Hacking the PSP Blog

Sony considers producing PS3 with larger hard drive

A Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson has confirmed that the company is "considering" producing a new version of PlayStation 3 with a larger hard drive.

The comments come just weeks after Sony filed an FCC application which referred to an 80GB PS3. Currently 20GB and 60GB models are available in Japan, with SCEA recently announcing that the 20GB version is to be discontinued in North America.

According to Bloomberg, spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka said the decision is "in line with our strategy as we had planned to choose models based on consumer needs".

Bloomberg also reports that Sony is "considering introducing the model with a bigger hard disk", as stated by Fukuoka. He did not provide any further details.

An article published earlier by Reuters quoted a Nikkei Business report which says Sony Corp. will enjoy a five-fold increase in operating profits this year.

The spike will be due to increased sales of LCD TVs and better performance by Sony's games division, according to Nikkei. Last year the division lost an estimated YEN 200 billion (USD 1.67 billion).

Nikkei also claimed that Sony will boost PS3 shipments in 2007/08 to 10 million units - a rise of more than 65 per cent over the 6 million units the company aimed to ship by March 2007. However, speaking to Bloomberg, Sony later denied the report.

Ellie Gibson
April 16, 2007

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Report: SCEE Considering Mass Transitional Layoffs

According to online reports, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is looking to downsize its internal staff by nearly 10 percent, a move it says is necessary for maintaining its "leading position" in an "increasingly networked and converged entertainment."

Speaking to website GameDaily, SCEE Director of Corporate Communications Nick Sharples said that while no one had as yet been terminated, it is indeed an avenue the company is considering as it moves forward.

"SCEE has successfully faced a number of challenges throughout its history to become a leader of the videogame industry, our industry is in the middle of a period of transition where some of the fundamentals of our business are changing," Sharples said.

"Chief amongst these is that we are entering a future of increasingly networked and converged entertainment," he continued. "In order to maintain our leading position in the market we sometimes have to make difficult business decisions. The management of the company has concluded that we need to change our structure, streamline and strengthen our business operations – and that our cost base needs to be significantly reduced."

An email purported to be from SCEE president and CEO David Reeves sent anonymously to game blog Destructoid echoed the same opinion -- at times verbatim -- and outlined the plans the company would be undertaking over the coming week.

Read the full article here...

Brandon Boyer
April 16, 2007

Source: Gamasutra

Dark_AleX releases 3.30 Open Edition Revision A

It's out, folks! Dark_AleX has finally released the latest in his series of Open Edition firmware - the much-awaited 3.30 Open Edition Rev A! This is serious cause for celebration especially after days of waiting for DaX to finally give word on what's up with his work (and what's up with his PSP).

3.30 OE-A retains all of the original Sony 3.30 FW functions - PSOne game library support, Internet navigator, etc. - but because Dark_AleX is THE man, he's added a lot of features and changes to his latest custom FW (some taken from PSPGen's release notes).

• Homebrew support under either 1.50 or 3.30 kernel
• Region spoofing
• Patched a protection that prevents the FW to load higher firmware modules
• Fixed a bug that could have caused instability in 3.10 OE after recovering from sleep mode
• Recovery Mode
• Direct launching of PSOne games (converted with PSP format)
• Direct launching of demos and homebrews
• Possibility of regulating hte speed of the PSP's processor
• Direct launching of ISOs/CSOs

DAX says this doesn't support popsloader at the moment due to "Sony rearranging again the module list of pspbtcnf_pops", but rest assured that the great dev will be making a new version that will support all current pops in 3.10 OE, 3.30 OE and maybe 3.03 OE-C. The dev also tried testing the customization of icons, but that didn't work out.

For the full installation guide, please go over the Readme. It's there for a reason. We know you're all excited about the 3.30 OE-A but be mindful of what you're doing. Take caution. This can only be installed to PSPs with firmwares 1.50, 2.71 SE, 3.02 OE, 3.03 OE, or 3.10 OE. Downgrade first if your PSP has a different FW. 3.30 OE-A cannot be installed to PSPs with FW 3.10, 3.11, or 3.30.

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

Download Dark_AleX's 3.30 Open Edition Revision A

Source: PSPUpdates