June 2024 news roundup
Welcome back! Here's your GBAtemp news roundup for the month!
What happened in June? Let's see...
Sony announced they're releasing a $60 adapter on August 7th to connect the PlayStation VR2 to PCs. A modern take on the Xperia Play, called M-Con, is in the works for retro gaming fans. A fan remake of Fallout 2 using Fallout 4's engine is aiming for a Steam release pending legal repercussions.
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is launching a $199 FPGA Game Boy system. Nintendo issued yet more DMCA notices, taking down a popular Breath of the Wild randomizer mod. Civilization VII was announced. Xbox's showcase revealed new a Doom title, Gears of War prequel and more.
Modders might have found a way to hack Xbox One consoles. A fan project is colorizing all Game Boy Mega Man games. A new Metal Gear Solid Legacy Series episode features David Hayter. RetroArch for Wii U is getting better with new alpha builds.
EverSD now works with HyperMegaTech's Super Pocket handheld. The full source code for SNES Doom is in the wild. The June Nintendo Direct announced new Mario & Luigi, Dragon Quest III remake, and more. Capcom is finally localizing Ace Attorney Investigations 2. And finally, a Wind Waker HD randomizer is now available.
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June 2024 news roundup
Sony has officially unveiled their solution to allow the PlayStation VR2 to connect to any PC capable of running PC VR games, unlocking a huge library of PC VR exclusive titles and content for those interested.
The small breakout box, priced at a RRP of $59.99 / €59.99 / £49.99, will allow the headset to connect via DisplayPort 1.4+ and USB but will also require a Bluetooth connection and a PC powerful enough to run VR titles in the first place.
But there are a number of caveats that potential buyers should be aware of...
How do you seamlessly play retro games on the go? You can carry an Xbox controller and a controller clip, though it’s bulky and cumbersome. You can use a telescopic controller grip like the Backbone One, but you’ve got to find somewhere to store it and remove your phone from its case to use it.
There hasn’t been a perfect solution for the mobile gaming problem since Sony debuted the Xperia Play in 2011, and enthusiasts have been calling for a successor ever since.
That successor may yet be here.
Utilizing Fallout 4's creation engine, the development team behind this project aims to fully remake the entirety of Fallout 2 into Fallout 4, with entirely new assets, be it 3D models, maps, objects, voicelines, music, etc.; completely made from scratch to resemble and improve upon the original release into a full 3D 1st person environment.
It's still unknown whether or not they will go for the Steam option, given that would require a lot of legal hurdles to be settled to be able to properly release such endeavor into Steam.
Palmer Luckey is known for his pursuits into the world of virtual reality, having founded Oculus and designed the Rift VR headset. Prior to the $2 billion dollar buyout of Oculus, however, Luckey had a hobby of modding Game Boy handhelds and taking home consoles and turning them into portable devices. He's gone back to his roots, by announcing the ModRetro Chromatic--a competitor to the Analogue Pocket--which offers a pixel-perfect IPS display, a link cable port, support for AA batteries, a USB-C charging and display-out port, and more.
Another day, another Nintendo DMCA takedown against fan-made content.
Just a few minutes ago, Nintendo issued a DMCA takedown notice against a widely known and popular Randomizer mod for Breath of the Wild made by Waikuter and hosted in Gamebanana. Effective immediately, the mod in question has been completely removed from Gamebanana with the quote "This Mod has been trashed for a rule violation", with the rule violation in question being listed as "DMCA Takedown".
The award-winning strategy game franchise returns with a revolutionary new chapter. Sid Meier's Civilization® VII empowers you to build the greatest empire the world has ever known!
Rule as one of many legendary leaders from throughout history. Establish your civilization, construct cities and architectural wonders to expand your territory, conquer or cooperate with rival civilizations in pursuit of prosperity, and explore the far reaches of the unknown world. Will you build an empire that stands the test of time?
Sid Meier's Civilization® VII is a 4X strategy game developed by the legendary team at Firaxis Games, developers of the Civilization and XCOM franchises.
At the Xbox Games Showcase, major announcements included Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, launching October 25 and available day one on Game Pass. Bethesda revealed DOOM: The Dark Ages and Starfield's Shattered Space DLC. State of Decay 3, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Fallout 76's Vault 63 expansion, and new content for Sea of Thieves were also highlighted. Other notable reveals were Fable, Age of Mythology: Retold, Perfect Dark, Diablo IV expansion, and a new Gears of War. Upcoming games include Flintlock, South of Midnight, Expedition 33, Winter Burrow, Mixtape, and more. An all-digital Xbox Series X releases this holiday.
It's been a while since Microsoft released the Xbox One, and despite its age, there haven't been any reliable softmod methods to hack the console. Until now. A post started making the rounds, saying that a method for executing kernel level code on the Xbox One had been found. A list of instructions for preparing Xbox One systems to be hacked was also provided...
A community of very talented Mega Man fans have taken it upon themselves to create their own colorized version of all the Game Boy titles of the Blue Bomber, and the fan project has taken the title of "Mega Man Mania", as the original release was known initially.
Featuring a brand new trailer, veteran romhacker MarcMax showcased the already existing GB DX hacks, with the very first being Mega Man World 5 DX, which MarcMax worked on some years ago alongside kensuyjin, and the very first Mega Man World having a DX version right now as well by Specialagentape.
Following yesterday's Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater's gameplay trailer, Konami has aired a new episode of its METAL GEAR SOLID Legacy Series today. In Part 2, we are reunited with David Hayter, the original voice actor of Solid Snake, Naked Snake, and Big Boss, as he goes over the new mechanics and graphical improvements in the remake.
The Wii U was a versatile console for homebrew enthusiasts, offering backward compatibility with Wii and Virtual Console emulation for NES to Wii games. Despite its potential, Wii U-specific homebrew lagged behind the Wii. RetroArch initially struggled with compatibility on the Aroma custom firmware but recent efforts by developers have improved it significantly. Early alpha builds now show faster load times and better integration with Aroma, including enhanced features like threaded rendering for PSX games. Although these builds are still unofficial, ongoing development continues to enhance the Wii U's homebrew capabilities, extending the console's relevance in the community.
Today, the EverSD team has announced that, thanks to a new update, the EverSD homebrew cartridge is now compatible with HyperMegaTech's Super Pocket retro handheld. It enables owners to run homebrew games and develop software on the system like it does on the Evercade. A trailer was aired for the occasion:
Furthermore, the team announced that they are taking pre-orders for EverSD of new colours. The two new options match the Super Pocket handheld (as depicted in the image above).
The complete source code for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) version of Doom has been released on archive.org. Although some of the code was partially released a few years ago, this is the first time the full source code has been made publicly available.
It will be interesting to see what the community may achieve with this source code, perhaps the game can be further optimized beyond what was originally possible back in 1995.
Nintendo announced a range of upcoming releases, including Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Nov 7), Dragon Quest III HD-2D remake (Nov 14), and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (2025). Other highlights include a new Fairy Tail action-RPG, Fantasian turn-based RPG, and a new farm game, Farmagia (Nov 1). Classic games like Donkey Kong Country Returns (Jan 16) and Luigi’s Mansion 2 (June 27) are also getting ports. Nintendo Switch Online is adding classic GBA and N64 titles.
Notable new games include Super Mario Party: Jamboree (Oct 17) and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Sept 26). Additional updates feature sports, puzzle, and adventure games.
After 13 years, Capcom is going to officially translate and release Ace Attorney Investigations 2. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit will be coming west later this year, as part of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection. It'll feature brand new HD art, and remixed music, with the option to toggle between the original music and graphics. It'll be available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam for PC on September 6, 2024.
Zelda fans can one again rejoice as a new way to play the popular Wii U remaster Wind Waker HD has been released. Much like Skyward Sword, Wind Waker has long had a popular randomizer for its original release, but this marks the first time players have been able to enjoy the enhanced graphics and tweaks of the remaster in a fully random way.
For those unaware, randomizers take the familiar landscape of a game and shuffle obtainable items to create entirely unique playthroughs that can provide interesting and new challenges. Many of the available settings here will be familiar to users of the original Wind Waker randomizer, with the app itself being incredibly easy to navigate and use. On top of being able to pick what you want to shuffle, you can also customise your player model's colours right out of the box.
That's it for news from the month of June. We'll be back next month with another news round up!
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