Hacking the PSP Blog

Review: Space Invaders: Galaxy Beat

January 31, 2006 - I havent played Space Invaders in a long time, so long that I dont remember ever playing it. I saw this on www.play-asia.com for 12.90, and it was definitly worth it. I've very much enjoyed playing it thus far. It has Clasic, Match-up, and future mode.

Clasic is what clasic is, the old space invaders.

Match-up mode is actually pretty cool, using one psp, you have one player hold one side of it and the other on the other side and you go up against the computer that way. Now i havent played it with someone yet, but i tried it out by myself using both sides and the controlls work ok for it, but if you have bigger hands, it might be a little weird. The idea of it is cool however, i'll give them that.

Now future mode, SI Galaxy Beat, to shoot down the UFO's, you use the beat, so you'll need to fire the weapon with the beat of the music. Now, me personally, i love the idea of that, and it is fun, i've enjoyed playing it. But...one problem. Most of the music that your beating to, most of it sucks. Could have been so much better and a really great game, but the music failed it.

8.0					Presentation Presents itself very good, the menues are nice and easy to get around. Very import friendly, until you try wireless mode. What The *insert japanese text here*
8.0					Graphics The graphics are good, very nice explosions when the UFO's blow up, oh, and just to mention, you have 3 different camera angles that you can use on Future mode and all work great.
3.0					Sound Decent sound effects, but the music, when you make a game that involves music around it, please try hard to make the music great. Of course this is just my opinion on the music, but most of it is bad.
8.0					Gameplay It plays wonderfull, easy to handle and to shoot and brings a good challenge.
8.0					Lasting Appeal I can see myself playing this alot, its fun even with the not so good music, one that you can come back to if you need something to do for a couple of minutes. Three good modes to mess with as well!

Overall Rating: 7.0 out of 10

Source: IGN

Kao the Kangaroo Coming to PSP

Atari today announced the upcoming multiplatform release of Kao the Kangaroo Round 2 for the PlayStation2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and for Windows platform. Kao Challengers will ship simultaneously for the PSP (PlayStationPortable) system.

Developed by Tate Interactive, the game is an action, 3D platformer starring Kao the yellow kangaroo. Kao the Kangaroo Round 2 and Kao Challengers are scheduled for release in March 2006 for a suggested retail price of $19.95 for all platforms. Here is more info on Karo Challengers for the Sony PSP:

Story Background

KAO, our young cute yellow kangaroo will have to save the world of animals from Barnaba an evil Hunter and his wicked henchmen. This time, he can count on his friends, like the firefly and the parrot, to help him out achieve his difficult task. The evil Hunter has started his cruel enterprise again. He has set a strong group of his supporters in different lands and with their help captured and traded their inhabitants. His deeds brought a lot of fuss and nervousness to the world of animals. The Hunter's headquarter was established in the Port Town, from where he rules all the lands. Kao starts his adventure locked in a cage travelling in a ship to the Port Town. Luckily during the journey the Parrot finds Kao and destroys his cage so, when the ship docks he manages to escape. Wandering around the Port he meets the Parrot again, which tells him fate of other animals and asks him for help. Kao has to visit all the worlds, helping animals and collecting coins. He needs them to bribe the guardian protecting the Gate leading to Hunter's Headquarters.





Main Engine Features

KAO CHALLENGERS presents more than 20 levels within 5 worlds that are visually and graphically totally unique showing an environment and an atmosphere that differentiate each world and level.

Kao needs lots of skills, in order to succeed in his quest, which means tens of animations. As almost every enemy has a different personality (it is especially underlined with bosses) they attack and behave in different ways. They jump, fly, throw objects and dodge Kao's attacks or swim and fight underwater. Smooth transitions and exaggerated but exact animations underline the cartoon style of the game and put life to all characters. Face mimics both of Kao and enemies bring more emotion to their movement and give them even more personality. The reality and attractiveness of the game is additionally boosted by special effects (motion blur, blending,). Flocks of birds or fishes based on particle systems and realistically moving objects calculated by physics simulator increase the interactivity of the environment, which gives the player a feeling of visiting an entire epic, imaginary, colourful but still very real world.

Key Gameplay Features:

As well as the basic abilities of our cute hero like running, jumping and several ways of attacks he can also perform lots of special actions. Flying, throwing boomerangs, cones and other objects, climbing using his long ears, swimming or skating are just beginning of the list of his abilities. Add to this the interacting with characters and controlling different objects like floating platforms or barrels, not to mention about hiding in objects to avoid obstacles and we have an extremely diversifying game-play.

Real time cut scenes explain the story, help player to reach the goal and enrich the game with a plot turning it into and interactive fable rather then just another platform game.

Bonus levels with hand-skilled game-play break the standard mood of the game giving the layer a relief after long hours and additional extra fun.

Control amazing vehicles including a snowboard, a catapult, a pelican, a water barrel and a motorboat.

Overcome over 30 challenging enemies with 7 fighting techniques from boomerang throwing to devastating tail attacks!

15 different weapons in multiplayer mode including: bombs, fire flamer, magneto to suck energy out of your opponents, and auto missile.

For more info visit www.atari.com

Source: Mobile Tech Review

Sony PS3 and PSP Network Announced

Xbox Live surpassed? Sony says they will.

In the upcoming March issue of PlayStation Magazine, it seems to indicate Sony is planning to launch something much larger than Xbox Live. A new "PlayStation Network" with complete online live capabilities for both the Sony PS3 and the Sony PSP.

The newly discovered "PlayStation Network" is promised by a Sony insider to meet and beat all Xbox Live capabilities, and incorporating the PlayStation 3 and the PSP. There are no further details available at this time but we’ll keep you posted as more details become available.

Source: Advanced Media Network

Driver (a.k.a. Driv3r) Sequel Coming to PSP

Atari confirms portable edition of Parallel Lines under development at Sumo Digital.

After getting burned by the heavily hyped but critically unsuccessful Driv3r, Atari took the franchise back into the shop and performed a total overhaul. Gone are the setting and protagonist of the original games. Now the series is set to make a fresh start with a new lead man in 1978 New York City in Driver: Parallel Lines.

What better place for a fresh start than on a fresh platform? Atari today confirmed that Parallel Lines is headed for the PSP in addition to the already announced PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions, and is being developed by Sumo Digital. Sumo Digital is no stranger to racing games or PSP development, as it has worked on OutRun 2 for the Xbox and the PSP editions of TOCA Race Driver 2 and Virtua Tennis. The possibility of a portable Parallel Lines first surfaced last night in a report on Shacknews, which cited a "well-placed and reputable source."

The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of Parallel Lines are being handled by series developer Reflections Interactive and should be out in March. Atari has yet to announce a release date for the PSP edition.

Source: GameSpot

From Russia With Love for PSP - More Info & Screenshots

EA has released a trailer and screens of 007's PSP debut as From Russia with Love gets ported to the Sony handheld.

It was last year that EA announced that it was bringing its latest Bond adventure to PSP and it seems to have survived the conversion with all of its features intact, the main change being that now there is a four-player mode using the handheld's WiFi capability.

The game is based on the classic 1963 Bond film but EA has felt free to pack the game with events and action sequences that didn't appear in the film – which means you can fly jetpacks, have a shoot-out on a speeding train and meet Natasha Bedingfield. Yeah, live the dream.

From Russia with Love will be released for PSP on 17 March

More screenshots here.

Source: GamesRadar

Sony launches new 2GB memory stick for PSP

Special packaging to promote use with handheld

Sony Europe's Recording Media and Energy division has launched a new promotional pack for its 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, specially designed to attract PSP-owning consumers.

The new pack features a large PSP image on the front, and comes complete with a USB cable so users can connect their handheld up to their PC for file swapping.

The 2GB Memory Stick has more than 60 times the capacity of the stick included in the original PSP Value Pack, which weighs in at just 32MB. It can store up to 60 hours of music, 1000 digital photos or a maximum of four full-length films. According to Sony, price points will vary from country to country, with an estimated end-user price of around EURO 175 (just under GBP 120).

Last November, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe launched the PSP Giga Pack - a special bundle containing a handheld plus a 1GB Memory Stick, along with an assortment of accessories. Sony has yet to confirm whether a 2GB Giga Pack is also on the way, but it's certainly a possibility judging by the success of the 1GB bundle - a top-selling product across Europe during the festive period.

Source: GameIndustry.biz

Sony's Talkman Coming to Europe in March

"Sony has released software for its popular PSP handheld gaming device called TalkMan. In development for some time now, the program currently stores about 3,000 conversation patterns in English, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. 'A user may speak the words "Koko-wa-dokodesuka?" (Where is this?) in Japanese, for example, into the device's microphone, upon which a cartoon bird acting as an interpreter will pop up and start talking in the user's language. The bird is also able to translate the reply into Japanese.' A European release for TalkMan is expected in the spring."

Source: Slashdot

More PSP Budget Game Re-Issues Hitting Japan

Ahh... finally - affordable games!

Sony Computer Entertainment adds six more games to its PSP: The Best lineup.

TOKYO--In Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment announced it will release six additional PSP games as budget-priced reissues under the PSP: The Best brand on March 2. The series is akin to the Greatest Hits series for the PlayStation 2.

SCE previously released 13 titles as PSP: The Best reissues in November, and it will also release Koei's Dynasty Warriors as part of the series on February 16.

The budget-priced reissues up until now were mostly games that appeared around the PSP's launch. The March lineup covers the missing titles from the period, and there are also a few newer games, like Konami's Coded Arms. The games are priced at 2,800 yen ($24), nearly half of their official catalog price of 4,800 yen ($41). Konami's Mahjong Fight Club will be an exception at 2,000 yen ($17).

The complete lineup is as follows:

• Bleach: Heat the Soul (PSP: The Best), Konami
  
• Coded Arms (PSP: The Best), Konami
  
• Mahjong Fight Club (PSP: The Best), Konami
  
• Piposaru Academia (PSP: The Best) [Ape Escape Academy], SCEI
  
• Saru Get You P! (PSP: The Best) [Ape Escape: On the Loose], SCEI
  
• Shutokou Battle (PSP: The Best) [Street Supremacy], SCEI
  

Source: GameSpot

PSP Getting Maps of Japan

No, it isn't GPS on your PSP (if you want that, you'll have to roll your own). But if you live in Japan and want to use your PSP as a navigational aid, Sony is making it a little easier with a UMD-based mapping program that the company plans to release in April. The software is similar to most PC-based mapping programs, and allows users to store annotations on Memory Sticks and share info via WiFi. No word on whether Sony plans US or European versions, but that's fine with us; until it has GPS, we're not interested.

Source: Engadget

Homebrew: New PSP Homebrew Releases for February 1, 2006

I've updated the homebrew section with many new releases from today.

There are a lot of 'em, so check them out at the links below!

Games:
BombJack v1.0 - remake of the popular puzzle game
SuperMasterPSP - Super Mario Bros clone
PSP Helicopter - Helicopter game (go figure! <grin>)

Developer Tools:
Lumo's 3D Model Export Tools - tools to export 3DB files from popular 3D apps such as Maya and Studio Max

Emulators:
AtariVM v0.2 Alpha - Atari 800 emulator
NeoGeo CDZ Emulator v0.1 Beta 5 - Neo Geo Emulator
ScummVM v0.8.1 - LucasArts ScummVM emulator

Shells:
Psix Lite v1.0 - PSP shell and launcher