ep128emu is a portable emulator of the Enterprise 64/128, ZX Spectrum 48/128, and Amstrad CPC 464 computers supporting Windows and POSIX platforms (32-bit Windows and 32- and 64-bit Linux have been tested). It implements accurate, high quality hardware emulation, but the system requirements are higher than that of most other emulators.

Changes: CPC floppy drive controller (uPD765) emulation was implemented. Various minor fixes, optimizations, and improvements have been made to DAVE, NICK, 6845 CRTC, and CPC video emulation. The detection and verifying of disk geometry in the WD177x emulation was improved. It is possible to disable software control of the tape motor. Disk image and ROM packages were updated. Some changes have been made to the debugger window and monitor emulation. The x86_64 Linux binaries were built with LuaJIT 2.0.0 beta5.

Release Tags: minor-feature-enhancements

Tags: Emulators

Licenses: GPL

ep128emu is a portable emulator of the Enterprise 64/128, ZX Spectrum 48/128, and Amstrad CPC 464 computers supporting Windows and POSIX platforms (32-bit Windows and 32- and 64-bit Linux have been tested). It implements accurate, high quality hardware emulation, but the system requirements are higher than that of most other emulators. Changes: CPC floppy drive controller (uPD765) emulation was implemented. Various minor [...]

Syd Bolton, who runs the Personal Computer Museum in Brantford, Canada, really enjoys Dragon's Lair in all its many, many incarnations. Bolton owns almost every version of Dragon's Lair ever released, which is saying a lot considering that game has been ported more times over the last 30 years than a Carnival Cruise ship. However, he hasn't got them all, telling Joystiq that he's missing the mobile phone version from 2005 (because it wasn't available in his area) and the Amstrad CPC versions from the mid-'80s.

The picture above contains 47 versions of the game and its sequels. Bolton mentions that the image doesn't contain the whole collection, as a few copies are in storage. We've listed every copy of the game featured in the picture after the break.

Continue reading A daring Dragon's Lair game collection

A daring Dragon's Lair game collection originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's Street Fighter ! YAY !
On Amstrad CPC ! NAY !

Sine waves, square waves, sawtooth and triangle; white noise for a drumkit, and a cathode ray tube for a stage. Being geeky, I was into computer-generated music as a youngster, long before I caught up with pop music. In an age before cheap internet access, however, there weren't many folks to share it with. So it's with not a little jealously to see today's chiptune scene, fed as much by fresh, unhinged creativity as the nostalgia it often evokes in listeners. One epicenter of all this is 8-Bit Collective, where dozens of new tracks are uploaded daily, sourced from an army of thousands of registered users. Founded by Jose Torres and George Michael Brower, it describes itself as the first file-sharing community dedicated to chiptunes. "Pure malleability," Brower said, describing the essential qualities of computer-generated music. "I'm put off by anyone who refers to chiptune as a 'genre' because of the diversity you'll find under that umbrella."

Though far from the first such site on the web, 8-bit Collective acts like a wiki or repository: anyone can add a new song, and the editorial filtering comes from the comments added by listeners. The vast size of its community--nearly 19,000 registered users--and archive ensures both a constant stream of quality tracks, fertile discussion and an inexhaustible backlist for newcomers to enjoy.

Computer-generated music emerged in the 1950s, heralded by what the BBC describes as 'a truncated version of In The Mood.' The success of synthesizers in popular music notwithstanding, an early heyday for music synthesized in real time came in the 1980s, as the soundtrack to a generation of electronic games. Though held back by technology, competition for the pocket money of millions of kids forced developers to make the most of limited resources.

"I grew up with a strong love for gaming," said Atlanta musician Judson Cowan, in a 2007 Destructoid interview which neatly describes how old video games inspire new music. Cowan, who releases his albums free-of-charge as Tettix, describes how a childhood affinity became a calling. "I love the musicality of game soundtracks. I love the unabashed hook usage and the freedom that working with such primitive sounds gives to the compositions. When you're not so concerned with creating synths that sound good, with avoiding making things cheesy, it really opens up your options a lot musically."

Classics from gaming history are now performed by orchestras to large audiences. But it's also true that those who loved chips sounds have freed the style from its gaming roots: "It's more about the instrumentation," composer Matthew Applegate told interviewer Richard Haugh last year.

Brower likes melody, but notes that the collective is home to a lot of music that completely ignores conventions familiar to gamers: "I think chip music can be a really "pure" way to communicate your ideas as a composer. That said, there's a lot of really percussive, atonal chip music. I think that's sort of a testament how colorful the scene is. I think a lot of chip musicians may be too self-conscious to admit it, but the nostalgia factor doesn't hurt either. I'm just really disappointed when people can't see through the novelty of the medium and appreciate some of the incredible songwriting that goes on in the name of chip music."

Where to get started, if your own exposure comes from mainstream pop music's mining of the sound, or an occasional video interview?

Wade in with Music Radar's splendid glossary of chiptune tech and lore, published just a few days ago. The first entry introduces the AY-3-8910 chip, a classic found in the Amstrad CPC and other popular machines of the 1980s. Chip Flip also has a nice timeline of electronic music, beginning in 1951.

Recent chiptune projects include A Kind of Bloop, a cover album of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. By taking the sound of chip music to a Jazz standard, the artists highlight chip music's expressive power: it can embody even the warmest classics, far from the crashing melodies found in games and Blipfest alike.

Project organizer Andy Baio introduced the project thus: "I've always wondered what chiptune jazz covers would sound like. What would the jazz masters sound like on a Nintendo Entertainment System? Coltrane on a C-64? Mingus on Amiga? I've researched the topic quite a bit, and was only able to find four jazz covers ever released." The project reached its funding goal within hours of its announcement, and the resulting album is just $5: download it here.

Another new project, however, lives firmly in the retro 1980s zone: 8 Bit Weapon's Tron Tribute takes Wendy Carlos' 1982 analog score and renders it as pure chip music, only to mash it up with a chaotic modern sensibility.

Last week, chip artist The Disco King remixed Kansas' '76 prog rock classic Carry On Wayward Son. How well did he distill a track "strewn with complex guitar work and rhythmic changes" into pure melody and white noise? Judge for yourself: hear the result at Music Radar.

If you like the sound of all this, 8-Bit Collective's relentless deluge of music beckons. Other interesting sites include 8-bit peoples, the Mod Archive and Chipmusic.org. Game nostaliga-centered sites include Amiga Music Preservation and The High Coltage SID Collection. Kohina offers streaming internet radio feeds.

Want to try your hand? Hardcore composers craft new sounds with the old hardware. Others use specialist equipment like the SidStation, which uses the same audio chip found in the Commodore 64. A more approachable method is to buy software that emulates classic machinery, letting you attend the old school with modern apps such as Garageband, Logic Studio and MU.LAB.

On the iPad and iPhone, bleep!BOX is a fun place to start: the straightforward interface makes composing a cinch even for beginners.

And once you're happy with your first attempt, critique is only an upload away.

"I'm honored to have had a hand in the creation of a platform that's given so many people an outlet to express themselves," Brower said. "And if its done anything to increase awareness of this 'movement,' style of music, whatever you want to call it, then I'm more than happy."

The curators of England's Centre for Computing History have been asked to supply a glorious array of vintage warhorses for the set of season four of The IT Crowd, Graham Linehan's kick-ass nerd sitcom for Channel 4. They've enumerate the lovingly selected items we can look forward to seeing this season (I can't wait!).

Look out for 'webby' our little black and white beanie mascot that was behind Moss in the third series. He's there again in the next series!

Other computers on the set include a CGL Sord M5, Oric Atmos, Amstrad CPC 464, Commodore 64, a homebrew Sinclair ZX81 (on top of the Altair 8800), Atari 2600 games console, Commodore PET, Apple Mac Plus, ZX Spectrum +2, the main PCB of an Acorn Atom and a ZX Spectrum Plus in its original box and various others around the set ...

Vintage Computing Items for the IT Crowd (via /.)

This is, in actual fact, my very first attempt at a video game review from way back in September 2008 (which explains the dated copyright screen). Up until a couple of days ago, it lay untouched complete with horrible audio quality on my old computer. Now, thanks to the wonders of audio cleaning technology, I present to you a hissless version of my cacky Xanagrams review. Oh lucky you!

Madmab released new updates for 9 Xbox1 emulators: * AdamX(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEpyykFZllySELphkAv )) ColecoVision/Adam Emulator port for XBox v5 - full release details/forum thread (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=711666 ) * ArnoldX(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEplyuuZkEymgTOKZdB )) Amstrad CPC Emulator port for XBox v5 - full release details/forum thread (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=711667 ) * BlissX(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEpVpuFEVpAnVnHgYdz )) Intellivision Emulator port for XBox v9 - full release details/forum thread (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=711668 ) * BlueMSXBox(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEplyuuZEVlknBjOShE )) BlueMSX Emulator port for XBox v4 - full release details/forum thread (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=711669 ) * Chip8X - CHIP8/SuperCHIP8 Emulator for XBox v4 - full release details/forum thread (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=711670 ) * MednafenX-Lynx(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEEukAlEkFERjSsWhdI )) - Lynx Emulator for XBox v6 - full release details/forum thread (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=711671 ) * NeoGenesis(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEpVApllkAuZwgSIlKg )) Sega Genesis/Megadrive/32X/SegaCD/MegaCD Emulator for XBox v24 - full release details/forum thread (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=711672 ) * MednafenX-NES(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEEukAlEkklnokcQKGx )) - NES Emulator for XBox v15 - full release details/forum thread (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=711673 ) * XBoyAdvance(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEpVllpuVklMkRUMxev )) - GBA/GBC/GB/SGB/SGB2 Emulator for XBox v23 - full release details/forum thread (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=711674 ) Official Site: n/a, by Madmab Download: n/a (built with XDK (http://www.xbox-scene.com/xdk.php ))

Madmab released new version of several Xbox1 emulators. * ArnoldX(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEplyuuZkEymgTOKZdB )) v4, Amstrad CPC Emulator port for Xbox - full changelog (http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1820.nfo ) * BlissX(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEpVpuFEVpAnVnHgYdz )) v8, Intellivision Emulator port for Xbox - full changelog (http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1819.nfo ) * AdamX(info (http://www.xbox-scene.com/software/software.php?page=emulators#newsitemEpyykFZllySELphkAv )) v4, ColecoVision/Adam Emulator port for Xbox - full changelog (http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1818.nfo ) Official Site: http://www.ressurectionxtras.net (http://www.ressurectionxtras.net/ ) Download: n/a (built with XDK (http://www.xbox-scene.com/xdk.php )) News-Source: xbins.org (http://www.xbins.org )

[In the latest of an occasional series of demoscene-related posts on GameSetWatch before, AteBit's Paul 'EvilPaul' Grenfell presents a multi-part retrospective on 2009's best demos - continuing with the best demos made for older video game and computer systems, but released last year. Previously: best demos and best 64kb/4kb intros.]

Next up in my look back at the 2009 demoscene is one of my favourite categories - oldschool. Oldschool sceners are some of the most dedicated in the business, working night and day to squeeze ever more out of computers that are decades old.

This isn't like the PC scene, where effects that we can only imagine doing in realtime today may be possible tomorrow with the release of better and faster hardware. The oldschool scene moves forwards as its devotees delve further into undocumented hardware and coerce it into performing tricks that were unimaginable when their machines were first released.

Unlike demos on modern computers, if an effect is too slow they can't simply run it on more powerful hardware or pre-calcuate the required data - they must use arcane hardware and software tricks to squeeze every once of power out of their chosen hardware.

As a result, every year astonishing new techniques and effects are discovered and presented, and the whole scene continues to evolve. Here are some of the highlights:

1st: Jesus Christ Motocross by Nature & Traktor

This fast paced Commodore Amiga computer AGA demo with an awesome soundtrack easily stands out from the crowd with its unique style.

2nd: Luminagia by Loonies

Another memorable soundtrack in this 4k Amiga AGA intro.

3rd: Mescaline Synesthesia by deMarche

A good example of how the oldschool scene is still pushing machines like the ZX Spectrum to new heights.

4th: Lightshaft by Elude

Amiga AGA demos continue to impress, and this demo again shows why a computer released back in 1992 still deserves much respect.

5th: Andropolis by Booze Design & Instinct

A Commodore 64 demo packed full of great effects and graphics.

6th: Bold by Dvik & Joyrex

Neat design wraps up the great effects in this MSX computer demo.

7th: Ahh.. The Tape loading Era! by Ate Bit

Yo dawg, I heard you like demos so I put a demo in your demos so you can watch a demo while you load your demos. [Disclaimer: I designed and coded this ZX Spectrum demo.]

8th: From Scratch by Vanity

Great music, vibrant colours and a couple of lovely effects in this demo running on the Amstrad CPC computer.

9th: Roboty by Tulou

Another 4k Amiga AGA demo. Not the most technically advanced 4k maybe, but I love the fresh design.

10th: Suretrip II - Dopecode by Checkpoint

An epic megademo on the Atari ST, showcasing some amazing code tricks on this 25 year old, 8mhz home computer.

ep128emu is a portable emulator of the Enterprise 64/128, ZX Spectrum 48/128, and Amstrad CPC 464 computers supporting Windows and POSIX platforms (32-bit Windows and 32- and 64-bit Linux have been tested). It implements accurate, high quality hardware emulation, but the system requirements are higher than that of most other emulators. Changes: This release implements ZX Spectrum 48/128 and Amstrad CPC emulation; [...]

ep128emu is a portable emulator of the Enterprise 64/128, ZX Spectrum 48/128, and Amstrad CPC 464 computers supporting Windows and POSIX platforms (32-bit Windows and 32- and 64-bit Linux have been tested). It implements accurate, high quality hardware emulation, but the system requirements are higher than that of most other emulators.

Changes: This release implements ZX Spectrum 48/128 and Amstrad CPC emulation; for now, only basic configuration of these machines is supported (there is no disk emulation yet), although the emulation accuracy should be good. Various minor improvements and bugfixes have been made to Z80 and DAVE emulation and the debugger, monitor, and Lua scripting.

Tags: Emulators

Licenses: GPL

Free and open source Amstrad CPC emulator in Java

CaPriCe is an Amstrad CPC 464/664/6128 emulator for Palm OS.