EMU ZOO (pronounced EEH-MOO ZOO) is a free weekly newsletter distributed through e-mail dedicated to video and computer games emulation. Initially I was planning to do a web site based on emulation, but that has already been done to death, so I opted for a simple newsletter instead. EMU ZOO primarily features articles written by myself, but I will be grateful to anybody who can help out by submitting news, stories, and opinions. Full credit will be given to those who contribute.

If you are on "LIST X" (it says what list you are on at the top of the message), then that means you are getting this newsletter even though you did not request a subscription. The reason you are getting EMU ZOO is because you are a contributor to the emulation scene and I especially wanted you to check out the newsletter. If you do not want to receive this newsletter next time, follow the instructions above on unsubscribing.

My thanks to the EMU NEWS SERVICE, from which many of my news bits (those which are specified) are taken from. The EMU NEWS SERVICE is an excellent source for emu news that is updated everyday and is located at "http://members.aol.com/emunews/index.htm".

As of this writing, I already have over 200 people scheduled to receive this first issue. I want EMU ZOO to be a forum where fans can discuss video and computer games emulation. This is NOT a fan club, but we are a group of emulation enthusiasts that can exchange ideas through the newsletter. In order for this to happen, I will establish a letters section within the newsletter where I will print the most relevant and interesting e-mails sent to me regarding emulation. At the end of each e-mail that I print, I may add my own personal comment or just leave it to the reader to correspond with the person who wrote that particular message.

The following is a quote from the EMU NEWS SERVICE:
"TG16 EMULATOR FOR WIN32 RELEASED! This is the Win32 port of Jens Restemeier's VPCE for DOS. The man responsible for this port is none other than Edward Massey, author of MageX. Unfortunately, this release is based on the ver 0.1 source code from VPCE. It is not synchronized with the ver 0.2 sources yet. Also, from what I can gather from the Edward has to say about it on his page, there are a lot of bugs to work out. But hey, it's free!"

If you want to check it out, go to the VPCE for Win32s Homepage at "http://www.greenvillenc.com/home/edward/turbogfx/".

The following is a quote from the EMU NEWS SERVICE:
"UAE-0.6.9 Beta 2 for Power Macintosh Released! This is the Mac port of the popular Amiga emulator. New since the last release was that some minor bugs were corrected and a minor speed boost."

You can check out the UAE-0.6.9 for PowerMacintosh for yourself at "http://www.pratique.fr/~jblancha/"

The following is a quote from the EMU NEWS SERVICE:
MacMAME 0.25.6 Released! According to the author, "Fixed incredibly stupid bug whereby Battlezone/Red Baron were displaying a green screen." This is the Mac port of the incredibly popular Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. M.A.M.E. supports far too many games to mention here. So if you have a Macintosh, you should try this one out"

To try it out for yourself, go to Bradman's Emulation Shop at "http://www.primenet.com/~bradman/mame/".

Paul Robson just released a new version of his popular Gameboy emulator for DOS. Version 2.937 of Gameboy 97 features some minor bug fixes and a standard 180 x 144 display. The official Gameboy 97 homepage is at "http://members.aol.com/autismuk/gameboy.htm".

The following is a quote from the EMU NEWS SERVICE:
"GenEm PPC .20.1 Beta 3 for MacOS! Brian Verre just release the new version of his GenEm port for Macintosh. New in this version: Sprite bug fixed, Backup-RAM support, Speed limiter added, 5-8% performance increase"

For additional information, go to the GenEm PowerPC Homepage at "http://www.execpc.com/~wverre/genem.html".

A new version of VPCE (Virtual PC Engine) for the Macintosh has been released. This is the first conversion of the DOS VPCE for the Macintosh. This emulator is even buggier than the original, which was already buggy itself, so don't expect much. As of now there is still no official homepage dedicated to the VCPE but you can download a copy from "http://emulation.net/pcengine/index.html".

A new NES emulator designed for Amiga called A/NES has just recently been released. The latest version is 0.10 alpha. A/NES is written in 100% assembly language and is very fast. Since it is still in early stages of development, the emulator itself is very buggy and many ROMs are incompatible. If you want to try it anyway, go to "http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-28134/ANES/".

The next version of ESNES will have sound emulation. Private beta testing is currently taking place.

I managed to get a copy of the private beta version of SNES96 with sound emulation (even though I'm not an official beta tester) and it sounds better than I expected. This represents a milestone in SNES emulation. Imagine finally playing Final Fantasy 3 or Lufia with sound on your computer. Sound makes a HUGE difference, giving games a completely different, more immersive feel.

I tested the beta with some games and the sound was pretty good, with roughly 60-70% accuracy. It really all depends on what ROM you are running and what part of the game. One game that sounds great is Donkey Kong Country 3. Sometimes the music and effects sound perfect but in others they sound too slow/fast or garbled. Also, the sound occasionally caused lock-ups or crashes. This doesn't really worry me though, considering that this is still the beta version. I'm sure the public release version will be a lot more stable.

I loved the new sound support in SNES96 but I still wish the emulator itself had a few new features other than the sound itself. Personally, a GUI and multiple video modes would really be appreciated. The speed in the beta I tested was just about the same as in the previous version, which kinda disappointed me. I was hoping for a speed increase comparable to the Genecyst.

The public release of SNES96 with sound should be coming out any day now, and I can't wait to play Final Fantasy 3 with perfect audio. Hopefully once the public version is out, Gary Henderson can focus on other new features, like a GUI or a speed boost. SNES96 has a really bright future, and is definitely the top SNES emulator of the moment.

MY CURRENT FAVORITE EMULATORS

1. Magic Engine v0.8 - This is still the best emulator around. Parodius and Bomberman rule!
2. NESticle v0.34 - The closest emulation of any system to date. Having NESticle is in many ways better than having an NES!
3. Gameboy '97 (build 2.937) - This is the premiere Gameboy emulator. With build 2.937, it has finally surpassed Virtual Gameboy.
4. SNES96 /w sound (private beta) - I know this is a private beta and I'm not even supposed to have it but once I got sound I could never go back! Besides, this beta is every bit as stable as the last version with the sound disabled. DKC3 is beast with this emulator.
5. Genecyst v0.12 - A hot emulator that is quickly gaining popularity. For me it is superior to GenEM due to it's awesome GUI (graphical user interface) and super fast performance. Too bad it still lacks sound and is still incompatible with many ROMs.

I have just seen the future of Genesis emulation, and it's called Genecyst.

Bloodlust Software, the creators of the outstanding NESticle emulator, has just recently released Genecyst v0.13, the second build of an amazing DOS based emulator for the Sega Genesis written in C++ and assembly. It boasts a killer GUI reminiscent of the one in NESticle and a truckload of features (such as joystick support, VESA support (you can change resolutions on the fly), Game Genie codes, and much more). My favorite part about Genecyst is it's blazing speed--I was able to run many different games on my P90 while in Windows 95 with no frame skipping at full speed! A good number of the games I tried didn't work properly but the Genecyst proved to me that full speed 16-bit emulation on my P90 was indeed very possible. I commend Bloodlust Software for their outstanding work and thank them for keeping their software free.

Genecyst has a lot of pros, but unfortunately, it also has it's share of cons. For one thing there is STILL no sound support (which really drives me crazy!). Also, Genecyst is in VERY early stages of development right now, and is nowhere near complete. As of now, v0.13 is lacking many things, namely solid Z80 emulation, sound emulation (as I stated earlier), 6-button joystick inputs, and a lot of the graphic modes are yet to be emulated. On top of that, the VESA 2.0 support needs to be refined (I couldn't get some of the video modes to work, even with Display Doctor) and the 68000 emulation is still buggy, and as a result, many ROMs don't work properly or don't work at all. Just judging from the ROMs I have tested, I estimate a 70% compatibility rate.

Despite it's flaws, the future of Genecyst and eager Genesis fans everywhere is extremely bright. Since NESTicle was released, the reputation of Bloodlust Software in the console game emulation community is unparalleled. They are nowhere near finished with Genecyst and a lot of work is still going to be done. They will refine the 68000 emulation as well as the graphics emulation, and MMX support is planned for the future. I'm assuming that sound support is not far off, and once that's in place, Genecyst will most likely replace David Michel's MagicEngine as #1 on my list of emulators.

EMU News Service

The latest emu news. Updated daily! http://members.aol.com/emunews/index.htm

Archaic Ruins

A great emu site by an emu expert. http://archaic-ruins.parodius.com/

Paul McGunnigle's Emulation Homepage

A very impressive site. Highly recommended. http://web3.ukonline.co.uk/paul.mcgunnigle/index.htm

Dcepticon