Hacking the PSP Blog

Video Gamers to Bring Their Skills to Los Angeles in April to Walk Away with $100K!

Received on the newswire today:

MIDWAY ANNOUNCES THE NBA BALLERS: PHENOM $100K TOURNAMENT EVENT; VIDEO GAMERS TO BRING THEIR SKILLS TO LOS ANGELES IN APRIL; WINNER TO WALK AWAY WITH $100,000

Midway Games Inc. (NYSE:MWY - News), a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer, today announced plans for the NBA Ballers: Phenom $100K Tournament. For two days in April, more than 1,000 of the best video gamers in the country will gather at The Music Box @ Fonda in Los Angeles to put their skills on display with hopes of walking away as champion in the highest paying 1-on-1 basketball video game tournament ever.

The NBA Ballers: Phenom $100k Tournament will challenge the skills of more than a 1,000 lucky consumers on NBA Ballers: Phenom, the sequel to NBA Ballers, Midway's critically acclaimed and best-selling basketball videogame released in 2004. In addition to the single-elimination competition, live performances by Def Jam recording artist, Ne Yo, celebrity and athlete appearances, and fully interactive exhibits have also been confirmed.

For additional information on the NBA Ballers: Phenom $100k Tournament players can go to www.nbaballers.com, the official NBA Ballers website.

NBA Ballers: Phenom is scheduled to ship for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox® videogame system from Microsoft in April 2006.

Executive Toy Box: JVP Partner's Sony PSP

Forbes recently interviewed a super executive on what his favorite "executive toy" is... and, of course, it's the PSP!

What's your single favorite gadget?

Sony PlayStation Portable

Price: About $250

Why do you love it?

The PSP is the perfect "snacking" device for busy executives. It allows you to unwind using a slick, portable device, and its gaming capability takes it to a whole new level. It feels as graphically rich as the PlayStation 2, and it has a nice range of games to choose from.

What would you change about it?

It's not quite there yet in terms of being the ultimate multimedia device--it still has room for improvement in playing video and is dependent on a relatively expensive proprietary Sony storage format called UMD. People should have a broader choice.

What's the one device you wish someone would invent?

I think that, between Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) and Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ), they have it all--from music to games. And hopefully they can together create a streamlined approach to accessing and viewing videos. For an all-in-one device, the ability to receive broadcast TV would significantly enhance the snacking capability. The ability to be connected to real-time video news would be very helpful from my perspective.

Source: Forbes

NBA and SCEA team up to Unveil "NBA All-Star Weekend to Go" for the PSP

The NBA has teamed up with Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. to unveil "NBA All-Star Weekend to Go" for the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system, providing fans with unprecedented access to download 2006 NBA All-Star video highlights to their PSP system for the first time as a part of the league's comprehensive All-Star new media coverage.

"NBA All-Star Weekend to Go" for the PSP system will feature video highlights for each of the 2006 NBA All-Star events including the NBA All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by AOL, and the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge. Additionally, at the conclusion of NBA All-Star fans will have access to a final highlight package recapping all of the weekend events.

Fans can access the video highlights to download to their PSP system and other portable media players for free through NBA.com's exclusive All-Star section at NBA.com/allstar2006. The NBA All-Star video highlights will also be available through NBA TV Broadband on NBA.com.

"The PSP system provides our fans with another innovative way to stay on top of all the NBA All-Star action, wherever they are," said Brenda Spoonemore, Senior Vice President of Interactive Services for NBA Entertainment. "We are always looking to reach our fans through the newest devices, and the growing popularity of the PSP system and the mobile gaming platform is the perfect showcase for these special NBA All-Star video highlights."

"The PSP system is the perfect medium for basketball fans to get their NBA action and view it anytime, anywhere, at their convenience," said Sharon Shapiro, senior director, promotions and sports product marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "The partnership with the NBA is yet another example of our continuous pledge to consumers to deliver viable and innovative new entertainment choices for the PSP system."

Along with "NBA All-Star Weekend to Go" for the PSP system, for the first time fans will also have the opportunity to watch and own full broadcasts of the NBA All-Star Game, NBA All-Saturday Night presented by AOL and the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge through the new Google Video Store (http://video.google.com).

Google recently teamed up with the NBA to launch the Google Video Store, marking the first time fans were able to purchase full 2005-06 NBA contests online 24 hours after the conclusion of games. Since launching, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant's 81-point scoring performance on Jan. 22 has become one of the most popular video items in the entire Google Video Store.

The NBA All-Star content will be available to fans on the Google Video Store in its entirety for $3.95 per game and 24 hours after the conclusion of each event.

Source: Gaming Age

New Game: Start a company on your PSP?

New "game" title explores what it's like to start a business.
by David Karlin, 02/16/2006

In a bit of an odd twist for PSP content, the company Kokuyo announced that their first game in their consumer game product lineup is called Business Experience Series: The Path To Starting A Company.

In the game, which plays as a text adventure, players take on the role of Shingo Adagiri, an employee at an advertising firm. Soon after the game starts, Shingo decides to quit his job and rather than look for a new job, he plans to start his own company. Shingo's journey will take players through the excitement, fears, and joy of starting their own business complete with a wide array of possible outcomes depending on the choices made throughout the game.

Though it is an adventure game at heart, the title is being touted as having three selling points to it. First of course is the educational experience of creating a new product and marketing it correctly. Next is the "Terminology Mode" where players can get detailed explanations of all the real-world business terms littered throughout the dialogue. Last is the "Test mode", which, as the DS Brain Training games do, puts players through a wide variety of educational tests at the end of each chapter. These tests reflect on the ideas and terms introduced in the chapter and are meant to increase the business smarts of anyone who passes them.

The goal of this software, Kokuyo representative Akihiro Kuroda explained, was not to influence people in their late teens through 30s to quit their jobs and create new enterprises, but rather to increase creativity and work ability of those currently in the work place. Kuroda explained that the reason the game is on PSP is because after conducting several surveys, Kokuyo concluded that most employees don't want to play game-type software on a PC. Instead the survey showed that the most desirable place to play games for those in the workforce is on their cellphones. Thinking that the PSP was the closest game system to a cellphone that would be accessible in a business environment, they decided to create their product for it. Kuroda then encouraged companies to buy the game, saying that at Kokuyo, they plan to have all their employees play the product in hopes of increasing work production.

While it's an interesting proposition, one has to wonder if passing around the game about "quitting your job and finding a better life" is really such a good thing to be doing at a company.

Source: 1up

Sweet Deal$: 2GB SanDisk Pro Duo for $85.19 shipped

If you have decided to wait to get a bigger memory stick for your PSP your patience has finally paid off. Amazon.com has the SanDisk 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo for $85.19 shipped after the included rebate. This offer expires 2/27 so make sure to grab yours before time runs out!

Source: PSPUpdates

Tokyo Game Show 2006 Announced

Today, the Tokyo Game Show 2006 Open Press Meeting has taken place in Japan. Tokyo Game Show 2006 (TGS06) will be held between September 22 and 24, last for 3 days. The 10th "CESA Game Award" event and its memorial ceremony which will take place on TGS06 are now under planning.

TGS06 is the 10th TGS since 1996. This is year is also a turning point for the gaming industry. With the release of the portable gaming systems like DS and the PSP, and the Next-Gen gaming console PS3, Xbox360 and Revolution for this year, we will be able to see more exciting games to show up on these platforms.

Source: PSPUpdates

Homebrew Releases for February 16, 2006

Enthusiasts are embracing the PSP as a publication medium, as is evidenced by the new Harry Potter and Football (Soccer in the U.S.) mags released today...

Games
Beats of Rage v0.03 - A port of the game Beats of Rage.
PSPGolf v0.1c - Updated!

Utilities
Lua FileManager v0.10-beta1 - File management utility (go figure).

Magazines
Footy in a Week Issue 1 - The first issue of the football (soccer) mag - just found today.
Footy in a Week Issue 2 - More of the great football (soccer) mag - just released today.
PSPotter Issue 1 - Yes, a Harry Potter fan mag.