GoKawiil
Tech News
Recent efforts in reverse-engineering classic video games have led to unofficial ports and modifications, allowing titles like Halo and The Legend of Zelda to run on web browsers or non-original hardware. These projects often involve AI assistance and operate in legal gray areas, raising questions about copyright and ethics.
Braid, released in 2015, offers players intricate puzzles centered around time manipulation, complemented by impressive visual design and a soundtrack by Jami Sieber. Despite some control issues linked to keyboard drivers, the game is praised for its engaging mechanics and aesthetic appeal, though its story remains deliberately ambiguous and open to interpretation.
Refurbished Nintendo 3DS units are now selling for around $250 at retailers like GameStop, up from roughly $100 previously, with XL models costing even more. The price rise follows Nintendo's 2023 eShop shutdown and 2024 closure of the 3DS's online servers, which eliminated digital purchases and multiplayer features, though StreetPass still functions locally.
Nintendo has revealed a special-edition Nintendo Switch 2 console themed around the 40th anniversary of 'The Legend of Zelda' franchise. The hardware features Zelda-inspired visual design elements marking four decades since the series debuted.
A detailed technical breakdown has surfaced describing the PARTNER-N64 PC development kit, built for Nintendo by Kyoto Microcomputer (KMC), which paired with a specially modified N64 console to give developers real-time debugging access. The modified console allowed the debugger software to trigger breakpoints that halted gameplay for memory inspection, and to reset the console via software command, made possible by rerouting IRQ and RESET signals from the cartridge slot to the CPU using added tie-line wires.
Ayaneo has released the Konkr Pocket Advance, a Game Boy Advance-style handheld running Android. The $109 base model includes 3GB RAM and 32GB expandable storage, while a $129 version offers 4GB RAM and 64GB built-in storage, both powered by a MediaTek Helio G90T chip with a cooling fan and 4,000mAh battery.
Nintendo has officially ended service for Mario Kart Tour, the free-to-play mobile racer launched in 2019, with servers going offline on Sept. 29. The app will remain installable but will only display player stats, and unlike Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, it is not being converted into an offline title.
Amazon UK is selling the Nintendo Switch 2 for £354.99, a £65 (15%) discount off its usual RRP and the lowest price yet recorded at the retailer. The console is new and sealed, and the offer is running as a limited-time deal ahead of Amazon's Big Deal Days event next week.
Nintendo's Nintendo 64 console launched in North America on September 29, 1996, priced at $199 with no pack-in game, offering buyers a choice between Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64. Over its lifetime the console produced hits including GoldenEye 007, Mario Kart 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time before Nintendo discontinued it in 2002, having sold nearly 33 million units worldwide.
A developer released an updated build of ProsperoEden, an alpha emulator ported from Eden (itself derived from Yuzu) that runs Nintendo Switch games natively on jailbroken PlayStation 5 consoles. User reports on GitHub cite 60fps in Cuphead and Hollow Knight, and 40-50fps in titles like Horizon Chase Turbo, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and Metroid Dread. The update improves OpenGL rendering, game loading, and adds per-game handheld or docked mode plus DualSense controller support.
A new alpha-stage project called ProsperoEden ports the open-source Eden Nintendo Switch emulator to jailbroken PS5 consoles, according to a report from VideoCardz. Testing shows games like Cuphead, Metroid Dread, Hollow Knight and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe running at playable frame rates, while titles such as Breath of the Wild are unplayable and Animal Crossing: New Horizons runs poorly at around 15 FPS.
Mojang revealed The Sift at Minecraft Live, its first new dimension since The End launched in 2011, coming to Java and Bedrock Editions in 2027. The dimension includes areas called the Meadows and the Carapace, along with new mobs that can act as companions or threats. It will first appear in Minecraft Dungeons 2, releasing September 29, ahead of the main game's arrival on Nintendo Switch 2 on October 27.