A new version of Xplorer360, a tool to read/write on your Xbox/Xbox360 HDD and Xbox360 Memcard, has been released.

What's new/fixed:

* Datel Driver support! Xbox 1 and Xbox 360 memory cards that use Datel's xbreader.sys / usbio.sys drivers should now work fine.
* Full / Improved Xbox 1 memory unit support - multi-media block transfers used, great speed and compatibility boost.
* Drag and Drop support with windows shell.
* Improved Backup / Recover functionality.
* Bug that sometimes prevented backups from being recovered to their original drive fixed.
* Xbox 360 drive recovery now skips config sectors. The Xbox 360 hard disk drive has a unique signature in its starting sectors that would prevent standard SATA hard drives from being used in the Xbox 360 console, based on the sector count and serial number, among other things. This also prevents the use of different images on drives with different serial numbers. Xplorer360 now skips these sectors, so that data can be exchanged between drives without disabling 360 compatibility.
* Improved file / folder rename functionality.
* Improved Xbox 360 hard disk drive detection.

More Info --> http://www.360gamesaves.com ...

Ok folks im back from holiday and ive got 2 weeks of news to catch up on and straighten things up, plus answer about 80 pms (they can wait).

Nice Holiday in Florida but i love the cooler british weather, theres no time to waste as im totally knackered from the flight but by tommorrow we will be 100% shipshape. ...

On my desk this morning, I see a psp modchip

I have a donor psp running 2.71 firmware, which will be taken apart tonight and hopefully sucessfully chipped!

I am going to record the whole process on DV tape, hopefully it will not be too painful. I will say that the points to solder are tiny!

So stay tuned folks.. and get your wallets ready. ...

And the news just keeps on comeing in! In a related article to the EGM PS3 interview they managed to snag an interview with Reggie Fils-Aime Nintendo's Vice president of sales and marketing,
and Reggie had some interesting things to tell us, in this full interview below!

Live Via Wii-Mote
Reggie believes we will love the Wii

Is Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo's Execuative Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, worried about launching the Wii? He says no. Why? Because he believes in you-the gamers. Are you going to let him down? Read what Reggie thinks....


EGM: We have to talk about the name: "Wii" Why the change? Was "Revolution" that bad?

Reggie Fils-Aime: Nintendo knows our fans love the "Revolution" name. But the fact is, Revolution as a name is not idea; It's long, and in some cultures, it's hard to pronounce. So we wanted something that was short, to the point, easy to pronounce, and distinctive. That's how "Wii," as a console name, was created.


EGM: But couldn't you have chosen a name that still got your message across, only with fewer connotations to certain bodily substance?

RF: We had a number of different names we were evaluating. But in the end, "Wii" as a console name was, in our belief, the perfect choice. I do think the fans will accept it. And in terms of all the dirty jokes, frankly, we could have come up with a range of other names where that type of stuff would have happened anyhow.


EGM: Did you do any focus testing? Anyone hint "Wii" might not be such a good name for a console?

RF: There was no focus grouping, and quite frankly, focus groups are a little outmoded in terms of how to get good consumer feedback. But we did a range of things in the end, I think that some members of the media are getting more hung up on the name than the consumers or fans are. Believe me, I have walked the [E3 show] floor. And as I walked the floor, whether someone's wearing a Sony PlayStation shirt, a Microsoft shirt, or Nintendo paraphernalia-i'm talking to a lot of fans and asking them the question: How do you feel about the name? And i'm hearing a hell of alot more positives then negatives. I'm hearing acceptance-and support-for the decision we've settled in on. As we more forward, my expectation is we're going to hear more supportas people get comfortable with the name.


EGM: But could you have gotten the same support by choosing a more marketable name?

RF: I can create dozens of what-if scenarios, everything from the name to what I would have done differently to launch the Nintendo DS. The fact is, we have made the decision. We're moving on, and we are seeing alot of acceptance by the consumer. In the end, we feel that "Wii" as a console name is the right choice.

EGM: Did you give yourself a high five when Sony announcedthe price of the PlayStation 3?

RF: When I first heard their announcement, I was suprised. Arguably, you could say, shocked. When I heard the arrogance in their comments to support the price, I was even further shocked. They will do what they will do and we will do what we will do. The fact is, the Wii console will be the most affordable system. [Nintendo President Satoru Iwata] has gone on record that Wii will be priced less than $300, but certainly, I see a huge window of opportunity with our next home console. And we will take full advantage of that opportunity. [shortly after this interview, Nintendo announced the Wii will retail for less than $250-ed]


EGM: That's sure less than Sony's $600 PS3. Do you think you may have missed an opportunity by now announcing your price after hearing what Sony is charging?

RF: In our minds, the first step is the consumer making the decision by asking, "Will this remote feel good in my hand," "What types of games can I play," and "What can I invision Nintendo doing with this?" That's step one. And that's what we wanted to accomplish at this years E3. Step 2 is beginning to appeal to the more rational side, in terms of what 's the pricing and what's the launch date. Step 3 will be truely exciting the consumer by detailing the specific launch titles. We've announced Wii sports as a launch title, and Ubisoft has announced that Red Steel will be a launch title. and when the consumer sees all of that, I have no doubt that the excitement's going to be there for the Wii console.


EGM: Do you foresee the Wii being the No. 1 system this generation?

RF: I can certainly invision that. What gives me that confidence? A number of things. First, the fact that most of the show is dead except for our little corner of E3. And no disrespect to any publishers, No desrespect ...

Wow an exciting day for news no matter how you look at it! Here is another interesting bit of news for you. EGM In issue 205 page 20-22 Held an interview with Kazou Hirai, President and CEO of sony computer entertainment America.
Answering many questions people may still have about there upcomeing powerhouse. Here is that very interview.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS
Sony sure of more PlayStation domination

Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, is all
smiles about the Novemer launch of the Playstation 3. why so happy? This guy firmly believes the PlayStation brand will dominate for another generation. Find out why Hirai thinks the PlayStationis here to stay....


EGM: The PlayStation 3 is a powerful system, but graphics aren't everything. Are you worried Nintendo might be strikinga chord with the casual gamers?

Kazuo Hirai: It seems to me they are going after a completely differentdemographic, perhaps a limited (younger) demographic...which has kind of been their niche since the N64-- certainly with the GameCube. But the fact that they're not pushing technology...they seem to be going in a different direction, certainly, from where we're going and what we are trying to accomplish.


EGM: But they are actually going for a largerdemographic with their simple-to-use controller.

KH: I think it depends on what kind of software you have as well. what we've done over the past 12 years is pretty much just add two joysticks to the controller. And I think we can get into the history or the concept behind the motion sensor controller as well, but that certainly adds another dimension of play for PlayStation3 users. so, the proof is in the pudding, ultimately, I think that (Nintendo has) always wanted to break out of their nichemarket, and it's been tryingto do since N64, so again, proof is in the pudding. Only time will tell. but it didn't seem to work with the GameCube.


EGM: Hardly any PS3 games use the motion sensor. Is this some tacked on feature?

KH: Completely the other way around. We wanted to keeo it under wraps as long as possible. we limited it to one internalstudio, the guys over at developer Incognito, and incorporate into Warhawk.
I Talked about the original PlayStation controller--that's where history began. We then added the two joysticks, then we added the vibration functionality. Then we launched the DualShock 2 with pressure sensitive buttons, so everything we've done over the past few years was to make (the controller) more intuitive, make it more a part of your body, to more accurately convey what you're doing in the game itself. And now it's the motion sensor. So if you look at how the controller's evolved for the PlayStation, this motion-sensing technology is really something that's a natural evolution in terms of the next steps for the user to be able to take his movements and have it accurately track and respond on the screen.
a lot of people have asked me, "Is this something that you guys thought of last week?" The answer is absolutely not--it's been in (parent company Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken) Kutaragi's mind for the longest time. and it just follows and natural progression of what you cna bring to controller technology.


EGM: Let's talk price, The PS3 may be pretty, but it's going to cost a whole lot of pennies. Is $599 a viable price in the long run?

KH: If you look at what we've paced into the box. I think it actually is a good value proposition. Now, in absolute dollar terms, is it higher than $300? Yes, it is. But I also think thatwe have a history of making sure our consoles have a 10 year life cycle. We've done it with PS1; you've seen how vibrant the PS2 displays are out there, both in terms of first-and-third party software support, so we're well on our way to making sure that the PS2 has a 10 year life cycle. So, to me, even if you buy it at the initial $599-dollar price point, that's a viable console that you're going to keep the next 10 years.


EGM: But can the PS3 reach the mass market at a $599 price point? Especially looking at the competitions lower prices?

KH: I'm not saying that we are suddnely going to do a price change tomorrow, but if you look at the history of how we've priced our products from 12 years ago, you'll see our trends. I got the same question back in the day; PS2 $299? That's not a mass market product, because at the time PS1 was $170, $149 bucks, what ever it was . I mean, how are you going to break into the mass market? well, the PS2 is $129 now , and it's an absolute mass market product. So I think you can look at the trending line, and two years out, three years out-I'm not even going to make a prediction- but there's no guarantee that it's still ...

From scummvm.org:

Download via comments ...

I think i'll release my first 'proper' retexture now for super mario 64 here:

but first this is what it is...

what is retexturing?

it's when you use a plugin such as RICE for project 64 to overlap current textures in the game without illegaly modifing them.

where to get rice...

here's a link here (Open in new window): http://www.box.net/public/y3lfe6zqt6

what's in this retexture?

so far i've done the GUI and most of the of the castle yard in nes sprites...here's a screenshot (note: it's an old one so it's a bit more updated than the screen shot)



how to install

i suggest using project 64 for this because i don't know if this works on any other one...once downloaded rice extract than put the files in the plugin program file for project 64 once done delete the file that tells you to 'move bmglib to emu folder' so it doesn't confuse emu and as it says move the bmglib file to emu folder (the main one) NOT plugin folder! once that has been done create a folder called hires_texture (it must be exact!) than once you extract my project (which should be attaed below) move the SUPER MARIO 64 folder into hires_texture. After all that stuff is done boot up the emu go to settings make graphic plugin rice and go to configure graphic settings make sure advanced settings is turned ON after that go to texture settings and click load hires textures if available. AFTER ALL THAT load up the mario 64 rom(being your own of course) than VOILA! I hope you all enjoy here it is now.

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Right, I have just finished version 1.1 of my new flash snake game and have added some new features and some fixes. Now a lot of you have mentioned that the snake dosent eat the food properly well, I have made the food the same size as the front of the snake and to properly eat the food you must hit the food head on to eat it if the snakes mouth goes only half way over the food then the flash will see that as a miss. and thats the best i could do. So It is improved and it does eat the food a bit better.

So here is my new Flash snake game version 1.1 enjoy! ...

ScummVM has been updated for multiple formats, heres whats new:

It has been almost 8 months since we started to work on the 0.9.x code branch and today we're pleased to announce the release of ScummVM 0.9.0 "The OmniBrain loves you".

Many things are waiting for you, one of the most noticeable is the new and improved GUI. We also added support for 2 completely new games — The Legend of Kyrandia and The Feeble Files.

Other important changes include:

Reworked detection code for SCUMM games. Now all your fan translations will work out of the box
Added subtitle configuration controls to the options dialog
New official Atari/MiNT port
Much improved WinCE port
Numerous bugfixes in the SCUMM, SAGA, Simon, Broken Sword 2 and BASS engines

Heres more info about ScummVM

ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the game, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed!

ScummVM lets you run these adventures: Adventure Soft's Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2; Revolution's Beneath A Steel Sky, Broken Sword 1 and Broken Sword 2; Flight of the Amazon Queen; Wyrmkeep's Inherit the Earth; Coktel Vision's Gobliiins and games based on LucasArts' SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) system. SCUMM is used for many games, including Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max and more. Compatibility with supported games is continually improving, so check back often.

http://www.scummvm.org/

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...