From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-30 on our former news site and restored here.

Atari has formally ceased to be a French company, according to Time Extension. For readers in the UK and beyond, it is another small but notable change for one of gaming’s most recognisable names, even if the move is unlikely to affect day-to-day operations.

The brand began in the United States in 1972, before its corporate life became increasingly international. The French link came through Infogrames Entertainment SA, a French publisher, which acquired the Atari name and assets and later rebranded itself as Atari SA in 2009.

That long corporate trail has included retro re-releases, new intellectual property, and more recent ventures into blockchain and hotel development. Atari’s current activity also includes publishing new titles, reissuing classics, and licensing its brand for products such as the Atari VCS console.

For fans, collectors, and preservation-minded readers, the bigger story is the brand’s staying power. Atari’s cultural weight has always outlasted its changing ownership and registration details, and this latest shift looks more like a restructuring of the company’s administrative base than a change in what it does.

In practical terms, consumers are unlikely to see an immediate difference. The company’s games, hardware, and licensing agreements should continue as before, while the Atari name remains tied to the early history of video games. You can keep up with more retro gaming news on our News tag page.

Originally reported by Time Extension. Read the original report via Google News.

From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-28 on our former news site and restored here.

For retro gaming fans in London and across the UK, Gradius Advance has had a fan-made technical upgrade that aims to make the Game Boy Advance shooter look and run better on modern hardware. The project, highlighted by Time Extension, focuses on the game’s visuals and performance.

Konami’s Gradius Advance, known as Gradius Generations in Japan, was a solid entry in the series, but like many GBA games it was shaped by the original handheld’s unlit LCD screen. Dark scenes could be hard to read, and colours were often tuned for that specific display rather than today’s backlit screens.

The patch revises the colour palette so the game looks more natural on modern IPS screens and on the later GBA SP AGS-101 model. It also aims to reduce slowdown during busy action sequences, which should make the shooter feel more consistent in play. For readers following wider handheld modding coverage, our News tag page is a good place to keep up with similar updates.

This kind of work sits neatly alongside the preservation-minded side of the retro scene. It is not just about keeping old cartridges working, but about improving how they are experienced on current kit, whether that is a modded GBA or FPGA hardware such as an Analogue Pocket. Time Extension has also covered Analogue Pocket OpenFPGA cores, which shows how active that space has become.

Projects like this also underline how much technical knowledge sits inside the community. Fans are still finding ways to refine older games, from colour correction to performance tweaks, and that keeps classics like Gradius Advance practical to play for new and returning players alike.

Originally published by Time Extension. Read original article.

From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-27 on our former news site and restored here.

For retro fans in the UK, this is a neat one, N64 cartridge owners can now back up their own games and saves using only a flash cart and an SD card. The new tool, N64 SwapDumper, was released by Moddermntorankusu and is aimed at making Nintendo 64 dumping far more accessible for preservation-minded players.

The tool is built on work from @Jhynjhiruu, @ppcasm, and @Modman, and takes inspiration from their sharksaver64 project. It was tested with a SummerCart flash cart, then used by swapping in the original N64 cartridge so the tool could copy the largest possible chunk of data into the console’s RAM.

From there, the process is simple in principle, if a little hands-on. The user removes the original cartridge, puts the flash cart back in, and the tool writes that chunk from RAM to the SD card. The swap is repeated until the full ROM has been transferred. Moddermntorankusu has also added in-memory compression to reduce the number of swaps, although that part is still being refined and can slow things down for some games.

The developer says the aim is legitimacy as much as convenience. They believe it is important for the flash-cart community to have a practical way to dump cartridges, and the tool also backs up save data, which may be the most useful part for many owners. A save restore function may be added later if there is enough interest.

There is one important warning, though. Moddermntorankusu says they have tested the tool repeatedly without damaging hardware, but there is still a risk when swapping cartridges, especially on modified consoles that no longer have the region-keyed cartridge tray insert. Bare PCB flash carts or game cartridges can also increase the chance of misalignment and damage.

This report was first covered by Time Extension. For more on the latest retro gaming coverage, see our News tag, and if you are interested in preservation hardware, the Analogue Pocket OpenFPGA cores guide is a useful related read.

From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-27 on our former news site and restored here.

For retro fans in the UK, browser-based emulation keeps getting more practical, and Afterplay is one of the clearest examples yet. RetroDodo has highlighted the platform as a serious option for playing classic games without the usual desktop emulator setup.

Afterplay has been around since 2021, and the platform is developed by Patrick Corrigan, with James Leaver as head of emulation. According to Afterplay, it supports a wide range of systems, from Game Boy and Game Boy Advance to Nintendo DS, PSP, NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Sega Master System, Mega Drive and PlayStation 1.

One of its strongest points is flexibility. RetroDodo says users can switch emulation cores for some systems, including moving between PCSX-ReARMed and Beetle PSX for PlayStation 1 titles. The platform also offers more than 80 colour themes and adjustable typography, which gives it a more polished feel than many browser tools.

Cloud syncing is another major part of the appeal. Saves, ROM libraries, custom settings and cheat inputs are stored online, so players can move between devices more easily. RetroDodo notes that this can work across a Mac, smartphone and even a Tesla browser, which shows how far the platform is pushing the idea of play-anywhere access.

Afterplay also links into RetroAchievements, and it has a digital store for community-made retro games from creators such as Incube8Games and Mega Cat Studios. RetroDodo also points to the Vault feature, which helps users manage a ROM library and spot missing games, plus Link, which creates virtual multiplayer rooms for remote play. For readers who follow retro gaming news, our News page is a good place to keep up with similar platform updates.

RetroDodo describes the emulation quality as fluid and reliable for most games, including more demanding systems like Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 1. It does note some limitations, including minor graphical artefacts when returning to a suspended game, but the overall picture is of a browser platform that has moved well beyond novelty status.

From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-26 on our former news site and restored here.

Epilogue has released Playback 1.10.0, a major software update for its GB Operator and SN Operator cartridge readers. For retro fans in the UK and beyond, the headline change is real-time clock, or RTC, emulation for Game Boy and Game Boy Advance cartridges with dead internal batteries.

That means time-based features can keep working even when a cartridge battery has failed. In games such as Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, plus other RTC-enabled carts, Playback can now use the computer’s clock when it detects a dead coin cell battery. It also fixes some corrupted or out-of-range timestamp issues that could make in-game years display incorrectly.

The update also changes how audio is handled. Epilogue has moved away from a community-maintained fork of mGBA and now uses the official mGBA project directly, which means audio arrives at its native sample rate before Playback converts it for the output device. The result should be a cleaner signal, especially for users with DACs or higher-end audio setups.

Playback 1.10.0 also brings in a newer mGBA core, with a year or more of accuracy work folded in. That includes proper Game Boy Advance clock support at emulator level, fixes for Game Boy rumble, and a range of smaller timing and audio corrections. It should help games that rely on precise timing feel closer to original hardware.

There are also improvements for lightgun play and multi-operator use. Mouse capture has been rebuilt across Windows, X11, and Wayland, and the software now reports off-screen aim correctly even when the cursor is captured. A new Tab shortcut releases the cursor, which should make it easier to get back to the desktop after playing titles like Super Scope 6.

If you are running more than one Epilogue device at once, the update should help there too. Playback now keeps each window’s device ownership separate, so a GB Operator and SN Operator can be used side by side without the same conflicts seen in earlier versions. For more RetroShell coverage, see our news tag.

Epilogue has also expanded its test coverage and made further kiosk mode changes, including OpenGL ES 3.0 support, frame size fixes, unified core options handling, and a mock mode for development. You can read more on the official Epilogue site at epilogue.co and check the mGBA project at mgba.io.

From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-26 on our former news site and restored here.

For readers in London and across the UK retro scene, there is a new ModRetro Chromatic review worth a look, Buck and the Cursed Cartridge, as covered by Gaming Trend. The game is a 2D platformer developed by Play Instinct, with GameStop’s mascot Buck dropped into a cursed cartridge and pulled into the game world.

Gaming Trend’s verdict is broadly positive. The review says the game is surprisingly competent for a title tied to a retail brand, and that its self-aware tone is set early, with Buck’s irreverent attitude carrying through the experience. One early moment, where he rejects a sword in favour of a gun, is used as an example of the game’s blunt humour.

GameStop’s role here is also part of the story. The retailer has published games before, including Song of the Deep, although that effort was later abandoned. This new release for the ModRetro Chromatic suggests a more deliberate push into publishing, and a closer link between hardware and software than you might expect from a traditional retailer.

The game itself sounds well stocked for a compact retro platformer. Gaming Trend notes six distinct worlds, each with multiple levels and a boss encounter, plus a structure that lets players tackle stages at their own pace within each world. The review also points to themed areas, including an early Mario-like world, a Halloween section, and a Winter world with slippery ice physics and darker levels that limit visibility.

On the play side, the review highlights responsive jumping and shooting, a counter that tracks remaining enemies, and short levels that usually take a minute or two. There are also light RPG touches, with a hacker rat in each world selling upgrades such as an air dash, a double jump, and health boosts. Collectibles in chests add another reason to replay stages, even if they do not affect gameplay directly.

There is one clear criticism, though. Gaming Trend says the level markers do not change once completed, which makes progress harder to track, especially because every level in a world must be cleared before the boss unlocks. Even so, the review’s overall tone is that Buck and the Cursed Cartridge is a solid addition to the Chromatic’s growing library. For more retro gaming coverage, see our news tag.

From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-23 on our former news site and restored here.

For readers in the UK and beyond, a new report suggests Capcom is working on another remake of Resident Evil, the original PlayStation survival horror classic first released in 1996. The claim comes via ComicBook Gaming, which cites a source known as Stiviwonder.

This would continue Capcom’s recent habit of revisiting its back catalogue, especially the Resident Evil series. The publisher has already released remakes of Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, and Resident Evil 4, all of which helped bring the franchise to a new audience.

The original game also had a major remake on Nintendo GameCube in 2002, which is still widely remembered for its atmosphere and expanded content. If Capcom is indeed revisiting the first game again, the big question is how it will balance modern controls and presentation with the slower, tighter horror that defined the 1996 release.

ComicBook Gaming’s report also mentions possible remakes of Resident Evil 0 and the first Devil May Cry, although the timing of any of these projects is not clear. The same source, Stiviwonder, was also linked to a recent accurate leak about Resident Evil Requiem, which gives the new claim some added weight.

For now, this remains a report rather than an official announcement from Capcom. If you want to keep up with more retro gaming news, you can follow our News coverage, or check Capcom’s own site for any future confirmation. You can also read the original report at ComicBook Gaming and the earlier related report at ComicBook Gaming.

For background on the series, Capcom’s official website is the best place to watch for announcements. The original Resident Evil remains one of the most important survival horror games ever made, so any new remake is likely to draw plenty of attention from long-time fans.

From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-23 on our former news site and restored here.

London readers with a soft spot for retro handhelds may want a look at this one, ZARA has started selling a cross-body bag inspired by Sony’s PlayStation Portable, or PSP. The product was noted by Japanese gaming site 4Gamer.net, which briefly reported its availability.

The PSP, released in 2004, was known for its wide screen, 4.3-inch LCD with a resolution of 480 by 272 pixels, and its UMD drive. Those details gave the handheld a very distinct look, and that industrial design is clearly what ZARA has borrowed here.

4Gamer.net did not give details on the bag’s materials or dimensions, but the visual reference to Sony’s handheld is plain. For anyone who remembers the PSP’s sleek shell and central button layout, the connection is immediate.

This kind of mainstream nod to retro gaming hardware is always interesting, because it shows how far the PSP’s design has travelled beyond the console itself. It is not about the hardware inside, such as the MIPS R4000-based CPU clocked at up to 333 MHz, but about the shape and identity that made the machine stand out.

We have seen plenty of renewed interest in classic handhelds, from FPGA systems like the Analogue Pocket to modern Linux-based devices from makers such as Anbernic and Miyoo. If you want more RetroShell coverage like this, keep an eye on our news tag for the latest stories.

For the original report, see 4Gamer.net. ZARA’s own site is the best place to check current stock and regional availability.

From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-22 on our former news site and restored here.

OmniDrive es un firmware casero para unidades ópticas de PC que pone el foco en la preservación de juegos retro. Desde una perspectiva práctica, permite ripear discos de Wii, GameCube, Xbox y Xbox 360.

Para lectores de España y de cualquier ciudad con afición por el retro, la idea es sencilla: usar hardware de PC compatible para extraer el contenido de discos de consola sin depender de soluciones más complejas. Eso lo convierte en una herramienta interesante para quienes cuidan su colección y quieren conservarla en formato digital.

El proyecto se presenta como un firmware casero, así que su uso depende de la unidad óptica concreta y de la compatibilidad del equipo. Si sigues la escena de preservación, merece la pena revisar también nuestra cobertura de noticias retro en News.

Como referencia oficial, conviene consultar la información del proyecto y cualquier documentación técnica publicada por sus autores antes de probarlo. En este tipo de herramientas, la compatibilidad y el estado del hardware son claves para obtener buenos resultados.

OmniDrive encaja en una tendencia muy familiar para la comunidad retro: dar nueva vida a hardware existente para conservar software de consola. Para más contexto sobre la escena, puedes seguir la etiqueta de noticias y volver cuando haya nuevas actualizaciones.

From the RetroShell news archive. Originally published 2026-05-22 on our former news site and restored here.

For readers in the UK and beyond who still keep old discs on the shelf, a new homebrew firmware called OmniDrive has been made for PC optical drives. It is designed to let those drives rip games from Wii, GameCube, Xbox and Xbox 360 discs.

The project is aimed at preservation, giving owners a way to make digital copies of their own discs. That matters for older formats, especially where original hardware is ageing and replacement parts are harder to find.

OmniDrive is not a commercial product, it is a community-made firmware. As with any preservation tool, it sits in the wider retro gaming scene where fans keep an eye on software, hardware mods and archive-friendly projects. You can follow more site coverage on our news tag page.

The firmware supports several console disc formats, including Wii, GameCube, Xbox and Xbox 360. For the technical background and any future updates, the best place to check is the project’s own release information or repository, if one is published by the developer.

For now, OmniDrive is another sign that preservation tools are still moving forward, even for systems that many players thought were already well covered. If you are tracking retro hardware and software news, keep an eye on this space for further compatibility notes and installation details.