Log Message:
mame: update to 0.223.

pkgsrc change: add a BUILDLINK_TRANSFORM that should fix the build
on powerpc (and possibly sparc64), from he@.

MAME 0.223 has finally arrived, and what a release it is – there’s
definitely something for everyone! Starting with some of the more
esoteric additions, Linus Åkesson’s AVR-based hardware chiptune
project and Power Ninja Action Challenge demos are now supported.
These demos use minimal hardware to generate sound and/or video,
relying on precise CPU timings to work. With this release, every
hand-held LCD game from Nintendo’s Game & Watch and related lines
is supported in MAME, with Donkey Kong Hockey bringing up the rear.
Also of note is the Bassmate Computer fishing aid, made by Nintendo
and marketed by Telko and other companies, which is clearly based
on the dual-screen Game & Watch design. The steady stream of TV
games hasn’t stopped, with a number of French releases from
Conny/VideoJet among this month’s batch.

For the first time ever, games running on the Barcrest MPU4 video
system are emulated well enough to be playable. Titles that are
now working include several games based on the popular British TV
game show The Crystal Maze, Adders and Ladders, The Mating Game,
and Prize Tetris. In a clear win for MAME’s modular architecture,
the breakthrough came through the discovery of a significant flaw
in our Motorola MC6840 Programmable Timer Module emulation that
was causing issues for the Fairlight CMI IIx synthesiser. In the
same manner, the Busicom 141-PF desk calculator is now working,
thanks to improvements made to Intel 4004 CPU emulation that came
out of emulating the INTELLEC 4 development system and the prototype
4004-based controller board for Flicker pinball. The Busicom 141-PF
is historically significant, being the first application of Intel’s
first microprocessor.

Fans of classic vector arcade games are in for a treat this month.
Former project coordinator Aaron Giles has contributed netlist-based
sound emulation for thirteen Cinematronics vector games: Space War,
Barrier, Star Hawk, Speed Freak, Star Castle, War of the Worlds,
Sundance, Tail Gunner, Rip Off, Armor Attack, Warrior, Solar Quest
and Boxing Bugs. This resolves long-standing issues with the previous
simulation based on playing recorded samples. Colin Howell has also
refined the sound emulation for Midway’s 280-ZZZAP and Gun Fight.

V.Smile joystick inputs are now working for all dumped cartridges,
and with fixes for ROM bank selection the V.Smile Motion software
is also usable. The accelerometer-based V.Smile Motion controller
is not emulated, but the software can all be used with the standard
V.Smile joystick controller. Another pair of systems with inputs
that now work is the original Macintosh (128K/512K/512Ke) and
Macintosh Plus. These systems’ keyboards are now fully emulated,
including the separate numeric keypad available for the original
Macintosh, the Macintosh Plus keyboard with integrated numeric
keypad, and a few European ISO layout keyboards for the original
Macintosh. There are still some emulation issues, but you can play
Beyond Dark Castle with MAME’s Macintosh Plus emulation again.

In other home computer emulation news, MAME’s SAM Coupé driver now
supports a number of peripherals that connect to the rear expansion
port, a software list containing IRIX hard disk installations for
SGI MIPS workstations has been added, and tape loading now works
for the Specialist system (a DIY computer designed in the USSR).