Emulation News Page
January - June 2002


ZSNES 1.35 storms onto the scene! June 24, 2002 - 10:49PM EST

Looks like the 1337 crew over the
ZSNES project decided it was finally time for a new release to hit the streets. This release has so many chnages not only did it hit the street.. it broke the damn pavement!

Snatch the latest version from the Super Nintendo section.

MagicEngine version 0.9.9 beta 5! June 24, 2002 - 10:18PM EST

David released a new version of his outstanding
PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16 emulator MagicEngine over the weekend. Mostly just video mode changes in this release, but one new feature has been added that was sorely needed. Screen stretch, Finally you can play FULL-fullscreen! Some games have a bit of shimmer effect because of the method that is being used to stretch the graphics, but over all it is a much needed improvement.

Changes in 0.9.9 beta 5: Inhale the latest version from the PC-Engine section.

Changing Nintendo Emulators May 29, 2002 - 10:27PM EST

Well.. NESten has been long dead and I have been debating for quite some time on which NES emulator I'd be changing to. The Race has been between FCE Ultra and RockNES X for quite some time but I think I have finally picked a winner. :) Although RockNES X has some features that I really like, such as 2xSAI and the like, it has a tendecy to crash for no reason and randomly run really slow no matter what the Priority is set to. FCE Ultra is a very stable, very compatable emulator which also happens to have Power Pad and Light Gun support. (now if only someone could make it so you could shoot the dog in Duck Hunt I'd be happy)

That being said, I'd like to introduce FCE Ultra as the latest NES emulator of choice!
Grab the latest version of FCE Ultra from the NES Section!

On the bright side.. ePSXe 1.5.2! May 5, 2002 - 11:10PM EST

Hey.. This was kind of unexpected. The
ePSXe crew dropped a new release today. Looks like there are quite a few fixes in this release a good number of which are to do with CD emulation. Be sure to check it out.

Changes in 1.5.2: Absorb the latest version from the Playstation section.

On the topic of Magic Engine.... April 29, 2002 - 10:02AM EST

Magic Engine has been consuming a lot of my time lately. There have been a few releases of the wonderful TG-16/PCE emulator
Magic Engine as it's up to version 0.9.9 beta 4 now. The latest changes are as follows:

<RANT>
However I having a hell of a time getting it to work with any CD game I own. After I load up a CD-System card and hit start it just sits at a blank screen. And it does this every time, with 3 different CD drives from 3 different manufactures. People tell me that's it's my ASPI layer, but I know it's not as everthing else that uses ASPI works just fine. It would figure that all the free emulators that use ASPI as a CD interface work, but the one I pay for doesn't. Anyway, it's gotten to the point that I just rip the CDs to bin/cue images and use Daemon Tools to create a virtual CD-ROM drive pointing at the CD image. It works, but it's definately a pain in the ass.
</RANT>

Nab the latest version from the PC-Engine / TurboGrafix-16 section.

Gens 1.91, music to my ears April 29, 2002 - 9:32AM EST

Yup, late again. But I've been horribly obsessed with trying to get my CD drives to work in Magic Engine. Anyway, Stef released a new version of his masterpiece
GENS for the huddled masses to enjoy. This update is composed of nothing but sound engine changes, and I can definately take back everything I saind about the 1.90 release. The sound core in GENS is probably the most acurate I've ever heard. It definately stands it's ground against a real Genesis is side by side tests of all the hard carts I own. Don't be afraid... download the latest release now.. It's good for you.

Ingest the latest version from the Sega Genesis section.

Updated Sega-CD Section.. April 13, 2002 - 2:49PM EST

Hmm.. Kinda slow around here, so I got off my ass and finally finished the Sega-CD page. Put up some game screenshots and a little bit of a system description. So, now that each section is finished, I guess it's time to add that Neo-Geo section that I mentioned forever and a day ago. Maybe I'll get to work on that today some...

Gens 1.90! April 8, 2002 - 1:38PM EST

Lets all jump for joy! Stef bounced out another happy version of
GENS for us all. Looks like Stef wasn't too satisfied with the sound core that he was using, so he decieded to code a new one which he says is more acturate. I'll have to take a minute later tonight to do some side by side comparison with a real Genesis, but I think the old one sounded better. But, like I said, I'm not sure, it could just be because I'm so used to Gens' old sound core, and the new one just sounds a little bit different. Anyway, buncha 1.80 bug fixes also, including one that was keeping me from playing Robo-Aleste, I don't know how many of you have ever played this Sega-CD game, but it's a pretty decent vertical scrolling shump.

Changes in 1.90: Download the latest version from Sega Genesis section.

VisualBoyAdvance updates April 8, 2002 - 11:01AM EST

I thought I had reported when forgotten released
VisualBoyAdvance 0.9a, but apparently I didn't. So for everyone that didn't know already. He did. Also it appears that forgotten became a new father on March 25! Take a second to congratulate him on a job well done.. :) Now that he's got his hands full, it may be awhile before he can devote any serious amount of time to the emulator, so he's released a Work-In-Progress version of the successor to 0.9a. Both the official release and the WIP are available for download, just in case there is something horribly wrong with the beta.

Changes in 0.9a Changes in WIP Ingest the latest versions from GameBoy section.

ePSXe 1.5.1 released. Mar 14, 2002 - 1:19PM EST

Well well.. what do we have here? A new release from _Demo_ and the crew! The uber Playstation emulator
ePSXe was updated on tuesday. This release includes support for Subchannel reading! Which means that all those copy protected PAL games you've been wanting to play no longer need those stupid PPF patches! There is a catch though... you need to have a CD-ROM that supports subchannels. Not all CD-ROM drives do, but most decent quality CD-Burners support subchannels so you could be in luck!

Changes in 1.5.1: Absorb the latest version from the Playstationsection.

VisialBoyAdvance hits 0.9 Mar 14, 2002 - 11:43AM EST

Forgotten released a new version of his GameBoy/Gameboy Advance emulator
VisualBoyAdvance yesterday. Looks like a pretty big list of changes for this one. However, he has posted a few known bugs in the new release that may make you stick with 0.8 until he can get an update out.

These bugs are: if it sounds like these would annoy you. Then pass on this one for now.. But if your like me, you'll just use the new version anyway. :)

Core changes: Gameboy changes: Windows changes: Engulf the latest version from GameBoysection.

retroDrive actually updated. Feb 14, 2002 - 11:18AM EST

Some neat stuff that happened, like, a week ago. Tim Meekins actually updated his Genesis/32X emulator
retroDrive to version 5. Woo Hoo. Some new stuff like NOT needing the 32x BIOS files in order to play, and a feature that I'm not too sure about. There is a new INI file that will be used to "tweak" games. Sounds like the system that is currently used for Nintendo-64 emulators, not a good idea IMO.

Changes to retroDrive 5: Inhale the latest version from 32-Xsection.

Change in Sega-Cd emulator of choice. Feb 24, 2002 - 11:19PM EST

Well, I'm happy to say that a new, but very familiar, emulator is replacing AGES as the Sega-CD emulator of choice. Stef's GENS has toppled the innovator of Sega-CD emulation himself, Quinntesson, for the best Sega-CD emulator in existence. :) Bravo! Bravo!

Obtain the latest version from of Gens from the Sega-CDsection.

Gens 1.80 magically appears! Feb 24, 2002 - 11:00PM EST

Stef never fails to amaze me. He has released another update to his masterpiece Genesis/Sega-CD emulator
GENS. The latest version includes a few Sega-CD Timing issues, the Sprite limit issue, and includes the latest version of Kaillera (which should make the online players out there happy).

Changes in 1.80:

[Sega CD] [Genesis] [General] devour the latest version from Sega Genesissection.

VisualBoy Advance 0.8 emerges Feb 5, 2002 - 3:55PM EST

Forgotten, as promised released a new version of his dominant GBA/GB emulator
VisualBoyAdvance on Super Bowl Sunday. List of changes is quite long, but one thing really sticks out, something I wish all emu authors would take note of: -=[disable screen saver when emulating]=- Yes folks, nothing sucks more than whooping Dracula's ass in Castlevania Adventure and the screen saver kicks on. This happens with TONS of emulators, I'm glad authors are starting to notice. Forgotten is THE man. Period.

Core changes: Gameboy changes: Windows changes: SDL changes: Pilfer the latest version from the GameBoy section.

Gens 1.70 kicks ass, ninja style! Feb 5, 2002 - 3:43PM EST

Alright, Stef comes through again in brilliant fashion!
GENS 1.70 has been released and is better than ever. Not only is the SCSI CD-ROM bug fixed, but he seems to have fixed the bug in Ecco The Dolphin CD that was locking the emu up when you viewed the video crystals in the library. What else can I say!

Changes in Gens 1.70 :

[SEGA CD] [GENESIS] [GENERAL] Snatch the latest version from Sega Genesis section.

ePSXe 1.5.0 released! Jan 28, 2002 - 8:01PM EST

Well if this little bit of news didn't just blow me away this morning.
ePSXe, the ultra l33t Playstation emulator, errupted onto the scene after 6 months with a new release! I waited to report it till I got a chance to try it, but I'll have to say it's very impressive to say the least! Smooth and fast, no bugs that I can see. Apparently some people are having trouble switching discs in multi-disc games. But as I haven't tried to do that yet, I can not confirm these reports. By all means, grab this emulator!

List of changes: pillage the latest version from Playstation section.

News on the Gens \ Win XP issue! Jan 25, 2002 - 1:00PM EST

Just got a new test version of GENS from Stef this morning numbered v1.62. Looks like it fixes the Windows XP + SCSI CD-ROM issue! I never knew Gens did Sega-CD emulation so well. This could cause a few changes around here with Gens now holding down slots for 2 different favorite emulators. I think I'll wait till it's officially released to decide. But, I don't think I'll have to wait too long, as Stef has been churning out updates faster that than other emulation author out there. Kudos to him!

Gens 1.60b available Jan 24, 2002 - 1:51PM EST

Stef is just a machine lately, churing out release after release of his amazing Genesis/Sega-CD emulator
GENS. The latest of which is 1.60b which is the latest of 4 releases since I posted 1.40b All of this in about 2 weeks time. He's unstopable. Unfortuanely I still can't get the Sega-CD emulation working on my machine, seems people with Windows XP and SCSI CD-Rom drive have been having some troubles. However, Stef is aware and I've gotten a test version Gens from him, and sent him a few log files to try and help. Hopefully, we'll see a breakthough sometime soon.

Here's the list of changed since 1.40b:

[Sega CD] [Genesis] [General] Snatch the latest version from Sega Genesis section.

AGES 0.27a available Jan 3, 2002 - 10:21AM EST

Quinntesson updated his Genesis/32X/Sega-CD emulator
AGES before the holidays. Looks like he got a little adventurous and completely overhauled his 68000 emulator. He released 2 version of the emulator one with the new core and one with the old, but I haven't found a reason to try the old one yet since the new one is quite a bit faster. Apparently the plan is to do the same renovations to the SH-2 core next, hopefully making 32X emulation a bit better. Only time will tell!

New to 0.27a: Harvest the latest version from Sega-CD section.

Gens 1.40b available Jan 3, 2002 - 9:49AM EST

Stef released a new version of his Genesis/Sega-CD emulator
GENS a while ago. Just got around to checking it out.. Things being as hectic as they are around the holidays. So here it is.. Finally for anyone that for some reason or another hasn't downloaded it from a different site already. :)

Here is a list of current changes:

SEGA CD: GENESIS: GENERAL: Obtain the latest version from Sega Genesis section.




Tell me how much I suck! Niobium