 | |
| Developer(s) | Pau "Pof" Oliva Papasi |
|---|---|
| Final release | 0.42 / September 1, 2015 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Type | Freeware |
| License | GNU GPL 2.0 |
| Website | www |
Fightcade is a software client used to enable online capabilities to play of various arcade and home console systems via emulation. Fightcade utilizes networking middleware GGPO to mitigate the effects of network latency on gameplay, and functions as a successor of GGPO's now-defunct matchmaking client.
GGPO, the networking middleware which Fightcade uses for facilitating online play, was created by Tony Cannon in response to the poorly-received netcode of the 2006 Xbox 360 re-release of Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting . [1] GGPO was originally bundled with a client that enabled users to play networked multiplayer games via an embedded emulator. The GGPO client supported a wide variety of popular arcade games, such as Street Fighter II , King of Fighters , and Metal Slug .
Pau "Pof" Oliva, one of Fightcade's major contributors, noted that the GGPO client often suffered from intermittent service, sometimes going offline for several days at a time. Expressing concern over the future of GGPO, Oliva began work on Fightcade during a prolonged GGPO service outage. Oliva originally intended to only use the Fightcade client amongst friends, but positive reception from beta testers encouraged him to publicly release the client. [2]
Fightcade launched into beta in late 2014, during a period where other contemporary netplay clients were noted to be largely unsupported by their creators, suffering from either lengthy outages or financial distress. [3] Following the discontinuation of the GGPO client, Fightcade now functions as the GGPO client's de facto successor.
A significant portion of Fightcade's functionality was developed through reverse-engineering GGPO's client; Fightcade would go on to inherit many of the GGPO client's features. New features exclusive to Fightcade were also implemented, such as network hole punching, which forgoes the need to port forward when connecting to other users, and replays, which enable users to re-watch their game matches at a later time. [2]
In October 2017, Fightcade 2.0 was released through a limited public beta. [4] Features added in 2.0 include an overhauled GUI and an updated version of the bundled emulator, which enables Fightcade to support a broader range of arcade and console hardware. [5]
Fightcade contains a built-in emulator, "FinalBurn Alpha", which it uses to run supported games. GGPO is utilized for online multiplayer play, affording Fightcade the same "rollback" lag mitigation techniques present in GGPO's original client.
The software client supports a large variety of arcade hardware, including many Capcom boards (CPS-1, CPS-2, CPS-3) and SNK's Neo Geo. With the beta release of Fightcade 2.0, Fightcade features preliminary support for the Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx-16. [6]
Although the software is free, players must acquire and install the ROM files themselves. This is done for legal reasons, as while the concept of emulation is perfectly legal[ citation needed ], the necessary files are sometimes downloaded without permission from the copyright owner, which is a form of online piracy.
MAME is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade games, video game consoles, old computers and other systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserve gaming history by preventing vintage video games from being lost or forgotten. It does this by emulating the inner workings of the emulated machines; the ability to actually play the video games is considered "a nice side effect". Joystiq has listed MAME as an application that every Windows and Mac gamer should have.
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, or used to contain a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board. The term is frequently used in the context of emulation, whereby older games or firmware are copied to ROM files on modern computers and can, using a piece of software known as an emulator, be run on a different device than which they were designed for. ROM burners are used to copy ROM images to hardware, such as ROM cartridges, or ROM chips, for debugging and QA testing.
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Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers is a competitive fighting game produced by Capcom and originally released as an arcade game in 1993. It is the fourth game in the Street Fighter II sub-series of Street Fighter games, following Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting. It refines and balances the existing character roster from the previous versions, and introduces four new characters. It is the first game on Capcom's CP System II hardware, with more sophisticated graphics and audio over the original CP System hardware used in previous versions of Street Fighter II.
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Project64 is a free and open-source Nintendo 64 emulator written in the programming languages C and C++ for Microsoft Windows. This software uses a plug-in system allowing third-party groups to use their own plug-ins to implement specific components. Project64 can play Nintendo 64 games on a computer reading ROM images, either dumped from the read-only memory of a Nintendo 64 ROM cartridge or created directly on the computer as homebrew.
Retrogaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the playing and collection of obsolete personal computers, consoles, and video games. Usually, retrogaming is based upon systems that are outmoded or discontinued, although ported retrogaming allows games to be played on modern hardware via ports or compilations. It is typically for nostalgia, preservation, or authenticity. A new game could be retro styled, such as an RPG with turn-based combat and pixel art in isometric camera perspective.
XLink Kai is a program developed by Team XLink allowing for online play of video games with support for LAN multiplayer modes. It enables players on the GameCube, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita / PlayStation TV, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One to play games across the Internet using a network configuration that simulates a local area network (LAN). It notably also allows original Xbox games to be played online again following the Xbox Live shutdown on 21 April 2010 and certain GameSpy titles such as Saints Row 2 to be played online after the GameSpy network shutdown on 31 May 2014.
Dolphin is a free and open-source video game console emulator for GameCube and Wii that runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S.
Nintendo European Research & Development (NERD) is a French subsidiary for Nintendo, located in Paris, which develops software technologies and middleware for Nintendo platforms. This includes retro console emulators, patented video codecs, and DRM technology.
Arika is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It was formed in 1995 by former Capcom employees. It was originally known as ARMtech K.K, but was later named Arika. The name of the company is the reverse of the name of the company's founder, Akira Nishitani, who along with Akira Yasuda, created Street Fighter II. Arika's first game was Street Fighter EX. It was successful and was followed up with two updates, and its two sequels Street Fighter EX2 and Street Fighter EX3. In 2018, they released a spiritual successor to both Street Fighter EX and Fighting Layer, titled Fighting EX Layer. From 2019 to 2021, Arika collaborated with Nintendo to create the battle royale games Tetris 99, Super Mario Bros. 35, and with Bandai Namco for Pac-Man 99. Arika is also known for the Tetris: The Grand Master series, the Dr. Mario series, starting with Dr. Mario Online Rx, and the Endless Ocean series.
Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams, known as Street Fighter Zero in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 2D arcade fighting game by Capcom originally released in 1995 for the CP System II hardware. It was the first all new Street Fighter game produced by Capcom since the release of Street Fighter II in 1991. The working title for the game was Street Fighter Legends.
A video game console emulator is a type of emulator that allows a computing device to emulate a video game console's hardware and play its games on the emulating platform. More often than not, emulators carry additional features that surpass limitations of the original hardware, such as broader controller compatibility, timescale control, easier access to memory modifications, and unlocking of gameplay features. Emulators are also a useful tool in the development process of homebrew demos and the creation of new games for older, discontinued, or rare consoles.
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system to behave like another computer system. An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use peripheral devices designed for the guest system. Emulation refers to the ability of a computer program in an electronic device to emulate another program or device.
Kaillera is middleware designed to aid networked multiplayer play for emulators. The word "Kaillera", also spelled "kaïra", is the verlan of the French word racaille, meaning "hooligans" or "rascals".
Cloud gaming, sometimes called gaming on demand or game streaming, is a type of online gaming that runs video games on remote servers and streams the game's output directly to a user's device, or more colloquially, playing a game remotely from a cloud. It contrasts with traditional means of gaming, wherein a game is run locally on a user's video game console, personal computer, or mobile device.
GGPO is middleware designed to help create a near-lagless online experience for various emulated arcade games and fighting games. The program was created by Tony Cannon, co-founder of fighting game community site Shoryuken and the popular Evolution Championship Series.
NESiCAxLive is a digital distribution system for arcade video games made by Taito. It is similar to the SEGA ALL.Net game distribution system. Taito uses NESiCAxLive to distribute not only its own games, but also allows other companies to use it as a publication platform. On its introduction SNK, Cave, and Arc System Works had agreed to distribute games on NESiCAxLive. Currently, 8 games are operated as alone running titles and 29 titles as downloadable titles on candy cabinets.
Video game preservation is a form of preservation applied to the video game industry that includes, but is not limited to, digital preservation. Such preservation efforts include archiving development source code and art assets, digital copies of video games, emulation of video game hardware, maintenance and preservation of specialized video game hardware such as arcade games and video game consoles, and digitization of print video game magazines and books prior to the Digital Revolution.
