via Kotaku



You bought Rock Band 1, you love playing Rock Band 1 then, oh no, they go and release Rock Band 2. What are you going to do with two Rock Bands? You can't possibly change discs during play - that's just silly - so Harmonix have had to come up with a workaround. That workaround allows you to transfer all your RB1 songs onto your HDD, and works a little something like this...

1) On the day Rock Band 2 is released, Rock Band 1 will receive a title update. That update will add an "export" command in the RB1 menu.

2) Hit "export" and you'll need to enter a password, which you get with your copy of RB2. Enter the password and you have to pay. Harmonix promise it won't be more than $5.

3) Pay the $5 (or less), and your RB1 songs (well...the ones on the disc...and the ones they're allowed to port over, as Harmonix can't guarantee that all songs will be available) will be transferred to your HDD.

And that's it! Note this doesn't work for your DLC, since that already works in RB2 anyway. It's just the songs on the disc. Also note that this is for the 360 version only; the PS3 should be the same (though this isn't confirmed), but Lord only knows how the Wii's going to manage. ...

via Kotaku



Announced yesterday, the PSP-3000 will be the third major iteration of Sony's PlayStation Portable line. So let's take a good look at it! Below are galleries showing the two colours that'll be available in North America: Piano Black and Mystic Silver. As you can see in the pic above, there's a third colour - Pearl White - but that one's only for Europe and Japan. For now, anyways.

See more pictures here:
PSP-3000 Black
PSP-3000 Silver ...

via Xbox360Fanboy:



Infinity Ward community guru fourzerotwo has once again posted an update on the upcoming Call of Duty 4 playlists in production. Fans will be disappointed to hear that we still don't know when the new playlists will actually be implemented. Still, fourzerotwo drops some info on new playlists and where they currently stand as far as testing. One interesting note is that there are some playlists in testing that would actually require a patch to implement, which may be more than Infinity Ward's current schedule can handle. Still, there are some playlists that might not require a patch, so we're hopeful that we'll actually get to see them soon. Check out descriptions of each new mode at fourzerotwo's blog. (be sure to check out Hardcore Ricochet, in which friendly fire damage is reflected back to the team killer). ...

via Xbox360Fanboy:



As info for all things other than the Xbox 360 arrives fresh from the Leipzig Games Convention, Microsoft took the opportunity to tease Grand Theft Auto IV gamers with the upcoming exclusive downloadable content. "In autumn there will be news from Liberty City; the first episodes of GTA IV will be available for download exclusively on Xbox LIVE, underlining Xbox 360's leadership role in the field of digital entertainment."

While the obvious assumption is "news from Liberty City" points at an Autumn launch for the first episode of the content, the "news" referenced in the quote could be a solidified release date for the long-awaited content. Take-Two previously noted that the DLC is expected to arrive during Fiscal Q109 -- which for Take-Two falls between the beginning of November 2008 and the end of January 2009 -- but Microsoft has stood firm on a 2008 release for Episode One. ...

via Xbox360Fanboy:



Word coming from the Leipzig Games Convention is that Microsoft has an Xbox 360 60GB HDD bundle planned for Europe and, relatively speaking, it's pretty decently priced.

A Microsoft produced flyer is making the internet rounds that was supposedly sent to Xbox Live Gold members in Germany. The flyer informs us of a new Xbox 360 Live 60GB HDD Starter Pack will release in November and will include the hard drive itself, a wired headset and three months of Xbox Live all for 79 Euros. Not too bad, seeing that a standalone 120GB HDD costs a whopping 129 Euros already. We aren't certain if this is an European exclusive offer or if it'll be sold in North America as well, but we'd totally welcome a cheaper 60GB HDD bundle. With open arms. ...

via PS3Fanboy:



We've been quietly updating our Trophy Portal almost every day. There are so many games that are getting Trophy support, and we thought you'd be quite annoyed if we told you about every single one of them on the front page. With the help of PS3Trophies.org, we can confirm that a significant number of third party developers are adding Trophies to their games. Here's a list of just a few:

- Aliens: Colonial Marines
- Borderlands
- Call of Duty: World at War
- EndWar
- FarCry 2
- HAWX
- Penny Arcade Adventures
- Project Origin
- Quantum of Solace
- Saints Row 2

Remember to check our constantly-updated Trophy Portal to see what new additions there are. Also, note that our Trophy Guides for PixelJunk Eden and Uncharted are just a few days away. ...

via PS3Fanboy:



Yeah, you read that right. Kratos will be a bonus downloadable character for Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds on PS3. Available on the PS Store tomorrow, he'll be purchasable for $2. It's good to see Kratos venting out his anger in a slightly less than M rated manner.

See more pictures here. ...

via PS3Fanboy




You should know by now that one of our most anticipated games this holiday season is Sega's upcoming PS3-exclusive SPRG, Valkyria Chronicles. Yet another English language trailer has been distributed at Leipzig, and while it doesn't reveal much new about the game, it does get the hype rolling yet again. The innovative mix of real-time movement and turn-based combat will have hungry PS3-owning JRPG fans craving for more.

See more photos of Valkyria Chronicles here. ...

Well, maybe 2 months ago, I wrote an article about the State of Homebrew on 7th Generation Consoles. Well, I decided to do an update on the State of Homebrew on the 6th Generation consoles.

Lets begin:

Microsoft Xbox:



Lately, the Xbox hasnt gotten many homebrew releases at all. Still, it does once in a while.
Since 2007, there's been:

- Many updates to ZSNEXBOX, which now features near-perfect SNES emulation,

- A CPS3 emulator was released (CPX3) that plays CPS3 arcade games (like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Street Fighter III) near-fullspeed with some skipping here and there,

- An update to the excellent N64 emulator, Surreal64XXX

- Updates to all of the XPort emulators (that includes SNES9Xbox, NeoGenesis, MedafenX NES, and PCSXBOX).

- Several updates to Xbox Media Center.

Right now, there are two methods of running unsigned code on the Xbox:

Method #1 - A hardmod (taking apart the Xbox and installing a modchip, be it a soldered or solderless install). Some Xboxes have the holes where modchips are installed filled in, but there's tutorials on how to get around that online.

Method #2 - A softmod through game exploits. This is done by using an Xbox Memory Card/Flash Drive and XBox Male-USB Female cable along with an copy of either Splinter Cell, Mechassault, or 007: Agent Under Fire.

Xbox is currently the best homebrew console, and very tantalizing when you can get one for so cheap . Xbox can also perform (N64, MAME, and CPS3) even better if you install more ram.

The only downside to Xbox Homebrew is that the vast majority of it is made with a leaked Microsoft SDK, which makes it illegal to distribute, so it's more complicated to get a hold of homebrew for it.


Nintendo Gamecube



The Gamecube homebrew scene started out very slow, but has now really picked up the pace thanks to sharing a similar architecture with the Wii.
In just a mere year, we've gotten so many emulators and updates (much better SNES, Genesis, NES, Neo-Geo CD, Sega CD [apparently coming soon], and even N64 emulation).
I think it's pretty funny that the homebrew GC scene didnt really get going until after it's commercial scene was dead.

As of now there are three methods of running unsigned code on the Cube:

Method #1 - Hardmod it. Remember that taking apart the Gamecube is difficult at first. and even the modchips are small (XenoGC is the size of a quarter).

Method #2 - Buy SD Media Launcher. It's pretty much the same price as a modchip, but a lot easier to work with. Just put the SD Media launcher disc in, put the SD Card in the SD Memory Card Adapter (which then goes in your GC's Memory card slot), and boot applications off of an SD card.

Method #3 - Use the Phantasy Star Online Exploit (requires a BBA and an original copy of Phantasy Star Online for GC). The oldest method of booting homebrew on the Gamecube. You pretty much exploit the game and stream homebrew to it through the BBA.

Gamecube has some great games that you can pick up for a mere $5/£3. If you want to play some SNES and Revenge of Shinobi along with those games, then I'd recommend following one of these methods.


Nintendo Gameboy Advance:



Before the PSP, before the DS, GBA was running homebrew, and was actually doing a very good at that. GBA has a fullspeed NES emulator, a decent TG-16 emulator, and even a SNES emulator! You can also watch videos, listen to music, and run other decent and unique apps on the GBA.

All you have to play homebrew on GBA is buy a GBA homebrew cart. It's very simple and worth it .

The GBA doesnt get that much attention as it's overshadowed by the DS, PSP, and other homebrew consoles, still, it has a decent homebrew library, and if you have a spare GBA laying around, I'd recommend getting a flash cart!


Sega Dreamcast



What can someone say about the Dreamcast?
Was it underrated? Yes. Did it have an amazing library of unique and innovative games? Yes.
Well, you could also say that it was the first voyeur into the homebrew scene for many people (including myself). Many forums were created to discuss and release DC applications, emulators, and other homebrew (such as DCEmu.co.uk, DCEmulation.org, b00b!, Screamcast, and SegaKatana, DCEvolutionary, etc). Dreamcast has several emulators, such as: NesterDCSE, DreamSNES, GenesisPlus, GENS4ALL, Neo4ALL, AES4ALL, NeoDC, MAME4ALL, CrabEmu, and even PS1, Saturn, and N64 emulation (the latter two more or less being fancy tech demos). There's also a DivX player, MP3 CD players, and Web Browsers (which some ...