NEStopia preview release #4 for Linux is available here (source overlay).

NOTE: I’ve slipstreamed a small fix so that battery save files load properly. If you are having that issue, re-downloading and compiling the source should solve your problem.

Here’s what’s new this time:

• New ALSA audio backend should be more compatible & stable
• Fixed random crashes when suspending gameplay
• Database support. If you copy the supplied NstDatabase.dat file to ~/.nestopia/, you’ll get working auto-detection of PAL/NTSC plus automatic fixups for common badly-dumped games
• Improved PAL support – PAL games no longer have audio glitches
• Added the ability to reset the emulated NES (press F4 during gameplay).

To compile, you’ll also need the main source, and it’s always a good idea to keep the official forum bookmarked.

NEStopia preview release #3 for Linux is right here (source overlay). If you didn’t try #2, you’ll need the main source, and it’s always a good idea to keep the official forum in mind.

Here’s what’s new this time:

• Usability improvement: the game is now suspended when you press Esc rather than unloaded – it will resume when you click “Play”
• .zip and .7z support
• Drag and drop support
• nstcontrols is now read from ~/.nestopia/, allowing multi-user installation and packaging

I’m pleased to announce NEStopia preview release #2 for Linux and Unix systems (requirements: GTK+ 2.4 and SDL 1.2.10+).

It features:

• NEStopia 1.36 core
• Full GUI configuration of all options
• .nes and .unf/.unif ROM support
• .fds Disk System support
• .nsf music player support
• .nst save state support
• .nsv movie play and recording
• .sav battery saving
• All the video filters from the Windows version (NTSC, Scale2x/3x, ScaleHQ 2x/3x/4x)
• Limited configuration of the NTSC filter (via presets)
• Sound volume, output rate, stereo/mono, and OSS/ALSA selection
• Rewind capability, so you can put time into reverse and fix that bad jump or ill-timed use of your last missile
• Keyboard and joypad support, fully remappable via a simple config file

Download the source overlay right here.
Get the main source here, and check out the NEStopia support board here.

Nicola has fully cracked the Sega MC8123 encrypted CPU. This means, among other things, that games like Opa Opa and Fantasy Zone 2 now run. MAMEdev was afraid those games might be lost forever, since no working examples were known, but now they’ll be back to life. Sweet!