MSX Launchers

Front-ends for the MSX Emulators

blueMSX Launcher is a Windows-based front-end primarily for the emulator blueMSX, and also for openMSX and fMSX. It was first released in 2004, and now it's up to version 1.14.4, released in August 2021.

Features:

  • Create and manage multiple databases of all MSX software supported by blueMSX.
  • Scan the hard disk to automatically fill launcher databases with ROMs, disks, tapes and hard disks, and sync the database to your hard disk any time later.
  • Display one or two screenshots for each game.
  • Filter launcher database profiles by medium, system, company, year, country, MSX generation, sound chip and genre, and save these filters for later use.
  • Search launcher databases for partial or exact matches.
  • Display the text on the launcher using a number of supported languages (English, Catalan, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish).
  • Rename game files on disk according to 8.3 format, name in the launcher or in blueMSX databases.
  • Customize the background image.
  • Calculate SHA1 code of any file and locate it in the launcher or blueMSX databases.
  • Export all data to a CSV file.
  • Drag files or directories to the launcher window for easy addition to the current database.
  • Specify additional information for each game and view it with your viewer of choice or by the file's default viewer.
  • Import additional data such as MSX generation, sound chip, genre and Generation-MSX game page from on a supplied database based on data from Generation-MSX website.
  • Set the screenshots of database games using a supplied directory that contains screenshots for most of the known MSX software.
  • Patch game files with IPS patches.

Note: Development on this launcher has stopped. All development efforts are now concentrated on Novo Player.

openMSX Launcher is a multi-platform front-end for the emulator openMSX. Version 1.14 was released in June 2020.

Features:

  • Create and manage multiple databases of all MSX software supported by openMSX.
  • Scan the hard disk to automatically fill launcher databases with ROMs, disks, tapes, hard disks and laserdiscs, and sync the database to your hard disk any time later.
  • Display two screenshots for each game.
  • Search launcher databases for exact or partial name or SHA1 code.
  • Display the text on the launcher using a number of supported languages (English, Arabic, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish).
  • Specify additional information for each game and view it in the platform's default viewer for the file type.
  • Filter launcher database profiles by company, year, country, medium, size, MSX generation, sound chip and genre, and save these filters for later use.
  • Drag files or directories to the launcher window for easy addition to the current database.
  • View game launch history and most played games.
  • Patch game files with IPS or UPS patches.
  • Get latest MSX news from common MSX websites.
  • View related games to a selected game based on game name, genre and company.
  • Extract LHA/LZH files.
  • Check for new version availability of openMSX Launcher and other data files in the help menu, and download and install new versions when available.

Note: Development on this launcher has stopped. All development efforts are now concentrated on Novo Player.

 

Novo Player is a multi-platform front-end primarily for the emulator openMSX, and also for WebMSX (offline mode) and blueMSX. Version 1.9 was released in February 2024.

Features:

  • Create multiple listings of all MSX software supported by openMSX.
  • Scan the hard disk to automatically fill listings with ROMs, disks, tapes, hard disks and laserdiscs, and sync the listing to your hard disk any time later.
  • Display two screenshots, details and game music for each selected game.
  • Search for exact or partial name or SHA1 code.
  • Connect to a running openMSX process to perform operations such as session management (mute, pause, etc), take screenshots, save and load states, type text, enter passwords (using a built-in database of known game passwords), enable cheats and switch disks or tapes.
  • Sort games in the table by name, company or year.
  • Undo game deletes and updates.
  • Display the text in English, Catalan, Dutch, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish.
  • View current file totals, launched games and launch history and totals in the dashboard.
  • Specify additional information for each game and view it in the platform's default viewer for the file type.
  • Filter games by company, year, country, medium, size, MSX generation, sound chip, genre, user-defined game data and recently added or updated games.
  • Drag and drop files and folders on the main screen to scan and add to listings.
  • Manage listings by renaming, deleting or merging them.
  • View related games to a selected game based on game name, genre and company.
  • Get list of platforms, screenshots and box art of games from Giant Bomb website.
  • Check for new version availability of Novo Player and other data files in the help page.
  • Get latest MSX news from common MSX websites.