You know, way back when, that one kid in every small town who was envied by all his/her peers for sporting a Neo-Geo gaming console or hand-held. Well now, years later, that’s you — it’s your time to shine. Reign WindJammers champion of the town with Akop’s Neo-Geo Pocket and Pocket Colour emulator — “RACE! PSP.”
Although; truthfully, I’m not sure whether WindJammers ever made it to the Neo-Geo Pocket or Pocket Colour. Nevertheless — PSP MAME4ALL supports it.
This is Akop’s initial release ported from Flavor’s original project. It’s noted version 2.0 does not include save states; however, that is planned for the future. Good lookin’ out.
Download: RACE! PSP v2.0
Source: 0xff.akop.org
PSP-Hacks
Sep 11, 2008
Sep 9, 2008
Definition of Beta test;
The Beta test is a software version released to a limited population of users for functionality and bug test evaluation before the final release to the general user base.
So with the above in mind, and a code for the SOCOM: Confrontation Beta, I was ready to go hands-on with the game. But before we begin, let me give you a little bit of SOCOM's background. SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALS was developed by Zipper Interactive and released in August 2002 for the PlayStation 2. SOCOM revolutionised the way gamers played with the game being the first of it's kind to include a headset, and instructions which can be carried out through the headset to your AI team-mates. Since 2002 SOCOM has had a few other outing's, but this October* will see SOCOM, and it's new developers Slant Six Games, make its first appearance since the release of the PlayStation 3, and it will be a platform exclusive. So with that brief history lesson out the way, you can now read on for my impressions of the SOCOM: Confrontation multiplayer Beta
Booting up the game I was getting excited. But one thing worth mentioning before jumping into the jaw dropping clan system and gameplay is that in the main screen there is an option to have a tournament match, but unfortunately it's blacked out and unavailable to play. Looks rather interesting however so watch this space.
The clan system in the Beta looks superb. There are so many different things you can change within your clan. From team colours, specific ranks for members to your team logo everything is covered here. It's great to see a game where they have included clan support, as this has rarely been done in previous console shooters. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter would have to be the only other game I can think off with a similar system. With your clan sorted out, the next best thing to do is jump into the Beta test itself.
Trying to get into a match seemed to take forever, and within no time it becomes a chore. I know this is a Beta, but the menus seem to be sluggish, and once you have actually had the patience to wait 3 hours to find a match, it becomes unfunny and just damn right silly when you have to wait another 3 hours (OK, slight exaggeration) for the game map to load, of which there is only one. Make sure you have some snacks handy to minimise any distress while waiting to play.
However poor lobby and waiting times aside, you can then experience the Socom gameplay that we all know and loved from the previous PlayStation games. The online multiplayer Beta allows you to play an impressive 7 game modes; Suppression (team deathmatch), Control, Escort, Extraction, Breach, Demolition and Elimination. Suppression being the easiest game to jump into with as minimum waiting time as possible, I rifled up and headed into the war zone.
The first thing you will notice is that it has a striking resemblance to Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. The camera is set to an 'over the shoulder' view, in which you can switch between each shoulder view depending on if you're turning right or left. Annoying at first and it does takes some getting used to, but after a few games you are automatically changing shoulders to suit your environment and surroundings. Moving, shooting and lying down all share the qualities found in G.R.A.W, which I personally don't find a bad thing. SOCOM is all about stealth tactics, and not just running into a building spraying your bullets around. Knowing the maps in SOCOM will become key to changing from a good player to an excellent player.
One of the most interesting things about the only map available to play (Crossroads) in the Beta, is that the host, before the game starts, can change the time of day that the game is being played. Lying down waiting for an opponent to step into the light at night is extremely pleasing on the eye, and a nice feature that I would like to see included in future games.
The weaponry selection in SOCOM is one of the best i've seen in a while. The amount of customizable options for your guns is unreal. Scopes, lasers, stands, butts, handles and other gun accessories are all included here, making sure that the gun you carry with you suits your style of play. You can also edit these options every time you die, which is good if that laser sight just isn't cutting it for you.
Overall I was impressed with the gameplay, clan system and weaponry system within the Beta, and I will be looking forward to getting my hands on the game late October '08. Slant Six Games will definitely have to improve some things within the game, such as the loading times and the sluggish menu system. But overall they can look forward to what seems to be the next successful chapter in the SOCOM series.
* SOCOM: Confrontation is due for release on the 31st October 2008, this is subject to change however.
ConsoleMonster
And if you don’t already know… Mediumgauge’s PSP Filer simply gets the job done. Manage both directories and files on your memory stick, UMD, and flash0/flash1. Also take advantage of the integrated tool-set enabling you to rip UMDs directly to your memory stick, view pictures, text & binary files, listen to WAV/MP3 files, and the fun doesn’t stop there. PSP Filer is available in many languages — see the appropriate “readme.
PSP Filer v5.5 changes:
filer:
fixed a bug that time stamp of folders in zipfile was corrupted.
changed a feature to close window when copying done. before: pushing cross to close it. now: pushing either circle or cross to close it.
changed a feature pushing right arrow: before: mark all files in folder. now: mark/unmark all files in folder.
removed a feature pushing left arrow, to unmark all files in folder.
added a feature to move to parent folder by pushing left arrow + circle.
added a feature to save this folder to default (this folder appears in next startup) by pushing left arrow + START.
added a feature to move to default folder by pushing left arrow + triangle.
added a feature to restore opened folders in archive files after copying/deleting files. (note: restoring feature is slow: you have to wait a lot if you open many archive files before copying/deleting)
picture viewer:
made smooth to enlarge/shrink picture.
fixed a bug that a picture was blinked when background-reading was done.
fixed a bug that a picture was blinked when pushing analog pad on the edge of the picture.
increased to read JPEG file faster (about 40% faster than before).
Download: PSP Filer v5.5
The cover of the Official PlayStation Magazine in the United Kingdom pretty much explains it all -- the next issue of the publication will include a card with the code for the highly-desired Kratos Sackboy costume for LittleBigPlanet. Looking for Nariko instead? She's over here.
Additionally, "the first 50 subscribers to the magazine will also be sent an exclusive Sackboy plush toy." We are not sure exactly what this means, but we are assuming 50 new subscribers to OPM starting ... now? Anyhow, issue number 24 will on sale on September 30th. We have a feeling this issue will sell out quick!
PS3Fanboy
With head held high and a twinkle in his eye, president of SCE Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida continues to beat the drum of PlayStation positive thinking. "All the things are now coming together in terms of the right hardware, cost and pricing," said Yoshida to Videogaming247.
He refers, of course, to the increased hard disk space in the new PS3s which will retail for the same value of previous, lesser gig-happy SKUs. It's interesting to take note of his comment on "cost," which tells us that producing PS3 is becoming more cost-efficient ... possibly due to unpublicized hardware revision. As any head of a company would, Yoshida assures that this year is a strong year for PS3 and that 2009 will be just the same holding scores of new titles both announced and unannounced.
PS3FANBOY
Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter has jut posted his hardware sales estimates for August. And here they are:
Wii - 550,000
PS3 - 225,000
360 - 200,000
The analyst is predicting sales of $600 million, up 23 percent compared to last year’s $489 million.
EEDAR also put out its estimates today, as you can see here.
The firms are almost agreed on the Wii figure, but Iron Mike’s a fair amount up on both PS3 and 360.
NPD data will release on September 11, this Thursday.
VideoGamer247
Sep 8, 2008
And another weekend release from the Z-man… Danzel’s AFKIM (Away from Keyboard Instant Messenger) version 3.3.6 is now available correcting the noted issues below. If that’s you, it’s time to upgrade.
AFKIM connects you to the MSN, ICQ, AIM, Google Talk, and Yahoo instant messaging networks.
This version is only for people encountering name resolution and bitlbee connection issues. I have added a simple workaround to specify timeout values used during connection process (see afkim.cfg configuration file to change default values).
Download:
AFKIM v3.3.6 (fw 1.50)
AFKIM v3.3.6 (cfw 3.xx/4.xx)
AFKIM source code
PSP-Hacks
Over the weekend ZX-81 released PSPXTI v1.2.4 — an emulator mimicking the Texas Instruments TI-92 graphing calculator.
PSPXTI is ported from Jonas Minnberg’s XTiger.
PSPXTI v1.2.4 changes:
Fix IR keyboard issue with fw >= 3.80 for FAT PSP
Put Danzeff keyboard in a better location
Virtual keyboard is now usable in the file requester menu to specify the first letter of a file
Add music in EBOOT “Below The Arctic Ocean” from Azhrak (see jamendo)
Tested with 4.01-m33 on psp slim
Download:
PSPXTI v1.2.4 fw 1.50
PSPXTI v1.2.4 cfw 3.xx/4.xx (psp slim)
PSPXTI source code
PSP-Hacks
Because we're such Trophy whores, the fine folks at Tiki Games have given us an early look at the Trophies of their upcoming patch for NOVASTRIKE. The game is getting a significant rehaul, thanks to feedback from early players of the game. Best of all, you won't have to wait long for this patch: it's ready now.
Bronze Trophies
Heralder No More: Destroy a Heralder aircraft on any difficulty
Broken Falchion: Shoot down a Falchion aircraft on any difficulty
Champion of Praxor: Finish the second stage on any difficulty
Destroyer: Destroy 500 aerial opponents on any difficulty
Defender of Khara: Finish the fourth stage on any difficulty
Ground Sweeper: Destroy 200 Draelus ground structures on any difficulty
Searer Extinguished: Destroy the Searer on Tolak on any difficulty
Master of Arms: Unlock the final ship on any difficulty
Savior of Tolak: Finish the sixth stage on any difficulty
Hidden Trophy
Hidden Trophy
Hidden Trophy
Silver Trophies
Challenger: Defeat the game on RECRUIT difficulty or higher
Reckoning Force: Defeat the game on SOLDIER difficulty or higher
Unstoppable: Defeat the game on VETERAN difficulty or higher
Legendary: Defeat the game on HARDCORE difficulty
PS3Fanboy
It seems we're having another one of those "is this a LittleBigPlanet [insert whatever]" sort of question -- same like what we've had over the weekend. There's no doubt we're excited to see what will become of LittleBigPlanet this October and most likely so are you, so even the tiniest information on the title will pique your interests.
Say like this supposed game manual for LBP. It's not entirely exciting on its own and if it were just any old game manual no one would care. But, this is the LBP manual -- the manual to one of the most highly anticipated titles for fall. Besides, it's got a lot of pretty pictures and it has a Sackboy on it. How can you ignore the adorable menace that is Sackboy? Check it out right here, read up on the instructions, and prepare for good times.
PS3Fanboy
Sep 7, 2008
A blonde female samurai and Russian vampires are just some of what you'll find this week. Take a look:
The Alps
Baby Mama
Cool Hand Luke
Day Watch
The Fall
The Forbidden Kingdom
Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth Season
How the West Was Won
Jerry Maguire
Kill Bill Volume One
Kill Bill Volume Two
Kill Bill - Volumes 1 & 2
Manilow Live
Mozart: Don Giovanni
Night Watch
Rudy
Smallville - The Complete Seventh Season
Then She Found Me
Both volumes of the Tarantino blood-fest Kill Bill are out this week, but who would buy them separately? Night Watch and Day Watch marks the first time the initial two movies of Bekmambetov's vampire trilogy is on Blu-ray. The fantasy epic The Fall is one of the better films we saw this year, so be sure to check that out if you enjoy the genre. The Forbidden Kingdom is entertaining ... for families -- those of you who were hoping for a more serious collaboration between Jackie Chan and Jet Li will be left sorely disappointed. Check out all of this week's releases above.
PS3Fanboy
We were hoping this "release list" thing would only be a temporary feature at PS3 Fanboy, but those pesky developers just won't stop making games! Another batch is unleashed onto the world this week, including two hockey games for you lucky North Americans. Also, remember Rock Band? Sure, it may be almost a year old, but it's finally getting a European release on PS3. Just in time for next month's release of Rock Band 2 in the US. Aren't regions great? Here's the full release list:
US Games
NHL 2K9
NHL 2009
TNA Impact!
EU Games
Rock Band
TNA Impact!
NHL 2K9
Asian Games
Double Clutch
Stranglehold
Release dates are constantly subject to change. Be sure to check with your local retailer if you're uncertain. If you fancy something from abroad, go ahead and do it. Your PS3 won't mind, but remember that DLC is always region locked, so you'll need to get it from a foreign PSN store.
PS3Fanboy
You may or may not recollect TyRaNid’s PSP dev. tool: RemoteJoy. Essentially RemoteJoy provides “TV out” capabilities over a USB connection with your PC. With that said — non-Slim owners and non-FuSa users — you too can now experience PSP on a larger scale.
Update: If you’re stuck at a black screen with “WAITING” printed across the top right, then you must download Custom Firmware Extender v2.2 (below) and install the appropriate ‘”PSP” Type B’ USB driver.
Japanese developer, Akind (correct me if I’m wrong?), has taken TyRaNid’s project and has further optimized it for us end-users. Packaged in the form of a small PRX plug-in and Windows executable — we have RemoteJoyLite.
Sadly, I can’t provide a screenshot for you; RemoteJoyLite doesn’t seem to function under Parallels on my Mac. Although, I did stumble across this YouTube video demonstrating the dopeness:
RemoteJoyLite v0.15 [translated] changes:
“SceCtrlLatch” related to behavior modification.
Image-transfer method (TYPE2, TYPE3) added.
HOME POPS button on a good behavior.
Gamma correction added.
Download:
RemoteJoyLite v0.15
Custom Firmware Extender (CFE) v2.2 (includes USB driver)
PSP-Hacks
Some dedicated hackers have finally managed to get the PSP and Microsoft's Xbox 360 Chatpad typing. There are still a few kinks to smooth out, but the hard part seems over, with l0rdnic0 managing a tiny bit of soldiering using a PSP remote cable and some software from the Open Keyboard Project. It's all still pretty nerdy at the moment, and we're still miffed at that Logic 3 getting cancelled way back when, but we suppose this will have to do.
Engadget
Here is my take and my personal Opinion on whether or not the PS3 needs a price cut or not.
People are in business to make money, However if you are in a non profit organization I think that you need to go back to business school and retake some courses. Companies release products to make a profit so that they can pay their employees and manufacturing costs and this of course will create more jobs which in terms means people will have more money to spend which in turn will create more jobs. That is how the economy works everywhere.
This however hasn't been the case for Sony ever since they launched the PS3. The company has been losing money on every PS3 sold hoping that they will make it up with the games they sell. However when you almost have no exclusives that makes it even harder.
The PS3 started out with a hefty $600 price tag, but in reality that is a bargain (you can revert to my better value article written last year). You get Wi-Fi, a blue-ray/dvd player upconverter package, a game consol, multimedia player with memory card readers as well as a PS2/PS1 package if you got the 60GB Version. With all of this you are looking to spend thousands if bought seperately but you get all of this with the PS3.
SCE has already stated that there will be no price cut this year for the PS3 and gamers are complaning but really think about it. Does the PS3 really need a price cut. $500 for a Multimedia power house with an 80GBHDD is really not a bad deal. If you were to compare that to what the 360 offers you then it is really not a bad deal. With the 360 you have to buy these things seperate including the rechargable battery and the Wi-Fi adaptor which can cost a hefty $100. On top of that you get a free game called the red ring of death where you can guess when will your 360 die out and if you guess right you win one month without your 360 because you will have to ship it back to Microsoft, and if you don't guess right then you still have to send it to Microsoft. Boy doesnt that sound fun?
In the beginning I was really skeptical about the PS3. I used to say its too expensive, what if it fucks up, and I still need to buy an HDMI cable to get the full experience. But, as soon as I got the PS3 and hooked it up to my PS3 I saw the light. Up to date I play my PS3 even though I have less games than the 360 or the Wii. I haven't touched my 360 since I last reviewed Alone in the Dark. And the Wii the only time I've played it was when I got Star Fox 64 on the Virtual consoles. Heck I don't even remember where I left my DS its been that long since I've last heard of it.
Everything I need I got it via the PSP. It even supports fome flash which will allow you to stream movies online. Not to mention it lets you download content from your email to the PS3's HDD. I've only tried this with Music though I've still yet to try it with a video.
The PS3 80GB runs you at $400. A bundle like MSG4 or the new 160GB version with Uncharted and a free PSN download will run you at $500. Even at $500 I still think you are getting a great deal. Not to mention Sony just released their first wave of Greatest hits with more on the way for $30. You can probably buy it used for less.
The PS3 does not need a price cut. If you think its too expensive then you probably shouldn't be buying games to begin with. What the PS3 needs though is more exclusives and not to push those exclusives back to a later date.
If you want a great HD Experience and you have a great HDTV, You cant go wrong with the PS3.
In a press release by Activision the developer says that PS3 and Wii owners might have to pay a fee to play online.
*Online gameplay is only available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Wii and may require an additional subscription.
Now this is not a for sure thing yet but the "may" is the one word to distrust in this statement. Now I've never been a fan of Guitar Hero but for the millions of people that actually buy the game just so they can think that they are rock stars while still living at home with mom and dad this might be a problem. With the 360 you are already paying the fee but how many people will actually want to pay to play online on the Wii and PS3 versions?
Console Central
The patch we talked about last week regarding the Rock Band track export service will come out this Thursday, September 11. While you might not find the service all too useful just yet, seeing as PS3 owners won't be getting Rock Band 2 this month, you'll still want to download the patch. The reason for that is that it'll also include Guitar Hero III Les Paul PS3 Controller support for Rock Band.
Aside from that announcement, Harmonix has also responded to the PAX pack problem. The company cited that the song "Livin' on the Corner of Dude and Catastrophe" (how appropriately named) by MC Frontalot, was the cause of the imbroglio. "Users who downloaded that track or the entire pack found that they were not able to play this content in the game. Furthermore, downloading the pack meant that all three songs in the pack failed to load." The new patch out on Thursday will also fix this little snag; though impatient lot can re-download and replace their tracks as soon as the fixed tracks make it through to Sony.
PS3Fanboy
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