Shht, don't tell anyone yet, but we might get a new VDP card for MSX computers soon. Working name of the card is Franky, and it sure has some potential if it's going to be produced. This card is for MSX1 computers and up. It's based on the Sega Master System / Mark III VDP, the 315-5124 or 315-5246 (both versions will likely be supported on the final product).

It can not only play Sega home-brew software after some code adjustments, but it will also give your MSX a total of 6 PSG channels because a PSG that only differs a little from our own is build-in the VDP. The Sega VDP is backwards compatible with the MSX1 screen modes but adds a new mode with support for 64 colors and smooth scroll in both directions.

When this card is finally available (MSX1) developers can easily port existing code to this new VDP and add some support for it's new functions. Sega developers can probably use this card and a MSX(1) to port existing MSX1 code to Sega. The possibilities are endless, especially if you look at the projected roadmap..

Active developers can apply for a sample card (to be produced when testing is completed) by submitting their projects. Read all about it on their website.

Related link: SuperSoniqs

A new version of Sjasm has been released yesterday. Sjasm is a cross-assembler, developed by XL2s. New in this version:

• Fixed XOR HL,HL. This should generate an error message.
• Hacked EX AF,AF'
• Added DEFB, DEFW and friends

Relevant link: XL2s

Daniel Vik has ported and released the PT3 player dioniso adopted to MSX to Hi-Tech C. This allows C programmers to use PT3 songs in their creations without linking assembly code to their projects. The source code can be downloaded from the dvik-joyrex website.

Relevant link: dvik-joyrex website

Despite the low entry count of the first edition, which was closed last night, Passion MSX just announced the second edition of their contest.

The basic idea is still the same: create an MSX2 game in ROM format (max 512KB). The game should be an MSX2 game at the very least, not really an MSX1 or MSX1+ game with a bonus palette, to name something. While the MSX1 screens, aided by an MSX2 palette, could form a bit of a grey area, let's keep in mind that this really is an MSX2 contest. MSX1 games are better served in the MSXdev contest.

A radical change from the first edition is the amount of system RAM you can use. New games may use up to 128KB RAM, which follows the MSX2 standards in Europe. Entries should also work on a turbo-R and on any MSX2+ with at least 128KB main RAM (expanded internally or externally).

Prize money has been increased to a whopping €1500, to be split among the top-3: €600 for the winner, €500 for the runner-up and finally €400 for the third place. The jury for the second edition will be formed out of Passion MSX crew Mars2000you and Supercobra, and externally by Manuel Pazos.

With a deadline set at 30 June 2010 23:59 CET, you have a whole year to come up with a new game. If the lack of entries of the first edition teaches us one thing, then it is that there is no point in complaining about the lack of new MSX2 games. If developers keep complaining about the MSX1 limits of MSXdev yet can't find the motivation to join a contest made to exactly serve their needs, then what else could motivate them? We know for a fact that there's so much talent in the scene, and so many people being around who are really able to come up with new games, that a contest like this should have no problems raising at least ten new games within one year of time. If you belong to this group of creative people: what's keeping you?

Let's for once show that we're not mere passive news readers or chit-chatters, but active and productive MSX users who haven't forgotten about what we were doing during the 90's: creating games, and some of them were absolutely huge. Are you a coder without graphician? Are you a musician without a coder? Let's form new teams then if your old teammates have gotten inactive or lazy, and show that in one year of time we're still capable of doing something fruitful with our machines! Tjakka!

Relevant link: Passion MSX2 contest - 2nd edition - contains all the rules in detail

In February this year, D4 Enterprise launched the English version of Project EGG. Recently, the Bothtec game Anty, the Infogrames action game TNT and the Compile shooter Guardic have been added to their catalogue. Now, a total of 15 games, for MSX and for other retro computers like PC-9801 are available to non-Japanese users as well, embedded in an emulator core. More titles are expected to be added in the future.

Relevant links: Anty, TNT and Guardic in Project EGG English

Source: Karoshi's MSX Forum

The Pets Mode has released a demo of ZMA Player, a new PSG player for MSX which features volume, frequency and noise envelopes for each sound channel. Each instrument can be defined with a great variety of sounds -which are treated individually- using only 12 bytes. The average cycle time is 17,000 cycles/5 frames. ZMA files can be created using an utility for Windows, developed by The Pets Mode too, which extracts the notes, volumes, patterns and pattern list from an XM file (FastTracker).

Relevant link: ZMA Player - Thread on Karoshi's MSX Forum

One year ago, Passion MSX started a contest that could be seen as the MSX2 version of MSXdev. With games to be delivered in ROM format, with manual and ROM label, it was almost identical to the recent MSXdev specifications. It was however a contest for MSX2, with 512KB ROM as a maximum. Following frequent discussions of the time, about the limitations of the MSXdev contest, this contest could've been the answer to all that, with dozens of developers finally being able to escape the MSX1 limits while still competing in a contest that looks quite similar.

One year has passed since then, without much attention being given to this contest, other than reminders in forums by people who try to redirect developers to this contest instead of boasting the specifications of MSXdev once more. While a few rumored entries passed the train station of Gossiptown, the contest eventually ended with only two entries. The first one was published soon after the deadline, the second entry was announced only hours after the first entry.

The first entry is called Shift, by contest-regulars Infinite. Shift is a variation of Bejeweled, one of the many match-3 games that roam the world of indie-gamedevelopers (and these games are in fact quite popular among middle-aged woman, according to statistics!). On the positive side: Infinite has made a deadline again(!), although a slight update of Shift is to be expected in the near future.

The second entry has come from TNI. A modest shooter with some elements from Aleste and a funny erotic theme around it. Music has been made for PSG, but uses extra FM voices when an FM-PAC/MSX-MUSIC is available.

Despite the low entry count, a second edition of this contest is knocking the door already. More on this when that announcement is official! Until then, have fun with the results of this edition: shifting Infinite's shiny balls and shooting with TNI's flying cock!

Relevant link: Passion MSX - Shift
Relevant link: Passion MSX - Equivocal

Ricardo has submitted an image for MSXart unlimited, the neverending picture challenge, organized by Passion MSX. It is a tribute to Konami featuring a three-dimensional Konami logo nicely designed. Currently six images have been submitted already -four of them related to Konami- which is more than the 2008 edition ended with.

Relevant link: MSXart unlimited - Tribute to Konami

Few days ago the French MSX website PassionMSX was updated with a dossier on Dinamic's platform/action game Game Over. The dossier contains a lot of background information and screenshots. Long time ago the map of the game was published on MSX Solutions.

Relevant link: Game Over dossier at PassionMSX

Today openMSX 0.7.2 was released. Here are the highlights:

• Windows build can now be done with Microsoft Visual C++ 2008.
  
• 64-bit version of openMSX for 64-bit Windows
  
• Unicode support throughout openMSX, including the console and OSD menu.
  
• OSD icons for pause, fast forward, break point and mute
  
• Screenshots can be made including or excluding OSD/console
  
• Several new machines and extensions were added
  
• New debug features: step_out, skip_instruction, non-address-bound conditionals
  
• Faster Z80/R800 emulation
  
• More efficient video recording: less CPU use, smaller files
  
• Various cool Tcl demo scripts: vu_meters, scc_viewer, info_panel and of course the YouTube hit mog_overlay
  
• Various accuracy improvements, including fixes for glitches shown by the Syntax Infinity demo and one important fix to VDP interrupt generation that fixes the Zanac title screen and several other games

Those of you who pay attention to version numbers might wonder what happened to 0.7.1. It was released for a short while already when the developers received a bug report stating that loading save states on Windows was broken. This has been fixed quickly, so the team decided to release 0.7.2 right away.

The full release notes for openMSX 0.7.2 can be read here

Relevant link: openMSX Home Page