Hacking the PSP Blog

New PSP Game and Movie Releases This Week

PSP UMD Movie Releases

    * Dude, Where's My Car?
    * 50 First Dates
    * The Girl Next Door
    * Heat
    * Life on the Murder Scene
    * Morrissey
    * Scooby Doo: The Movie
    * Shallow Hal

PSP Game Releases

    * Bust a Move Deluxe
    * Cabela's Dangerous Hunt
    * From Russia with Love
    * Ultimate Challenge

Source: PSPFanBoy

New PSP Faceplates Soon

Some new PSP face plates from Project Asterix will be coming out soon, such as Sunny Yellow, Black Matte, and Orange. There is no soldering required to install these face plates - they are easy to install and all they require is a few screws to be removed and some switching of parts and you're ready to go! You will void your manufacturer's warranty though since one screw is located behind the warranty sticker. The face plates come with easy to follow color instructions. Look for them sometime in the near future, no release date has been specified yet.

Sourc: PSPUpdates

Katamari Cases at EB Games?

A reader of ours named Kenny (who also goes by Cr85bro13) decided to drop in to his local EB Games the other day. After asking one of the clerks for some PSP demos, to his surprise he was handed a novelty case from Me and My Katamari. As you can see from the picture, this is certainly an odd looking case, especially for the alienated few who haven't seen or heard of Katamari. These were originally only going to be offered for Japanese pre-orders, but they've clearly made their presence in the States too. Although we can't say for sure if every store will be like this, it can't hurt to check out an EB Games store near you to see if they have any Katamari cases in stock.

Source: PSPUpdates

eLoader menu backgrounds

Flare576 has made a website dedicated to menu backgrounds for Fanjita and Ditlew's eLoader. It features every background uploaded in the eLoader background threads on our forums, and is a one-stop shop for any background you want.

The site is fully searchable, and backgrounds are sorted into categories, and by artist. You can even submit your own backgrounds, either through the site, or through our official thread on our forums. The background to the right is an example of the quality backgrounds available, and was chosen because of the name of the new eLoader.

Source: PSPUpdates

Sony Walkman CE-P Series – No ATRAC?

A little off-topic, but it's odd for Sony not to include their proprietary music format, which competes with MP3, WMA, and MPEG-4 audio, in their latest audio player... -Auri

The CE-P13, CE-P15, are CE-P17 are Sony’s new 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB flash based MP3 players. The specs mention that the player is directly supporting MP3 and WMA playback, but nothing else. Is Sony coming to their senses and abandoning ATRAC?

The player features an LCD 1.5” 260k color 128x128 pixel screen, to view JPEG and BMP photo files. In addition the CE-P has most of you basic specs including FM, FM/voice/direct recording, calendar, lyric support, and built in lithium ion battery for 18 hours of playback. The navigation looks simple with tactile buttons controlling a PSP-like menu system. And for a nice touch, dedicated volume controls. Check out the 3D Java demo for good look around this new player.

[Product Page via generationmp3]

Source: Anything But iPod

Ceramic White PSP Core Pack coming to Japan (so what about the U.S. Sony, eh? c'mon!)

Sony has announced that it will begin selling a "Core" version of its popular Ceramic White model of the PSP. Priced at $19,800 Yen (approx. $169), the package will include the PSP, AC adapter, and battery pack, similar to the $199 pack that was recently released here in the states. The Ceramic White PSP Core Pack will be available in Japan on April 20.

Source: PSPWorld

PSPs, PS2s getting The Fast & The Furious Game!

Namco Bandai developing game based on third The Fast and the Furious movie; racer speeds into stores this summer.

The street-racing genre still has some gas left in the tank. Namco Bandai Games is putting a new competitor on the tracks with The Fast and the Furious for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The game will be "set in a world related to, yet separate from," the upcoming Universal Pictures' feature film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and it is scheduled to be released this summer.

The Fast and the Furious focuses on the underground scene of drift racing in Japan. Gamers will take to city streets in hundreds of licensed cars that can be tricked out with more than 500 body kits from authentic manufacturers. The game also features boss races, as well as an "advanced rubber band" artificial-intelligence system. Multiplayer modes include two-player split-screen and up to four players online.

The game is being developed by British developer Eutechnyx. The company has spent plenty of time behind the wheel, with racing games Street Racing Syndicate, Ford vs. Chevy, and Big Mutha Truckers.

With the first two Fast and the Furious films grossing over $270 million domestically, one would think a game based on the license would have been made years ago. In fact, VU Games had a Fast and the Furious game in the works but cancelled it during development.

Vin Diesel, star of the series' first film, is working on a racing project based on a movie, but it isn't The Fast and the Furious-related. Diesel is working with Midway Games on The Wheelman, scheduled for release sometime in 2007.

By Tim Surette -- GameSpot

Source: GameSpot

Puyo Pop Feature Screenshots

The popular puzzle game is coming to the PSP!

Check out the screenshots here.

Daxter Comes to the PSP This Week

Daxter (Sony PSP, SCEA) of the successful "Jak & Dexter" franchise gets to ride solo on the PSP in his own adventure.

The story has Daxter defending the city from an invasion of bugs, using an oversize and quite powerful flyswatter. Something to certainly enjoy here is the cheeky humor. But the game suffers from missions that take too long.

Visually, the game rivals the best on the PSP, and never is there a dull moment. Overall, there is a ton of content with plenty of reasons to spend time with a sidekick who finally gets a starring role. Rated E. Chris Campbell

Source: Seattle PI

LuaPlayer v0.18 Alpha Out

The awesome Lua Player has just been updated to version 0.18 Although it's an alpha release, there shouldn't be any major bugs.

One of the great new features is Module Load support (Thanks to Oobles).
For those who came in late, Lua Player is a script player for the Sony PSP. It makes development of games and applications much more easier. You can even test your applications on the PC using the Lua Player for Windows, before trying them on your PSP.

Shine has also mentioned that him and Nevyn currently don't have much time to devote to the development of Lua Player. So if you're a good C++ Programmer and want to help out, you can contribute by going here.

Download it here!

Source: PSPUpdates

Homebrew: New PSP Homebrew Releases for April 3, 2006

Yep, it's Monday, which is starting to be one of the hot Homebrew release dates! (Tuesday and Thursday tend to be the slowest, but that's changing fast!)

Games
Alpha Gear - Another Super Mario Bros mod. Two versions: 1.50 PSPs, 2.00+ PSPs
RPS Advanced - Rock Paper Scissors for the PSP!
Star Wars Iris Mod Alpha v0.1 - With Darth Vader and more!
Super Mini Shadow Mod - Super Mario mod.
Super Mini Sonic Mod - And another Super Mario mod.

Applications
PiMPStreamer v0.25 - Another update to this neat video streaming app.

Utilities
Homebrew Locator v1.4 - Finds homebrew software for you!
PSysP Info v1.15a - PSP Task Manager utility.

Emulators
e[mulator] for PSP v0.80 Beta 5 - Harmony and WonderSwan emulator - updated!

Demos
Project 3 Second Release - Updated version of the SDL Falling Sand port.