25th November - ** NEW RELEASE ** - "CLUB VEGAS" - ROM & RES available now.

The weekend just got a whole lot better! Digital Fruit's come up with the goods again, another club machine is implemented in MPU3/4, and it's in the form of one of his superb DX Mods.

This is Club Vegas, the big brother of the arcade/pub machine Viva Las Vegas. Reel wins can be gambled as high as you dare, or exchanged over to the wraparound feature trail. Once on the feature you collect cash, chips and nudges. Cash and nudges are added to the appropriate pots, chips are added to your chip collection and can be played off at any of the casinos. If you collect all the chips you are awarded the jackpot (next scheduled to happen sometime around the Second Coming, gamble it out on the cash ladder guys.....). There are also the usual mystery squares and feature squares (which offer one of a wide variety of features each time you land on them).

Club Vegas is more of a true club machine than many of its peers, it does have some of the "pub machine with bigger numbers tacked onto the end of the cash trail" syndrome about it, but it's not as blatant as these things often are. (Although the jump from £50 to £200 on the reel wins should give you a pretty shrewd idea of where the block is......).

DF's DX layout is every bit as good as we've come to expect, and adds immeasurably to the gameplay experience. It's good to have DF back on the scene and producing such high quality work again; many people prefer the more involved experience that club machines offer, so another addition to the MPU3/4 club collection is very welcome.

24th November - ** NEW RELEASE ** - "WHAT'S ON TV?" - ROM & RES available now.

In the early 90s fruit machine manufacturers had a bit of a problem. With a maximum cash prize per credit of £3, and £6 per credit in tokens, they weren't exactly pulling in the high rollers. As a result, someone, somewhere, came up with quite the most spectacularly awful idea in the history of the whole world, (Hitler's "Of course we'll get to Moscow in time for Christmas" seems positively sane by comparison). The idea was this, fruit machines would start to pay out "real" prizes, but of course, the value of each prize could not exceed £6.....

The hideous outcome of this crack-fuelled nightmare disaster of a travesty of a mental brainwrong was that fruit machines started paying out, amongst other ghastly trinkets; thoroughly horrible watches (that never worked), gold-effect bracelets (that gave whoever was foolish enough to wear them a terrible rash), cufflinks (honest, cufflinks, you can imagine the fruit machine addict's delight with that one "Oh well, there goes the rent and food money for the week, but at least I've got a nice pair of fucking cufflinks"), deadly killer lighters (I actually saw one of them explode), and clock radios (they were sort of OK, truth be told).

What's On TV? is one of the few Barcrest prize machines that turned up around this time (I seem to remember the majority of them being by Project or Maygay, but that could just be my failing memory), and it's not such a bad effort; at least Barcrest went to the trouble of coming up with a new machine (unlike others who just hastily modified existing machines). The feature is a start to finish trail with a new novel touches, and is quite involved, I always thought it'd work fine without the silly prizes.

MPU34Dev's classic layout is well-designed, clear, functional, and, as far as I can remember, isn't far off how the original machine was laid out. If you're unfortunate enough to ever win a "real" prize MPU3/4 will get a bit huffy and give you a "Prize hopper error", you'll have to open and close the door to continue. The answer, as in real life, is to try and avoid the crappy "real" prizes completely......

21st November - ** NEW RELEASE ** - "CLUB SAFARI" - ROM & RES available now.

Well we are being spoiled aren't we? Wednesday is not a traditional new release day on the MPU3/4 scene but hey, who's complaining? Digital Fruit has boldly broken the mould and come up with another club machine, and the second MDM machine implemented in MPU3/4 to boot. (Maybe he got carried away playing Bank Raid and decided to try it for real at MDM's HQ and scarpered with a few ROMs).

Not a great deal to say about this, as I've never seen or played it (us poor chumps on the Isle Of Man are not trusted with club machines). However, having had a quick play I am very much reminded of that venerable BFM classic, Club Cops 'N Robbers; so maybe this is a latter day clone of that old favourite?

Whatever the case, a new release can only be a good thing, so hats off to Digital Fruit. Special mention must go to Gary for helping with the reel symbols. The only fly in the ointment is there being no sound, I'm not sure if it's down to no sound ROMs being available or the machine using the unemulated on-board Yamaha sound chip to produce its tuneful song; whatever, just bung MTV on and bop around as needs be to that.

20th November - *** YOU CAN HELP *** - REEL BANDS NEEDED

Do you own a fruit machine? Do you know someone who does? Do you know a local operator who might be willing to let you have a fiddle with some of his old machinery? (fnaar). The RES file designers need high quality scans of reel bands or the actual reel bands themselves (which we can scan, archive, and return to you in pristine condition).

The number of games implemented in MPU3/4 is increasing every few days, but the sourcing of high quality scans of reel symbols isn't keeping pace. Many games are released using incorrect reel symbols, because the originals aren't available. This may be purely cosmetic, but may also have a bearing on gameplay (as with Cash Lab). As it stands, this is a problem that may very well get worse. The symbols used for all the original classic layouts were scanned at 75dpi, they do the job, but could be much better; and they are still having to be used for many releases. (Take a look at DX Mods such as Cash Lines, a fantastic layout made less so by poor quality reel symbols).

Moreover, as and when (this isn't an "if", it's going to happen......) a different manufacturers' hardware system is emulated, we're going to need reel symbols to get early releases looking anything like as good as they should.

Fortunately, there is an answer! Take a look at the graphic below. Astute readers will spot new high-quality Barcrest symbols, JPM symbols, Empire symbols and BWB symbols. There's a "Big Game" hunter's head in there, numbers from "Pinball Wizard" and a "Viva Las Vegas" stack of chips amongst others. We've been able to get hold of a few reel bands, but we really need your help on this one. Whatever the machine, whatever its age, whatever the manufacturer, whatever the hardware system, there is genuine value in archiving the reel symbols so that one day they can be used to deliver an accurate emulation of the machine in question. (Or to update an existing layout with correct symbols).

The recent run of Empire releases from Gary really goes to show the positive effect that having genuine reel symbols available can have on the overall quality of a layout.

Reel bands are easily removed from (and subsequently replaced on) the reels themselves. (Although they do become brittle on old machines, so be careful with them). If you have access to a scanner and reel bands, you can help this scene by scanning them in. The preferred method would be scanning them in at 600dpi and then sending them to us for the detailed editing work, our mailboxes can handle large attachments so don't worry about the file size. BMP or TIFF files only please, not JPEGs; the higher the quality of the original scans, the better they'll look on the finished layout. If you don't have access to a scanner, simply send the bands to us and we'll do everything, including returning your bands to you in perfect condition. If you need any advice or help, do not hesitate to mail me, or make a post on the MSN Community, all the RES file designers are regulars there.

Do check with us first (send me a mail and I'll get back to you promptly), just in case your machine is already on the "done" list. But do remember that ANY machine is worth doing, this scene is still in its very early days, who knows where it's going to end up? Who knows how important the reel symbols you were able to get scanned now might be in a few years' time?

It's already impossible to get hold of reel bands for many machines that are currently implemented in MPU3/4 (we've rung up manufacturers asking if we can buy them). Anything pre-1994 or so simply doesn't exist anymore, except on the machines that are already out there. The machine that you own, or have access to, could represent the last chance for its reels and artwork to be archived and used in an emulation project. Granted, we're not talking about earth-shattering stuff here; but remember the first time you loaded MPU3/4 and heard the sound and music of your favourite machine for the first time in years. Or the first time you saw "that" machine you used to play as a DX Mod. Providing scans of reel bands, or the reel bands themselves for scanning, can be your contribution to an emulation scene that has already brought happy memories and nostalgia to tens of thousands of people; and hopefully, it's a scene that's only just getting started.....

18th November - **NEW RELEASE** - "FINAL FRONTIER" - ROM & RES available now.
<< FIRST MDM GAME IMPLEMENTED IN MPU3/4 >>

This is the second release from DF since his return to the scene, not only is a great game to play, it's also the first MDM machine to be implemented in MPU3/4. I don't know why I have such a soft spot for this machine, (the one I play is set to 5p £5), the snappy dance tunes certainly help, as do the Star Trek samples and typically robust MDM play style.

MDM games have a very individual "feel" to them; solid, uncomplicated and, for want of a better way of phrasing it, a little bit cheap, but in an endearing sort of way (rather like the knackered old Ford Fiesta you had as your first car that just kept on going). This machine doesn't even have a hi/lo reel to gamble on, it uses a bank of ten bulbs (as you can see in the screenshot below) instead, ten bulbs being cheaper than a reel assembly and motor......

All of this comes together as a genuinely entertaining game that's well worth investing some of your time in. So download, beam up, and brave the final frontier, Captain Kirk's toupee.

16th November - **NEW RELEASE** - "CLUB ADDERS AND LADDERS" - ROM & RES available now.
<< DIGITAL FRUIT RETURNS - WELCOME BACK HARVEY!! >>

Get yourself on over to www.mpu34.co.uk post haste! Digital Fruit and the MPU3/4 Emulator Site are back on-line, and it's great to have DF back with us after his absence. And what a return it is, with another club machine being added to the MPU3/4 line up in the form of one of DF's trademark pseudo-DX Mods.

Also, available at www.mpu34.co.uk for one day only as a special kind of welcome back present for us all is the 1024x768 version of DF's classic layout for Andy Capp. In addition, the whole site has been redesigned and given a snazzy new coat of paint, along with extra information about every MPU3/4 layout released, an FAQ and a thoroughly lustrous appearance that I'd very much like for this site if only I had the ability to realise it.....

15th November - **NEW RELEASE** - "ROCKY HORROR SHOW" - ROM & RES available now.
<<< FIRST BWB GAME IMPLEMENTED IN MPU3/4 >>>
<< Downing Street spokesman confirms public's fears, "Gary more machine than man" >>

The fifth release from Gary in five days (how does he do it?), and it's a significant one as it's the first BWB game implemented in MPU3/4. I've played it a couple of times out in the real world and concluded that it is Barcrest's "Jewel In The Crown" in BWB's rebuild clothing. This no bad thing, JITC is a fine machine, and therefore, so is The Rocky Horror Show. Great sound and music and, on the original machine, Richard 'O Brien's spooky bald head staring out at you from the topglass. Gameplay is similar to Jolly Gems and other games in that vein, lots of features, lots to do, very entertaining.

This is a classic style layout as opposed to a DX Mod, but the game's enjoyable enough to survive on its own merits; and five DX Mods in as many days would be asking a bit much, even from a DX powerhouse such as Gary. Moreover, it's an extremely good classic layout and maintains much of the "feel" of the original machine.

14th November - **NEW RELEASE** - "BANK RAID"
Combined ROM&RES file (includes DX Mod) available now.

Gary (the guy must be a highly trained DX Mod producing Borg or something, it's really quite awesome) ends his four day four release bonanza with a bang and a Bank Raid.

This is another Empire machine and yes, it's another fun trail based game from a years ago, (with shades of Maygay's The Great Escape methinks). Gary says it's not up to the standards of his previous releases as the flyer he had to work from wasn't as clear; either I'm going blind or stupid (or possibly both) but it certainly looks the business to me. Gary's now taking an extremely well earned break for a little while, I can only reiterate what I wrote yesterday, thanking him for this amazing run of releases and his overall contribution to the scene; and it seems that many others are keen to do the same over at the MSN Community.

It's also worth restating the importance of Empire's help; they've provided original artwork and flyers, correct ROMs, reel bands and technical assistance, without which all of these recent releases would not have been possible.

13th November - **NEW RELEASE** - "TREASURE TRAIL"
Combined ROM&RES file (includes DX Mod) available now.

Gary finally goes completely mad and gets a magnificent hat-trick into the bargain with three top quality DX releases in as many days. Latest out of the starting gates is Treasure Trail, another respectable middle-aged Empire machine in the same vein as The Gambler and High Spirits. It's great fun to play, with a genuinely entertaining feature - and this fantastic DX Mod really does it justice.

Reports just in suggest that Gary has now been completely assimilated by his PC, boots himself up in the morning instead of getting out of bed, has started dating a sexy little NT Workstation (Service Pack 6a with special edition melons), and will only communicate using ones and zeros.

 Quite seriously though, there's no doubt that without Gary's commitment to this scene it would not be half of what it is now. From the first DX Mod released (Viva Espana) to this latest flurry of activity, he's been a major player from day one. Perhaps less well known is the effort that he's put in behind the scenes with Empire (the tremendous results of which are now plain to see), his ROM collecting endeavours, working on problems within MPU3/4 itself and so on and so forth. Rest assured that the fruits of much of Gary's work is still to come......

And of course, let's not forget Chris Wren and Steve Phipps who, between them, coded MPU3/4, sourced all the original ROMs, and produced all the original classic layouts. Without them, there simply wouldn't be a fruit machine emulation scene. Improvements to MPU3/4 itself are what has made many of the latest releases possible, and it is still being developed as I write, here's hoping that it has a bright and healthy future ahead of it.

12th November - **NEW LAYOUT** - "HIGH SPIRITS" DX Mod - RES available now.

Gary's gone absolutely new release bonkers with this, his second release in two days. This time High Spirits has been given his special kind of DX treatment, and it's right up there as one of the best DX layouts we've seen so far. Thanks to Empire's assistance and Gary's determination to only release 100% accurate layouts, there are (as far as anyone can tell), no reel stepping or hi/lo reel issues with this release. In addition, Empire have once more provided Gary with original artwork and reel bands, which has resulted in quite the crispest, clearest layout yet seen.

The game itself is a pleasingly tidy affair, with regular wins and features accompanied by an entertaining wraparound trail feature. A decent sound package along with the likeable hard-drinking theme makes it one of the better machines currently implemented in MPU3/4. It can often be found set to 5p play with a £5 jackpot in seaside arcades, but works much better at the 25p £10 level, which is how it's set here.

If you've previously downloaded the High Spirits ROM for use with the classic style RES file then you can unzip the DX Mod into your existing folder. If not, you'll have to download the ROMs before you can play the DX Mod.

11th November - **NEW RELEASE** - "THE GAMBLER"
Combined ROM & RES file (includes DX Mod) available now.

Just as I was getting ready to settle into the usual Sunday evening routine of watching four episodes of The Simpsons for the three hundred and fifty thousandth time on Sky One (complaining endlessly about how I'd seen them all three hundred and forty nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine times before), Gary saves the day with a new release, and wouldn't you know it, it's a damn fine one too!

The Gambler is one of Empire's better early machines, and set the scene for what would become some of their trademarks. Lots of features, lots of wins, doesn't take too kindly to being forced; plenty of entertainment for less investment than could usually be expected. (It's the kind of machine you can usually play for a while without losing or winning too much, as much for fun as trying to make a profit, which is a thoroughly Good Thing and to be appropriately encouraged).

Gary's DX Mod is well up to his usual slinky and seductive standard (I think I may have used all the superlatives at my disposal too early on in MPU3/4's life cycle, with Eureka being described as practically sexy, what's left?), special mention must be made of Empire's help with the provision of artwork and reel graphics, which has helped this release to be as peachy-fine as it is.

7th November - **LAYOUT UPDATED** - "VIZ" (classic) - RES available now.

An update by Gary to his classic layout for Viz. Original reel symbols are now used for an altogether more authentic experience. Blockbusting news it isn't, but it just goes to show how much everyone cares.

6th November - **NEW RELEASE** - "THE CRYSTAL DOME" - ROM & RES available now.

Despite being a near copy of "The Crystal Maze", I always preferred "The Crystal Dome" to its big brother (although I seem to remember them both giving me their fair share of remorseless thrashings).

Maybe it's because every time the trail holds a letter is lit at the top of the trail (which gave flight to the hope that the feature would be easier to get. Like, as if....) , maybe it's because the music's a bit more tuneful, maybe it's because the The Futuristic Zone's feature looks much prettier, who can say? Does it really matter? Edward Tudor-Pole (stupidest name ever) is still along for the ride, I always thought it would be infinitely preferable to have Richard O'Brien on board (Barcrest digitised his suave baldy features for The Crystal Maze SWPs so he can't have objected too much to the idea) but we'll just have to take second best on that one.

Thanks to MPU34Dev for this fine release. Much has been made recently of the DX Mods (and true enough, they are absolutely jim-dandy), but there's still a lot to be said for the good old classic layouts. If the gameplay's solid enough, it shines through whatever the style of layout, and that's very true of this release.

5th November - **NEW LAYOUT** - "EUREKA DX" - RES available now.

Oohhh baby, if this isn't a little bit special, then I don't know what it is. Empire's near unprecedented co-operation with an emulation scene bears fruit with this stunning implementation of their machine "Eureka". With access to flyer artwork and original reel graphics, Gary has been burning the midnight oil to produce this amazing layout, which comes perilously close to being rather sexy in its magnificence.

Eureka is a likeable enough machine in itself (with regular wins and an entertaining feature) but the classic layout hasn't really been able to do it justice. Now, with what must be the finest DX layout to date, (is it better than Winner Takes All DX? I don't know, is a Ferrari F-40 better than a Lamborghini Diablo?), we can all immerse ourselves in test tube chicanery of the highest order.

Special thanks must go to Steve Brown at Empire. His assistance with resolving the technical issues that have marred earlier Empire releases and delayed Eureka DX's launch until now is what has made this release possible.

Eureka DX can be unzipped into your existing Eureka folder, if you already have one. If not, remember that you will need to download the Eureka ROMs before you can play the DX layout.

5th November - **UPDATED** - "MONEY SPINNER" - New combined ROM&RES available now.

It's bye bye to the Empire problems in MPU3/4. No more reel stepping or hi/lo reel issues, everything's now working just as it should. This update also fixes a specific problem with this layout, regarding the "picks" being auto-collected under certain circumstances. It makes quite a difference to the playability, so make sure you grab the new file.

Many thanks to Gary for working hard over the weekend to get these issues resolved (he actually released the updated file yesterday but due to real life intruding upon my wibbly wobbly web world it's only getting put up here today). Extra thanks also go to Steve Brown at Empire, who helped with some of the technical problems involved. Is it just me, or is there something very cool about a director of a company giving up his free time on a Sunday to help someone with the accurate emulation of one of their products?

Just for the record, Gary's site can be found at http://www.mpu34emu.co.uk/ 
Empire's web site lives at http://www.empiregames.co.uk/ 

3rd November - **NEW RELEASE** - "MONEY SPINNER" - Combined ROM&RES available now.

Gary saves the day with this new release (unless you won the lottery in which case that'll probably be foremost in your mind at the moment), the weekend just isn't the weekend without something new turning up for MPU3/4. This is Money Spinner, an old (ish) Empire machine that I vaguely recall playing a few years ago. Gameplay is fairly entertaining but it's the groovy Top Of The Pops music and Smashie & Nicey style commentary that really makes it a little bit special.

Please note that this release suffers from some of the same problems as Eureka. The reels will step out of place on nudges sometimes and the hi/lo reel loses its way occasionally (although the display always lets you know what number you're gambling on so it's no great hardship).

The layout is by Gary and the release is made under the Digital Fruit banner.

1st November - ** EMPIRE ROCKS! ** - Here's the official word from Empire:

Empire Games and Emulation.

Empire Games are happy for some of their machines to be emulated. The list of machines is as follows:

GHOST TRAIN - HOT CASH - THE GAMBLER - HIGH SPIRITS - PINBALL NUDGER - HAUNTED HOUSE - TREASURE TRAIL - TICK TOCK CASH - MONEY SPINNER - BANK RAID - BANGERS 'N' CASH - CRAZY CAPERS - FRIGHT NIGHT - FOOTBALL FEVER - CASH STRIKE - EUREKA - CHASE THE ACE (CARDS) - CHASE THE ACE (FRUITS) - BIG CHEESE - MONEY MONSTER - BIG CASH MACHINE - GOLD MINE - JACKPOT'S NOT ENOUGH 

There are a couple of conditions:

1. That the roms are never sold or distributed via any removable medium (including but not limited to CD, Zip disk or floppy disk).
2. All roms remain the intellectual property of Empire Games Ltd and are NOT public domain.
3. This is a goodwill gesture by Empire Games Ltd to thank all the players who have supported us and played our machines over the years. Any breaking of the above two rules will mean us re thinking this decision.

We don't wish to appear to be heavy handed but we hope you understand that we must take certain steps to protect our copyrights.

Empire Games Ltd 31/10/2001.

The practical upshot of this as follows. First, Empire ROMs are now back on-line on this and the other MPU sites. Second, there is the prospect of many more Empire games (and some of them are absolutely fantastic) being implemented in MPU3/4 in the future. Third, Empire have demonstrated a remarkably mature, considered, forward-looking and customer/enthusiast orientated outlook with regard to emulation. In doing so, they have raised themselves head and shoulders above 99% of companies the world over, who have almost always behaved in a petty and destructive fashion when faced with any form of emulation whatsoever of their software and/or hardware.

Empire's initial reaction to the sale of the CD on QXL was understandable, having given this scene room to develop they were justifiably taken aback at the site of an individual attempting to make personal profit from the theft of their intellectual property. Their statement makes it clear that this is something they will not tolerate, (and let's face it, who would?). So please let this be a warning to anyone who would consider taking it upon themselves to attempt to sell Empire ROMs in future. Empire respect this scene for what it is, fruit machine (emulation) fans and enthusiasts coming together and taking part for the love of it, not for unscrupulous profiteering.

As many people have asserted since MPU3/4 first went public, the people who would want to play emulated fruit machines on their PC are the same people who already play fruit machines for real. They don't want to play emulated fruit machines because they're trying to avoid having to pay for real thing, quite the opposite, they enjoy the real thing so much that they're keen to play emulated fruit machines as well. If they're familiar with Empire machines through MPU3/4, it makes sense that they'd seek out Empire machines at the arcade or the pub.

Empire have recognised this, and now, with the kind of action that has only been seen a handful of times in the history of emulation (and we're talking about emulation of anything and everything here), have given this scene a tremendous boost.

I for one thank Empire for making this decision, and congratulate them on being able to see the big picture. If you want to do the same, please e-mail them, and, of course, keep an eye out for Empire machines when you have some loose change burning a hole in your pocket.....

1st November - **NEW RELEASE** - "JUNGLE JACKPOTS"

Game ROM, £5 JP 5p play RES file and £10 JP 30p play RES file available now.

Well after the shenanigans (now there's a good word) of the last couple of days it's nice to get back to the normal routine of doing my tossy little write-ups about the latest new release, and we have MPU34Dev to thank for helping with the process of getting business back to usual.

Jungle Jackpots (also known as "Wasn't Boulder Dash successful, we'll have a piece of that action thank you very much") is a QPS machine that I have never seen or played, although I am reliably informed that it has done good business at seaside arcades set to 5p play with a £5 jackpot. However, on account of the fruit machine emulation scene being the transcendently fabulous wonder that it most assuredly is, there's both a 5p £5 RES file and a 30p £10 RES file available for you to download.

You can unzip the ROM file (no sound ROMs yet guys, sorry) and the two RES files into the same folder. The dipswitch trickery for the different stake and jackpot values is handled by the relevant gam file, and a separate ram file will be created for each layout, so you can have both the big one and the little one on the go at once, so to speak.

This is a fine classic style layout by MPU34Dev, and having had a quick bash at the game itself there seems to be some real playability in there. There's none of the tiresome "two or three move death" syndrome that plagued Boulder Dash and the extra bonuses at the top of the entry trail add an extra dimension too.