Gabe Newell, Valve cofounder and managing director, has reportedly shared his feelings regarding data rights management. According to a LiveJournal post (via Gamepolitcs.com), Newell wrote, "most DRM strategies are just dumb."

Newell added, "The goal should be to create greater value for customers through service value (make it easy for me to play my games whenever and wherever I want to), not by decreasing the value of a product (maybe I'll be able to play my game and maybe I won't)."

"We really, really discourage other developers and publishers from using the broken DRM offerings, and in general there is a groundswell to abandon those approaches."

Following through on the philosophy of rewarding the legitimate consumer, Steam, Valve's digital distribution service, offers players constant inbuilt game updates and various community implemented features, such as friends lists.

Due to its rather restrictive nature, DRM has caused quite a controversy as of late. The highly-anticipated and critically-praised Spore has received much criticism due to it three-install limitation. Even though the unique simulator currently maintains an 8.3 average on game averaging site Gamestats.com, Spore has only garnered a one-point five out of five star rating from consumer web site Amazon.com. Several users from the web site's community shared their thoughts that Spore's DRM was draconian in nature.

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/935/935020p1.html ...

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) today unveiled comprehensive line up of software for PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3), PSP (PlayStation Portable), and PlayStation 2 available during the 2008 holiday season. With 19 titles from SCEA and limited edition hardware bundles providing great consumer value, PlayStation aims to have fresh content for gamers this holiday season whether they are at home, traveling, or celebrating the holidays with family and friends.

In conjunction with the PS3 system's recently celebrated second anniversary, SCEA released the limited-edition Uncharted: Drake's Fortune PS3 system bundle. Featuring an impressive 160GB hard drive, the new PS3 system provides consumers with enough space to store a robust combination of games and entertainment content, such as 24 high definition movies, 8 standard definition television shows, 100 PlayStation Network games, 2,000 music files, and 2,000 photos(*1). The PS3 system has the strongest first party software lineup heading into the holiday season with titles like LittleBigPlanet from Media Molecule and its groundbreaking user generated content; Resistance 2 from Insomniac Games, with unprecedented 60 player multiplayer mayhem; Motorstorm Pacific Rift, with no holds barred racing action; and BUZZ! Quiz TV, the quiz game show with over 5,000 questions and easy-to-use wireless buzzers.

"This holiday season we have gifts of the highest caliber to suit the taste of every gamer in your household; from community based experiences like LittleBigPlanet, to first person shooters like Resistance 2 to racing games like Motorstorm: Pacific Rift to casual games like SingStar and BUZZ!," said Scott A. Steinberg, vice president of product marketing, SCEA. "We are dedicated to delivering entertainment of the finest quality to our consumers to help make this holiday a lot more enjoyable."

Winter travel is a bit brighter with the newly released PSP system (PSP-3000), which offers an enhanced LCD screen with a wider color gamut and higher contrast ratio and a built-in microphone. The new PSP system is capable of displaying movies and photos in more natural and vibrant colors on its high resolution 4.3 inch wide screen. Available in Mystic Silver or Piano Black, the updated hardware is available in two limited edition Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters(R) PSP Entertainment Packs. Titles like BUZZ! Master Quiz, NBA 09 The Inside, and Secret Agent Clank will make the trip to visit family more enjoyable.

Family and friends can easily entertain at home during the holiday season with all new versions of the hit interactive singing experience SingStar for both the PS3 and PlayStation 2 systems. December 2 marks the release of the disco-centric SingStar ABBA which joins currently available the recently released versions of the hit franchise including SingStar Country, SingStar Pop vol. 22, and SingStar Legends for PlayStation 2. For PS3 owners, SingStar Vo1. 2 and SingStar ABBA add new tracks and videos for the rising star in your family to perform.

SCEA's Currently Available First Party 2008 Holiday Lineup Includes:

PLAYSTATION 3
BUZZ! Quiz TV
LittleBigPlanet
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift
NBA 09 The Inside
Resistance 2
SingStar ABBA
SingStar Vol. 2
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation

PlayStation Network
Linger In Shadows
Pain Movie Studio
Crash Commando
Savage Moon

PSP (PlayStation Portable)
BUZZ! Master Quiz
NBA 09 The Inside

PlayStation 2
NBA 09 The Inside
SingStar ABBA
SingStar Country
SingStar Legends
SingStar Pop Volume 2

(*1) Based off the average files sizes listed below:
-- High Definition Movies 6GB
-- Standard Television Shows (30 minutes) 1.5GB
-- PlayStation Network Games 100MB
-- Music Files (MP3) 5MB
-- Photos 5MB

About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation and PS one game consoles, the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system, the ground-breaking PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) computer entertainment system and its online and network services the PlayStation Network and PlayStation Store.

Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and the PSP system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Visit us on the Web at http://www.us.playstation.com ...

News via Nintendomax/gxmod/tehskeen



Bert Jan presents its whiite customized version of Linux.
This version has a graphical interface and is provided with various applications such as a video player, web browser Firefox ...

Download Here and Give Feedback via comments ...

News from Craigix:

Hello everyone,

Craig here, I know some of you must be choking for news at the moment, so I thought I'd write another status update for you.

As you may be aware, in terms of the economy there could not be a worse time to be building the worlds first community driven
hand held device;

No credit on parts, banks who say 'no thanks' to your 4000 orders, long lead times on parts which only a few months ago were
plentiful, currency collapses and lots more.

But we prevail, the project must go on!

One of the saving graces of this project is of course you guys - the community, thanks to you we have no debts, continuing
support and a ready and willing user base. We are very aware of how lucky this situation is - especially in the current climate,
if we had done this with a loan from a bank we are well aware the loan would have been called in by now and the project canceled.

And it is your support which is making us try to make the Pandora as perfect as it can possibly be. I know some of you want us to
just release it already, some of you hackers would not care if it had flaws, but as some of you will remember the whole point of
the Pandora was to not make the mistakes of previous open consoles.

On that note I'm pleased to say next weekend we will be building the first fully working Pandora with controls and keyboard and
making some videos of it for you to see - this does not mean the work is finished - there is bound to be something which needs
adjusting, but it is a major near final milestone.

Also we know some of you are frustrated by the slow refund and reorder process - believe me so are we - this situation could not
be more of a nightmare for us especially as we had no idea it would happen, it's a good thing we now have a bank who understands
this project and supports us with it.

Those of you who are angry about the situation please understand that what happened was not our choice, someone who was clueless
to the project saw our bank balance, paniced without speaking to us, and set the wheels in motion for a pointless refund process.
Those of you who might think we could discuss this like adults with the bank in question are very mistaken - you may as well try
to talk to a brick wall, the whole banking world is in panic mode and we are small fry to them.

But even after all this we are still working away, finding routes around the problems all with one goal still in mind - making the
best and most powerful handheld ever.

As for new things to see some of you might like this render of the case top we went with:



It addresses the boxyness of the case which some of you didn't like, making the Pandora slimmer and more rounded, this is the
design we will be going with unless a major flaw is found.

On another note, those of you emailing asking if there will be any space for new orders after the refund process is complete I
can say there will be some available - I will post information when you can place a new order.

As for a shipping date - until we get the final delivery dates for some parts we still can't give an accurate time line but we
are working as hard as we can for it to happen as SOON AS POSSIBLE, it may be comforting for you to know another ~15 dev kits
went out to some of the best developers on the scene in the last few weeks who are furiously working on software as we speak.

One of the main problems with production is that parts are not available as easily as they were a few months ago - companies are
not keeping stock and only manufacturing to order, another pitfall of the global economy right now.

In slightly better news it's possible we might be able to ship some units reasonably soon to those of you who are more the hacker
type, these units may come without a battery and with a beta OS installed, the battery could be sent on at a later date at the
postage cost.

I hope to have more news for you soon.

http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?showtopic=45540 ...

News from Craigix:

Hello everyone,

Craig here, I know some of you must be choking for news at the moment, so I thought I'd write another status update for you.

As you may be aware, in terms of the economy there could not be a worse time to be building the worlds first community driven
hand held device;

No credit on parts, banks who say 'no thanks' to your 4000 orders, long lead times on parts which only a few months ago were
plentiful, currency collapses and lots more.

But we prevail, the project must go on!

One of the saving graces of this project is of course you guys - the community, thanks to you we have no debts, continuing
support and a ready and willing user base. We are very aware of how lucky this situation is - especially in the current climate,
if we had done this with a loan from a bank we are well aware the loan would have been called in by now and the project canceled.

And it is your support which is making us try to make the Pandora as perfect as it can possibly be. I know some of you want us to
just release it already, some of you hackers would not care if it had flaws, but as some of you will remember the whole point of
the Pandora was to not make the mistakes of previous open consoles.

On that note I'm pleased to say next weekend we will be building the first fully working Pandora with controls and keyboard and
making some videos of it for you to see - this does not mean the work is finished - there is bound to be something which needs
adjusting, but it is a major near final milestone.

Also we know some of you are frustrated by the slow refund and reorder process - believe me so are we - this situation could not
be more of a nightmare for us especially as we had no idea it would happen, it's a good thing we now have a bank who understands
this project and supports us with it.

Those of you who are angry about the situation please understand that what happened was not our choice, someone who was clueless
to the project saw our bank balance, paniced without speaking to us, and set the wheels in motion for a pointless refund process.
Those of you who might think we could discuss this like adults with the bank in question are very mistaken - you may as well try
to talk to a brick wall, the whole banking world is in panic mode and we are small fry to them.

But even after all this we are still working away, finding routes around the problems all with one goal still in mind - making the
best and most powerful handheld ever.

As for new things to see some of you might like this render of the case top we went with:



It addresses the boxyness of the case which some of you didn't like, making the Pandora slimmer and more rounded, this is the
design we will be going with unless a major flaw is found.

On another note, those of you emailing asking if there will be any space for new orders after the refund process is complete I
can say there will be some available - I will post information when you can place a new order.

As for a shipping date - until we get the final delivery dates for some parts we still can't give an accurate time line but we
are working as hard as we can for it to happen as SOON AS POSSIBLE, it may be comforting for you to know another ~15 dev kits
went out to some of the best developers on the scene in the last few weeks who are furiously working on software as we speak.

One of the main problems with production is that parts are not available as easily as they were a few months ago - companies are
not keeping stock and only manufacturing to order, another pitfall of the global economy right now.

In slightly better news it's possible we might be able to ship some units reasonably soon to those of you who are more the hacker
type, these units may come without a battery and with a beta OS installed, the battery could be sent on at a later date at the
postage cost.

I hope to have more news for you soon.

http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?showtopic=45540 ...

The Acekard team have today announced the worlds first Flashcart to get by the security features on the DSI,

Heres the video:




Awesome news for Homebrew on the DSI

...

A pleasant surprise will have greeted Japanese Wii owners when they awoke this morning: a brand new Wii channel! Spencer from Siliconera freed up the necessary 82 blocks of space to download the "Today And Tomorrow's Lucky Fortune-Telling Channel," and wrote about his experiences.

Truthfully, it sounds very cute and novel, if a tad pointless. Six Miis can be added to the channel, which uses each Mii's preset birthday to calculate how lucky they are -- as you can see above, Mr. Green Jumper will be enjoying some good fortune! If you're down on your luck, you can change clothes to a luckier color by holding down the A and B buttons. Click on a Mii, and you'll be able to read what the future holds in five categories: love, work, school, communication, and money; while this Mii is pretty loved up, she is also penniless.

There are other modes to play with, including a friendship compatibility test, the results of which change daily. You can also get your Miis to ask about a certain subject, and receive three random words for you to interpret yourself.

http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/200...elling-channe/ ...

With so many great games to choose from, finding the perfect gift for the game fan on your shopping list can be challenging. For the second year GameFly, the leading online video game rental service, is offering shoppers everywhere a guide to the fifteen top-rated and most popular new releases.

This year’s list is based on the rankings, ratings and GameQ’s of GameFly members, one of the most active gaming communities. Go to GameFly’s Web site (www.gamefly.com) for more information on these titles and take advantage of GameFly’s special holiday offer, $6.95 for the first month. GameFly is also offering up to 20 percent off on gift certificates.

ALL PLATFORMS

Gears of War 2 (XB360)
Fallout 3 (PS3, XB360)
Fable 2 (XB360)
Call of Duty: World at War (PS3, PS2, XB360, Wii, DS)
Resistance 2 (PS3)
Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, XB360)
Little Big Planet (PS3)
Rock Band 2 (PS3, PS2, XB360, Wii)
Guitar Hero World Tour (PS3, PS2, XB360, Wii)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
Left 4 Dead (XB360)
Far Cry 2 (PS3, XB360)
Saint's Row 2 (PS3, XB360)
Prince of Persia (PS3, XB360)
Chrono Trigger (DS)

XBOX 360
Gears of War 2
Call of Duty: World at War
Fallout 3
Fable 2
Left 4 Dead

PS3
Resistance 2
Little Big Planet
Metal Gear Solid 4
Fallout 3
Prince of Persia
Wii
Animal Crossing: City Folk
Guitar Hero World Tour
Mario Super Sluggers
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

LEGO Batman

NINTENDO DS
Chrono Trigger
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Final Fantasy IV

PS2
Call of Duty: World at War - Final Fronts
Guitar Hero: World Tour
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Madden NFL 09

PSP
Star Ocean: First Departure
God of War: Chains of Olympus
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
LEGO Batman ...

With so many great games to choose from, finding the perfect gift for the game fan on your shopping list can be challenging. For the second year GameFly, the leading online video game rental service, is offering shoppers everywhere a guide to the fifteen top-rated and most popular new releases.

This year’s list is based on the rankings, ratings and GameQ’s of GameFly members, one of the most active gaming communities. Go to GameFly’s Web site (www.gamefly.com) for more information on these titles and take advantage of GameFly’s special holiday offer, $6.95 for the first month. GameFly is also offering up to 20 percent off on gift certificates.

ALL PLATFORMS

Gears of War 2 (XB360)
Fallout 3 (PS3, XB360)
Fable 2 (XB360)
Call of Duty: World at War (PS3, PS2, XB360, Wii, DS)
Resistance 2 (PS3)
Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, XB360)
Little Big Planet (PS3)
Rock Band 2 (PS3, PS2, XB360, Wii)
Guitar Hero World Tour (PS3, PS2, XB360, Wii)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
Left 4 Dead (XB360)
Far Cry 2 (PS3, XB360)
Saint's Row 2 (PS3, XB360)
Prince of Persia (PS3, XB360)
Chrono Trigger (DS)

XBOX 360
Gears of War 2
Call of Duty: World at War
Fallout 3
Fable 2
Left 4 Dead

PS3
Resistance 2
Little Big Planet
Metal Gear Solid 4
Fallout 3
Prince of Persia
Wii
Animal Crossing: City Folk
Guitar Hero World Tour
Mario Super Sluggers
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

LEGO Batman

NINTENDO DS
Chrono Trigger
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Final Fantasy IV

PS2
Call of Duty: World at War - Final Fronts
Guitar Hero: World Tour
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Madden NFL 09

PSP
Star Ocean: First Departure
God of War: Chains of Olympus
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
LEGO Batman ...