hi, a new website dedicated to the Gp2x is now at:

www.gp2x.com

thanks. ...

Team Xtenders PSP2TV has today been given a once over by the Gaming Network known as IGN, heres what IGN thought of the Device:

Final Impressions

The blocky image quality is obviously a disappointment, but it's not necessarily a deal-breaker. Framerate and color is nice, and you can get used to some of the resolution loss. We've used Sony's own equipment for capturing PSP video, and it's far from perfect as well. We'll be testing the other video utilities that come down the pipe, but unless Sony makes a UMD player for PS3, this will likely be the best solution to put PSP video on a TV set for a while.



Still, the scaling quality sometimes makes beautiful PSP games look like PS1 games when put up on the big screen. We would have loved for that Turbo switch to have been replaced with a brightness dial or something else to help pick up the picture quality. And the blockiness seems like a problem with the PSP2TV box rather than a technical impossibility in putting PSP-sized pictures on a TV. Pixels are getting dropped, and your TV needs all of the pixels it can get (up to its resolution, of course) to make PSP games look as great as they do on the handheld system. Fortunately, this seems to be something that might get fixed in the future -- now that our PSPs are modified and have an output plug, a new PSP2TV dongle with better filters (albeit more expensive filters) might make everything better if Team Xtender makes a better PSP2TV sometime down the line. We'll also be in touch with the PSP2TV's makers to see if maybe there are any options for making the picture come out a little better (don't think of this as a review just yet -- we're still putting the PSP2TV through its paces.)

Overall, it's a good solution to the problem, and the actual install and hardware construction is a hell of a lot better than we've seen from products by other developers (we've bought Memory Stick components that didn't even fit in the Memory Stick slot, so it tells you something that we were able to put this together and have it look like a brand new PSP without a lot of prior assembly experience.) The video quality is short of perfect, but for a direct-feed solution, it's the best you're going to get for a while, and it's possible that it might get better in the future. The price is also not bad for what you're getting in the box, although whether you'll feel good about dropping $120 for a mod to put PSP video on TV in the first place is up to you. You'll be seeing a lot more of PSP2TV on IGN, as it's our only PSP video output solution at the time, so keep an eye out for examples of its video qualities to see if PSP2TV is right for you.

If you are interested in purchasing the PSP2TV, you can check your local MOD or import shop, including Lik-Sang and others. Shipments should be in stores as you read this.

Post your views of the review in the comments ...

Source - GamesIndustry

The early signs suggest that videogames retail is facing another Christmas of hardware shortages, with the PSP already in short supply in the UK - so where does media-friendly desirability end and a revenue-damaging understocked channel begin, asks Rob Fahey.

It's a common complaint in the UK, and probably in most of the rest of the world - Christmas seems to begin earlier and earlier every year. The decorations appeared in some shop windows before Hallowe'en was upon us, you can already buy mince pies and Christmas cake slices in Starbucks, and stores and catalogues have been urging us to consider gift ideas for months. This year, another traditional sign of British Christmas arrived early - namely retail shortages of a Sony console.

It's only the beginning of November, and already it's looking grim for anyone who wants a PlayStation Portable for Christmas. A trawl through London's high street stores will prove fruitless unless you're extremely lucky indeed; a trawl through central London's top retailers last week revealed that not a single unit of the PSP was available. "They come in and go straight back out again," we were told in more than one store. Online, the story is not much better; Amazon cites four to six weeks as its delivery estimate for orders made at the moment.

We can already imagine the outraged headlines as we get closer to Christmas and the mainstream press discover that this year's must-have toy is nowhere to be found - and, of course, when the inevitable ridiculously priced auctions are found on eBay. Even now, almost two months from Christmas, some enterprising - or gouging, depending on how you look at it - London retailers will happily sell you PSP hardware for around twice the standard retail price.

A little shortage, of course, never hurt Sony too badly. Grabbing the headlines and making your product into the most desirable and sought-after toy for Christmas is no bad thing. What every retailer must cross their fingers and pray for, however, is that this year genuinely does see a little shortage, and now the huge shortages which crippled videogame sales last December, as a critical lack of slimline PS2 consoles lopped 2004's traditional winter sales spike off near the root.

One thing is clear; Sony's projection of a worldwide launch for the PSP last Christmas was not merely a bit wide of the mark, but was hugely, vastly inaccurate. Twelve months after the PSP hit retail in Japan and was originally projected to hit retail worldwide, Sony still can't supply ongoing demand for the console, despite the eventual vastly staggered launch.

There's a school of thought which says that as long as the device is selling, in the long run, it doesn't matter - but looking at this Christmas, the potential for frustrated retailers to be sending even more frustrated consumers away empty-handed is worrying. Xbox 360 will also be thin on the ground, and if consumers can't get their hands on either of the hot consoles this Christmas, the money that would have been spent on videogames won't burn a hole in their pockets through to early 20006 - it'll go instead on other desirable products. Expect a lot of new iPods to take the place of PlayStation Portables under Christmas trees this year; revenue that will be permanently lost to the games business.

Besides the immediate worry over Christmas, there's also a wider concern about Sony's overall ability to deliver on its hardware commitments. If the can could miss its targets for the PSP by such a huge margin, what message can the industry take away about the prospects for the launch of the PlayStation 3? Already, many commentators expect the PS3 launch to be a painful process; Sony could do with delivering a little reassurance to its long-suffering partners that it's actually going to improve its performance on launch date and unit targets this time around.

Im not sure about the availability on the streets but online stores Success HK, Divineo China and Lik Sang have all informed me they have plenty of PSP consoles in stock. ...

Survey gives Sony's console 5 per cent lead over Xbox 360

With just weeks to go until the Xbox 360 hits European shelves, a survey has revealed that UK gamers are most looking forward to the arrival of the PlayStation 3.

The survey, which was conducted by research firm XTN Data in September, found that of the 1000 respondents questioned, 32 per cent were planning to buy a PS3, while 27 per cent said they would purchase an Xbox 360. The survey did not ask respondents for their opinion on Nintendo's Revolution console.

"This comes despite huge efforts by Microsoft to launch in time for the vital Christmas period and before Sony's 2006 launch," said XTN Data founder Greig Harper. The Xbox 360 is due to launch in Europe on December 2.

The survey also found that 11 per cent of those questioned use filesharing software to download games illegally. The most downloaded titles are Rome: Total War and The Sims 2, with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas topping the bill - it's downloaded an average of 75 times per hour. ...

DS software sales continue to dominate the higher end of the Japanese charts

Daito Giken's Official Pachinko Slot Simulator: Osu! Bancho stormed into the top spot this week, selling 96,000 copies and reinforcing the continued popularity of Japan's most prevalent form of legal gambling.

The fifteen new releases this week accounted for approximately forty per cent of overall sales, snatching the first three positions in the all format charts and pushing last week's number one seller, Shadow of the Colossus, down three places to number four.

Capcom's Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance entered at number three, proving an unexpected success which has been attributed both to Capcom's market strength in the East and the general view that the title bears similarities to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series.

Half of the top ten was taken up by DS titles, including a climb of three places from eight to five for Training for Adults: Work Your Brain and continued sales success for Gentle Brain Exercises. Nintendo plans to launch two versions of its DS Brain Training series (one for young adults and another for a more mature audience) in Europe next spring.

SEGA has also offered a variation on the theme, with PSP title Brain Trainer Portable making its chart debut at number eight. In terms of the hardware sales however, the PSP is still seriously lagging behind Nintendo's DS, taking a 24 per cent share of the market, compared to the 40 per cent claimed by the DS.

Elsewhere in the charts, Pokémon Torouze has plummeted from second to ninth place, while Bandai's Dragon Ball Z: Sparking holds its place at the bottom of the top ten for a second week. ...

News from Lik Sang

Ichigo has successfully fought on several platforms before, with recent versions of Bleach for PlayStation2 and PSP, all developed at Sony. Now another major Japanese multiplayer is in charge for bringing the famous Shonen Jump Manga franchise to the Nintendo GameCube: software veteran SEGA. Bleach Koukon ni Mamieru Shinigami is now due on December 8th and bound to offer one-on-one battles in a Beat'em Up featuring a huge cast of 25 characters from the popular Manga's universe. Expect to meet the biggest and baddest fighters in a clash that will shake Ninty's current-gen box to its very core. The developing team's ambition for this title is indeed a keen one: cel-shade everyone from Ichigo himself to Renji in a style that's true to its Japanese comics roots, while souping up enough frantic action to remove even super-strong gel from all-spiky hair. While you could say that cel-shading is a technique which can be regarded as almost a traditional technique now when creating Manga based videogames, the animation in Bleach for GameCube has reached new heights in this title, enjoying the royal treatment courtesy of SEGA.

While this game certainly shines in the visual department as moves are depicted with dramatic eye-candy, the fighting engine of this fine 2D Beat'em Up needs to be dragged into the spotlight as well. And how about a big round of applause for what can only be called a well-balanced, easy graspable system that leaves sufficent room for exploration and the challenging task of mastery? Hone your skills using two attack buttons, providing a weak as well as a strong advance. The ability to jump and block comes in handy as well. The attacks can be brought in low and blocks can be attempted at that level too. Don't forget it's SEGA we are talking here: Bleach for GameCube definitely is not just a flashy Manga hit gone videogame, with a half-heartedly combat feature stuck on, it can stand its own against more "serious" Beat'em Up titles, and very well so. While chain combos are fairly easy to pull off, more experienced players can do some intriguing combo magic. A cool concept represents Bankai mode, which will be appreciated by fighting game novices as well as virtual black belts. Think Matrix meets Manga, where this novelty allows you to slow down time (Viewtiful!) and hand out even more damage to your opponent.

With a Bleach all-stars filled character selection screen on top, Koukon ni Mamieru Shinigami is looking to provide more Banzai! bang for your buck and simply a honorable Beat'em Up effort that for fans of Japanese pop culture and Bleach followers in general cannot be missed. Available on December 8th for only US$ 64.90 (shipped!), SEGA also announced a dedicated Bleach skin set for the GameCube console and controller, limited to early adopters. Click on the image to the right to view the sticker set in question. Please note that while we'll do our best to have some of these for our preorders, we can't guarantee the availability of this bonus. Still, we recommend placing your order as soon as possible, in case you'd like to increase the chance of receiving one of the skin sets with your preordered game. In the world of Bleach, next will be another version for PS2, Hanatareshi Yabou on December 29th, a RPG by Sony. SEGA will be at it again for a Nintendo DS edition - dubbed Souten ni Kakeru Unmei - a Bleach fighter conquering another platform, due out January 26th. ...

The Koreans got a hold of the GP2X first and thanks to Korean site Gpain and also to our friends at Emuholic we have the photos of the great new homebrew console, here they are in small form




Click the comments for bigger photos ...

fullerlee has updated the Scrabble game written in Lua.



Heres whats new:

0.2 (10th Nov 2005)
-BUGFIX: Cancelling a word when bag is empty now works properly.
-FEATURE: When in rack-mode, press Dpad down to shuffle the tiles.

Download Here --> http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/scrabblelua.shtml ...

AnonymousTipster has released a great looking new game for the PSP, heres what he says:

Well, this game has been a long time overdue, and I haven't been able to put as much time as I would have liked into the graphical front as I've been concentrating on getting all the levels at the right difficulty. Gameplay comes first. The idea is that you're driving a car, and have to either run through all the gates, or just get to the finish. Simple really...
Hopefully you'll enjoy this game once you get past the blocky models.

P.S. I've personally ensured all the levels are possible, just persevere and you'll get them in the end

Download and Screens Here --> http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/ThrottleX.shtml ...