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View Full Version : Games/emulator news (02/01/08): some GREAT, new FPSEce 0.010 videos; Dark Street etc.


Menneisyys
02-01-2008, 07:55 PM
1. Some GREAT, new FPSEce 0.010 videos released!

I’ve long been waiting for the long-announced, 0.010 version of FPSEce (http://www.fpsece.net/), the one and only PlayStation emulator for Windows Mobile, which will deliver MASSIVE optimizations and GREAT speed enhancements, especially with PDA’s with the Intel 2700G 3D graphics accelerator. This, unfortunately, means only the Dell Axim x50v and x51v are supported (if you need SPEED, that is).

For long, the project seemed to be completely abandoned, until, in early December, the developer announced (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=2363&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) there would be an imminent release of the brand new and heavily enhanced version. Unfortunately, he still hasn’t managed to get it released; however, in addition to the old demos already available HERE (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fpsece&search=tag), he’s (more precisely, Damien of PocketPlayers Reloaded) posted five brand new videos showing the capabilities of the new engine:

Ridge Racer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNVYaGKNpZc)
Pandemonium (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Alq1iNepT0)
Tekken (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OZPvJD6H_w)
Motortoon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWVpuS4RDog)

Check them out if interested. Again, note that the videos have been shot on the hardware-accelerated Dell Axim x51v. A non-hardware-accelerated device will behave far worse (see for example THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwntF25WbpA) non-accelerated Tekken video to see the difference).

2. A cheap Final Fight / Streets of Rage clone, Dark Street, released

The just-released Dark Street is a cheap, very simple but, if you’re a fan of the genre, quite entertaining bash’m up game, pretty much similar (but still inferior to) the console beat 'em up classics like Capcom’s Final Fight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fight) and Sega’s Streets of Rage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_of_Rage).

It is compatible with both Pocket PC’s and Smartphones. With the latter, even the lower-resolution 176*220 models are supported.

Currently, it’s only available from mobile2day.de (http://www.mobile2day.de/platform_wince/device/HTC/Universal/produkt.html?id=431071). Click the Download link (http://www.mobile2day.de/platform_wince/device/HTC/Universal/download.html?file=c683401.CAB&prod=431071) there. Note that it loads VERY slow.

Unfortunately, it, as of the current, 1.0.1 version, has MAJOR problems on both Pocket PC’s and Smartphones.

a. On Pocket PC’s, if you touch the touch screen to either fire or activate one of the super skills (the small icons in the upper left corner), the game will start stuttering. For example, on my HTC Wizard, it has just stopped and I had to entirely reset the phone. On my old, WM2003 HP iPAQ h2210, it behaved better; so did on my WM5 AKU2.3 Dell Axim x51v. Still, this bug made the game almost unplayable on the latter two devices too.

Unfortunately, as you can’t reassign the action key (kicking etc.), controlling the game becomes REALLY hard because you can only do any action by pressing the Action button in the D-pad. This alone renders this game useless.

b.On MS Smartphones (tested on both the QVGA WM6 Vox and the 176*220 WM5 Oxygen), the situation is decidedly better because, there, you can also use the “5” dialpad key to kick / shoot (as opposed to, say, how Amiga Inc.’s Invasion (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=2431&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), where, on a Smartphone, you can’t use any of the dialpad buttons.) However, as there aren’t any dialpad shortcuts to activate the super weapons, there is little point in playing the game on the Smartphone platform either.

The (mono) music is pretty OK at first; later, however, becomes really repetitive.

All in all, before these problems are fixed, I cannot recommend this game at all. If you’re REALLY into the genre, go the SNES / NeoGeo / etc. emulation route instead. The better emulators (please see my related Bibles HERE (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&cat=353)) all have redefinable buttons; the original games are far better too (much better music, animation, sprites, backgrounds etc.)

(Source & another, German language thread on the game: PocketPlayers Reloaded (http://www.pocketplayers.info/Joomla/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=32&func=view&catid=9&id=1818))

3. SmartGear news

The folks at BitBank Software, developers of the award-winning SmartGear emulator, have, two days ago, announced they would add SNES and/or GBA support for SmartGear. Also, they have asked whether anyone needs a pre-WM2003 build of SmartGear. You can “vote” for these in the dedicated MoDaCo thread (http://www.modaco.com/content-page/112206/Sega-GG-Nintendo-GameBoy-emulator-for-SP-beta-test/page/680/).

4. An excellent Java platform game released & reviewed

There is a brand new and pretty nice MIDlet game, Sola Rola. It received a stellar review (http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/reviews/item/Sola_Rola_for_Java_J2ME_Review.php) over at All About N-Gage. While I haven’t tested it, you might still want to give it a try to see whether it’s compatible with Windows Mobile MIDlet managers and/or it’s a good game by Windows Mobile standards as well.

5. Game reviews recap

You may have missed some of my later games / emulator news because I’ve posted them in an application news collection and, therefore, haven’t cross-posted to gaming forums. They’re as follows:


the new, in addition to the venerable and no-longer-developed Pocket Humanity (http://xymus.net/ph/), Civilization-clone, Revival (http://www.herocraft.com/en/revival/) (see the links to (p)reviews HERE (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=emulation_aamp_gaming_news_smartgear_wit&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)), has been released (http://smart.herocraft.com/en/games/revival)! It’s a bit pricey for Pocket PC’s (and Palm OS 5 models): $24.95. Fortunately, if you have a non-touchscreen MS Smartphone, you only end up having to pay $15.95 - just like with Symbian S60v3 and UIQ3 devices. Finally, if you have an old Symbian S60 or UIQ device, you’ll only need to shell out $9.95 for the game. Definitely worth a try! Also note that, in addition to the previews linked above, there’s a brand new JAMM one HERE (http://justanothermobilemonday.com/Wordpress/2008/01/29/review-can-you-survive-the-revival/) well worth checking out.
Amiga Inc.’s Invasion (a comparatively old game, which has just received a trial version) is definitely worth mentioning, which has received a trial version available for download HERE (http://www.clickgamer.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=2285). Note that, should you want to purchase the game, do it on Amiga Inc.’s own page (http://www.amiga.com/shop/?prod_id=93), in there, the title only costs $5.99 – as opposed to the twice more expensive Clickgamer.

It’s the best and most enjoyable Space Invaders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Invaders) clone I’ve ever seen on Windows Mobile (see THIS (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1070&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), THIS (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=661&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), THIS (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=review_mastersoft_games_pack_3_released&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) and THIS (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=gaming_news_as_of_05_25_2007&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) for the alternatives) – for the price, a definite keeper. Its strengths are mostly the stylus-based control; the fact that you can also go upwards (should you want to kill your enemies faster – remember, your fire rate is restricted, as you can only have two missiles on the screen at the same time), the excellent animation, good sound effects and the in-menu, tracked, stereo, “scener” music (no in-game music, unfortunately).

Unfortunately, it isn’t compatible with pre-WM5 operating systems. Note that it’s one of the very few titles to support 240*240 square-screen phones.

Also note that, while the official homepage (or ClickGamer) doesn’t mention it with a word, it’s also compatible with the MS Smartphone platform: both QVGA and 176*220 devices (I’ve tested it on both my HTC Vox / s710 and Oxygen / s310). It runs flawlessly even on slow, non-overclocked TI OMAP CPU’s.

Note that, however, on MS Smartphones, you can’t use any of the dialpad buttons for firing (or controlling the ship). This makes the game pretty hard as you will need, in addition to pressing the Action button to keep firing, use the D-pad to control the ship. On Pocket PC’s, this isn’t an issue because, there, you can use the touchscreen for the latter. (Unless you have a 2.8”, non-Intel Xscale-based HTC phone – that is, almost all of their 2.8” WM5 and WM6 phones, including, for example, the Trinity, the Kaiser and the Wizard. Then, the well-known touschreen CPU usage bug will make the game pretty slow. Unfortunately, the HTC folks don’t seem to be bothered about the bug – I’ve been reporting it for two years to them but, so far, they haven’t fixed it.)

All in all, make sure you give it a try. Again, download the demo from ClickGamer, but purchase the game itself from the developer’s homepage to save some money!
Emulation news: Masterall has released a preview of the brand new, 0.12 version of his EXCELLENT FinalBurn (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1952&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), by far the best (advanced 2D) arcade gaming console emulator. Make sure you give it a try – and provide feedback in the original thread (http://www.modaco.com/content/Smartphone-Software-Games/247894/FinalBurn-for-WinCE-0-012-preview/). (And, if you don’t know the excellent games Finalburn is able to run, do check out the Arcade Emulation Bible (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1952&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)!)
If you’re into playing Java games (MIDlets), you might be interested in the following news item. There are new builds of both Jbed and Jblend (two excellent MIDlet Managers – see the Java MIDlet Bible (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=2266&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) for more info). Due to lack of time, I haven’t tested them. Both has been done by Da_G (his projects’ homepage is HERE (http://dan.omefilms.com)) and are accessible HERE (http://dan.omefilms.com/mobile/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownloadeditorial&lid=128). Note that you MUST register yourself (it’s free and is done quickly) in order to access the page above (along with the download).

I hope I’ll be able to test them some time – along with the default Blackberry MIDlet manager. (I might wait with testing the latter until version 4.5 of BB OS (http://crackberry.com/long-awaited-blackberry-os-4-3-1-re-branded-os-4-5) is released, though.)