Another week, another interview. And this time, I’ve had the honour of interviewing one of the most prolific developers of the homebrew scene, zx-81. It’s impossible to not notice his contributions in the homebrew scene.

His major work has been in the emulation scene where he has released emulators for almost all retro platforms. It’s great to enjoy those old games which we used to play with our siblings or our friends, brings back a lot of great memories. He has also successfully created/ported several immensely useful networking-related applications like a VNC client, an SSH client, an FTP server/client and the newly released IRC client. His blog has information on all of his work.

Anyways, I had the pleasure of doing an email interview with him a couple of days ago, and without further ado, here is the interview in its entirety!
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Rare has dropped the first details on its recent announcement of Viva Pinata DS. Touted as a “full-size Viva Pinata game in your pocket,” the game will feature all your favorite characters from the original Xbox 360 release, plus a few more exclusive to this DS version.

Controls are as expected, stylus-centric. Players will design, nurture, instruct, protect and care for your garden and animals through direct touch. The DS’s WiFi connection service will also be utilized, enabling players to send prime Pinata specimens to their friends.

Additionally, players will be provided with an expanded selection of tools and tool actions, as well as upgraded forms of the Journal and Encyclopedia. Two brand-new game modes, namely Sandbox and Episodes, will also be present.

Along with the info, Rare also sent the first screenshot. Sounds like Viva Pinata DS is shaping up quite nicely thus far.

Sure, the Wii is hot now. But what about the future? Are all these casual gamers going to grow jealous of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 graphics? Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter thinks it could happen.

Consumers may hope for improved graphics, and my guess is that Nintendo will comply.

In two or three years, commodity prices for graphics processors and CPUs may decline to the point that a High Definition Wii could be introduced. If so, Nintendo will likely introduce one.

I wouldn’t put it past Nintendo, that’s for sure, if demand happened to be high enough.

Analyst: ‘High Definition Wii could be introduced’ [GamePro]

Raphael is back with yet another update to the useful analog stick sensitivity plugin known as JoySens. Version 1.2 adds a function to map the D-Pad buttons to analog and vice-versa, force analog input, and added button mappings for the brightness and volume up / down buttons.

As for bug fixes, version 1.2 fixed a major bug with the calibration function that scaled the range wrongly. Rest assured that the calibration function should now be fully usable.

Download JoySens 1.2

JoySens 1.2 [Raphael's Development Blog]

Bungie’s Luke Smith has confirmed what everyone has been waiting to hear: Halo 3 will indeed support four-player co-op, either online over Xbox Live or via System Link.

One player will control Master Chief, another will control the Arbiter, while players three and four can take control of two new Elite characters - N’tho ‘Sraom and Usze ‘Taham, respectively. Is it just me or has your Halo 3 excitement jumped through the roof?

The Tru7h About Co-Op in Halo 3 [Bungie]

Sony will release its 80GB PlayStation 3 model on August 12, according to online retailer Amazon. The new model was announced earlier this month, and in addition to the 80GB hard drive, the package comes bundled with a copy of MotorStorm for a total of $599.

Update: Turns out Amazon was off by a few days. Sony has now officially announced availability of the 80GB model.

PlayStation 3 80GB [Amazon]

Don’t know about you, but I absolutely loved both of Mega Man games released on PSP, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X and Mega Man Powered Up.

Turns out Capcom is conducting a poll on its Mega Man 20th Anniversary site, inquiring which system you’d like to see the new Mega Man on. So, if you’d like to possibly see a new Mega Man game for PSP (like Mega Man Powered Up 2), head on over to Capcom’s official site and vote for PSP! If you can’t read Japanese, just look at the image above and select the box outlined in red.

Rock(man) the vote: make Mega Man go PSP [PSP Fanboy]

Timwillhack has released an update to his addictive homebrew puzzle game known as Hexaxis XXI for PSP. The update sports a unique 3D menu system, a variety of new game modes (Standard, Advanced and Quick Run), two additional levels, new gameplay transitions, added graphical content, bug fixes, and much more.

Download Hexaxis XXI Update #8 / Changelog

Hexaxis XXI Update #8 Released [PSP-Hacks]

We know that Loco Roco is coming to the PS3 in some form, but what about a sequel to the original that started it all, on PSP? It’s coming! In a recent interview, Loco Roco’s director Tsutomu Kouno confirmed there will be a Loco Roco 2 on the PSP. It’s definitely great news, as Loco Roco is one of the more unique and fun games on PSP.

Loco Roco sequels planned for PSP as well as PS3 [Joystiq]

BioWare releases a new batch of Mass Effect screenshots and artwork, introducing the character of Saren Arterius.

Saren Arterius is the longest serving turian member of the Spectres - the elite military operatives answering directly to the Citadel Council. For 24 years he has been an agent of the Council’s will, a zealous defender of galactic stability in the unsettled border region of the Skyllian Verge.

Mass Effect Screenshots