My co-conspirator smf and PSX GPU god Pete Bernert have been busy. Check out the pretty hi-res screen of Tenkomori Shooting.

An operator in the UK sent us a dump of Sega’s 1998 LeMans 24 (Model 3 Step 1.5). I added it to the MAME driver but it doesn’t do anything cool yet. Ville Linde (the man with the PowerPC plan) will need to have a look.

Audio Overload rumbles onward. The NSF and GBS engines have been scrapped and replaced with brand new ones by Blargg, author of the Mac-only Game Music Box. These engines use a new technique called “band-limited synthesis” for the purest tones you will ever hear. The difference on classics like Zelda and Metroid is startling, and I’m proud to be the first PC player supporting it. Also on deck: more AdLib formats for that OPL sound you can’t get enough of.

M1 continues to thaw and get it’s ROM support upgraded as well as some new games. Stay tuned.

Audio Overload 2.0b5 for Linux, Windows, and MacOSX should be has been posted in the next half-day or so at Richard Bannister’s site.

This version supports 21 file formats! My codename was “Total Corlett Domination” – see why…

• .AY – Amstrad CPC/Spectrum ZX/Atari ST
• .COP – Sam Coupe
• .GBS – Nintendo Gameboy
• .GSF – Nintendo Gameboy Advance
• .GYM – Sega Megadrive/Genesis
• .HES – PC Engine
• .KSS – MSX
• .MDX – Sharp X68000
• .MOD – Commodore Amiga Tracker
• .NSF – Nintendo NES
• .ORC – TRS-80 Orchestra-90
• .PSF – Sony PlayStation
• .QSF – Capcom QSound
• .RAW – PC AdLib FM
• .S3M – PC ScreamTracker 3
• .S98 – NEC PC-98
• .SAP – Atari XL/XE
• .SNDH – Atari ST
• .SPC – Super Nintendo
• .VGM – Sega Master System/Game Gear
• .YM – Amstrad CPC/Spectrum ZX/Atari ST

“PSF on Linux and MacOSX?” you say? “QSF on Linux and MacOSX?” That’s right. And every single PSF rip Zophar has plays on all 3 platforms – only Highly Experimental itself is that compatible.

I’ve started working on a Sharp X68000 driver for MESS. This was basically Japan’s answer to the US/Euro 16-bit home computers like the Amiga and ST, and a fine answer it was: basically it’s powerful arcade hardware in a small tower case with a keyboard and mouse. As a result, there are a ton of fantastic arcade ports with additional options as well as some groundbreaking games specifically for it by companies like Konami, Namco, Taito, and Sega.

Also, the next version of Audio Overload will make many people very happy. I’ll keep why a secret for now though…

And I’ve even pulled the tarp off of M1.