ps2dev.org is down!

April 1st, 2007, 04:31 Posted By: RCON

I just tried to check the ps2dev.org forums and it is offline with this message:

-----
ps2dev.org offline
Due to an injunction ps2dev.org is indefinately offline.

I am not allowed to say anything else until I speak to my lawyers.

Oobles. aka David.
-----

Looks like an Aprils Fools Joke!!! DOH!

Want Wifi... For Free? Then Google Say "Flush It Down"

April 1st, 2007, 11:12 Posted By: mat_dizzy



A new scheme has come out by Google which allows you to have Wifi acsess, from your toilet...

Extract From The Site:





"#7 Within sixty minutes -- assuming proper data flow -- the other end of your fiber-optic cable should have reached the nearest TiSP Access Node, where our Plumbing Hardware Dispatchers (PHDs) will remove the sinker and plug the line into our global data networking system.

#8 Congratulations, you're online! (Please wash your hands before surfing. "

This is defintly an april fools joke, And i think its one of the funniest to date... Good ol Google!

The future of web browsing? You decide http://www.google.com/tisp/

PGR4 out next winter - first details

April 1st, 2007, 11:19 Posted By: wraggster

The first solid details on Bizarre Creations' fourth entry in the Project Gotham Racing series have emerged in the pages of Official Xbox Magazine US.

The biggest feature in the fourth instalment seems to be a whole bunch of fancy weather effects, including water that beads realistically on the paintjobs, sprays from the tires and causes madness in the in-car view.

While we're still not convinced of how much photoshop trickery has gone on, the OXM screens are looking absolutely gorgeous.

Expectedly, there's also a broader set of vehicles promised for PGR 4 ranging from the vintage'63 Corvette Sting Ray all the way to the slick Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. There's no shortage of tracks either; according to OXM PRG 4 will sport over 200 racetracks from 10 different locations.

The last of the mentioned improvements are a number of tweaks to the series' famous in-care view. Apparently there's a significant bump-up in animation, with your driver feeding the wheel as you screech around turns and a slight vision blur effect when you have a nasty encounter with a wall.

More screens and details should emerge next month, but don't get too impatient - according to OXM Project Gotham 4 won't be out until next winter.

via cvg

New York appalled with GTA IV setting

April 1st, 2007, 11:21 Posted By: wraggster

Political leaders, politicians and policemen have already downloaded the GTA IV trailer, watched it numerous times, and gone ape at the fact that the fictional city resembles New York.

While the city does resemble New York, it's actually the GTA hold haunt Liberty City, which, as we all know, is heavily based on NYC.

"Setting Grand Theft Auto in the safest big city in America would be like setting Halo in Disneyland," said City Councilman Peter Vallone, chairman of the council's public safety committee.

The New York Daily News reported "Grand Theft Auto is set in a mythical city that bears a striking resemblance to New York." Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly isn't one bit impressed. "It's despicable to glamorize violence in games like these, regardless of how far-fetched the setting may be."

Jason Post, a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, put the final nail in GTA IV's coffin: "The mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers."

via cvg

I-Case for Wii *Chrome*

April 1st, 2007, 11:25 Posted By: wraggster

New from Divineo China:



Now the Wii can look fun as well as play fun! XCM are back and bring their years of replacement case development to the mighty popular Wii. I-Case is a complete, high quality and colourful replacement shell for the Wii console. It’s perfect for those gamers who want to inject their Wii with further healthy does of fun and make their console stand out from the rest. Boasting a simple installation procedure, virtually anyone from young gamers to your Gran could install the I-Case! Initial colours available include Chrome, Crystal Blue and Black.

Includes matching color stand and special Tri-wing screwdriver for installation.

"Wii-volution" HDMI enabled, 160GB HDD packing Wii: are you fooled?

April 1st, 2007, 11:27 Posted By: wraggster

via engadget



As of writing, there's still a few hours to go until the day that pranksters worldwide like to call their own. Unfortunately that doesn't mean we get to escape from the droll task of reporting on outlandish and suspect game console rumors. This latest one is the most unlikely example we've seen for a while and it's not just the claimed features that stir our suspicions. The premise of the "Wii-volution" rumor is that Nintendo is on the verge of releasing a version of the Wii with an HDMI port and a 160GB Hard Disk Drive integrated into the base of the console. The evidence is an extremely pixelated and blurry photo which points to something on the panel of a black Wii. We're just speculating here, but we think that model could potentially be a developer's kit. And with that, we already feel stupid for in any way taking this kind of half hearted rumor seriously. Hopefully, tomorrow's efforts will be a lot more convincing.

Update: Not that we needed to tell you this, but the original source of the image suggests that this is definitely fake.

April Fool's Alert #4: Bungie announces Halo Zero

April 1st, 2007, 11:33 Posted By: wraggster

via joystiq

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool the Halo faithful and in any case, prime time Saturday night isn't the crack of dawn by any interpretation. An April Fool's prank of the "We didn't even bother to research it" variety from Game Stooge is what we have for you this time and it has to do with a prequel to Bungie's Halo series.

Don a pocket protector and start up your favorite MC Frontalot album because it's about to get real nerdy up in here.

The story as it goes has a prequel to Halo starring the beloved cast of the alternate reality game sensation, I Love Bees, in a tactical shooter much like the Rainbow Six series. The problem being that none of the characters would know each other prior to the original Halo, nor would any of them have any combat training whatsoever. Hell, the protagonist, Janissary James' great accomplishment was getting shot in the chest. Okay, so she broke some limbs and generally beat the crap out of some folks along the way, but she isn't exactly the Chief.

Another, more obvious error, is the Cortana-like A.I, Melissa (see also: Durga), being referred to as Dana by Game Stooge. If they had listened to the I Love Bees audio files for, oh, let's say two minutes, they would have gotten that one right. Hello? Wikipedia? Ever heard of it?

This exercise in epic fail concludes with a fake address by Bungie co-founder Jason Jones that makes him sound more like a public relations robot than a human being. When was the last time any of you remember Jason Jones doing a public anything, much less a statement outside of the Halo 2 documentary? You have a better shot at finding Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny playing a game of Strip Uno at the end of a rainbow than you do finding Jason Jones doing anything public, ever.

If we're lucky, this "Doctor Who" marathon we're in the middle of will last until April Fool's is over.

More Info

April Fool's Alert #3: MGS4 on Xbox 360 and Blue Hobbits in LOTRO

April 1st, 2007, 11:35 Posted By: wraggster

via joystiq

This one is a cute April Fool's Day joke, despite Turbine announcing it on Friday, they did give it a dateline of April 1. What Turbine says is that in their upcoming Lord of the Rings Online, you'll meet the Sméorufolc, a version of hobbit who wear caps of white wool. They also have a passion for mushrooms and eating them altered their skin color to blue. Yes, they are Middle-earth Smurfs. The "press release" looks to be full of subtle anagrams and generally playful nonsense. Only a few more hours till Blizzard, a company known for their April Fool's Day jokes, steps up to the plate. What will it be?

On the other end of the cute spectrum, a confirmation of Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Xbox 360. We still can't tell if this was intended as a joke, but VG Resource Center says they have confirmation of MGS4 on the Xbox 360. VGRC claims they have an email from Konami stating, "Yes, in fact, we are working on putting Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Xbox 360 and PC, which should both come out roughly 6 months after the PS3 release. However, we've been working with Microsoft so the 360 and PC versions will both take advantage of Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live, with such features as achievements and the ability for 360 and PC owners to play against each other in multiplayer. I'd love to give you some more details, but this is already pushing it. We are making the big announcement July 11th at this year's E3, so you'll just have to wait until then. Sorry!"

So, the source at Konami acknowledged the game, announced another platform, said it would have Live capabilities, says the big announcement won't be till July 11, puts it all in a perfect quote and then apologizes that they can't give away any more information? Damn, you already gave away the whole cow, what are you apologizing for? We don't need anything else!

via more info

SSX Blur: Analyzing the controls

April 1st, 2007, 11:38 Posted By: wraggster

via joystiq

With the Wii's focus on controls, how does a franchise like SSX handle the transition? Snowboarding -- and Wii-only SSX Blur -- lacks a direct relation to the Wii's motion sensitivity, but the game still translates to hand movements. The steering mechanic, which relies on Nunchuk twists, fits well; it even seems like it had always been a part of SSX.

The tricks, however, are mixed; simple remote flicks feel like a gimmick, while drawing shapes for Ubertricks only works some of the time. Overall, the controls work well enough to keep me playing, but I sometimes stop in frustration after consecutive, unrecognized moves.

As far as graphics, sound, and other review standards, those all hold up in Blur, but aren't my focus in this analysis. (Look up scored reviews for other opinions.) Instead, I'll further explain how Blur translates a thumbstick-and-button game into a tilt-and-flail experience.

I've been playing Blur since its release, unlocking all of the runs and many of the game's extra features. The steering controls feel natural; I just gently roll the Nunchuk to turn and push the thumbstick for a little extra movement. Blur lets users change the balance between the thumbstick and motion controls from being even to turning one up all the way and the other off. I ticked the default up slightly, emphasizing the motion while reducing the thumbstick.

Unlike basic steering, the tricks feel more detached from the game. Players flick the Remote in different directions to flip or twist. However, I often feel like I'm swinging the WIi Remote randomly for these basic moves; Remote flailing may be the successor to button mashing.

The precise Ubertricks -- which require drawing certain shapes with just the Remote or both controllers together -- sometimes work well and sometimes don't. I like the challenge of drawing hearts and loops in the air because it feels like an accomplishment when performed properly. (People who don't like drawing hearts in the air might as well eat kittens.) These shapes are far from the random flailing sense of normal flips and spins.

But even after many hours with the game, the Ubertrick recognition still feels too loose. Sometimes, I can't do a single trick after many successive attempts. Thankfully, Blur lets players practice these finicky tricks whenever paused, so I can re-learn them even in the middle of a run. Other times, the game credits me for a different Ubertrick that has similar shapes as the one I'm trying to perform. Maybe it thinks I'm close enough, and it wants to keep encouraging my spastic gestures.

Blur's gesture recognition is usually close, but it has enough disparity between my motions and its response to sometimes be frustrating. I still have fun playing Blur -- the physicality of the Wii complements action sports -- but it's a game I recommend with caveats. Hopefully the gesture recognition will be tuned in future games and isn't a hardware limitation of the Wii.

Guitar Hero Effects Pedal confirmed in 360 instructions

April 1st, 2007, 11:41 Posted By: wraggster

via joystiq

Praise be to the Circuit City's and Wal-Mart's of the world as Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360 has arrived a few, scant days early on Mount Joystiq. What? You actually go to a game store to buy your games? You should probably stop doing that. After shredding it up like only nerds with tiny, plastic toy guitars can, we actually took a look at the instruction manual, curious as to any information regarding the mystery port found at the base of the X-Plorer.

The gods of rock shined upon us as it is now clearly labeled the Effects Pedal port, as seen above. Opposite the page is an explanation of all the buttons and gadgets found on the guitar, including an explanation of the Effects Pedal port. How dost thou rocketh mighty ports of pedals?

Nintendo of Canada's six unique Wiis contest

April 1st, 2007, 11:43 Posted By: wraggster

via joystiq

Nintendo of Canada is raffling off six hand painted Wiis by Canadian artists. Why does Nintendo of Canada get all the cool contests? The last cool thing Nintendo of America ever did was the Dragon Warrior giveaway with Nintendo Power back in the day. Yeah, we just brought up some old-school stuff there!

To win such an artistic Wii you must be a citizen of Canada and a member of their My Nintendo club -- oh, and you have to be over 13 years old. Winners will be announced on or around May 9. The Wii certainly lends itself to some artistic reinterpretation. Although painting your Wii would probably void any warranty

More Info

iDarcnes Build 31.03.2007

April 1st, 2007, 11:49 Posted By: wraggster

New release of the Nes and Master System emulator from Zaphod:

Another update. Added Scaling for nano and photo. And the double effect should be gone on 5g. Just in case I made things worse I made a new link.

The Week Ahead - 06/04/07

April 1st, 2007, 12:00 Posted By: wraggster

via cvg
Hopefully you've got plenty of games in your 'to do' tray because over the next few weeks there's going to be slim pickings. After the deluge that greeted the PS3 launch weekend (some 63 titles) we are now down to just six.

Yep, just six major releases. So don't blame us that Prince of Persia: Rival Swords on Wii is the standout title, there's really not much to sift through. At least we can all look forward to the magnificent God of War II that is most definitely scheduled in for April 13.

The complete list of games released in the UK this week (06/04/07):

Guitar Hero II, 360, Activision

Freakout: Extreme Freeride, PS2, JoWood

Prince of Persia: Rival Swords, Wii, Ubisoft

Rayman Raving Rabbids, 360, Ubisoft

Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai Platinum, PSP, Atari

The Red Star, PS2, Take 2

The Sims 2: Celebration Stuff, PC, EA

DC games that need to be remade on Wii

April 1st, 2007, 12:06 Posted By: wraggster

via the Dreamcast Junkyard

Moving on, I've decided to put together a list of the top 5 games on the Dreamcast that I believe would work really well if remade for the Wii, control wise. I may even consider sending Sega some of these ideas, as I'd love to see them get off their lazy arse's and make some games for the Wii other than Sonic and Monkey Ball. The Wii has the potential to be Nintendo's Dreamcast, and I don't mean that by sales fiures, but I mean that by just how pioneering it can be, but if everyone just keeps porting PS2 games over, we will never know.

5: REZ

While I can't see anyone (let alone Sega at the moment) pulling off a sequel to this well, the Wii remote would suit this game mighty well. Pointing at the screen would be your aim, and the B trigger would be the shooter, which you hold down than let go of. Pretty simple control then, but where the remote would be great for this game is the built in speaker and rumble. The game is all about how it responds to your actions in both of these departments. Even if it was just a direct port of the PS2 version, this would be great, as the game is pretty darn rare now too.

4: CHU CHU ROCKET

A no brainier, this. The Wii remote pointer could be used as the cursor, the d-pad could be used to place the arrow blocks, and the B trigger used to remove arrow block. This would be a much faster and simpler control scheme than the system used on the Dreamcast, which would make the multi-payer mode much more frantic and fun. If not a full fledged retail release, this could be a direct port with these new controls available on the Virtual Console (The Dreamcast cast is a very small file size). From a financial point for Sega, this would be instant cash as it would be dirt cheap to develop and publish online. Also, use the online features, like the Dreamcast one did, to exchange levels and play against others, this time without that annoying delay.

3: SPACE CHANNEL 5

Before reading on, watch this Youtube clip of a dancing mini game in Wario Ware Smooth Moves, followed by this YouTube clip of how it's actually played. Now, image this, but with Ulala on the screen instead, with the quality 'Simon says' style game play. Is this not a Wii game just begging to happen? It'd be the ultimate "look-like-a-tit-and-love-it" game. Rather surprisingly, no one has yet tapped into the potential of dance and rhythm games on the Wii (although Konami do have a DDR planned for it). No longer will you need to buy dance mats or press buttons, when you could just dance for real in front of your telly with nothing more than a Wii remote.


Imagine the game with visuals like this artwork above. How sweet would that be? It wouldn't be impossible, just look at Monkey Ball on the Wii.


What's more, a new chapter of one of Sega's main unique and under used franchise is exactly what the market needs right now. The Dreamcast was Sega at their creative peak, and they really need to start using some of the franchises created during that time more. You have a lot more properties under your belt than Sonic and Monkey ball you know, use them!

2: JET SET RADIO

While this may not seem obvious right now to many, I've thought about an entire control system for this, using both the Remote ad Nun-chuck. The Nun-chuck analogue would be used to move your character, and flicking it upwards would make you jump. Once you land on a rail, the remote could be titled left and right to keep your character in balance. The A button on the remote would be a new punch button, that will help you slow down the police.

But the real fun would come from how you spray graffiti. When making small graffiti while grinding, you simply use the B trigger if they are at your right, and the Z button on the Nun-chuck if to your left. When you approach a wall where you want to make a big graffiti, both the remote and Nun-Chuck become left and right spray cans. That's right, two cans at the same time. Instead of the Dreamcast games' analogue rotating, patterns and shapes will be displayed on the screen which you have to create using either the left or right cans, or both at the same time. I've even made a mock up above.

The Wii is capable of better graphics than an X-Box, so a leap in graphics from JSRF would be no problem. We don't want realism though, Jet Set Radio (like a lot of the games in this chart) is all about style. Forget the futuristic anime style of JSRF, go back to the more cartoon-y style of the Dreamcast original, then take that cartoony-ness up to a new level. How about making everything bouncier, like an old Betty Boop cartoon? This is probably just a cartoon fanatic talking here, but I would really like to see more games really attempt to be cartoon-y, like Florigan Bros and Wind Waker, and Jet Set Radio could be a good place to start. While the other systems are trying to push for the most life like graphics, the Wii could be all about artistic style.

Speaking of which, this may be just me, but I wanna see a game use the fish eye lens effect that was being used in the canceled Sonc X-Theme. maybe Jet Set radio on the Wii could take advantage of it? Distorted perspectives would be very funky.

1: SAMBA DE AMIGO

This should of been obvious from the start. As soon as the controls were revealed for the Wii, this was one of the first games I thought would work for the system. hell, this game is perfect for the Wii. It simply must be done. Not only would the controls be exactly the same, but they may actually be more accurate with the Wii remote if done right. Due to it's high price of the maracas and rarity of the games, not many people got to experience Samba De Amigo, but on the Wii the game could be easily released as a standard £35-40 game that any one could play with the Wii remote. Even if they just directly port the game it could be a hundred times more popular than it ever got the chance to be on the Dreamcast.

While there's nothing quite as daft as shaking two bright red plastic maracas about, a Wii mote and a Nunchuck, or even two Wii motes so you don't get that pesky wire, would be the next best thing. Wih these, the game could be played exactly how it was on the Dreamcast. The built in speaker on the Wii mote could recreate the rattle of the maracas. Take the control system from Ver.2000, all the songs from the Dreamcast games, add bunch of new songs, and possibly even include down-loadable extra songs, as well as a bunch of mini games, and you already have the perfect follow up.

Simply put, Sega could have the new Guitar Hero on their hands with this. The Wii has given them the perfect opportunity to see the full potential of this forgotten franchise. If Sega really want to be seen as a great game developer again, they need to stop publishing out sourced crap and retro collections and make real games again (I won't even go into the recent Sonic 360 disaster). This one would hardly even take a lot of work to develop, and could be an instant profit for the flawing company. Three words, Sega: MAKE. IT. HAPPEN.

Investigation of Firmware 3.30 dump

April 1st, 2007, 12:09 Posted By: wraggster

Vodkkaa posted some findings of a dump of the 3.30 firmware:

I was investigating my 3.30 dump and notice a few things.

-there is now a visualizer_plugin.prx and visualizer.rco
-more lftv rco:
lftv_rmc_univer3in1
lftv_rmc_univer3in1_jp
lftv_rmc_univerpanel
lftv_rmc_univerpanel_jp
lftv_rmc_univertuner
lftv_rmc_univertuner_jp
lftv_tuner_jp_jp
lftv_tuner_us_en

SNES9xGX2 zip freeze and pal support

April 1st, 2007, 12:13 Posted By: wraggster

Denman has released a new version of the Snes emulator for the Gamecube/Wii, heres whats new:

- DVD automount fix (eke-eke) from 29.03.07 implemented
- Pal-Wii Support
- Freezing State to MemoryCard (zipped) implemented
needs only 9-16 blocks ,now you can save your game everywhere ;-)

Half-Life 2 Wiimote mod

April 1st, 2007, 12:16 Posted By: wraggster

via wiili

Pat Glynn has released the public beta for his Half-Life 2 Wiimote mod. This allows users of Half-Life 2 for the PC to use a Wiimote and Nunchuk to control the game. For more information, go to his website and check it out. Please note that you must have a sensor bar above or below your monitor for it to work correctly.

Oldplay 0.99

April 1st, 2007, 12:21 Posted By: wraggster

New from Micket

Well I think I've done enough to call this the next release.
VERSION 0.99a
Noticeable changes
* Seeking (only forward) in GameCube music
* Increased samplerate for Game Music emulator
* Had to increase clock frequency for sega music becuase of that
* Made use of the whole "LED"-display, showing MHz in it (scale 250 to 0)
* Fixed default track length for songs missing track info (mainly SIDs)
* Added AdPlug (2M AMD BAM CFF CMF D00 DFM DMO DRO DTM HSC HSP IMF KSM LAA
LDS M MAD MID MKJ MSC MTK RAD RAW RIX ROL S3M SA2 SAT SCI
SNG SNG SNG XAD XMS XSM)
* Fixed bugs with FAT-filesystem (temporary files could not be written a
second time)

Interview With Wind And Water Developers Yuan-works

April 1st, 2007, 12:22 Posted By: wraggster

Via Hooka

Hello everyone,
I finished up an interview with the guys behind Wind and Water Puzzle Battles, you can check it out here!

They did a game sprite type pic for me and themselves, it truthfully reminds me of Jay off of the clerks cartoon. There's three ~5 minute gameplay movies, and some new pics also.
And there's plenty more where that came from!

Enjoy, read, see some new stuff, I'll catch you later.
TJ Hooka

MK5 save memory self-test App

April 1st, 2007, 12:28 Posted By: wraggster

News from DrNeo:

thanks cory tooooo much,he make a very useful MK5 2M save memory test App,just run it then can check your save memory working perfect or not!

how to use:

[1] when you run it first time,just click it and start to excute the self-test and give out the testing report. If it's passed,then turn off your NDS.

[2] re-power on your nds and run this App again,it will verify the memory data automatical, if pass too,then mean your MK5 save system is working perfect and can keep the data after power off,100% QC pass.

download: http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index....ic,4061.0.html

RiverCrossingDS v0.32

April 1st, 2007, 12:32 Posted By: wraggster

MangledLftThumb has updated RiverCrossingDS :

Added logic to track puzzle status (i.e. now, adds "- completed." beside puzzle number once you've managed to get hiker to other side of the river).
Added support to read/write libfat file to store puzzle status. "RiverCrossingDS.txt" should be in root directory. Use X to update status - file is automatically read when you press START. Works great for me on a GBAMP!!

ECW invades SmackDown vs. Raw 2008

April 1st, 2007, 12:38 Posted By: wraggster

via gamespot

Last month, THQ told analysts in a quarterly conference call that it would be introducing its SmackDown vs. RAW series of wrestling games to the Nintendo DS, Wii, and PlayStation 3 this year. Today the publisher spilled the first details on SmackDown vs. RAW 2008, which will also appear on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360, combining for the company's largest cross-platform WWE release yet.

THQ also gave a glimpse of what to expect from this year's installment of the game, saying that WWE spin-off league Extreme Championship Wrestling will have a "significant" presence in the game, with a number of ECW stars, arenas, and weapons included. As for the gameplay focus, THQ said that "realism and strategy are at the forefront" with its new struggle submission system, which uses analog controls to let players dictate the amount of pressure applied to their opponents in submission holds.

SmackDown vs. RAW 2008 will also sport adjustments to features included in last year's game, with new rosters, more interactive "hotspots," a combined season and general manager mode, and revised action outside the ring and online community options.

Die Critters Die v0.5

April 1st, 2007, 13:19 Posted By: wraggster

New from the Darkside986:

This game, unlike the demo, is easy to mod by editing a config.txt file. You can add new graphics, edit the config file, and add as many spawning objects as you want, or even get rid of all the animals and objects and replace them with your own. You can make different sounds play for each animal or object that is hit, different blood thingies to appear when something is hit. I expect individuals such as JEMdev, for example, to release various total conversion mods for the game. I allow anyone to release the EBOOT with their mods as well. I would release the source code but it is nasty looking and the idea of a config.txt file is to change the game without recompiling from the command line every second.

Ideally, you could mod the game from your PSP by using PSPad text editor and yPaint.

The future releases will contain music in the form of .mod, and whatever else I can think of.

Enjoy.

Ms Master 2.02f Compact

April 1st, 2007, 13:28 Posted By: wraggster

XsavioR has updated Ms Master to version 2.02f Compact. This is a program that allows you to back up and restore your PSP's memory stick data.

Heres whats new:

Ok compiled using FREEbasic now.

~added ability to change install dir
~made it so msbind icon doesnt reconfigure every time
(you can still reconfigure or install more copies of msmaster to your drive by using gui option 1)
source included
enjoy

PSP Kanjii V2.1

April 1st, 2007, 13:35 Posted By: wraggster

Sammy Fatnassi has updated PSP Kanji, the Kanjii learning tool for the PSP heres the release info:

-Added: Quiz mode for Katakana and Hiragana
-Added: Quiz in both direction (English<->Japanese)
-Added: Simple menu now available

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments

XMB Emulator ALPHA 1

April 1st, 2007, 13:44 Posted By: wraggster

New from superskull85 comes what the coder calls an XMB Emulator, before anyone gets excited this is NOT a PSP Emulator for Windows , heres what the coder says:

This is an application that will "Emulate" how your XMB will look on your computer before actually compiling your RCO's and flashing them to your PSP. This application will let you view your XMB and it's icons, backgrounds and colours. This application is meant to help you preview your XMB without actually flashing it. With that said this program doesn't even read your Flash0 and doesn't need your PSP to run. This program will not read RCO's or have any functionality, it will read BMP files and will arrange them so they look just like your XMB.

Source code is included for anyone who knows how to program with Turing. Because this is an ALPHA version the source code is very minor and limited. You can use the source code as long as you give credit to me and the respective owners of the included images.

With this program you can preview two different themes at once. In the root folder you will find XMB One and XMB Two. XMB One stores files for the first XMB and XMB Two stores files for the second XMB. To use:

1- Make some icons with a white background, with dimension 64X64 and in the BMP format
2- Make some wallpaper images in the BMP format and with dimension 480X272.
3- Rename icons to:

1- Settings Icon
2- Photo Icon
3- Music Icon
4- Video Icon
5- Game Icon
6- Network Icon
Background- Wallpaper Image

4-Place your icons in the XMB One or XMB Two folder
5- Run XMB Emulator.EXE.
6- If you satisfied with your XMB compile your topmenu_plugin.rco with a compiler.
7- Flash to, Flash0:/vsh/resource/, with a flasher.

Future Features

This program is still in it's ALPHA version in the future I will be including more features. The features I hope to include:

-Sub-XMB Preview
-Sub Sub-XMB Preview
-File check/Size check- This will help you make right sized icons so that you can make non-corrupt files and have icons fit in their positions.
-Menu Names- This will help you further see what your XMB will look like with your names.
-Program Main Menu- To help you navigate through the program
-Integrated guides and references
-Support for XMB click sounds
-Support for simple navigation functions
-Support for wave animation
-A simple file flasher through Flash0/1 USB
-Include a RCO compiler

Important Notes

-Files in the "Core Files" folder should not be deleted. If any of these files are deleted the program will give you an error.
-The XMB One and XMB Two folders should not be deleted. If even one folder is deleted the program will not run.
-Images must be in the 8-bit bitmap format. Images with their information stored in the ALPHA layer should not be used with this program. Files extracted from RCO's will not work properly with this version of the program.

Credits

All credit goes to me for programming and compiling. Credit for Icons and backgrounds go to their respective owners (I forget who created them, if you created some of the images please e-mail me at JessieFin@hotmail.com).

Version History

ALPHA 1-

This version includes support for Main XMB icons and XMB wallpaper.

[Release] Dreamchip V4.0

April 1st, 2007, 14:07 Posted By: Zion

Via Zionmax


Well, after spending so much time over the last 3-4 weeks coding wandria. i decided to spend one hour on Dreamchip last night.

Now as far as i know the chip8 system is supposed to run at 30fps (might be wrong)

The emulator was running at 27fps last night, after the hour i got it running at 42fps. Feels normal speed to me at least now.

I still havnt done that filebrowser, as im too busy working with wandria to bother I just did this to prove to a few people (you know who you are hehe) that it can get to full speed without taking out the sdl

Changelog :

Put in Visable Fps Counter
up to 42fps

Download & Give Feedback Via Comments

PS3: April Fools Joke for Pro Evolution Soccer?

April 1st, 2007, 16:19 Posted By: mavsman4457

At long last, Konami have answered our prayers....

Link : http://community.eu.playstation.com/....php?p=1456184

Fully licensed leagues for :

English Premiership
English Championship
Primera Division
Serie A
Ligue 1
Bundesliga
Eredivisie
Bwin Portugese League
Turkish League
Scottish Premiership
Greek Superleague
Russian League
Israel League

Let's hope this isn't an April fools joke. I believe this would be the first football/soccer game for PS3.

PSPSSH : SSH2 Client for PSP v1.0.3

April 1st, 2007, 18:20 Posted By: zx-81



Hi All,

For those who haven't seen the previous version, Dropbear is a small
SSH2 Server and Client running on a variety of POSIX-based platforms.
It has been mainly developed by Matt Johnston
(see matt's web site).

PSPSSH is a port of the version 0.48.1 to the PSP.

If you wonder what a SSH client is, this homebrew is useless for you ...

* Change log : *

What's new in version 1.0.3 :


- New Danzeff keyboard layout
(alt keys are now available)
- New option to save the vt100 screen as a text file.
- New login menu
(more friendly, and with new options)
- Improve vt100 emulation
(for example, the nano editor works fine now)

- As Matt Johnston advice me, i've added a new
initial random seed generation, using keystroke latency
(you have now to press psp keys randomly,
the first time you run pspssh).

- bug fix in random number generator
- bug fix in key send function
- bug fix in vt100 emulator

* Credits and license : *

The terminal Vt100 emulation part of PSPSSH is based on the work
of Danzel for his Telnet client for PSP.

This software is distributed under several open-source/free software
licenses, and mainly the MIT/X Consortium License.

See LICENSE.txt file for all details and information about it.

It has been developed on linux for Firmware 1.5 and 3.03-OE.

How to use it ? Everything is in the README.txt file.

Thanks to Matt Johnston for Dropbear, to Danzel and Jeff Chen for their virtual keyboard,
thanks once more to Danzel for the VT100 emulation, and thanks to all PSPSDK coders.

Special thanks to Cool Matty for his feedback !

Enjoy,

Zx

nullDC v1.0.0.0 public beta 1 released!

April 1st, 2007, 18:41 Posted By: quzar

drkIIRaziel has released the first public release of his Dreamcast Emulator for Windows thats now being talked about as the best Dreamcast Emulator so far:

nullDC v1.0.0 BETA User Manual
------------------------------

1. What is it?
--------------

nullDC is a plugin based Dreamcast emulator for x86 based computers running Windows Operating Systems.

2. Recomended System Requirements:
----------------------------------

- CPU: AMD Athlon XP/64/Turion at 2GHz or Intel Pentium 4 at 2.6GHz or equivalent.
- Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 4 TI or ATi Radeon 8500.
- RAM: 512MB
- Operating System: Windows 2000/XP/2003
- December Redistributable of DirectX 9c

The above requirements are considered as the absolute minimum in order to run the emulator as it was
intended to run. The emulator might be able to run on systems that do not meet these requirements
but with issues (like slow speed, GFX errors or Sound errors).

Notes:

- Some games have higher requirements than the rest and have speed issues even on systems that meet
the recomended requirements. In that case a faster CPU is necessary to reach full speed.

- Pentium 4 CPUs perform some tasks slower than other CPUs, thus the clock speed of 2.6GHz is needed.
On the other hand, Pentium M CPUs perform the same tasks much faster
(A Pentium M 750 at 1.86GHz should be enough to reach full speed).
Intel Celeron and AMD Duron (and probably Sempron) CPUs are slow and it's expected to perform worse than the rest

- Nvidia Geforce 4 MX video cards are worse than the TI series and they do not meet the minimum requirements.

- DirectX 9c has many redistributables. It's common to have an older version installed that misses certain necessary
files.
Be sure to download and install the December redistributable or the default graphics plugin will fail to Load.

- nullDC will run on Windows Vista. However, hardware requirements will be a little higher than the ones mentioned
above and there will probably be sound related issues (as with many other applications running on Vista).

3. Preperations/Other Requirements
----------------------------------

Before running the emulator make sure that you have the necessary Dreamcast BIOS and Flash files dumped from your
Dreamcast.
The BIOS must be named "dc_boot.bin" and the Flash must be named "dc_flash.bin". Both files must be placed in the "Data"
directory which is in the location where you installed the emulator.

The emulator will fail to run any game or software if you don't have these files.

Please note that original Dreamcast discs (GD-ROMs) are special discs that cannot be accessed by common PC DVD/CD drives.
Because of this it is not possible to run these discs directly on an emulator. The only way to run such a disc is
to make a backup copy (a dump) of it using some "special" methods either by using a Dreamcast or a modified PC DVD/CD drive.

4. Usage
--------

When you run the emulator for the first time you will be asked to select the plugins you are going to use.

Here is a list of the plugins that come with the emulator:

-PowerVR (Graphics) Plugins:

"nullPVR" is the graphics plugin that was made by the nullDC team.
"Chankast's video" is a port of the PowerVR (graphics) core that was used on Chankast (another great Dreamcast emulator).

-GDRom Plugins:

"Image Reader" is used to run images of discs (ie: cdi, mdf/mds, nrg).
"zNullGD" is used to run discs directly from the PC DVD/CD drive.

-AICA (Sound) Plugins:

"nullAICA" is the sound plugin that was made by the nullDC team.
"Chankast's AICA" is a port of the AICA (sound) core that was used on Chankast (another great Dreamcast emulator).
"Empty AICA" is an audio plugin that produces no sound. It has reduced compatibility but is faster than the rest.

-Maple (Input/Saves) Plugins:

There is only one available maple plugin available that covers all the maple related functions. It has 2 divisions.
Its first division handles each controller port and its second division handles the expansion slots of the peripheral
connected to each controller port. Each division has various states. Divisions and states are explained below.

Controller Division:

"nullDC Controller [WinHook]" connects a normal dreamcast controller using input from the keyboard.

"nullDC Controller [WinHook.NET]" connects a normal dreamcast controller using input from the keyboard but for
NetPlay usage.
*Refer to the NetPlay section for more information about NetPlay.

"None" acts like no controller is connected to the port.

Expansion Slots Division:

"nullDC VMU" declares that a VMU (memory card) is connected to the expansion slot of a peripheral.
"None" acts like nothing is connected to the expansion slot of a peripheral.

In case the above looks confusing... Imagine a Dreamcast, it has four ports, you connect a controller (peripheral)
to a port, then a memory card to the controller (the Dreamcast controller has two slots for memory cards etc.).
Maple uses the same structure. See? Simple.

-External Device (Modem/Broadband Adaptor) Plugins:

"nullExtDev" acts like no modem or broadband adaptor is connecter to the external device slot of the dreamcast.

After all the necessary plugins are selected and the "OK" button is pressed the emulator window and console will appear.

5.1 Menus
---------

Here's a brief explaination of the menu options and their usage. Whenever a menu option has an arrow next to it it will
expand revealing more options. If it doesn't have an arrow then clicking on it will pop up a configuration/message box.


Clicking on the "File" tab will reveal 5 options.

"Normal Boot" boots a dreamcast disc or an image (depends on the delected GDRom Plugin).

"HLE Boot" boots a dreamcast disc or an image using hight level GDRom emulation.

"Open bin/elf" boots a dreamcast homebrew/development application/demo.

"Load bin/elf" loads a dreamcast homebrew/development application/demo into memory.

"Exit" exits the emulator... maybe.


Clicking on the "System" tab will reveal 3 options.

"Start" starts emulation.

"Stop" stops emulation.

"Reset" resets the emulator.


Clicking on the "Options" tab will reveal 7 basic options.

"nullDC Settings" has the core options of nullDC. It expands revealing options to enable/disable the Dynarec and CP pass.
Clicking on the "Show" option will open a configuration box with the options and more information.

"Select Plugins" opens the plugin selection box.

"PowerVR" contains the available options of the selected PowerVR (graphics) plugin.

"GDRom" contains the available options of the selected GDRom plugin.

"Aica" contains the available options of the selected AICA (sound) plugin.

"Maple" contains the available options of the selected Maple (input/saves) plugin.

"ExtDevice" contains the available options of the selected External Device (Modem/Broadband Adaptor) plugin.

Clicking on the "Debug" tab will reveal the "Debugger" option which opens the SH4 debugger.


Clicking on the "Profiler" tab will reveal 2 options.

"Enable" enables the profiler.

"Show" shows the profiler.

Clicking on the "Help" tab will reveal the "About" option which opens the about box.

5.2 Plugin Specific Menus
-------------------------

Each plugin can add its own menus to the interface of the emulator. These options will appear as an extension of the
corresponding option that each plugin has under the "Options" tab.
For example, if you run the emulator and go to "Options"->"PowerVR" you will notice some available options.
Now if you select another PowerVR plugin and go to "Options"->"PowerVR" again you will see that some options
are changed, added or deleted.

Most of the options of each plugin do not need explaination but there are specific options with results that the
end user cannot understand. Section 8 covers cases where changing some options can affect performane and graphics/sound.

6. NetPlay
----------

NetPlay (unfortunately) didn't make it in the initial release. It's in very early stages at the moment and many
necessary checks for it are not yet implemented. Using different plugins and different versions of the same game
on each machine leads to synchronization loss and to faulty NetPlay. Thus it's missing from the initial release.
Expect it to be implemented soon however.

In case you wonder, every thing needed for netplay comes with the current release... Apart from the Server application.

7. Known Problems and Possible Solutions
----------------------------------------

- If the VisualC++ 2005 SP1 runtime is missing you may get the 'This application has failed to start because the
application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem..' message.Just download
the setup package , it includes all the runtimes needed.

- The console that opens when you run the emulator displays some vital information which will help you report possible
problems that a game may have. However, on some cases it may stay open and make the system slow even after you close
the emulator. Minimizing the console before running a game will fix that.

- There is no way to exit fullscreen mode at the moment apart from pressing Alt+F4.

- nullAICA syncs audio to match the speed of the rest emulator parts. If a game runs below 100% its real speed, sound
will be choppy and will have occasional "clicks". It would be better to use Chankast's AICA on that case.

- Some games run slower and some others run faster than they should even if they report that they run at 100% speed.
Disabling speed limiting will boost the speed of "slow" games if your system can handle it but if a game runs faster
than it should then not many things can be done.
("Dead or Alive 2le" is an example of games that run slower than normal. "Resident Evil: Code Veronica" is one of the
games that run faster than normal.)

- The emulator might crash sometimes when trying to close it.

- If you are asked to enter the date and time every time you try to run a game then the flash file might got corrupted.
Try going to the "data" folder and deleting the "dc_flash_wb.bin" file. This will probably fix the problem.

- If the emulator init fails once , nullPVR will lockup on second try.This will happen if you do run, select cancel on
image selection , and press no in the "Do you want to boot..." messagebox.It affects only nullPVR.

- Some games may have problems if the Constant Propagation optimisation pass is enabled.Soul Reaver and Toy Commander
are known to be affected.

8. Hits and Tips
----------------

- Systems below recommended requirements will get a speed boost with the "No AICA" plugin and might get better graphical
results with Chankast's video PVR.

- Some games have problems with specific plugins. Using a different plugin might fix some issues.

- nullPVR has an option called "Versioned Textures". Enabling this will result in better graphics on some games
(ie: Soul Calibur) but it will make some other games too slow (ie: Guilty Gear X, Virtual On).

- nullAICA has options to enable frame limiting and adjust the sound buffer size. If you get constant "clicks" while
running a game and the emulator runs at or above fullspeed try enabling the frame limiting and increasing the
sound buffer size.
Using a 60Hz screen refresh rate and having V-Sync enabled from the configuration of your video card can also produce
"clicks". Disabling V-Sync will fix that.

- Chankast's Video PVR has two options called "ZWrite" and "Alpha Test ZWrite". Enabling or disabling them can make
some games look better when some graphics appear in front or behind things they shouldn't.


9. About
--------

Credits :

drk||Raziel : main coder
ZeZu : main coder
GiGaHeRz : plugin work/misc stuff
PsyMan : Mental support, managment, beta testing & everything else
Xant : www & forum, beta testing

Beta testing : emwearz, Miretank, gb_away, Raziel, General Plot, Refraction, Ckemu

Many thanks to : Jim Denson, Flea, Jupi, Chankast team and everyone else we forgot.

Mario "About PSP"

April 1st, 2007, 19:04 Posted By: buildit92

I found a way how to change the ABOUT PSP under your system settings. The way i did this was exracting the pictures from the RCO ( the USB wave effect). i edited it in paint. then i replaced it over the origanl RCO. The ABOUT PSP is now a bunch of diffrent mario pictures. it works well with the mario theme psp. there is only 1 thing flaw, which is were three icons disspaear, but im not sure if it is this RCO or something else. ill try to find out what it is. hope you like it.

The ThinkGeek 8-bit Tie

April 1st, 2007, 19:24 Posted By: Mark30001



Via ThinkGeek

A few of us monkeys at ThinkGeek had this great shared dream a few months ago. In it, the whole world was 8-Bit, just like the video games we grew up on. We found ourselves having to leap from platform to platform, to search for pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, and to fight scary mutated plants and animals. The music was awesome (and still stuck in our heads) but the coolest part was what we were wearing: a tie. But not just any tie, an 8-Bit tie!

We woke up screaming. An 8-Bit tie - what an awesome way for the drones of Cubeland to show their independence from Corporate America! So, we did what we knew you'd want - we had the ties made. 100% silk, clip on (for easy dressing), and custom designed by us for you. You'll be the envy of the office or, at least, you'll get tons of attention. You'll be just like Mario when he wore a tie to meetings when negotiating his contact with Nintendo. Sure the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 are out there with all their super technology, but sometimes it's nice to remember the beginnings of the video game revolution. Viva la 8-Bit!

HDMI specific Xbox 360 Elite details emerge

April 1st, 2007, 20:38 Posted By: wraggster

Via engadget

If you've been oooing and ahing at the Xbox 360 Elite's HDMI connection -- which really should have been there all along -- then this is the post for you: a source at Microsoft has posted specific details of the Elite's HDMI capabilities. Apparently the Elite will only support the 1.2 HDMI standard, and not the 1.3 spec which would have enabled TrueHD or Dolby Digital+. As such, you'll have to stick with regular DD, DTS, and WMA-Pro for your sound output. It also only supports dual channel PCM output, not full 5.1 channel, and if you want full 5.1 PCM output the tipster cheekily recommends "purchasing the Toshiba A2 player" which is much cheaper than the $479 Elite. At this point the complexity of the tech talk takes a step up, as amirm refers to a fall update that will bring support for "different video levels for VGA output" which could potentially improve fidelity and HDCP handshaking support on displays operating at 1080p. We suspect that around half of the people that started reading this left to read our interview with fake SJ somewhere around the point that we mentioned "dual channel PCM output", but what do the three people left reading think about these HDMI deets?

Sony UK Exec Says No to Smaller, Lighter PSP

April 1st, 2007, 20:47 Posted By: wraggster

news from Daily tech

Earlier this month, word of a smaller, lighter PlayStation Portable slipped the lips of Sony UK boss Ray Maguire. Specifically, Maguire said that the current PSP is just the “first iteration” of the handheld, and that an improved version will eventually follow.

Now, just two weeks after his initial comments, Maguire is taking it all back. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he says, “As we sit here today, there is no next iteration of the PSP.”

“If you're referring to what was reported some weeks ago, I was referring to the fact that that's what we do as a company,” said Maguire. “We R&D everything. You only have to look at PlayStation and PlayStation 2 to see that's always in our mind.”

The PSP is constantly compared with the handheld market’s current leader, the Nintendo DS. Consumers may be expecting a revised PSP because Nintendo revised the original DS to the DS Lite, a smaller, lighter version of the original. Following Nintendo’s slick redesign, sales of the DS Lite skyrocketed, gaining the acceptance from even casual gamers.

Maguire speaks on the constant comparisons between PSP and DS Lite, saying, “They are two different devices for two different markets. It's comparing apples and oranges again, but because they are both portable it's probably a natural thing to do. The marketplace that we need to get into is the PS3 connectivity market.”

He continues, “From a PSP situation we have a wider split of third-party versus first-party than our competitors do, who are very much first-party developers. We've been putting quite a lot of energy behind PS3, now we'll be able to split some of those resources and go back to the PSP to make sure we've got some compelling games coming. As a criticism, yes, perhaps part of that is true. But we have a solution in place.”

Pipes 2

April 1st, 2007, 20:56 Posted By: wraggster

News from Nagelfar

Well, thx to a guy named Evil Dragon it seems I'll get my DPad although donations have been quite weak (a little over 10 Euos so far). Now, this is very good and everything BUT I also received my first postcard with a beer label last week and those two things together convinced me to release Pipes 2.0 (and all future versions) for free. That doesn't mean though that you shouldn't donate if you like it or send that postcard with a beer label
There's been quite some improvements, most notable the size of the board can now be changed between 9 and 15 in width and height and let me tell you, a board sized 15 is tough. The Highscores should work with this just fine but I have only done so much testing.
I also added sounds (no music but that is next) and all the skins can now be configured as you like them e.g. which font they should use. Just check out the properties file in the skin dir, you'll see it's not hard.
There's a slight issue with speed e.g. the tiles turning a little slower than they did before but I'll work on that asap.
Unfortunatly old versions of the game are not compatible to the new version so please delete the Pipes directory on your SD Card before copying the new one over!

If you are interested, the download is (as always) at http://www.nagelfar.com/pipes/

Wip Battle For Wesnoth For Gp2x

April 1st, 2007, 20:58 Posted By: wraggster

Via gp2xinfo

grzywacz just released his first very early alpha release of a port of Battle for Wesnoth.

The Battle for Wesnoth is a turn-based strategy game with a fantasy theme.