The newest version of WFCStatus, an amazing application for your PC, was released two days ago. This program reads all the leaderboard/Who's Online Now information from Nintendo's Wifi Connection homepage and presents it in an easy to navigate view without all the crappy flash! I downloaded the update and gave it a go. Here's what I thought.

We were extremely impressed with his program. We looked up for our own pitiful Metroid scores, saw who was online the most in every game category, and entered all our friend codes into its 'My Codes' section.

We were surprised at the support for games yet to hit our shores. Even Final Fantasy III was listed! In fact, there were 8 fully functional games, including StarFox Command and Tenchu. There is an extensive settings menu as well. Our personal favorite? There is an error code dictionary! Just type in your error code and BAM! Results. Very impressive.

NOTE: .Net Framework is required. Available at the WFCStatus homepage.

Download: [WFCStatus v1.3.2]

Another piece of great homebrew for the DS was updated by developer Lick. DSLiveWeather is a program that uses your weather.com location ID to tell you the weather in your area - straight from your DS! This program is definitely still a work in progress but it's very useful.

In order to use this great application, you must first download and install the .nds file listed below and have a WiFi configuration. Next, you need to start the program and input a server and filename. The two servers hosted by the creator are lick.huuf.net and lick.whatalicefound.net. Put one of those in the server window and then in the file window put weather/fetch.php if you use the 'Huff' server, and 'fetch.php' if you use the 'Alice' server. 

Finally, you'll need your weather.com location ID. To get this information, go to www.weather.com and click on 'World' near the top. Enter your location, and then you'll see the code in your URL bar.

For example, mine is http://www.weather.com/weather/local/USIL0225. Therefore, my ID would be USIL0225.

There are more letters and numbers after that but that's all you need. Place that in your DS and hit 'Currently' and then touch the green tick. Every time you want to update you must press the tick. If you have location profiles saved, you can switch between them using the arrows at the top of the touchscreen. To make a profile, just have a folder called /DSLiveWeather! in the root of your card. Enjoy!

Download: [DSLiveWeather!]

Trying to decide between SuperCards? Simon van de Berg has written an in-depth review on all three of them - The MiniSD version, the CompactFlash version, and the original SD version. Each of these models have various pros and cons. In each model, you must buy external memory for the unit.

The review compares the sizes of the carts, the compatibility with homebrew for each cart, and the ability to play backups. If you want a Supercard, but don't know which one is best for you, this is the thing to read. It's full of great pictures and plenty of explanation, as well as an honest opinion for each card. His words:

"My verdict of the GBA functionality: 7.8/10, This is based on consideration of the backup capabilities and in comparison to the GBAMP functionality. The SuperCard is clearly not designed first and foremost as a movie player. Loading time can be quite annoying but it is not very long. The Supercard lost most of it's points in the real-time save problem."

As for the DS:

"Overall verdict NDS: 8.5/10, it works well with homebrew (CF version the most, if your aim is homebrew I suggest you buy the CF Supercard), and it works very well with backups."

Before buying a Supercard, be sure to check this out.

The newest SNES emulator for DS has been updated to v0.22. This version has some minor fixes over the previous version (v0.21, released only days ago). Here's that list of fixes, straight from the release notes, for those of you who know what SRAM and RTI and DMA stand for. For everyone else, a description of each changes effects are listed in parentheses afterwards.

- Fixed the JMP ($xxxx) and the JML [$xxxx] instruction to read the indirect addresses from bank zero
  instead of the current data bank.
  (Aero fighters now work)
- Shifted the horizontal offset by 8 pixels to the right so games now look generally centralized
- Modified the IO for WRAM write at IO addresses $2180-3 to behave as Snes9x
- Fixed the interrupts to push the correct program counter onto the stack, and the RTI instruction to
  pop the correct program counter from the stack.
  (Earthworm Jim now works)
- Fixed the $213C/D registers to generate the H/V counters correctly.
  (Zelda-A Link to the Past now works, though in the name entry screen, the name selection still
  does not move, and in-game text is invisible...)
- Fixed the COP instruction to fire a COP interrupt
  (Illusion of Gaia now intros correctly)
- Fixed the MVP/MVN instruction to increment the cycle counter correctly.
- Fixed the DMA such that source DMA address is incremented and the DMA size is set to 0,
  after each DMA channel read/write is complete.
  (Contra's intro and in-game background tiles display correctly now)
  (FF2 non-mode 7 backgrounds now displays correctly)
  (Illusion of Gaia title screens appear)
- Added rendering for Modes 4 and 5.
  (Secret of Mana name entry screen requires mode 5, and now appears better. Due to
  double horizontal resolution though, the text appears but remains unreadable)
- Added the $2139/A registers to read the VRAM.
  (Illusion of Gaia seems to works perfectly)
  (MegamanX, Megaman7 screens get restored after pressing start)
- Added option for enabling backdrop
  (With this option set to Yes, Super Mario World backgrounds will not appear black)

Others:

- Provided additional SnezziDebugger.exe that can be used to debug SNES games to search for
  speed hacks, SPC patches and other patches.

Gary Linscott has been hard at work, releasing updates and making progress with sound and compatibility. If you haven't followed any of his other releases, now would be a good time to grab this emulator, as many bugs and minor issues have been fixed! If that huge list doesn't do anything for you, then download it and try it out for yourself. Keep checking here for more updates!

Download: [Snezzi DS v0.22]

Looks like even Microsoft high-ups are interested in the DS Lite! Major Nelson, a member of the Xbox team, left a post on his blog about his adventure to the local Target to snatch up one of those early-release DS Lite consoles (more about that here). He got the last one there. Sounds eerily like the Wal-Mart in my town...

The article is a humorous look into the purchase of a new console. Also, he mentions that he'd like to get it signed by Reggie, but you may or may not remember when he got his first DS signed, and the outrageous reaction from the community. He provides some photos of his new hardware sitting up next to his custom 360 HDD. Very nice. Read more below.

Nintendo's newest Mario game has players everywhere nearly emptying their wallets, and now here's their chance to finish the job. Nintendo has release the players guide for New Super Mario Bros, at a basically reasonable cost of $16.95 USD, to the US and Canada. At their website you can page through the beginning of the guide with a nifty little interactive window. Take a look, and maybe you can pick one up for yourself (I'm sure they won't hit popular supermarkets for a week or two yet). Click the link below.

The SuperCard SD allows you to play homebrew for both GBA and NDS via SD memory sticks! This is a breakthrough because it will not only allow you to have large amounts of memory at a cheaper price, but it will play other files as well! Roms and music are supported. To get this to work you must have a PassMe and the kernel and software from their website. You will have to format your memory card under the FAT system, and then all you have to do is put some homebrew on and go! Here's a full feature list:

• Play both GBA games (.GBA) and NES, GB, PCE, SMS/GG with out additional software!
• See movies (.gbs .gbm), read E-books, play music, see pictures and more.
• Super Game Cheat system.
• Real Time Save - save your games instantly when ever you like it.
• Four button reset to main menu.
• Supports compression.
• Supports semi-multitasking - switch between running game and other software without quitting the game.
• Game time: 5-6 h with GBA SP (with stock battery).
• FAT file system.
• Compatible with SD Memory Cards.
• Fast transfers, transfer 64M in approx. 5 sec.
• Uses standard SD memory.
• Possible to store up to 32Gbit (4Gbyte) on one single SD card.
• Unlimited storage capacity, just use more/bigger SD cards.
• SD memory cards can be used for other equipment like digital cameras.
• GBA, GBA SP, GBM, and NDS compatible.

The card retails for $54.94 and is in stock today! Pick yours up below.

A new version of Dualis, the NDS Emulator for PC, has been updated to r20.3. Dualis is NOT used to play game backups, it is used strictly for homebrew, and will not work with anything else. The new version has some updates, listed below.

• Fixed updates of some function pointers after changing the ITCM size
• Added support for send FIFO flushing
• Added support for send FIFO empty IRQs
• Added support for IPCSYNC IRQs
• Fixed a bug in the handling of FAT long file-name entries
• Fixed some bugs in the FAT emulation that would occur if a directory contained more than 256 directory entries
• Modified CPU synchronization

This should improve some compatibility and speed issues. If you are a DS developer, this is a practically mandatory tool, as it can reproduce the console with great accuracy.

A lot of programs for DS have been developed and tested with Dualis, and it can run a significant amount of files out there at full speed. It has reconfigurable controls, touch screen support, skins, screenshots, and can even record AVI video clips of gameplay! All the specs of the emulator itself can be found in the included readme.

Download: [Dualis r20.3]

The first IRC client for Nintendo DS has been updated to version 0.2. Changes include:

• Recompiled with (definitely!) latest libnds, may or may not help touchscreen calibration
• Fix crashing when Quit message received
• Add notifications for users joining/leaving channels
• Ability to read config from CF card (anything supported by Chism's library)

This program connects via your DS Wifi preferences. IRC (Internet Chat Relay) is used for everything from chatting to finding information to transfering files. This will be a welcome release for many DS users. The touch screen calibration is a bit off, and many features do not function, but this is a continuing project. Keep your eyes on QJ.net for updates to this exciting program as they come in!

Download: [SylphIRC v0.2]

The folks over at PSPIAO have released Issue 5 of their self-proclaimed #1 PSP E-mag. This issue IS chock-full of reviews, and not just for PSP. The DS Lite and a few games for it get reviews as well, not to mention The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion! This magazine has 103 pages of reviews, previews, and some PSP coding help. Here are some of the featured articles:

• Nintendo DS:
• DS Lite
• Metroid Prime: Hunters Review
• Final Fantasy III News
• Upcoming Release Dates
• PSP:
• SOCOM FTB Review
• Coding Helper
• Syphon Filter Review
• Dragon Ball Z Review
• Secrets of 2.7
• PSP Release Dates
• Xbox 360:
• Battery Charger Review
• Xbox 360 HD DVD Updates
• Cheat Section
• PSPIAO Background Pack
  

Good Stuff!

Download: [PSPIAO Issue 5]