Hacking the PSP Blog

Firmware 3.10 Decrypted

Team C+D has done it again with a 0-day release of a firmware 3.10 decrypter. Don't get your hopes up quite yet but this release opens the door for the likes of Dark_AleX, Booster, Mathieulh, and the Noobz team to get their hards dirty with this new version of the PSP system software. Hopefully we'll soon see a new Dark_AleX custom firmware, an updated version of Booster's Devhook, or maybe even (gasp!) a downgrader. Anyway, you can download a copy of the decrypter from my homebrew software library by using the link below.

Download 3.10 Firmware Decrypter by Team C+D

Via PSPUpdates

Sony Expands PlayStation Spot

First there was the PlayStation Portable, and with it came PlayStation Spot, a retail download service offering game demo downloads for PSP owners.

Next came the PlayStation 3, and with it came PlayStation TV, a retail kiosk designed to let Japanese audiences sample the PS3's games and multimedia capabilities.

If you were one of the three people in America wondering if Sony would ever combine these two promotions into one, wonder no more! Starting 1/30, Sony has started making PlayStation TV terminals function as PlayStation Spot terminals. This means demo and item downloads for your PSP from the same place where you can sample upcoming PS3 games. That's, like, totally radical and cool!

Currently, Sony has 70 PlayStation TV locations set up for PlayStation Spot functionality. The company plans on eventually expanding to the full 1,035 network of PS3 kiosks.

Anoop Gantayat
January 30, 2007

Source: IGN

PlayStation 3 Advert Appears In Xbox 360 Game

Earlier this month EA announced plans to release a football game based on the UEFA Champions League event, also releasing some screenshot-style renders to accompany the announcement, one of which partially revealed a PlayStation 3 ad in the background…

Well, it would seem this early announcement screenshot was no one-off. Soon after we receive preview code from EA and as we quickly begin playing and taking screenshots it becomes very much apparent that the PlayStation 3 ads are still there, taking up space within a game that is not only running on an Xbox 360 but isn’t actually due out on PS3 at all. See the evidence here and here.

So what’s this all about then? Seems a bit sneaky of Sony and how and why on earth did Microsoft let this happen? Well, it would seem there is something of a quirk in play, which dictates the presence of the PS3 ad regardless of what machine is running the game.

You see, having taken a look at the official UEFA site, it would seem Sony (and indeed the PlayStation brand) is just one of the sponsorship partners of the UEFA Champions League competition, which would guarantee it placement on anything to do with the event and that includes Xbox 360 games.

And there’s not really anything Microsoft can do about it. In order for the Xbox 360 to receive a version of the title, Microsoft has to simply accept the facts and rules of the sponsorship and, er, ‘play ball’, otherwise it misses out.

Which is quite a nice bonus for Sony, who by sponsoring the UEFA event not only enjoys the plentiful TV exposure, but gets to add in clauses that stipulate versions of the game appearing on competing consoles are forced to carry PS3 advertising.

Touché Sony, touché.

Jay Filmer
January 31, 2007

Source: 360 Gamer

Sorta Off Topic: PS3 pulls down Q3 earnings for Sony

(from Reed Business Information... if you want to know how Sony's doing financially, here's a good article on their latest reporting...) -Auri

Filmed entertainment sales leaped 46% on Da Vinci Code, Talladega Nights DVDs
By Susanne Ault 1/30/2007

JAN. 30 | Despite gains in its film and DVD division, Sony Corp. recorded fiscal third-quarter earnings fall-offs, partly because of expenses related to its debut of the PlayStation 3.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, Sony posted 159.9 billion yen ($1.34 billion). That marks a 5.3% drop from the comparable 2005 period.

Total revenue jumped 9.8% to 2.6 trillion yen ($21.9 billion).

Thanks to high DVD revenue for box-office hits The Da Vinci Code, Talladega
Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Click, Sony filmed entertainment sales soared 46% to 297 billion yen ($2.5 billion). Other bright spots were theatrical successes Casino Royale and The Pursuit of Happyness.

The performance of the company¹s game division was mixed, however.
 Sony officials said 1.84 million units of the PS3 were shipped worldwide during the quarter, which contributed to an overall 5.6% sales lift in Sony¹s game unit to 442.8 billion yen ($3.7 billion). But the game division drew an operating income loss of 54.2 billion yen ($455 million).

³This deterioration was primarily the result of the loss arising from the sale of PS3 at strategic price points, as well as the recording of other charges in association with the preparation for the launch of the PS3 platform,² stated Sony officials in an earnings release.

In a Tuesday call with analysts, Sony representatives acknowledged currently weak tie-in ratios for software titles bought per PS3 console sold. But they remained upbeat because tie-in ratios are pacing better than PlayStation 2¹s launch ratios.

Sony also was hurt by softening shipments of PS2 and PlayStation Portable hardware, each of which were hit by decreases of 1.24 million units and 4.46 million units, respectively, versus fiscal third-quarter 2005. For the 2006 period, PS2 shipments reached 4.11 million, and PSP was at 1.76 million units.

Also, PS2 software shipments fell by 15 million units to 78 million units total shipped for the quarter.

Sony electronics lines fared well, most notably its Bravia LCD TV line and Cyber-shot digital cameras. Sales in this unit rose 16.9% to 1.87 trillion
($15.7 billion).

Although Sony¹s fiscal third quarter experienced certain shortfalls, the company has raised its outlook for its fiscal year ended March 31. The company predicts its net income will equal 110 billion yen, which is up 38% from its last forecast in October.
 
© 2006 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Off-Topic: Next-gen N-Gage unveiled

It seems the next-generation Nokia N-Gage caused quite a stir when it was shown behind closed doors in Santa Monica last week, boasting an impressive amount of interest from top-notch and supposedly top-secret developers and publishers.

SEGA, Sony Online Entertainment, EA Mobile, Vivendi, Square Enix, Capcom, THQ Wireless, Tecmo, Namco, Disney, Universal and Glu Mobile were all reportedly there, according to PocketGamer, though it isn't clear if they're all definitely developing for the platform or just making their minds up.

New features such as a swanky new "N-Gage activation code system" plus "track and manage" game sharing abilities will try to win the big-shot votes, with the software development kit also making its first appearance at the event.

The next-generation of N-Gage was announced back at E3 2005 to appear within Nokia's multimedia handsets, with a few of the proposed games being flashed about at last year's show.

European companies will have a chance to get a look at this flashy little beast next week in Madrid.

Rob Purchese
January 30, 2007

Source: EuroGamer

Katamari Damacy goes online!

Japanese gaming site 4gamer reports that Korean publisher WindySoft is bringing the cult PlayStation game (portable or otherwise) to the world of PC gaming by releasing Katamari Damacy Online. It is reported that they have signed a contract last November of 2006 and that Cyberstep has already begun development of the game with the goal of a late 2007 release.

Reports say that the gameplay of Katamari Damacy Online basically involves taking the versus battle stages from the PS2 and PSP games and plant them into an online arena. There will also be a community management features, and the game is set to include "pet" and "house" elements with collectibles. Reports also claim that you can make your own island, and create custom clothing from the items you gather while playing.

It is still unclear as of yet if there will be any developer support from the Japanese side of things or if the Koreans simply got the license for the franchise. However, 4gamer does speculate that the deal was made in order for Namco Bandai to get a foothold in the South Korean casual online market.

Read the full post here...

Source: PSPUpdates

Lumines II for $19.99 @ Best Buy

Right now Best Buy has the ever-popular puzzle game Lumines II, which normally retails for $29.99, for $19.99. I'm not sure how long this price is available but I'd venture to guess through this  Saturday, February 3. You can go pick up a copy in your local store or purchase it online here.

Got a PSP? Sony's got (another) shirt waiting...

One thing we love about Sony-sponsored events is the freebies. Now, aside from the free demo disks that they were offering during the LockerRoom Challenge Tour, Sony is again doling out free shirts for your consumption - just in case them darned lycans go on their shirt-ripping frenzy again.

For the guys who missed out on the previous promo, this could be your second chance to grab another limited edition PSP shirt. All you need to do is visit the PlayStation Locker Room Challenge Tour, PlayStation Experience or PlayStation Patrol Tour trucks, and show them your PSP - make sure to flash Dark_AleX's 3.03 OE-C for effect.

The offer is good until this February 27, which should give you enough time to hunt down the next truck stop from Feb 2 to 4 at Wal-Mart, 5200 So. Fort Apache Road, Las Vegas (Sw2), NV 89148. As for our note on flashing them your custom firmware? We were kidding...


Source: PlayStation via PSPUpdates

Sony Releases Firmware 3.10

Hmm... no mention of security updates in their press release... but I'll bet there are a few <grin> -Auri

I'm curious about the "conserve memory" feature. Does it make it possible for larger Flash documents to load? If anyone has any experience with "better" Flash compatibility with this release, please let me know!

Warning: If you plan on downgrading your PSP, do *not* upgrade to 3.10. Heck, don't upgrade your PSP at all. Get to 1.50 as soon as you can and just use DevHook or Custom Firmwares to run homebrew to your heart's content!

Sony Computer Entertainment America is making it even easier to check out the hottest software for the PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) system with a new initiative to offer downloadable demos regularly via the official PSP site ( psp.us.playstation.com <http://psp.us.playstation.com/>  ) and the PlayStation Web site ( us.playstation.com/PSP <http://us.playstation.com/PSP>  ). Separately, a new firmware update (version 3.10) is now available, enhancing the PSP Internet browser and audio playback.


PSP Demos

PSP owners can now download a demo for KillzoneTM: Liberation directly to their PSP system from the official PSP site; the demo can also be downloaded to a PC from the PlayStation Web site and transferred to a PSP system. Killzone: Liberation is a third-person shooter that puts players into 16 intense missions to rescue hostages from the evil Helghast. Killzone: Liberation was developed by Guerilla, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.


Additional first and third party demos will be offered on an ongoing basis, with Syphon Filter®: Dark Mirror and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 2 slated for release in the coming weeks.


PSP Firmware 3.10

PSP Firmware 3.10 is now available for download and includes the following updates:

• Conserve Memory has been added as an optional setting for your Internet browser, enabling you to view a Web page that contains a larger amount of data because less memory is used to display the page.
• Dynamic Normalizer has been added as a feature under “Sound Settings,” providing automatic volume adjustment for playback of music tracks or other audio sources with varying output levels.
  

Would You Pay $400 for Unpatched GTA:LCS?

I realize that an unpatched copy of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories can be difficult to come by, but how much would you pay to get your hands on one? Well, eBay seller "leecruise" seems to think that his unpatched version of GTA:LCS is worth at least $400.00. When I first saw the price I thought, "well maybe he'll at least waive shipping and handling charges..." Nope. With the recent release of the Noobz 3.03 to 1.50 downgrader, this version of the game could become even more of a rarity, but I think an opening bid of $400 plus shipping is just a wee bit optimistic for a game that retails for $19.99. Check it out for yourself via the link below.

$400 Unpatched GTA:LCS on eBay




Via DCEmu

LocoRoco Mobile spotted in Japan

The Sony-Ericsson SO703i--the "smell'O'phone"--will be released in Japan preloaded with a mobile version of LocoRoco, the quirky 2D platformer currently available only on the PlayStation Portable.

LocoRoco was developed by Sony and released in 2006. In the game, players tilt the onscreen environment to guide the cartoony LocoRoco characters to the end of each level.

The new phone also boasts a series of interchangeable fragranced "aroma sheet" faceplates, which smell when the user opens up the phone. The display utilises some of the same technology that exists in Sony's Bravia televisions, and the telephone will be available on the NTT Docomo network.

The release date of the new handset in Japan is "tentatively" February--as of press time, a Sony spokesperson hadn't responded to a request for information on whether Europe and the US would also see LocoRoco coming to mobiles.

Emma Boyes
January 26, 2007

Source: Gamespot

Sony calls on Ken to save PS3

KEN Kutaragi, the engineer known as the father of the Sony PlayStation video game console, is to split his time between Sony and a new joint venture with Japan's Namco Bandai, as Sony attempts to reinforce fraying ties with third-party game developers.

New PSP modchip around the corner?

PSPUpdates has posted word that a new modchip for the PSP could be on the way. From the looks of it, the installation process should be easier than the nightmare known as the Undiluted Platinum installation. The official website doesn't provide much information on the chip other than the following run-down:

• Flash your PSP using the internal USB Port
• No additional USB Port required
• Latest ACTEL ProASIC 3 technology
• Low power consumption
• Works on all available PSP versions incl. TA-082 and TA-086
• Custom BIOS with a lot of cool additional features
• Easy to install
• Just a bit of soldering skills required, no hardcore installation

Via PSPUpdates & PSP-DEVOLUTION

Are you ready for homebrew? 3.03 HEN and Downgrader released!

NOTE FROM AURI: We're currently testing everything, so expect us to upload the complete downgrader in a few days. Thanks!

Fanjita may have told you guys what to do with a non-homebrew capable PSP, but now it appears that everyone can get in on the homebrew fun! The "goofy exploit" which exists in firmwares 2.00 to 3.03 was found on Friday, January 25, 2007, a date which you'd think might go down in the PSP homebrew history. But it probably won't because despite their seven-day ETA, the Noobz team has once again fortified its position at the top of the homebrew coding ladder with a 3.03 downgrader - just three days after the exploit was found!

Some call it magic, others call it an act of god, but whatever the reason for it, PSP gamers all across the world can now downgrade their consoles to the magic of homebrew-capable 1.5, and then if they wish to do so, upgrading to homebrew-capable custom firmware. All you need is a PSP running firmware 3.03 (if not then update to 3.03 using the update EBOOT found here) the downgrader files and the 1.50 EBOOT as well as an unpatched version of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

Unpatched versions of Liberty City Stories contain the 2.0 update, whereas patched versions contain higher updates. If your copy of LCS has an update higher than 2.0 on it, then you will have to find an unpatched UMD to proceed. There's no need to worry if you have a TA-082 PSP as the downgrader will check your motherboard and patch it if necessary. Note the downgrader will not let you proceed without patching if your motherboard requires it.

Not only has Noobz released a 3.03 downgrader but they've also managed to release a 3.03 HEN (Homebrew Enabler) for the PSP. This means that those of you who aren't too sure that you want to downgrade can still play homebrew on 3.03. This does not flash your PSP, but by running HEN, it installs a patch in your PSP's memory, that allows you to run homebrew almost as if you had a v1.5 PSP. This patch remains in place until you fully turn off your PSP - it will survive the PSP being placed into sleep mode. You run the HEN application just as you do the downgrader using Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

Read the full article here...

Download Noobz Homebrew Enabler (HEN) "Duff" for 3.03 PSPs
Download Noobz 3.03 to 1.50 Downgrader
Download System Update 3.03
Download System Update 1.50

Source: PSPUpdates

PSP System Update 3.10 Released in Korea

While there hasn't been any word on a release for Japan and North America, Sony has apparently released PSP firmware version 3.10 on the Playstation Korea website. Please note that the update is only for Korean PSPs (PSP-1005K). Does this mean that there's a 3.10 update on the way for the rest of the world or is this a Korea-specific update? Unfortunately I don't have an answer to that question. As for the change log for this update, the best one I've been able to find is a (most likely web) translation posted on PSPUpdates, which I have posted below.

• It enjoyed PLAYSTATION Network tie frames and the function for was strengthened.
• NETWORK
• Function to record MPEG-4 AVC from LocationFree Player. Model LF-PK20 (Japan) or LF-B20 and LF-B10 (United States) LocationFree base stations are required for this.
• Memory economy function added to Web Browser settings
• SETTINGS
• Dynamic normalizer function added in Sound settings.
• MEMORY ECONOMY
• When using the Web Browser, it uses less memory. However, picture quality decreases.
• DYNAMIC VOLUMIZER
• The volume level for playing music is regulated.

Via PSPUpdates & Playstation Korea

Off Topic: LeetSpeak Google

Not for n00bz - check out Google's search destination for 4@x0rz:

http://www.google.com/intl/xx-hacker/

(yes - it works on the PSP, duh <grin>)

Thanks to Josh for this headz^

Major publishers welcome PS3 Euro launch announcement

Following the announcement of the European PS3 launch details earlier this week, big name publishers have been showing strong support for Sony's next-generation console.

Adam Roberts, MD for Vivendi Northern Europe, told GamesIndustry.biz, "Confirmation of the European release date for the PlayStation 3 is excellent news for the industry as a whole.

"We at Vivendi Games are very excited to be a part of the launch plans, and also about bringing F.E.A.R to a fresh audience at the start of 2007," he continued, referring to Vivendi's PS3 launch title.

"We're equally enthusiastic about the prospects this new platform will bring to the UK market in the future."

Square Enix CEO John Yamamoto confirmed that company has two Final Fantasy games in development for PS3, observing that the series has been highly successful on Sony platforms in the past.

"We are developing Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII using the full power of the PlayStation 3 and hope to make them the best games we have ever released," he said, adding, "We expect the PlayStation 3 to sell very well in the UK, Europe and other PAL territories."

Meanwhile, Ubisoft UK managing director Rob Cooper welcomed confirmation of a March launch date for PS3, stating, "We are looking forward to fully exploiting the PS3's technological advances to deliver ever more immersive and creative gaming experiences to our fans.

"It's now our job to offer games that explore the new creative landscapes the PS3 has opened to us." Ubisoft will publish four PS3 games on launch day - Blazing Angels, Enchanted Arms, Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Oblivion.

Read the full article here...

Ellie Gibson
January 26, 2007

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Sony Site Snafu

The next-generation of consoles has arrived and Microsoft and Sony are on precipice of an all-out war of words. As executives from both companies jostle for an edge in public opinion, every mistake is certain to be blown out of proportion. And so it is that a graphic designer's ill-advised decision is going to put a dent in Sony's armor.

On the Sony-owned site PSP Connect, a large banner promising a Gran Turismo HD video preview uses a screenshot from Microsoft's Project Gotham Racing 3.

Read the full article here...

Hilary Goldstein
January 25, 2007





Source: IGN UK

Off Topic: Ebay To Suspend All Virtual Item Auctions

The growing popularity of Massively Multiplayer games has brought the issue of ownership rights in virtual worlds, and the appropriateness of what is called 'real money transfer' (RMT) into an increasingly public light. The success of the company IGE, as well as the launch of Sony Online Entertainment's 'Station Exchange' service would seem to indicate that RMT is now an acceptable part of Massive gaming. The well-known auction site eBay has recently made a policy decision that may throw these assumptions into a different light. Following up on a rumour that's been going around I spoke today with a media representative for the company, who confirmed that eBay is now delisting all auctions for 'virtual artifacts' from the site. This includes currency, items, and accounts/characters; not even the 'neopoints' used in the popular Neopets service is exempt from this decision.

Read the full text here...

Source: Slashdot

$69.99 4GB SanDisk MS PRO Duo @ Fry's After MIR

Fry's.com has 4GB SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duos for $99.99 with a $30 mail-in-rebate, bringing the final price to $69.99. At the time of this post, the Fry's website says to call for availability but you may be able to find this deal in your local store. If you don't have $300 to pre-order the upcoming 8GB MS PRO Duo then this deal may be for you.

Buy 4GB SanDisk MS PRO Duo

Goofy exploit by Noobz - Hello World on firmwares 2.0-3.03!

Just a little while back, Fanjita wrote a small article on the people with non-homebrew-able PSPs should do. Waiting for an exploit was the only sensible thing to do in my opinion. And boy! You guys didn't have to wait very long; the Noobz team has just come out with a new exploit which works on all firmwares up to v3.03, which is all that Sony has been able to come up with.

As of now, the only homebrew which runs through the exploit is a simple Hello World application, but we all know what the PSP scene can come up with in a short while. And that's exactly what's gonna happen since I've heard from Mathieulh that a 3.03 Downgrader might be coming soon!

Here's what Fanjita had to say:

"You remember that the only thing holding us back from a downgrader for v3.03 was the lack of a user-mode exploit?

Well, we don't like to be held back from anything, so we went back to basics and looked over some of the old exploits. And what do you know? We found one!

We did a little digging into the old GTA exploit, and discovered that it hadn't been properly patched after all. We'll leave it as an exercise for the interested reader to figure out exactly how we got past the patch (and to give Sony a little while longer before the head-slapping "Doh!" moment :P)"

Read the full article here...


Download Goofy exploit & Hello World Proof of Concept




Source: PSPUpdates

On-duty Copy Caught Playing PSP

psphome.com posted a photo snapped of an on-duty police officer in East London playing a PSP. Apparently the officers were supposed to be guarding a wall that was at risk to collapse. The Metropolitan Police stated that "the use of the games console was inappropriate and unprofessional. Senior officers are dealing with the matter.”




Source: psphome.com

Dark_AleX's 3.03 OE-C Released

Out of the blue, Dark_AleX has once again released the latest update to his 3.03 Open Edition custom firmware. And this one's a major upgrade, which means that you will have to install it the long way. And yes, the feature list has been beefed up again, with a lot of new things and updates. Without further ado, here's what's changed in the latest version:

• AVC videos bitrate limit patched. The firmware limited the bitrate of avc videos to only 768 Kbps. OE now forces the limit to be 16384 Kbps. (Note: this doesn't mean than the psp can handle such a high bitrate, this means than they won't show error. I don't know which is the real maximum bitrate than the psp can handle at full speed)
• Speed of OE boot is now ~3 seconds faster than previous versions. (without plugins)
• CPU speed of XMB can now be changed.
• Wifi can now work at 333 Mhz!
• Added access to flash 0 and 1 via usb in the recovery menu, based on the great idea of USBSSS by Booster. Note that writing is enabled, so this is intended only for advanced users that know what they are doing in each moment.(It is not a great idea to change anything from the kd folder). Because of this addition, the rest of flashing options were removed.
• PSP isos can now be deleted as any normal memstick games. (also the size of the iso now shows fine when you press triangle->information).
• When formatting memory stick, GAME150, GAME303 and ISO directories will be automatically created!
• Changes in internal HEN core:
• If a EBOOT.PBP with a plain DATA.PSP had a data.psar, modulemgr took as size of the executable the size of data.psp+data.psar. Fixed. (this fix enables psx games to have plain data.psp without causing a memory error).
• Added a couple of patches found by Tyranid. One allows syscalls instructions to be used in kernel mode without causing a crash. The other allows sceKernelQueryModuleInfo to work with sceInit and previous modules.

And this is just the stuff in the actual firmware. Dark_AleX has also updated the popstation with the following things:

• The writing is now a bit different. This will avoid "Memory stick blinking too much" bug when using the plugin to load the 3.02 pops.
• popstation now lets the use of non-encrypted DATA.PSP. If data.psp is in the same directory as the app, popstation will use that as the DATA.PSP of the eboot.pbp. Otherwise, it will use the one from BASE.PBP. A DATA.PSP that imitates the original sony one is included.
• EBOOT.PBP generated with a non encrypted data.psp won't need the file KEYS.BIN at all. (Note: these EBOOT.PBP cannot work in versions prior to 3.03 OE-C due to a bug that those versions had.)

Since this is a major update, you have to do the full update by generating a DATA.DXAR using the OEUPDMAKER and then using that DXAR and flashing it using the 303oeflasher in the archive. Please refer to the readme for the full instructions. As always, please be careful with this mod.

WARNING: Firmware modifications can potentially damage your PSP beyong repair. Use this at your own risk.

Download Custom Firmware 3.03 OE-C

Source: PSPUpdates

Original PSP Faceplates @ Divineo

Divineo now carries OEM PSP faceplates in black, blue, silver, white, and pink for US $28.50. Click on the images below for links to their respective colors on Divineo's site.



Via DCEmu

Sony's Harrison to keynote GDC

President of Sony's Worldwide Studios, Phil Harrison, to address attendees with "Game 3.0: Developing and Creating for the 3rd Age of Video Games."

CMP Media, the organizers of the Game Developers Conference, today announced that Phil Harrison, president of worldwide studios at Sony Computer Entertainment, will give the opening keynote address to this year's conference.

Harrison will give a lecture titled "Game 3.0: Developing and Creating for the 3rd Age of Video Games." The talk will focus on "the entertainment, creative, and commercial opportunities presented by connected communities of players and developers."

GDC 2007 takes place March 5-9 at San Francisco's Moscone Center. Harrison's speech will take place on Wednesday, March 7, at 10:30 a.m. Earlier this week, GDC 07 announced that Nintendo's game guru, Shigeru Miyamoto, will present a keynote address, titled "A Creative Vision," on Thursday, March 8.

For more information on GDC 07, head over to the event's official Web site.

Tim Surette
January 25, 2007

Source: Gamespot

What should I do with my non-homebrew PSP?

Noobz has a recent post from Fanjita to answer the barrage of requests that they receive for advice on what to do with PSPs that are not currently capable of running homebrew. Hopefully this should satisfy some concerns for any of you running firmware 2.81 or higher. Here's what Fanjita had to say:

Over and over again, we get questions from people asking things like:

• When will there be a 2.81 downgrader?
• Should I sell my 3.03 PSP and buy a 1.5?
• Should I upgrade my 2.81 to 3.03?

This article is an attempt to provide some balanced answers to those questions.

Here are the facts:

• It looks like the Team C+D kernel mode exploit will work all the way up to v3.03 - the relevant code seems to be unchanged.
• It's very likely that Sony will patch that exploit in the next firmware.
• As soon as a user-mode exploit is found for 2.81-3.03, it should be possible to get homebrew running on those firmwares.
• It looks like the current 2.80 downgrader will probably work on v3.03, once we can run homebrew on that firmware.
• Dark_AleX's OE firmwares are the best platform for homebrew users, and it seems likely that it will be possible to keep updating OE for the latest firmwares shortly after they are released.
• It has historically always been easier to downgrade lower firmwares.

So what does all that mean for 2.81-3.03 owners?

• Well, right now things are more hopeful for you than they have been for bleeding edge firmwares for a long time.  We're only 1 step away from being able to downgrade your PSP and move it onto an OE firmware.  It's almost certain that a downgrader will eventually come - but no-one can accurately predict when that might be, so please don't ask!
• Upgrading to the next firmware release would be homebrew suicide.  Don't expect any sympathy if you choose to upgrade as soon as the next firmware is released - if you wait a short time, you can probably have it as an OE version instead.
• Upgrading your firmware even from 2.81 to 3.00 is probably not a great move - you may delay your ability to downgrade when a downgrader finally comes.

One final note - if you have more money than patience, then your best bet for getting homebrew on your non-homebrewable PSP is to simply sell it, and buy a downgradeable PSP.  The difference in price is not very large these days, and so it's not really a hard thing to do if you really can't wait.

Source: Noobz

SCEE Officially Announces £425 March 23rd PS3 Launch (UK)

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has officially unveiled its PlayStation 3 launch date and prices for the UK, revealing a 60GB-only March 23rd launch at £425 ($842).

As previously rumored, the UK launch will only include the 60GB model -- 1 million units of which are being made available the first day -- rather than the choice between the 20GB and 60GB models launched in Japan and the USA.

SCEE says the single model launch is in response to 'retail and consumer demand.' The 20GB model, says SCEE, will be offered later in the year.

SCEE has also announced that 30 games will be available at launch, including Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, Genji: Days of the Blade, Formula One Championship Edition and Ridge Racer 7.

In addition, SCEE has said that the European PlayStation Network will offer a full selection of downloadable titles, including Gran Turismo HD Concept and a localized version of Tekken: Dark Resurrection, previously only available to Japan and Hong Kong. Go! Sudoku, Go! Puzzle, Blast Factor and flOw are also promised for day one availability.

SCEE has also made available pricing information for peripherals and accessories, as follows: SIXAXIS Wireless Controller - £34.99 ($69), Blu-ray Disc Remote Control - £17.99 ($36), HDMI Cable - £17.99 ($36), AV cable - £17.99 ($36), Component AV cable - £17.99 ($36), and an S Video cable - £12.99 ($26).

SCEUK SVP and MD Ray Maguire commented, “Following the hugely successful launches of PS3 in Japan and North America, we are absolutely delighted to be able to bring significant numbers of PS3 to the UK."

He added, "To be able to launch with over 30 titles including retail versions and great downloadable gaming experiences across every genre shows that this is our strongest launch line-up in the history of PlayStation, and is what PlayStation fans in the UK have been crying out for.”

Brandon Boyer
January 24, 2007

Source: Gamasutra

Rumors: Whispers heard from Sony's direction

A member on PSPCrazy.com has posted some information that he claims came from a discussion with a person at Sony. The post mentions a Non-Disclosure Agreement so I'm not really sure how much of the information is true. Here's some of PSPUpdates' take on it...

• Ready At Dawn devving a new IP, nothing related to Daxter, but something about "riding of (sic) Daxter" (the game's success) which we interpret to mean that it might be a platformer. No other info to confirm our suspicions.
• Sony's plan to make the PlayStation Store accessible on the PSP.
• A comment regarding PSP2 talk which we can't really make out. Begin quote: "Sony by the looks of things will be taking the ipod route every 2 or 3 years maybe longer they will release and improved system not doing away with the name or image of the psp i mean do u really want a psp 2?" Did anyone get what that meant?
• An "in-house" PS3 title in the works.

Check out the original posts via the source links.

Source: PSPCrazy.com via PSPUpdates

Pope condemns video games

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI has taken a swipe at violent or sexually explicit video games and animated movies, naming them a "pervasive influence" on children.

The Pope made the statements in a message to mark the church's World Communications Day.

"Any trend to produce programs and products - including animated movies and video games - which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behaviour or the trivilization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive  when these programs are directed at children and adolescents," he said.

"I appeal to the leaders of the media industry to educated and encourage producers to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity and promote respect for the needs of the family."

Benedict also suggested that children should be encouraged to enjoy classic literature, fine arts and "uplifting music".

Lisa Foster
January 24, 2007

Source: MCVUK

More Blue PSP Pictures

Freestyle-psphacker sent me a couple more pictures of the blue PSP, including one of the value pack contents. Thanks Freestyle!

Ars Technica picks best three game console designs

After some heated discussion and debate on the Ars Technica forums, Ben Kuchera has produced three picks for the best use of design in video game consoles. Here's some of what he had to say:

I was flipping through our forums when I found this thread talking about the design of all the different gaming systems, and of course an argument ensued about which ones were the most attractive. I decided to weigh in with what I consider to the be the three best console designs, and to head off another argument, I'm not going to put them in order.

First, I'm going to say that the 360 design bores me; the PS3 looks like a grill; the SNES was boxy and ugly; the DS looked like a makeup compact; and the DS Lite looks like it held more expensive makeup. The GameCube? It's a purple purse, for the love of Gygax! Even the black design or silver edition to come later didn't really save it. Console design, in my opinion, rarely produces anything that looks good. I LOVE the design of the PSP but it almost works against the system: it looks expensive, intimidating, and badass. Many people I show the system to are almost afraid to touch it; it's not that inviting. So what stands out?

Ben Kuchera
January 22, 2007

View the three picks here...

Source: Ars Technica

GPS Receiver (Japan) Review

Gamebrink has posted a review of the Japanese Sony GPS receiver using Deniska's Map This! homebrew application. Since the reviewer wasn't located in Japan, they weren't able to try out the bundled Maplus: Portable Navi software. From the article:

So is it really worth the $69.95 to import this thing? To put it simply, only get it if you live in Japan or have a homebrew capable PSP. Even then the Map This! software isn’t nearly as user friendly or complete as Maplus so it’s probably a better option to just buy a phone or some other piece of hardware with a GPS and mapping software. Then again after looking up what other GPS devices the homebrew supports on eBay, it’s actually not worth it at all. You can get a Holux GPSlim236 for a whopping $9.99 when I searched so unless you live in Japan or really want a Sony themed GPS then skip this until it’s released in your region with the appropriate software.

Read the full review here...

Source: Gamebrink

PSP: rated M for Mature

This should come as no surprise to PSP owners, but it's interesting to see the numbers nonetheless. When looking through the ESRB database, one sees that the PSP offers a greater variety of games than Nintendo's handheld. The PSP features 30 titles with an M rating. The DS, on the other hand, only has 2.

Teen-rated games also find their home on the PSP. The DS only has 31 Teen-rated games, while the PSP has three times the number of titles, with 96 T-rated games.

While it's undeniable that the DS is selling better than the PSP, one has to wonder how many of those consoles are for adults. I'd assume not too many. Grand Theft Auto sold over a million copies on Sony's handheld, while LocoRoco went by mostly unnoticed. I think it should be pretty clear that the two portables are targeting two very different markets: and older gamers, like myself, enjoy the slightly more adult-themed games of the PSP.

Andrew Yoon
January 23, 2007

Source: PSP Fanboy

Off topic: Web-Based Media Converter

Media-Convert is a free, web-based tool for converting documents/text, archives (zip, rar, ace, etc), videos, and sounds (including mobile phone ringtones) to other formats. You can provide either the path to a file stored locally or a URL. Simply specify a file, select the input format (if auto-detection does not work), select an output format, accept the terms of use and click "Convert." The site contains a complete list of all supported file formats. Check it out for yourself at www.media-convert.com.

Kid needs anger management; destroys PSP with katana

The headline explains it all. We've seen tons of kids with too much money destroying their electronics on the web with a variety of tools. Rifles, bats, and bombs ... now, it's a katana! Should someone that clearly has such anger management problems really have a sword?

Check out the video here... (NOTE: The posting user has flagged the video as private so they'll have to accept your friend request before you can view it.)

Source: PSP Fanboy

PSP getting ports from new sources

It's no secret that the PSP (as with any system) gets ports of games from other consoles. Most of the ports to PSP logically come from the PlayStation 2. But all that is starting to change. With the PS3 on the rise and the PS2 on the decline, PSP is starting to get ports from some unexpected places.

The DS has many a game that it's shared with the Gameboy Advance, but recently it seems like more and more GBA games are jumping over to Sony's portable. The most obvious of these are all of the recently announced Final Fantasy projects. From Final Fantasy Tactics to just plain ol' Final Fantasy, these GBA remakes are being remade again for the PSP. But it doesn't just end there, the PSP will also see a port of the GBA RPG title Riviera (which is great for me, since I never played that game).

Of course, while it seems like quite a few PSP games are from GBA land, that isn't the only system sending off titles to PSP's library. Xbox games like Xyanide and Painkiller: Hell Wars are reported to have versions coming out this year for PSP and the DS racer Asphalt Urban GT 2 will be out shortly. Even the PC isn't exempt as fantastic physics platformer Gish has a release date for our system of choice.

The future though seems to be the Wii and PSP connection. While Alien Syndrome is one of the only Wii/PSP games announced so far, the fact that Wii games have to be developed independently from the rest of the home consoles means many developers may be looking to PSP versions as another source of profit. Of course as with any business move, these ports will have to make money if this is to become a serious trend.

Steven Bailey
January 21, 2007

Source: PSP Fanboy

Daffy Duck and The OC a part of deal

SCi (and Eidos) have acquired the rights to 11 Warner Brothers franchises, including Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera and (prepare to be excited or horrified) the recently canceled Fox TV show The OC in a deal worth upwards of $80 million. Looney Tunes characters include Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales. The OC on the other hand features Mischa Barton and the other fit one. All games are scheduled for PSP. Hanna Barbera’s Tom and Jerry, the Flintstones and Yogi Bear are also mooted, plus a Batman game based on the DC comics. In truth, few Warner games are unlikely to trouble PS3, unless the latest series of The OC takes an explosive action RPG twist.

GamesRadar UK Staff
January 19, 2007

Source: GamesRadar

Google eyes in-game ads acquisition

Google is currently in talks to buy in-game ads company Adscape, a company that specialises in technology that allows adverts to be placed in online videogames.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, a deal could be announced as early as this week.

"We are always considering new ways to extend Google's advertising program to benefit our users, advertisers and publishers," said a spokesperson for Google.

"In-game advertising offers one such possible extension among many others," said the company.

The deal would follow Microsoft's purchase last May of Massive Inc, a firm that has numerous gaming partners including 2K Sports, Codemasters, Eidos, Konami and NCsoft.

Matt Martin
January 22, 2007

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

EA exec predicts software price cut

Ryan Jones, general manager of Electronic Arts Australia, has said that he believes the console cycle transition phase is now at an end - and that game prices are set to fall as a result.

As reported by Australian news site TheAge, Jones said, "I think it's safe to say that we're just about done with transition.

"Retail will show strong growth with the investment of GAME into the market, and it bodes well for the future having two strong specialists in the market as they tend to hold pricing and discount less to drive sales," he continued.

"On that point though, we do see next-gen pricing drifting down to AU $99 [EUR 60] by the end of the calendar year for all premium new releases." At present, full price Xbox 360 games retail for AU $120 (EUR 73) in Australia - the same price PS3 titles are expected to cost when the console launches there. Wii games sell for AU $100.

"We've had very successful next-gen launches in 360 and Wii, and with PS3 launching in March its initial success has become less significant," Jones said.

"Longer term it's hard to say who will win the console war out of the three hardware platforms but three strong platforms is certainly better than one strong, one average and one failure.

According to Jones the Nintendo DS is still enjoying strong growth, which he believes will make the handheld "a strong bet" for third-party publishers.

"We might see Nintendo's dominance on their own platforms challenged for the first time," he added.

"The challenges will be maximising the retail opportunities with so many different platforms in the market and limited growth in retail real estate in the medium term."

Ellie Gibson
January 22, 2007

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Do you duel? A Japanese PSP ad

High in the mountains, two samurai face each other in the beginnings of mortal combat. The waterfall between them will know the taste of blood as the two combatants draw their weapons in a duel to the death.

Okay. Maybe not, but there's definitely some gritty action behind this.

Sony's new ad for the PSP plays out a lot like a movie at first glance, where you see two guys in good old warrior attire getting ready to draw their swords in battle. Heck, they even made the film look very gritty, which also plays in the deception. With a tagline that asks us, "Do you duel?," you can expect some folks to end up being surprised by what happens in this video.

In any case, we'll leave the surprise up to you guys. As for whether or not it's actually a good ad, perhaps we'll need to make a three-way advertising battle, pitting Japan's PSP ads against that of America's and Europe's videos. Let us know what you think, alright?

Check out the video here...

Source: PSPUpdates

Sad Story Of Ziff Davis Coming To An End

For those of you who enjoy the often month-old, yet still highly informative and entertaining, gaming news found in Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, or even the up-to-date news and media sites 1UP.com and GameVideos.com, then you know that the company that owns all three is in a lot of trouble. When William Ziff's publishing portion of the company sold for $1.4 billion in the middle 1990s, things were looking good. Then, Japanese company Softbank later bought the publishing portion for $2 billion and things peaked, promising an eventful future.

Unfortunately the events were less than desirable, and Softbank sold their involvement for a measly $780 million. Ziff Davis continued to show signs of weakness a few months ago when they announced that their U.S. PlayStation Magazine would be discontinued in January of 2007. No biggy, they moved on at Titanic speeds, Dan Hsu got his aristocratic naked portrait, and the iceberg tore a hole in the company that ensured its death. If there was a 911-style conspiracy video covering all of these events, this would be when the Fight Club background ambient music picks up and starts to get into the depressing lyrics.

Read the full article here...

Source: The Last Boss

Vice City Stories no longer a PSP exclusive

Vice City Stories to be PSP exclusive? Many doubted Rockstar, considering how Liberty City Stories made the jump to PlayStation 2. Well, looks like the doubters were right: A look at the ESRB website reveals a listing for a PS2 version of Vice City Stories. If it follows the footsteps of its Liberty City brethren, it will launch on PS2 for a measly $20, sans multiplayer.

Considering the relatively low sales of the latest GTA, it makes sense. Now, a whole new audience will be able to play with Phil Collins.



Source: PSP Fanboy

The PSP Keyboard has arrived - TyDoPad v0.01 beta

You might be a little confused here. The title says the PSP keyboard has arrived but today the news comes in the form of a homebrew application, not a USB keyboard for PSP. That's because madruscoe (also known as moneytoo from our forums) has managed to create a homebrew application which lets you make short notes and save them as .txt files on your Memory Stick using the Palm(One) Universal Wireless Keyboard.

This is the only keyboard supported at the moment and the good news is you can pick them up for around $50 on Amazon and they'll work with your Palm PDA.

As homebrew veterans will probably know, this is an amazing feat because accessory giant Logic 3 has been trying to make a keyboard for the PSP for a very long time and has failed because they needed "to acquire certain information and command protocols from Sony for the PSP" which they where unable to obtain.

There's another planned PSP Keyboard on the way for Spring 2007, but we haven't heard from the company developing the product, FITC, since August 2006. Once again, the homebrew scene has continued its habit of sticking it to the man - well done to madrusco for this release!

We haven't got a Palm Wireless Keyboard handy to test it out, but we're sure that some of you must have one already for a PDA. At this time you aren't allowed to view/open/edit written text and the limit for one note is 4 kB, with the number of notes you can gave only limited by your memory stick size. This is only a beta though, so start expecting a fully-functional PSP keyboard soon. There's even talk in our forums of a prx to accept keyboard input anywhere - in the XMB, in a game or even when playing homebrew. It's a good time to own a PSP! Check out the video below.

Video here... (YouTube)

Download TyDoPad v0.01 beta

Source: PSPUpdates

Hardware sales slow in Japan

Next-generation consoles have suffered a slow week of sales in Japan, with the PlayStation 3 recording its worst figures since release.

According to data from Media Create, the PS3 sold 25,531 units for the week ending January 14.

Nintendo Wii sales were estimated at 93,708 units, the second worst week since it sold just over 85,000 units immediately after launch.

The news wasn't impressive for Microsoft either, with the Xbox 360 managing just over 9,000 units sold in the same period.

Sony recently announced it has shipped over a million units of the PS3 to Japanese retailers.

Looking at sales data for software, Wii Sports is the number one title in the region, selling over 61,000 units. Resistance: Fall of Man is the highest ranking PS3 title in the charts at number 40, while there are no Xbox 360 games in the top fifty at all.

Matt Martin
January 19, 2007

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

PSP Outsells DS... In New Zealand

Ah, New Zealand. Kiwi fruit, Peter Jackson and, above, rugby. Pencil in "Sony-lovers" for another thing the island nation is famous for. Last November and December, Sony moved 21,800 PS2s units, which accounts for 70 percent of the consoles sold. Says Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand's Warwick Light (killer name!):

"It is no surprise to us that PlayStation 2 was the number one selling gaming platform for Christmas. As the PlayStation 2 offering goes from strength to strength, more consumers are buying into the value proposition of the hardware and the unrivalled range of software on offer. Consumers obviously saw exceptional value in PlayStation 2."

Okay. That's not such a big deal. The PS2 is and has been a big seller. But what is interesting is that the PSP sold 9,560 units and captured 73 percent of the handheld market during November and December 2006. Wow, what the DS is to Japan, the PSP is to New Zealand.

Brian Ashcraft
January 19, 2007

Source: Kotaku

Map This! v0.461S beta (Now supports Sony GPS receiver)

Deniska's just released the first Map This! beta homebrew that supports the original Sony GPS receiver "PSP-290". In the event that you actually have the said original GPS accessory, then this is one homebrew app you've probably been waiting for. Check out the features for Map This! v0.461S below:

• GPS info screen with satellite data
• Screen rotation in map mode
• Trip reset option added to menu. Trip data does not get reset when you switch to map mode.
• Fixed a bug in TRACK UP mode. (should not switch the mode when approaching to map's boundaries.

The GPS-homebrew master notes that some features like the GPS data re-play and WiFi download aren't supported in this version release. Hopefully he can tweak them back into the application in the future.

If you don't know how to map this out on your PSP, check out the readme file included. It's got all the installation instructions and other notes that you'll be needing.

Download Map This! v0.461S beta

Source: PSPUpdates

Dark_AleX mentioned in UK's EDGE

An article in the February issue of UK gaming magazine EDGE, entitled "PSP enjoys a grey Christmas," makes mention of Dark_AleX's Christmas morning release of 3.02 OE-B and its hacked PlayStation emulator. The half page blurb also discusses the relationship between Sony and the "PSP's underground community." The photo of the article that's been making its way around the PSP blogs is a bit difficult to read so I've duplicated the article below and I've also provided a link to a PSPUpdates post displaying the image. If EDGE is available to you then you may want to pick up a copy of the issue for yourself. It's not clear from the photo who wrote the article, otherwise I would cite the author. The article does mention the piracy of PlayStation games but make note that it does also say that images were "illegally distributed," and neither I nor Auri condone piracy in any way. Now, with that said, here's what EDGE had to say...

"If Sony wants people to believe that hacking is no laughing matter, it should really do something about the farcical relationship it continues to share with PSP's underground community. As if the instantaneous exploitation of its 3.02 firmware wasn't enough (its security circumvented by pre-existing firmware emulation software), the yuletide antics of Hollywood-grade hacker dark_alex must have had its manufacturer wondering whether to hire him (or indeed her) or have him shot.

Having dismantled the DRM protection of PSP's recently enabled PlayStation emulator mere days earlier, dark_alex chose Christmas morning for the release of a revised custom firmware, improperly capable of running almost any dumped PlayStation image from a Memory Stick. The underlying method appears to involve duping a PSP into believing it's running a legitimately downloaded game.

Newsgroups and similar channels were, if course, flooded with illegally distributed ISOs over the course of the following days, and the compatibility of the emulator reported to be exceptional, though less so in the case of PAL games. Presumably, this versatility would have been the object of some pride at Sony under different circumstances.

The platform holder has avoided going into detail when discussing the security of its software, on this occation choosing to instead reiterate its stance on piracy in general. 'Privacy is detrimental to the entire industry and, as a result, is detrimental to the end consumer,' said a company spokesperson. 'We are against piracy 100 per cent and will continue to protect our intellectual property and fight against