Modern Vintage Gamer

Happy New Year! A new impossible port has arrived. We take a closer look at Grand Theft Auto 3 GTA3, known as DCA3 for the Sega Dreamcast. This is a port that was said to be impossible with just 16 Meg of memory on the Dreamcast, and yet it is fully playable from start to finish on a stock Dreamcast with the game burned onto a CD-R. Incredible stuff. In today's episode we see how the latest and one of the very best Impossible Ports came to be.

The Nintendo 64 has always been a difficult machine to emulate correctly. But in 2025 - we should be well and truly past all of it right? Not exactly. Issues with Plugins, performance, graphical glitches, stutters. Unless you have a very powerful machine, these are common things many of us will run into when emulating the Nintendo 64. But why? And Is there any hope for fast, accurate N64 emulation in 2025 and beyond? Let's discuss in today's episode.

The Nintendo 64 has always been a difficult machine to emulate correctly. But in 2025 - we should be well and truly past all of it right? Not exactly. Issues with Plugins, performance, graphical glitches, stutters. Unless you have a very powerful machine, these are common things many of us will run into when emulating the Nintendo 64. But why? And Is there any hope for fast, accurate N64 emulation in 2025 and beyond? Let's discuss in today's episode.

A new N64 Flash Cart is out - And its only $50. The SummerCart64 is a custom-made cartridge that allows you to develop and play games on the N64 console. It is the first N64 flash cart that is feature complete and completely open source. SummerCart64 employs features such as 64DD hardware emulation, automatic save backup during gameplay, or ability to behave like a stock Game Pak with direct mode, making it the best choice for both players and game developers. In today's episode we take a closer look at the SummerCart64 in more detail!

Nintendo finally has shadow dropped the Switch 2 reveal trailer. Let's talk about it

Shadow of the Beast was a groundbreaking achievement in video games. In 1989 the concept of multi-layer parallax scrolling, and 120+ colors on screen running on a stock Amiga at 7mhz was unheard of. And yet Psygnosis and Reflections made it possible. As a game - Shadow of the Beast was a disappointment, but as a tech demo? It's one of the greatest ever made. In this episode we take a deep dive into the graphics of Shadow of the Beast.

The Super Nintendo has arguably aged better than any other console. In 1990 the SNES launched with advanced graphical effects. Transparencies, masking, pixelation effects and yes MODE7, but the hardware was capable of much more. In today's episode we deep dive into some of the unique features that the Super NES had built into its hardware that its competition was not capable of (without clever programming tricks). This is the Timeless Beauty of SNES Graphics.

The MemCard Pro 2 has become an interesting all in one solution where not only can you store an almost unlimited amount of virtual memory cards, but thanks to Multi-Purpose Memory Card Emulation (MMCE) protocol its now possible to run PS2 games directly from the same memory card. How well does it work in practice? In today's episode we look at this exciting new functionality.

Feels like 2011 all over again.

It's harder than ever in 2025 to play DOS and Windows games on original hardware, but a modern ITX motherboard known as the ITX-Llama has recently released - it uses a Vortex X86 System on Module processor package and with old school ports like PS2 Mouse and Keyboard as well as a dedicated AGP slot for connecting up a graphics card, the ITX-Llama has been designed to check off every box you could possibly need to play old school games. I can finally build a modern Windows 98 PC experience that I've been searching for. In today's episode we take a closer look at this awesome motherboard.

NYKPOYZX , SXIOPO..The Letters Mason! What do they mean?! The Game Genie - the original famous cheat device that was developed by Codemasters and published/distributed by Galoob and Camerica around the world. It allowed anyone the ability to create their own cheat codes thanks to a simple user interface that promoted discovery to uncover new codes based on modifying existing codes. Many a video has been made about the Game Genie, but I've never understood how these codes were generated in the first place. In today's episode we sit down and figure it all out. Please Enjoy!

Unleashed Recompiled is a native PC port of Sonic Unleashed from the Xbox 360 to the PC that uses a process known as static recompilation. The results are incredible - with a fully native PC port that uses DirectX12 and supports enhancements such as ultra-wide aspect ratios, high frame rates and internal resolution enhancements. The Static recompilation tool known as XenonRecomp, takes a native Xbox 360 executable and converts it into C++ code that can be recompiled on PC. This is an exciting new way to preserve Xbox 360 games, especially when we consider many titles have been delisted or are stuck on the hardware. In today's episode we take a look at this exciting new approach to preserving your Xbox 360 games.

Silicon Knights was a well-known Canadian video game developer that was responsible for games such as Eternal Darkness, Too Human and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes for the Nintendo GameCube. Sadly, the studio went bankrupt and closed their doors in 2014. In today's episode, we unearth a lost cancelled prototype from the studio that was in development for the Xbox 360 in October 2011 and was an interesting take on detective-based adventure games. Project-PO is a lost Silicon Knights game that has been unearthed and preserved. Please Enjoy!

Tony Hawk's is a series of skateboarding video games published by Activision and endorsed by the American professional skateboarder Tony Hawk. From 1999 to 2007, the series was primarily developed for home consoles by Neversoft with generally annual releases. The series was a global phenomenon selling millions and was one of the best-selling video game franchises of the early 2000s. However, it turns out that some of the games were riddled with code that can be exploited for unauthorized code execution. Here is how the Tony Hawk series can hack 3 generations of home console starting from the Sony PlayStation to the Xbox 360 by using buffer overrun exploits.

A look a the newest Xbox 360 software only Hypervisor Hack known as BadUpdate. It requires a Xbox 360 - any model including the later Winchester revisions - on the latest system version (17559), a USB flash drive, Rock Band Blitz Trial and some patience. This latest hack is a very exciting update for the Xbox 360 community. In today's episode we take a closer look at the BadUpdate exploit.

As we approach a new Nintendo Switch generation its time to reflect. The Nintendo Switch was the system that changed my life. It landed me a job in the video game industry, and for that I will be forever grateful. In this episode I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the impact that the Nintendo Switch has had on me just before Switch 2 is revealed on April 2nd.

The Switch 2 has been officially unveiled in the Nintendo April 2 Direct. We know about the price, games, hardware and much more. Let's take a closer look at all the annoucements.

Nintendo has confirmed backward compatibility on the Nintendo Switch 2. Let's discuss how it works in some detail.

The Sega Dreamcast refuses to die. In recently times some incredible ports have appeared on the system thanks to the dedicated homebrew development community that continues to keep the Dreamcast not only alive, but as one of the very best communities out there. In today's episode we take a closer look at more incredible ports - GTA Vice City, Wipeout and Doom 64

Nintendo has updated their backward compatibility website with some new information and updates on fixed games. Lets check it in in more detail and what this means tl;dr : Don't sell your Nintendo Switch 1 quite yet...

he Motorola 68000 CPU was released in 1979, to compete with the Intel 8086. The chip was designed to be powerful and versatile and made its mark by not only powering some of the most iconic and beloved games in the 1980s and 1990s, but it also ruled in the home and in the arcades. It helped define the gaming experiences of a generation and left a lasting impact on the industry. Today's episode is a love letter to one of the most influential CPU processors ever and one that many still love to write code on. Please Enjoy!

A development build of Far Cry was found on an Original Xbox Development kit (XDK), in this episode we take a closer look at the build and uncover some interesting findings. As usual the build is preserved and available for everyone to enjoy (archive.org link below). Dumped from an old Crytek Development kit - dated October 27 2005. This build was created after Far Cry Instincts launched (Sept 2005) and appears to be an attempt to port Far Cry to the Original Xbox which was scrapped possibly in favor of the XBLA (Far Cry Classic) version on the Xbox 360 A 128Meg Xbox is required to launch the game (either debug or retail) The hdd.img has also been provided which contains some additional .xbe's however they are corrupted. XEmu will run the build however there are graphical issues.