Near, creator of brilliant BSNES Emulator, passes away

BSNES emulator dev Near passes away

The developer known as Near, best known for the popular SNES emulator BSNES and a fan translation of Bahamut Lagoon, took their own life on June 27th. Some details were revealed (Warning: contains distressing details) by a friend on Twitter, suggesting an online harassment campaign.

Near, who sometimes would go by the names ‘byuu’ and ‘Dave’ and identifies as non-binary, started working on BSNES in 2004 and the goal was to create the most accurate possible SNES emulator with full compatibility, and BSNES became the goal standard for accuracy in the emulation community.

Game historian: Near was also a passionate collector of SNES and Super Famicom games, working to preserve the games for posterity and also spent years translating the JRPG Bahamut Lagoon into English.

Your not alone: If you find yourself struggling, please contact a group like The Samaritans (UK), or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which both offer help and advice 24 hours a day

Which blues singer was one of the first actors to play Dr. Robotnik?

a) Willie Dixon
b) Alexis Korner
c) Long John Baldry
d) Cyril Davies

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today's issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

When we say jump, you jump. No, not you!

Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga features a nod to Mario’s early days as the hero of Donkey Kong. If Mario jumps when the Border Bros. tell Luigi to jump, they’ll tell Mario to “give the ‘Jumpman’ thing a rest”. Jumpman was the name of the hero in the Japanese version of Donkey Kong, and the mustachioed hero would only become Mario when he starred in the Mario Bros. arcade game.

The Sledgehammer Brothers make another reference to Nintendo history when they give Mario and Luigi their hammers, saying “Pow! Now you’re playing with power!”, which was a slogan Nintendo used to promote the NES.

Join our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today's fact.

Grand Theft Auto fan projects back online

Take-Two issued a takedown notice to GitHub to demand the removal of the fan projects re3 and reVC, reverse-engineered clients for Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City.

The developers were initially reluctant to refuse, fearing a costly legal struggle would ensue, but in the end, they filed counter-claims with GitHub, leading to the restoration of both projects.

Fair use: The developers claim their work is “either unprotected by copyright or is permitted under fair use,” according to their counter-claim. GitHub seems to agree.

Back in business: GitHub followed the procedure established by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which states that ‘offending’ content can be reinstated if a counter-claim is made and is not responded to in a timely manner. Good thing Take-Two is not that attentive!

Pokémon Masters EX’s July schedule

DeNA have published an overview of what's in store for Pokémon Masters EX in July, and highlights some of the changes from the late June update such as zero stamina consumption for the main story, day care limit increased to 500 and new descriptions for moves and skills.

Masters EX July calendar

• All Aboard the Victory Train begins on June 29th
  • Sync Pair Scout: Ingo & Excadrill and Emmet & Archeops
• Rock-type Gear event on July 7th
  • 3 star rock-type gear in all co-op battles
• Rock and Ground-type Egg event on July 11th
  • Eggs can hatch Omanyte, Cubone or Aerodactyl
• Legendary Arena: Moltres on July 11th
• Mid-July story event with seasonal Sync Pairs
• Sync Pair-Up event coming in late July
• Next community message also coming in late July

• Unforgiving action RPG Grime hits PC and Stadia on August 2nd so get ready to smash foes with ‘living weapons’
• Returnal developer Housemarque has officially joined PlayStation Studios saying that it can "create with no limitations" thanks to this deal with Sony
• Valkyria Chronicles coming to Switch Online in Japan with a playable trial coming next week
• Cyberpunk 2077 has reached “satisfying level” of stability and performance, allowing CD Projekt RED to move on to improvements
• Kazuya joins the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster as part of the next Fighters Pass launching on June 30th
• Cel-shaded action adventure Demon Slayer launches on October 15th and has a stylish story trailer

Which Blues singer was one of the first actors to play Dr. Robotnik?

ANSWER: Long John Baldry!

In 1993, there were two Robotniks: The remarkably evil Sonic the Hedgehog villain voiced by Jim Cummings, and the silly Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog villain voiced by Long John Baldry. Yup, that’s the man who sang hits like Let the Heartaches Begin and Don’t Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll, and he portrayed Robotnik as a silly and even slightly loveable buffoon.

He wasn’t the only musician who lent talent to cartoons based on videogames. Captain N: The Game Master featured the Motown singer Levi Stubbs as Mother Brain. How did these stars end up voicing videogame villains? Who knows, but they certainly helped make the Saturday morning cartoons a lot more memorable.

Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Nick Akerman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey. If you have any feedback or news tips for the team, please email us!