New from Play Asia:



Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Metal Slug by joining the Metal Slug team on 7 separate adventures that span across the life of the franchise in this definitive collection.

Seven incredible Metal Slug games on one UMD - Metal Slug 1, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug 3, Metal Slug 4, Metal Slug 5 and Metal Slug 6.

SNK Playmore's Metal Slug Complete (also known as Metal Slug Anthology outside of Japan) for PSP™ is shipping today as Asia release version at US$ 42.90 only. The Japanese release version of this game is expected to arrive later next week, priced at US$ 48.90 respectively.

Game features:

Features Wi-Fi (ad hoc) support for intense 2-player action
Arcade perfect port of each title
Pick-up-and-play, non-stop action

Buy at Play Asia ...

News from Play Asia

Welcome to this week's Movie/Music news roundup, containing all new Japanese and Hong Kong Video and Music releases from this week listed at Play-Asia.com. Around 250 new items are covered in this week, including new J-Pop, Anime as well as Japanese, Hong Kong and Western movie releases and much more.

Here's a summary of all new releases that were published between Saturday, February 10th and Friday, February 16th. If some specific item that you are looking for is missing, please don't hesitate to contact our customer service with your request.


J-Pop Music releases (78)
ENKA Music releases (2)
Anime Soundtracks & Drama CDs (9)
Video Game Soundtracks (1)
Hong Kong Version Music releases (10)
HD DVD Movies (3)
Hong Kong Version Movie releases (42)
Japanese Movies (5)
Non-Japanese Movies / Japanese Version (83)
Anime DVD releases (6)
J-Pop DVD releases (9)
Idol DVD (10)

More info via link above ...

A couple of days ago the site Pensive Gamer explored Homebrew on the Wii. Today it continues with the XBox 360:

As a company, Microsoft's success is partially attributed to its support of the developer community. So when Bill Gates saw a modded original Xbox it seems appropriate that he was curious how homebrew developers could be engaged.

In August 2006 Microsoft's answer came with the announcement of the free development tool XNA Game Studio Express and the subscription-based XNA Creators Club.

Released in December, this is the only mechanism to do legitimate homebrew on the Xbox 360. Unlike the PS3 and Wii a web browser is not available. Until Microsoft believes people really want a browser and Microsoft is comfortable with the security implications, a browser won't come.

Unlike like the other console makers, however, Microsoft has built and continues to build infrastructure, tools and marketing programs around their homebrew platform.

The XNA Strategy
The enabling technology for Microsoft's homebrew strategy is the XNA Framework and its Common Language Runtime. In a nutshell, the framework provides APIs to access features of the Xbox 360, and the CLR is the sandbox/operating environment applications run on.

For amateur game developers there is plenty to like about Microsoft's strategy:

1. The tools are free and allow you to build applications for Windows and the Xbox 360.
2. There is plenty of information on the Internet and at Microsoft's developer site.
3. Your code runs on the 360's standard operating system and allows remote debugging.
4. The framework gives you access to much of the console's abilities including 3D graphics acceleration, audio, private storage and rummblable controllers.

So what has been created so far? There are emulators for the NES and ZX Spectrum, third party development tools, and of course people are building various games.

While the XNA strategy is starting strong, improvements and changes are needed in order to gain mass market appeal.

First, some examples of minor annoyances ... 3D sound is not supported and Achievements cannot be dished out. The lack of 3D sound support is odd considering the betas had it. The lack of achievements, however, is understandable. They require coordination with Microsoft to integrate with Live, let alone malcontents would artificially inflate their Gamerscores.

Higher on the missing features list is the lack of networking support. Without it you cannot create networked games or full media centers. The Microsoft XNA FAQ states networking support is actively being worked on. It is unclear if this is a new Live-oriented API or if they are going to enable the .NET Framework's existing API. I'm hoping for both. But Microsoft will want to attempt to prevent applications from accidentally or purposefully attacking Live or other machines.

The biggest impediments to mass market homebrew, however, are the need to spend $99 US on an annual subscription (or $49 US for four months) and the requirement to share and compile source code in order to use a homebrew application. This is undoubtedly a situation of testing the waters. After all they have a lot of customers to consider. By customers, I mean:

1. The homebrew app writer who wants to create anything they can think of.
2. The mass market homebrew app user who wants to use a homebrew app without compilation, worrying about security, and paying for the privilege of homebrew.
3. The existing publishers and developers who probably want to minimize competition from free applications and won't pay for dev kits, tools, etc, if full featured alternatives are freely available.
4. Microsoft itself, who wants to support a development community but minimize the impact on the customer support team from users of homebrew applications. This is on top of Microsoft's need to manage the situation should any of the above groups get particularly unhappy.

Essentially we are in the early stages of a longer term strategy. I equate this to how Microsoft approached Xbox Live in 2002. We are witnessing the developer-oriented first homebrew step. I'm hoping Microsoft's second step is both broader from an audience standpoint, and deeper from a technical standpoint. Let's see what they reveal at GDC.

Bottom-line: Unlike the other consoles makers, Microsoft is attempting to ensure the homebrew experience is part of Xbox 360 proper. The potential is strong but the mass market showstoppers include the need to purchase an annual subscription and the need to compile the source code of the application. Undoubtedly Microsoft will address this. Hopefully they will address it soon. ...

Hey, didn't The Warriors come out a long time ago on other platforms? And, wasn't it just a brawler game? Meh, maybe it's a Grand Theft Auto-clone. Why should I get excited for a cheap port of an old game?

This kind of sentiment would be completely baseless. It's true that The Warriors isn't a new game. It's also true that the PSP version is simply a port, without any significant upgrades to the original. And yes, like most of Rockstar's other games, this game borrows tons of elements from the revered GTA franchise. However, to think of it as "just a brawler" would do this game a horrible injustice. In fact, PSP owners should be grateful to have such a refreshingly solid game made available on the platform, especially at its budget price. Without a doubt, The Warriors is worth every penny: it provides hours of incredible fun, with a natural, satisfying combat system, and top-notch presentation.

Full review Here ...

Bullet Witch, Godzilla: Unleashed, and Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai: Another Road will all be shown to the public for the first time at the New York Comic Con 2007. Bullet Witch and Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai: Another Road are likely to be playable, says Atari, and there will also be a nonplayable demo of Godzilla: Unleashed.

Godzilla: Unleashed was recently announced by the company for the Wii, DS, and PlayStation Portable, and will be released in "fall 2007." Gamers play as Godzilla, or a choice of other giant monsters, and rampage through a series of cityscapes wreaking destruction. Bullet Witch is an Xbox 360 title, and has just gone gold--it is due for release in the US on February 27. The game describes itself as "a neo-apocalyptic action adventure," and blends Japanese fantasy with "American action." Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai: Another Road is the latest release in the popular Dragon Ball Z series, and features 50 new fighting skills and ultimate attacks. The title is due for release in March 2007 for the PSP.

Atari's vice president of marketing and sales, Nique Fajors, commented, "While Godzilla: Unleashed, Bullet Witch, and DBZ Shin Budokai: Another Road offer different gameplay features, storylines, and visual flair, all three share a common bond of Japanese art and influence--a bond that has been extremely prevalent in comics and other popular art forms."

The New York Comic Con 2007 will be held February 23-25 at the Jacob Javits Center.

via gamespot ...

Jas0nuk has released a new version of Prxdecrypter that now has support for the latest 3.10 and 3.11 firmwares

This mod of psardumper can decrypt individual firmware modules from all known retail firmwares (1.00-3.11)
Also works with all current game PRXs.

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

New release from Vulpix:


Download at Link above
via vulpix ...

New from Pasky13 is a new version of his database editor for Cwcheat:

Whats new in v1.70:

Ability to now download and install the latest version of CWcheat and CWcheatpops automatically!
- Requires Firmware: 3.10-OE (May work on others, not tested/supported)
- Still requires the plugin to be enabled via the Recovery mode
Automatically detects database type when loading a database file. Ability to switch manually still available.
Changes made to the UI. Removed the buttons below the code database as they are no longer necessary. The options they provided are available via right clicking on the code database
Fixed a bug when trying to add a joker code to a code with an existing joker code.
- Previously, this would add an additional joker code to the existing one. This has been fixed and when a joker code exists, the context menu changes to "Edit Joker Code".
Fixed a bug when using the 'Sort' button.
- Previously, after the database was sorted any additional items added afterwards were being sorted or if a new database were opened it would be sorted. This has been fixed.

NOTE: If anyone could make a small banner/logo (In the range of 270x150) that fits the theme of the application, I'd really appreciate it. I'm a horrible artist. Thanks.

Requires the .NET 2.0 Framework which can be downloaded directory from Microsoft's website at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments
via pasky13 ...

New release from Xmod:


Download:
BG Split/Merge v1.0
.NET Framework 2.0 or newer

Give Feedback Via Comments
via xmod ...