Wii

WiiEngine 1.5B: support for ISOs, save states, screen captures, more

Isaac C. — 2008-10-06T13:19:06-07:00

Wiibrew developer Hermes has released an update to WiiEngine, an emulator of the classic PC Engine and Turbo Grafx 16 systems for the Wii.

Major updates in this version! The program now supports several new compression formats, as well as ISOs. There are new features you won't want to miss as well, including support for up to four Wiimotes, save states, and screen captures.

Here's the changelog from Hermes, translation courtesy of Google:

Supports roms in. PCE or compressed. Bz2 (the program can compress to this format, by pressing a button) or. Zip
Supports ISO and a special file. Toc which contains a description of all tracks of audio-data. Ie: my emulator also supports the audio (which can be in formats. WAV or. OGG) or discs with multiple tracks of data.
I have prepared a utility for you to create the file. Toc and tracks data in. Iso formato.ogg and audio from a CD-ROM image in CUE / BIN
It supports up to four Wiimote and you can configure the buttons to add autofire or exchange them, for example
You can save the state complete a game to recover and continue playing later. The saves are compressed to minimize space
You can capture a frame format. Bmp and then display it from the same Wii or export it to the PC to portray a good death XD, a score achieved or curiosity. When entering a rom the meter is set to 0 and will catch numbering in succession. On the stand CDROM, for example, Dracula X is reduced its size from 506MB of. Bin to only 63 MB using iso / ogg.
I strongly recommend that you read the readme.txt, especially how to create files. Toc (though the utility bincuesplit it will create everything automatically, if you have the game on CD-ROM image format BIN / CUE.

Download: WiiEngine 1.5B

Previous version:

Wii homebrew: Wiiengine v1.5 PC Engine emulator

TimeSplitters 4 teaser gets Star Wars-y feel, Sir Chimpalot revealed

Gino D. — 2008-10-06T10:35:43-07:00

Slowly but surely, the new TimeSplitters game is getting more and more developments. And today, we've got an oh-so-teaseriffic teaser trailer rootin'-and-tootin' with none other than Sir Chipalot. Oh, and the pic above is wallpaper-friendly (1280x1024), just in case you were asking.

Notice the logo of Free Radical at the start of the trailer - I'm sure you've seen something like it somewhere before coughStarWarscough . Just goes to show that the Free Radical team still has their playfulness intact. They are, after all, already confirmed to make potshots at other franchises like Gears of War and Halo in this upcoming TimeSplitters game.

Here's the trailer:

The Conduit to support WiiSpeak, MotionPlus; controls won't be 'gimmicky'

Isaac C. — 2008-10-06T08:35:25-07:00

Here's some hope that the Wii could actually support a hardcore shooter playerbase. According to High Voltage Software, WiiSpeak is a go for The Conduit, as well as MotionPlus.

WiiSpeak is Nintendo's voice chat solution for the console which they announced back at E3. The MotionPlus accessory was also an E3 reveal. It basically lends your Wiimote more accuracy in motion tracking.

Don't worry if you don't have these peripherals though. High Voltage Software's Eric Nofsinger says that the game is designed to be fun with just the Wiimote and nunchuk. He says that with or without the peripherals, and even without online connectivity, "if you don't have anything but your Wii and the game, it's got to be fun."

Peripherals be damned - this game is gonna rock. Nofsinger mentioned that while the game will support MotionPlus, it doesn't mean that the game will be "gimmicky":

I think one of our early mandates in design and with the control in general is we didn t want to be gimmicky. We do have a lot of Wii-specific controls with some of the weaponry, but we didn t want to be a waggle Wiimote kind of game. There s nothing in the game like that.

I have high hopes for this game. It seems the studio is too - they don't have a publisher yet and they already have a sequel in mind. Nofsinger mentioned last month that they will push to start the sequel right away. Recently he also mentioned the sequel when talking about the game's support for MotionPlus:

Probably for this version of the game there s not going to be a whole ton of really extensive use of the Wii MotionPlus. For the sequel to the game, we definitely do want to incorporate more melee and things like that.

Buyout rumor: EA eyeing Epic Games?

Karl B. — 2008-10-03T19:45:13-07:00

After their takeover bid of Take-Two Interactive fell through, Electronic Arts may be on the hunt once again for another studio to buy out. Rumor has it that this time, EA's eyes are set on Epic Games.

According to Gameguru, EA has already started looking into the viability of acquiring Epic and, in effect, the Unreal Engine. Word is that EA's main plan this time is to acquire exclusive licensing rights to the next generation of Epic's Unreal Engine. And of course, Epic's games.

Gameguru also notes that an EA employee has reportedly been "shifted to Microsoft" to check out how strong the potential of the Gears of War series as a long-term franchise is.

It's only a rumor at this point, but for discussion's sake, how do you guys feel about an EA-published Gears of War 3?

Strauss Zelnick: Take-Two will remain independent

Karl B. — 2008-10-03T18:55:27-07:00

This morning, Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick laid down the final word on Take-Two's status as a company, deciding to remain independent after all.

"Our management and outstanding and talented employees have maintained an unwavering focus on our products and our business through this lengthy strategic review process and we are confident in our prospects," said Zelnick.

Take-Two CEO Ben Feder also added the following:

We have delivered solid financial results and expanded our portfolio of leading titles...with no debt and an undrawn $140 million credit facility [this gives] us the financial flexibility to continue to do what we do best: innovate and create the great games that our customers have come to expect.

A full stable of big names, lots of money, and no debt? Looks like Take-Two has quite a future ahead of it.

Rumor alert: all PSP games in 2009 will be available as downloads, more

Karl B. — 2008-10-03T18:16:50-07:00

So apparently the Kojima FPS and DMC-style Strider game weren't the only rumors in EGM's latest issue. NeoGAF member SuperSonic1305 let us in on a few more rumors, including one that could have quite an effect on PSP gaming.

Perhaps the biggest rumor is that all of the PSP games that will be released next year will also be made available as downloads. That's official downloads, not Torrents. While publishers can probably save a lot of money by going digital, I don't think they're willing to give up physical discs this soon. It might be part of Sony's plans to ramp up PSP sales, though.

Here's a list of the other rumors in the latest EGM:

Lucas Arts handing Rogue Squadron rights to new publisher. All games released on one Wii disk with enhanced visuals and Wii controls
Fast domestic release of the Disgaea side scroller
non-Sony property LittleBigPlanet DLC coming very soon including Disney and characters from 3rd party games

Gory, but not too gory: MadWorld for Wii making sure it gets solid M rating

Isaac C. — 2008-10-03T13:17:24-07:00

Sega is working closely with ESRB on the development of MadWorld to make sure that the game won't pull a Manhunt 2. That is, the game wants to maintain a level of violence, without going overboard and get an Adults Only rating, which the first version of Manhunt 2 got.

Sega regularly submits new builds to the ESRB to get their feedback, wanting them to feel "part of the process" so they don't feel surprised when they get the final version of the game. On that note, the game may not make it to Japan, or any other country that's sensitive to violence for that matter, since they're tailoring the game's violence levels for the US ratings board.

Sadly, the game will not arrive at TGS. Hopefully we'll get to see more of the game before it gets released next year. I am soooo looking forward to this game. Mario games are fine and all, but Mario games don't have chainsaws.

One year later: Manhunt 2 coming to UK on October 31

Isaac C. — 2008-10-03T12:12:17-07:00

Rockstar finally gets to release Manhunt 2 (Wii, PSP) in the UK after a long and grueling year-long battle against the BBFC. UK gamers can expect the game to hit shelves on October 31.

Perfect timing too. Guess UK gamers have some inspiration for their Halloween costumes?

This is the modified version of the game that was released in North America exactly a year ago. If you remember, this technically this isn't the "original" version of Manhunt 2. The first version submitted to ratings boards was either faced with a ban or a rating that was too high for being too violent.

Hackers later managed to find a code that will partially lift the game's censors, which led to to more trouble for the game as it caused Target to it from shelves days after its release. Wonder if Rockstar was able to take care of that little loophole for the UK release.

Renting and borrowing's out: three upcoming games offer exclusive content, but only once

Isaac C. — 2008-10-03T10:14:10-07:00

Studios and publishers don't benefit from the sales of used games, just ones fresh off the shelves. Finding a way around this, three new games are offering exclusive content - but only once per copy of the game.

Meaning that if you want the exclusive content, you'll have to buy yourself a new copy. Penny pinchers beware! Oh wait, that includes me. I hope this trend doesn't catch on.

The three games to offer once-only exclusive content are Gears of War 2, NBA Live 09, and Rock Band 2. These games will offer a one-use download code with new copies of the game. These codes are not available for sale on any of the consoles' respective online services. You really have to buy the game - unless you find a used copy whose code hasn't been used yet. Yeah, like that'll happen.

Gears of War 2's one-use download code will give you five additional multiplayer maps pulled from the original Gears of War. Epic games describes them as their "special gifts [for] our loyal fans." Repeat: these won't be available through Xbox Live.

Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii) will offer a one-use code that will yield 20 free downloadable songs for all three consoles. The game's AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack also has a code that will export the expansion's 18 tracks to Rock Band or Rock Band 2.

NBA Live 09's one-use code will deliver the 365 functionality, which gives daily roster and stat updates through PSN and XBL. This service will be available for new copies, but will also be offered for US 19.99.

MPlayerWii v0.06: faster USB, added support for classic controller

Isaac C. — 2008-10-03T09:42:52-07:00

MPlayer seems to be the name of the game this week in the Wiibrew community.

Not long after the latest release of GeeXboX, developer fcorbier has released a new version of his media player for the Wii, MPlayerWii.

This version has a speed boost on reading USB devices, and added support for the classic controller. Here's the changelog for MPlayerWii v0.06. For more information, please consult the program's readme.

v0.06

huge speedup on USB devices (thanks to rodries and Hermes)
added classic controller support to position and scale the video display

Download: MPlayerWii v0.06

Previous version:

MPlayerWii v0.05: added USB functionality, new features

Japan: Xbox 360 outsells PlayStation 3 for September; handheld sales decline

Isaac C. — 2008-10-03T09:20:24-07:00

Third time's the charm.

The latest numbers from Japan show that the Xbox 360 has once again outsold the PlayStation 3 for the third week running. Crunching some numbers reveal that the Xbox 360 outsold the PlayStation 3 for the entire month of September. It's a little too early for Christmas miracles, so I'd say this is... a Halloween miracle?

September saw 54,793 units sold for the Xbox 360, but only 31,798 PlayStation 3s were liberated from shelves for the month. If that's what a price cut did for the Xbox 360 in Japan, I am highly curious to see what it did for other regions, particularly in North America. We'll have to wait on the figures form the NPD Group to find out.

On the handheld side of things, both the PSP and DS have declined in sales, and no wonder. People are waiting for both the PSP-3000, and the new camera-fied Nintendo DSi. I'm surprised they still manage to sell any. Here are the numbers from Japan for the week ending on September 28:

DS Lite: 57,847
Wii: 26,314
PSP: 25,671
Xbox 360: 11,291
PS2: 9,848
PS3: 8,275

Wii homebrew: WiiTCPLoadGUI v0.01 beta

Karl B. — 2008-10-02T21:02:35-07:00

Another TCP client GUI has been released for the Nintendo Wii console. This one's called WiiTCPLoadGUI.

It's still in beta, but it looks pretty promising. This app lets you connect your PC to the Wii Homebrew/TCPLoader channel and stream binary files. It's an easy way of transferring files to your Wii.

The download's below. WiiTCPLoadGUI supports Windows 32bit (64bit support is coming), Linux x86 and x86_64, and MacOSX x86.

Download: WiiTCPLoadGUI v0.01 beta

Quartermann rumors: new Strider Hiryu game Capcom; Hideo Kojima FPS?

Karl B. — 2008-10-02T20:31:41-07:00

EGM's resident rumor specialist Quartermann has set his eyes on Capcom, who has recently enjoyed success via its massive catalog of classic games. According to Quartermann in the latest issue of EGM, Capcom may be reaching into that classic gaming bag again.

The rumored target for a remake is Strider Hiryu, the blue-clad ninja dude who starred in Strider and Strider 2. There hasn't been a Strider Hiryu game since 1999's Strider 2, but Quartermann posits that Capcom may be readying him for a new Devil May Cry-style action game. Is this the ace they mentioned a while back?

Another rumor on EGM's pages is that Hideo Kojima has been visiting various first-person shooter development studios like Infinity Ward and Guerrilla Games. Will we be seeing an FPS from the man who has said that they make him physically ill? Who knows? Like with every rumor, all we can do is take things with a grain of salt and wait.

Wii homebrew: Wiiengine v1.5 PC Engine emulator

Karl B. — 2008-10-02T18:03:45-07:00

Wiiengine is a homebrew PC Engine emulator for the Nintendo Wii console. Developer Hermes has further bolstered the emulator's functionality with the release of version 1.5. You can check out the full changelog for Wiiengine v1.5 below.

Program improvements:

Support added to load/save program configuration.
Support added for usb mass storage: You can use ROMS from USB and SD devices using the [SD] or [USB] entries to change the device.
Improvements in LIBFAT.
Audio mixer optimized to avoid the overload of the Sound Interrupt Vector.
Support added for Gamecube Controller.
Improvements in auto-fire and the strategy to assign the pads. Corrected a bug in pad.c (libogc) that cause a problem with pads unpluggeds (see the source code in 'libogc' in the release)

Emulation improvements:

Support added for Gamecube Controller.
Changes in the PAD priority allocation : From Intelligent mode, Gamecube Controllers number have the preference over Wiimote pad. From Direct mode you can use Wiimotes and Gamecubes controllers simultaneously when they have the same index number (for example, you can use Wiimote 1 and GC Controller 1 simultaneously for the player 1, but you can unplug the GC Controller and plug as Controlle 2 to use for the player 2 if you want). I hope you understand to me : .

CDROM:

Support added for .bin CD Datas: Now you can use .iso (2048 bytes/sector) or .bin (2352 bytes/sector)
Support added for .hcd (bincuesplit have support to extract in this format)
Optimized the CD audio player.
Added one option to save the sound state with precision(no more tracks starting from the begining when you load the .sav from the news saves)
Improvements to avoid the track repetition from the begining for one shot tracks.
Corrected the LBA problem that cause the sound advanced in two seconds.

Bincuesplit:

Improvements in the track extraction method using two methods to compare the .CUE INDEX position datas with the real position of the .bin
Added the possibility to extract the game datas to .bin (by default .iso)
Added the possibility to create .hcd (by default .toc)
Released the source code under GPL Version 2 License

Download: Wiiengine v1.5

Confirmed: GameCube Metroid Prime, Pikmin, etc enhanced for Wii

Gino D. — 2008-10-02T13:41:15-07:00

New DS, check. Storage solution for Wii, check. GameCube games for the Wii? Uber check!

Announced during today's Nintendo press conference is Wii de Asobu Selection. It's a new line of Nintendo releases, taking their first-party titles from the GameCube and bringing them over to the Wii.

No, they're not just re-releasing them as they were in the GameCube! Nintendo is enhancing their previous GameCube games and giving them Wiimote support, kinda like what Capcom did for Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition.

So far, there's no word about any release outside of Japan, but for now the confirmed titles to be released under the Wii de Asobu Selection (which, btw, directly translates to "Play on the Wii Selection") are the following:

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (to be released on December 11, 2008)
Pikmin (December 25, 2008)
Chibi Robo (2009)
Pikmin 2 (2009)
Mario Tennis GC (2009)
Metroid Prime (2009)
Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes (2009)

Sweet. Now the entire Metroid Prime trilogy is playable with the Wiimote (let's hope they make the controls work as seamless as Corruption's controls). And let's hope they bring Wind Waker and Super Mario Sunshine too.

Nintendo UK: no Wii or DS price cuts before Christmas

Isaac C. — 2008-10-02T13:12:10-07:00

Despite ramping up supplies for the DS and the Wii for the holidays, and despite the Xbox 360 Arcade now being cheaper than the Wii, it seems Nintendo still won't be introducing a price cut for either one in time for Christmas.

What a surprise. Next they'll be saying they'll make another Mario game.

This news comes from Nintendo's UK boss David Yarnton, following the press conferences Nintendo held in Japan and in North America. Yarnton explains the decision not to cut the price saying: "In terms of Nintendo s business, we feel that Wii and Nintendo DS already represent great value for money."

In case you missed it, he just said that they're still selling like hotcakes, so they don't need a price cut.

Wii storage solution: future software can be downloaded to SD card

Isaac C. — 2008-10-02T12:00:43-07:00

During Nintendo's press conference in Japan, and later on in their press conference in the US, they announced that future Wii software from the shopping channel can be downloaded to the SD card.

That means we don't have to re-download stuff everytime we have to delete something to free up space. But it still drives me bonkers to think that they waited all this time before they acknowledged the need for this feature.

Wonder if advances in Wiibrew had anything to do with it. The community has long since been able to transfer WAD files to and from the Wii and the SD card. The question though, is how Ninty plans to regulate these transfers, what with the issue of piracy and all.

Now if only they'd give support for a hard drive.

Nintendo DSi won't arrive in North America until next year; more DS and Wii for holidays

Isaac C. — 2008-10-02T11:41:59-07:00

Nintendo's press conference in Japan yesterday left everyone in a frenzy over the new DSi. Now Ninty's press conference in the US might also get gamers in a frenzy, but not for the same reason.

It's been announced that the DSi model won't leave Japan's shores until "well into" 2009. It seems that for the rest of 2008, the DSi is "strictly Japan-related."

On the brighter side of life, it seems that Nintendo will be shipping out more units of both the Wii and the DS for the rest of the year. "Dramatically more."

While those who haven't been able to grab a Wii yet (after close to two years since its launch, how unlucky for you) will stand a greater chance to get one for the holidays, the increase of DS units just feels too much like they're clearing shelves in preparation for the DSi.

I expect the DS won't be so popular during the holidays among the more informed gamers who know the DSi is coming.

Thanks to ISOHaven for sending in the heads up!

New Nintendo DS mp3-camera: neither confirmed nor denied

Take-Two reaffirms strong position: 'we're still made of win, yknow'

Gino D. — 2008-10-02T09:42:31-07:00

It's been a tough couple of months for Take-Two Interactive. Ever since EA revealed their plans of wanting to take over T2, it's been nothing but a test of patience for both companies. And what happened when the whole acquisition offer ended up in a stalemate? Both Take-Two and EA's stock shares plummeted.

So today, T2's busy with damage control. They just published a press release to reaffirm to everyone (most especially investors) that they're still a strong company and will remain an independent company.

The following quote comes from T2 Chairman Strauss Zelnick after reviewing their company's strategic alternatives:

Take-Two s Board of Directors and management have a clear mandate from stockholders to maximize value. We are strongly positioned creatively, financially and competitively to benefit from the opportunities we see in the fastest growing segment of the entertainment industry. Our management and outstanding and talented employees have maintained an unwavering focus on our products and our business through this lengthy strategic review process and we are confident in our prospects. We remain focused on maximizing value for stockholders and are executing on our business strategies in a determined manner

Meanwhile, CEO Ben Feder had this to say as well:

Take-Two s recent performance demonstrates our potential to create value for the long term. We have delivered solid financial results and expanded our portfolio of leading titles, which includes the powerful Grand Theft Auto franchise, as well as 15 other wholly owned brands with sales of more than one million units each. Our strong cash position - with no debt and an undrawn $140 million credit facility - gives us the financial flexibility to continue to do what we do best: innovate and create the great games that our customers have come to expect.

Boring corporate stuff, huh? Well, in a nutshell, that'd be: "we haven't let you down before, we won't let you down in the future; please buy stocks from us." Which I believe is pretty reasonable.

Their lineup of games for next year looks strong enough for an independent studio (BioShock 2, Borderlands, and the PC version of GTA4 to name a few). That and, just yesterday, we saw T2 ranked pretty high on Game Developer mag's Top 20 list of publishers.

So, for a company trying to keep itself independent, they've got enough mad skillz to stay at pace with the other major players like Sony, Nintendo, MS, and yes, even EA.

GeeXboX v0.1alpha3: optional vsync, update to MPlayer r27630, more

Isaac C. — 2008-10-02T09:26:31-07:00

Wiibrew developer farter has released a major update to GeeXboX, a media player for the Wii that supports all audio and video formats that MPlayer does (even rmvb!). It sports an impressive list of features, including USB storage, ethernet, an image viewer, netstreaming, an http/telnet/ft server, and more.

This new version has several new features, and has been updated to MPlayer r27630. Some of the more notable new features are extended subtitle support, and on-the-fly aspect ratio change. Here's the changelog:

Implementation of optional 'vsync' to improve screen tearing in certain cases
Support for on-the-fly aspect ratio change
Fixed DVD-VIDEO aspect ratio error when switching between menu and movie
Disabling libass to fix lagging and freezing caused by text subtitles
Disabling colored spu to fix DVD-VIDEO/vobsub subtitile display
Support for vobsub subtitles in rar archive format
Support for optionally lowering subtitles into blackbars
Fixed subtitle charset conversion
Update to MPlayer r27630

Download: GeeXboX v0.1alpha3

Previous version:

GeeXboX v0.1alpha2: Wiimote refinements, kernel patch update