Pioneer's BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player also delayed until December

November 1st, 2006, 00:33 Posted By: wraggster

There must be something really hard about making those Blu-ray players that no one seems to have anticipated. First Sony had to announce twice that its BDP-S1 was going to be delayed until December 2006 due to software bugs. Now Pioneer has been delayed too, for unspecified failure to meet "quality control requirements," which may or may not be related to the other assorted blue laser shortages. The BDP-HD1, which was due to come out this month (after having been delayed from its previous May launch), won't ship now until December as well. The price, however, has dropped since we last eyed it at CES -- it's now down to $1500. We're still not sure which is bluer, us consumers, who have been trying to get one of these Blu-ray players until we go blue in the face, or Pioneer, who is singin' the blues. (This entry has been brought to you by the color "blue.")

The State of Gaming in Japan

November 1st, 2006, 00:36 Posted By: wraggster

dean73 writes to mention an article at the SeekJapan site entitled The State of Gaming in Japan. The article runs down the seventh round of the console war from the Japanese perspective. IE: The one where Microsoft is probably going to lose. From the article:

"The Xbox 360 comes to us now with a reduced price, a screwed-up slogan ('do! Game, do! Choice, do! Xbox 360') and a slew of games targeted at the Japanese audience. The trump card is Hironobu Sakaguchi: the Final Fantasy creator's studio, Mistwalker, is due to deliver the first of two Xbox-only RPGs, Blue Dragon, on December 7th. Given that the Xbox has until now lacked any decent Japanese-style RPG (the cocaine of the J-geek world), this might prove just the ticket, and Microsoft is predicting a big hit."

Xbox 360 Fall Update bricking systems?

November 1st, 2006, 00:37 Posted By: wraggster

Source: Posts on message boards like the official Xbox forums and Team Xecuter, followed up on by articles at mod-savvy sites like Xbox Scene.

The official story: A Microsoft rep said the company had no comment at this time.

What we heard: Microsoft released its Fall System Update for the Xbox 360 today and Internet forums were quickly buzzing with reports that the update had "bricked" users' consoles, rendering them unable to play games or even boot up normally.

While Microsoft is staying mum on the subject, the bulk of speculation is that the Fall Update is intended to brick Xbox 360s that have been modded. However, some posters are reporting problems with unmodded consoles being bricked, and forum-goers at Xbox Scene are saying that the update is not consistently bricking modded consoles.

Furthermore, Team Xecuter is reporting that bricked consoles can still be repaired relatively painlessly, and that Microsoft isn't banning GamerTags or specific systems from Xbox Live, something that would seem a distinct possibility if the company wanted to come down hard on modders.

So what's the deal here? If Microsoft intended to brick modded consoles, it didn't do a very thorough job of it (perhaps a warning shot to make people think twice about modding systems?). If it's an unexpected bug with the Fall Update, it seems convenient that it's happening primarily to modded systems.

Still, the few reports of the Fall Update bricking unmodded systems are troubling. While fixing the system might be an easy thing for people who cracked their systems open in the first place to mod them, it's still not something the average gamer is bound to be capable of doing.

Whether intentional or not, it seems the Fall Update is turning some Xbox 360s into paperweights. But with varying reports about who it's happening to and why, and Microsoft not explaining what's going on, there's no sure way to say which 360s will be affected by the problem.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus.

UK Game Chart: October 22-28

November 1st, 2006, 00:40 Posted By: wraggster

Via Gamespot

Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (also known as Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007) has sold the most in a game's first week in the UK since Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas debuted two years ago. Those sales see it slip comfortably into the number one slot on the UK all-formats game chart.

FIFA 07's Xbox 360 version joins the game's seven other formats to help keep the title at number two, with sales up 96 percent on last week.

Rockstar Games' Canis Canem Edit (known as Bully outside of the UK) was the second-highest new entry at number five. Bully and PES6 are among seven other newbies this week, including Guild Wars: Nightfall at 15, Singstar Legends at 24, and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon at 27.

There are five titles heading upward, including Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, up one place to eight; Buzz! The Big Quiz, up four to 14; and Destroy All Humans 2, which went up two places to 19.

The biggest loser of the week is Kingdom Hearts 2, falling a massive 16 places to 32, with The Godfather down 14 to 37, and The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff almost out of the charts completely, down 13 to 39.

Next Friday (if UK retailers can manage to stick to the release dates) will see the release of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War expansion pack Dark Crusade, Neverwinter Nights 2, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Need for Speed Carbon, and Desperate Housewives: The Game.

Aussie Wii road show detailed

November 1st, 2006, 00:41 Posted By: wraggster

Australians keen to try out the Nintendo Wii won't have to wait until its December 7 local launch. Today, Nintendo unveiled details for its nationwide Play Wii tour. Starting this weekend, Nintendo will be visiting shopping centres around the country with playable Wii demo units that will allow gamers to get a taste of the House of Mario's next-generation console.

The road show will take three different forms--large shopping centre set-ups with multiple Wiis, standalone demo units for individual retail stores, and demo stands at major consumer gaming events. Aussies will get their first public taste of the Wii this weekend, with Nintendo visiting Melbourne's Highpoint Shopping Centre on November 4 and 5. The Wii will also make an appearance at this weekend's GAME1 Electronic Gaming Expo and Tournament being held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

The Play Wii tour then rolls around the country, visiting major suburban shopping centres and stores in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia. ACT, Tasmania, and Northern Territory residents will unfortunately be left out..

Nintendo Australia spokesman Vispi Bhopti told GameSpot AU that all demo units, including in-store units, would be staffed by Nintendo representatives. Featured games include Wii Sports, Wii Play, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Excite Truck, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Super Monkey Ball in motion

November 1st, 2006, 00:44 Posted By: wraggster

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is looking like a simian-shaped lump of fun in this new gameplay trailer for the motion-sensitive Wii game - just hit the movies tab above to see for yourself.

Concentrating more on the new Wii-mote-friendly minigames, the trailer shows little of the traditional Monkey Ball puzzle-board gameplay. You will, however, be able to spot one of the newly-introduced stage bosses being attacked by a jumping monkey. That's right, a jumping monkey. Developer and publisher Sega is mixing things up this time round and we're liking the changes so far.

We also like the look of the squash minigame, which lets you move around the court with Wii's Nunchuk controller while swinging your racquet with the Wii-mote. But the boxing game is the one we'd like to play most; we would say "how could anyone punch such cute monkeys in the face like that?" but, let's face it, everyone's going to love giving Gon Gon a good pounding.

If any game is perfectly suited to Wii's unique interface and social gaming slant it's Super Monkey Ball, so we'll be watching this one carefully in the build-up to its launch-window release.

Movie Here

Bonus maps for Perfect Dark Zero Platinum

November 1st, 2006, 00:45 Posted By: wraggster

Kicking off Microsoft's line of lower-priced, uglier-cased Platinum Hits Editions, Xbox 360 shooter Perfect Dark Zero will get a pack-in of six extra multiplayer maps - including remakes of classic deathmatch grounds Ruin and Facility.

The other four maps were released earlier in the year as an Xbox Live download but Rare shooter fans should welcome the two classic Perfect Dark maps - especially Facility, which hearkens back to GoldenEye and has provided many hundreds of hours of toilet cubicle shoot-out hilarity since N64 days.

For those of you who dutifully bought PDZ on 360 launch day, though, you won't need to pick it up again - the two new maps will be released for free on Xbox Live.

Eragon's first scaly screens

November 1st, 2006, 00:47 Posted By: wraggster

The first fire-breathing screens of movie-based slasher Eragon have hatched from their egg. Previously announced on nearly every format since the VCS 2600, these particular visual gems were laid by Stormfront Studios, the developer of the console version, and creator of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Instead of being a hard-boiled hacker, this all-action fighter allows you to not only take on the enemy in cooperative combat but also to call up your flying friend, Saphira, to incinerate any obstacles or opponents that block your way. And in between joining in with Brom or Murtagh to defeat the underlings of Galbatorix, Ergaon himself can also saddle up the ever-evolving Saphira for a number of on-rail levels packed with toasting airborne enemies and stomach-swirling aerial manoeuvres.

While the film is due to be released on 15 December, the game of the film of the book will be released on 24 November.

Screens Here

Stuntman 2 shots crash in

November 1st, 2006, 00:49 Posted By: wraggster

After a death-defying jump across a broken bridge, a tight squeeze between two juggernauts and a speedy drive through a collapsing building, the first Stuntman 2 shots have made their debut appearance and you can see them now by clicking the images tab above.

While no solid gameplay details have been released, the shots show a variety of vehicles (dune buggies - yay!) and dusty looking desert and city street locations, so expect to prove your wheelman skills in a diverse range of motorised machines and movie scenarios.

We were fans of the original but, with load times that were as painful to endure as a bumper-to-bumper jam on the M25 and some sadistically tight objective time limits, it was just too fist-clenchingly frustrating to be a classic.

If the game's new developer, Paradigm Studios, can avoid these pitfalls then Stuntman 2 for PS3 and Xbox 360 should be an exploding barrel-roll of petrol-flavoured fun. And if it finds room to improve on the make-your-own-mayhem stunt arena then we'll be very happy stunt bunnies indeed.

Screens Here

Stream Amazon Unbox Video to your Xbox 360

November 1st, 2006, 00:53 Posted By: wraggster

Bought some movies from Amazon's Unbox Video store but can't figure out how to get it on your TV? Grab your Xbox 360, because it's time to get streaming.

1. Download an Unbox video to your Media Center PC. 2. From the Xbox 360 Dashboard, go to the Media blade and select Media Center. Your Xbox will connect to your Media Center PC. 3. Select "My Videos" and then "Amazon" to see all of your Unbox videos. 4. Choose your Unbox video and enjoy!
Thanks to the recent release of Windows Media Player 11, it may be possible to stream WMV files to your 360 without actually having a Windows XP Media Center PC. We'll look into it, but streaming to 360 fills in the big hole in Amazon's service to allow content to be viewed on TVs. Now to fill in all the other holes.

Saints Row patched, finally

November 1st, 2006, 00:55 Posted By: wraggster

After two long months Saints Row has been patched -- just in time to go up against the holiday blockbusters. We suppose better late than never, but a number of the issues that the update addresses (e.g., spinning camera, missing store items, "rare" crash bugs, etc.) should have been ironed out during testing phases, or at least patched sooner. What's up with the lackadaisical effort, guys? THQ, Volition, we're lookin' at you.

Sure we've had our moments in the Row, but this gang bangin' romp is gonna be a memory in another week or so. Too little, too late.

Sony (and its ad agency) need a home run with the PS3

November 1st, 2006, 00:56 Posted By: wraggster

Echoing the concerns of other investors, Fortune Magazine examines the much needed PS3 home run for Sony if the company wishes to stay competitive in the consumer electronics world. The piece calls the PS3 launch "one of the most closely watched new-product rollouts of all time." Given its recent PR beats, portable music spanking at the hand of Apple, and mass battery recalls, Sony is hoping its ad agency, TBWA, can in part save the company. That's a tall order for the Los Angeles-based firm with its $150 million Sony account.

More interesting, however, is what TBWA (which has done all US ads since the first PlayStation in 1995) has to accomplish: Not only do their ads need to encourage prospective gamers to buy Sony's third-generation console, the ads must convince said consumers to wait for the PS3 due to extremely limited launch availability.

From the article: "The agency's job is to persuade those who leave the store empty-handed to wait - to not buy Xbox or Wii - even if it means holding off until after Christmas before Sony can ramp up its manufacturing enough to satisfy the demand. So the bar is high indeed. If the Los Angeles office doesn't clear it with the PS3 launch, Sony may not be the only client that heads for the exit."

Wii Sports has control issues

November 1st, 2006, 00:58 Posted By: wraggster

After spending "several hours" with Wii Sports, IGN's Nintendo editor Matt Casamassina doesn't like the game due to flawed controls with the exception of Wii Bowling which he calls "totally rocking." Regarding Tennis, he had this to say: "You don't control anything except the swing of your player's racket. The movement of these Mii-alike athletes is all done automatically by the game. You simply swing the Wii remote back and forth to make your on-screen character do the same thing."

True dat. Though we enjoyed the game at E3, it's unproven how long the fun lasts with tennis (from our limited play test). Regarding Baseball, Casamassina contends: "When you want to throw a curve ball, you don't actually motion it, as you might suspect. No, why would you want to use a gesture for a console whose primary purpose is to promote unique and innovative ways to play? To throw a curve ball, you first select it on the D-Pad and then make a standard throwing motion."

Though no one should be expecting deep gameplay from the pack-in, a flick of the wrist puts spin on a moving bowling ball but not a breaking curve? Bush league.

Meta Review: GTA Vice City Stories for PSP

November 1st, 2006, 01:07 Posted By: wraggster

What do the big sites say about the new GTA game, heres the lowdown:

* 1UP, 9/10 - "Like LCS before it, Vice City Stories impresses like few games have managed to do on the system. The fact that the PSP pulls off everything in here with minimal loading screens is amazing. And the sheer amount of variety the game offers -- from side missions to the empire building to the story to the clever collectibles (red balloons, 99 of 'em) to the best sandbox-style, "mess with the world as you'd like" action out there -- will easily keep you entertained on cross-country flights a few times over (though it sucks down battery life at a startling rate)."

* IGN, 9/10 - "It's still largely the same game that we first saw with Grand Theft Auto III. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as Vice City Stories is still easily one of the best games on the system, but if you've began to grow tired of the franchise's mechanics, mission structure or overall feel, this likely won't renew your love of the series."

* Gamepro, 7.5/10 - "So it's a big shame that lot of that personality has gone missing in Vice City Stories. Maybe it was the jump to a smaller stage that did them in but the characters and dialogue don't have the same snap nor does the game exhibit the same goofy and utterly loveable 80's style. Instead, the game is gritty and dull to a fault and it doesn't have the same sense of humor that made the past titles so entertaining."

Breakout Box / Cradle Coming In Late December

November 1st, 2006, 01:41 Posted By: wraggster

Via ED

The "naked" Breakout-Box (Developers Edition) is pretty well known to you for a while now, now I'm happy to present you a first Preview Picture of the Standard version.

The hardware hasn't changed, you have 4 USB Host Ports (for devices like Mouse, Keyboard, Harddisk, Joypad, etc.) a serial Port and a parallel Port for JTAG (so that you can unbrick your gp2x yourself in case you brick it somehow).
Additionally, the TV Out is implemented.

The Cradle is scheduled for late december.

REWORD - A 6 letter word game v0.2

November 1st, 2006, 01:44 Posted By: wraggster

New release from Al McLuckie:

This is a clone of a great Flash game called TextTwist I found on the Net a while ago.

The basic idea is, you have a 6 letter word that has been jumbled up and you must find as many of the 3, 4 5 and 6 letter words that can be made from it in the time allowed. You must get at least one 6 letter word to progress to the next level.

The dictionary I am using is a British word list I found (sorry can't remember where, but if I do I'll include a credit) that seems to hold a reasonable selection, which once filtered for just 3-6 letter words contains about 15000 words. The word list can be replaced or amended, and uses an additional utility I wrote that formats the list ready for the game.

This is the first game I've written for the GP2X and uses the excellent SDL. I've only been working on it for a month or so in my spare time and still learning, so loads of improvements possible such as better sound effects (please!) and some music, better graphics, possibly more comprehensive dictionary, better scoring etc, but the basic gameplay and look/feel is there now.

It would be great to get any feedback and suggestions.

Uae4all Gp2x 0.6.2

November 1st, 2006, 01:48 Posted By: wraggster

Critical has released an updated version of the Amiga Emulator for the GP2X, heres whats new:

The great new speed is thanks to Chui. I found sound output to be much, much better now. As of 0.6.2, it's using Chui's core which he has modified to work when compiled with GCC4. Thanks go to him once more.

The unreliability issues are thanks to me

EDIT: updated to 0.6.2. There seemed to be a problem with some people getting crashes when using the internal overclock function. It doesn't crash for me any more (with uae4all gp2x 0.6.2). It's hard to test, as it used to be intermittent for me, but I'm sure you good people will let me know.

If the internal overclock function crashes for you, you can use the included uae4all-tweak.gpe script to launch uae4all at 266MHz. Obviously that can be edited down to whatever your GP2X can cope with.

If you like this release, please consider donating to Chui, who has clearly put a lot of time, effort and skill into the new FAME/C core. His paypal details can be found at the top of his website: http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/index.html.

No Place to Hide Updated 1/11/2006

November 1st, 2006, 02:07 Posted By: wraggster

Birslip has posted a new version of his mini games collection for the DS:

Mini-games collection, in each game you must avoid letting your player get touched by any of the baddies. And they increase in both speed and numbers as the game goes on, so stay on your toes! The graphics are great, and look out for the tribute to the old arcade classics and home computer raves! Avoid, avoid again, scores! There is a Wifi mode for the online high scores

30/10/2006 News: Wifi Update

I added a new item in wifi menu: your highscore for each level!
And, i fixed small bugs.

A Touch of War v0.8f

November 1st, 2006, 02:11 Posted By: wraggster

JimmyL released this over a week ago and sad to say i missed it, heres a new version of his RTS game for the DS:

Time for another update. I made the switch to Ubuntu about a month ago, and it took me a while, but I've finally settled in and found all the apps I need to code with a bit of ease(it's hard to move away from msvc as an ide). But I don't want to turn this into a blog, so here's some game update news...
This is yet another bug fix release, a couple of people on the forums have now mentioned that the minimap "selected area" box wasn't showing up, something I don't quite understand was causing the box to be drawn offscreen, but I managed to get it working regardless. I also fixed another problem that creeped in when I updated libs, the random number generator I was using for setting up the world stopped working, causing all the grass tiles to look the same. So, changing to plain old rand fixed the problem.
I also played a wifi game with this version and it works great, so I've taken down the previous versions.

The Reality Game v0.1

November 1st, 2006, 02:14 Posted By: wraggster

JimmyL posted this news/release:

Brand new game!
Multiplayer!
No Rules!
Has... um... cards, chess and reversi...
...no chat support of any kind...
...if you play online, I hope you're in the same room...
...and trust your friends...
...never been tested with more than 2 players...
Fun for the whole family!

Seriously now, here's a game idea my friend Rob came up with years ago, and I thought would be fun to play on the ds. You get a table, it has stuff on it, you move the stuff around, your friends can join you and move the stuff as well. You can put stuff in your hand, your friends can't move that stuff. That's pretty much it. Play checkers with chess or reversi pieces! and more!

The game is not quite ready to be played online since there's no way to talk, and I don't have very high hopes that it will work with more than two players, but I've been having fun with it single player and two players on the same couch, so I figured I'd release it as is.

As with the other games I've written, to play online you need your ds's to be configured for wifi with one of the official Nintendo games, and to host, you need to have your router forward port 9999 to your ds(you can find your ds's ip in game).

Adding new games/items should be fairly painless(other than me drawing cards and chess pieces by hand...), so if there's anything you'd like to see added, let me know on the forums.

SpoutDS Update 1/11/2006

November 1st, 2006, 02:17 Posted By: wraggster

News from Sektor

Small update to SpoutDS. It now clears VRAM, so you won't have left over sprites in the background when launching on certain flash cards.

This is a modified version of Birslip's DS port. Spout is a small, abstract shooting game from Japanese developer kuni. It plays somewhat like Finnish cavefliers, except you have to erode your surroundings with your ship's exhuast. It's great fun. It was originally written for a handheld LCD console, then ported to Windows/SDL, then to Unix/SDL and now to DS.

The goal is to get as high as you possibly can, without crashing or your time running out.

Controls: A/B/X/Y - shoot, accelerate, spout, start
left - turn left
right - turn right
start - pause
select - LCD swap
L - toggle top backlight
R - toggle bottom backlight

LoveLite 1.3 beta

November 1st, 2006, 02:21 Posted By: wraggster

New release from Lick, heres the full details:

What's new:
- ALL Supercard devices will now return to the sc menu. (SCLite users, please give feedback)
- GBAMP (with chishm's hack) will now return to _BOOT_MP.NDS.
- M3 devices will now return to the m3 menu. (M3CF and M3SD tested. If not working, try holding L. Please give feedback)
- EZ IV devices will return to the ez menu. (Note: it takes a few seconds before LoveLite is initialized. After that, it works though)
- EZ-Flash III and EZ-Flash II has potentially working code, but no one tested yet.

What's changed:
- The firmware is now tested before it writes the brightness. Also corrected the iQue offsets.. iQue users: Please make sure you have a -Flashed iQue- before trying this software. No tests have been done on iQue devices, because I don't have one. It should work as expected, but until people have tested it, I can't claim anything.
- The buttons were reacting too slow, now you shouldn't have any input-delays. In other words: smooth touching.
- Graphics glitches were found on some cards, also fixed.

What's about the beta?
I turned this into a beta, so that people hopefully will read the release notes.

THIS SOFTWARE BRICKS YOUR DS (Disclaimer)
No, it doesn't. Yes, it bricked a few iQues (hopefully they were flashed) but the code is fixed. As you can read in the changes, the potentionally dangerous code now includes checking of the firmware before writing to it.
The release is tested on western ds'es, but make sure your firmware is flashed if you're the first person to test LoveLite on your type of hardware. (FlashMe users are 100% safe!)

To do
- Implement new device-detection code.
- Make the return feature work for even more deviceTypes.

Enjoy, and report all possible bugs so I can fix them in the next release!
Thanks,

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments

Star Wars: Lethal Alliance First Look

November 1st, 2006, 02:32 Posted By: wraggster

Just a few weeks ago Ubisoft revealed that the company had been working on a Star Wars game tailored for both the PlayStation Portable as well as the Nintendo DS. In that announcement, the company only had screens and details ready to go on the PSP rendition, leaving DS owners in the dark on what their version's going to end up becoming. Today, Ubisoft let us in on what's happening with the dual-screen portable version of Star Wars: Deadly Alliance shipping this December.

The game's in development at Ubisoft Morocco, the development team that worked on the Nintendo DS version of Peter Jackson's King Kong last year. In Star Wars: Deadly Alliance, players are thrust into an era between Star Wars Episode III and Episode IV, just before Princess Leia secured the plans for the Death Star. You're actually put into the role of Rianna Saren put to the task of securing those plans for the Princess and the Alliance.

The game's all action, running on the Nintendo DS in full 3D. Players will run through many familiar areas of the Star Wars universe, including such locations as Mustafar and Tatooine, as well as new locations on Despayre, Danuta, and Alderaan. Duke it out with the all-star cast including Boba Fett and Darth Vader.

The Nintendo DS version will have special touch-screen mini-games between the action, as well as a four player wireless multiplayer option. The current, official boxart indicates that the game might go online, though don't be surprised if it's a feature that gets the axe before the game's release.

Star Wars: Lethal Alliance ships to stores this December.

Screens Here

CWCHEAT 0.1.6 for Dark Alex 2.71 SE B

November 1st, 2006, 02:37 Posted By: wraggster

New release from Weltall

cwcheat for Dark Alex 2.71SE B' custum firmware.this is a cwcheat built to work fine with 2.71SE without the presence of devhook and with all function intact. plus being loaded without
devhook permits to avoid game exiting crash!

it has all the function of cwcheat 0.1.6.
this means that you can:
-cheat in your games (the db and the config are loaded from ms0,
if you don't have them it will still work only it will go for default
config and you will have an "empty" db)
-CHANGE THE CPU CLOCK IN GAME WHEN YOU WANT IT WITHOUT REFLASHING EVERYTIME!!
this means that you can put a default cpu/bus clock that will be set when
loading in the config file (change the cpu clock in the menu and save the
config in the config menu) but also you will be able to change in every moment
and without touching the flash the cpu/bus frequence!!
-use remapsp to change the annoying buttons of some games
-my screenshootbmp mod which uses volatile ram to do the screenshoot stopping the
game for less than one sec!

-------------------------------------------------------------
INSTALLATION/MANUAL
-------------------------------------------------------------

1-make a reflash folder in the root of your memory stick and copy the included
pspbtcnf_game.txt (if necessary change it accordly)
2-copy cwcheat.prx in a easy to access ms position
3-startup an app to write to flash (eg: pspfiler)
4-copy cwcheat.prx in the kn folder in flash0:/
5-reboot your psp in recovery mode
6-select Advanced ->
7-select flash pspbycnf_game.txt(2.71) (BE EXTREMELY CAREFULL WHILE SELECTING THIS)
8-select Back
9-select exit
10-enjoy

INSTALLATION/AUTOMATIC
1-load the included installer (thanks to Cpasjuste for it) from the 1.50 GAME FOLDER
2-press O
3-enjoy

cwcheat will be loaded everytime you load an iso or an umd either with UMD and NOUMD mode.
now you will need only to copy the cheat.db and a cwcheat.lng
(if you aren't an english speaker) in the ms0:/dh/

thanks for this version goes out to Dan4o2 and to Cpasjuste for his installer

enjoy

PSP Push-Activated Shoulder Button Lighting

November 1st, 2006, 02:39 Posted By: wraggster

Everett posted a great tutorial on modding his PSP to have lighting on the L and R buttons, heres an excerpt:

Intro

Sony decided to make the PSP shoulder buttons transparent, leaving modders an excellent opportunity to make the device look way cooler with lighting. Llamma has done a write up on adding lights to the buttons. I wanted a similar effect, but not for the lights to be on all the time—I wanted the buttons to light when they are pushed. This is how I did it.



First Try

My first attempt at this can be seen here. I finished lighting the left button and left the right for another day. As you can see in the old writeup, I got a lot of my information from Llamma’s write up, with some obvious changes. When I opened the PSP back up to do the right side, I decided to completely re-do the left (I wasn’t optimistic about the durability, and I also ran into some shorting issues with the wire I used. It turned out that the varnish insulation was unreliable, and it occasionally shorted to the metal frame it ran through, which was grounded.). The second time around, I deviated from Llamma’s instructions even more.

Full Article

AnimatedSprite Class\Library Ver. 2.1 & requireC Update!

November 1st, 2006, 02:42 Posted By: wraggster

Alatnat posted this news/release:

Hey-o!
I've updated a few bug fixes and improved some stuff.

Here's what's new in the AnimatedSprite Class\Library:
-Fixed image reloading bug in function AnimatedSprite.addImage(i mg,name)
-the draw function now checks to see if the sprite is being drawn on the screen and if it isn't it doesn't draw to the screen.
-sprite animation reversing now works!

Here's what's new in the requireC function:
-now if it doesn't load the lua file requested, it write's to a text file called stderr.txt to tell you loading problems.

The “Double Your Dating” Mobile Magazine

November 1st, 2006, 02:47 Posted By: wraggster

Via Perooz

David DeAngelo is the author of “Double Your Dating - What Every Man Should Know About How To Be Successful With Women”, and has taught thousands of men how to be more successful with women and dating. In this issue of the Double your Dating Mobile Magazine you will find The Top Ten Reasons Why Men Fail With Women—And How To Make Sure YOU Avoid Every One Of These Deadly Common Mistakes…

GTA Vice City Stories Works on v2.71 Heres the Details

November 1st, 2006, 02:53 Posted By: wraggster

Thanks to GTA Portable.com heres the tutorial for getting the new GTA Vice City Stories working on your PSP v2.71:

IF YOU HAVE 2.71 OR LOWER DO NOT UPGRADE!

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY UPGRADED, TOO BAD. DON'T GO MAKING A POST IN HERE SAYING THAT YOU ALREADY UPGRADED BECAUSE NO ONE CARES.

Now here is the fun part. You remember Cheat Device by Edison Carter? Well thanks to PRX's and DevHook, Cheat Device will be sporting support for another game, VCS! Wouldn't you just love to have all the enjoyment that you got in LCS with Cheat Device in VCS? Well you can enjoy all this and more! All we have to do is wait for Edison Carter to reprogram Cheat Device. Now just because VCS makes you upgrade to 2.81 means you have to. If you have 1.5 or 2.71 SE-A with DevHook you can play the game with out 2.81!

Here is what you do,

1. choose what firmware version 2.71
2. Go into“other menu” then choose “UMD SFO VERSION”
3. In that menu, choose “2.xx to 2.00″
4. If you want to play at 333 MHz change the clock speed to 333MHz
4. launch the firmware and start the UMD

Pick-O-Mania v0.2 beta

November 1st, 2006, 02:57 Posted By: wraggster

News/release from JustChris:

It's my first game for PSP, Pick-O-Mania. From the screenshot below you might think of Lumines, but it is not like Lumines. You just eliminate adjacent blocks to earn points, and scores increase greatly the more blocks you remove at a time. I just finished enough of the game for there to actually be a game- just the scoring, simple rules, and no menus yet.

This is the first playable version so things are still kinda buggy. For one thing I still gotta fix the way blocks collapse into empty spaces when you remove them. Let me know if you found other bugs, crashes, etc.

Controls

arrows - move cursor
X - remove blocks
triangle - shuffle board (makes new blocks) and resets score

Over The Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts US ver

November 1st, 2006, 03:07 Posted By: wraggster

New from SuccessHK



In Over The Hedge, you'll take an interactive adventure beyond the film. When a housing development intrudes on their woodland habitat and an opossum is kidnapped by an evil exterminator, three wise-cracking rodents and one reptile invade the 'burbs in a quest to rescue their friend. Battle the exterminator and his army of mind-controlled mammals, and save the forest (and your own hide) from the world's peskiest critter -- man. Gamers can play with a friend in the wireless mini-game with a single Over the Hedge NDS cartridge

Magical Starsign US ver

November 1st, 2006, 03:08 Posted By: wraggster

New from SuccessHK



Magical Vacation has you adventuring through outer space to rescue your teacher and classmates while exploring strange planets. The game is controlled fully by the stylus, and features up to 6 players via WiFi.

Contact US ver

November 1st, 2006, 03:10 Posted By: wraggster

New from SuccessHK



In Contact, you'll become a direct part of your role-playing. A Professor's damaged spaceship crash lands on a mysterious planet. He discovers that the power sources of his ship, known as Cells, have been scattered across the world. To retrieve them all, The Professor enlists a brave young man named Terry -- and a brave video game player known as you! The Professor and Terry will ask for your help during the course of the adventure, using the Nintendo DS to "contact" you along the way.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance US ver

November 1st, 2006, 03:13 Posted By: wraggster

New from SuccessHK



Marvel: Ultimate Alliance lets you create a four-member strike force of Marvel Super Heroes. If you had to assemble a team of the best heroes, who would you pick? Choose wisely, because this is an alliance for the ages -- the team you create will face incredible evils, from the most exotic locations on Earth to the neighboring solar systems. Partner, battle and interact with more than 140 characters from the entire Marvel Universe, in a multi-mission quest with an innovative combat system. Command the largest roster of Super Heroes ever, as you determine the fate of a universe. Control the fate of the Marvel universe - The missions you accept, the objectives completed, and how you interact with other characters throughout the game will have a direct impact on how the story plays out Fight in no-holds-barred combat while airborne, on the ground and even submerged underwater -- in a destructible environment, where objects such as lampposts and chairs can become dangerous weapons

Sony Destroying the Import Market for PSP Games

November 1st, 2006, 03:23 Posted By: wraggster

The death of LIk Sang is one thing but Sony have also got the likes of Play Asia running scared and they also wont ship any PSP Consoles or games to Europe, does anyone find it annoying that the console is region free and yet they are still blocking the imports of PSP games from Japan etc.

Thank god for Success HK for providing all the world with US and Japanese games.

PSP: Pink, Silver, Metallic Blue out for Japan

November 1st, 2006, 09:40 Posted By: happy_mak

The new colors for PSP are announced officially in Japan.
The pink PSP goes on sale on November 22,

The silver on December 12

and metallic blue on December 21st

I would love to get the metallic blue, well i dont have the cash on me unfortunately...

Screens of the New PSP Colours Via Comments

PSP : PSP meets Samantha Thavasa

November 1st, 2006, 11:40 Posted By: happy_mak

Well the PSP meets Samantha Thavasa, that is to say Sony wants girls to shell out more.

Well a designer pouch, a rabbit fur strap, a heart charm strap and a toto bag with the pink PSP is what the content says on the Japan playstation site.

URL : http://www.jp.playstation.com/info/r..._samantha.html

and ouch, its pricey, with the pouch at 15750 yen around(@140 dollars) and straps at 8925 yen (@70 dollars) and the toto bag is as they usually are priced higher at 26250 yen (@240 dollars).

Well might be a fashion statement for some, and yes it looks cute, hmm now I am eager to check if any ladies on the tokyo subway actually sport this PSP anytime...

Screen Via Comments

Cheatdevice GTA for 2.71SE-B' without devhook

November 1st, 2006, 12:16 Posted By: Vibestar

This is a installer for DA 2.71SE B'for the cheatDevice v1.0d PRX for GTA:Liberty City Stories for use without DevHook.



Some people asked about it on the forums. So I decided to combine 2 apps to this one. It works the same as Weltalls great cwcheat for Dark Alex 2.71SE B' .

At first I want to state that this is not my work. I just combined two homebrew applications togheter and tweaked the eboot a little to have the right text.
Most of the credit goes out to Edison Carter for his CheatDevice v1.0d PRX for GTA:Liberty City Stories, Weltall for his cwcheat for Dark Alex 2.71SE B' custom firmware and to Cpasjuste who coded the installer for Weltall.
But save some credit for me ....

The installer writes to FLASH0 . I'm not responsable of any damage of what happens,
since this software is provided free and without warranty.

Have fun cheating

vIBE sTAR

update:

Made a xtra version for people that already have installed cwcheat for Dark Alex 2.71SE B'. This way both cheatdevices can be run.

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments

Nintendo confirms Wii launch line-up for North America

November 1st, 2006, 17:52 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo of America has confirmed the titles due for the US launch window of its new Wii console, with 32 retail games due to arrive by the end of December.

The format holder has also unveiled its first 30 retro titles for the Virtual Console service, supporting favourites from platforms such as Super Nintendo and Mega Drive, also due before the end of the year.

The new Wii game list brings confirmation that titles like Metal Slug Anthology and Call of Duty 3 will join first party titles including The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, Wii Play and ExciteTruck.

Nintendo has previously said to expect around 15 titles on launch day.

Meanwhile, Virtual Console offerings will include Super Mario 64 (N64), F-Zero (SNES), Sonic the Hedgehog (Megadrive) and a raft of titles for both NES and TurboGrafx-16.

Virtual Console games will be sold for Wii Points - with NES games costing 500, SNES games 800 and N64 games 1000.

In Europe, 2000 Wii Points will cost around EUR 20 or GBP 14, Nintendo confirmed back in September.

What follows is the list of third-party Wii titles, and the Virtual Console games listed by console:

The Ant Bully

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Call of Duty 3

Cars

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2

Elebits

Far Cry: Vengeance

The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

GT Pro Series

Happy Feet

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

Madden NFL 07

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Metal Slug Anthology

Monster 4x4 World Circuit

Need for Speed Carbon

Open Season

Rampage: Total Destruction

Rapala Tournament Fishing

Rayman Raving Rabbids

Red Steel

SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

Super Swing Golf

Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam

World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions

Virtual Console:

NES

Baseball

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong Jr.

Ice Hockey

The Legend of Zelda

Pinball

Soccer

Solomon's Key

Super Mario Bros.

Tennis

Urban Champion

Wario's Woods

Super NES

F-Zero

SimCity

Nintendo 64

Super Mario 64

Sega Megadrive

Altered Beast

Columns

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Ecco the Dolphin

Golden Axe

Gunstar Heroes

Sonic The Hedgehog

Space Harrier II

ToeJam and Earl

TurboGrafx-16

Bomberman '93

Bonk's Adventure

Dungeon Explorer

Super Star Soldier

Victory Run

The Wii will launch in America on November 19th priced USD $249.99 and in Europe on December 8th priced EUR 249 (GBP 179).

Hudson announces Virtual Console titles for Wii

November 1st, 2006, 17:52 Posted By: wraggster

Hudson Entertainment has announced plans to launch more than 40 retro games for the Wii's Virtual Console service during 2007, with prices starting at EUR 6.

The initial batch of titles due out in Europe and the US will include Bonk's Adventure, Super Star Soldier, Victory Run, Bomberman 93 and Dungeon Explorer - all of which will be available by the end of the year. Japanese Wii owners will also get the option to buy Adventure Island and Necromancer.

Each game will cost a minimum of 600 Wii points, or EUR 6 / USD 6 / YEN 600, and will be available via the Wii Shop Channel. Users can buy points either via the online shop or from retail stores.

Hudson said it plans to release more than 60 games for the Virtual Console in Japan over the next year, while the US and Europe will get a further 40 titles. That will include third-party games for the TurboGrafx-16 (known as the PC Engine in Japan).

The news follows Nintendo's announcement that 30 Virtual Console games will be released by the end of 2006, including favourites from platforms such as the SNES and Megadrive.

Sega's Virtual Console titles to start at USD 8

November 1st, 2006, 17:53 Posted By: wraggster

Sega of America has unveiled the first batch of titles it plans to release for the Wii's Virtual Console, which will be priced at 800 Wii points per game.

The 2006 line-up includes Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Altered Beast, Golden Axe and Gunstar Heroes. Classic puzzler Columns will also be on offer, along with Ecco the Dolphin, Space Harrier II, Ristar and Toe Jam and Earl.

According to an official statement, the Virtual Console service will feature a "best of" selection of Sega games that will be updated with new content each month. Prices will start at 800 Wii points per title - the equivalent to USD 8.

That's the same starting price Nintendo has announced for SNES titles, although NES titles will cost from 500 Wii points. Hudson said its Virtual Console offerings will cost 600 points and up.

"Nintendo has offered a great gateway in bringing classic Sega titles to Wii console owners," said SOA's VP of marketing, Scott A. Steinberg.

"This is only the beginning though, as you can expect to see more announcements regarding other legendary titles from Sega's catalog coming to the Wii Shop Channel in the coming months."

Nintendo begins push into Russian market

November 1st, 2006, 17:54 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo is looking to expand its market reach by launching its videogame business in Russia this year, according to a report on business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Following in the footsteps of rival format-holders Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo hopes to establish a presence in the growing market as traditional US, Japanese and European regions begin to mature.

Considered a growing market, the inaugural Game Developers Conference Russia was held in St Petersburgh last month, attracting local development and publishing teams, as well as international attendees including Q Entertainment, Valve and Eidos.

Along with other areas such as the Nordic regions in Europe, publishers and developers are increasingly looking to new markets to expand their businesses, with Russia becoming the latest region to benefit from international attention.

Nokia appoints new exec to gaming division

November 1st, 2006, 17:56 Posted By: wraggster

Nokia has announced the appointment of Telcogames co-founder Mark Ollila to the role of director of technology and strategy for games and multimedia.

Ollila's career history includes involvement in the setting up of several mobile and media companies and research laboratories. He co-founded Telcogames in 2003, and remains a non-executive director of the company today. He is also on the advisory board of GDC Mobile.

In his new role, Ollila will be responsible for technology strategy and business development, plus industry relations and marketing, partnerships and internal roadmapping. He will be based in Espoo, Finland.

"Joining Nokia during the final strategic developments of Nokia’s next generation mobile games platform launch is a unique challenge - where new social and connected technology benchmarks and consumer experiences are being delivered for the first time to the mobile entertainment market," Ollila commented.

"It’s these kinds of progressive developments that form new cultures and greater opportunities for our industry, which I am delighted to be involved in."

Sony warns of PlayStation 3 pre-order scams

November 1st, 2006, 17:57 Posted By: wraggster

Sony has issued a warning against websites attempting to take advantage of PlayStation 3 pre-orders.

The company issued a statement stating that websites offering discounted or bulk shipments of the new home console have not been arranged with any cooperation from Sony or its partners.

"Such offers are not done with any cooperation from SCEA or its parent company," reads the statement.

"SCEA strongly recommends against consumers pursuing such offers, as their legitimacy cannot be confimed. We recommend consumers purchase PlayStation products only from authorised SCEA retailers and resellers," it said.

The move comes as the firm prepares to launch it next-gen console in the US and Japan later this month.

Europe to get 27 Wii titles this year

November 1st, 2006, 17:58 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo has announced that 27 Wii games will be released in Europe by the end of the year, with a further 31 retro titles available via the Virtual Console service.

The Wii will launch here on December 8 alongside first-party titles such as Wii Sports, which comes bundled with the console, Wii Play and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Electronic Arts's launch day games will be Madden NFL 07 and Need for Speed Carbon, while THQ is promising Cars, Barnyard and Spongebob Squarepants: Creature from the Krusty Krab.

From Activision there's Call of Duty 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, and Midway will offer Happy Feet and Rampage: Total Destruction. Sega will release just one launch day title - Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz - while from System 3 there's Gottlieb Pinball Classics and Super Fruit Fall.

Ubisoft is the most prolific supporter of the Wii at launch, with no less than eight titles slated for release - Blazing Angels, Far Cry Vengeance, GT Pro Series, Monster 4x4 World Circuit, Open Season, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Red Steel and Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

Later on in December, System 3 will release three more Wii titles - Impossible Mission, Leaderboard Golf and Tennis Masters. January will see WarioWare: Smooth Moves hit the shops, while Excite Truck will follow in February.

The Wii will retail for GBP 179 / EUR 249, and first-party games will cost between EUR 49 - 59 or GBP 34 - 39.

Nintendo has also confirmed that December will see the release of 31 games for the European version of the Wii's Virtual Console. NES titles already lined up include Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros., Solomon's Key, The Legend of Zelda, Urban Champion and Wario's Woods, plus sports titles Baseball, Pinball, Soccer, Tennis and Ice Hockey.

SNES classics Donkey Kong Country, F-Zero and Sim City will also be on offer, along with N64 favourite Super Mario 64.

Sega's European VC line-up includes Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Go