Sony today has released firmware version 2.50 for the PS3. For those will might have missed out on what the new featues were being implented in the update, the full details are shown below, taken from Sony's European website:




As usual, to update to the latest firmware update, choose Network Update in Settings on your console or download the firmware package to a memory stick from a computer. ...

via Engadget


Sitting idle while your new PS3 game installs is painful, but since it's all in the interest of reducing subsequent load times it's worth the wait, right? Not for the impatient sods at ExtremeTech, who tried to speed things up further by swapping out their original 60GB PS3's HDD with Intel's hot new 80GB X25-M SSD.

The result? Sadly, those multi-minute installs from disc were largely unaffected, since the limitation here is Blu-ray drive speed and not disk speed. However, installs of downloaded demos were upwards of 30-40 percent faster, as were post-installation load times in most games. That's an impressive boost, but at a cost of about $600 for the SSD itself you'll be spending about 50 percent more than an entire PS3 of the 80GB spinning disk variety. In other words, this one's not for the frugal modders, but it is so choice if you have the means. ...

via Gizmodo US




Ah, the Dreamcast. Just whispering its name brings thousands of fanboys to half-mast, so I can't even imagine the number of popped tents this beautiful handheld Dreamcast is going to provoke.

It really is a work of beauty, isn't it? We've seen portable Dreamcasts before, but this one just looks so much better. Created by Hailrazer on the Ben Heck Forums, it brings tears of both joy and sadness. It's such an awesome piece of work, yet it just brings back bad memories of the Dreamcast's untimely demise.




More info and pictures at Ben Heck forums ...

via IGN


The latest issue of Famitsu has a first report on Toshinden, a Wii fighting game from Takara Tomy.

You might hear the name "Takara" and "Toshinden" and think that this is a new version of the fighting series that, for better or worse, ended up being one of Sony's banner titles back at the original PlayStation's launch. Actually, a little sidebar in the Famitsu clarifies that the new title is a completely original game, with an original world setting and original characters. The Japanese kanji writing for the name is even different.

Like the old PlayStation fighter, the new Toshinden is weapon-based. The game's storyline revolves around a fight to determine the strongest "Toshinki," which appears to be just some fancy name for a weapon. The game's cast of fighters make use of these weapons.

Toshinden promises a "thrilling" combat system that can be experienced with a simple control scheme. Most attacks can be performed with a single button press. The game also has a "combo make system," which allows you to freely create an original combo.

Development on Toshinden is currently at 20% with a release listed by the magazine as TBA. ...

via Games Industry


In an about-face not uncommon for the outspoken politician, Mayor of London Boris Johnson has praised the UK games industry while backing this month's upcoming London Games Festival.

It was December 2006 that Johnson publicly blamed videogames for a variety of ills, laying into games consoles as a cause of "ignorance, underachievement... and poverty," amongst young people.


However, today, the London Mayor has put his weight behind EA's Be The One event scheduled for October 31 and November 1 in Trafalgar Square.


The 'Be The One BattleDome' will boast multiple gaming pods and screens and will host a series of celebrity and public gaming challenges, as well as live music performances.

As well as EA Sports competitions and the chance for the public to play Mirror's Edge, Spore and Warhammer Online, Johnson will no doubt be pleased that there will also be a number of titles for Nintendo formats, including Littlest Pet Shop, Boogie and SuperStar. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Finally, the embargo shackles are off. We've been playing LittleBigPlanet for weeks now and have been dying to show you how awesome it is.

There are three videos on this page, and one in the review we posted earlier, which you should take a look at here.

Over there you'll see our Sackboy running away from a giant raging mech who's stomping through a level, battering everything down as it gives chase.

In the three here (one above, two more below), we show off a range of other gameplay mechanics, from dragging a little character through a simple obstacle course, to some traditional platforming and a Sonic the Hedgehog-style speed level.

But in the spirit of the game's focus on user-created content, we'd be interested to know what you want to see of the game. We'll be happy to take more videos of earlier stages in the game, or we could attempt to make a Sackboy of your request in a video.

Or maybe you want us to perform an experiment in the Create mode for you. Is it possible to make '...', or what happens when you do '...'? Want us to make a giant seesaw, put Sackboy on one end and drop a hundred blocks onto the other? That sort of stuff.

Be sensible with your suggestions though, people. We won't be trying to make combustion engines or particle accelerators. We've got to write some news stories you know...


Trailer at CVG ...

via Kotaku


Bioshock for the PS3 isn't even out yet, but already 2K has decided it needs some patch work. I haven't played the demo that came out a few weeks ago, but I know there has been reports of graphical issues, specifically pixels appearing on the Big Daddy. If you're dead set on the PS3 version, and you've already given Gamestop your money, there's still some hope.

An updated post on the 2K forums has outlined some of the improvements expected to be fixed in the game. 2K Community Manager Elizabeth Tobey says they're still working on the entire list, and that the patch itself still has to go through testing and certification, so there is no definitive release date yet. But don't expect the patch to be released until after the game hits retail next week. Click the jump for the short list of expected bug fixes so far.

- Fix for an issue where large blocky pixels would show up whenever viewing the Bouncer and Elite Bouncer variants of the Big Daddy.

- Fix for an issue where white/discolored bars would show up at the right and bottom sides of the screen during the plane crash / water scene at the beginning of the game. ...

via Computer and Video Games


According to the internet, the next Xbox will be "forward compatible", meaning current Xbox 360 games will be enhanced on Microsoft's next console. Pass the salt.

That's according to a "source" belonging to site Xbox Evolved anyway.

According to the site current Xbox 360 games will see graphical improvements, such as increased draw distance, framerate and more anti-aliasing, on the next Xbox, similar to how PC games will look better on more high-end hardware.


Sounds likely enough to us. What do our technically apt readers think? Sound off below. ...

via Computer and Video Games


A little bit of behind-the-scenes info has come to light about Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade certification process via OXM.

Now we all know XBLA game have to have a certain number of achievements and be under a certain size, but did you know that they have to be playable on a 14-inch CRT television? If you did, stop reading now. There's nothing more for you here.

Introversion Software MD Mark Morris (currently working on Darwinia+ for XBLA) told OXM, "Microsoft has extremely strict technical certification requirements that you have to get right. One of the biggest challenges is that your game has got to be playable on a 14-inch CRT television.


If anyone can remember playing Capcom's Dead Rising on an old-skool TV, and bursting blood vessels in their eyeballs trying to read the tiny text, then you'll know what he's talking about.

Read more about how games get onto Xbox Live over on OXM. It's well worth a look. ...