it plays is great and if you have the expansion pack you can play just about every single N64 Game released and all homebrew and emulators too.

The price for the Flash Cart is $199 so it will put a lot of people off but to retro collectors/major emulation fans it will be very worth it, if you owned one of the back up systems for the N64 this will be much more preferable as theirs no moving parts to break. Yes for that price you can buy a heck of a lot of the games but theres some genuine gems that are very hard to trace these days and the homebrew factor makes it worth it for me.

My advice is to those who are tempted is go for it, the flash cart does what you really want it to and thats play Nintendo 64, a big thumbs up for Neoflash on this retro cart.

I suppose like everything it depends how big a fan you are and what finances you have to spend on gadgets, for me it does what i want it to and its also seen the re-emergence of a Homebrew scene for the N64, we have already seen releases of ScummVM for the N64 and theres also Snes, Nes, MSX, Master System/Game gear and Gameboy Emulators for the N64.

Links of Interest

Ic2005.com - Official Sellers of the NEO Myth 64 N64 flash cart and Neoflash Products.
Neoflash Forum for all discussion regarding the flash cart.
N64 Development forum at Neoflash.
N64 Homebrew News and Emulation Site at DCEmu.
Homebrew N64 Games at N64 Scener.
Homebrew N64 Demos at N64 Scener.
Icequake n64 Site

Jtris 1.01 + JpgAlleg 2.5

January 16th, 2010, 23:37 Posted By: wraggster

News via http://www.dreamcast.es/news.php?readmore=333

For those who are hungrier for homebrew, here we bring you news always fresh! This week new port and new bookstore: D

JTris 1.01

JTris is another clone of the very well-known Tetris. Nothing new that we have not seen, but grace is that it is done with the Allegro.

Some of the more interesting features:

- 1 or 2 players.
- Support music format: (mod, s3m, xm, JGM, UMX Unreal's S3M in).
- You can add more songs to the playlist.
- Adjustable sensitivity.
- Interesting wallpapers JPG format and interchangeable.
- Music "cool".

If you are interested in the game, you have a more detailed form Downloads -> IberDC. The dscarga includes binary and source code.

To compile You will need the libraries play:

- Allegro 4.2.2 DC
- JGMOD 0.99
- JPGAlleg 2.5

JPGAlleg 2.5

With this new library, you can load and display images in JPG games using Allegro. It's very light and easily integrates with your game / port ...

Rush Rush Rally Racing Get it even cheaper!

January 16th, 2010, 01:14 Posted By: wraggster

News from http://www.senileteam.com/forum_thread(98175).html

If you own a Dreamcast but you haven't ordered Rush Rush Rally Racing yet, you obviously should do so right away. Even more so now because redspotgames announced some changes in their shipping options, which may very well be beneficial to you. Shipping rates for all countries outside Europe are lowered with up to 20%. Rejoice!

Additionally an insured shipping option has also become available, which some of you will surely appreciate as well. There is no guarantee that any of the shipping options actually involves a ship, though.

How Xbox Could Have Helped The Dreamcast Survive

January 14th, 2010, 22:35 Posted By: wraggster

There have been rumors for years that Microsoft planned to buy Japanese game maker SEGA. But did you know SEGA hoped to make the original Xbox compatible with Dreamcast games?

The SEGA Dreamcast was launched in late 1998 to great fanfare. The console — featuring dial-up online — was years ahead of its time. Then the Sony's PlayStation 2 launched, and the SEGA console never recovered.

SEGA Chairman Isao Okawa was not willing to go down without a fight. "Before Mr. Okawa passed away," tweets former Microsoft exec Sam Furukawa, "he visited Gates several times, to see if it would be possible to add Dreamcast compatibility into the Xbox." According to Furukawa, Okawa was offering the SEGA assets to Xbox, it seems, which would create a path for Dreamcast customers to migrate to the Xbox.

Even if the Dreamcast was dying, this move would keep the platform alive and maybe even give it a second wind.

Okawa insisted that internet was indispensable for the Dreamcast games, it seems, but Microsoft didn't want an internet connection for the Dreamcast titles and negotiations fell apart.

(Of course, Microsoft pushed online gaming for its own Xbox titles; however, one has to wonder what expenses it would incur by not only making its Xbox play DC games, but play them online.)

Furukawa says that Okawa negotiated with Gates himself, but he was unable to work out a deal to pass on the Dreamcast customers. Before Okawa, Furukawa adds, he gave over roughly US$ 900 million from his personal fortune to SEGA in order to keep the company afloat.

Okawa passed away in Tokyo on March 16, 2001 due to heart failure. He was 74. The Dreamcast went out of production later that year. The chairman who followed Okawa decided that SEGA should focus on software production.

SEGA of America exec Peter Moore, the man who has admitted to making the decision to stop producing the Dreamcast, joined Microsoft in 2003.

CSK Holdings, the company Okawa created, owned the major stock share in SEGA until 2004 when CSK's shares were bought by Sammy, a pachinko company. And Microsoft continues to struggle in the Japanese market.

Furukawa is currently a professor at Japan's Keio University.

http://kotaku.com/5447897/how-xbox-c...amcast-survive