Articles tagged with: openmsx

News Roundup: March 9 - May 10

mossy_11 on Saturday, 10 May 2014. Posted in News

(I had this one half-done three weeks ago, and only just now got a chance to wrap it up. Hopefully we'll be back to a monthly schedule on these from here on out.)


Arcade emulator MAME has been updated to version 0.153. This release brings big changes under the hood, with major revisions made to modernise the core, user interface, OSD layers, drivers, and devices. Be sure to read through the What’s New document for a detailed rundown if you’re at all interested in the project and/or its goals. As always, you can get more general information and source code from the MAMEDev website, and there’s a Mac-specific binary on the SDLMAME site.


Multiple system emulator MESS has also been bumped up to version 0.153, with the most notable additions being support for 1979 console Bandai Super Vision 8000, the UK Apple IIe models, Serbian computer Pecom 32, and two systems I’ve never heard of: the Samsung Gam*Boy I and AIWA MegaCD CSD-GIM. See here for the full list of changes, and here for 32-bit and 64-bit SDLMESS binaries.


Macintosh II A/UX emulator Shoebill is making great progress. Developer Peter Rutenbar is reporting that A/UX 3.0.0 now runs, although there are still some issues. 0.0.2 boasts modest speed improvements and bug fixes, and it removes the need to supply your own kernel. You can download it or grab the latest source code at GitHub. Keep an eye on the E-Maculation Shoebill thread if you're interested in the project. Next up will be A/UX 3.0.1 support (maybe).


Recommended reading this month comes in the form of an article on the challenges of pixel-perfect Gamecube and Wii emulation, with specific examples of how Dolphin has tackled these in the past and present.


Continue reading for more emulator updates, including 8086tiny, PPSSPP, QEMU, openMSX, FS-UAE, and more, plus a helpful app for opening OS X archives in Mini vMac.

News Roundup: December 28 - March 8

mossy_11 on Sunday, 09 March 2014. Posted in News

My apologies on another late roundup. I’ve been busy. It was worth the wait, though, as we’ve got a huge one this time round, including a few new emulators.


There’s a new Macintosh emulator under development! Shoebill currently emulates a Mac II running A/UX (versions 1.x.x through 2.0.0), which was Apple’s implementation of Unix some 20+ years ago, although it will eventually support booting Mac OS. It’s early days yet, with the 0.0.1 release dropping just last week, but this is the first emulator that supports A/UX and it also emulates the MMU (which other Mac emulators don’t, so we could finally have some leaps forward if somebody manages to decouple the MMU code from Shoebill). See this E-Maculation thread for discussion, or head to GitHub for a download link and screenshots. (Thanks WatchSmart!)


Shoebill isn’t the only new emulator for us to play with; 8086tiny holds claim to the title of “the world’s smallest portable, highly-functional PC emulator.” True or not, at 28K (with comments) the source code is at least tiny. It emulates an 8086 CPU plus all standard PC peripherals, and its disk images should mount out of the box in OS X. I haven’t had a chance to test it myself yet, but this looks like a great choice for running DOS or early versions of Windows. You can learn more about 8086tiny and download the source code from its official website.


Multi-system emulator BizHawk has been updated to version 1.6.0. This release adds Sega Genesis and CD support and OpenGL video output, and it also fixes some issues with stability, audio throttling, and opening NES games. Check out Sappharad’s forum thread for more details and a download link.


WatchSmart pointed out this very cool browser-based Mac Plus emulator, RetroWeb, which comes with a number of built-in games and apps and seems to run at a decent frame rate in most current browsers. You can load your own disk images, too, but that’s not really the point here — this is an easy way to reminisce or to show other people what Macs were like 25 years ago without going to the hassle of setting up Mini vMac. (It uses PCE for its core, in case you were wondering.)


Continue reading for more updates, including a full complement of Mac-on-Mac news, a new way to play a classic, progress on a NeXT emulator, and more.

News Roundup: June 14 - August 12

mossy_11 on Tuesday, 13 August 2013. Posted in News

My apologies about missing July’s roundup; I had a very busy month.


Nintendo 64 emulator Mupen64Plus has been updated to version 2.0. This release improves all the plugin modules, notably adding support for video window resizing and six new joysticks. It also fixes emulation issues with a number of games, including Donkey Kong 64 and Ocarina of Time. Check out the release notes here, then download via this page.


After two years without an update, Eric Shepherd aka SheppyWare’s Sweet16 Apple IIgs emulator has seen a major new release and a subsequent minor update. Version 3.0 drops support for PowerPC Macs, implements drag-and-drop support between the Mac and Apple IIgs Finder, adds a bunch of long-overdue features, fixes loads of issues, and improves everything else. Check out the release notes for both this and the 3.0.1 update at the Sweet16 website.


One year to the day after its previous release, Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon emulator Hatari has been updated to version 1.7.0. This release adds an experimental MMU for the 68030 mode, improves accuracy in several areas, and makes a few other fixes. From a gaming perspective, 15 titles that previously had issues—including James Pond and Microprose Golf—should now work. The full release notes are included in the download (available here), while the quick-fire version is on the Hatari news page.


NekoLauncher Mednafen, a frontend/launcher for multi-system emulator Mednafen, has been updated to version 0.9.29. As has Mednafen itself, courtesy of idyll and Weedy Weed Smoker. For the uninitiated, Mednafen handles Game Boy Advance, Virtual Boy, Super Nintendo, and several other classic systems with aplomb, and it’s also an excellent choice for Mac folks looking to emulate PlayStation games. You can grab Mednafen with or without its frontend here, or pop over to Nekocan for just NekoLauncher Mednafen. And share your thoughts on the newly-minted MacScene forum thread.


Continue reading for more emulator news, including updates to Stella, Sheepshaver, and CocoaMSX, along with a couple of new additions to the scene.

News Roundup: September 16 - November 7

mossy_11 on Wednesday, 07 November 2012. Posted in News

Sorry it’s up so late. I’ve been busy meeting deadlines.


We’ve been mighty spoiled by Sixtyforce developer Gerrit recently. The 0.9.6 update reported on last time was quickly followed by 0.9.7, with automatic update notifications added alongside a slew of bug fixes. Get it from the Sixtyforce (or 64ce, as I hear the cool kids call it) website. And don’t forget to register to support further development.


SpeedofMac’s website went down a while back, and hosting troubles led to him moving to ConsoleEmu.com. Head there for the same downloads and information about (NES and later) console emulators that you came to expect from the previous incarnation, now with a more platform-agnostic outlook.


BSNES is no more; byuu has renamed his super-accurate Super Nintendo emulator Higan after adding multi-system support. You can now also use it to play NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS games. The source code is Linux only at this stage. No word yet on whether Richard Bannister is in any way equipped to port it to the Mac. This is the official Higan page.

Continue reading for more emulator news, including major updates to FS-UAE and zxsp and new versions of OpenMSX, ARAnyM, Stella, Bizhawk, and more.

News Roundup July 8 - August 14

mossy_11 on Thursday, 16 August 2012. Posted in News

MacScene's new sister site Archive.vg launched its public beta at the end of July. It's shooting to be the IMDb of video games, and has had some great feedback so far. The Archive.vg iPhone app was just released on the App Store (free!), with near-full access to the database—it's missing screenshots, but it has credits and contributors (which you won't find on the website just yet). The app also has collections, which you can expect on the site at a later date. On the Archive blog, two articles may be of special interest to MacScene regulars: An Emulator for the Rest of Us—How OpenEmu Changes Everything and The Perils, Challenges, and Uncertainty of Collecting and Preserving Video Games.


Dapplegrey, a DOSBox frontend, reached a major milestone sometime recently—version 3.0. I can't kind find any release notes, but it has a shiny new UI and organisational features—along with a new icon. Mountain Lion users take note that it's not signed for Gatekeeper. You can get it from the Classics for X website.


Classic adventure game interpreter ScummVM version 1.5.0 "Picnic Basket" has been released. This update adds support for 11 more titles, including Backyard Baseball 2003, Dreamweb, Blue Force, and Once Upon A Time: Little Red Riding Hood. Changes include "dramatically" improved MT-32 emulation and TrueType font support. See the Release Notes for more details. As always, you can download the latest release from the ScummVM downloads page.


Continue reading for more emulator updates, including new versions of OpenMSX and Sheepshaver, a name change for gbpablog, and more.

News Roundup: January 11 - February 7

mossy_11 on Wednesday, 08 February 2012. Posted in News

There's a new emulator for us to play with! QDAE, a multi-platform Quick and Dirty Apricot Emulator, emulates the Apricot F1, Xi, and Portable, as well as the Wang Professional Computer. The current version, 0.0.8, supports emulation of the 8086 processor, the infrared keyboard and mouse, the screen, floppy drives, up to two hard drives (why are they called Winchester disks?), and the support chipset. Be warned, however, that it is very early in development, and may not work well -- if at all. You can download the source from the QDAE homepage, or grab a binary from Jerome Vernet's Apricot F1 website (the binary is for the older version 0.0.6, at the time of writing).


Previous brings NeXT computer emulation to the Mac, with the 0.3 version released in late January. This update brings partial read compatibility to SCSI disks, but apparently breaks the MMU emulation. Head over to the Previous website to learn more about the emulator or to get a download link.


Commodore 64 emulator micro64 has been updated to version 1.00.2012.01.13 Build 665. I believe this is the first time we've written about micro64, so here's a quick summary of its goals and functions. The developers want micro64 to become the most accurate Commodore 64 emulator available. Development is still in the early pre-alpha stages, with plans for a big GUI overhaul soon. Check out the micro64 website for more information.

Continue reading for more emulator updates, including MAME's 15th anniverary edition, commercial Sinclair QL emulation, Virtual ]['s return, and more.

News Roundup: March 5 - April 3

mossy_11 on Sunday, 03 April 2011. Posted in News

We’re building a better MacScene, and we need your help. Developers, designers, writers, editors, and anyone else with expertise that will be useful for a bigger, better MacScene should check out this forum thread for more details on the changes and how you can help. And yes, the emulator database is set to return.

Apparently, March is a slow news month. Here are the updates in the world of emulation on the Mac.

Boxer, a powerful DOSBox front-end that can wrap games into individual OS X apps, has officially reached version 1.0 -- and subsequently received a minor update to fix a bug with System folder icons being overridden when they are set as game folder. See the official site for full details and a download link, and also check out the blog for an interesting discussion about the future of Boxer -- which includes distribution on the Mac App Store.

In news we missed last month, multi-platform DOSBox game launcher DBGL has been updated to version 0.72. Changes include support for forced scaling and configurable dosbox.conf locations. See the official site for full details and a download link.

Open-source MSX emulator openMSX has been updated to version 0.8.1. The update fixes a number of minor issues, adds scripts to help with Tool Assisted Speedruns, and adds emulation for a few MSX devices. See the changelog here, and check the official site for download links.

Keep reading after the jump for more updates.

News Round-up: June 3 - July 3

mossy_11 on Saturday, 03 July 2010. Posted in News

ios4_icon_20100624The latest operating system for Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices -- newly renamed as iOS 4 -- is now available for download from the iTunes store. It is a free update for 2nd-gen iPod Touch / iPhone 3G or newer, although some features are only available on newer hardware, such as the not-really-multitasking-but-still-called-it multitasking. There’s really no reason not to update, as performance has been improved all round.


The iPhone 4 is now available, sporting a high resolution 960-by-640 “retina” display, 512MB RAM, a faster processor, new camera, and a new hardware design. Apple has been heavily criticised over a design flaw related to the antenna placement that resulted in reduced reception unless the phone is held in a specific (and awkward) way. They have released a backhanded apology that blames the problem on an error in the algorithm that calculates signal strength.


mac-miniContrary to popular opinion, the Mac mini is not dead, with Apple releasing a new design and updated internals for its neglected child. Most notable for gamers is the addition of a faster graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 320M) and HDMI. It’s looking more and more attractive as a dedicated MAME box. Check out the press release here.

Emulator updates after the break.