T3CH released a new CVS compile of XboxMediaCenter.
This T3CH-compile is a complete snapshot of what is in CVS at the time the build was compiled, with just a few small additions.
Here's the added stuff from the changelog since the 2006-02-20 CVS release:
* added: unrolling of single file archives. this moves archive support into filedirectoryfactory. WARNING TO TRANSLATORS: CHANGES MEANING OF STRING 516
* added: overlay to indicate that a movie is unwatched in database views (overlayunwatched.png).
* added: rss reader now supports non-http sources (local/smb/ccx etc).
* added: Support for Overlay icons over the top of thumbnails. Currently supported are: OverlayZip.png, OverlayRar.png, OverlayHasTrainer.png, OverlayLocked.png, OverlayTrained.png.
* added: Thumbnail panel to the filebrowser dialog (used only via Skin.SetImage() at present). Id is 451.
* added: New Musepack (MPC) decoder and sources (now uses libmpcdec.dll, in system/players/paplayer)
* added: bookmark support for dvd player in any section of the dvd
* added: automatic bookmarking of current position on stop of playback
* added: added a progress control to the music scan dialog (control id 403)
* added: atari ym codec to paplayer. based on stsound-library.
* added: music nav, "Compilation" folder, it shows all Various Artists albums
* added: Music Library "musicdb://" paths work with http api getmedialocation command.
... rest of changelog (including many fixes): here.
Noteworthy changes in this build:
* No changes to Keymap.xml or XboxMediaCenter.xml this time
* NOTE: www.xbmcscripts.com is as of this typing still down, causing the XBMCScripts Installer to fail!
Keep in mind this is a CVS snapshot of the current development tree. It's not an official (stable) point release. Use only if you know what you are doing.
Xport released a new version of NeoGenesis a Sega Genesis/Megadrive/32X/SegaCD/MegaCD emulator for Xbox.
What's new:
* GUI brought up to date with most recent
* Removed "Fix Screen Tearing" configuration option since it is no longer being used
* Added option to manually disable SRAM to fix games like Puggsy
* CDDA plays within BIN files now. You must have a proper CUE file for the BIN and it must be named the same as the BIN file. (e.g. MY_SEGA_CD_GAME.BIN and MY_SEGA_CD_GAME.CUE ) Load the CUE file - not the BIN file.
* BIN files that are actually ROM images and not SegaCD images should correctly load as cartridges now.
* Added Reset to in-game menu and also as a configurable button
* All settings will be reset to a baseline when you start this version. This will remove the default mapping of BLACK to the screenshot button and will also default the Left Analog stick to act like the DPAD during gameplay. However, any games you have previously played will have their button configurations loaded from the previously saved config file and will override the new defaults.
Earlier this week, the game industry was rocked by word of the so-called Origami Project, a secret Microsoft device that appears to be a portable PC with gaming functionality. The rampant speculation was kick-started by a leaked video showing what looked like a mini-tablet PC running Halo. Microsoft confirmed the Origami Project video's authenticity to GameSpot, but said it was a year-old "concept video," and hinted the Halo footage was for demonstration purposes only.
Then, after promising revelations today on the teaser site origamiproject.com, Microsoft merely posted a new flash movie … which makes promises of more information to come. After asking, "Wondering where to find me?" the movie shows a montage of locations: a city skyline, tropical island, a snow-capped mountain, a subway system, the interior of a car, and a long shot of Rio de Janeiro. "I am everywhere you are … but never in the way" the site tells visitors via text, apparent promising a new level of portability in the device.
Then comes the tease. After posing the rhetorical question, "Who am I?", the site says, "find out … 3.9.06…" Now it seems the public will have to wait another week for the official Origami unveiling, which appears to be coordinated with the CeBit PC trade expo, held from March 9 to 15 in Germany.
However, unofficial reports have already broken about what the Origami can and cannot do. This morning, the Associated Press ran an article citing a source inside Microsoft which confirms suspicions that the Origami is merely a new line of "ultra-mobile PCs" the size of a paperback book. It says that the line of devices is aimed at "tech-savvy consumers who want a smaller computer that is easy to take on vacation, in the subway or anywhere else where a full-sized PC would seem too bulky." As shown in the leaked video, Origami machines will feature a touch-sensitive screen a la Microsoft's tablet PC line, will run Windows XP, and will be priced lower than most full-size laptops, running from around $500 to $1000.
If that price tag seems too low for a mobile PC with a high-end graphics chip--which would be necessary to run the Halo footage shown in the leaked concept video--that's because it is. The AP article says flat-out that the Origami is "not a portable version of Microsoft’s Xbox videogame console," nor is it "a music player designed to take on Apple Computer Inc.’s mega-popular iPod." According to the source, the Origami will be "less powerful than full-fledged PCs," and won't have "advanced entertainment capabilities."
However, the AP article contradicts itself somewhat, quoting its source as saying that Microsoft expects consumers to use the Origami for "watching movies," presumably on DVD. That means that the device could have enough processing and graphics power to play older PC games that don't require a high-end GPU--think Civilization III on the go. It also raises the possibility that Microsoft is optimizing less demanding versions of semi-recent PC games specifically for the platform, as is now rumored. However, Microsoft reps had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.
Play Asia are offering the following games at a discounted price, (might be a chance to snag a game your missing)
Heres the listing
Xbox™ Games:
Blinx 2: Battle of Time and Space ASIA US$ 10.90
Conker: Live & Reloaded ASIA US$ 10.90
Dead or Alive Ultimate Double Disc Collector's Edition ASIA US$ 14.90
Fable ASIA US$ 10.90
Genma Onimusha JPN US$ 5.99
Jade Empire ASIA US$ 10.90
Jet Set Radio Future JPN US$ 9.90
MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf ASIA US$ 10.90
Rallisport Challenge 2 ASIA US$ 10.90
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection JPN US$ 19.90
Winning Eleven 8 International ASIA US$ 10.90
* Replaced 'Auto Unibios' option with 'Auto Neo-Bios'. Can be set to MVS, AES, Debug, Universe, Off.
* The following sets have been added: kof96pls
* Updated some ROMsets based on the latest information. (thanks to Ferchogtx and iq_132)
* Fixed extra button press when entering Diagnostics Mode.
* Fixed reversed controls on Black and White buttons.
* The following sets have been added: jgokushi, hsf2, hsf2j (XORs for these CPS2 sets are not yet available so for the time being they are non-working)
* Fixed dipswitches in msword. (bug from PC version)
* Fixed X-Arcade control configuration not saving.
* Cleaned up UI menus.
* Also I understand that the correct (non-fake) samsho5 M1 ROM is now available.
* NOTE: You should delete your old FBA-XXX Pro savefile from the MS dashboard or the folder E:\TDATA\ffff0504 before running this release.
Xport released a new version of NeoGenesis a Sega Genesis / Megadrive / 32X / SegaCD / MegaCD emulator for Xbox.
What's new:
Core:
* Fixed CDDA for BIN files read off of HD
GUI:
* Added arrows to menus to indicate items above/below visible lines. Can be disabled under General Settings
* Added option to always show screenshots when scrolling. Find it under General Settings
* Default for Sprite Limit set to Yes
* Settings for last saved game carry over to the next game you configure
* Added game configuration option to Force 60hz in PAL
KaYa has released a new version of the Xbox Game Manager software - this is a game manager for use with Avalaunch and UnleashX dashboards.
New release XBGM# 0.9.0.6:
* Update Gtk-sharp depedency from 2.0.0.0 to 2.4.0.0.
* Update monoLaunchW to make XBGM# work with mono 1.1.13.x.
* Rewrite Ebuild (thanks to Nicke).
Xport released a new version of NeoGenesis which is a Sega Genesis / Megadrive / 32X / SegaCD / MegaCD emulator for Xbox.
What's new:
* Core: Some improvement to sector cacheing when playing real Sega CDs (see notes)
* GUI: Added "Soften Display" to video settings configuration options
* GUI: "Sort Directories to top" was not working 100% correctly with items that start with a non-alphabetic character - fixed
Xport has released a port of MEKA to Xbox. It Supports Sega Master System / Game Gear / SG-1000 / SC-3000 / SF-7000 / MK3 Consoles.
Features:
* Emulates Sega Master System/Game Gear/SG-1000/SC-3000/SF-7000/MK3
* Excellent compatibility - ported from Meka
* ZIP support
* Loads of hardware/software filters and video options to tweak
* Cheat system - Search/Create your own cheat codes (see notes)
* Favorites list
* Save states
* Light gun support (see notes)
* Fast forward/throttle
* Resizable game screen
* Text file viewer
* ISO9660, Relax, Samba support
* Take in-game screenshots and display them on the game selection list
* Record/Playback feature - record your gameplay in the emu and then play it back again. Record up to 10 minutes of gameplay.
* Every single in-game command is fully customizable on any of the four joypad controllers.
* Map any emulator or UI command to a single button or a combination of two buttons. (e.g. RTrigger+LTrigger = Save State)
* Autofire capabilities for any emulator button on any controller
* One-button combos (define a series of emulator commands to be played back when you press a user-definable XBox controller combination.) (E.g. Press RTrigger+LTrigger to execute the command string A,B,A,B,Up,Down,Left,Right)
* Traverse any directory on any drive ( Continue selecting the parent directory entry on the file selection list to get the drive selection list. Selectable drives are C, D, E, F, R, X, Y, Z, RLX, and SMB. R is the CDROM drive. SMB is your samba share, RLX is your relax share. Press Y from any file-listing screen to go up one directory level.
* All UI commands (save state, load state, screenshot, etc) can be invoked from the Options/Pause menu as well as in-game via your customized joypad mappings.
* All the other standard features found in XPort ports.
Divineo UK have the latest Xbox Modchip Released in stock, heres the info on the chip:
The SP.ICE is based on the Xenium ICE modchip, but with a totally solderless installation on ALL Xbox version, from V1.0 to V1.6B! It has all the features of the amazing Xenium ICE but is so easy to install you will only need minutes to get it running!
Specifications & extra information
1.Works with ALL known Xbox versions to date (no need to check your version first) 2.No soldering required at all. Period. 3.Installs in seconds. 4. Unique precision engineered acrylic template for wire guide and safety feature. 5. Instant verification of correct contact on all five points through LED indicators (not for decoration only) 6. The only fourth gen., fully solerless DIY system offering such flexibility and compatibility available to date
Darcelf/Alg5 released a new version of M.U.G.E.N for Xbox - it's not a port but instead it's a linux distro reduced to it's minimum in order to launch M.U.G.E.N for linux on Xbox.
What's new/fixed:
* Mugen can be installed in E,F or G drive partition. But bzImage, ird-loop.gz and linuxboot.cfg should still be on E.
* Esc key is mapped to back.
* Swap file support has been added, so it should be more stable.
* Better/fixed support for 2nd controller so you can play with 2 players.
Divineo USA have posted news about the Xenium GOLD SP modchip:
We got the first (small) batch of Xenium GOLD SP. Unfortunately, there is few pre-order that we wont be able to fill. We should receive another (bigger) batch of GOLD SP in 1 or 2 weeks. The GOLD version, without the SP adapter should be available at the same time.
The GOLD SP is based on the Xenium GOLD chip, but with a totally solderless installation on ALL Xbox version, from V1.0 to V1.7! It has all the features of the amazing Xenium GOLD but is so easy to install you will only need minutes to get it running!
Divineo USA have posted news about the Xecuter 3 IR .
Finally, we got enough Xecuter 3 IR to fill all our back orders. This product can now be shipped within 24h.
Features:
1. Blue status led
2. Compatible with any chip
3. Enable/Disable chip upon boot.
4. Easy to use programming software
5. Learning functionality allows virtually any remote control to be used
6. User programmable buttons for all functions, such as wich button turns on the xbox or turns it off
7. Safety Off makes sure you press the 'OFF' button 3 times before turning off the xbox to prevent unintended xbox shutdown
8. Turn ON and OFF the XBOX with the XBOX Dvd remote control, and any RCA DVD compatible remote (and there are hundreds of these)
9. Perfect-Press - The length of emulated press of front panel 'Power' button can be finely tuned to work with any chips' needs (ie. long press is 100msec - mod on, short press is 10msec - mod off)
If US magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly is to be believed, Microsoft will soon offer Bungie's classic FPS Halo as a pay-to-play download via Xbox Live Marketplace, opening the floodgates to a massive back-catalogue roll-out for adopters of Xbox 360.
Halo is slated to be the first game offered by Microsoft, with other sources stating Ninja Gaiden is expected to follow within weeks. The games are expected to hit the increasingly concise online gaming portal in August of this year, with every first-party and Tecmo title release for Xbox likely to become available before the end of 2006.
No pricing was mentioned by either EGM or those talking to SPOnG over the weekend, though sources close to Microsoft did hint that the revised delivery of Xbox back-catalogue would herald the roll-out of larger 360 hard drives. Don't be at all surprised of you see HDs hitting retail that come with pre-paid Xbox game bundles in stores this summer.
* Fixed graphics in kf2k2spr.
* Fixed ms5plus M ROM size.
* Patched out HW test in Neo-Geo games. (removes ugly green screen on boot) (by iq_132)
* The following sets have been added: aof3k, fswords, lastsold, rbff2k, ssf2tbr1, ms5pcb (incomplete)
* Updated several sets based on CRC info from FBA Plus.
* Fixed disabled shortcuts when reconnecting controllers.
Features:
*(ALL) Excellent (for PCE also stupendous, fanshmabulous) compatibility - ported from Mednafen
*(ALL) ZIP support
*(PCE) Launch original PCEngine CDs from your XBox DVDROM drive
*(ALL) Loads of hardware/software filters and video options to tweak
*(ALL) Cheat system - Search/Create your own cheat codes (see notes)
*(ALL) Favorites list
*(ALL) Save states
*(NES) Light gun support (see notes)
*(ALL) Fast forward/throttle
*(ALL) Resizable game screen
*(ALL) Text file viewer
*(ALL) ISO9660, Relax, Samba support
*(ALL) Take in-game screenshots and display them on the game selection list
*(ALL) Record/Playback feature - record your gameplay in the emu and then play it back again. Record up to 10 minutes of gameplay.
*(ALL) Every single in-game command is fully customizable on any of the four joypad controllers.
*(ALL) Map any emulator or UI command to a single button or a combination of two buttons. (e.g. RTrigger+LTrigger = Save State)
*(ALL) Autofire capabilities for any emulator button on any controller
*(ALL) One-button combos (define a series of emulator commands to be played back when you press a user-definable XBox controller combination.) (E.g. Press RTrigger+LTrigger to execute the command string A,B,A,B,Up,Down,Left,Right)
*(ALL) Traverse any directory on any drive ( Continue selecting the parent directory entry on the file selection list to get the drive selection list. Selectable drives are C, D, E, F, R, X, Y, Z, RLX, and SMB. R is the CDROM drive. SMB is your samba share, RLX is your relax share. Press Y from any file-listing screen to go up one directory level.
*(ALL) All UI commands (save state, load state, screenshot, etc) can be invoked from the Options/Pause menu as well as in-game via your customized joypad mappings.
*(ALL) All the other standard features found in XPort ports.
The Hyper X is a High quality, low cost solution for XBOX 1.0-1.6's. The installation is completely solderless and everything needed to install it is included. Despite its low cost, parts of the hightest brand are said to be used and every unit is tested on a real console before shipping out.
HyperX Basic Specifications
- Easy and Solderless Pogo and spring wire installation.
- High quality branded 1 Mbyte flash.
- High speed CPLD.
- ON/OFF switch.
- Enable/Disable function.
- Power indicator LED.
We are now taking preorders for a new solderless solution for Xbox: The Hyper X, a high quality, totally solderless, yet low priced Xbox chip!
Features/Specifications:
- Easy and Solderless Pogo and spring wire installation.
- High quality branded 1 Mbyte flash.
- High speed CPLD.
- ON/OFF switch.
- Enable/Disable function.
- Power indicator LED.
Xport released a new version of MednafenX-Lynx, MednafenX-NES and MednafenX-PCE.
What's new/fixed:
*(ALL) Rewind support enabled. Two new button definitions: "Turn On/Off Rewind" and "Rewind". Map them to whatever buttons you want in controller configuration
*(ALL) Should no longer crash in 1080i mode (memory limitation issue)
*(ALL) Error messages when loading games should provide meaningful feedback as to why it has failed.
*(ALL) Possible fix to garbled screen upon starting.
*(ALL) Filename Filter.
*(ALL) Updated text file viewer.
*(ALL) Move DPAD left/right on save state slot to inc/dec slot number.
*(PCE) Implemented 6-button pad. Toggle it on the game configuration menu.
*(PCE) PCE mouse support. Toggle it from game configuration. Use the Left Analog stick or a real USB mouse to control it.
*(PCE) Made main menu have 8 lines.
*(PCE) Audio tracks read from WAV, OGG, or inside BIN files had some distortion and were making the gameplay choppy in certain parts. This is now fixed.
*(PCE) Games that play a specific range of audio sectors from inside an audio track were not starting/stopping at the correct locations when played from an MP3 file. This is fixed, but it will only work correctly if your MP3 files are *not* VBR. They should be constant bitrate.
*(PCE) OGG/WAV/PCM files cannot be read across a network or from ISO9660 files (i.e. your S:\, RLX:\ or SMB:\ drives). An error message will tell you this now instead of the program crashing.
*(PCE) Improved support for ZIP files that have more than one file in them.
*(NES) Game Genie implemented.
*(NES) Use USB mouse to control light gun
*(NES) Made main menu have 7 lines.
*(Lynx) Removed "Launch Inserted CD" menu option (for obvious reasons)
Adam Roberts, executive VP of Vivendi Europe, has told GamesIndustry.biz that while the PS2 is not yet nearing the end of its life cycle, Microsoft must work with publishers to restore retail confidence in the Xbox.
In an exclusive interview, Roberts said: "I think Xbox probably needs help at the moment. We're in discussions with Microsoft to help generate some impetus."
"I think it's going to be a retail-led decision - if retailers lose confidence in a format, then it's very difficult to get that confidence back," he continued.
"A retailer is there to sell what people will buy, and there's no benefit to anyone to have product on the shelves that doesn't sell. Really it's up to us, in conjunction with other publishers and Microsoft, to keep the retailers' confidence in the Xbox as a business opportunity."
"It's not just the responsibility of the retailer... It's a partnership between the publisher, Microsoft and the retailer, not any one of those in isolation."
Roberts was more confident when it came to the future of the PS2, stating: "I'm a great believer in Sony and Sony's knowledge - they know where they are in the life cycle of the PS2, and they're not near the end of it."
"Having lived through the PSone to PS2 transition, it wasn't an overnight phenomenon - people are not going to stop buying PS2 games on the day PS3 comes out."
Roberts also highlighted the importance of reducing the number of filler titles on the market, reiterating Vivendi's strategy of focusing on quality over quantity: "We've made no secret in saying that we've spent the last year and a half refocusing our attention - we've really concentrated our efforts on fewer titles with bigger budgets, and ultimately with higher potential, and that will carry on."
According to Roberts, Vivendi's strategy is to produce "fewer, bigger, better games," since "There is nothing to be gained by having filler titles or just releasing products for the sake of it, just to fill a hole in the schedule."
"The games business is built around content, and you have to sometimes be speculative in the creative process to create something which people want to play, but that's no excuse for churning out filler titles," Roberts concluded.
Microsoft's integration of its consoles and the Web took another step today, with the announcement of friends management on My Xbox, the online community based around the Xbox and Xbox 360. The addition is "only a portion of what we've got up our sleeves," says My Xbox lead program manager Clinton Fowler.
Beginning today, whether gamers wish to add a player they rumbled with in Halo 2 the night before to their friends list or kick off some noob that was clinging on to their roster of buddies, they won't have to wait until they fire up their Xboxes or Xbox 360s. Friend requests can now be sent, accepted, or declined over the Internet through Xbox.com, and existing friends can be removed from lists.
"I can't tell you how long we've wanted to do this feature, and it's finally here," Clinton beamed in a post on Xbox.com. "You don't have to look at those pending friend requests anymore, and you also don't have to wait 'til you get to the console to send a friend request to that guy or gal in the forums!"
For more information or to sign up for a free My Xbox account, head over to Xbox.com.
XboxMediaCenter (XBMC) 2006-03-28 CVS T3CH build
T3CH released a new CVS compile of XboxMediaCenter
Here's the added/changed stuff from the changelog since the 2006-03-23 T3CH CVS release:
* added: XLinkKai(info).UserName infolabel.
* added: ability to abort mplayer while it is parsing of vobsubs
* changed: play folder in my videos ignores sample/ folder.
* changed: unified hide 'parent folder items' setting.
* changed: Log entry if a filename is truncated.
* changed: lowres decoding kicked in on 720p xvid files. limit changed to a width of 1400 from 1280 pixels
* changed: added subtitle/audio stream numberering to osd, easier to see when having multiple English for example
* changed: CFileCURL files will now write in smaller chunks and have less chance of overwriting buffer, also Stat/Exist should now work for http urls. (no knowledge about dir thou)
... rest of changelog (including many fixes): here.
Noteworthy, XML and Script changes in this build:
* Chokeman has touched up some Project Mayhem III dialogs
* Keymap.xml: No changes this time
* XboxMediaCenter.xml: DVD-Game bookmark in My Programs changed.
Xport released a new version of MednafenX-NES(info).
What's new/fixed:
*(v3) Yet another possible fix for garbled video on 1.6 xbox's
*(v3) Games with battery backup RAM (e.g. Zelda) would save the first time you exit the game, but then would fail upon subsequent saves until the emulator was restarted. Fixed.
*(v3) When using the USB mouse or joystick to control the light gun, pressing one button will fire normally and pressing the other button will automatically fire off-screen (cursor automatically positioned to upper left corner)
*(v4) Yet another possible fix for garbled video on 1.6 xbox's
Another release of Xports port of this Genesis/Sega CD/32X emu, heres the news:
Core:
- CUE sheet loading for ISO/MP3 is fixed
- Loading state from BIN/CUE would not restart the CDDA
being played. Fixed.
GUI:
- Brought up to date with most recently added features
No dl, info here
