Sony has sent out an invitation for PSP owners to beta test their upcoming title Siphon Filter: Dark Mirror. All they ask is that you go to http://pspbeta.us.playstation.com on your PSP's brower, submit an application, and hope they pick you.

 

There is one catch though: Sony is requiring that all applicants use (the still unhacked) PSP firmware 2.6 just to apply. Clever plan. Create excitement by having an open application process to beta test an upcoming game, hoping applicants will choose to forgo their downgradable/downgraded homebrew friendly firmware just for a small chance to play a new game before it's out.

Emu#dreams reports that vSNES, the open source Super NES "representation", has been updated to version 2.51. vSNES is not an emulator, but is technically a Super NES that doesn't execute. Below are the changes in this version.

- GUI: added some cartridge buttons to the main window

- SRC: changed SceneViewer updating from "brute-force" to "structured"

- SRC: changed rendering engine to use normal rendering for H-512 mode

- SRC: (hopefully) fixed some file link issues of the main window menus

- SRC: fixed stupid oversight in HDMA direction detection

You can visit the official homepage here, or simply download it here.

Emu#dreams reports that Goomba Color, the open source Nintendo GameBoy/GameBoy Color emulator for Nintendo DS/GameBoy Micro, has been updated to "alpha 4". Below are the changes in this version.

- If the SRAM is full on bootup, the user can now delete files to avoid losing the latest save, or hit B to cancel.

- Fixed the Zelda Oracles games

This news originated here at Pocket Heaven. You can download Goomba Color here.

AEP Emulation Page reports that Nestopia, the open source Nintendo Entertainment System emulator for Microsoft Windows, has been updated to version 1.25. Below are the changes in this version.

Windows Fixes

- Configuration file parse error after cheats were saved.

- Unquoted executable name on the command line.

- Archive filenames using non-ascii characters.

- File association bug.

- Katakana characters when using the ´clipboard-to-NES-screen´ feature.

- Slight texel-to-pixel mapping inaccuracy.

 

Emulator Additions

- NTSC composite video emulation. Requires a fast computer. Implementation by Blargg and NewRisingSun.

- Mapper 27.

 

Emulator Changes

- Took out the database names. Too many errors.

 

Emulator Fixes

- Mapper 16 IRQ timing. Fixes SD Gundam Gaiden - Knight Gundam Monogatari 2 - Hikari no Kishi.

- King of Fighters 99 (no-frame-IRQ hack).

- Save state errors with MMC3 games.

- Blitter producing garbage on screen (rare occasions).

- Some ISO C++ misstakes.

You can visit the official homepage here, or simply download it here.