Anyway, enough talk, let’s let ol’ Batsy work.

It seems that ATI has, for whatever reason, had absolutely terrible support for OpenGL in their latest drivers. Polygons are missing, missing textures, graphics look weird, and ATI has done nothing to fix it.

So, on behalf of other classic gamers like myself: ATI fix your drivers!

Read on for images that show what I’m talking about, and a possible fix for you XP users.

So you’re aware, it is not the actual graphics card that is at fault. I have tested this using an HD 2600, an x1600Pro, and an HD 3200 chipset and the result was always the same: the drivers are at fault.

Doomsday:

Doomsday is a modern enhanced port of Doom engine games that lets them use updated graphics, sounds, and rendering using OpenGL. It’s a sweet program that keeps Doom looking and sounding fresh.

Which is all well and good unless you’re using ATI video cards, in which case it looks like this:

But this is what it should look like:

Notice how obvious the missing texture problem is.

But the problem also affects OpenGL rendering in ePSXe, as seen below.

It is easy to see the obvious missing polygons in those images.

Basically, the whole thing is a joke. With all the power of modern video cards, and with how long OpenGL has been around, there is simply no excuse for ATI to not have proper support in their drivers. And yes, these games may be relatively obscure compared to recent titles, but reports are sounding around the web that more prominent titles - such as Quake 2 - also experience these glitches.

So ATI, get with the game.

Possible Fix?

If you are using Windows XP you can try reverting to the 7.10 drivers, as those seemed to have proper support. Every version after that has had this problem.

If you are using Windows Vista, as I am, then you are simply out of luck, as all ATI drivers for Vista experience this.

Let’s see how the China-made box performed.

The Gamemon came in one of those ubiquitous plastic shells that are harder to get into than Fort Knox, which I absolutely loathe. Still, it’s par for the course for electronics to come like that so I can’t really hold it against the converter.

Here’s what it looked like after I set off some C4 to get it open.

The device comes with a EngRish manual that said little other than how to plug the device in - Oh, so that’s how those rectangular plugs work! - and how to install the driver software. Still, for the non-technical literate I can see how it might be useful. Actually, no, no I can’t.

Anyway, the Gamemon also included a driver mini-CD (which only included the 1mb driver install file). It was nothing special, but it gets the job done.

Finally, the converter itself was among the wreckage, and it is actually pretty well put together. The Game Cube and Xbox ports lie on one side, while the Playstation port and 2 USB ports are on the other. The box does let you use multiple controllers at the same time, but there is only one of each type of port, so no multiples of one controller is possible. This is to be expected, though, so it’s a minor drawback.

The inclusion of the USB ports is nice, since the box takes up a port itself and including some extras make it unnecessary to unplug the converter while using other devices, although the ports seem to function at only USB1.1 speeds. More on that later.

Installing the device is easy enough, as 2000/XP or Vista instantly recognize the box as a Generic USB Hub, which it is. After installing the drivers - you can download the latest version by clicking here - you’ll have the software that controls the ports.

If for some reason it won’t open on your computer - I had troubles with it under XP, but not Vista - change the compatibility options to Windows 2000. Then it should work.

The program itself looks like this:

You can have all boxes checked if you’d like, or you can only select the type of controller you’ll be using. For simplicity reasons I only have the PS option checked on mine. Clicking OK saves the settings.

When the device is plugged in the operating system will see all the activated controller ports listed under Game Controllers in the Control Panel, even when a controller isn’t plugged into the device.

It is possible that the Xbox controller will not function on the device. I haven’t yet figured out the exact cause for this, but if it isn’t working for you then try using the Xbox Controller Drivers here instead.

Here’s what the Playstation controller window looks like:

As you can see, all original features of the controller work just fine, including vibration. Yep, the vibrate function of the controllers works, and feels just like it does on a console.

One tip: When setting up the controller, click Advanced under Game Controllers and select the default controller you’d like to use for your older games. Some games didn’t find the controller until I set this.

So how does it work? In all of my tests it worked perfectly! The controls felt just right, and all of the games worked great using the controller - including older ones, after I set the default option mentioned above. All of the games I tried - including emulators like ePSXe - recognized all of the controls, and were able to use the vibration function, too.

As far as emulation is concerned, it was much more enjoyable to be able to play my older console games using the intended controller, especially on Playstation emulation.

As I mentioned above, one drawback is that the USB ports on the converter are only recognized as USB1.1 devices. I’m not sure if that was intended, or just a problem with my setup, but be aware of that so you can leave some other ports open if you need high-speed devices to be used. If it is in fact a design “feature” then it’s very surprising, as why any modern device would not include the very common USB2.0 functionality is unknown to me.

All in all, though, I highly recommend picking up the Gamemon USB Converter if you can find it. I’m not sure if Walmart is still offering the device - I couldn’t find it on their website - but if so it’s a steal at $10 to be able to use your console controllers on your PC.

Score

Ease Of Use = 9/10
Functionality = 8/10 (Xbox recognition…)
Features = 9/10 (USB1.1 Ports knocked this down)
 
Total Score = 9/10

As long-time readers of SavvyGeek are aware, I absolutely love my Xbox and Xbox Media Center. It has worked beautifully as a functioning home theater component for some time, allowing me to stream movies, music, pictures, and play classic and modern games quite well.

However, my trusty box lacks some features that I’ve come to desire in a home theater box, such as HD playback - the Xbox can’t properly display 720p or 1080p video - internet browsing, and other “computer” functions.

So, unfortunately, the time has come for me to bid goodbye to my console friend and embark on a new project of building a new “ultimate” home theater PC.

Let’s get started.

Step 1 of building any computer is, of course, compiling the components necessary. Here’s what I’m using:

Case - Athenatech A100BB.350

A case for a home theater PC can’t be just any computer case. It has to fulfill all the proper functions of a typical case, as well as look great sitting next to other home theater components. The Athenatech A100BB.350 does just that.

It’s a MicroATX form-factor, so the space is limited, but it does include a 350w Power Supply which should be sufficient for my needs. It doesn’t have a screwless design, though, but for $65 I won’t complain.

Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H

The main features necessary for a HTPC motherboard are to maximize power while limiting heat and space concerns. The GA-MA78GM-S2H should do that just fine.

It is based around the modern AMD 780g chipset, supports up to 16gb of DDR2 Ram, and makes use of a Radeon HD 3200 for its onboard video. Make no mistake, we won’t be running Crysis with this GPU, but it does drastically reduce CPU usage for high definition video playback, and should run older and fairly recent games just fine.

Processor - Athlon 64 X2 6400+

Easily the most powerful - and power-consuming - component of our setup, the 6400+ uses 125w but is the fastest chip on the X2 line. It’s not as powerful as some higher-end Core 2 Duos, but it’s far cheaper.

Memory - G.SKILL 2GB DDR2 800

The G.SKILL RAM has ratings of 5-5-5-15 and should be plenty fast enough for use in the HTPC. 4gb might give a later advantage, but for now 2gb should be sufficient.

TV Tuner - Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1800

The WinTV-HVR-1800 is easily one of the finer HD Tuners on the market, and can capture live TV over ATSC and QAM using its onboard MPEG-2 encoder. It also includes an S-Video input to capture video from old VHS tapes or other video sources.

The included software is average at best, but we won’t be using it anyway.

Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB

Having a large hard drive is always the ideal, but even more so when building an HTPC since we’ll be storing video, audio, images, games, etc. 500gb is not the largest we could go, but it comes at around $100 which is a great price-to-size cost. We can always include more drives later if necessary.

DVD Burner - SAMSUNG SH-S203N

The SH-S203N is a blazing fast drive withe capability to burn both +R and -R discs at 20x, and uses LightScribe. But most importantly for our use, it’s quiet.

Of course, an optical drive can never be perfectly silent, but the SH-S203N falls on the quieter side than most, which is a huge bonus for an HTPC.

Keyboard/Mouse - BTC 9019URFIII

Since use of the HTPC will primarily be from a couch a few feet away we’ll need a wireless keyboard and mouse. And since using a typical optical mouse is not really comfortable without having a place to set it, I chose to go with the BTC 9019URFIII wireless keyboard/mouse combo.

The mouse itself is a mini-joystick that I’m sure will take some getting used to, and probably is not ideal for gaming, but for ease of use and comfort from a couch setting this is one of the top HTPC keyboard available.

Remote - Microsoft Media Center Remote

As far as HTPC remotes go, the MCE is one of the best, and most widely used.

The remote control sends command information to the connected infrared sensor from up to 20 feet away and can power the TV and Media Center with one remote.

Check Back!

That’s a run-down of the components I’ll be using to build this machine. Some components, notably the processor, may seem over the top for use in an HTPC, but since I’ll be wanting to play some recent games the faster the CPU the better. You can, of course, buy cheaper components and save some money if you don’t need that amount of power.

The total price for this setup came to $700, which is a great deal for what’s included.

Check back in a couple days for Part 2 - Putting It Together!

Why are you here, soldier?
Because I’m bored!
And don’t you ever forget that.

You know the feeling: you have some old games that you loved to play long ago, and you want to get them out again for nostalgic value, but there’s just that haunting thought that seeing the outdated graphics will lower your fond memories of the experience. But, thanks to the glory of emulation, and ePSXe in particular, the Playstation is one system that doesn’t have to suffer that fate, at least not yet.

Read on for the full scoop.

At its prime the Playstation’s graphics were fairly cutting edge, although the N64 and modern computers at the time blew the PS1’s capabilities out of the water. Still, the system had some excellent games, that looked pretty good at the time.

In order to get that effect again, here’s what you’ll need:

Requirements

Processor: Anything above 2ghz should be fine
Video Card: Geforce 5200 or above, or Radeon 9500 or above
RAM: At least 512mb

That’s about it; nothing too strenuous - most current computers should be far above those specs.

Software

The Emulator: ePSXe - This guide was created with 1.6.0 (the latest release)
Playstation BIOS: To run the emulator. You can find it here.
Pete’s OpenGL2 PSX GPU: For the graphics. Download From Here.
Pixel Shaders: We’ll be using is ShadX’s Natural Vision Shader - Download From Here.
A Playstation Game: Any PS1 game should work, so this part is up to you. Ideally it should be an image file, rather than an actual disc, but that’s up to you.

Setting It Up

Extract ePSXe to any folder you’d like. My folder looks like this:

Copy the BIOS file you downloaded - scph1001.bin - into the bios folder of ePSXe. It should be the only file in that folder.

Now extract the opengl2.zip file you downloaded into the plugins folder of ePSXe.

Then create a folder named shaders in the plugins folder. Copy the files from the Natural.zip file you downloaded into the shaders folder. Mine looks like this:

The Fun Part

Open up ePSXe and click Config >> Video. Make sure that Pete’s OpenGL2 Drive 2.8 is selected. This window looks like this:

Click Configure. Instead of walking you through the settings one by one, just set up your options to be the same as the ones in this image.

Note - If you have an older graphics card (Geforce 5 or Radeon 9 series) you might want to change the Internal X and Internal Y resolutions to High instead of Very High.

Make sure that the Shader Effects box is checked and set to 3. ARB program, with the Shader Level on 4. Maximum.

Click the dotted icon next to the Shader dropdown box. This window pops up:

This is where you’ll need to put the path to your shaders folder. It will most likely be different than mine. Make sure this is right, or the shaders won’t work!

That’s It!

You’ll obviously need to set up the sound and controller options for ePSXe - which this guide won’t delve into - but as far as we’re concerned you’re done! Click File >> Run ISO - or Run CDROM if you’re using an actual Playstation disc - and select your game.

The graphics should blow you away. Not on the same level of an XBox 360 or a PS3, but compared to the original the difference will astound you.

For comparison, here is the PS1’s Tekken 3 compared to the Dreamcast’s Soul Calibur:

Tekken 3 vs. Soul Calibur

Question or Comments?

If you have any thoughts or problems you need help with, feel free to comment below or e-mail me at:

The result: MAMECade - my layout intended to be used on actual arcade cabinets running MameWAH.

Download it from here.

Playing in front of a fluctuating crowd of 1,900 party attendees in the TAO Nightclub (Venetian Casino), Steve Wiebe made two attempts at the DK record, first scoring 929,800 points and reaching the “Kill Screen” and then 579,300 points on the second try. According to Twin Galaxies records, this is the sixth time someone has reached the “Kill Screen” during a public gaming performance (3 times by Billy Mitchell and 3 times by Steve Wiebe). During this run, Steve slowly fell off the pace for a world record score as Walter Day continually compared Steve’s mounting score to the pace maintained by Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell during past games that reached or exceeded 1-million-points.

The second game saw Steve maintaining a higher scoring pace, point-pressing at a rate that would have come close to a 1-million-point score. However, Steve’s game lasted only until level 13-6, scoring 579,300 points. In Steve’s first game, he held onto his first man until the 453,400-point-mark. In the second game, he first died at 326,000 points.

Still, as someone who gets excited just to get 70 or 80,000 points in a DK session I am still impressed with Wiebe’s skills.

Read the full story at Twin Galaxies here.

Right now, Steve and the equally-as-famous Billy Mitchell, are running neck-and-neck on the high-score circuit, with Billy currently in the lead with 1,050,200 points to Steve’s 1,049,100 points. With only 1,100 points separating them, Steve poses a serious threat to take back the world title.

Steve is going to try to take back the record tonight at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.

Read more.