Emulator News: Update on UltraHLE
19:55:  RealityMan has updated the UltraHLE page with news about the upcoming release.

"Anyway, those of you who know me personally will know the reasons why I haven't been active publically over recent months (I won't elaborate here) and although development has been slow it has not been fruitless. The OpenGL core is now working well with both my TNT2 and Voodoo3 cards so I have moved the project on to the next stage, improving compatibility. Many of the roms which currently fail with UltraHLE v1.0.0 have common problems which relate, more often than not, to low level compatibility (or lack of I should say). These are being addressed one by one and once non-working roms are starting to produce some encouraging results. Aside from compatibility, the other area to be addressed now is improving the HLE engine. I am currently working on a redesign to include all the latest functions and microcode used in newer roms. I will update very soon with some more information."

Could a release be near? You can see the entire post, and screenshots at the UltraHLE Homepage.

Misc. News: New real-time X-Box pictures
19:32:  Microsoft has released pictures to some new X-Box demos. The demos include the butterfly, the desk, the raven, and ping pong balls. The desk and the raven are mainly demos which show the graphical power of the system, and the ping pong balls and butterfly show some of the awesome power of the system in the form of physics. This is going to be one heck of a system.

Check out the demos at xbox.ign.com.

Emulator Release: MESS 0.37 Beta 3
17:13:  MESS has been updated to correspond with the latest version of MAME. It now supports the following systems:

Emulator Release: Basilisk II Build 125
14:01:  Basilisk II, the Mac II emulator for Win32, has been updated to build 125. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: GeoMAME 0.37 Beta 3 for Macintosh
13:57:  GeoMAME, the Neo Geo only port of MacMAME, has been updated. Here's what's new:

5/30/2000
Emulator Release: PSemuPro OpenGL Driver 1.33
23:59:  Pete Bernert has released version 1.33 of his OpenGL emulator for PSEmuPro. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: SMS Plus for Win32 0.9.0.0
23:58:  SMS Plus has been ported to Win32. It requires DirectX 7.0 and sound currently does not work in WinNT.

Download it at the SMS page.

Misc. News: What Is The Game Station?
23:17:  Recently, one of our readers gave us some information about a device called the Game Staion, which is truly an interesting piece of hardware. This piece of hardware is essentially a Super NES with a CD-ROM drive. Because of this, the machine runs ROMs placed onto CD-Rs instead of cartridges. It also has many cheat features as well.

If anyone can give us further information on the device, please contact us about it.

You can check out the page for the Game Station here.

Thanks to Rich Craig for the news.

5/29/2000
Emulator Release: Laser 0.5
14:31:  I have updated my arcade emulator, Laser to 0.5. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: SMSPlus 0.9.1
14:29:  SMSPlus has been updated to 0.9.1. It fixes a Mac only bug that prevented SRAM from working properly. You can download it at the MasterSystem for Macintosh page.

Emulator Release: Basilisk II 0.7 build 124
12:10:  A new version of Basilisk II, a Macintosh emulator for Windows NT/2000, has been released, and here's what's new:

5/28/2000
Emulator Release: Neko Project II 0.12
16:18:  Neko Project II, a PC-98/88 emulator for Windows, has been updated to version 0.12. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Genital 0.3
06:45:  Genital 0.3 has been released. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: SMYNES 1.00
06:28:  The shareware NES emulator, SMYNES has been updated to 1.00. Here's what this features in this new release:

Emulator Release: Power MSX 0.06
00:44:  Power MSX, a MSX1 emulator for DOS, has been updated to 0.06. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Prototype-D 0.007
00:37:  A new version of the Gameboy and Gameboy Color emulator, Prototype-D has been released. The documentation is in Japanese, so I don't know what's new.

You can download this emulator from our gameboy page.

Emulator Release: Hu-Go 1.24 for Linux
00:14:  Along with the latest DOS release, comes Hu-Go 1.24 for Linux. Here's what's new:

Hu-Go, the excellent TG-16 emulator, has been updated to 1.24. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Hu-Go 1.24
00:07:  Hu-Go, the excellent TG-16 emulator, has been updated to 1.24. Here's what's new:

5/27/2000
Emulator Release: Mimic 1.00
20:58:  Mimic, a new arcade emulator has been released. A description as taken from the site:

The ultimate goal of this project is to have a product that can be used for the emulation and development of circuit boards, thus shortening development time and costs.
OK, so it also runs arcade games. In fact, arcade games are a very convenient (and fun) test bed for this project.

You can download it at the Multiple Arcade section.

Site News: RockNES 1.061
20:15:  RockNES, the NES emulator for DOS, has been updated to 1.061. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: MacMAME 0.37 Beta 3
19:54:  MacMAME has been updated to 0.37b3. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Gens 0.6
10:19:  A new version of Gens, a Genesis emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Playboy d0.02 for Macintosh
09:20:  Playboy is a new Gameboy emulator for the Macintosh. Here are it's features

Emulator Release: Handy 0.72 for Macintosh
09:14:  A major update to Handy for the Macintosh has been released. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: SMS Plus 0.9 for Macintosh
09:03:  SMS Plus 0.9 has been ported over to the Mac by Richard Bannister. Here's what this emulator features:

Emulator Release: MAME v. 0.37 Beta 3
01:00:  Yes, that's right. It's time for a new version of MAME. There are a total of twenty-seven new games and two new clones in this version. Here's what else is new in MAME v. 0.37 beta 3:

These drivers have improved GRAPHICS:

5/26/2000
Site News: The New Poll...
17:50:  As you can see (and as SwampGas mentioned earlier), we recently added a new poll to the front page of ZD. Currently, we're just trying it out, seeing if you all enjoy it. If not, we'll revert back to the old poll.

The results of the last poll showed overwhelming support for it, as follows:

Would you like to see the poll on the main page?

Choice 1 was: "I'd love to vote without having to go to a different page."
It received 195 votes (74.4 percent).

Choice 2 was: "Don't like the idea..."
It received 46 votes (17.6 percent).

Choice 3 was: "I never vote in the poll (then why are you voting now)"
It received 21 votes (8 percent).

As for the new poll, Zophar suggested the idea of maybe putting up an old-school bulletin board system (a BBS, if you will), mostly for the purpose of playing the great door games of yesteryear through telnet. If you like the idea of playing Trade Wars or L.O.R.D. on a ZD BBS (I'm voting that we run it using Renegade), think it's an awful idea, or just don't know what the heck I'm talking about, vote in the section above. While it's not strictly emulation (maybe terminal emulation), it's of interest to those of us who remember playing all those old games on bulletin boards run by guys who invested maybe $20 and an old 386 into getting the BBS up. ;)

Finally, as SwampGas previously said, give us your opinions on the new poll at our Talk of the Town message board. We'd like to hear what you think. We at least hope, if anything, it'll get more people to vote, due to the fact that it requires fewer clicks.

Misc. News: Slashdot Interviews Lars from Metallica
16:25:  Slashdot has interviewed Lars from Metallica about the Napster lawsuit. He explains Metallica's point of view on the situation, and attempts to justify the lawsuit. Go read it; you'll probably find it interesting.

Site News: New Poll
15:07:  A new poll has been added (Stick will give the details since he's the poll guy), and we've moved it to the main page and changed its look. Right now it's at the top of the sidebar on the right. Let us know what you think, and if it should be moved somewhere else.

Emulator Release: fMSX-MGII 0.05
14:07:  fMSX-MGII, an MSX emulator, has been updated to version 0.05. We don't support the platform that this emulator uses, but you can download it from MSX Emulation Page (or MEP, for short).

Thanks to the MEP-Crew for the news!

Utility Release: Hapsby 0.1
13:59:  Hapsby is a save game/save state editor for a practically any kind of game that has either save games or save states. You can download the program from General utilities page. Thanks to Opisoft.gmx for the news!

Emulator News: WinUAE to be discontinued
13:37:  WinUAE will be discontinued after the release of v0.8.12, it seems from the looks of the messages at its homepage. WinUAE is a great Amiga emulator, and I personally hope that the current author finds someone else who can maintain the project, because WinUAE is a wonderful emulator, but still has some small issues that need to be resolved. Anyway, good luck to the current WinUAE author and I hope that v0.8.12 is a nice final release!

Check out the WinUAE homepage for details. Thanks to Snazza for the news!

Emulator News: Pasofami 1.3w link fixed
13:31:  There sure is a lot of link fixing going on here, heh. Anyway, if you want to download the evaluation version of Pasofami, a Japanese NES emulator for Windows, visit the NES emulators page.

Thanks to Rick Hunter for the news!

5/25/2000
Emulator Release: WinFellow Alpha v0.4 build 991205
11:17:  A new port of Fellow (an amiga emulator with ports for DOS & Windows) is now available for Windows9x. Since this is the first release of the windows version, there's nothing new to report. You can download WinFellow Alpha v0.4 build 991205 from the Amiga emulators page.

Thanks to DMiyash248 for the word.

Misc. News: Twin Galaxies Classic Pinball & Video Games Championship
10:50:  Mike Stulir of Back In Time, a website dedicated to classic Atari & Arcade gaming, wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming Video Games Championship in New Hampshire. From his e-mail:

I just wanted to remind everyone that the Twin Galaxies Classic Pinball & Video Games Championship is just around the corner. The event will be held at Funspot in Weirs Beach, NH on June 1-4. Funspot is the home of one of the largest collections of classic coin-op video games, and classic pinball machines.

This four-day event features a High-Score contest on Funspot's awesome collection of classic video game & pinball titles from the 70's & 80s. The top 10 scores on each game will go into the next edition of Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records, which will be published later this year.

For those who can't make it, I will be recording an episode of the Back In Time webcast during the event. However, if you live in New England, or the North-Atlantic states, you owe it to yourself to make the trip.

For more information, you can visit the Twin Galaxies web site, or the Funspot web site.

For more information, visit the sites below.

Interview News: Sean Kauppinen: bleem! Director of PR
10:18:  Game-Interviews.com recently sat down with Sean Kauppinen, the Director of PR & Marketing for bleem! to discuss their latest project, bleemcast! In brief Sean describes bleemcast! as "bleemcast!, or bleem! for Dreamcast paks are software programs that let you play 100 PlayStation titles each, on your Dreamcast, at enhanced 640x480 resolution." From the interview:

Game-Interviews.com: How does bleemcast! emulation compare to Playstation 2 emulation?

Sean Kauppinen: bleemcast enhances the resolution to 640x480 and uses anti-aliasing making it look much better than the same games on the PS2.

GI: Can you give us a little more info on the adapter pod that will allow for Playstation controllers and memory cards to be used?

SK: It will let you use PSX controllers, including light guns and steering wheels with the Dreamcast, and it'll cost $19.99 when it comes out in the fall.

GI: Is saving to the VMU an option?

SK: Yes.

You can check out the full interview at Game-Interviews.com.

Site News: ZSNES 0.991 link fixed
10:03:  I'd like to apologize to everyone who attempted to download the second recent release of ZSNES a few hours ago (what were you EST people doing up at 2am anyway?). The download link was pointing to the incorrect directory, and I've corrected this mistake. You can download ZSNES 0.991 from the SNES emulators page or the just-updated ZSNES mirror site.

Emulator Release: DreamNES 2000 Beta 2
02:04:  A new version of DreamNES 2000, a NES emulator for Win9x, has been released. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: ZSNES V. 0.991
01:36:  Today must be our lucky day, because ZSNES was updated for the second time in a day. This time though, it's a very small update. Here's what's new in version 0.991:

5/24/2000
Emulator News: RockNES 1.201 ZIP fixed.
22:30:  The zip file for RockNES X 1.201 has been fixed; the original one released was corrupted.

Grab RockNES X on the NES Emulators page.

Emulator Release: ZSNES 0.990
22:08:  A new version of ZSNES, a SNES emulator for DOS, has been released, and here's what's new:

Misc. News: Diablo II Beta
21:44:  The Diablo II beta was released to most or all of 100,000 beta testers today (myself included). Unfortunately, all of the servers that host it are lagged really badly. This release of D2 is supposed to be a battle.net stress test, but it looks like the servers are getting a stress test of their own. If received an e-mail from Blizzard today, and you want to try your luck at downloading the beta, head over to 3DFiles.com.

Emulator News: Shadow64 warning
12:31:  It has come to my attention that a few websites have posted an N64 emulator known as "Shadow64". After careful testing, it has been determined that the emulator is nothing more than a glorified rip of TrWinGL, another N64 emulator for Windows. Also, the source was compiled with a demo version of a Microsoft compiler - and it wouldn't look that good if we posted an illegal executable when Lou Martinez currently works for Microsoft.

So, try the emulator at your own risk, if you really want to: Shadow64 homepage. It won't be posted here.

Site News: Thanks for applying! (and health woes)
10:23:  Yo!

It's been a crazy weekend, as I came down with (the very painful) strep throat infection, went to the doctor for prognosis and purchased some medicine from the drugstore - except the lovely "Keystone Health Plan East" screwed up and neglected to renew my insurance, even though I paid for it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered my Amoxicillin & Allegra-D would cost me around $90. Of course, Keystone promised to send me a rebate form so I could get my money back but who knows how long that will take. Sigh...

I wanted to thank everyone who showed up on Esper.net's #zopharsdomain last Friday - it was a tremendous success! Although my resistance was way down from taking interviews for hours without food or drink, I managed to get through the day somehow. (By the way - the person with the nickname of virt, please contact me via e-mail - I must have misplaced your name/address and the rest of the information sent through e-mail).

I'll be going through all of the logs over the next few days, and should reach a decision as to who the three new staff members will be by the weekend. So sit tight and hopefully you'll receive an e-mail from me soon.

Thanks for visiting ZD guys - I know it's been a rough few months but things are getting back to normal. Rock on!

Emulator Release: Virtual Game Station Windows 1.4
09:37:  Connectix has released the v1.4 update to their Sony Playstation emulator for Windows, Virtual Game Station, for registered users. Here's what's new in VGS v1.4:

• Virtual Game Station Home Page Menu Option
• Autolauncher update for users with more than one drive (CD/DVD/CD-RW)
• Fixed some, but not all, problems with Acer CD-ROM drives
  
• Gamma button incorrectly appearing even when you can't adjust the gamma slider has been fixed
  
• Fixed incorrect registry entry
  
• Some PAL performance and video issues fixed: timing and "squished" video
  
• Game-specific fixes: please refer to the WIN 1.4 Recommended Games List

Emulator Release: Sweet16 1.5 for BeOS
04:57:  Sweet16, the Apple ][ GS emulator for BeOS, has been updated to 1.5. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Advance MAME 0.37 Beta 2.1
03:53:  Advance MAME, an enhanced MAME version which allows you to use arcade monitors, TVs, and other visual devices, has been updated to 0.37 Beta 2.1. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: MacPacMAME 0.37 Beta 2
03:48:  MacPacMAME, the port of the PacMan only build of MAME to the Macintosh, has been brought up to 0.37, making it inline with MacMAME.

Get it at the MAME for Macintosh section.

Emulator Release: YaSE 0.79
03:39:  The ZS Spectrum emulator for DOS, YaSE, has been updated to 0.79. It currently emulates Spectrum 48k, 128k and Pentagon 128 machines.

You can download it at the Spectrum section.

Emulator Release: French MacMAME 0.37 Beta 2
00:22:  The french translated version of MacMAME has also been updated to 0.37 Beta 2, making it in-line with MacMAME.

Download it at the MAME for Macintosh section.

Emulator Release: MacMAME 0.37 Beta 2
00:21:  MacMAME has been updated to 0.37 Beta 2, and is now in-sync with the DOS version of MAME.

Download it at the MAME for Macintosh section.

Emulator Release: Generator 0.15a for Macintosh
00:10:  Generator for MacOS has been updated to 0.15a. This version fixes a bug that prevented v0.15 saving its preferences file in some situations. In addition, it adds stereo sound and improved frameskipping.

You can download it at the Genesis for Macintosh section.

Site News: GeoMAME 0.37 Beta 2 for Macintosh
00:03:  GeoMAME, the Neo-Geo only version of MAME for the Macintosh, has been updated to 0.37 Beta 2. Here's what's new:

5/23/2000
Emulator Release: Boycott 0.63 for Macintosh
23:54:  The port of the gameboy emulator Boycott to the Macintosh has been updated to 0.63. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Ages 0.19a
23:03:  Ages, the Sega Genesis/32X emulator for Windows, has been updated to 0.19a. Here's what's new:

Misc. News: I'm back
23:00:  I have been at a business seminar for the past couple of weeks. I am now back, and I have not learned anything from the experience. But, I am ready to get back to serious work on ZD.

Emulator Release: SMS Plus V. 0.9
22:19:  Emulation has seemed somewhat like a dry well lately, but releases like this still give me faith that there's quite a bit to look forward to.

Anyway, Charles MacDonald recently released a brand-new version of his Sega Master Emulator, SMS Plus. This time, the emulator is at version 0.9. It's a relatively big update, so here's what's new:

Emulator Release: XPCE V. 0.12 beta 2
18:18:  A new version of the TurboGrafx 16 emulator, XPCE V. 0.12 beta 2, recently was released. Generally, since the emulator is in Japanese, we're rarely able to tell you what's new in it. Fortunately, ben-j, who sent us the update, took the time to translate it for us. According to him, here's what's new:

Utility Release: SNESamp V. 1.20
17:59:  A new version of a SPC plug-in for WinAmp, SNESamp V. 1.20, was released today. Here's the list of what's new:

Emulator News: Sony vs. Bleem!, round 2.
17:06:  Today, Sony filed suit against Bleem! in San Fransisco Circuit court, alleging copyright infringement and intellectual property theft. No trial date has been set.

Some of the allegations Sony made were the same ones that were just thrown out in Sony's case against Connectix. It'll be interesting to see where this one goes.

Thanks to Mana Knight for the news.

Emulator Release: Generator32 V. 0.15
13:08:  A new version of the Sega Genesis emulator for Windows, Generator32, was recently released. Here's a list of what's new in version 0.15:

5/22/2000
Emulator Release: PCAE V. 2.4 for DOS and Windows
22:31:  The PC Atari Emulator got its first update in nearly six months, with the release of version 2.4. A major difference between this version and earlier versions is that a Windows version now exists for those of us who hate using DOS programs (or have Win2K).

Here's what's new between the versions:

Emulator Release: WinX68K 0.35 beta 7
21:54:  A new version of WinX68K, a X68000 emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Prototype-D 0.006
21:46:  A new version of Prototype-D, a Gameboy emualtor for Windows, has been released. The readme is in Japanese, though, so I can't read what's new. You can get it at the Gameboy page. Thanks to AnimeMan for the news.

Misc. News: New Adaptoid drivers released
21:38:  New drivers for the Adaptoid, a cable and software that lets you hook a N64 controller to your computer, have been released. If you have an Adaptoid, you will probably want to upgrade. If you don't, go check it out. You might find it useful. =)

Emulator Release: TRWin 2.31 WIP
21:35:  A new version of TRWin, a N64 emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: RockNESX 1.201
21:25:  A new version of RockNESX, a NES emualtor for Windows, has been released. This version fixes joystick problems, sounds problems, and other stuff. You can get it at the NES page. Thanks to Palas_Roy for the news.

Misc. News: I'm almost back...
10:11:  Well, some of you may or may not have known that I went on vacation to Washington last week to visit one of my best friends, and to interview at Microsoft again. Well, to put it mildly, this was a highly successful trip. I am now a Software Testing Engineer for Microsoft (Volt). I'll be moving up to Washington around the 1st of June, and I start with Microsoft on June 5th. This is a huge opportunity for me, and I am extremely excited. Once I get settled in in my new home and get a few days of work under my belt, I will resume work with Zophar's Domain. Until then..

5/21/2000
Emulator Release: Meka 0.53c
12:10:  A new version of Meka has been released, and this time its available to the public. Here's what's new:

Emulator News: ZSNES
12:04:  Another progress report was posted on the ZSNES website. Lets read it...

"At the moment, zsKnight is currently working on improving the ZSNES sound core with a lot of help from Neill Corlett. Also, the Mode 7 bugs have been fixed, so a release may not be too far depending on how many additional features are worked on for the next release."

You can get the current version of ZSNES at teh SNES page. Thanks to evilpaul13 for the news.

5/20/2000
Emulator Release: Atari800Win 2.6a
17:28:  A new version of Atari800Win, a Windows port of "Atari 800 Emulator", has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Meka 0.53b released to registered users
17:18:  A new version of Meka, a Master System emulator for DOS, has been released to registered users, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Squeem 0.08
17:13:  A new version of Squeem, a NES emulator for Windows and DOS (but this release only includes the DOS version), has been released, and here's what's new:

Version 0.07 (dos only)

Emulator Release: Bleem! for Dreamcast in Action
17:06:  The Next Level has posted some pictures of Bleem! for DC in action. It compares PSX snapshots to ones taken of Bleem!. The difference is amazing. Go look for yourself.

Emulator Release: Pretendo 0.10
16:57:  A new version of Pretendo, a NES emulator for Windows, has been released. The list of new features is huge, so I can't put it all up here. You can get Pretendo at the NES page. Thanks to AcdReign for the news.

Emulator Release: Snes9X OpenGL 1.29 beta 1
13:03:  Snes9XGL, made by Kreed, is a Windows 2000/98/NT4/95 version of Snes9X which uses OpenGL instead of Glide to do fullscreen bilinear filtering. There's no GUI yet, but the graphics look really nice. If you want to try it out, go to the SNES page. Thanks to EmuHQ for the news.

5/19/2000
Emulator News: Snes9X
19:56:  The developers journal at the Snes9X page has been updated with a progress report. The author explains that coding is going more slowly than ususal, but that progress is being made with sound and netplay. Also, the Glide mode should work well on Voodoo3 cards because the author recently aquired one. You can get the current version of Snes9X at the SNES page. Thanks to Digiwrath for the news.

Site News: Interviews closed for new ZD members..
18:46:  What a day! Zophar interviewed enough people today to start up a small army of sweaty, angry, and slightly insane ZD followers. The "Group of 40", as we shall now call them, spent part of their day talking to Zophar, who spent eight hours of his life interviewing each and every one of them. I would've helped with the process myself, but my job at Taco Bell took center stage for the day. (I honestly would've preferred interviewing rabid ZD fans than selling Chalupas. :)

The interviews went very well, and we're happy to say that we have our people. Every single one is under our consideration. Throughout the next few days, we'll probably be going through various IRC logs, giving careful and unbiased consideration to each and every one.

Zophar would like to give his thanks to each and every one of you who went through Zophar's madcap interview process. Good luck to all, and hopefully we'll have a new face or two popping up over the next week or two.

Site News: Now hiring (and a thank you)!
10:41:  First, I'd like to thank everyone who sent their 20th birthday wishes to me yesterday. Though I had to weave in and out of the tons of still unchecked email to get to them, I tried to reply to everyone who sent one. Thank you, and let's get today off to a great start!

I'd like to announce that Zophar's Domain is once again hiring, but the procedure is a little different this time. First, the requirements:

• You must be 18 years of age or older.
• You must be a resident of the United States or Canada, and must speak and write English fluently and well.
• You must have some experience with website assisting or maintaining, and have been involved in emulation for at least a year.

Emulator Release: Gens (Windows) 0.54
10:26:  A new version of Gens, a Sega Genesis emulator for Windows, is now available. Here's what's new in Gens (Windows) 0.54:

• PAL roms are now works at good speed (50 FPS) (Tintin, Spirou ... doesn't lock with country message any more)
• Another bug in Starscream 68000 core fixed: Sonic2, terminator 2 (judment day), lemmings, royal blood ... works perfectly with Starscream.
• Little bug in collision flag fixed (interaction with ennemies in strider2). (Thanks to Bart Trzynadlowski from Genital for it)
  
• I've fixed some things in vertical and horizontal interrupts & flags, more games works : Super skidmarks, megalomania, gauntlet 4 ...
  
• Some bugs fixed in window plan and VDP register write. Tale spin, rolling thunder 2 (not sure for this rom), Abrams Battle tank, Rings of power ... are ok.
  
• Read/Write to CRAM, VSRAM fixed (taiwan tycoon V-Scroll, xennon 2 are ok)
  
• Z80 BUS request fixed (double dragon, fatal rewind and super offroad works)
  
• Little fix in DMA copy (taiga drama taiheiki looks good, european club soccer looks better ...)
  
• Very little bug in sram fixed (tonki comes back working)

5/18/2000
Emulator Release: RockNESX 1.2
23:54:  A new version of RockNESX, a NES emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new:

Misc. News: Sony claims against Connectix axed by court
22:48:  In what appears to be yet another victory for the spirit of emulation, a federal judge has dismissed seven claims in Sony's lawsuit against Connectix's Virtual Game Station software.

The judge dismissed all claims in which Sony claimed Connectix had broken copyright or trademark law. However, he did not dismiss the claims that Connectix stole trade secrets. The case is expected to go to trial in September.

Good luck to Connectix, and you can check out the full article on Wired News.

Also, on a side note, I'd like to wish a happy 20th birthday to the man whose name this site bears. HBD, Zophar.

Site News: Happy late birthday Trent Reznor, and happy doomsday me!
08:34:  Yesterday, Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame) celebrated his 35th birthday. Having been at one of his recent concerts in Philly (just over a week ago actually) I'd like to wish him a (late) happy birthday, and I'm glad he's back making tunes after a lengthy hiatus.

And guess what... it's my birthday (or doomsday, depending on if you think my being born was an evil thing) today! Yep, I've hit the big "Two-Zero" (that's 20 for the numerically impaired) and my teenage years are officially history. It seems like only yesterday when I was 16 years old, had a bad case of the flu and found out the wonder of Geocities and web-site making. :)

Sam sure gave me an interesting gift (last year was a cake). Can we say a bad case of pink fingernails? I've received a few emails already since Sam beat me to the birthday post - darn it!

Only 703 emails to go... we're getting there! Thanks to everyone for their support, and for those with IRC clients, feel free to drop by Esper.net (weyr.esper.net or dream.esper.net) #zopharsdomain and say hi (though I might not be around for much of the day - hey, gotta enjoy being 20 in the real world too). That reminds me - happy 18th birthday Braxus! Now you can join do great things like joining the army, vote, serve on a jury... hey, wait a minute.

Thanks for visiting ZD guys - you rock!

Site News: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOPHAR!
08:10:  Zophar turns 20 today...and to celebrate, I was planning on putting pornography on ZD for a day and locking his account out, but that might upset some visitors. I'll save that for his bachelor party.

Instead, he dared me to show the world what I did for him, so I am. Below is a link to a picture of me I took at 8am this morning for Zophar. (No, my finger nails aren't painted, yes thats a goatee, yes I'm a doof)

Site News: ZSNES for Windows, anyone?
03:19:  No, it's not out yet, but it's being worked on, as you can see on the ZSNES current progress page. It's far from finished, but it sure feels nice that the might be a chance to run ZSNES in Windows 2000 with sound!

Thanks to Boba Fett for the news!

Emulator Release: Prototype-D 0.005
03:06:  Prototype-D, a Gameboy emulator for Windows, has been updated to version 0.005. And borrowed from Retrogames, here's what's new:

5/17/2000
Emulator Release: 1964 0.4.5b
18:32:  There was a small problem with 0.4.5. It would dump some graphics into a log file called "1964log.txt", and the file would eventually become huge. Go to the 1964 homepage, and download a fix.

Media News: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
15:46:  Gamespot has recently posted several screenshots of this game. Considering it's on Playstation 2, it obviously surpasses the graphics of the first one. I for one can't wait for this game.

You can check out the screenshots on Gamespot.

Emulator Release: 1964 0.4.5
05:31:  1964, a Nintendo 64 emulator for Windows, has been updated to version 0.4.5. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Prototype-D 0.004
05:02:  Prototype-D, a new Gameboy emulator for Windows by Boukichi, has been updated to version 0.004. Here's what's new:

0.003

Emulator Release: MEKA 0.53b released to registered users
04:44:  And until it's getting released to us lowly emulator users, here's the release notes for version 0.53b:

"I finally figured out what was the problem of the major slow down in some video modes when page flipping was enabled. Actually using page flipping need to force vertical synchronisation in most video modes, so enabling them both will make the program synchronise twice per frame to the vertical refresh, causing speed to be limited to about 30/35 FPS. The default blitter definition files now have Page Flipping modes enabled by mode, replacing the obsolote VSync modes."

Emulator Release: GGBoy 0.02
04:37:  GGBoy, a SEGA Game Gear and Nintendo Gameboy emulator for Windows, has been updated to version 0.02. I can't really tell you what's new, since the page and the readme are both in Japanese.

I haven't had time to add it to the Gameboy emulators page yet, so you'll only be able to download it from the Sega Master System/Game Gear emulators page. Thanks to Emulation Camp for the news!

Emulator Release: Neko Project II 0.07
03:45:  Neko Project II, a PC-98 emulator for Windows, based on the T98 source code, has been updated to version 0.07 and has been added to the PC-98 emulators page. I have no idea what's new, though, since the homepage is in Japanese.

5/16/2000
Misc. News: Nokia 7110 Emulator
16:25:  While browsing the web I came across a site which emulates the Nokia 7110 wireless phone...it's called SmartPhone. It's a java-based emu that mainly allows you to see what the web looks like through a wireless phone. A little primative, but it still is neat to play with.

And no, it doesn't emulate the ability to give you brain cancer like a real wireless phone:)

Site News: About Corn..
07:54:  If you take a look at the Corn homepage, you might find a very confusing message. Let me cite:

"This is funny. As I said before, there exists no Corn0.3 yet. The Corn0.3 in my mind should have a completed new core and far better compatibility. However, since I won't be able to develop Corn for 3 months, I built a WIP based on my current work, called Corn0.3-. Most Corn0.3- testers suggested that I'd release it because 3 months is too long. I agree. Why let people wait 3 months if they can enjoy Zelda right now? So, it's decided to be released. However, there are bugs/problems (which you may have encountered). I squeezed some time out of my busy schedule before my departure to fix them, to add the support for the common plugin interface to be used by TRWin, 1964, TR64 and other projects, and just to find out that even Corn0.3 has been released! I don't know what I am doing. Making Corn0.3- when people are running Corn0.3 (and reporting problems)? Really funny!

Note1: This is by no means a fault of EmuHQ. Somebody faked email from me and sent it to bwb, asking him to release the beta he has. We all know it is fairly simple to fake email sending from any address.

Note2: Great thanks to the guy who faked the email, I thought I'd not be able to go to sleep tonight before 5 or 6
am. You are so considerate to let me have a good sleep for tomorrow's trip. I have been lack of sleep for months, you cured me! Good night!"

My interpretation of this is that he has discontinued it. I might be wrong, but if he indeed has discontinued his emulator, it's because of the same thing that caused the downfall of a few other emulators (PSEmu, Impact...). A beta which was not actually to be released to the public was somehow released and this caused the author to simply lose interest because people would not respect him and wait for him to release his work when it's done. I'm not saying that Corn is discontinued. I might be wrong, since this message is kind of cryptic. This time the beta wasn't really leaked, either, so I guess this situation is only partially comparable to the PSEmu and Impact incidents. Anyway, respect the author's work and leave the releasing to them. Though, please keep in mind that this is only speculations. We're still waiting for official notice from ContraSF.

5/15/2000
Media News: VGS vs. Bleem!
18:26:  Joe Glass sent us a note about a review he did which answers the question "Is VGS enough to dethrone Bleem!?". Here's a little snippet:

VGS has several fundamental differences from bleem! These differences show that the programmers for each emulator had different objectives. bleem! can play Playstation games, but it is also capable of exceeding the rendering quality of a Playstation. Playstation hardware isn't as advanced as current PC graphics accelerators. The bleem! programmers evangelized the superior graphics rendering power current graphics accelerators pervasive in PCs. For example, bleem! could take a RIVA TNT 2 and render at high resolutions like 1024x768 at 32bit color with bilinear filtered textures and sprites. However, VGS's main objective is to emulate the Playstation as accurately as possible. This means no high resolutions, no texel and sprite filtering, or added color depth. Even with these limitations, VGS manages to put bleem! in its place.

Emulator Release: Corn v0.3
18:23:  Corn, a decent N64 emulator, has been updated to v0.3. It's mostly graphical changes.

Grab it from the N64 page. Props to Apterigo for the heads up.

Emulator Release: Handy v0.72
18:20:  Couple hours after v0.71 was released, the author said he commented out a line of code which didn't allow play in Win9x, although Win2000 worked fine.

The fixed v0.72 is available on the Atari Lynx page. Thanks to Frogacuda for the news.

Misc. News: See ya.
15:08:  Over the last few months, I have been through a lot. I don't have time for Zophars Domain anymore, nor do I have time for much programming either. As many of you already know, my father passed away 2 weeks ago, and that made me realize that I need to spend more time with the ones I love. I won't be coming back. I would have liked to have stayed longer with ZD, but not after all this. Crystal Labelle is my life, and I want to spend my time with her. Take care all, and have fun. I would like to thank the entire ZD staff at this time aswell. Remember, nothing is more important, than spending time with the ones you love.

Take care.

Emulator Release: TRWin 2.30 WIP
07:15:  TRWin, a Nintendo 64 emulator for Windows, has been updated to version 2.30 WIP. I don't really have any idea of what's new, but my guess is that it's been improved, heh.

You can download it from the Nintendo 64 emulators page. Thanks to Emulation Camp for the news!

Emulator Release: Hu-Go! 1.23
05:39:  Both the DOS and Linux versions of Hu-Go!, a Turbo Grafx 16/PC Engine emulator, have been updated to version 1.23. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Handy 0.71
01:42:  Handy, a Lynx emulator for Windows, has been updated to version 0.71. Here's what's new:

Free ROMs News: The Horrible Demon
01:40:  This Color Gameboy RPG is about a boy whose sister summons a demon because of a legend of a hero who beat a demon by throwing a stone at it and became a king. Nice graphics.

You can download it on the Gameboy Free ROMs page.

Thanks to Bertil Horberg for the news.

Misc. News: Finally, the Shade comes back... sorta
01:19:  Alrighty, I'll keep this short and to the point...

I have a job. I work at an arcade called Magic Land - I'm quite happy with THAT...

In any case, over the next couple of weeks I'll be settling into my schedule which will include a LOT of Zophar's Domain stuff. Remember that FAQ I made? It's gonna be finally updated in the coming weeks.

Many thanks to those who sent their e-mails of support and such, I regret I am not able to reply to all of them, and if anyone e-mailed my college account, every computer at Red River College uses Outlook(ouch) and the server has been down for quite some time.

As well, I'll be getting to the free ROM updates tonite, actually, I only got one. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you've got a free ROM for me to put up, but please use the news form before sending me an attachment.

All things considered, I'm in a great mood, and I have a great many people to thank, specifically my friends, both the ZD staffers, and my RL friends, specifically Scott, Corry and the gang. It's great to be back, and I intend to stay! Perhaps it wasn't very short and to the point, but anyway I close this by borrowing one of Zophar's lines, "Emulation Forever"!

Emulator Release: MagicEngine v0.9.7 Beta 2
00:01:  MagicEngine, a TG16 emulator, has a new beta out. Here's the fixes:

5/14/2000
Emulator Release: Pasofami v1.3w
23:54:  A new version of Pasofami, the NES emulator that uses midi for sound and a split file format, is out. No clue what's new, since it's all in Japanese.

Check out the NES page. Kudos to Allan Ortiz for the news.

Emulator Release: EX68 v2.06
19:10:  EX68, a Win9x X68000 emulator, has been updated. The site and text files are in japanese, so I have no idea what was updated.

Download it from the X68000 page. Thanks to RISC for the news.

Emulator Release: NeoPocott v0.31b
18:58:  A Neo Geo Pocket emulator we didn't have in our sections has been added. NeoPocott is for Windows 95/98/2000/NT and is written entirely in C. Looks promising. Here's what's new in this version:

Utility Release: The SMB2 Level Discombobulator v0.92
03:25:  The Discombobulator, a Super Mario Bros 2 level editor, has been updated. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: XMame/XMess v0.37 Beta 2.2
06:44:  The Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator and the Multi-Emulator Super System have been updated for the Unix ports. The changes are:

Emulator Release: RockNES v1.060
06:40:  One of the best NES emulators available has been updated...here's what's new:

Misc. News: Internet Explorer Security Alert
06:34:  I waited to post on this for a few days so I could find out more info and try it. Well, it works:)

IE will spit out any cookie you have to any website who requests it. By providing an encoded URL, you can trick IE into thinking it's on a certain site when it's not. Why is this a problem? Web sites store passwords and personal info in cookies.

The quick solution: don't click on any links that have % codes in them with a domain name at the end.

Netscape is not affected by this bug.

5/12/2000
Interview News: A-Dac, author of PC-Saturn, interviewed
03:19:  A-Dac, author of PC-Saturn, has been interviewed by Ben-J of Consollection. It is a very nicely done interview and the author himself points out some very important things, such as the fact that we (the emulator users) should not be bothering the author of the emulator with stuff like "Gimme ROMs!" or "Where can I find the BIOS?". Stuff like that makes emulator authors want to quit their spare time projects and we don't really want that, now do we? From the look of it, PC-Saturn might be a close competitor to the upcoming Saturn emulator Project Hyperion, but only time will tell.

Thanks to Ben-J of Consollection for the news!

Emulator News: Emulation is #10 of the top 10 video game controversies.
03:05:  Bytoro mailed us the following message:

"Videogames.com has done a list of the Top Ten Video Game Controversies and emulation is listed as #10. It also has a list of Tom R. Halfhill proposed three rules of emulation. There is also a poll that askes should emulators be legal. Very interesting."

I suggest you go check this out, here:
http://videogames.gamespot.com/features/universal/tenspot_controversies/, right now and vote in the "Should emulators be legal?" poll! Thanks to Bytoro for the news!

Emulator Release: Little John New Generation 0.1!
02:50:  Little John, formerly a NES only emulator for Windows and Linux, has now received a really nice update... It now supports SNES! It does so only through the use of the SNES9x core, but it still runs very nice and is worth to try out. It might even be faster for you than SNES9x Win sometimes. Anyway, here's the what's new list for this release:

Site News: ZD mentioned in the London Times!
02:11:  Well, Zophar's Domain has recently gotten some press from one of the biggest newspapers in the world, the London Times. In a recent supplement to the paper called "Inter//Face", John Graham-Hart writes an article about emulation in general, focusing mainly on Playstation emulation and Virtual Gamestation in particular. The article features a number of links, including VintageGaming, Emulation.net, and us.

Anyway, we received a scan of the article, and it's an interesting read, though one or two things are incorrectly noted in the article. (When was the last time you had to pay to get a top-of-the-line emu in most cases?) Still, it's nice to see articles like these popping up from time to time.

Thanks to Gareth French, who not only notified us of the article, but provided us with a scan.

Emulator News: Bleemcast! Press Release
01:49:  Well, seeing that we already confirmed this a few days ago, this isn't really new news. But, now Bleem! finally started talking, and put out a press release today after they introduced their product at E3. Here's an excerpt from it:

bleem! for Dreamcast takes advantage of the "next generation" hardware in the Dreamcast console to improve the "look" of PlayStation games, rendering game graphics at 640x480 pixels twice the resolution of most PlayStation games. Further, bleem! uses the Dreamcast's graphics processing power to make even older games look brand-new; enhancements like full-screen anti-aliasing and bi-linear filtering give PlayStation games improvements even the PlayStation 2 can’t touch.

"Enhanced graphics are what sets bleem! apart," said Randy Linden, chief technical officer and creator of the bleem! technology. "If all we did was play PlayStation games at PlayStation resolutions, there wouldn't be much point you could just get a PlayStation. That's why we concentrated on using the Dreamcast hardware to unlock the true potential in these games we wanted to deliver the best of both worlds by adding the Dreamcast's superior graphics to the proven gameplay in these titles, for a seamless better gaming experience."

This preess release goes further by mentioning a number of things that we haven't mentioned previously, with one to note in particular: Bleemcast! is not going to be supported by Sega at all, not even with Bleem! as a third party.

Anyway, go read the press release and see what you think.

5/11/2000
Misc. News: US PS2 Info
18:22:  Today, at a pre-E3 conference, Sony (finally!) released the details of the US launch for its Playstation2 console. As expected, the console will launch at a price of $299 US. In a more unexpected move, Sony has decided to add a 3.5" hard drive bay and a network interface to the unit. Here's the specs on the US PS2:

NEW FEATURES

Thanks to IGNPS2 for the news. I personally can't wait!

Misc. News: Think Audio CDs are too expensive?
15:10:  Well, the main argument against Napster -- that CDs are too expensive -- is quickly losing validity. Today, the government ruled that the prices on major-label CDs must be lowered, because a "minimum pricing" practice was keeping their prices abdnormally high -- from anywhere between $14-17 dollars, up from less than $10 in the early '90s.

I always wondered why major-label CDs were so expensive. The question has been answered.

You can read the story at E! Online.

Site News: Public Statement Regarding the Future of ZD
06:29:  I've gotten too many emails, been asked too many times on IRC/ICQ, and have seen too many posts in the message boards to ignore this issue any longer. Zophar and I have been burning up our wallets on LD phone calls and trips for me to see him in person to talk business...it's time to go public about what we discussed.

Inverse had promised a new design...you've voiced your opinions on how we need to change ZD.

Your cries have been heard...and now you'll get an answer. Visit the Talk of the Town message board for my post which will explain everything. Feel free to reply to it and give your opinions on how we should go about what's discussed.

Emulator Release: Anex86 2.16
01:26:  Anex86, a PC-98 emulator for Windows, has been updated to version 2.16. I don't know what's new, because the list of improvements is in Japanese. But rest assured that this emulator probably has gotten faster and more compatible.

You can download it from the PC-98 emulators page.

5/10/2000
Media News: New Lara Croft Model
22:30:  Found some pics of the new Lara Croft model, along with her biography. I think she's going to be at E3 later on this week.

Misc. News: Confirmation of "NetPD" in the videogame industry
18:58:  Yesterday I mentioned about an organization called NetPD, which tracked over 300,000 Napster users when they downloaded a Metallica song. They claim to be moving into the videogame industry soon...

k0rn emailed me with a link to the ZSNES message board, where he found an official statement. From forbes.com, here is the official statement from NetPD:

"We've set up with the intention of offering copyright protection services to not just the music industry, but the videogame and movie businesses," says Ward, who worked at "a few unknown software companies" before starting NetPD last year.

Misc. News: Napster Banning Spree
17:11:  Guess what, kids? If you don't have a reason to hate Metallica, now you do. That's because over 300,000 users were recently banned from Napster's servers for having Metallica songs on their computers. They went after everyone: I had a total of six Metallica songs in my shared Napster directories, and I would have deleted them to retain access to the service. Instead, I was banned.

Anyone else feel raped of their right to exchange MP3s? Yeah, I do too.

Anyway, you can fight Metallica's claims (in case you don't actually have any Metallica MP3s on your computer and you were banned anyway) on a page Napster set up for any counter-claims.

In case you don't have Napster, you can read about the story on Yahoo!, as well as other places where I'm sure have already posted stories about it. I (and I bet a lot of other people) feel seriously offended. I'll post later about a few alternatives to Napster for those feeling MP3-deprived.

Anyway, you can post your comments on the issue on ZD's Talk of the Town message board.

Thanks to Napster for telling me that I was banned. ;)

Utility Release: The SMB2 Discombobulator v0.89 released
08:01:  Though this news is late, The SMB2 Discombobulator, the complete SMB2 editing solution, has been updated to version 0.89. Here's what's new:

Misc. News: Super Carrots: A NEW Harvest hack updated
07:53:  DarKnight13 has updated Super Carrots: A NEW Harvest, a hack of Super Mario Bros. 2 for NES, has been updated. Here's what's new:

Technical Docs News: The Legacy of the Wizard hacking docs v1.7 released
07:40:  Netbrian has released version 1.7 of his Legacy of the Wizard hacking docs. They explain how to edit the levels in this NES classic.

You can check these docs out in the Trans and Hacks Docs area.

Misc. News: The Legend of Blob Bros. 2 v2.0 Demo Patch released
07:17:  BMF54123 has updated his hack of Super Mario Bros. 2, entitled The Legend of Blob Bros. 2 to version 2.0 demo. New to this version is level hacking and some new and improved graphics.

Try it out in the Hacks area.

Emulator Release: BrMSX v2.06 released
07:09:  BrMSX, an MSX-2 emulator for DOS, has been updated to version 2.06. Here's what's new:

5/9/2000
Misc. News: * Infe castes haste on - bleem! -
22:15:  I'm sure by now most of you have heard of the rumoured emulator bleemcast!. This is the port of bleem! for the Dreamcast (play PSX games on your Dreamcast). I'm not sure if the rumour about bleempacks is true or not, but if this doesn't confirm bleem! for the Dreamcast, nothing will!

Check out the link and see for yourself.

Emulator Release: NeoMAME 0.37 Beta 2
19:50:  Katharsis has built a new version of NeoMAME, the Neo Geo only version of the ever popular Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. NeoMAME is now in-line with the official DOS MAME.

You can download it at the MAME page.

Misc. News: "Love Bug" Suspect Released
14:01:  The suspect who was picked up for the Love Bug worm was just released for lack of evidence. The judge has given authorities an additional 10 days to find further evidence against him. His girlfriend, who said she would show up for questioning today, still hasn't come forth.

Philippine police say they now have 10 more leads after analyzing the confiscated computer paraphernelia.

Frontend News: Visual Mame v0.24
10:26:  ViMame, a DOS frontend to MAME, has been released. The author notes that if you downloaded a version previous to April 27th, you need to get this version to avoid problems. There's some new command line features in this version.

Get it from the Arcade Frontends page.

Emulator Release: StellaX v1.1.3a
10:13:  StellaX, the Windows Atari 2600 emulator, has been updated. Here's what's new:

Misc. News: ILOVEYOU
03:52:  The alleged creator of the "Love Bug" worm was indicted, and his girlfriend is still being sought after. Authorities arrested him in his home, confiscated telephone equipment, computer magazines, but failed to find a computer.

They tried to obtain a warrant sooner, but in the Phillippines (where the suspect lived), hacking isn't a crime. The Access Devices Act allowed them to obtain warrants.

Misc. News: Napster, RIAA, mp3.com, lawsuits, oh my!
03:44:  Scott Dibbler emailed us and mentioned that a San Francisco judge ruled Napster could be held liable for the files transfered due to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Looks like the RIAA is winning...recently, the RIAA took mp3.com to court and won. Both Napster and mp3.com are still fighting the RIAA.

And here's something that may interest you, should you download ROM images...apparently an organization called NetPD had tracked the people who downloaded Metallica songs from Napster, and had handed Metallica reps the info. This "NetPD" plans to expand into the videogame scene soon. Caveat emptor.

Misc. News: Netscape v4.73
03:36:  Pecan informed me that Netscape Communicator v4.73 was released yesterday.

Emulator Release: XMame/XMess v0.37 Beta 2.1
03:28:  The unix port of the Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator and the Multi-Emulator Super System has been released. The Mame file also contains Mess.

Misc. News: mIRC v5.71
03:19:  If you're into the chat thing, a new version of mIRC (the most popular Internet Relay Chat program) is out. No major updates, but it now displays the number of people in the chat channel next to the name.

5/8/2000
Media News: Should the X-Box be shown off at E3?
21:00:  Microsoft is asking this exact question. As opposed to ZDNet or someone else doing it, they're taking the initative to do it.

If you don't vote, take a look at the poll at the very least. The first option is hillarious. :)

Anyway, you can go vote here.

Thanks a bunch to Drath of Shadowvision.net for the info.

5/6/2000
Misc. News: Classic Games...in a Shockingly New Style
17:50:  Midway Games and shockwave.com joined forces and have several old Midway arcade games available to play online with Shockwave. The 10 games are: Defender, Joust, Spy Hunter, Rampage, Robotron 2084, Defender II, Sinistar, Bubbles, Tapper and Satan's Hollow.

The thing that really tickles me is that they are actually being emulated from the ROM images. Pretty soon we'll have to add a Shockwave section to ZD...

Thanks to Gecko for the news.

Interview News: PCRave.com interviews Bleem!'s Sean Kauppinen
17:25:  PCRave.com's Joe Glass has done an interview with Sean Kauppinen, Communications Director of Bleem! Inc. They touch on various subjects, such as the advantages of Bleem! over a real PSX, compatibility, and more.

To read the article, head over to PCRave.com.

Thanks to Joe Glass of PCRave.com for the news.

Misc. News: New Gaming/emulation related site: TwistedGaming
17:04:  TsengRei has recently opened up a new gaming, emulation and anime related site: TwistedGaming. Since it's just getting started, we at ZD feel you might want to take a look at it and who knows - you might like it! :)

5/5/2000
Misc. News: Back in Time Episode 10: Inverview with Nolan Bushnell
22:32:  Back in Time #10 is a great one; it's an interview with Nolan Bushnell, the creator of the first coin-op game (Computer Space) and the founder of Atari. Need I say more? Go listen to it at Back in Time.

Emulator Release: MAME 0.37 beta 2
18:45:  A new version of MAME has been released. Here's a list of new games supported:

Emulator News: More info on "Bleemcast"
15:50:  It turns out that Will Kempe, the person who registered bleemcast.com, IS in fact with Bleem!. According to this article from ConsoleDomain, Will Kempe was one of the Bleem! exhibitors at last year's E3.

Now, as for Bleemcast itself... Bleemcast will be a Playstation emulator for the Dreamcast! According to this article from Slashdot, "...Bleem! might be released for Dreamcast as well." In fact from the wording in the article, it almost sounds like Sega may officially endorse it. =)

Lastly, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of Bleem! 1.6 being shown, and possibly released, at E3. That's all for now. Stay tuned for further updates, and remember, the WWWBoards are always open.

Emulator Release: Little John 0.4
15:25:  A new version of Little John, a NES emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new:

0.4

Emulator Release: Unofficial MAME32 w/ autofire 0.37 beta 1
15:17:  A new version of the unofficial MAME32 has been released. It's now up to date with the official DOS version. You can get it at the MAME page.

Emulator Release: 1964 0.4.0
12:28:  A new version of 1964, a N64 emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new:

5/4/2000
Emulator News: Bleemcast?
22:59:  As many of you have heard, the Bleem! team has an important announcement to make at this year's E3 about a new product. Well, we have come across some information that may give some insight into what this announcement is about.

Someone by the name of Will Kempe, who we *SUSPECT* is associated with Bleem!, has registered bleemcast.com, bleemcast.net, and bleemcast.org. This could mean several things. Maybe the Bleem! team is making a Dreamcast emulator, maybe Bleem! is being ported to the Dreamcast, and MAYBE this is all a big misunderstanding. I guess we'll have to wait until E3 and see. =)

In the meantime you can offer your opinion on this at the WWWBoards.

Misc. News: "ILOVEYOU" hates your guts...
15:22:  I've always been scared of evil virii, but the latest of the bunch has made it personal. "ILOVEYOU", as it goes by, is a virus that spreads itself by the e-mail program Outlook and IRC program mIRC, and has a lovely effect on your PC. It infects the registry, destroys data related to web pages (including .js and .css files), graphics (JPEGs), and -- this is why I think the creators should be punished with Chinese water torture -- MP3s.

You know the drill in this case -- update your virus definition files, and don't fall for any suspicious-looking secret admirer messages. I've already fallen for it already, though Zophar just barely stopped me from opening the attachment. :)

Anyway, you can read up about the virus at CNN.com.

In closing, here are a few words of advice: Protect yourselves from this puppy, or your computer will be doing a digital Ebola on you. :)

Emulator Release: TR Win 2.28
00:27:  A new version of TR Win, a N64 emulator for Windows, has been released. There's not really an exact list of what's new, but this version features more compatibility and improved graphics. You can get it at the N64 page. Thanks to EmuHQ for the news.

5/3/2000
Emulator News: 1964 news
23:00:  There's a bit of news on the 1964 website:

On the day your planets are aligned, you will either witness Earth getting thrown out of orbit, or merely a 1964 release. In either unpleasant event, stay tuned.

Hmm... I wonder what this could mean... ;) (Personally, I'd be preparing for a trip into deep space, but I'm always the pessimist)

In any case, check out the 1964 homepage or our N64 Emulators page.

Emulator Release: Virtual Game Station 1.4 for Mac
16:25:  Connectix has released a new version of it's Playstation emulator, Virtual Game Station. Here's what's new in 1.4:

Misc. News: Back in Time joins Emulation World!
16:09:  Early today, Mike Stulir announced that he had moved Back in Time, a great website dedicated to vintage Atari systems and their games, has moved to Emulation World. As you might have guessed, Emulation World/ZTNet is the same host that myself, Retrogames.com and tons of other great emulation sites are currently with. From Mike's official announcement:

OK, so now the questions: Why did I do this? Well, there are a number of reasons. For starters, Emulation World will no doubt bring better exposure for the web site.

Emuclassics was kind enough to host the site for the last 18 months, and I do thank them for their efforts. However, in recent months, the servers have been down frequently. I have received a ton of e-mail from my visitors on this topic, and it has been frustrating to me as well. It is a major motivating factor for this move.

One of the biggest questions on your minds right now is "Where is the Nolan Bushnell interview that you promised?" Well, it is done. In fact, it has been done and ready for broadcast for several weeks. The problem is that the staff at GT2K seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. The new show has not been posted, and they are not answering my e-mail messages. In fact, their web site hasn't been updated in almost 3 months, so I don't know what is going on with them.

Since Emulation World will now be providing streaming services for the show, I will no longer be dependant on a third-party to post the show for the public. The best part is that there will now be two versions of each show. A "low-bandwidth" edition for slower connections, and a "high-bandwidth" edition for people (like me) with a cable modem, or DSL. The "high-bandwidth" edition should sound cleaner, and the visuals will be better.

As well as moving the Back in Time website to Emulation World, he's posted an extensive review of Atari's recent Q*Bert release for the PC & PSX. Be sure to visit Back in Time to check it out!

Site News: New hosted page: Ultimate Shining Force Site
15:37:  Zophar's Domain is proud to announce that we now host "Moogie's Ultimate Shining Force Site", the ultimate webpage to get hints, tips & information about your favorite Shining series game:

Moogie's Ultimate Shining Force Site: Moogie's Ultimate Shining Force Site is just that - it's the ultimate website to get almost any piece of information, hint or walkthrough on Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force & Shining Force II. From maze maps to character information to detailed descriptions of every weapon, this is the only site that any true Shining freak (like myself) will ever need!

Be sure to visit the Ultimate Shining Force Site if you're a fan of the series!

Misc. News: Minibosses band releases new track
07:21:  A while back we told you about Minibosses, a band based in Northampton, MA that remixes old tunes from 8-bit NES games, as well as their own original tracks. Well, they have finally released a new track to the public. The newest tune is from the NES Classic, Contra. The track features music from the first three levels of the game.

I invite you to check out this band's extrodinary music at the Minibosses Website!

5/2/2000
Emulator Release: Meka 0.53 released to registered users
23:44:  Zoop has just released Meka 0.53 to registered users. He says the wait for this release will be very short because he didn't release the last one. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Handy v0.70
23:03:  After over a year, Handy, an Atari Lynx emulator, has been updated. Here's the improvements:

Site News: In memory of Lance Flewelling
14:52:  As the owner of Zophar's Domain and a friend of staffer Matt and former staffer Stacey, I and the entire staff and Zophar's Domain offers our condolences to the family of Lance Flewelling, who suffered a stroke late last night and has passed away. I don't know what it's like to lose a father but I'm sure their father has gone to a better place somewhere far away, and is happy. We hope the family can find the strength to get through this tragedy which came as a shock to all.

In Memory of Lance Flewelling

Emulator Release: NeoSMS Version 0.3 Build 19
13:05:  This Win9X Sega Master System/Game Gear emulator has been updated yesterday, new features include:

• Rewrote VDP register code
• Rewrote all display renderers
• Added support for Game Gear palettes
• Changed cart loading to better support GG

Emulator Release: WinX68000 Version 0.30 beta 6
01:04:  This emulator has been revised again, and among the new features:

• Fixed a crush bug when "StartDir" in "winx68k.ini" is long
• Fixed a bug when SCSI-model IPL is used
• Deleted one of the MIDI routine in Ver.0.25
• MIDI board emulation now has a FIFO (Yami no Ketsuzoku)
• Fixed a judgement when X68k send an incorrect MIDI data (GENOCIDE2)
• Now AER register in MFP has been reflected (XSP Syatem)
• Fixed a bug in GVRAM access (Naki no Ryu)
• Fixed a bug in the Link Array Chain mode in DMA
• Fixed a bug in the Continuous mode in DMA (not perfect...)
• Fixed a bug in the "Read Diagnostic" command in FDC (Emerald Dragon)
• Fixed a bug when the configures are different between CRTC and Sprite Controller (Dragon Buster)
• Fixed the Fast Clear timing (PITAPAT)
• Fixed HSYNC interrupt (CARAT)
• Fixed a GVRAM color bug in 65536 colors mode(Star Wars)

5/1/2000
Emulator Release: CHASMS - A New SMS Emulator!
23:51:  CHASMS, a new SMS and GameGear emulator for Windows/DirectX-OS's only, has just been publicly released. The GUI reminds me of NESticle :) Here is its features list:

v.0.20 (Apr 28, 2000)
  =============

Misc. News: Diablo II Battle.net Stress Test Sign-ups Underway
14:39:  Here's some great new for everyone that missed out on the Diablo 2 beta test; there's another one! 100,000 people will be chosen to participate in a Battle.net stress test. Go to www.blizzard.com for more information.

Emulator Release: DBOY 0.59 ghost
14:32:  A new version of DBOY, a Gameboy emulator for DOS, has been released. The docs are in Japanese, so I don't know what's new. You can get it at the Gameboy page. Thanks to Nightwulf for the news.

Emulator Release: StellaX 1.1.3
14:22:  A new version of StellaX, an Atari 2600 emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: EMU+ 0.37 b1 and EMU+32 0.36 Final
14:09:  EMU+ and EMU+32 have both been updated to correspond with the newest versions of MAME. You can get them at the MAME page.

Technical Docs News: PSX Documentation Project
00:54:  Whilst browsing Slashdot, I came across some news about a new technical document for the Playstation. The PSX Documentation Project has over a year's worth of work put into it, and is probably the definitive source for info on the PSX. If you're curious as to what makes the little grey box tick, or if you're an advanced programmer wanting to make an emulator, this is what you need.

We lacked a technical doc section for this, so I'm proud to unveil the new PSX tech docs section with the PSX Documentation Project...