Hacking the PSP Blog

Off Topic: Using the Wii Remote For 3D Worlds & Head Tracking

Just a way cool demo... and he'll give you the software to do it, too.



Thanks to Steve for the link!

-Auri



Original link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

Happy Holidays Everyone!

And here's a greeting card for ya... man, JibJab is cool. And I'm cool, even with cats. Seriously.

http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/BClVVBstKC590KhT8Mc4UsZ6

Happy Holidays!

Best,

-Auri

(Off Topic) A New Duke Nukem Forever Teaser Trailer!

Still one of my most favorite games to play... I wonder if it will ever come out... Remember, it was named "Vaporware of the Decade" or something very close to that... -Auri

Check it out at News.com...

Play PS1 games via PSP Remote Play

The latest PS3 firmware updates packs a nice little surprise Sony didn't mention - it enables PS1 gameplay via Remote Play on your PSP.

Just to clarify, that means that you can play PS1 games that are loaded onto your PS3 hard drive on your PSP via a wireless connection, including via the internet.

Why is this cool? Because you can stuff your PS3 hard drive full of PS1 games and play them wherever you are in the world, via the internet on your portable.

It works with PS1 game discs, too, but you'll obviously need to have loaded the disc into your PS3 before you left the house, unless you have a super game-loading robot at home that can do it for you.

You will need to have updated your PS3 to December 18th's 2.10 firmware first though, and your PSP will need firmware version 3.72 or later (3.80 was also released December 18).

Source: PSP News

Another Third Gen PSP Article - Will it really happen?

(and this time, will there be a developer kit? -Auri)

According to Exophase:

Mathieulh and Dark_AleX have confirmed that work on custom firmware 3.80 M33 has already commenced. There is no set release date at this time, but expect to see a release in the near future.

While working on 3.80 M33, the two found a peculiar string in the IPL’s payload file — pspbtcnf_03g.bin. What does this mean? Well, flashback to a few months ago when a string referring to pspbtcnf_02g.bin was found in firmware 2.71. Once the PSP Slim was finally released, it was discovered that “02g” was none other than a codename for the slim hardware.

Could “03g” be the codename for a third PSP hardware revision? Perhaps for the rumored PSP phone? It’s possible.

A new PSP model in the works? [LAN.ST]

3rd generation PSP Coming Soon?

PSP News Reports:

An interesting bit of news posted by Mathieulh

While working on the future 3.80M33, we found a VERY interesting string in the IPL's playload: "/kd/pspbtcnf_03g.bin"

For those who do not understand here is a bit of history:

since 2.71 and especially in 2.80, we could see a string refering to pspbtcnf_02g which suggested the support of a new hardware or at least of a new operative mode. Later with the slim release we found out that the slim's codename was this infamous 02g (proably standing for second generation) and that it used the _02g modules as well as pspbtcnf_02g
.bin. It means that they worked on slim firmware/kernel for months before the actual hardware was announced/released.

We believe it is the same with the 3rd generation hardware which they are now preparing for sure. Will it be yet another lighter (and pandora proof) psp or will it be the new psp phone ? Time will tell

Interesting thoughts from one of the premier PSP Hackers.

New game from Hacking the PSP Reader psphacker108

He's been working hard on this, so, as promised, I'm mentioning it on the site:

Hey guys, I wanted to stop by and release my new Intellegence game for PSP.

You have to answer 10 questions. There is three choices for each question.

If you get one wrong. You lost completely.

There is many different category's for the questions.
-- Categorys of the game are --

-- Geography --
-- Math --
-- History --
-- Music --
-- Gaming --
-- Each level has a category listed on it --

Button Commands:

First Question Press Triangle
Section question Press Circle
Third question Press X

That is done so you cannot answer a question incorrectly by accident.

THANK YOU TO ja750 for the images
Enjoy the game guys!

Heres the download link :

http://rapidshare.com/files/76645554/Intellegence_V0.1.rar.html

Dark_AleX Releases PSP MAC Spoofer

Yet another release from Team M33/Dark_AleX! This time it's a mac address spoofer for all the hardcore WiFi hunters out there. Here's the notes from the readme.

This is a plugin to temporally change the mac address that your psp sends to Access Points or other wifi devices.

Requirements:

- 3.71 M33. It may work in future M33 firmwares but it is not guaranteed.

Instructions:

- Copy PSP directory to your memory stick. Execute the MAC Spoofer install program.
This program will reflash the configuration files changing a bit the modules load order.
This is needed because the macspoofer plugin needs to be executed before wlan.prx.

- Copy seplugins folder yo tour memory stick, and activate the plugin in recovery in both, vsh and game.

The mac address will be spoofed to the address contained in /seplugins/mac.txt
You can use the characters RR to specify that macspoofer should randomize that byte.

Download here.

Playstation - By The Numbers

From Sony PR (altho their PR folks never talk to me... how annoying is that? Art - you know who you are... ) :

The PlayStation® platform is off to a great start this holiday season based on NPD November 2007 sales data:

Hardware Momentum (PS3, PS2 and PSP) 

• For the month of November, PlayStation hardware unit sales reached more than 1.5 million units, an increase of 160% when compared to last month's unit sales (October 2007).
• PlayStation total hardware revenue was $373 million in November, sales dollars increased by 170% compared to last month's sales.
• For the month of November, PlayStation console sales reached 962K units.
• 466K PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3) hardware units were sold in November, a 285% increase over the previous month's sales. PS3 had the biggest October to November sales increase of any hardware platform.
• PlayStation®2 (PS2) also experienced great momentum in November, hardware unit sales reached 496K, a 170% increase over last month's sales.  Since its release in North America on Oct. 26, 2000, more than 120 million hardware units and more than a billion units of PlayStation 2 software have sold worldwide, making it the best-selling gaming platform ever released. 
• According to the latest Nielsen data (April ­ November 2007), PS2 is the most played videogame console averaging 42.2% usage minutes compared to 11.8% for Xbox 360 and 5.5% for Wii. 
• PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) continues to experience strong sales momentum with new pricing and the availability of new entertainment packs.  In November, 567K PSP hardware units were sold, nearly a 100% increase over last month sales.

Software Momentum (PS3, PS2 and PSP)

• PlayStation total software revenue in November was $414 million, sales dollars increased by 128% compared to last month's sales. 
• In November, retail dollars from PS3 sales totaled $138 million, a 192% increase over last month's sales.
• PlayStation had three software titles in the top ten list across all consoles: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for PS2 sold 966K units, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for PS3 sold 444K units and Assassin's Creed for PS3 sold 377K units.

PLAYSTATION®Network Momentum 

• Just one year after launch, there are more than 3 million registered PLAYSTATION Network users worldwide who have downloaded more than 60 million pieces of content.
• In North America alone there are more than 1.8 million registered users who have downloaded more than 34.5 million pieces of content.
• A recent PLAYSTATION Network price promotion for Calling all Cars, Everyday Shooter, flOw and Pixel Junk Racers resulted in a combined 920% increase in total downloads.

uClinux Version 2.6.22-uc1 For PSP

M.Jackson has posted a great release for fans of Linux, he has ported UCLinux to the PSP, heres the details:

Hi everyone. I have recently ported another uClinux of version 2.6.22-uc1 onto PSP. On top of the serial driver and the framebuffer driver, there is a new joypad driver enabling apps to read input from PSP buttons, and the a block device driver allowing linux users to access the Memory Stick in linux. And I have established a website for it: http://jacksonm88.googlepages.com/linuxonpsp.htm

Thanks to everyone who have offered me help on this.

Source: PSP News

(Off Topic) Spike TV Announces 2007 'Video Game Awards' Winners

Winners were announced December 9 for Spike TV's 5th annual "Video Game Awards," the preeminent celebration of achievement in the gaming world. Talent from across the entertainment world gathered at the Mandalay Bay Events Resort and Casino in Las Vegas to honor the year's accomplishments within the video game community. Hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, the 2007 "Video Game Awards" will premiere on Spike TV Sunday, December 9 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT).

The night's most prestigious honors were bestowed upon 2K Games' BioShock, as it took home awards for Game of the Year, Best Xbox 360 Game and Best Original Score. Two of the industry's most anticipated releases, Microsoft Game Studios' Halo 3 and MTV Games' Rock Band, garnered two awards each. A full list of winners can be found below.

* GAME OF THE YEAR: BioShock
* STUDIO OF THE YEAR: Harmonix
* BEST SHOOTER: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision/ Infinity Ward)
* BEST RPG: Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios/ BioWare)
* BEST MILITARY GAME: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision/ Infinity Ward)
* BEST INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GAME: skate (Electronic Arts/ EA Black Box)
* BEST HANDHELD GAME: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo/ Nintendo)
* BEST GRAPHICS: Crysis (Electronic Arts/ Crytek)
* BEST GAME BASED ON A MOVIE OR TV SHOW: The Simpsons Game (Electronic Arts/ EA Redwood Shores)
* BEST RHYTHM GAME: Rock Band (MTV Games/ Harmonix)
* BEST DRIVING GAME: DiRT (Codemasters/ Codemasters)
* BEST ACTION GAME: Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo/ Nintendo)
* BEST TEAM SPORTS GAME: Madden NFL 08 (Electronic Arts/ EA Tiburon)
* BEST SOUNDTRACK: Rock Band (MTV Games/ Harmonix)
* BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY: The Orange Box/ Portal (Valve/ Valve)
* BEST XBOX 360 GAME: BioShock
* BEST WII GAME: Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo/ Nintendo)
* BEST PS3 GAME: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (Sony Computer Entertainment/ Insomniac Games)
* BEST PC GAME: The Orange Box (Valve/ Valve)
* BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: BioShock
* BEST MULTI-PLAYER GAME: Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Bungie Studios)
* MOST ADDICTIVE VIDEO GAME FUELED BY DEW: Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Bungie Studios)

Source: PSP News

New Aibo PS3, PSP Compatible?

It looks like Ash may have been right. Stuff magazine is running a rumor item on the possibility of an upcoming Aibo, the robotic dog, working with the Playstation Portable and Playstation 3. The rumor goes that the Sony Aibo PS, as they call it, is being resuscitated by Sony's Playstation division in an attempt to "bolster the PS3's arsenal."

The Aibo PS will appear with its own avatar within Home and react in the real world as he does in the PS3's upcoming interactive environment, according to the article. The rumor article goes on to say that you will be able to download new personalities for the dog from the Playstation Network and that the dog will be fully controllable using a PSP via WiFi. The dog's head camera will send a real world vid feed to the PSP's screen as well. The Dpad will control walking movement and the four main buttons will deal with head movement, which seems odd.

Source: http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/new-a...ble-331652.php (via PSP News)

Neat: MyPSP Robotics 4.4.1

ccpspita has released a new robotics tool for the PSP:

New update on the part of ccpspita of MyPSP Robotics, a homebrew that will be part of a larger project of robotics on PSP.
The homebrew at the time allows us to do many things, such as an audio / video between psp via VVoIP, a database OpenMind (ie a database that would allow voice communication between 2 PSP or even between a human and a PSP) and many other features. With this version is added support for the libraries Intel OpenCV (For a future vision and image recognition).

Download here.

Source: PSP News

PSP Mod: 7 Color Trigger LEDs

Acidmods reports:

My latest PSP mod...
7 Color trigger LEDs

colors are in this order
RED
BLUE
GREEN
FUSCHIA
TEAL
YELLOW
WHITE
RAINBOW

The left LED needs to be replaced, so pay no mind to its off colors :P

See the video here...

Source: PSP News

(Off Topic) Get your game on at 'GameTrailers'

Video games will get the Hollywood treatment on a weekly series devoted to airing trailers for new games.

GameTrailers TV, which premieres next month on Spike TV, also will include industry news, interviews and features.

It is the latest example of the TV and game worlds playing as a team. Spike TV will broadcast the Video Game Awards Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT with Samuel L. Jackson hosting and the Foo Fighters performing. DirecTV is airing live coverage of the Championship Gaming Series in L.A. through Dec. 14.

GameTrailers' host will be Geoff Keighley, whose current series, Game Head, will end its 21Ž2-year Spike TV run; joining him on the new show will be Daniel Kayser and Amanda MacKay of GameTrailers.com.

"I think of it as Game Head on steroids because we'll have more resources and coverage," Keighley says. "It broadens the events we can cover around the country and the world."

MTV Networks, which owns Spike TV, purchased GameTrailers.com two years ago.

The site attracts a monthly audience of 9 million unique visitors. Fans will be able to upload questions that might be broadcast on the show, says Jon Slusser, who helped launch the site in 2003 and is now with Spike TV. "We want to give gamers a piece of the show."

Trailers will premiere on the show, then go online along with the full episodes. HD versions of episodes will be available on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace and on Spike HD when it launches next year.

GameTrailers TV will air Fridays at 1 a.m. ET/PT starting Jan. 25.

Source: USA Today

Sony working on direct-to-PSP download store (from the "ripping off XBox department"?)

Engadget Reports:

Now that PSP owners in the US can finally access the Playstation store without a PS3, it looks like Sony's getting ready to take the next logical step and cut the computer out of the equation as well. Speaking to MTV's Multiplayer blog, Playstation Network operations chief Eric Lempel said PSP downloads were "Something we're thinking about. With the capability of the PSP it's something that should be possible...it's just a matter of priorities and some technology that we need to make it all work right and make sure the content is delivered securely, just to protect some of our [intellectual properties]." Lempel went on to say that Sony is also working on and iTunes-like syncing functionality for the PSP, and that Mac support will be forthcoming. All in all, it seems like interesting times are ahead for Sony's newly-revived little gamer.

Read the full article here...

(Off Topic) The World's Biggest Arcade Game? From Toyota???

According to Business Week:

Toyota's huge new driving simulator is intended to study driving habits and reactions for the development of active safety technology

Toyota has unveiled a huge driving simulator designed to recreate realistic driving environments and further the analysis of driving habits and reactions for the development of active safety technology.

The simulator consists of a real car positioned on a mechanical platform inside a 7.1 meter (23.2 foot) dome. A tilt mechanism, vibration apparatus and other devices manipulate the dome as the driver operates the vehicle.

The dome itself, which acts as a giant 360-degree video screen, can be moved via precision computer control around an area the equivalent of four tennis courts, simulating a real driving experience that includes a sense of speed, acceleration and riding comfort with sound effects thrown in to complete the virtual driving experience. 

Although it would be a great platform for testing the latest version of Gran Turismo, Toyota plans to use the driving simulator to analyze driving characteristics under such conditions as falling asleep at the wheel and drowsiness, glancing from side to side and not checking that the road is safe, fatigue or illness, as well as developing active safety technology for effectively reducing the number of accidents. The long term goal is to make cars that never crash.

The simulator is located at Toyota's Higashifuji Technical Centre in Japan.

Driving Simulator Specifications:

• Dome size: Height: 4.5m; diameter: 7.1m
• Dome mobility: Max. 35m lengthways, 20m sideways
• Dome tilt: Max. 25 degrees
• Level of vibration: Max. variation of 50mm up or down
• Sensation of speed: Max. 0.5G
• Turntable rotation: Max. 330 degrees in either direction

The PSP Online Store - ‘A Glimpse Towards The Future’ - An Interview with Sony

PSP News had a cool Sony interview:

Two weeks ago, Sony launched the PSP PC store with a whimper. It debuted just two days before Thanksgiving, offering PSP owners the chance to download some free themes and buy and download few old and new PSP games. I didn’t hear about any of it until the weekend when it got mentioned on the 1UpYours podcast.

Why the quiet launch? Was Sony embarrassed about it?

Late last week I interviewed Eric Lempel, the PlayStation director of network operations in charge of the store.

And we talked about everything.

Seriously. I don’t think we missed a thing. Want to know what the plans are for this store? The pricing strategy? Why it requires a PC? Whether it will support Macs? Which titles formerly on UMD will be coming to the store (he revealed that “SOCOM Fire Team Bravo” and “Twisted Metal: Head-On” will hit by year’s end)? Whether UMD titles will ever be released on the download store the same day as they are in game shops? Which PS3 games he’d like to see on the PSP store? The plans for import titles?

And more, more, more. Check out the chock-full interview below.

One excerpt to get you thinking:

Multiplayer: In general the store looks like it comes one step closer to fulfilling a lot of PSP owners’ fantasy of “I want to download everything. I don’t want that UMD thing.” A lot of people were thinking the PSP revision might even do away with the UMD and this whole thing is going to be like an iPod, it’s all going to be downloadable. In your mind, is this a step closer to that? Is this a way of acknowledging those people in any way? Is this the PSP showing that download is where the future is?

Lempel: I would say the industry is at an interesting point right now where we have the ability to quickly deliver content to people. So the retail business is still very important to us. And the UMD business is still doing very well for us and our retail partners. I don’t think we’re ready to look at that and say, “This is the way it should go right now.” But we’re at an interesting point in the industry where consumers know they can get things fast and they’re getting used to it with other devices from other companies. So it’s something we always wanted to do. Technically we didn’t have the ability in the past with some of our hardware. But now that we do we want to start opening up some of these channels and getting consumers used to that and experimenting with it.

I would say it’s a glimpse towards the future. Definitely just by releasing a UMD title in the store it definitely puts ideas in people’s heads, but no I wouldn’t categorize this as a shift in business model at this point.

Read the full article here...

(Off Topic) 75% of parents worried about games, says report

A survey of 4000 parents across the UK, France, Germany and Italy has concluded that 75 per cent of respondents were concerned about the content in videogames that their children played.

Additionally 43 per cent claimed they were unaware of any ratings system in place, despite the PEGI system in place across Europe, and the BBFC in the UK, while 44 per cent believed that time spent playing should be limited to one hour per day.

The survey, carried out on behalf of Microsoft, is the latest research to highlight concerns over the use of videogames by children, despite the number of 18-rated titles available only making up a small percentage of games released.

It also went on to find that an average of 63 per cent of children played games on their own, without any kind of supervision, although most parents claimed that they identified and selected the most appropriate games for their children to play.

ELSPA set up the Askaboutgames web site to try and better inform parents about the content of videogames, and how to judge whether or not a game is suitable.

And in the UK Dr Tanya Byron is currently leading a government review into the subject of how children relate to videogames and the internet, the findings of which are due in the first half of 2008.

Source: Game Industry via PSP News

Security Mod for PSP Slim

l0rdnic0 posted this:

Hey all check this out... Cyber and I were talking on Friday about his guitar and he gave me a great idea. A switch that would enable you to turn on your PSP without touching it. This would allow you to disable your original PSP switch and replace it with this one... Now you can prevent your little brother or sister from turning on your PSP, or you can have both switches and amaze your friends!!! All you would need becides the switch installed is a small magnet.. Look for the Tutorial posted here tomorrow

Source: PSP News (I'll post the tutorial whenever it comes out)

(Off Topic) Videogames more dangerous than smoking?

According to Cancer Research UK, cigarette smoking is responsible for 30 per cent of cancer deaths per year in the developed world. In Britain in 2005, that would have equated to 46,000 deaths. What's the next most dangerous societal ill? Researchers from the University of Michigan say violent videogames and films.

According to Reuters, a new University of Michigan concludes that exposure to violence as depicted in TV, film and videogames "raises the risk of aggressive behaviour in adults and young viewers and poses a serious threat to public health."

This is the latest research in a string of work that looks into the impact of violent video games on the impressionable young minds of gamers. Last year, the University of Missouri-Columbia published research saying there is a causal link between computer games and violence, not merely a simple association.

In the most recent bit of research, L. Rowell Huesmann and his colleague Brad Bushman point out that this exposure -- what they call "virtual violence" from either in shoot-em-up video games or slasher films -- leads to aggressive tendencies, particularly on children and teens. The researchers looked at more than 50 years of violent films, TV shows and video games.

For society's benefit, we can only hope Huesmann and Bushman will be taken off the streets and locked up now that they've concluded their studies.

Source: Times Online via PSP News