News from Guyfawkes

I have released a new version of the GP2X User Guide for the newly released v2.0.0 firmware. This is a quick update to the guide which has information for updating the firmware and a brief overview of the new features introduced in v2.0.0 firmware. I will be working on a more in depth guide for the new features over the weekend and I will release it as soon as possible as everyone wants a web server on their GP2X

Download the new user guide and give feedback Via Comments ...

Guyfawkes let us know whats new in this latest firmware release:

The new version 2 firmware for the GP2X has been released today. Amongst the new features are faster boot times (around 12 seconds, half the speed of before), a new 'System' menu which has loads of new features including a working USB connection (yay!), web server, USB host, samba and more.

This is quite a big update and it is required that you flash the filesystem this time so please make sure you are using fresh batteries or a power supply otherwise you may end up bricking your GP2X.

Download Here --> http://archive.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfile...,0,0,0,42,1472 ...

Nintendo just announced that the name of their newest box, code named “Revolution”, will be Wii. And we think it is brilliant. Via CNN (just ‘cause they need the link):

Nintendo officially ditched its long-used codename for its next generation machine Thursday, revealing Wii as the final name for the product. Pronounced like “we” (or “whee,” I suppose), the name is meant to emphasize that “this console is for everyone,” Nintendo said in a flash video which introduced the name change…

…The unusual spelling is meant to symbolize both the unique controllers and the image of people gathering to play…

…The core gaming community is already making its opinion known – and it’s a resounding thumbs down.

“Here, I’ll do it: Worst console name ever,” wrote Chris Remo, an editor at Shacknews.com, whose sentiments were immediately echoed by dozens of users. Forum members on Gamespot.com, IGN.com and other gaming sites expressed similar thoughts…

…By letting the gaming community vent now about the name, they will be less distracted as launch titles for the system are announced and initial reports about what it’s like to play the games begin to come in.

Wii has got to be the most savvy name announcement we have seen in many years, and it could be the most viral name announcement since Yahoo! Sure, the buzz is a all negative (News, Blogosphere) but that’s part of the beauty.

Because we don’t believe that Wii is the real name. We think Nintendo is setting you all up to be Punk’d at E3, generating a massive amount of positive buzz when the scam and the real new name are announced.

Crazy? Here is the first clue, “By letting the gaming community vent now about the name, they will be less distracted as launch titles for the system are announced and initial reports about what it’s like to play the games begin to come in.” Allowing your audience time to vent is not SOP in a name announcement, and also telegraphs that Nintendo knows what a stinker this name would be. Second, it’s not possible to engineer a worse name for this product.

Third, and this is a big one, there are no trademarks registered by Nintendo nor by any dummy corp in the U.S or over there for Wii. This is unprecedented for Nintendo and it is not possible that this is an oversight. If Wii were the name, they would have registered it. In fact, no new trademarks have been registered by Nintendo at all. This leads us to conclude that Nintendo has in fact registered the real name under a dummy corp, which is SOP when trying to keep a name a secret prior to launch.

Given that their video game audience is the same demographic as Punk’d, this whole campaign is perversely elegant. Except of course for failing to make the illusion complete by registering a TM for Wii.

Keep in mind, this whole PR campaign cost zero dollars. And yet, some “naming experts” just don’t seem to get it.

http://www.snarkhunting.com/2006/04/...iant/#comments ...

While the rest of the government seems concerned with finding a way to censor videogames, The Brownsville Herald has picked up on Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa of Texas District 20 announcing plans to propose a tax placed on videogame sales to the state's Senate Finance Committee this weekend.
The Democrat intends to use revenue generated from the tax towards building new schools and upgrading poorer ones. "You have all these kids buying video games, and sometimes they are good, some are bad and that's not my call," he said to the paper. "But I think that we can generate [money] to put toward the schools they go to."

Hinojosa's proposal predicts the state would pick up about $65 million from the tax, but does little to explain what makes videogames so special. Music, movies and other forms of entertainment don't have a specific tax, but because videogames are in the legislative spotlight these days, it must be hip to propose something game-related.

via 1up ...

News from Insert Credit

Thanks to Famitsu we know that Falcom's next game for a non-PC system (after Gurumin, which we mentioned here) will be Eiyuu Densetsu VI ~Sora no Kiseki~. It's the game's first port and the target machine is PSP. Titled 'Eiyuu Densetsu VI ~Sora no Kiseki~ FC [First Chapter]', it leaves apart its recent sequel and will get a release on September 28th. Quite disappointing to see Falcom's comeback to the 'console scene.' It's been more than a decade and they chose a handheld. Oh well. ...

Source: A news story on the Web site of wire service United Press International, which has since been updated.

The official story: See below.

What we heard: As far as gaming Web sites were concerned, there was only one story to report on yesterday: Nintendo's controversial renaming of the Revolution, which now goes by the name "Wii." The fan furor over the move has yet to die down completely, as GameSpot's story on the switch has received 3188 mostly angry user comments and counting.

But while most outlets were reporting only on the name change, the news wire service United Press International put up a story saying that Nintendo confirmed a fourth quarter release date for the Wii in addition to the name change. So we asked Nintendo PR how we missed the announcement. A succinct reply came back, with the Nintendo rep saying only, "To my knowledge we didn't announce any sort of launch date yesterday for Wii."

Lo and behold, UPI has since changed its story to say that Nintendo only announced a 2006 release date for the Wii. Meanwhile, some unfortunate affiliates who picked up the original story apparently didn't get the memo. However, gamers can still expect the console to arrive in time for the holidays. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told consumers to expect the console by Thanksgiving. Unless he says something different at Nintendo's pre-E3 event on Tuesday, May 9, expect that launch window to stick.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that the Wii's ship date was announced, not bogus that the Wii will arrive in Q4.

http://us.gamespot.com/pages/news/sh...ic_id=24568456 ...

Source: A postcard sent out to press to promote Konami's E3 press conference.

The official story: "No comment on the postcard."--Konami rep.

What we heard: Late last year, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima sat down with Famitsu, Japan's leading game magazine. In it, he revealed he was developing an upcoming title for the Nintendo Revolution. He explained to the publication that he wanted the game to be drastically different from the stealth-action series which made him famous. He also hinted that he might be targeting female gamers specifically.

While it caused a bit of a stir at the time, Kojima's Revolution revelation faded into the background, thanks to a drought of new information about the project. But that will likely end in two weeks, if the hints on the Konami E3 press conference invitation are to be taken at face value.

The invitation, which arrived in GameSpot editors' mailboxes today, had a grey front with the Kojima Productions logo in the background. In the foreground are six words in all-caps: "RETURN," "REARM," "REGALE," "REBIRTH," "RESPECT," "REFINE." In each of the words, the letters "RE" were conspicuously offset in red. On the back, and even less subtle hint was dropped. "The REVOLT begins, Tuesday, May 9. It's the battle for E3," reads the card before giving the details of the event.

Plainly, Konami is hinting that there will be a major announcement at its press conference that has to do with something starting in "Re." But while the Revolution references may have been fine last week, this week everything changed when Nintendo revealed its console's new name, "Wii." Why would Konami send out a teaser postcard for a Revolution game when they knew a name change was in the works?

The answer is on the postcard, which bears a postmark of Wednesday, April 26--one day before the Wii name was revealed. Given that it was sent before the Wii announcement--which many diehard Nintendans are now claiming is a massive hoax--Konami must've stuck with the Revolution name just to not blow Nintendo's cover. That and it would be wii-ly hard to make a cool-sounding teaser with the console's new moniker. (Painful, we know.)

Bogus or not bogus?: Looking not bogus--expect official confirmation at E3.

http://us.gamespot.com/pages/news/sh...ic_id=24568676 ...

Sony senior vice president Takao Yuhara met with reporters yesterday to announce that the company is working on -- drum roll, please -- a new digital audio player, software and download service to take on Apple's iPod. Yuhara didn't provide a whole lot of details, though he did say the player would be "typically Sony," by which we assume he meant it would be hobbled by intrusive DRM, poor support for formats other than ATRAC and prices that will make it completely uncompetitive in a market where you can get a decent 512MB flash player for well under $100. Still, we wish Sony luck. We really would like to see the company come up with an audio player that could return this pioneer to its early Walkman-era glory (we have an idea: hand the division over to the team that designs the Walkman phones). But we fear that what we'll be seeing will instead be this year's answer to the Bean.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/28/s...he-ipod-again/ ...

PSmonkey has posted a screenshot of the game which is now working in his Nintendo 64 emulator for the PSP, he posted this bit of news:

The bug was Eeprom. While mario & waverace still dont work, I think ths more has to do with emulation bugs (made a few trying to get mario working). All 3 roms (which required 4k eeprom) now progress.

Starfox does get alot farter then this, it's just the map screen is very hard to figure out (hle bugs). I probably could get all the way ingame but did not have the time to check it out. $n!pR will do that for me in a big and come back with the results later.

Keep your eye on things via his site here --> http://nemo.dcemu.co.uk

-- Update by PSmonkey --
I have also just fixed a missing RDP opcode. As a result mario kart is now running. Please see website for screenshots & more details. ...