The source code for DOOM on the Super NES was released on July 14th 2020. In this episode we take a closer look at how its developer Randy Linden was able to pull off the impossible port to the SNES hardware.
Reverse Engineering : Is it legal or is it a grey area? This is the story of how 2 different game companies reverse engineered the Sega Genesis 16bit console and how the courts ruled in favor of clean-room reverse engineering as a legal form of both software and hardware modification.
2020-07-13 11:46:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Microsoft and Intel's partnership stems back to the early 80's with MSDOS and Windows. Microsoft would use Intel to power the Original Xbox in 2001. Yet in 2005 with the next generation Xbox 360, they famously split from the chipmaker in favor of IBM and their PowerPC architecture - made famous by Apple and with PowerMac line of computers. In this episode we take a look at why Microsoft dumped Intel for the Xbox 360 game system.
2020-07-06 11:46:01 +0000 UTC View Post
FreeDVDExploit is a new hack for the Sony PlayStation 2 that has been discovered by Security Researcher CTurt - it allows the user to boot homebrew games on an unmodded PS2 console via DVD Player exploits. In this episode we take a closer look at how it works and what I think I means for the future of homebrew on the PS2.
2020-06-29 11:46:59 +0000 UTC View Post
It's been almost 3 years since the Super NES Classic Mini. Whatever happened to the Nintendo 64 Classic Mini that has been rumored? Is it still coming? In this episode we take a deep dive into emulation on the Nintendo 64 and my thoughts that the N64 Classic Mini won't be released.
I picked up a brand new Nintendo 2DSXL for $99 recently for the purposes of modding and homebrew. Let's see what it can do and how well it holds up in 2020!
2020-06-15 11:46:59 +0000 UTC View Post
In 2003, the source code for Half Life 2 was leaked onto the internet. It was not long after that it was compiled and made available for anyone to play. It became known as the Half Life 2 Beta. Valve Corporation was unable to figure out who was responsible until one day in February 2004, the culprit confessed to President Gabe Newell. In this episode we take a look at the story of one of largest video game leaks of all time.
With the newest released ports to the Nintendo Switch including The Wonderful 101, BioShock Collection, XCOM2 and of course Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, the question needs to be asked - can the Nintendo Switch sustain 3 more years of last and current generation console ports without requiring more processing power? We discuss in this episode.
2020-06-01 11:47:00 +0000 UTC View Post
The Leaks continue. On May 21st - The Verge reported on Xbox source code leaking online. The source code includes parts of the original Xbox operating system. In this episode we take a closer look at these leaks, what they contain and if they will help with Original Xbox Emulation.
2020-05-25 11:46:59 +0000 UTC View Post
The Sony PlayStation Network PSN hack of 2011 was the worst 30 days of the history of the company. In this episode we take a look at the timeline of events, understand the motives, assess who was responsible and how the hack actually occurred.
2020-05-18 11:46:00 +0000 UTC View Post
On this weeks episode we take a look at the PolyMega Module Addon for the Sega Genesis/Megadrive/32x. Is it worth the money? We take a close look at the cartridge module hardware and put it to the test!
2020-05-11 11:47:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Game Leaks are a hot topic right now. Perhaps no story is more crazy than the Xbox 360 and its PartnerNet service. In this episode we take a look at the story of how Microsoft were unable to control game leaks on the Xbox 360 because of critical security flaws within the PartnerNet service - the Developer version of Xbox Live, how thousands of unauthorized users were able to access PartnerNet and download and leak pre-release beta games months before official release.
2020-05-04 11:46:00 +0000 UTC View Post
The Nintendo 64 was an impressive console. Silicon Graphics and Nintendo pulled off the unthinkable - the precision of accurate 3D hardware on a $199 consumer home console. Yet developers complained that the system was too complex and overly difficult to develop games on. In this episode we take a closer look at some of the complexities developers faced when making games for the N64.
2020-04-27 11:46:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Did you know you could program using BASIC on the Sega Saturn? In 1998, Bits Laboratory released Game BASIC for the Sega Saturn. An easy way for programmers to write games on the Saturn without an expensive development kit. In this episode we take a look at what BASIC is, its importance in game development and theorize why it was made available for the Saturn
2020-04-20 11:47:00 +0000 UTC View Post
PolyMega All in One retro game console is here! As a part of the PolyMega beta test I received my unit last week. In this video we take a close look at the system. Is it really worth $299? How is the emulation? Does it really run Sega Saturn games? Lets take a closer look !
2020-04-13 11:46:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Bored during lockdown so I ported Heart of Darkness to the Original Xbox . In this episode i show you how its done.
2020-04-06 11:47:00 +0000 UTC View Post
In 2003, Russian Company 'Protection Technologies' released a new form of Copy Protection for PC Games. Known as StarForce - in this episode, we take a closer look at the protection, how it works and how it caused much controversy in PC CDROM gaming in the mid 2000s
2020-03-30 11:47:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Every wondered why the Sony PlayStation 1 graphics were warped, or why they jittered and wobbled around - especially compared to the Nintendo 64? In this video we take a look at the cause and how they could have been avoided.
Have you ever wondered why DOOM runs on everything from computers, game consoles, tablets, phones, watches and even microwave ovens? In this episode we take a closer look.
2020-03-16 11:46:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Swap Tricks, Hardware Mods, libCrypt, Cracking Groups, Spyro the Dragon 3 - Its all here. We go into detail about the mod-chip and piracy scene for the Sony PlayStation and how security on the system was defeated.
2020-03-09 11:47:00 +0000 UTC View PostHi Patrons,
I wanted to take a moment to talk about a few things. I recently just found out there was an exit survey section on the page which optionally allows for some comments to be added as to why Patrons have left.
In most cases people have left because of changing financial situations - i totally understand - please take care of yourself and family before anything but in others there was some comments made that im not responsive or communicate enough with everyone here and thats the reason for their departure.
And i need to be honest about that - its true, I have not been as active here and i should be and I want to change that today. I've been working through my inbox and responding to as many messages as possible and i will follow up with everyone. I will set time to answer peoples questions and requests each week
In some cases people still may be waiting for a T-Shirt and i will address that this weekend as well.
In summary - i'll do better to support the community here.
And please if you have any questions/advice/comments/suggestions here feel free to leave them here. I'll be sure to read them all
have a great weekend
It's been 2 years since our last Amiga video but we are back with a look at an amazing graphics card for any Amiga 2000/3000/4000. This is the MNT ZZ9000 RTG Card that supports resolutions up to 1080p , had onboard ethernet and USB, is open source and FPGA
2020-03-02 12:47:00 +0000 UTC View Post
The Story of the Sony PlayStation Net Yaroze - The Consumer grade Development Kit that was sold in 1997 and how it brought Indie development to video games for an affordable price.
2020-02-24 12:46:59 +0000 UTC View Post
In 2001 Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance which had some familiar but also advanced graphical features that helped define the system into such a fantastic handheld. In this episode we take a closer look at the graphics subsystem for the GBA.
2020-02-17 12:46:00 +0000 UTC View Post
These days, N64 reproduction cartridges are everywhere, but for years security on the Nintendo 64 was unable to be defeated other than working around the security. On this episode we take a look at how Anti Piracy worked on the Nintendo 64 and how methods to work around and ultimately clone the process was accomplished.
2020-02-10 12:46:01 +0000 UTC View Post
A recent discovery from the N64 Super Mario 64 De-Compilation Project appears to show that Super Mario 64 USA release for the Nintendo 64 was not optimized and was released as a debug version. However things are not that cut and dry. In this episode we take a deep dive in to what went on with development of Nintendo 64 games in 1996 and how this theory may not be accurate.
2020-02-03 12:48:00 +0000 UTC View Post
In this episode we discuss the important of game preservation and 3 methods of how to get data off an original Xbox Devkit hard drive.
2020-01-27 12:47:01 +0000 UTC View Post
This week we take a look at the Nintendo Game Boy Color, how the graphics worked and some of the cool effects programmers were able to extract from the very simple architecture.
If you missed my previous video about Graphics on the original DMG Game Boy you can watch it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQE1K074v3s
2020-01-20 12:46:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Capcom CPS2 arcade boards were notorious for permanent failure after the so-called 'suicide battery' that, once had run out, would erase the contents of battery backed up RAM that contains decryption keys for the game. Without this key the board would not run.
Finally in 2016 new methods have appeared to completely revive a non working Capcom CPS2 board and restore it back to its former self without resorting to the infamous 'Phoenix' method - which required altering code and burning new roms.
2020-01-13 12:47:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The Sony PlayStation Vita was discontinued in 2019, but that does not mean its dead. In this episode we look at what makes the Vita so great, mod the system and discuss some of the best homebrew for the system to enhance it even further in 2020.
2020-01-06 12:46:00 +0000 UTC View Post