Alterego Finds #003: Small Machines, Bigger Ideas
Alterego Finds #003: Small Machines, Bigger Ideas
Tiny worlds, unlikely second careers, and a workbench that keeps making room for one more idea.
Small beginnings can leave a surprisingly large world on the workbench.
An NES peers into Doom’s corridors, a Vita rediscovers the album collection, and a tiny shooter finds a new route into the browser. Around them are tools for making games, experiments that stretch familiar machines, and people doing the patient work of keeping the past accessible. This third collection follows those ideas from the first playable build to the carefully maintained archive, with a few detours through the workshop along the way.
Alterego Finds #003 · 22 October 2026
🌉 An Atari ST gets a bridge to a very modern conversation
Project spotlight · Atari ST
Even a very modern conversation sometimes needs a good courier.
ClaudeST puts a native GEM interface between an Atari ST and Claude, bringing chats, projects, streaming replies and attachments into a desktop that predates the service by several decades. The important piece sits between the two: a Raspberry Pi or Linux bridge handles the modern connection. The Atari supplies the familiar windows and controls; it is not running a large language model in its spare memory.
That division of labour is the charm. Instead of turning the ST into a display for an entirely different desktop, the project gives an old working environment a new correspondent. Supported machines extend through the ST family to the TT and Falcon. The stationery is vintage; the conversation has travelled quite a distance.
🚪 Doom finds another doorway, and this one is very small
Playable prototype · NES
The dungeon is enormous. The entrance requirements are less generous.
The NES has received another ambitious visitor. NancyGold’s Doom NES is an in-development first-person project built around a sector-and-portal engine, with raised floors, sunken areas, doors, enemies and distance shading. It targets the original console with an MMC3 cartridge, combining C with hand-tuned assembly. The downloadable builds offer a chance to see how much architecture can be persuaded through a very narrow technical doorway.
Keep the label prototype attached: this is ongoing work, not a finished conversion of the complete game. Its appeal lies in watching familiar spaces negotiated under unfamiliar limits. Every corridor asks the machine to do something unreasonable, and every working staircase feels like a small argument the programmer has won.
Visit the Doom NES project on itch.io
🎵 The Vita has found a reason to stay in the bag
Public alpha · PlayStation Vita
The best travel companion already knows your favourite albums.
PSVITAMAN gives Sony’s handheld a second career as a dedicated music player. Its Walkman-inspired interface supports local FLAC and MP3 libraries, album art, playlists, favourites and playback resume, with both touch and physical controls. There is even a cassette-style presentation for anyone who misses watching music appear to involve moving parts.
The project is a public alpha for Vita and Vita Slim systems able to install homebrew VPK applications. That requirement matters: this is an enthusiast application for a modified handheld. The attraction is refreshingly straightforward, though. A machine with a good screen, tactile controls and a place in your pocket gets to spend more time doing something pleasant. Your albums may already have outlived several streaming subscriptions; the Vita would like to join them.
Discover PSVITAMAN at Obsolete Sony
🎨 Commando returns from the jungle with more colours and a band
Experimental conversion · MS-DOS
Camouflage becomes a difficult subject once the brass section arrives.
Retro Erik’s Commando VGA revisits the 1987 DOS conversion with 320 × 200, 256-colour graphics and builds offering AdLib or CMS music. The artwork is prepared ahead of time, while replacement drawing routines aim to preserve the original movement, collision rules, animation and timing. It is a particularly direct answer to the question of how that familiar CGA adventure might look with a less restrictive paint box.
The repository is candid about the remaining work. Emulator checks cover the title screens and early gameplay, but complete gameplay equivalence and real-hardware performance still need testing. Treat it as an experiment with playable builds and useful documentation. The uniform has been repainted, the musicians have arrived, and the field trials are still on the calendar.
Inspect Commando VGA on GitHub
🛠️ The C64 development bench now fits inside one workshop
Development tool · Commodore 64
All the tools are here. The wandering sprite remains your responsibility.
The C64 Dev Machine gathers a sizeable development workflow into one application: visual 6502 programming, sprite and character editors, bitmap and map tools, plus music and sound effects. Its visual nodes produce real machine code, with routes to testing in VICE and exporting PRG or D64 files. The idea is to spend less time moving assets between disconnected tools and more time making something move on a C64.
Windows and macOS builds are available, with Lite and Pro editions; the free Lite version restricts code-block editing. Projects keep their workspace together in a single JSON file. That does not remove the C64’s limits, which are rather the point. It does make the workbench tidier, even when your first sprite insists on walking through the scenery.
Explore The C64 Dev Machine on itch.io
📐 An MSX graphics experiment asks the scenery to stand up
Graphics experiment · MSX / V9968 Geo3D
The map has developed ambitions beyond the table.
The V9968 Geo3D sample demos explore an expanded MSX graphics environment through coast-road racing, flight and planetary scenes. They make a useful companion to discussion of enhanced graphics hardware because there is source to inspect and a documented test environment, rather than only an impressive moving picture. Roads, textured surfaces and three-dimensional movement become concrete experiments to examine.
There is an essential boundary here: the repository describes emulator validation, while physical-hardware behaviour remains unverified. Different Geo3D versions also have different capabilities. These are demonstrations of an experimental extension, not evidence that an ordinary MSX has quietly acquired all of it. That still leaves plenty to enjoy. A flat landscape getting ambitious about depth is a perfectly good reason to pull up a chair.
Examine the V9968 Geo3D sample demos
🧩 blueMSX keeps a whole family of machines within reach
Emulation toolbox · MSX and related systems
Different personalities, one reasonably organised reunion.
The blueMSX libretro core is useful infrastructure behind a broad stretch of eight-bit computing. Its supported families include MSX through turbo R, alongside machines such as the Spectravideo systems, ColecoVision and Sega’s SG-1000 relatives. Through a compatible libretro frontend, those different machines can share a familiar way of launching software and handling controls.
Setup still depends on the right machine definitions and databases. The bundled C-BIOS helps with many cartridge titles, while other configurations require appropriate firmware files. This core should also be kept distinct from specialised experimental emulator forks used for new graphics extensions. Its everyday value is less theatrical: making an established collection approachable without rebuilding your habits for every machine. A family reunion goes better when somebody has already arranged the chairs.
Browse the blueMSX libretro core
🧪 One MSX workbench has several experiments on the go
Creator spotlight · MSX development
Finishing one experiment would be easier if the next three stopped arriving.
The kanon-ai profile is best approached as a workshop with several doors open. Its projects range from the pseudo-3D shooter NEON REVENANT to rally experiments, platform adventures, Geo3D demonstrations and tools for retro sound effects. Browsing the collection gives a broader picture than treating every repository as a single finished release.
That breadth is the interesting part: graphics ideas, game prototypes and audio tools sit close enough to suggest how an experiment in one corner might help another. Each repository has its own requirements and state of completion, so the profile is a starting point for exploration rather than a compatibility promise. Follow whichever bench catches your eye. Just expect the person working there to have three more ideas before the paint dries.
Visit the kanon-ai project collection
🟢 Wizball polishes its bounce and keeps the cat busy
Enhanced classic · ZX Spectrum 128K
World restoration is a demanding job, even with a cat on the team.
Wizball Enhanced Edition revisits the 128K ZX Spectrum game with fixes, restored details and a collection of small improvements. The project works from decompiled code and offers tape and snapshot formats. Changes include corrected power-up behaviour, additional star layers, restored explosion animation and an unused enemy, while the familiar business of gathering colour remains at the centre of the adventure.
This is the Spectrum edition, which is worth making explicit when a game has such strong associations with several machines. The intention is to improve the experience already there, down to practical comforts such as pausing and quitting. Wiz and Catellite still have a world to recolour; at least a few of the obstacles were bugs that could be removed before they set off.
Get Wizball Enhanced Edition on itch.io
🧳 Magic Cartridge Generator packs the evening into one menu
Tool update · Commodore 64 / 128 / 264
A whole evening’s entertainment, carefully arranged to fit.
Magic Cartridge Generator 3.9, catalogued on 7 October, turns suitable single-file PRG programs into menu-driven cartridge compilations. The project supports several cartridge types across the Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and 264 family. A Python tool assembles the collection around the appropriate menu code, with configuration options for ordering, appearance and, where supported, music.
The useful word is suitable: this does not automatically turn every disk-based game into a cartridge release. The documentation lists known incompatibilities and explains the expected program formats. For a collection of small games, utilities or your own experiments, however, it offers a satisfying way to package them together. Think of it as packing a travelling theatre: plenty of acts can share the case, provided their scenery fits.
Visit Magic Cartridge Generator’s repository
🏗️ The little shooter with an enormous set of building plans
Source-code spotlight · .kkrieger / werkkzeug3
The corridors are spacious. Their luggage was remarkably small.
The original .kkrieger became famous for putting a first-person shooter into a 96 kB executable. Its procedural approach built much of the world from compact instructions instead of carrying every finished asset around. The kkrieger-werkkzeug3 repository opens the workshop behind that trick, bringing together the game and the tools associated with its construction.
This maintained source collection includes updated Visual Studio build support alongside material on procedural textures and the V2 synthesiser. It is a developer’s visit backstage, not a promise that rebuilding with modern tools will reproduce the original tiny file byte for byte. The fascination survives that distinction. There is something wonderfully cheeky about an entire gloomy corridor beginning life as a relatively economical set of instructions.
Explore the .kkrieger and werkkzeug3 source
🪟 .kkrieger opens a new window onto a very compact world
Playable port · Browser and macOS
The old labyrinth has acquired a much more convenient entrance.
David Dalcu’s .kkrieger port brings the 2004 shooter to the browser through WebAssembly and WebGL2, with a separate Metal path for macOS. The project reports working textures, lighting, stencil shadows, music and effects, making that peculiar little world accessible without reconstructing its original Windows environment. For readers who would rather walk through the corridors than study the machinery, this is the convenient entrance.
The famous 96 kB figure belongs to the original executable; it should not be confused with the download size of this modern port. What carries over is the game and its remarkable procedural heritage. A new platform layer has opened the door again. The architecture is still ominous, but at least getting there now involves fewer archaeological tools.
🔧 OpenEngine puts the keys to the workshop on the table
Engine project · Alpha
A useful workshop comes with tools, room to work and a key of your own.
OpenEngine begins with a familiar concern: the tools used to build a game can also determine who controls its future. The project’s manifesto argues for an engine that developers can inspect, change and keep. Its MIT-licensed implementation pairs a C++ foundation with features including C# hot reloading, a component-based architecture and modern rendering backends.
The current label is alpha, so the ambition should be read alongside the possibility of changing APIs and file formats. A statement of purpose is not a finished production track record. Even so, the ownership argument is worth reading on its own terms. When years of work are going into a game, having the workshop keys means more than being allowed to stand beside the workbench.
📚 RomM would like your collection to stop looking like a spare drawer
Library tool · Self-hosted
The collection was always impressive. Finding anything was another matter.
RomM gives a personal game collection a catalogue, cover art and a place to live. The self-hosted application brings together ROM organisation, metadata, supported browser play and save-management features. Its platform coverage spans hundreds of systems, although cataloguing a platform and being able to emulate it in a browser are different capabilities.
The appeal is the distance between owning a folder full of files and having a collection you actually browse. Names, artwork and useful organisation can turn the next game into an easy choice instead of a directory expedition. RomM is the management layer for the material you supply. It cannot decide what you should play tonight, but it can substantially reduce the time spent wondering which of six almost-identical folders contains it.
⭐ Mario takes a turn on the Vectrex’s luminous lines
Hardware demonstration · Vectrex
A familiar leap, in a kingdom drawn with very different lines.
Arcade Jason’s demonstration puts Super Mario 64 on a Vectrex display, producing one of those combinations that initially sounds like a filing error. The route involves the Ultimate Vectrex MultiCart 2, an important part of understanding the spectacle. This is an expanded setup using additional cartridge hardware, rather than a claim that the unassisted original console has suddenly learned every trick of a Nintendo 64.
The video is best enjoyed as a hardware experiment: familiar movement and scenery meeting a radically different way of drawing a picture. It is not a retail release announcement or a general compatibility guarantee. Sometimes the pleasure is simply seeing an unlikely idea made visible. Mario has visited plenty of strange kingdoms; this one has unusually strong opinions about outlines.
Watch Arcade Jason’s Vectrex demonstration
🕵️ SpyAgent turns the lift lobby into a competitive sport
Playable engine demo · Commodore 64
The building offers several amenities and very little professional courtesy.
SpyAgent Deathmatch is a two-player C64 engine demo built around the machinery of an Elevator Action-inspired project. Two joysticks turn its compact building into a contest of movement, positioning and opportunism. Agents can jump, crouch, go prone and fight at close range, while escalators and changing levels make the architecture part of the argument.
The lights deserve attention too: shooting them changes visibility, and falling fittings can become hazards of their own. This is an existing demo to revisit, rather than a newly announced complete campaign. Its attraction is immediately understandable, especially with another player within complaining distance. You may arrive intending to test the engine. Five minutes later, the conversation is likely to concern who dropped a light fitting on whom.
Try SpyAgent Deathmatch on itch.io
🎭 PS5SX2 prepares a new stage for an older cast
Homebrew port · PlayStation 5
A return to the stage usually includes a few adjustments backstage.
PS5SX2 brings PCSX2-based PlayStation 2 emulation into the PS5 homebrew environment. That makes it a different proposition from an official backwards-compatibility feature: the project requires a suitably jailbroken console and the supporting components listed in its documentation. Users also supply their own BIOS and game files; neither is part of the emulator package.
Compatibility and performance remain matters for individual games and configurations. The interesting development is the port itself, giving a mature emulation project another host and opening a path for further testing. Read it as an enthusiast project with explicit prerequisites, rather than a promise that every old disc now works everywhere. The cast has reached the new theatre, but some costumes and stage machinery still need fitting.
🏰 Windows XP’s foundations receive a very unexpected upstairs
Operating-system experiment · NT 5.1 / XFCE
The new upstairs has surprised everyone, including the foundations.
The nt51xfce4embedded project combines a Windows XP SP1-era NT kernel with a Linux-style userland and an XFCE desktop. A syscall translation layer connects pieces such as musl and BusyBox to that unfamiliar foundation, with the demonstration running through QEMU. The result is interesting precisely because the desktop appearance does not tell you which kernel is doing the work underneath.
This is a research curiosity with substantial caveats, including a build dependency on leaked XP source; that source is not included in the repository. It should not be mistaken for an officially supported Windows edition or a freely licensed re-release of XP. As an architectural experiment, though, it asks a wonderfully awkward question: how much of the house can you change while keeping the foundations?
Inspect the NT 5.1 and XFCE experiment
🍂 GbBBS95 brings back the autumn when the whole town had a handle
Game spotlight · Game Boy / Game Boy Color
In a small town, even an online mystery eventually reaches the pavement.
GbBBS95 Deluxe Edition places a small-town mystery in the autumn of 1995, when bulletin boards could feel like entire worlds behind a telephone connection. A friend has been blamed for a virus, and the adventure mixes local exploration with in-game BBS culture, ANSI-style artwork and door games. Multiple endings give the investigation somewhere to wander beyond a single straight path.
The Deluxe release adds a record shop and further musical material to an already music-minded game. It runs on the original Game Boy, with colour hardware recommended for the richer presentation. The attraction is as much atmosphere as detective work: familiar streets, online aliases and the sense that a modest community might contain a very large secret. Bring curiosity; the town already has enough rumours.
Visit GbBBS95 Deluxe Edition on itch.io
📼 The commercial break turns out to be part of the history
Preservation spotlight · Broadcast television
The bits nobody meant to keep can tell quite a story.
Neon Pulse Archive looks after the television material that rarely received a place of honour on the shelf: station identifications, advertisements, local broadcasts and the fragments surrounding the programme somebody actually meant to record. Donated VHS tapes are digitised and catalogued, with attention to dates and context. The collection includes a strong thread of Chicago-area broadcasting.
Those apparently disposable moments can preserve the texture of an era more vividly than a carefully packaged retrospective. A shop advert, a local presenter or a station’s visual identity tells you what everyday viewing felt like. The work is painstaking precisely because the useful details are often buried between other things. It turns out that fast-forwarding through the adverts was convenient viewing practice and rather poor preparation for future historians.
🪟 z486 opens the Windows 95 door on MiSTer
Release milestone · MiSTer FPGA · 6 October 2026
A familiar room, rebuilt one careful mechanism at a time.
The 6 October z486 release marks a useful step for PC recreation on MiSTer: initial Windows 95 support, restored ASCAL scaling and a batch of game-compatibility fixes. The notes report Windows 95 OSR2.1 installing and reaching the desktop, including SVGA output. Games listed as working include Wing Commander Privateer, Strike Commander and several other demanding residents of the DOS years.
A particularly interesting development sits behind the visible improvements. Co-simulation compares the project’s CPU behaviour with 86Box and stops at the first differing instruction, helping locate elusive faults. This selected release is a milestone, not the newest available build; development continued afterwards. Bringing back an old PC experience involves plenty of small corrections before the familiar desktop can confidently pretend nothing unusual happened.
Read the z486 20261006 release notes
🔓 A Switch 2 research milestone opens some important doors
Security research · Switch 2 · 18 October 2026
Opening one gate makes the next set of questions much more interesting.
Sammy Hajhamid’s ns2jb write-up reports a software-only, tethered Switch 2 jailbreak targeting firmware 23.0.1 at publication. The demonstrated access allows native code to run with ordinary system-module permissions and within the built-in filesystem module. The author discusses homebrew, hardware investigation, save backups and game modifications as applications of that access.
The scope matters as much as the headline. This is tethered research with stated boundaries, including no demonstrated compromise of the other built-in system modules. The announcement points towards further work on custom firmware rather than declaring that entire journey complete. Its value is a documented expansion of what researchers can examine and build. Several doors have opened; the interesting part is understanding exactly which rooms are now reachable.
Read the ns2jb research announcement
🧹 Roger Wilco finds a voice, and still has work to do
Fan modification · Space Quest V
Roger has a speaking part. The mop remains in the contract.
The Space Quest V Voice Acting Mod adds synthesised speech to Roger Wilco’s adventure through changes to its scripts and audio handling. It requires a copy of the original game and a separate speech resource, making it an addition to an existing installation. The repository also documents the considerable editing and programming work involved in fitting spoken dialogue into a game built around text.
There are rough edges worth knowing about: text must remain enabled for branching conversations, some dialogue does not advance automatically, and there are listed emulator and scene-specific bugs. There is no lip synchronisation. Treat this as a fan-made talkie experiment with its workings on display. Roger has acquired more to say, but the universe has not become noticeably better at listening.
Explore the Space Quest V voice mod
🔎 xSysInfo asks your Amiga what is actually inside the case
System utility · Amiga
The badge tells one story. A careful inspection supplies the rest.
xSysInfo gives an Amiga owner a structured look at the machine behind the badge: processor and FPU, chipset, memory, storage and other system details, alongside benchmarks and report output. It makes use of identification support for hardware names and expansion information, helping turn a collection of upgrades into something easier to inspect and describe.
A bootable ADF also makes the utility useful beyond an already comfortable desktop setup, including appropriate emulator and Gotek workflows. The attraction is practical rather than spectacular. When a machine has accumulated decades of changes, knowing exactly what is fitted can be the first useful step before testing, documenting or upgrading it. The outside still says Amiga; the inside may have quite a lengthy autobiography.
🌐 The GameCube has a browser and a clear sense of its limits
Homebrew application · Nintendo GameCube
A well-built little page can welcome a very unexpected visitor.
CubeBrowser gives the GameCube a surprisingly practical reason to go online. The homebrew browser supports HTTPS, images, forms, tables and parts of CSS, with downloads to SD storage and several additional conveniences. It runs through a homebrew setup such as Swiss and uses supported wired networking, including the original broadband adapter or ETH2GC hardware.
That does not make it a replacement for a modern desktop browser: sites that depend heavily on JavaScript remain outside its comfort zone. The interesting achievement is a useful slice of the web on an unexpected machine, with its requirements and limitations documented. Simple pages have room to shine again. Somewhere, a modest website with sensible HTML has just discovered a particularly unusual new visitor.
🚀 Without Frontier gives the Amiga another sky to aim for
Game in development · Amiga and PC
There is a very large sky beyond a shipyard that is still hard at work.
Without Frontier is a space-simulation project for Amiga and PC, taking inspiration from Elite and Frontier. Its official site sets out ambitions for flight physics, a living galaxy and consistent rules across that world. The Amiga target is a 68030-or-better machine with AGA, with Windows and Linux also listed. Development material and changing builds offer a view of the work as it progresses.
This is a project to follow, not a finished galaxy to review. The website includes development funding and supporter access, while news and screenshots show the engine taking shape. The appeal is easy to understand: another invitation to point an Amiga at the stars. Before planning an interstellar trading empire, it is sensible to remember that the shipyard is still busy.
Follow Without Frontier’s development
🗺️ SemaTor gives an Atari ST collection a new route through town
Public preview · Atari ST translation layer
A new route can make a familiar collection feel inviting again.
SemaTor describes itself as an Atari ST translation layer: it runs 68000 game code, provides the hardware and operating-system interfaces that code expects, and adds enhancements for supported titles. No Atari TOS ROM is required. Its public preview offers a library interface and a desktop environment for browsing games, managing saves and exploring the collection.
Enhancements depend on supported titles and profiles, so the appeal should not be reduced to a blanket promise that every disk gains widescreen or other improvements. Another useful distinction: the public repository hosts documentation and issue tracking, while the application’s source remains private. It is an interesting new route into an existing collection, with several comforts along the way. The old streets are familiar; some of the signposts are new.
Explore the SemaTor public preview
🧰 A Spectrum Next laptop reminds us that the case is part of the project
From the archives · Hardware build · November 2020
Portability begins with a good idea and eventually becomes a discussion about hinges.
Dorchester 3D’s Spectrum Next laptop, version 2, is a useful archive visit from November 2020. The independent build wraps a Next system in a purpose-designed portable enclosure, with a revised hinge, an actual Next keyboard and attention to screen connections. Storage access, controls and other fittings are part of the design rather than things left dangling after the lid closes.
The post is especially enjoyable for its practical revisions: display compatibility and mechanical details shape the result as much as the original idea. This is a documented custom build, not a newly launched official laptop. It shows why a good enclosure is engineering in its own right. Making a computer portable involves rather more than finding a box and becoming optimistic about the hinges.
Revisit the Spectrum Next laptop build
🗂️ Directory Opus still believes a file manager should do some work
Maintained classic · Amiga-compatible systems
There is a certain satisfaction in putting the right thing exactly where it belongs.
Directory Opus 5 Magellan II remains a fascinating example of an Amiga application that wanted to organise the whole working day. The BlitterStudio repository continues the source released under the AROS Public License, keeping development visible across classic and related Amiga systems. Its platform coverage includes AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS, with different builds for different targets.
This is the Amiga lineage of Directory Opus, so it should not be confused with the separate modern Windows product. The pleasure is in the continuing life of a tool designed around configurable, efficient file work. Copying, arranging and launching things may sound mundane until a good workflow makes them effortless. Some classics invite another game; this one quietly suggests that your drawers could be better organised.
Browse the Directory Opus 5 source
🏴☠️ Return to Monkey Island borrows an older wardrobe
Visual modification · Return to Monkey Island
Same voyage, a different wardrobe and several strong opinions about the colours.
RTMI 1990 processes Return to Monkey Island’s artwork and typography towards a chunkier, VGA-inspired presentation. The tool offers presets controlling character and room scaling, colour counts and sharp-edged rendering, alongside a recreated SCUMM-style dialogue font. It works with supported Windows installations of the game and keeps original archive backups so the changes can be reversed.
The important distinction is what the tool actually does: it transforms the modern game’s existing assets. It is not a recovered 1990 release, a rewrite of the adventure or a complete set of newly hand-drawn rooms. For players curious about a different visual flavour, the comparison images are the useful starting point. Guybrush is still on the same voyage; somebody has simply been rummaging through the old costume cupboard.
🌈 GBC Maker opens the colour drawer
First public alpha · Game Boy Color development
A larger palette is both an opportunity and another decision to make.
GBC Maker takes a code-first approach to creating Game Boy Color games. The offline Windows and Linux application combines a Lua-like scripting language with sprite, palette, map, font and music tools, plus an integrated emulator. Its output is a real GBC-only ROM, with support for features such as battery-backed saves and link-cable games.
The first public alpha arrived on 20 October, so this is an early tool being shaped by actual use. Existing GB Maker projects can be imported into separate colour projects, leaving the originals intact. It is a distinct application with its own capabilities, rather than a colour checkbox added to the monochrome tool. More colours mean more possibilities—and several new ways to discover that a palette looked better in your head.
🧰 etaHEN organises what happens after the door is open
Homebrew infrastructure · PlayStation 5
Once the door is open, somebody still has to organise the workshop.
etaHEN is an all-in-one homebrew enabler for the PS5, assembling functions that help an already suitable homebrew setup become useful. Its toolbox, plugin support and payload-related features bring several moving parts under one project. The source and documentation make it a place to follow how that environment is being developed and maintained.
Its role is worth keeping clear: etaHEN is a payload and enabling layer, not the initial vulnerability that gains access to the console. Firmware support and the surrounding components still determine whether a particular setup is appropriate. That distinction makes the broader scene easier to follow. Finding a way through the door is one achievement; arranging the tools so somebody can actually work inside is another substantial job.
🔑 Relapse documents the doorway, including the awkward hinges
Security research · PlayStation 5
A useful report includes the hinges that still stick.
The Relapse project documents a PS5 exploit chain with a stated firmware range of 7.00 through 13.60. It combines browser and kernel stages, providing the access on which further homebrew work can depend. The upstream repository is the most useful single reference here; the supplied testing mirror points back to that project.
The maintainers also describe instability, including retries, hangs and possible console panics. Those details are part of the status, not footnotes to hide behind a universal “unlocked” headline. This is a specific research project for specific firmware, separate from the applications or enabling payloads that may follow it. Understanding those layers makes the news more meaningful: the doorway, the workshop and the things built inside are related, but they are different pieces of work.
Read the upstream Relapse project
🧭 AmigaSource turns 25 and gives the map a thorough redraw
Community milestone · 19 October 2026
A good map needs someone willing to check the roads again.
AmigaSource marked its 25th anniversary on 19 October with the launch of version 2.0. The redesigned directory brings together thousands of Amiga links with search, expanded categories, events, magazine information and ways for visitors to suggest corrections. The announcement is refreshingly honest about the substantial verification and cataloguing work still ahead.
Its origin makes the milestone especially fitting: Scott P says the site began in response to the closure of the Amiga Web Directory. A useful map of the community was worth rebuilding, then worth maintaining for another quarter-century. The new site is both a resource and a continuing job. A directory does not stay useful simply because someone once collected enough bookmarks; somebody has to keep checking where the roads now lead.
📜 The day a much-used Amiga map stopped being updated
From the archives · 1 January 2000
One map reaches its final edition; another cartographer takes a seat.
On 1 January 2000, CUCUG announced the retirement of the Amiga Web Directory. The statement looks back on more than five years of work and a hand-curated collection of over two thousand sites, while explaining why the organisation would stop maintaining the service. It belongs to that moment in the platform’s history, not to a new closure in 2026.
Read beside AmigaSource’s anniversary, it becomes a small story about continuity. The usefulness of a directory does not disappear when its maintainers reach the end of their work; sometimes somebody else takes the need seriously and begins again. The archive also reminds us how much the early web depended on people patiently drawing maps for other people. Search boxes did not eliminate the value of a knowledgeable guide.
Read CUCUG’s Amiga Web Directory retirement notice
✏️ GB Maker leaves room for the part where you write the game
Development tool · Original Game Boy
Four shades are enough to begin quite a large adventure.
GB Maker brings code, graphics, maps, music and testing into a development environment for the original Game Boy. It uses an approachable Lua-like scripting language, so making a game still involves writing its behaviour rather than joining visual blocks. The result compiles to a real .gb ROM for use in an emulator or on suitable hardware through a flash cartridge.
The Windows and Linux tool is an appealing option for creators who want the different parts of a small game close together. Keeping the editor and test loop in one place can make experiments easier to pursue, while the original machine supplies a wonderfully clear set of boundaries. Four shades leave plenty of room for imagination. They just remove one particularly effective excuse for never finishing the artwork.
🎮 ZED Next puts the Spectrum collection within reach of the sofa
Emulator project · ZX Spectrum family
The evening’s adventures should be easier to reach than the back of the sofa.
ZED Next approaches Spectrum emulation with a full-screen interface, controller-friendly menus, media browsing and a broad family of machine targets. Alongside familiar Spectrum models, the project lists support for systems including the Next and earlier Sinclair machines. Its surrounding tools aim to make selecting software, adjusting controls and handling media part of one coherent experience.
Firmware remains an important practical detail: the project does not include the Next’s ROMs and firmware, which must be obtained separately. Machine support also deserves the usual attention to individual software and configuration. The appeal is a comfortable way to spend time with a collection, especially when a keyboard-heavy setup would interrupt the evening. You can still enjoy the old loading rituals without making every menu a test of your seating position.