🎮 GBAtemp user iriez shared v8 of the native Nintendo Switch port of Super Mario 64, and it bundles high-poly SGI models directly into the install package.

You'll need a modded Switch to run the custom `.nsp` file. Texture packs and models toggle straight from the pause menu now, alongside a mirror mode and an option to stay in the level after grabbing a star instead of getting kicked back to the castle yard every three minutes.

There's also a setting to disable framepacing if custom assets cause lag, though you do have to restart the game whenever you swap texture models for the new look to kick in.

🔗 GBAtemp

#mario #decomp #port

💣 Rare's N64 demolition game Blast Corps just got a native PC release thanks to SlaveOfIDO's static recompilation project, blastcorps-recomp.

Built using N64Recomp, it brings higher resolutions, uncapped framerates, widescreen support, and built-in modding to Windows, macOS, and Linux. The project is explicitly 100% gen-AI free, so the code was handled the hard way.

You'll need a legally acquired USA Rev 1 ROM file to extract the game's assets before you start clearing paths for that runaway nuclear missile carrier.

🔗 Time Extension

#blastcorps #recomp #n64

🗡️ Developers depende3000 and Pulpparty have released native Switch ports for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, covering both the GameCube original and the Wii U HD version.

SwitchWakerHD (v0.4.3) and SwitchWaker (v0.3.0) bring experimental 60fps modes, gyro aiming, and touchscreen support, running at stock Switch clock speeds without needing an overclock. Boot times on the GameCube engine drop from minutes to seconds thanks to a custom renderer, and save states are now built in. You'll just need a modded Switch and your own legal game dump.

🔗 GBAtemp

#zelda #decomp #port

💾 1990s survival horror games Ecstatica and Ecstatica II just got updated PC releases courtesy of publisher SNEG, modern controls and full controller support included.

Both games run entirely on the CPU without needing a GPU, letting you swap between original DOS, Windows 95, and modern high-resolution software graphics on the fly. They even added toggles for vintage quirks like the lower door frames and the classic leg jitter setting.

🔗 GamingOnLinux

#ecstatica #remaster #pc

👾 Developer Mike Bedsole has put out a demo for Corporate Rot, a room-clearing zombie action game built for the Game Boy Color.

You play as an office worker fighting down 100 floors of undead with whatever office gear is lying around, from staplers and golf clubs to computer monitors. Weapons break as you swing them, and it's full permadeath: three lives, no saves, no checkpoints. Defeated zombies drop cash for vending machine upgrades, assuming you survive long enough to reach one.

The playable demo is up on Itch.io while the game runs its Kickstarter campaign.

🔗 Retro Dodo

#gbc #homebrew

🏎️ The 1997 N64 racer Diddy Kong Racing has landed natively on the Nintendo Switch with Golden Balloon NX.

Developer besk adapted akratch's PC source port to run directly on the Switch's ARM64 CPU rather than under emulation, complete with custom audio buffering so TT's voice doesn't crackle. It even carries over support for the PC port's mod folder.

You'll need a homebrew-ready Switch, the port executable, and a US 1.1 ROM renamed to baserom.us.v80.z64 sitting in your SD card's switch/goldenballoon folder.

🔗 GBAtemp

#decomp #port #switch

🎮 Android Xbox emulator hakuX hit version 1.2.0 after a complete rebuild, swapping its old QEMU backend for a JIT compiler that brings Halo: Combat Evolved and Forza Motorsport to handhelds at full speed.

You don't need a dumped Xbox BIOS file, just the APK from developer rfandango and your own game dumps. Qualcomm Snapdragon devices run it best, provided you swap in custom Turnip drivers to keep Halo 2 from smearing visually.

The 1.2 release also adds System Link for Wi-Fi and VPN multiplayer, plus fixes for room crashes in Silent Hill 2.

🔗 videocardz.com

#emulation #xbox #android

🕹️ VMPuppy turns your phone screen into a live Dreamcast VMU over Wi-Fi when you're playing on Flycast 2.7+ or Hollycast.

It displays the mini LCD while docked, or you can eject it on your phone to play VMU minigames using touch controls on your save data. Hollycast even notices when you pull the card out like real hardware, while Flycast only checks when the game starts.

You just need Python 3.8 on your PC and the american_v1.05.bin BIOS file to play while ejected.

🔗 GitHub

#emulation #dreamcast #hardware

💾 Developer Aaron Ardiri has uploaded his massive personal Palm OS archive to the web, releasing old source code, documentation, and dev tools from the early mobile era.

The collection even includes the dev kit for the canceled Palm Foleo companion laptop. If you used to spend hours squeezing custom applications into two megabytes of RAM, it's all out in the open now.

🔗 Hackaday Retrocomputing

#palmos #preservation #archive

🕹️ Developer AnkushKun has released sh23ds, a native C reconstruction of Silent Hill 2 that runs the PC Director's Cut directly on 3DS hardware without emulation.

It incorporates fixes from the Enhanced Edition project, putting the gameplay on the top screen while maps, memos, and inventory sit on the touch screen. Everything works, including all 17 areas, 6 endings, and the Born From a Wish scenario.

You need your own copy of the 2002 PC files converted through a web tool. New 3DS models run full fog and character shadows, while original consoles drop shadows to keep 30 FPS.

🔗 GBAtemp

#silenthill #port #homebrew

🎮 Doom creator John Romero has found a new publisher for Romero Games’ next shooter after Xbox canceled the project last year during mass layoffs.

The studio owned all the IP, art, and code, so they redesigned the game for a much smaller team (from ~110 people down to 5, now around 15). It reuses a lot of the previous assets, characters, weapons, and code for a head start. Romero confirmed the deal in a VGC interview but can’t name the publisher or give an announce date yet.

🔗 Polygon / VGC
#johnromero #romerogames #fps #xbox

📼 FairyTale's 1992 Japanese PC-98 horror adventure Dead of the Brain: Day of the Living Dead just landed on Steam, GOG, and the FAKKU Store with its first official English translation.

Publisher FAKKU released it under their PC-98 Preservation Project. You get upscaled pixel art, the original FM music, and handy options like hover hints, visible QTE hitboxes, and instant scene restarts on game over. There's even an optional free patch to restore adult content from FairyTale's notorious pivot away from eroge.

🔗 Time Extension

#pc98 #translation #preservation