A new study has found that game characters tend not to reflect cultural diversity. According to the paper from researchers across four universities (PDF): 'A large-scale content analysis of characters in video games was employed to answer questions about their representations of gender, race and age in comparison to the US population. The sample included 150 games from a year across nine platforms, with the results weighted according to game sales. ... The results show a systematic over-representation of males, white and adults and a systematic under-representation of females, Hispanics, Native Americans, children and the elderly.' The researchers also note that games 'function as crucial gatekeepers for interest in science, technology, engineering and math,' and that without these groups represented properly, 'it may place underrepresented groups behind the curve
The third annual Pwnie Awards took place last night at Black Hat in Las Vegas, and a full list of the winners has been posted. 'Most Epic Fail' honors went to the notorious Twitter/Google Apps hack from earlier this month that raised all sorts of questions about cloud computing security. Red Hat got skewered with the 'Mass 0wnage' award, also known as the 'Pwnie for Breaking the Internet,' for issuing a version of OpenSSH that left a backdoor open to hackers. The Linux development team earned 'Lamest Vendor Response' recognition for 'continually assuming that all kernel memory corruption bugs are only Denial-of-Service.' Naturally, Microsoft didn't slip past judges' eyes. Its vulnerability that enabled the Conficker worm to do its thing earned honors as the 'Most Overhyped Bug.' On the more positive side, the Pwnie Awards recognized security pros Wei Yongjun, sgrakkyu, Sebastian Kramer and Bernhard Mueller for accomplishments such as discovering bugs and demonstrating exploits. The Pwnie for Best Song went to Doctor Braid for his song Nice Report. Solar Designer snagged the Lifetime Achievement Award, for among other things, being the first to demonstrate heap buffer overflow exploitation, according to the Pwnie Awards Web site
Some might argue it's the most subtle update in the iPhone family thus far, but Apple's iPhone 3GS still seems to be moving the sales meter, regardless. The latest and greatest iPhone officially hit the market a few weeks back, and even though Apple claims that demand is still far outpacing supply, we're of the belief that most everyone who wanted one has managed to snag one by now. During our time with the unit, we definitely didn't find too many reasons to upgrade from the already solid iPhone 3G, but given that you probably did anyway, we're eager to hear how things have turned out. Did you upgrade from a prior iPhone to this? Are you joining the iPhone family for the first time? What gripes have you found impossible to ignore? Are you still up in arms about AT&T's inability to provide MMS / tethering service? Are you, like us, completely roiled by the unit's lack of multitasking abilities? Go ahead and let it rip in comments below -- we're guessing Apple has about 11 months or so to take your opinions to heart.
Here's something fun to start your weekend with. Amazon's German site now has a listing for "PlayStation 3 Konsole slim" from Sony Computer Entertainment, and really, it doesn't take years of foreign language class to figure out that English translation. It's listed as "platform independent" (har) and has its own Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN), but on the flip side, we're lacking a picture, release date, or any other tangible details. Can't say we've got a feel for the site's track record on random listings, but after all the rumors and possible sightings as of late, it really makes ya wonder.
In case you're interested in upgrading to Win 7 (you should be, BTW), and want to get the rest of the family in on that action, know that the Windows 7 family pack will offcially cost $149.
OEM key cracks, like the one that broke Windows 7 wide open just two days ago, are as old as Windows itself. But it looks like this one surfaced a little too early—and now it's dead, dead, dead.
Takara Tomy's new Memo Film lets you take notes such as "Reminder: koopas = bad" or "Stop buying stupid things" next to the screen of your DSi using your stylus. Simply lift the film to erase it.
Doctor Richard Marks, known among gamers as the PhD behind the EyeToy, discussed the evolution of the Playstation motion controller technology -- revealed by Sony during E3 2009 -- with PC World. Marks said that experience with the EyeToy, along with other data, showed Sony that, while gamers did have fun experiences with the physical movement of the original peripheral, they still desired the precision and complete control in a fast, effective way. Upon this realization, Sony opted to leave the concept of control-free gaming behind and advanced to the dual-wand prototype showcased at E3 2009. "We designed our new control system to accomplish all of this. We believe the path we have chosen is an ideal combination of both spatial and action/button input," Marks told PC World.
When prodded about comments made by Shigeru Miyamoto, who said he was "flattered" by Sony and Microsoft's motion-control direction, Marks respectfully agreed that -- while the EyeToy predates Nintendo's new console -- the Ninendo Wii was an important advancement that "broadened the gaming market and enabled new experiences." As for camera-only control, Marks says the tech can work but it's difficult to resonate with players who get more gratification out of using a tactile device. Attempts to uncover release details or the price-point of PlayStation's yet-to-be officially named motion controllers proved futile, but Marks promises the device to hit stores by Spring 2010.
Hello you. How ya doin? Good? That's good. Let's talk.
Here's how it works: We ask a question, you answer it. Simple and no strings attached! This isn't some marketing survey or whatever. It's an emotional investment in you. Yes, we're interested in knowing you, reader person.
You probably know oodles about us - more than you even want to, we're sure. But, hey, we'd like to know about you. That way you won't be some faceless blob - and we might feel a tinge of guilt when we ban ya. Or not, because really we're incapable of human emotion.
Question: Which have you been playing more recently: downloadable games or retail package games?
Every time Sony releases their quarterly earnings, they update their records to show exactly how many consoles and games have been sold to the public over the past few months. Let's take a look at the PS3 figures then, eh?
In 2006, Sony decided to start tracking how many consoles and games they sold all the way through to customers, not just to retailers (which is how most other companies record "sales"). It's an admirable practice, and one which gives us a very accurate picture of how the PS3 (and its games) are faring, since these figures have been available for the entirety of the machine's lifespan.
Anyway, here are the numbers, which cover the period from launch until June 30, 2009:
PS3 consoles: 23.8 million
PS3 software: 189.7 million (all publishers, includes both retail and PSN titles)
If you're in a crap neighborhood where smash-and-grab burglaries are a problem, maybe this thing saves your 360 even if the rest of your stuff's stolen. Chances are, you got ripped off just buying it
If things work out the right way this weekend, I'll be playing a little Shadow Complex, just one of many still unreleased games I plan to dabble in during my free time. The others... I probably shouldn't say.
But I'll definitely be making a few minutes for Fat Princess and Shadow Complex, maybe a little Call of Duty 4. Since we have visitors this weekend, it's going to make lazing around on the couch, controller in hand, a little more difficult. Same for next weekend, unfortunately.
Let us know what's on the gaming agenda this weekend at your tower.
Nokia has just released a firmware update (v30.0.011) for the 5800 XpressMusic. Despite the huge version number change, the update does not seem to be a major one, mainly bringing bug fixes and speed improvements, as well as a home screen email plugin that may not show up until you hard reset the device... The update is available both via the NSU and OTA as a 4 MB download.
Along with the release of new version 6.2 of QuickOffice, a free upgrade to version 6 has been provided to users of all Nokia S60 smartphones. The range of the upgrade depends on the version that shipped preinstalled on the phone, which means that Eseries phones users get an upgrade with full viewing and editing capabilities whereas other phones owners get the "viewer" version only. Upgrade will be made available through QuickOffice's own Quickmanager, available under Options/Upgrades in the application menu. If you happen to have the viewing only version and you would like to have full editing functionality, you'll need to buy the full version and then you'll be eligible for the full viewing/editing upgrade.
DataViz announced that the latest version 4.004 of their RoadSync 4 (Microsoft Exchange client) has been optimized for touch operation on S60 5th Edition devices, including the Nokia 5800 XM, N97 and Samsung i8910 Omnia HD. Improvements include "touch toolbar" providing easier and quicker email management, as well as enhanced set up with account configuration auto-discovery for Exchange 2007 and a series of bug fixes and additions (new email notifications, better full screen experience, zooming and syncing with Google Calendar and Contacts.
The full version of RoadSync comes preinstalled on Samsung Omnia HD.
AFTrack94 for S60 5th Edition from Axel Fischer is the display for your GPS mouse and activates the world of hiking, biking, sailing, geocaching or more for your phone. The program handles tracking with smart and fixed logging features. It sends reports via GPRS or SMS. It receives SMS position messages and show it as a waypoint. It exports and imports waypoints. Mapping, routing and more. Uses internal GPS and touch screen now.
Gary Leach / FiendSoft has updated his marvellous GDesk with support for S60 5th Edition touch screen phones. GDesk is a customizable and extendable desktop system. Icons can be placed on the desktop representing applications, page links and plug-ins; these can then be launched by tapping them. Plug-ins can be added at any time and as required. With GDesk you can turn the look of your phone into ANYTHING you like. Change your 5800 to resemble N97's home screen, give your phone the look of the iPhone or Windows... with available plugins, icon sets and themes possibilities are endless.
M@x and Sleeper have released a new version of the Java Mobile Games Emulator for PSP, heres whats new:
- Bugfix for 'Default CPU speed setting doesn't work' (tracker ID 2812036);
- Bugfix for Sony Ericsson 480x272 profile issue (tracker ID 2812032);
- Bugfix for 'QWERTY board opens allcaps' (tracker ID 2806367);
- Bugfix makes available missing top half of Unicode page 0 in built-in font (Adds common accents incl. acute, grave, circumflex, umlaut over Roman characters);
- Added most of Unicode page 1 (Latin Extended 1) to built-in font (Adds less common accents and characters for most languages using Roman alphabets);
- Added clipboard/text selection support to the virtual keyboards;
- Added interface so MIDlets can request and receive events signalling raw PSP control state;
- Added a semichordal virtual keyboard implementation (fast input, diacritics support);
- Improved alpha blending for TrueType font rendering--smoother blends.
- Support multi-language in Sony OSK input method.
The coder raing3 releases version 1.00 of PSP Tool, Multi homebrew that will allow you to install a version of the Despertar del Cementerio available, pandorizzare / normalize the battery and more.
More to follow.
Changelog v1.00:
Quote:
- It is now recognized how HEN
- Then the mother recognized the tabs TA-088v3, TA-090 and TA-090v2
- Improved extraction dell'IPL
- Fixato a bug that caused a crash if the program was set as the key Enter
- The menu options on the battery is no longer accessible for the PSP does not allow pandorizzazione
- Changed the style of the waves in the program
- Decreased use of RAM
PSP Action Replay converter is a simple application designed to convert the code file of PSP Action Replay into CWCheat or nitePR format. This application is currently only capable of converting ~80% of codes correctly to CWCheat format so I need as much help as possible as I am stuck with some of the more complicated codes. Any help would be much appreciated through the forums, a private message or an e-mail.
The latest PSP Action Replay file can always be downloaded from here if any of you do not know where to get it.
The changes made in version 0.30 are
Added: Windows based conversion application, only CWCheat conversion.
Fixed: Issue returning from the PSPAR to nitePR menu.
Fixed: Crash if circle is enter.
TPN have released a new Podcast for the PSP, heres the details:
And so it comes to show #100… who’d have thought that I’d get this far with the short sharp news and revies on Sony’s Playstation Portable? Oh yee of little faith. Anyway here we are, and in a change to the normal show, I rattle through the games, news and features of the last one hundred shows and see what I think about it all today.
Towers and Tanks: Weapons of mass Construction is our latest effort in 3d game making. Based off the traditional style of Tower Defense themed games; we attempt to bring to the genre an entirely new approach. While staying true to the original play-style of tower defense games we have added an entire new level of gameplay. The invading armies fight back, resource collecting, perk system, tower upgrading and auto-upgrading, priority targeting and so much more. We went with a flatshaded look to give the game a more toony feel. At it's current state we are nearly 75% complete with the core systems.
I deeply apologise for the downtime of the last day and a half nearly, i cant fathom why the database wont connect but as soon as our server admin returns ill get him to keep an eye on the cause of the problem, lets hope the server stays up for a while now.
We're a small (two-person) iPhone app developer whose first game has recently been released in the App store. In the process, we've inadvertently stepped in it, bringing up a question of the GPL and free software ethics that I'm hoping the Slashdot community can help us clear up, one way or the other. XPilot, a unique and groundbreaking UNIX-based game from the early/mid nineties, was a classic in its day, but was forgotten and has been dead for years, both in terms of use and development. My college roommate and I were addicted to it at the time, even running game servers and publishing custom maps. As it's fully open source (GPLv2), and the iPhone has well over twice the graphics power of the SGI workstations we'd used in college, we decided it was a moral imperative to port it to our cellphones. In the process, we hoped, we could breathe life back into this forgotten classic (not to mention turning a years-old joke into reality). We did so, and the result was more playable than we'd hoped, despite the physical limitations of the phone. We priced it at $2.99 on the App store (we don't expect it to become the Next Big Thing, but hoped to recoup our costs — such as server charges and Apple's annual $99 developer fee), released the source on our web page, then enthusiastically tracked down every member of the original community we could find to let them know of the hoped-for renaissance. Which is where things got muddy. After it hit the App store, one of the original developers of XPilot told us he feels adamantly that we're betraying the spirit of the GPL by charging for it
A week after Microsoft agreed to include a browser ballot screen in Windows 7 systems sold in Europe, then announced that those systems would initially include no browser at all — specifically, no Internet Explorer — Microsoft has changed its mind again and dropped talk of a European Windows 7 E edition. Here is the official Microsoft blog announcement, which includes a screen shot of the proposed ballot screen. The browsers are listed left-to-right in order of market share, with IE therefore having pride of place. PC Pro notes that, since the ballot screen would not appear if IE were not pre-installed, Microsoft's proposal opens the door for Google to work with PC manufacturers to get Chrome on new machines. Note that the browser ballot screen has not yet been accepted by the EU, though the initial reaction to it was welcoming.
With DEFCON and Black Hat going on, a lot of security issues are being made public. This year, cellphones have been a larger target than before. More and more people are carrying complex smartphones that have more ways to go wrong. Even worse, since phones are tied to a billed account, it is possible for malicious software to charge phones discreetly. However, Flexilis promises to keep your phone safe. It’s a free mobile anti-virus that works on most smartphones and PDAs with more clients in the works. It also provides easy backup and recovery options, as well as the ability to wipe the phone if it’s lost. The phone makers really need to fix the probelms, but in the meantime Flexilis can provide a quick response.
The iJoyPad has been floating around for a bit now, but we've never seen a full demo of the add-on gamepad. Well, it's back in a video demoing its performance on an iPhone 3GS, using the psx4iphone emulator in full screen glory. The demo shows off Wipeout XL and Ridge Racer performing quite quickly and smoothly, and the iJoyPad itself seems totally functional -- and while it's a tiny bit clunky looking as far as we're concerned, we'd still like to swipe one for ourselves
Apple has been struggling hard to bring iPhone into the Chinese market - but even after more than a years of trying, they've yet to achieve any solid success. Each round of negotiations have proven useless so far. According to a report by a Chinese news agency, the deal between China Unicom and Apple was confirmed and both signed a 3-year agreement. Though the spokesperson from China Unicom denied the fact, some new discoveries have been made to support the news. Sure, this is quite old news - but the new findings have strengthened the claim!
The Romhacking Aerie was just updated with a really big news post.
The various topics:
New project announcement: Dragon Quest Monsters 1+2 PSX
Xenosaga I+II DS
Oriental Blue
Tales of Innocence
Devil Children - Ice Book
Super Robot Wars J
All the projects are progressing smoothly and a few reached major milestones. For more details and a ton of screenshots please visit the page directly.
Also, we’re looking for a kind person who’d volunteer to create a new site theme for us (Wordpress). If you’d like to help out, please get in touch!
Let's see if we can predict where this is headed. Two people in Michigan were playing a game when a disagreement ended with someone getting punched. Think anyone's pinning it on the game?
Nope. That's because it's a board game. Monopoly, in fact. A 54-year-old man was playing with a female friend, and when she wouldn't sell him Park Place and Boardwalk - I mean, really! - he hit her in the head, breaking her glasses.
Reader Rich B. wrote in, full of hoary disgust at what these "board games" are doing to the nation. "Wonder if the politicians will finally see reason and call for a ban of all board games, before they destroy our American youth?"
I think it's a valid point. The feelings of being ruined, dealt with unfairly, driven out of business, and unable to pay the rent - even in a virtual environment - creates powerful stress, and it's not hard to see that leading to incidents of anger or violence. And not just in Monopoly. I remember back in Candy Land, this one time I got stuck on a ****ing licorice space in Molasses Swamp and the feelings of helplessness were just debilitating .
NUS Downloader, or NUSD, is a PC Utility designed to allow easy access to the resources present on Nintendo's Update Servers. Using this tool, you can download, pack, and decrypt many system titles into WADs ready to install.
Update History
v1.2 - August 1, 2009
Access a local database (database.xml) of title IDs, along with versions/regions/etc.
With database selection, IOS WADs are given Nintendo naming convention (ex: IOS60-64-vXXX.wad)
Mismatches are identified as Safe or BAD.
Command line arguments can be passed to the GUI.
Korean key (kkey.bin) support. Useless as far as I know, nothing on NUS uses the key...
Downloading failures are now described in more detail (401 vs 404, etc.)
Status Box has a clear button; it is auto-cleared when starting a new download.
UserAgent changed (again) to the Wii updating one.
A title's required IOS is shown in the download log.
Trucha signing titles (Still in Beta/Alpha stages! By default it is disabled, to display the feature, click the progress bar on the main form)
Trucha signing features the following:
TMD editor (Change IOS needed, title version, title ID)
Ticket editor (Change DLC Amount, Common Key needed, Time limit)
Contents editor (Add/Remove Contents, Set shared status, Set boot content, Add trucha bug to content [only decrypted contents have support so far!!])
Researchers at four leading universities have published a report that certifies what most people either knew or suspected for a very long time. Video game characters are mostly white guys.
"The results show a systematic over-representation of males, white and adults and a systematic under-representation of females, Hispanics, Native Americans, children and the elderly. Overall, the results are similar to those found in television research," says the paper's abstract.
Similar, except in one notable way - representations of Latinos. Dmitri Williams, the study's leader, said that while Latinos are making gains in televesion, fewer than three percent of video game characters are identifiably Hispanic, and all of them were NPCs. Said Williams:
Latino children play more video games than white children. And they're really not able to play themselves. For identity formation, that's a problem. And for generating interest in technology, it may place underrepresented groups behind the curve. Ironically, they may even be less likely to become game makers themselves, helping to perpetuate the cycle. Many have suggested that games function as crucial gatekeepers for interest in science, technology, engineering and math.
Williams suggested that it's in game publishers' interest to diversify their character lineup. "These are highly underserved groups. It's a missed sales opportunity."
Mplayer CE is a fork of the Team Twiizers MPlayer port, combining elements of MPlayerWii and GeeXboX.
Changelog
0.71
Autoload implemented. If the next file has a very similar name (using a Levenshtein distance of 2) it will be autoloaded.
Examples: film.part1.avi > film.part2.avi (1 change)
episode.s01e09.avi > episode.s01e10.avi works (2 changes)
Improved memory management: fixes MPlayer hanging if out of memory.
OSD level 3 now shows mem1 and mem2 info.
Driver improved with autodetection error: on error the device is reinitied and read is retried.
Restore Points fixed. Now quit or power off saves restore point and can resume properly. Please delete your previous restore_point file in case it is corrupted, and check that your SD card isn't locked.
Improved SMB connections: now SMB will always reconnect.
Improved stream initialisation.
Fixed green lines at the top of loading screen.
Further improved video compatibility
Added ability to load an external driver from SD for USB 2.0 testing. More details (and drivers) will be added to the Google Code page at a later date. Thanks to Hermes for the patch.
Finally fixed the problem with network and USB 2.0 conflicts (due to the driver using a bad device).
Font loading improved.
Improved MPlayer support when a file unexpectedly disappears and reappears.
Many other small fixes and code cleanup.
New USB test:
If http://mplayer-ce.googlecode.com/files/USB%20Test.rar says USB device is compatible but a device is not working then there is no FAT partition on the device. Check if you are using NTFS instead.
Zodttd has released a new PSX Emulator for the WIz:
Hello from ZodTTD,
I'm the lead developer of psx4all. I got a Wiz yesterday and compiled my latest sources for the Wiz.
Some notes on running:
- The psx bios should be titled scph1001.bin (all lowercase!) and placed in the same directory as the included GPE.
- To exit the emulator press both volume buttons.
- To enter the menu system while in a game press L+R+SELECT+START
- Framerate counter is all messed up, especially with frameskip on.
- There's no framelimiting, but I don't think it's required at this point. :P
Features:
- Save states sorta work.
- It's faster than psx4wiz (which is a port of my older sources) on here. I need to contact Hardyx and see if he would like to join forces.
- Sound works but probably really choppy. It's off by default.
Following this week's sour, but not unexpected, news of a 40 percent drop in hardware sales, Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata seems to be taking DS marketing in the direction of a personal device.
The shift would mean they want the unit to be seen as something everyone should own, not shared among a family. Basically, it means Nintendo wants everyone in the world to have a DS, which might seem obvious, and is an ambitious way to expand what analysts had seen as a somewhat saturated market.
Techradar's digest of a Nikkei article (subscription only) said the marketing will portray the DS as personal device "like a mobile phone," but I wouldn't take that to mean it's gonna get those capabilities sometime.
A600 has released a new Spectrum emulator for the Dingoo A320:
GP2Xpectrum 1.7.2 for the Dingoo A320 ported by A600
This is a port of the excellent Spectrum emu for Dingux.
DEFAULT CONTROLS:
Pad: Kempston Joy
B: Fire
Select: GP2Xpectrum Menu
Start: Virtual Keyboard
Power+Up: Volume Up
Power+Down: Volume Down
NOTES:
- Read the included readme from the GP2X version for more help. Keep in mind that the buttons aren't the same and some options have been removed (sorry, but as you already guessed, I hate to (re)write readmes)
- Most games I tried are fullspeed at 200 MHz with the memory contention off.
THANKS:
- rlyeh, Hermes/PS2R, Metalbrain, Seleuco and all the emu authors involved.
- booboo for Dingux. Without him, this port wouldn't have been possible.
There's probably a lot of solitaire and online bridge-playing padding that, but a new NPD report says 170 million Americans play video games. The U.S. population is 304 million.
The result is inside NPD's 2009 Gamer Segmentation Report, and is based on a January survey of nearly 21,000 people. NPD breaks the population down into seven segments, the largest being Secondary Gamers, at 33.6 million. These are mostly female gamers who play less than four hours a week, none of it on a console.
Console gamers, mostly male, are the next largest and fastest-growing segment, at 32.9 million. Then comes Heavy Portable Gamers, heavy describing the amount of play, not their weight. Which is a good thing, most of their 30 million are kids. (Their average age is 19. Ni-ni-ni-ni-nineteen.)
GameSpot broke down the report further. But you get the idea. Video games are everywhere - even someone who doesn't consider himself or herself a gamer, but plays a flash game at work, is a gamer for purposes of this study. So, yay us.
rodas007 brings Fenix conducted in this game where the protagonist is a drop of water has to go to dodge the squares fall above 1,000 points advancing a level.
Quirky proposed version 0.7.6 of its excellent Internet browser for the DS "Bunjalloo.
Quote:
Changes 0.7.6
* Added saving, loading and expiring of cookies
* Fix several cookie-related bugs
* Fix redirects to absolute locations. This fixed mobile Google Reader, amongst other things
* Fix crash bug while editing bookmarks when you deleted the newline
* Show the could-not-load error page again
* Show the mime-type on pages that are not supported
* New spinner icon (Thanks to an anonymous reader for that)
* Fake WAP support for google.com / xhtml
* Fix the preferences options for cookie permissions per domain
* Fix appending text to HTML attribute node value (10 isue?)
* Fix crash when trying to connect to an incorrect address (issue 103)
Escape + * on input fields (issue 81)
* Try and improve responsiveness HTTP connection
* Allow user agent switching via "expert" configuration - set useragent = blah in config.ini
* Update to the latest versions of 3rd party libraries (matrix SSL 1.8.7, libpng 1.2.38, latest libraries from devkitPro)
* Moved the code to Google Code's Mercurial hosting
Like the RPG and not the soul of an encoder! Just like RPGMaker, RPG4DS of Ricardo007 allows you to create your RPG completely and compile it for your DS. You need to have installed Avisynth, DevKitPro and Volver.
Wintermute has been kind enough to open source the DSi hack we have been using. To run the hack you will need a way to read and write save files on DS carts.
2) Edit the asm source file to reflect your region (US and UK currently supported), and of course add your own custom code.
3) Make the project which should produce a .sav file
4) Load the save file onto the game cart.
5) Launch the game in your DSi
Currently you are limited in space which restricts you to assembly programming. Hopefully this will inspire a few more people to poke about and get info coming in on SD card access and, of course, the cameras.
Loading a save file:
I have been using a tool called eepinator to upload the save file using a regular DS. There are probably other tools which would work.
Well, this is my first release of my libVSH. It allows all those devs who do not use the ds pspgu the XMB to use graphics above. I coded purely from pspsdk of pspgu then, it is not so great that the SDL, etc..
The coder Light_Alex publish a new release of its PSN License Manager, which allows homebrew to do a backup / restore their licenses PSN in PSP for personal use only. The 0:30 version was added support for the Custom Firmware 5.50GEN and have made some minor modifications.
A changelog and follow the link to download.
Notes:
Changelog:
Quote:
- Support to Custom Firmware 5.50GEN
- Added option to reboot the PSP
- After the program, the console will be restarted in order to "clean" the memory
The coder junkfactory releases a new version of Homebrew Shortcuts, plugins compatible with Custom Firmware 5.00M33 which will let you set a key combination to start the homebrew and games that you use most often.
A note and follow the link to download.
Changelog:
Added support of the analogy, now you can use in combination:
AUP: analogue on
ADOWN: Analog Jun
ALEFT: analogue to the left
ARIGHT: analogue to the right
Installation:
- Copy the file homebrew_shortcuts in seplugins folder
- Copy the file text string VSH.txt the ms0: / seplugins / homebrew_shortcuts.prx 1
- Configure the shortcuts at will, following the notes in the file shortcuts.conf
This is just a short post to note that the underlying framework (psplib) for Atari800 has been updated, as you can see from the attached screenshots. As noted in an earlier post, this was the main reason behind the delay of the version upgrade, which should follow in a few days or so. The sound code has been sped up a bit, though alas, probably not enough to run the improved sound engine of Atari800.
Stealthkill has released a new version of the Counterstrike game for the PSP, heres whats new:
Changelog 0.8 Beta 2:
Quote:
Bullet Spread
Serverlist
Skybox (Added from Kurok0.4)
Clean Menus
Rescue Zones on CS maps
Buy Zones on all Maps
Bomb Zones on DE maps
Grenade Fix
Throw Weapons Fix (need some models)
Fixed bug that allowed Terrorists to buy Counter-Terrorist Weapons
Fixed bug that allowed Counter-Terrorists to buy Terrorist Weapons
Fixed bug that allowed to plant the bomb everywhere
Transparent Texture Support
Some Menus Fixed
3rd Person Weapon
Grenade Fix
Mp5 Faster
Mac10 Fixed
Hey all,
Here is the latest release of LPHM.
I am still doing the documentation. And I was suppose to have released this yesterday, but i got sick with swine flu. So here it is.
I will have the documentation completed very soon
Please give feedback if there are any bugs or things that you want added (be reasonable, there will be no umd ripping ect.. but i might be able to do hooking later on)
Adventure Classic Gaming is running an interview with Chris Tolworthy, an indie game designer who is working on a project to make video games out of various literary classics. His decision to develop these kinds of games was sparked by a desire to reach out to gamers who want more "serious" subject matter, as well as finding an audience among people you would find in a book store, rather than a game store. Tolworthy has already released one game, an adaptation of Les Misérables, and has almost finished Dante's Divine Comedy. After that is done, he'll move on to other works, including Theogeny, by Hesiod, and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, aiming for two or three releases a year. He said, "I try to keep as close as possible to the original text. When I create a game I simply go through the book and adapt it chapter by chapter. As far as possible all my puzzles are based on ideas in the original book. So my Dante's Inferno is a lot closer to the book than EA Games' Dante's Inferno that changes Dante into a warrior with a giant scythe! Although I stick closely to the story, I would find it boring to only give the straight text, so my games always give a different twist. For example, I show Les Miserables from the point of view of a minor character who dies early on. In my Divine Comedy I show other points of view as well as Dante's, and they don't see things the same way. Really, what I'm doing is what theater directors do when they put a Shakespeare play into a modern setting. It's the exact same story, but presented in a new way.
The Times in London reports that Apple attempted to silence a father and daughter with a gagging order after the child's iPod music player exploded and the family sought a refund from the company. Well, at least they're not Microsoft. Or something
Novell has just announced the release of SUSE Studio 1.0 — a user-friendly Web service that allows you to create your customized Linux distribution as a live CD, USB, Xen, or VMware image. Users have control over adding any repositories, packages, and files to the distribution. A new user can do the full creation and customization of the software appliance in roughly ten minutes. It also includes a Flash-based "test drive" service, which allows you to try out your appliance in a Web browser before downloading it
A new update for the DSi renders a number of piracy-ridden flash carts unusable.
The new firmware, once installed via a WiFi connection, will stop certain flash carts from booting up on the portable. AK2I, iPlayer, EZVi and a few others have been confirmed to be affected by the update, according to reports.
Counter measures such as those in the latest update usually halt their use for a while. But it's not long before hacker find a way around it. And so the battle rages on.
If you love the Pre, but hate Best Buy or Sprint, now you've got the option of nabbing one through an online reseller you can live with: Amazon. The device has just popped up on the super-retailer's site, and like the aforementioned blue and yellow reseller, you don't have to worry about any pesky mail-in rebates -- the phone is $199.99 out the virtual door. Also of note, you can nab the non-contract version for $499.99, which is a $50 savings over the Sprint pricing, and certainly a value compared to Best Buy's $749.99 price tag. Only bummer note? Amazon says these babies won't ship for 4 to 6 weeks... which basically sucks.
Leipziger Messe has declared this year's first Games Convention Online event as a "successful premiere", noting that 43,000 people travelled to the browser, client and mobile games fair.
Games Convention Online, Leipzig's response to German publisher association BIU's decision to move the main show to Cologne as Gamescom, also featured its content heavily online - with the company claiming 500,000 visits to the event's website.
Additionally 74 exhibitors showcased their products, with 150 games on view, including 50 world and European premieres.
"90 per cent of the visitors were on-line gamers, which means that we reached just the target group the sector was expecting," said Wolfgang Marzin, chairman of the board of management at the Leipzig Trade Fair. "Our exhibitors were very satisfied with the visitor structure, which has laid the foundation for Games Convention Online. Everything for GCO 2010 is headed for growth."
No specific details for GCO 2010 have yet been announced, although the company has indicated that it will take place during next summer, again at Leipziger Messe.
The PlayStation 3 has sold 23.8 million units from launch until June 30 2009, according to lifetime sales figures released by Sony.
Software sales - which include all publishers, and PSN titles as well as retail ones - reached a total of 189.7 million during the same period.
The numbers follow Sony's first quarterly financials, released last week, which showed sales of both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable were down on last year. Sales for the overall PlayStation business, which includes Viao PCs, were down 37.4 per cent year-on-year, resulting in a JPY 37.1 billion loss compared to a profit of JPY 35 billion seen during the same three months the year prior.
Shipments of Microsoft's Xbox 360 have now surpassed 30 million, according to the company, while worldwide Wii shipments had reached 50 million on March 25 2009.
Nintendo's competition face a "big challenge" getting new motion controllers into the hands of consumers, Shigeru Miyamoto has said, since the difficulty lies not just in creating a natural controller, but in delivering it.
"We have sold millions of controllers at a good price point. And we have that delivery system successfully already implemented. For other companies starting from zero and trying to figure out how to get it out there at a decent price point is a big challenge," Miyamoto told Mercury News.
He also spoke about digital distribution, saying that while it offers developers opportunities, it won't replace the traditional retail model.
"Personally, I'm one of those guys who, even if I have all the songs from iTunes, I want the CD as well. I feel more reassured with that physical media.
"Entertainment is something that will not just become digital. If I look at Wii MotionPlus, this is something that you're not doing via digital distribution.
"The thing for us is we really don't see the future of videogames being merely confined to digital distribution or moving solely or even to a majority of our products being distributed that way," Miyamoto stated.
On the subject of the economic downturn and its impact on the Nintendo business - the company recorded a 60.6 per cent drop in profits for the first quarter of 2009 - Miyamoto says that while the situation is bad for everybody, Nintendo can call upon one of its biggest strengths: its ability to create products that people want to buy.
"(We're) thinking of how a family spends their budgeted entertainment money. Rather than a dad going out and buying something that he wants, (we're) creating something that we can present to them as something the whole family will use," he explained.
"We're really just concentrating on creating something that people want. I think that's one of Nintendo's strong points, that ability to focus on that next challenge."
Nintendo's Wii Sports Resort has topped the UK software chart for the second week running, with a sales increase of six per cent on last week.
And its publisher took second position too, according to the latest Chart Track figures, with Wii Fit, which jumped two places from number four.
The rest of the top ten saw relatively little change with the demise of only one title - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which slipped down to number 12 - replaced by UFC: Undisputed, which rose back up from number 12 to the number eight position.
Meanwhile, EA's Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince slipped two places to number four, Fight Night Round 4 rose one place to number five and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen dropped a place to number six.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 hung onto its number three position, The Sims 3 gained one chart position to land at number seven and - EA's fifth top ten title - EA Sports Active also accelerated one position to number nine.
Elsewhere in the chart, the only new release to make it into the top 40 this week was Disney's film tie-in G-Force, which entered at number 26.
The full software chart for the week ending August 1 is as follows:
01 Wii Sports Resort
02 Wii Fit
03 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
04 Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince
05 Fight Night Round 4
06 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
07 The Sims 3
08 UFC 2009: Undisputed
09 EA Sports Active
10 Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood
Nintendo's profits may be down a bit, but four of the company's games still managed to sell more than a million units between April and June.
Smuggled in amongst the platform holder's financials (thanks Joystiq) was word that Pokémon Platinum, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Sports all continued their multi-million marches.
Lifetime sales of the quartet are getting a bit silly, in fact. Wii Sports may be bundled with every Wii, but 47.62 million is still quite a lot of discs, while Wii Fit is not bundled and has done 21.82 million and Mario Kart Wii stands at 17.39 million.
Pokémon Platinum's 5.66 million looks a bit rubbish by comparison. You're not on the GameCube any more, Pikachu - buck your ideas up.
Speaking of comparisons, the document also notes that Nintendo had six million-sellers in the equivalent quarter last year - the three Wii games mentioned, plus Wii Play, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and another Pokémon game - Mystery Dungeon: Explores of Time/Darkness.
Regardless of what your weekend activities may have been, we know it was hard to enjoy yourself, knowing that people in Japan and Europe were sharing their DSi photos on Facebook higglety pigglety, while yours were trapped by a lack of DSi 1.4 firmware like Zod and crew in the Phantom Zone.
Finally, said photos can be set free with an update to your DSi arriving at 8 p.m. EST in North America. Can you even wait until then? Yes, we imagine you can
The first gun to supports Motion Plus! Get ready to take aim with the ultimate Rifle Gun for Wii. Seamlessly integrates your Wiimote and Nunchuk into a single controller for full compatibility with all shooting games. The foldable hand grip lets you adjust the angle you want (approximately 16.5 – 18 inches long).
The Kyoto District Court has ruled against 38 year-old company employee Yoshiaki Asagiri, who was put on trial for distributing DS games online without permission and breaking Japanese copyright law.
Asagiri has been sentenced to 2 and half years in prison and fined approximately US$21,000, plus an additional fine of $75,000. Late last year, Asagiri was arrested for creating a website that made over 1,000 DS games available for download.
The judge who sentenced Asaigiri said his crime "tramples" the effort of the copyright holders who have spent tremendous time, effort and money in creating these games.
It's no secret that Sony's motion controllers were in the works for quite a long time before finally being unveiled at E3 2009. Still, it's fun to look back into the past and see how the whole project evolved. Our buddies at Joystiq have cleverly dug up some slides from a 2001 Richard Marks presentation which describes, among other things, a game called Misho the Witch -- which made use of a ball-and-stick controller to train a virtual pet -- much in the vein of Sony's just unveiled EyePet. Some other ideas being tossed around were an X-Men branded game based on "superhero properties" and one based around the Teletubbies. Remember them? Yes, this presentation is that old. Oh, the olden days. There's no evidence that any of these ideas went too far beyond the talking-phase, but we'll have to wait and see for sure when the PS3 Motion Controller debuts next year. One more shot after the break.
Apple's got a lot of problems when it comes to overheating iPod batteries -- not only is the situation potentially dangerous, every move Cupertino makes is subject to sensational misinterpretation. Take today's Times UK story this morning about 11-year-old Ellie Stanborough, whose iPod touch blew itself up last month: when her father Ken contacted Apple for a refund, it seems he got a little bit of a runaround, but was eventually sent a settlement agreement offering a full refund if the family agreed to keep the deal confidential. That's actually totally standard practice when companies settle out-of-warranty claims, but since the agreement was written by lawyers, it contained a bunch of vaguely threatening language about how breaking confidentiality might result in Apple relentlessly suing everyone until Liverpool itself goes bankrupt and the populace is forced to resort to cannibalism and network television. Cue hysterical media coverage.
Now, it's no secret that lithium-ion batteries like those used in the iPod have a long history of overheating and exploding, and Apple's certainly had large-scale problems with defective cells -- the first-gen iPod nano has been recalled in Korea and Japan, for example. It's also obvious that the sheer number of iPods sold means there are more exploding iPods than anything else -- and while we're sure some accountant at Apple has a spreadsheet showing the exact failure rate is acceptable, all we've got right now is story after story of these things blowing up with zero context. So here's our suggestion to Apple: maybe instead of having lawyers draft individual settlement agreements full of impenetrable and scary legalese for each and every jilted iPod owner out there, why not simply fess up to the problem, let people know exactly how common it is and how to avoid it, and provide a dead-simple replacement option for people who've had their iPods go up in smoke? That would put everyone at ease, and make these types of stories much less likely to blow up in a media feeding frenzy. Or, you know, do nothing because overwhelming market share inevitably leads to arrogant laziness -- your call.
Posters on Cheap Ass Gamer who keep track of Xbox 360 hard drive installs noticed that those who'd been admitted to the dashboard update preview program were seeing games take up markedly less space than before (a fact later confirmed by Digital Foundry). How much smaller? Well, DF noticed that King of Fighters XII and Raiden Fighters Aces went from 3.4GB to 703 and 484MB respectively, post update.
By DF's approximation, the update allows the system to be more efficient in selecting what non-essential data it puts on the hard drive. Though that results in a big savings in some cases, there are exceptions. Fable 2, for example, is no smaller post-update, leading us to assume Lionhead needed every inch of the disc for all that GOTY material.
DTH posted this news concerning his work on porting Abuse to the Dingoo a320:
Hi Everybody!
I've been playing around with the source for Abuse for a few hours and after sorting out a few of the bugs I've managed to compile it so its semi-playable on the Dingoo.
At the moment, it doesn't have sound and the I have been able to correctly figure out how to map the mouse controls to buttons yet but it seems to run really well with good speed. The controls have been mapped to use the A B X Y buttons as the mouse (but not really well so far), R to shoot, L for power-ups and Start to change weapon. You'll have to run the program twice initially to get it to work, as the first time it'll set up a configuration file then next time it'll run.
The main problem with the controls is that the mouse cursor doesn't keep moving, you have to keep hitting tapping the buttons to make it continue to move. I've been trying to fix it for a couple hours now but with my limited knowledge I just haven't been able to figure it out. It's probably something simple to fix, if you want to have a crack at it, the file I've been working on is /src/sdlport/events.cpp
Also, I don't know whether its just my SD card getting messed up or something else but it doesn't seem to exit cleanly and doesn't give access back to dmenu, but theres been no problems while the game is running.
JLF65 has released a new version of Doom for the Dreamcast, heres the release notes:
Using the flipping code above, my port of Doom at 304x224 (TV mode) gets between 50 and 70 FPS while running the timedemo, spending most of the time right about 60 FPS. When playing the game, it stays a rock-solid 35 FPS the whole time (the code I work from has the frame limit except when running the timedemo). So the multi-buffer screen flipping is only as slow as your app is at drawing frames.
In case you're wondering, I have played it at 608x448 (TV mode again), and it gets between 15 and 25 FPS at that resolution. That's a TRUE resolution - Doom is actually drawing at 608x448, not a lower res and then scaling up. The diagonals are noticeably cleaner.
If you want to try it, here's an alpha. Everything SHOULD work, and mostly does, but weird things happen sometimes, all of which have so far been compiler problems.
That has the shareware wad file. If you just make the disc image, you can just immediately start playing. There's a nice readme in the readme directory. Source is included, as always.
Sega Genesis/MegaDrive/CD/32X emulator has been updated. Changes:
- Added initial support for the "Palette Select" bit in VDP register 0. If the "Palette Select" bit is cleared, only the LSBs of each color component in CRAM is used to determine the colors to display, resulting in a maximum of 8 colors onscreen. This isn't very useful, but it's more accurate.
- Several buffer overflow bugs that caused crashes in the release build on some Linux platforms have been fixed. This includes a long-standing bug in the SegaCD code, plus a new bug in the partially-rewritten savestate loading code.
- [Unix] On systems that support sigaction(), the signal handler dialog will now show extended signal information for some signals, e.g. SIGFPE.
XPMCK is a music (expressed in MML) compiler kit targeted towards various video game systems. It currently supports the following systems:
Capcom Play System (VGM output only)
ColecoVision
Commodore 64
MSX (KSS output only)
Nintendo Gameboy / Gameboy Color
SEGA Master System
SEGA Game Gear
SEGA Genesis
Besides the compiler and its source code, the kit includes playback libraries for all supported systems, as well as examples and brief documentation.
Changes:
Added support for the fifth Konami SCC channel.
Added a command for writing directly to a memory address or port.
Added the ability to output compressed VGM files (VGZ).
Added an alternative GBC noise frequency table (selected with #GB-NOISE 1).
Modified the data sequences generated at octave changes to use less space.
Updated the manual.
Issue 63 of Retrogaming Times Monthly is now online and it's another big one. Content includes:
Show Report: California Extreme 2009
High Score Monthly Profile
All Eyes On Blaster Master 2
RTM Idiocy: Blissful Ignorance And Dangerous Knowledge (Act 3)
Apple II Incider - Marble Madness
The Thrill Of Defeat: The Ugly Duckling
Modern Retro - Bionic Commando: Rearmed
Old Wine In New Bottles: Capcom Classic Collection Volume 2
Videological Dig - The Vid Kid
Laughing Pixels
Gaming Advertisements
To the delight of lovers of MSX, Maarten ter Huurne, one of the developers has OpenMSX emulator ported to the emulator Dingoo.
As a preliminary version can not be expected to be free of bugs (one of them is that when you exit the emulator may be left hanging and the dmenu be reset) and the keyboard mapping and the load in the emulator Start lenta.Así is something that is more normal that when you run the emulator takes a few seconds until you see something and you can use the menu to load a game OpenMSX or adjust the settings in the emulator.
Read the README before, since the installation of the emulator is something special
Found this over at both gbatemp and devfr, heres the news from them:
French online video game accessories and flashcart store ExtremeJeux.com just started a homebrew competition, hosted over at PlayerAdvance. The rules are simple:
The purpose is to create new homebrew projects. As such, only new creations can be submitted.
The authors only have 2 weeks to submit their creations. Of course, this means they don't expect fully polished homebrew to be submitted: only the most original or interesting ideas or concepts will be rewarded.
A single person may submit multiple entries, however one person can only be rewarded with 1 prize.
The winners will be rewarded with DSTT+2GB MicroSD bundles. 3 packs are originally offered but they said they may go up to 5 depending on the quality of the entries.
Although the website hosting the competition is french, you may very well enter the competition as it's open to everyone!
A new version of palib has been released, heres the details:
Info:
Because the last 'official' PALib version doesn't work with DevKitPro R25 and newer, some users started to make a version that is compatible with never DevkitPro releases.
- Keep in mind that all those versions are some kind of beta: We cant guarante that everything works right.
----------------------------------------
| PAlib 090801 : We're almost there... |
----------------------------------------
[PAlib] Compiled with libnds 1.3.7.
[DMA_Copy] Now checks if the source is NULL and fills with zeros instead, fixes some no$gba warning-related problems.
[Many #defines] All defines that used the format #define PA_Function() { blah }
has been changed to #define PA_Function() do{ blah }while(0). This makes every #define "safe".
[inline functions] Changed all extern inlines to static inline.
[3D Sprites] Rotation was fixed.
[no$gba] Reverted back to the latest free version (2.6) now that a FIFO-related problem that
was causing this version to not function properly was fixed in libnds.
[Debugging] Added some debugging functions including iDeaS debugging console output and emulator detecting.
[C Standard Library] Now disabling UTF-8 support in the C standard library on startup.
It was causing problems with the string functions and extended ASCII characters.
[Environment variables] The PAPATH variable is no longer needed.
[PAGfx and graphics including system] #include "gfx/all_gfx.c" is gone, and
new versions of PAGfx and PAGfx Frontend were rolled out.
[Examples] The examples have been updated with the new PAGfx and including system.
[Errors] The PAlib error screens have been improved.
[Speed test] The speed test routines were removed due to uselessness.
And we thought the announcement of a returning feature from a previous game was exciting. In an interview with IGN, Vicarious Visions' Karthik Bala revealed that the Wii version of Guitar Hero 5 won't bother you for Friend Codes when you try to play online.
"For GH5, we've implemented support for your global Wii Friend Codes," Bala told IGN. "If you've got friends in your Wii address book, they'll automatically be added to your friends list in game, so you can easily connect up with them in online multiplayer games."
GH5 on Wii is now at "full feature parity" with the other versions, Bala said. It includes eight-player online play (no longer limited to two Wii consoles), and also adds a couple of Wii-exclusive features like a "Roadie Battle" mode and DS control of aspects of the (updated) Mii Freestyle.
Tired of scrolling the list of your homebrew down to start one used more frequently? Homebrew Sorter Plugin is a simple plugin that solves this problem by ordering the icons based on the frequency of use, this version does not yet support the backups in ISO / CSO games or PSX, which could be added in the next release.
A note and follow the link to download.
Notes:
Quote:
Installation:
- Copy the file "homebrewsort.prx" in folder "ms0: / seplugins /"
- Add the following line to file "vsh.txt" (creandolo if not exist):
"ms0: / seplugins / homebrewsort.prx 1" without quotes
Good news for all those mums and dads who've just bought Wii Sports Resort and are still a bit scared of the digital revolution; Shigeru Miyamoto has said that digital distribution will never become the sole way you buy your games.
Speaking in an interview with Mercury News, Miyamoto explained, "The hope for business departments always is how they can reduce costs. So if you look at digital distribution with the fact that you don't need money for packaging and things like that, it's great.
As a developer, it's not changing how much money you're bringing in; it really doesn't change what we're focused on. However, I think it creates a lot of opportunity for a lot of different developers. Personally, I'm one of those guys who, even if I have all the songs from iTunes, I want the CD as well. It's something that makes me - I feel more reassured with that physical media."
But what about games? "Entertainment is something that will not just become digital. If I look at Wii MotionPlus, this is something that you're not doing via digital distribution. The thing for us is we really don't see the future of video games being merely confined to digital distribution or moving solely or even to a majority of our products being distributed that way."
Our parents would say the same thing because they're still worried about entering their credit card details into a website. We just like having a cool box to look at. What about you? Have your say below.
For the developers… Easily debug, create and optimize your homebrew menu to the fullest leaving behind the smallest of footprints. Any homebrew you have in the works or have released previously, this may be of use… It’s NoEffex’s Open Menu PSP. The source code and up-to-date binaries should always be available at the Google Code project page.
eldavojohn writes to tell us of a new service, "BringIt.com", that allows gamers to put their money where their mouth is with respect to their console gaming skill.
"BringIt supports the PlayStation 2, the PS3, the Xbox 360 and the Wii. Players challenge each other on the site, but play on their consoles. BringIt holds players' entry fees until the game is finished. After the game is done, it verifies the results and credits the winner, minus the service fee. To attract players of a broad range of skill sets, BringIt has separate tournaments meant for novice players and expert gamers. Levin compared it to the handicap system in golf or the weight-class system in wrestling.
Seeing the gold build of Windows Mobile 6.5 in action was pretty nifty, but Inquirer's recent video actually managed to unveil a few juicy tidbits about version 7 as well -- a platform that's shaping up to be that massive, ground-up rewrite of WinMo we've all been hoping for for years (as far as we can tell). The lack of multitouch is a sore point for some in 6.5 -- not just because of the goodness of the multitouch gestures themselves, but because it's indicative of a broader failure on Microsoft's part to recognize that touch-based mobile UIs have been wholly reinvented since the days of Windows Mobile 2003. Redmond looks to be cognizant of that, though with a mention in the video that 7 will "exploit the hardware" and "introduce multitouch," going on to say that it'll be able to go toe-to-toe with "competitor devices" -- ostensibly a reference to some combination of webOS, Android, and the iPhone. The video also mentions that 6.5 will end up being a "breadth play" while 7 branches out into the premium end of the market -- at least to start -- and over time, 7 will become Microsoft's mainstream mobile platform as future versions are released. In other words, Microsoft looks like it could be setting itself up for a two-version cadence going forward -- one for the unwashed masses, one for the gadget fiends. You know which category we fall into -- and we suspect we know yours, dear readers.
Titan Studios has issued a response to calls for its recently released Fat Princess PSN title to be fixed. As well it should.
"Players are sometimes experiencing significant lag in some games. Thanks to your feedback, we've identified a specific problem and already have a fix in testing. The matchmaking system will randomly pick potential servers bases on a number of criteria. As implemented, the results that are returned are fit in some regards, but sometimes have a high ping for your location.
"As a result, some players may be having a great experience, and others dealing with substantial lag. Leaving a particularly laggy game and joining a new one may result in a better experience. Unfortunately, it can be luck of the draw. The fix we have in testing returns a list of potential servers in such a way that it always favours the lowest available pings."
Addressing connection issues, the dev added, "We have implemented a number of fixes for previously identified problems, focusing most of our efforts on connection failures. We have already tested this patch on our own client machines, and performance appears to be dramatically improved. We are working with Sony now to get the patch into the Sony testing process as soon as possible.
"For those of you having trouble - thanks again for your patience. Fat Princess went through comprehensive testing with Sony in the US and Europe, and a beta, but these issues did not manifest until the game went live at scale. Rest assured, we're working on it, and think we have it largely addressed."
Slaanesh has released a new version of MAme the arcade emulator for the Dingoo A320:
Whats new in v1.1:
- Implemented Video Scaling option "Scale Horizontal".
Useful for games like R-Type and Final Fight, etc. Other smaller resolution games will stretch out to fill the screen. Taken from MAME4ALL Wiz version (code originally from Notaz & Franxis).
- Implemented Video Scaling option "Scale Best".
This is a generic rescale that can resize any screen down to fit the Dingoo's native 320x200 resolution. It produces the nicest scaled display as pixels are merged both horizontally and vertically. The downside is that it may be slow.
- Implemented Video Scaling option "Scale Fast".
This is a generic rescale that can resize any screen down to fit the Dingoo's native 320x200 resolution. It produces the nicest scaled display as pixels are merged only horizontally. As a result the speed should be somewhat quicker than "Scale Best".
- Implemented Video Scaling option "Scale Halfsize".
Useful for high resolution games like Rampage and Tapper, etc. 8-bit video mode is quickest as extra pixels are just truncated. 16-bit mode does pixel merging, resulting in a nicer, but slightly slower display. Should still be quick enough for most games. This is the fastest of the scaling options.
- Implemented Volume option. Games can start at Max (DEFAULT), Medium, Low and Quiet volume settings. This was requested by my wife. :-)
- Fixed crash bug with Pole Position with sound on.
- Fixed credit/start button bug with Galaga.
- Fixed slow down issues with Asteroids.
- Added SELECT+Y as an alternative means of accessing the MAME menu. SELECT+X still works, but I found this would often cause immediate accidental keypresses within the menu. I use SELECT+Y now.
- Switched toolchain/libc to gain increase in speed. Vector games run faster and most other games have a small increase in speed.
Developer: DICE
Publisher: EA
Release Date: Jul 8th 2009
Genre: 1st Person Shooter
I decided to sit on the review for a while, because, as many of you will be aware, there have been a few teething problems with Battlefield 1943.
Dice, EA or both were a little shy in their estimate of just how popular a new Battlefield game would be on release. From the Wednesday it was released, right through until Saturday, XBox360 owners were met with some difficulty in both getting into a game, getting into a game without massive lag, or partying up with friends.
It was a busy time for their official forums, and Dice even kept regular, often hourly updates on their twitter page, to keep customers who were hungry for some WW2 action up to speed on when they could expect more servers to go live.
By Saturday, I found most problems were fixed, and I was able to properly sample the game. By Tuesday, despite all the problems, XBox360 users found that the much awaited 4th map, unlocked after 43 million community kills, had already been unlocked, over a week less than was expected (done within a week on XBox Live, and within two weeks on PSN!).
Little does he know that I've lined the only ladder to this guard tower with TNT and am waiting in the bushes with the detonator!
So what is it all about? Well, I never got into the other Battlefield games, as I had somewhat gone off trying to keep up with PC gaming in the early 00s. I did pick up Bad Company, released last year, and found it not without it's share of errors, but also there was a lot of fun to be had with it's funky terrain/building destruction/class based multiplayer.
So the developers Dice wondered what it would be like to remake some maps from the original Battlefield game, 1942, using the new Bad Company Frostbite engine. The game and three maps would be released as downloadable only, XBox Live and Playstation Network content, with the fouth map/mode being unlocked with the 43 million community kills.
DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA DAKKKA!
The game is a sort of slimmed down Battlefield, with only 3 classes to choose from, and with no character / weapon customization that previous games have featured. The infantryman is your standard machine gun, close range guy, with a tank busting rocket, and handy grenades for backup. He also whip out a wrench for bludgeoning enemy soldiers or healing friendly tanks. I suppose that makes the infantryman a cross between the infantry / engineer classes.
The rifleman has a semi automatic M1 Garand, with some sweet reloading sounds! He get's a slightly-weaker-than-rocket-launcher grenade launcher, but it'll take a few of those to take a tank down. Again, he get's grenades, and his melee weapon is simply the bayonet on his rifle. The semi auto fire gives the rifle good medium range accuracy.
Lastly we have the scout, or sniper. There's the obvious long range advantage, but for closer foes, he gets a pistol, and his melee weapon is a big knife, or if you're playing as the Japanese, a badass katana. For explosives, he gets thrown sticky dynamite, which can be detonated remotely with a plunger.
Mayhem is frequent in this game.
There's a nice assortment of vehicles on offer, cars, jeeps, tanks, boats and fighter planes help mix up the combat a good deal, and there are various gun emplacements scattered about each level. These are, in typical Battlefield fashion, not all that easy to control, and you'll want to get a good setup for each vehicle type, which can be done in the options. There's also a tutorial mode, which lets you mess about in an empty map to get used to the vehicles. This is no Halo, so to get good with the likes of planes and tanks, you'll need a good bit of practice.
Tanks have a capcom-boss style weakspot on the rear!
Speaking of controls, there are a good few instances where I found them a little fiddly, perhaps because I'm too used to Halo/Call of Duty style configurations. But having become accustomed to Battlefield 1943, I can tell you that you do get used to them.
Landing a killer plane bomb takes a lot of practice to get the timing right, better to just Kamikaze someone!
The initial 3 maps are played in the typical Battlefield flag style. 5 bases are located about the map and if you stand near an uncontested flag, you capture that base, and your team may then spawn from it. If an enemy has a base, you must wait and deplete their 'control' before taking back the flag. Each team has a limited number of respawns (or 'tickets'), and when they run out it's all over. Therefore, the more bases you own, the more chance you have of pinning down the enemy and depleting their tickets.
So it's a fairly simple setup, there really isn't much more to the game than that. The beauty of it comes from a number of things. Firstly, the size of each level is important. You'll find, sea, mountains, hills, valleys, bases, bunkers, plains and beaches. I'd say there's a good few square miles of play area, even without the sea, but then, there needs to be a good bit of height and space for plane-on-plane dogfights. One minute you'll be holed up in a bunker with some team mates, trying to stop a tank advancing up the hill to your flag, and the next you could be riding shotgun in a jeep flying over a ramp into a building. The situations that occur due to the variety of terrain and vehicles can be crazy sometimes. For example, I decided to load up the front of a jeep with 3 dynamite packs, and drive it towards an enemy tank that was giving us bother, I jumped out, and watched as the momentum carried it right up to the tank, whereupon I hit the plunger and blew it into next week. Also, after nailing another plane in the air with my plane's machine guns, I realized I was under fire and bailed out, then hit the parachute. As I floated down to earth I seen a sniper trying the capture a flag. He didn't see my aerial descent, so I maneuvered the fall towards him and drew my Katana (I was Japanese sniper class), and sliced him up as I landed. I have a ton more of these moments that reek of awesome, and you'll find this yourself when you get used to the game.
Nyeeeeeeeeaaaaoooowwww!
I say 'when you get used to the game' because that is something you need to do. This isn't Halo or Call of Duty. Yes, it's a first person shooter, but auto aim is gone, so initially you'll feel robbed of kills by what appears to be a somewhat clunky control system. But when you get accustomed to leading your shots over distance, and having the right tool out for the job, you'll find this much better. It's not going to be for everyone, the large maps can leave you running about with no one in sight for ages sometimes, and no kill cam means snipers can be hard to locate and dislodge. However, as someone who snipes a lot, it's a bonus that there's no kill cam to give away your sweet hiding spot!
Calling in a wing of three bombers can devastate a large-ish area with carpet bombs - when you hear the 'wheeee' noise you better run!
Newer players are easily identified by their 0 score in a match, and their waiting around the plane spawns, and their suicide dive bombs, which can get annoying. I mean, you'll be trying to kill bad guys and capture flags, and you see three or four guys just hanging around the plane spawn area, and the rushing the one plane that spawns. But I suppose as time goes on this will be less prevalent, as the noobs become experienced, and the people who don't get this game move back to Halo and Cod.
Parking a boat in the middle of the sea can be a sneaky sniping spot, if a little exposed.
The graphics and atmosphere work well here too. The big levels are well populated with sea, mountains, vegetation, etc. and the water looks lovely. The sound too is impressive, with satisfying gun noises, and when you're hotfooting it up a hill and hear the roar of a low flying plane overhead, you can't help but look up when that shadow is cast overhead. Textures are pretty good, especially on vehicles.
When the big guns come out, buildings go down.
There are of course still some kinks here, I've noticed one or two graphical errors, and instances of false radar images. It's still possible to join a game seconds from the end, although if you stick around you are taken to the start of the next game which is good. Some of the scenery, especially around hills and mountains, is able to be climbed, and some isn't so you may find the rock climbing a bit frustrating sometimes. The destructible scenery is more subtle than the likes of Red Faction Guerilla, but it does the job, although you wonder why you can blast through some walls but not others.
Yup, this kind of scene happens every game!
All in all, if you liked Battlefield: Bad Company, I'd say you'd definitely like this as it improves on gameplay in all the areas you'd hope it would.
If you like first person multiplayer shooters, then you need to forget your expectations, and shake off the desire for auto aim, this feels different from a lot of other shooters out there. I was going to say it's slower paced than the others, given the size of the play area, but that's not strictly true. It switches pace a lot, depending on your class and style of play. If you pick rifleman or infantry class, you'll want to spawn on your squad, or on a flag that the enemy is trying to take, and you'll be in the thick of the action. Or you may like to snipe a bit, and find a nice hilltop bush to hide in, carefully taking your time picking off targets at range. Or you might prefer to do some aerial combat and divebombing in the fighter planes, which can be quite exciting. Some people even take themselves very far from the action, camping out near the radar towers, waiting for the next bomber wing call-in, or manning the anit air guns. No matter what way you choose to play, I think even the most devout Halo or Cod (how many times I mentioned these now?!) fan could appreciate all that this game is, especially given that it's a downloadable only, XBox Live arcade game.
Verdict:
appendix:
List of 10 cool things I've done/witnessed in the couple of weeks since this has been out:
1. After sniping from the top of the lighthouse, I see oncoming attackers coming up the ramp, so I base jump off and parachute behind them to slice em up with a katana!
2. Flying straight at another plane and bailing out just in time for my plane to take him out.
3. Getting a snipe headshot on a ground target whilst parachuting.
4. Sneaking into enemy base and covering their planes in TNT, waiting till they take off and are in the air, and detonating the TNT.
5. Loading up the front of a jeep with TNT, driving it at a tank/group of enemies, jumping out and detonating when it hits 'em.
6. Flying into an enemy who had bailed out of his plane and was parachuting down to earth, mangling him with my propeller.
7. Getting our team to form a convoy of 3 Sherman Tanks - and sweep across the map in an unstoppable wave of death.
8. Carpet bombing about 5 guys, two tanks and a jeep in one bombing run.
9. Causing another plane to crash by getting above him and nudging his wing.
10. Fail - sneaking up on a tank to try and plant TNT on it - tank reverses and kills me.
Kheldon writes to point out an interview with David Chang of GamesCampus about the up-and-coming sports MMO genre. He also talks about their efforts to bring older demographics into gaming. Quoting:
"One of the things about the baseball game in particular that's so great is that there is a leveling component, not just to the team, but also to players. So you're exactly right in terms of the persistence. We want people to not just play a baseball game, but ... to grow their team and their players over time. So, there are things where if you win a game, that's how you gain experience points. If you win against a higher level opponent, you get more experience points; if you bottom feed and you take advantage of lower-level players, you don't get as much, and so on. There are a lot of MMO-type concepts in the game. If you're talking about individual players, if you hit a lot of homeruns, or if you steal a lot of bases, your power or your stealing stat will increase over each season."
Matthew Crippen was arrested yesterday for hacking game consoles (for profit) in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. He was released on a $5,000 bond, but faces up to 10 years in prison. This is terribly disturbing to me; a man could lose 10 years of his freedom for providing the service of altering hardware. He could well lose much of his freedom for providing a modicum of it to others. There is no piracy going on, necessarily — the games a modified console could run may simply not be signed by the vendor. It's much like jailbreaking an iPhone. But it seems because he is disabling a 'circumvention device' it is a criminal issue. Guess it's time to kick a few dollars over to the EFF
Google's Android software source code has been offered up for those looking to create applications on MIPS32 chips, which are different from Intel's x86 architecture and used by companies such as Cisco (in its Linksys devices), Motorola (set-top boxes) and Sony (DVD players). MIPS Technologies made the announcement on Monday and is giving 'software developers an early access program for customers, which will give them access to MIPS engineers and specific hardware and software optimizations.' The article goes on to say that MIPS made waves at the 'Computex electronics exhibition in Taipei by showing off a home media player and a 10.4-inch LCD with a built-in computer both running Android. They were among the first non-phones to be seen running the Google-developed OS.
The UK video games market’s weekly value has bounced back from its mid-summer slump following the launch of Wii Sports Resort.
According to MCV calculations, based on Gfk-ChartTrack/ELSPA’s weekly reports, the market had tumbled week-on-week since June, with sales falling to £16.9 million for the week ending July 10th.
However, the launch of Wii Sports Resort caused a 16 per cent upturn in weekly sales, with market value reaching £18.6 million for the week ending July 25th. Unit sales hit 907,501.
This week’s sales figures shows the market held firm, with value down just two per cent to £18.3 million, while unit sales rose two per cent to 923,204.
Despite the good news, there’s just a handful of promising games planned for August, including Batman Arkham Asylum, Wolfenstein and Ashes Cricket 2009.
September promises more, with The Beatles Rock Band, Halo 3: ODST, Professor Layton And Pandora's Box, Need For Speed Shift and Dirt 2.
The rumour mill is about to burn itself out thanks to re-occurring PS3 price drop rumours and word on PS3 Slim's arrival.
According to DigiTimes Sony has placed enough component orders to double quarterly PS3 manufacturing rates. Apparently it's ordered enough parts to knock together one million PS3 units during the third quarter of this year - double that of the last three months.
This has lead to speculation over a possible price cut, as Sony could be preparing for a surge in sales.
Elsewhere, a listing for a "PlayStation 3 Konsole Slim" appeared on Amazon's German website over the weekend before quickly being removed.
The Telegraph says that the new SKU will likely come in 40GB and 80GB versions, starting from around £260.
Official confirmation of all of this could come from Sony's Gamescom press conference in Germany on August 18. It might not either. We'll let you know.
We've seen our fair share of Microsoft's upcoming Zune HD, but the company just threw together a delightful little photoshoot for its new PMP, with the black and silver version of the device on display along with a large quantity of attractiveness in both flavors. Most of the shots are variation on a pretty basic theme (and a little small, since these haven't made their way through quite "official" channels just yet), but they do give a good idea of what the UI will look like if you're into the Black Eyed Peas. Check 'em all out below.
The kids at the Mercury-News have just had a sit-down with our old pal Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo's legendary head of game development, for a chat about the recession, game controllers, and trust. The company's plan for dealing with the ebbs and flows of the international economy is simple: "We're really just concentrating on creating something that people want... something the whole family will use." Does that include the admittedly silly Vitality Sensor? Of course: "[A]ny sort of changes to interface that allows people to get into games and enjoy games is a great trend." Any clues as to the exciting new forms of gameplay this Vitality Sensor will provide? "I don't have any indication for you (of what we have in the works) other than to say that we have lots of very creative ideas." It looks like we'll just have to trust the man with the sword for the time being.
Advertising Age has taken a deep dive into Palm's latest string of unsettling, polarizing ads -- you know, the ones with the girl -- in an attempt to explain the company's intention with the creepy spots. The industry paper spoke with Gary Koepke, the co-founder and executive creative director at Modernista, the company which developed and produced the short clips. According to Gary, he's happy that viewers find the commercials upsetting, stating that "The Pre is probably being talked about more than other phones right now because of the marketing and advertising, and that's a good thing. Could the ads work harder to show exactly how the phone works? Yes, but we knew it would be polarizing people to have a woman not shout at them and tell an interesting story." Apparently the agency is taking its own stab at Microsoft's Seinfeld / Bill Gates strategy, which means viewers don't necessarily have to like (or even understand) the ads... as long as they keep talking about them. Of course, that game plan may work for a company like Microsoft, which arguably has nothing to lose if they run a few ill-received spots. Palm, on the other hand, won't get a second chance to make a first impression with a lot of people, and since its fortune is currently riding on the device these ads attempt to sell to consumers, it's a pretty risky proposition. C'mon, how could the folks that brought you the Foleo be wrong?
The ability to optionally install games on the Xbox 360's hard drive is something we've been jazzed about for some time, because while the machine's DVD drive isn't terribly slow, it isn't terribly quiet either -- and who has time for progress bars? However, those of us still rocking older, 20GB machines quickly discovered that the 6-plus GB install files of some games put a real hurtin' on what little disk space we had left, leaving us to choose between reducing load-times while exploring the Urban Wasteland or deleting all those random demos we keep forgetting about. Microsoft has a solution, and this time it's not a moderately less expensive new hard drive. Included in the upcoming Xbox 360 dashboard update, due one week from today, is a previously unmentioned feature that shrinks those game installs, sometimes by a huge margin. King of Fighters XII went from 3.4GB down to 703MB, while Raiden Fighters Aces is now just 484MB. Any of you early bird previewers finding other titles that have trimmed the fat?
Multichannel News is passing on word from "an industry executive familiar with Netflix's plans" that the company is prepping an app for the iPhone and iPod touch (not to mention the Wii, which we've heard before) that would let users enjoy their Watch Instantly queues from the comfort of the small screen -- likely restricted to WiFi, of course, because the mere thought of trying to stream a movie over a saturated 3G network is about as brutal as fingernails on a chalkboard. It's a cute rumor; the overlap in Netflix and iPhone owner demographics has to number in the hundreds of thousands, so it's easy to understand why the thought of catching up on Friday Night Lights on the road would go over well with the populace.
A couple problems here, though: first off, Watch Instantly doesn't store content locally, which means you've got to maintain an internet connection to enjoy the show. Assuming the no-3G thing panned out -- and rest assured, it would -- who wants to be stuck in a coffee shop for hours on end because you want to finish out a movie you've started? Secondly, if there's one thing Apple loves, it's maintaining control of the media ecosystem; we'll see hell freeze over before we'll see Watch Instantly on Apple TV, so why would the iPhone be any different? Of course, there's nothing stopping Netflix from creating a Watch Instantly app, but getting it into the App Store is another matter altogether -- and barring some wild FCC ruling, we're not seeing Apple letting that happen.
Whoa, Nelly! No sooner than we hear that Sony is informing Japanese retailers that the 80GB PS3 model won't be shipping any longer after August 8th, along comes this to stoke the raging rumor fires once more. In a one-two punch that just can't be coincidental, Sony has also hacked $50 off of its 160GB PlayStation 3 bundle from Amazon. But really, it's the report from RTLinfo that has us most excited. According to it, the Sony elite are informing European retailers of an impending €100 price slashing on the 80GB console, which will dovetail nicely into the sudden and not-at-all unexpected debut of the PS3 Slim at the gamescom expo in Cologne, Germany. Reportedly, the willowy unit -- which shouldn't differ much in terms of specifications and features -- will be properly introduced to the world during Sony's pre-event press conference on August 18th. Obviously we've no way to confirm or deny just yet, but given everything else that has transpired over the past few months, we'd say an official reveal is definitely due. What say you, rumormongers?
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has explained what he thinks is to blame for the current slowdown in Wii sales.
Speaking to investors (as reported by Kotaku), Iwata said, "It's not the case of the quality of hardware moved, the feeling of missing strong competitive power, lacking its luster or poor sales.
"Consistently, big time titles will be released in the marketplace for this hardware. When that stops, to reinvigorate the console, or to put it another way, I think the current decline in hardware sales is due to the fact that there aren't many big titles (at the moment)."
There are, however, no plans by Nintendo to respond to the sales drop by reducing the price of Wii hardware. "Right now there aren't a lot of discussions going on about what exactly to do about hardware pricing," Iwata said.
Online retailer Amazon has cut the price of the PlayStation 3 160GB bundle by USD 50 for its customers in the US.
The console, normally selling for USD 499 is now available for USD 449, and includes Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and a voucher to download PAIN.
The move comes ahead of Gamescom, which is taking place in Cologne in two weeks, and at which several sections of the industry believe an official price drop for the console will be announced by Sony.
The Corporation announced earlier this week that it had now sold 23 million consoles worldwide, as well as over 190 million software units.
Sony has ordered enough parts to make one million PlayStation 3 consoles in the third quarter of this year, according to reports from the Far East where the majority of the console's components are manufactured.
The figure is double the number made in the last three months, said The Telegraph, picking up on a story reported by DigiTimes. A fact that has prompted further speculation Sony is about to launch a cheaper, slimmer version of the PlayStation 3.
Some industry watchers predict Sony will make an announcement at this year's GamesCom event in Cologne, at which the company has confirmed it will hold a three-hour press conference.
The news follows the revelation PlayStation 3 manufacturing costs have dropped 70 per cent since the console was first launched - a figure confirmed by Sony Corp CEO and executive vice president Nobuyuki Oneda during an investor call late last week.
Earlier today, it was also noted online retailer Amazon has cut the price of the PlayStation 3 160GB bundle by USD 50 for its US consumers.
If you spend any time on the Internet at all (hi!), you've no doubt heard the rumors of an upcoming tablet device from Apple -- supposedly, the company plans to enter the netbook market not with a tiny computer, but with a giant iPhone. And according to a nameless analyst who claims to have seen the device, as reported by Barron's, this new thing will play games.
The analyst reports that the tablet, with a 10-inch touch screen, is designed to be used as a "home media hub," streaming content over Wi-Fi connections and connecting with other Apple devices in the house. It's also reportedly designed to play games. Whether that means stretching existing App Store products or running new games designed just for the device remains to be seen, as does, you know, whether this thing really exists.
If Apple really is making a game console, what an inopportune time for Apple to lose one of its game producers. Of course, every single day so far has been an inopportune time to be a game producer at Apple, so we understand.
Mekishiko916 likes Street Fighter, and is handy with circuits and a soldering iron. Combining those two, he's come up with these amazing hand-made arcade sticks that aren't just heavy-duty, they're wireless as well.
Here's a nice little set of over 60 Registered/Retail WADs, Total Conversions, Partial Conversions and MegaWADs for the PRBoom port for Dingux Linux. I call it...
DOOMgoo!
Just extract this 7zip archive onto your miniSDCard. Locate the doomgoo.cfg file in /local/dmenu/ and merge it with your dmenu.cfg by Copy/Pasting it in between two of your Main Menu entries (mine is between Ports and Emulators).
Grab the files from MediaFire here:
This archive expands into a rather respectable 850 MB and all GameFiles can be found in /local/ports/doomgoo/. It tested just fine with toddler's local-0.17.
There are 61 entries in the DOOMgoo Menu
9 Retail/Registered Versions:
The Ultimate Doom
Doom II - Hell on Earth
Final Doom - TNT Evilution
Final Doom - Plutonia Experiment
Doom - Chex Quest
Doom - Chex Quest 2
Doom II - HacX Twitch 'n Kill
Doom II - Hell To Pay
Doom II - Perdition's Gate
13 Top-Rated MegaWADs
Doom II - 10 Sector
Doom II - Deus Vult
Doom II - Deus Vult II
Doom II - TNT Eternal III
Doom II - Hell Revealed
Doom II - Hell Revealed II
Doom II - Kama Sutra
Doom II - Memento Mori
Doom II - Memento Mori 2
Final Doom - Plutonia 2
Doom II - Scythe
Doom II - Scythe II
Doom - Serenity Trilogy
27 Total Conversions
TC - Aliens
TC - Alien vs Predator vs Terminator
TC - Army of Darkness
TC - Batman
TC - Big Freakin Monster Hunt
TC - Blood Remake
TC - Doom II Xtreme
TC - Doom 3 Mr Smiley Head's Safari
TC - Duum 2 Super
TC - Final Fantasy Doom
TC - A Fistful of Doom
TC - GoldenEye 64
TC - Hexen/Heretic
TC - Insanity
TC - Insanity 2 Partial Hiding
TC - Mortal Kombat Sub-Zero
TC - Osiris
TC - Quake II
TC - Sirens
TC - Spear of Destiny
TC - Star Trek
TC - Star Wars 2.0
TC - Strain
TC - The Talosian Incident
TC- Wolfenstein 3-D Original Missions
TC - Wolfenstein 3-D 2nd Encounter
TC - Zombies/Dawn of the Dead
12 Partial Conversions (LevelWAD Name)
PC - Cringe
PC - Disney & Friends (Attack)
PC - Doom64 (Alien Vendetta)
PC - Dragon Ball Z (Requiem)
PC - Fallout (Titan Manor)
PC - Half Life (Trapped on Titan)
PC - LEGO (Congestion 1024)
PC - Looney Tunes (Lost Levels)
PC - Nintendo (1024 Final Mission)
PC - The Tick (Aeternum)
PC - Ult Simpsons (Cleimos II)
PC - Phoenix Weapons 2050
I've done my best to assure that these all run in the Dingoo's port of PRBoom. I've also tried to only include things worth playing. Several of the LevelWADs attached to the Graphic Partial Conversions are Top-Rated/5 Star like Alien Vendetta, Requiem, Congestion 1024 and Cleimos II, and all of them have been played for at least 10-15 minutes. I've actually finished the 1st level of about 20 of them. Some of the WADs are rather large, and tend to bog down PRBoom for a few seconds whenever you enter a new area, but it's manageable... just try boosting the Dingoo's clockspeed (I don't go over 400Mhz) and turning off the music. You did remember to download a set of Timidity Midi Patches and place it in the /local/lib/timidity folder so that all these games will have music, didn't you? While this is by no means an exhaustive list of everything that'll play in PRBoom, it's a very healthy sampling... and I had to stop somewhere. ^_^
GeoHotz announced yesterday that he will not be updating the Purplesn0w and purplera1n tools for OS 3.0.1. In fact, he won't be updating them at all. One reason - the DevTeam tools already work. He also mentions that the tools were merely a proof of concept, trying to show better and much more painless jailbreak methods exist than the DevTeam's, which he claims to be "complex"!
Quote:
I code to make things simple, hacky, and fast. Dev codes to make things proper, slow, and complicated; redsn0w works OOTB. [...] Someone enterprising out there could probably fix it, it's just the kernel patches that are in the wrong place. Exploit and 99% of payload will work fine. But otherwise, purplera1n RIP.
Digia have just released a beta version of their @Web mobile web browser, fully finger touch controllable and optimized for touchscreen S60 5th Edition devices and Maemo Internet Tablets. It boasts a full finger touch UI and renders the web as it is intented using the state-of-the-art webkit browser engine. In addition to direct page control with finger, url auto-complete, automatic full screen browsing, support for Flash, Ajax, built-in RSS reader and more, it provides functionality missing from the Nokia browser including support for multiple browser windows and text copy&paste.
Do The Same ! is a rotation game, the goal is to reproduce a set of tiles. You can only rotate left or right a 2x2 square tiles. There are 112 fascinating levels.
Credits:
Code: Matmook
Additional Code: GT_Turbo
Graphics: Bear
Level Design: Fredifredo, Odie_One
Music: Scrat, Clawz
Music Player: SebRMV
CD creation : Fredifredo
Cover graphics by Pippin
German translation by Atari-Fan
CD Packaging: RGC TEAM
Skunk Rom creation : SebRMV and tools from Matthias Domins
Online HighScore System: based on Orion_'s one
Beta-testers : Anneso, Atari-fan, Fredifredo, Doctor Clu, Krupkaj, Nonner242, Odie_One, PMData, Vimaster
Shaping Reality by 8bitpeoples is a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) demo, released at Little Computer People 2009. It ranked third place in the wild demo competition! http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=53565
OMG Evil Dragon posted this great update from Gamepark:
The GCO in Leipzig is over - and I got quite a few news directly from GPH.
Here is a short summary:
* FunGP:
The Appstore FunGP will go online sometime between October and December (the date is not fixed yet).
You can download games using GP Points. First you buy GP Points from one of the distributors which you can then use at FunGP to get the games.
Thy not directly from GPH, you might wonder? Well, it's pretty complicated in Korea to accept foreign credt card payments. Therefore, this is the best way to get those games.
Additionally, some distributors offer different payment systems (German Bank Transfer, etc.) which you can also use to buy these points, no credit card needed.
While the first releases at FunGP will most probably be games from partner developers, it's also possible for independent- or homebrew-game-developers to sell their games via FunGP for a few bucks.
Of course, the free File Archive will stay, this is just an opportunity for indie game developers to sell more complex games they would not want to release for free.
FunGP will need ActiveX for the first months. In Korea, about 99% are using Internet Explorer. Linux or even Firefox are not very common there, so it's not that easy to get developers that DON'T use ActiveX.
However, GPH does want to make it compatible with every browser and OS in the future.
Every registered user at FunGP can write reviews for the games.
Here are a few of the first games that will be released: Propis (Puzzlegame), Deicide 3 (basically a visual novel / movie where you can decide how the plot will continue), Break Through (Her Knights 2), an enhanced version of Blood Cross (adding Multiplayer) and Wiz Party (similar to Mario Party).
GPH will announce more games soon.
FunGP will also offer a multiplayernetwork, which can be used with the WiFi-Dongle. This allows playing games like Blood Cross, Wiz Party or Propis agains other users worldwide... we really should do some game competitions here at the board!
Another interesting thing is that GPH plans to license some ROMS for emulators. I doubt Sega or Nintendo might license anything, but some Arcade-companies already licensed some of their games to other companies, so it might work out here.
This could make it possible to legally emulate some Arcade classics!
* SDK
Many did ask for the SDK - but it's not ready yet. Tony promised me to release an official SDK until the end of the year.
They also plan on selling the devboards (serial out, TV out, USB Host on a board, which can be connected to the EXT Port. Similar to the F100/F200 cradle).
* WiFi Dongle
The WiFi Dongle is basically finished and should be released within the next months. It does offer WiFi and using FunGP multiplayer gaming.
I don't have a price yet.
* F300 and other WIZs
The F300 (a WIZ in an F200 case) is currently being worked on. It should be released just in time for christmas.
It might also happen, that the WIZ will be available in different colors shortly before christmas.
Ninchenfan proposed version 0.2 of "ChatNoirWii" flash game clone of Black Cat.
The principle of this game is very simple: we must prevent the black cat out!
Each time you click a circle, the cat moves. The goal is to surround and prevent it from moving. Once achieved, you move to the next level.
If the cat out of the screen, the game is lost. The game restarts at the beginning.
Quote:
2009-08-02:
* Release of version 0.2
1. Added Options view (for difficulty and field size)
2. Replaced some graphics
* Now with meta.xml file and icon
* Todo:
1. Much more better graphics (a frame / theme, button for options, an (animated) cat, ...)
2. Intro
3. Confirm on exit
4. Save preferences (to xml-file)
5. Switch to 3D engine * yeah *
2009-07-31:
* Launch of Black Chat Wii project
* Release of version 0.1
* Please test and report bugs ... Thx =)
steaky silus and began adapting the multiplayer wargame "Liquid War" for the Wii for the occasion entitled "Liquiid Wars." The development is in its infancy, it is not yet a "liquid army and only a single player mode is available.
I'm looking to create the definitive top 100 Dreamcast list based on fan voting with the results revealed on 09.09.09, so I've set up a huge poll over here:
There is 386 games to choose from over 8 polls. American, PAL, Japanese and even Indie releases (Anything you'd pay money for then, so no homebrew). You can vote for as many of the games as you like.
Freezy offers "Munch Chunk", a puzzle game where you must display the words "Chunk" or "Munch" by eliminating the blocks of the same colors that are side by side.
Quote:
v0.2a
* First beta given to a friend of mine.
* Got XML save / load to work, savegames work now yay!
Known bugs:
* The game might decide you have no more 'to munch Chunks' in some rare cases, even though there is one left. I'll fix this as soon as possible
* When I have a USB harddrive attached, the code dumps randomly ingame sometimes to mouse.o code.
v0.2
* Added column and row refilling
* Enhanced the movement of the 'Chunks'
* Expanded the menu option with:
o Added a single 'Chunk' as a size & color preview
o Refilling (None | row | column | first rows | columns first)
v0.1
* Rewrote the display back to RI from SDL (Yay, finally SDL works for me on the Wii!)
* Added option to the options menu (4 different sizes, refilling (yes / no))
v0.0
The original game was made by me for the PC, which included 10 colors (still in the game). To make it work on the Wii I rewrote parts to display the GX, which did not work as well for me. . . .
The multimedia player "MPlayer CE, combination of MPlayer Team Twiizers and Geexbox, is once again correct with version 0.72.
Quote:
0.72
* Fix bug playlist
* More SMB servers detected (thanks to hax)
* SMB now supports user-level security share (thanks to hax)
* SMB now supports plain text passwords (thanks to hax)
You might have thought you'd heard the last of the PS3 Slim stories – well tough luck, because the torrent of rumours is unlikely to cease until this year's GamesCom.
UK broadsheet The Telegraph is rumouring that the slim-line SKU is to be announced at the Cologne show later this month – and is as bold as to detail some of the console's specifics.
The PS3 Slim, according to the report, is to come in 40 GB and 80 GB flavours, with a price point starting at around 260 GBP (which translates as 440 USD at the current exchange rate – though with the unique exchange system employed by the videogame industry, expect it to come in well below that figure if The Telegraph's musings are true).
That would mean that the new system would undercut the existing PS3 model, which currently carries a 299.99 GBP price tag.
The Telegraph cites the ramping up of production of PlayStation components in the Far East as potential evidence for the new console. If you're sick of all the PS3 Slim rumours, you'd be well advised to stick your fingers in your ears and keep them there for the next two weeks.
The Jpcsp Team have released a new version of the Java PSP Emulator for Windows, heres whats new:
r1128 Changed screenshot file nomenclature: Screenshots are now saved as "[Game Code]-Shot-[Numerical tag].png". If the game code isn't present (homebrew case), [Game Code] becomes "JPCSP".
r1127 Fix for the display bug
r1126 Implemented basic sceKernelReferSystemStatus()
r1125 Fix for Iron Man game: expects sceKernelMaxFreeMemSize() to be rounded to multiple of 16 bytes
r1124 Avoid ConcurrentModificationException
We're running a competition to see who can program the best AI for a version of Super Mario Bros. It's about deciding what to do at each time step — run, jump, shoot etc. — based on a description of the platforms, items and enemies around Mario. This is hard. It's so hard we believe that some sort of machine learning algorithm will be necessary to reach good playing performance. But really, any approach is fair game. We welcome hard-coded submissions, commercial AI programmers, academics and amateurs alike. Whoever wins, it will be really interesting. The competition is associated with two IEEE conferences, and there are cash prizes available for the best submissions
After Monday's story about intrusive, loading-screen ads being retroactively added to the PSN racing title Wipeout HD, the popular uproar has indeed succeeded in getting Sony to pull them. You can put your pitchforks down; your voice has been heard! A Sony spokesman said, 'The ad has been removed from Wipeout HD and we are investigating the situation to ensure that any in-game advertising does not affect gameplay.
Microsoft for the first time has named Linux distributors Red Hat and Canonical as competitors to its Windows client business in its annual filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The move is an acknowledgment of the first viable competition from Linux to Microsoft's Windows client business, due mainly to the use of Linux on netbooks, which are rising in prominence as alternatives to full-sized notebooks. ... 'Client faces strong competition from well-established companies with differing approaches to the PC market,' Microsoft said in the filing. 'Competing commercial software products, including variants of Unix, are supplied by competitors such as Apple, Canonical, and Red Hat.
Pulling together all the facts into one place, Microsoft has detailed a final and confirmed list of new feature coming to 360 via the Xbox Live summer update on August 11.
Here's the full release:
Less than a week from today, the Xbox LIVE summer update will arrive to more than 20 million Xbox LIVE members and with it will come the next evolution of connected entertainment on Xbox 360. Get ready to meet the many new faces of your Xbox 360; whether it's new Avatar clothing and awards from Adidas or "Splosion Man", or even a private home cinema, Xbox LIVE has something for you.
Movie night on Xbox LIVE
Browse, select and jump right into your favourite movies from the top genres: comedy, action, horror...even a tear-jerking chick flick. There are hundreds to choose from, with many in HD.
Avatars are people too!
Now thanks to Avatar Marketplace the options for customising your avatar are endless. With an ever-expanding selection of stores, full of premium outfits and accessories from your favourite games and fashion brands, you can express yourself through your Avatar like never before. Your Avatar's one-stop-shop will launch with a growing collection from the top names in fashion and gaming including:
Top Brands: Adidas, Quiksilver, Roxy, Tokidoki
Unique Fashions: Steampunk, Recessionista
Your Favourite Games: "BioShock 2," "Halo 3," "Halo 3: ODST," "Gears of War 2," "Fable II," "The Secret of Monkey Island SE," "Splinter: Cell Conviction," "Star Wars Clone Wars: Republic Heroes"
You can also earn special Avatar clothes and items just by playing your favourite games, starting with a hot logo t-shirt from "Splosion Man," the hit Xbox LIVE Arcade title that kicked-off off the 2nd annual Summer of Arcade. And to keep your Avatars from getting bored, we're giving them fun new props to play with; everything from a basketball to pompoms, even a mobile phone...just try to stick with nights and weekends.
Full Xbox 360 games at the push of a button
Xbox 360 games: Games on Demand. Launching with a library of 21 great titles, Games on Demand marks the introduction of digitally distributed full Xbox 360 games: the titles you want, when you want them, straight to your Xbox 360 at the push of a button. You'll also have the option to easily purchase Games on Demand titles directly via credit card.
From award-winning hits like "Mass Effect," "and "Assassin's Creed," to family favourites like "LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga" and "Sonic the Hedgehog," Games on Demand gives you access to a growing catalogue of full Xbox 360 titles, updated weekly and available to browse and download 24 x7 from the comfort of your couch. Check out our line-up at launch:
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft)
Burnout Paradise (EA)
Call of Duty 2 (Activision)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Fight Night Round 3 (EA)
Kameo: Elements of Power (Microsoft Game Studios)
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios)
Meet The Robinsons (Disney)
MX vs. ATV Untamed (THQ)
Need for Speed Carbon (EA)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA)
Perfect Dark Zero (Microsoft Game Studios)
Prey (2K Games)
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games)
Sega Rally (Sega)
TEST DRIVE: UNLIMITED (Atari)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
Tomb Raider Legend (Eidos)
Viva Piñata (Microsoft Game Studios)
Viva Piñata 2: Trouble in Paradise (Microsoft Game Studios)
No more hide and seek
Now you can view, find and arrange your content on Xbox LIVE the way you want. Want to send a specific friend a message? Sort your friends list by Gamertag, status and even activity, so you can easily find the friends you want. There are also new options for viewing your Achievements and progress, improved matchmaking support and more.
Best of all, you can now rate every single piece of content on Xbox LIVE Games Marketplace using a five star system. Support your favourite XBLA game with a five star rating, or find the top-rated titles in the newly-updated Indie Games Marketplace - it's never been easier to find the best and most beloved game content on Xbox LIVE.
Just the beginning...
The Xbox LIVE summer update brings all new ways to play games, and connect with friends or friendly rivals anywhere in the world. It's another step toward realising the Xbox 360 promise of entertainment for everyone, and another reason why Xbox LIVE is hands down the best entertainment value in your living room. But this is just the beginning...
Coming soon, we're bringing a whole new wave of partnerships and custom features straight to your Xbox 360 - instant on 1080p streaming video with 5.1 audio from Zune, personalised digital radio stations from Last.fm, and the biggest forces in social networking: Facebook and Twitter.
In the meantime, have fun with your Avatar, or download that classic Xbox 360 game you've been meaning to pick up. Sit back, relax and enjoy and stay tuned for the next evolution in connected entertainment, courtesy of Xbox LIVE.
Electronic Arts saw net revenues for Wii software hit USD 161 million in its first fiscal quarter of the 2010 financial year, according to the company's latest figures.
That was up significantly on the previous quarter of USD 126 million and even more on the same quarter the previous year of USD 109 million, with the launch of EA Sports Active proving a strong draw for consumers.
Meanwhile the PC platform was the second most lucrative software base, at USD 124 million - although that was down from Q4 2009 (USD 180 million) and Q1 2009 (USD 152 million).
The PlayStation 3 was third on USD 121 million, significantly higher that the Xbox 360 on USD 73 million, while the PlayStation Portable outperformed the Nintendo DS with USD 38 million compared to USD 28 million.
Meanwhile North America continued to be the publisher's most important sales region, with USD 343 million in revenue generated there, albeit down 20 per cent year-on-year.
Europe was in second place with USD 258 million, down 22 per cent, while Asia added USD 43 million to the coffers, down 7 per cent.
90 per cent of the total USD 644 million revenue came from publishing, with the remaining 10 per cent coming from distribution.
The Sims 3 sold over 3.7 million units in its release month of June this year, making it one of the fastest-selling PC titles of all time.
The game, released during the first week of the month racked up those sales worldwide making it the best-selling title at retail in North America and Europe combined for the quarter.
Earlier this week its first expansion pack was announced - World Adventures - while the game's also been driving community and online item sales via its website.
Last August it was announced that the franchise to that point, including The Sims and The Sims 2 - plus expansions - totalled over 100 million unit sales.
Domestic sales of the DSi reached 3,062,920 units as of August 2, according to new Enterbrain figures.
The updated console launched in Japan on November 1 2008, meaning the milestone has been reached in the space of just nine months, reports Famitsu.
Nintendo's latest quarterly financial results, released last week, showed that worldwide DSi sales for the three months ending June 30 had totalled 3.65 million. Worldwide, the system, which launched outside of Japan in April 2009, has sold 6.68 million units to date, confirmed the company.
Nintendo needs to concentrate on expanding its core user base as Sony and Microsoft muscle in on its casual audience with new technologies of their own, Marvelous Entertainment director, Yasuhiro Wada has stated.
"The Nintendo market is pretty humongous right now, but I think that's primarily because of all the light users; the casual users," he said, speaking to Gamasutra. "The core userbase for the Wii is really still small. One of the things that Nintendo is trying to do, like with the Motion Plus, is try to make it more advanced and more friendly to the gamer-gamer.
"But it's still not enough because Sony and Microsoft are starting to do the same sorts of technology. In those cases they are still weak, but I think it's really important to have more core titles such as Zelda and other titles from Nintendo to grow that core market area, so the whole market can grow as well."
While his company has developed plenty of games for Nintendo platforms, continued Wada - Marvelous created the Harvest Moon games and Little King's Story among others - it is only bound to those platforms because it doesn't have the technology to develop for the "HD-heavy platforms".
However, "at a certain point we will reach that place and we can advance to multiple platforms and different other venues," Wada predicted.
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has said the company is "positive" on the opportunities offered by both Microsoft's Natal and Sony's motion controller, stating the company will support both.
"We're really positive on both," said the exec during a call to investors following the release of EA's Q1 financials.
"Our view is that motion-based gaming is something that is both going to drive install base, drive interest and drive growth. We’re positive overall."
He added: "We’re planning to support both. We haven’t yet announced our plans to do so, but we shall do so in the right time-frame for that, which is likely to be early-to-mid-2010."
Riccitiello's comments, reported by VG247, follow recent rumours Natal will be released towards the end of 2010. Sony's motion controller is scheduled for spring 2010.
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has said the company is "positive" on the opportunities offered by both Microsoft's Natal and Sony's motion controller, stating the company will support both.
"We're really positive on both," said the exec during a call to investors following the release of EA's Q1 financials.
"Our view is that motion-based gaming is something that is both going to drive install base, drive interest and drive growth. We’re positive overall."
He added: "We’re planning to support both. We haven’t yet announced our plans to do so, but we shall do so in the right time-frame for that, which is likely to be early-to-mid-2010."
Riccitiello's comments, reported by VG247, follow recent rumours Natal will be released towards the end of 2010. Sony's motion controller is scheduled for spring 2010.
Looks like those Sony 2TB memory sicks we warned you about way back in January are finally coming to pass, and Sony Insider has dug up the details. As appearing on Sony's oss-formats.org site, the Memory Stick XC keeps the current form factor for memory sticks (most likely these guys will be backwards compatible) with the XC series (XC Duo, XC-HG Duo, XC Micro (M2 XC), XC-HG Micro (M2 XC-HG)) using the exFAT file system, and the PRO series (including the PRO Duo, PRO-HG Duo, Micro (M2), HG Micro (M2-HG)) using the tried and true FAT12/16/32. Memory freaks can thrill to the specifications for the new class after the break.
If you haven't been lucky enough to preview the upcoming Xbox Live dashboard update like we did, there's a good chance you're eagerly awaiting its August 11 release so that you can finally modify your Netflix queue straight from the box. If so, prepare to be disappointed... or, uh, thrilled when you find out that the new experience isn't quite as comprehensive as you might have expected. It restricts users to perusing the Top 50 films in any of a handful of categories, meaning no searching by title and no browsing alphabetically. Why? According to Microsoft's Ben Smith, Director of Program Management for Xbox Live, that's how you want it. He says: "I think when people come to Xbox they're not really looking so much for functional, they really want to have fun, they want to be wowed." We're saying "wow," all right, but for entirely different reasons. There is a morsel of good news, though: if enough people indicate they actually like function and want an honest-to-goodness, full-featured Netflix experience Microsoft is fully prepared to upgrade the service. Again. Eventually
Much of the speculation around an "iPad" -- a rumored 10" Apple tablet -- has portrayed it as an Amazon Kindle-killer or a large-screen iPod touch, but there's a strong case that such a product could effectively serve as a replacement for – or a compelling complement to -- Apple's non-platform sleeper Apple TV.
Apple faces a dilemma in moving iPhone apps to a larger screen size or higher resolution. It must either scale them (ugly), ask developers to create a large-screen version (cumbersome), or run them in a window (which would beg some level of multitasking at least beyond what the iPhone OS does today). Not only that, but a 10" device is simply inconvenient for some of the iPhone's apps. Just try focusing on the road with a 10" navigation screen suctioned to your windshield.
The base version of Apple TV is 40 GB, just a bit over the 32 GB that has been offered on the iPod touch and iPhone. By the end of the year, a 64 GB flash product could be well within reach for a flash–based iPad. That would easily store many consumers' photo libraries and a Netflix queue's worth of movies. Rumors about the "Cocktail" music experience notwithstanding, the tablet would make an excellent platform for watching and displaying video and photos. a 10" screen would be a fine fit for 720p video and the small size would mask artifacts that could show up on the 50" television. But the iPad would be even more versatile than Apple TV.
It was only hinted before in a text string, but the new iPhone OS 3.1 update's USB Device Configuration XML property list clearly shows not one, but two new unidentified Apple products:
The first model—identified as iProd0,1—has a standardMuxPTP description. Since no other models start with a zero as a first identifier, we can only guess this is a prototype. The second model is the iProd1,1, which indicates a first generation product.
It has the same description as the iPhone: StandardMuxPTPEthernet. This probably means that, like the Jesusphone, it supports high speed network capabilities.
Could this be the tablet that may be coming in September? The strings don't say much else, so we don't know what they may be. However, it is enough to give our tablet probability meter a 5% boost.
Apple is working on a tablet computer specially designed for playing games and media.
That's according to a report by researchers Barron's (as recounted by 9to5mac). Apparently one analyst has seen the device first-hand. He reckons the hi-def video content is particularly impressive, stating, "It's better than the average movie experience when you hold this thing in your hands."
The analyst said the computer will be unveiled in September and will go on sale in November, priced at $700 - $800.
Manufacturers are said to be so excited they're clearing space in their factories in readiness. "It's close enough now to a final design that in Asia, there's no other product in the waiting room or in the bullpen," the analyst said.
"There are dozens of ODMs [original device makers] making products for Lenovo and other PC makers that are all waiting to see what the Apple product is."
Another analyst, John Peddie, reckons the computer could perform a wide variety of multimedia functions. He added, "Gaming will be a big part of what this is about."
John Riccitiello is well-known as a man accustomed to living on the edge. His opinions, often controversial and polarizing, frequently tear rifts between factions of the gaming community. We imagine his latest outburst will be no different -- during EA's Q1 conference call, the polemical CEO said, "We think pricing will move hardware," and added, "We anticipate price cuts at some point and we'd like to see them later in the year."
Sure, this may seem like the popular opinion right now, but there's plenty of folks who hold opposing beliefs. Like us -- we wouldn't mind seeing a universal increase in the price of consoles. You know, to keep the proles out.
Throwing stuff at stuff is okay, but what Wii owners really like is stretching. That's the takeaway we've gleaned from EA's quarterly financial results, which reveal that EA Sports Active, selling "over 1.8 million copies in the quarter," is not just a genuine hit -- it's the publisher's best-selling Wii title to date.
If EA hadn't already announced that expansions and versions for other consoles were coming out, now is right about when we would say "there are totally going to be sequels to this." Although, we suppose, technically, the second EA Sports released a game was the second we knew there'd be another one in a year.
The staple Xbox 360 - the Xbox 360 Pro - looks set to march straight off retail shelves and into the history books, if new console packaging is anything to go by.
First hinted at by Ars Technica's ever-reliable mole in June, then further hinted at by new 360 packshot renders later that month, photos sent to us by GameStop employees earlier this week seem to offer proof that Microsoft will soon go from offering three Xbox 360 consoles to just two.
Look at the spine of these new, actual 360 Arcade boxes (pictured above, on the right) arriving at retailers across the US. Unlike previous models of the Arcade (on the left), which showed the relative inclusions offered in the Arcade, Pro and Elite models of the 360, this new box only shows the Arcade and Elite. No Pro.
Wonder if this means the Elite is in line for a price cut (to the price the Pro is currently), as it assumes the mantle of "standard" 360 console? It'd make sense, especially as a spoiler for Sony's surely-impending launch of the PS3 Slim.
For a fully customized Xbox 360, the answer is XCM Black Chameleon Case. It includes a full Black case, with pre-cut window and a rotating color air-tube. Stunning lightning guaranteed!
features
Official Banpresto Merchandise
Also available in controller type II
Size: approx. 60mm X 93mm
Limited availability
description
The Famicon console is the ancestor of all home consoles. No matter what your favourite system is, the Xbox360, the Nintendo Wii or the PlayStation3, you have to pay tribute to the origin.
One console has two controllers, the primary and the second, this set of controller card cases features both. The primary cardcase spots two more buttons, the start and select while the secondary case shows more of the face plate.
Separate your own cards from the cards from your clients. With the separator, you would never mess up with your contacts.
Flash your cards and your ultra cute and stylish cardcase around during outings and get to know some like-minded people.
features
Official Takara Tomy Merchandise
Insert coin to start the game (use any coin similar size to 100Yen coin)
Controls: left, right with mini joystick and fire button
On/Off for sound
Batteries required: 3 X AAA (not included)
Size: approx. 170mm X 110mm X 110mm
Limited availability
description
Save some money and play a game. Space Invaders is back, arcade style as well. Slip a 100 yen coin (or any similar coin) into the slit and activate the machine. Enjoy shooting games in retro-style with dot graphics and a black and white screen.
The coin bank makes saving money something worth looking forward to. Teach kids the merits of managing their finances through this wonderful device.
According to a recent trademark for P.S. Thanks, probably short for PlayStation Thanks, it seems that way. The trademark filed by Sony Computer Entertainment is for use with an “incentive rewards program” which identifies and motivates the top consumer base.
There are a number of ways Sony could incentivize their customer base. They could hand out points for each item purchased and reward frequent buyers with PlayStation products sort of like Club Nintendo. Or they could quantify top players by skill via trophies and reward them. The latter seems less likely since they’re targeting the “top consumer base” or in other words top purchasers.
What kind of prizes could Sony offer? Games seem likely, but if such a program exists Sony will probably throw in a few mega prizes. Last year Sony rewarded their fans in Southern California by passing out E3 invites at their PlayStation Blog meet up.
According to a recent trademark for P.S. Thanks, probably short for PlayStation Thanks, it seems that way. The trademark filed by Sony Computer Entertainment is for use with an “incentive rewards program” which identifies and motivates the top consumer base.
There are a number of ways Sony could incentivize their customer base. They could hand out points for each item purchased and reward frequent buyers with PlayStation products sort of like Club Nintendo. Or they could quantify top players by skill via trophies and reward them. The latter seems less likely since they’re targeting the “top consumer base” or in other words top purchasers.
What kind of prizes could Sony offer? Games seem likely, but if such a program exists Sony will probably throw in a few mega prizes. Last year Sony rewarded their fans in Southern California by passing out E3 invites at their PlayStation Blog meet up.
Review: Puzzle Quest Galactrix
Playstation Network
Developer: Infinite Interactive
Price:£15.99
Platform: PC, NDS, XBLA and PSN (reviewed version)
First off let me say that this is the first time I’ve played any PSN game, I’ve seen PAIN! being played, but for me I’ve never really been bothered for shelling out for games(however little they cost) that I’m not going to play that much. Having said that never turn a free game down and so onto Puzzle Quest Galactrix.
I picked the story mode to begin with getting straight into it. It starts with a bit too over the top voice over explaining the story. It’s then into a bit of text dialogue and then onto the game. Basically you ‘fly’ around a solar system and to planets/places to need to go are marked. Usually you fly to one place, get a bit of a story, and get your mission then head to another place to play the mission.
I’ve played three types of missions so far, fighting pirates, mining, and hacking. They’re all just variations of the same game - match 3 or more of the same colour in the circular playing grid. Now the first version I played was the fighting challenge. Connecting different colours will give you different things - red boosts your shield, green gives you energy(I think!). There are also mines on the grid, get three in a row to attack your opponent. Each mine has a number on it, and the three add up to give the damage inflicted on your opponent. Getting four in a row or multiple connection combos give you bonuses You can also attack your opponent with the weapons on your ship. This is turned based.
For the most part this is enjoyable but there are one or two problems for me. And it’s a big one, sometimes you can’t tell which way the blocks are gonna fall after you make a connection. Several times I chose to make a connection thinking blocks would come down setting up a combo, only to fall from the left or up from the right. Now it might just be me not being used to the game yet, but it’s frustrating as hell when you think you’re about to get a big combo and all you’re doing is setting up your opponent. Also there’s no time limit during this game, minor issue since the computer moves immediately, but I think it would be better if you had to think quickly about what to do.
In between mission you get experience points to upgrade yourself and can also upgrade your ship.
Now the next mission I played was gathering supplies or something of an asteroid. It was a side mission involving one of the crew members you pick up along the way, Lydia(who is very annoying as she calls you kid in every sentence). I’m not gonna go into this one much because it’s an absolute cop out. Again collect three in a row of the supplies to get them on the ship, without a time limit. Fairly standard and would be fine except for one big thing - as I was playing I was taking my time trying to see three I could connect, and then all of a sudden one of the grids flashed, just for a second, it was telling me what block to move! What’s the point in that, it takes all the challenge out of the game.
To move through the different systems(and further the story line) you have to hack through warps. This was my favourite of the game types. To hack to have to follow a code which appears in the top right hand corner of the screen, e.g. if it’s green at the top you have to clear a connection of three etc, all within a time limit. This is more like it for a challenge, a lot of fun, and you do get quite nervous when you have a colour you need to get and there’s no three blocks near each other. There are many warps in this game, so there’s plenty of chances to play this, and there are varying difficulty levels, but basically means less time to complete the code.
I haven’t been playing this game for very long, a couple of days or so, the storyline’s ok, it’s nice to have a point to playing all the different games and a goal to complete instead of just level after level. The dialogue is cheap but it doesn’t matter and the levelling up and updating of the ship etc. adds a nice touch to what otherwise would be a pretty standard puzzler. I can’t really judge it on other PSN games because, well, I’ve not played any but compared to my favourite puzzle game of all time, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine it’s lacking. I always took great joy in getting the combos in Mean Bean Machine, but in this it just seems like a fluke if I get one, therefore it’s not as satisfying when you get a nova or supernova combo or even win the fight.
Am I gonna play this again, probably not, though I really enjoyed the hacking, the storyline isn’t enough for me to want to continue playing to see where it goes. I might play the quick game now and again, or two player, but apart from that it’s just too average for me to want to turn on the PS3 and play it. It does however, set the benchmark for all future reviews of PSN games from me, and as such this game gets a
2.5 out of 5
Not good, not terrible, just..meh.
**It’s been two weeks since I’ve written this review and I’ve not played the game since, so I can conclude there really is nothing to drag me back to playing this game, and I wouldn't be happy paying £15.99 for it**
An hour with the Zune HD inspired a moment of rapture for CNET reporter Donald Bell, who breathlessly told the world "I am tentatively reaffirming my faith in Microsoft." Reading his impressions, it's easy to see why.
We got a few minutes with the Zune HD all the way back at its announcement, and everything felt and looked like something to get excited about, but that was just a taste; now we know that the Zune's relative stagnancy over the last few years hasn't been for nothing. The hardware feels "expensive, solid, and sexy" and the 3.3-inch OLED screen looks "outstanding," while the software—particularly the music playback screen and music recommendation features—sounds miles ahead of the Zune's already decent interface. It's great to hear that our hopes were warranted, but there's a bombshell buried in here, a few paragraphs down.
Speaking of Wi-Fi, the Zune's new Web browser smokes. Not since first using the iPhone have I been this impressed with a mobile web browser. There's no branding on the browser, but I was told it was cooked up by Microsoft's Internet Explorer team (makes sense). [Ed. note: It does?] Page load was snappy, and pinching and reorienting pages work just like the iPhone and iPod Touch.
As anyone who has used Windows Mobile in the last—well, ever, including the much-improved-but-still-only-tolerable-Mobile IE 6, this is a comeback for the ages. I just hope Bell wasn't swept away in the moment; if these observations hold, the Zune HD could be a certifiable Very Big Deal. Or possibly, if Microsoft wakes up and drops a cellular antenna into this thing, a Very Very Very Big Deal
Rookie 1 has today released a new version of the replacement Menu for the Dingoo, heres his full newspost:
Greetings! Attached is Dmenu 0.3. From the changelog for 0.3,
- Fixed a display bug where the menu items above the mainmenu are overlapping
- Execute programs directly instead of via '/bin/sh' to reduce memory usage
- Re-structured config files to add theme support and reading config from application directories. See readme.txt for details.
I have changed the config file handling to support multiple themes, and search other directories to include additional config files. Games/Emulators/Applications can come with their own dmenu.cfg and these will be automatically included in Dmenu as long as they are in the search path. Check readme.txt in dmenu directory to find out more.
As usual, post your suggestions/requests/bug reports in this thread. Enjoy
The Dreamcast still marches on with another homebrew release for the system, heres the details from our friends over at Dreamcast ES:
Futbillar is a simple game but very educational, which consists of a football game with billiard balls. The ball never leaves the field of play and bouncing of the walls.
Moreover, for difficult, the player who is controlling is the final touch on the ball (although you can change players with the A button).
The game uses SDL and SDL_mixer libraries. The display text is in Catalan, but do not represent any difficulty in playing.
The game is for 1 single player, although the AI implemented is interesting to learn how it works.
Changes regarding the original:
- Adapted to 640x480.
- Reduced some wav sounds to fit ramdisk.
- Improved direction of the d-pad to run the diagonals.
Controls:
Analog: Move cursor to select teams.
D-pad: Move player
A: Change player
L: Exit
This port is dedicated to my dear cousin, which has beta-tested and liked and everything
Sony Playstation emulator for Windows has been updated. Changes:
- Lua scripting.
- Fixed a possible cause of desync in GPU_writeDataMem; only seen when frameskip was enabled (for ex. with Fast Forward). As a side effect of this, - - Fast Forward is now ~25% slower.
- Screenshots are now taken correctly and they get saved as PNG.
- Added "-lua" command line option.
- Added "Maximum Speed", "Run Lua Script", "Stop Lua Script" and "Reload Lua Script" hotkeys. They will need to be remapped if you've used previous versions of PCSX-RR.
- Various minor improvements in the "-RR" code.
- My computer gets 10% slower due to the "pcsx.exe.manifest" file, so it doesn't come within the release archive anymore. You may want to remove it from your PCSX-RR folder too if you have a slow system.
libwiigui is a GPL licensed GUI library for the Wii, created to help structure the design of a complicated GUI interface, and to enable an author to create a sophisticated, feature-rich GUI. It was originally conceived and written after I started to design a GUI for Snes9x GX, and found libwiisprite and GRRLIB inadequate for the purpose. It uses GX for drawing, and makes use of PNGU for displaying images and FreeTypeGX for text. It was designed to be flexible and is easy to modify - don't be afraid to change the way it works or expand it to suit your GUI's purposes! If you do, and you think your changes might benefit others, please share them so they might be added to the project!
Technik has released Revolution Engine v0.4alpha2 :
Revolution Engine is the very First homebrew 3D Game Engine for Wii. It is directly based on GX without any GL wrapper or anything similar. Natively designed for the Wii, this engine is probably capable of generating the best homebrew graphics ever seen on this game console.
Version 0.4
Revolution Engine 0.4 is the first mature version of the engine, and so the first version published here at wiibrew. It's being released through various steps for better feedback, and for creating a better result for the final release. This is why revolution engine 0.4 is released in alpha versions before being complete.
Current Features
Revolution Engine 0.4 alpha 2 Supports:
3D System
Triangle meshes, Quad meshes and mixed meshes Rendering
Advanced transparency
Custom file formats for 3D meshes
Vertex lighting, software based
Multiple cameras
Node Based
Material System
Textured Objects
U V coordinates
Diffuse Color
Diffuse maps
Specular Color
Transparency
glossiness
Specularity
Tilin
Mixed through TEV
2D system, GX based
Node Based
True type texts
Multiple Viewports
Solid panels
Image-based panels
IR pointers for up to 4 players
Buttons
Windows
Miscellaneous
Content Manager (Under construction)
New version of this notebook for Wiz with virtual keyboard on screen, created by Gerald Hoarau.
It is not known which includes news, since it does not put it in the readme.
New version of the port by this SplinterGU Spectrum emulator for Wiz.
This version includes scaling to full screen, sound and support for up to 4096 roms, among many other novelties.
dimok met online a pre-alpha version of its draft "WiiExplorer" browser / file manager for the Wii.
Quote:
Features:
* SMB / USB / SD recursive copy / move / delete of files / directories with all files in it
* Rename files
* Properties of files / directories
* Browse through SD / USB / SMB
* Addressbar with path
Coming soon (Wishlist):
* Booting .dol / .elf files by double click
* New Style / Pictures by NeoRame
* Multiple Windows (Minimize / Maximize Windows)
* Opening files TXT/PNG/JPEG/MP3/OGG
* Better handle SMB
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced the availability of the new Limited Edition Hannah Montana PSP (PlayStation Portable) Entertainment Pack. Specifically designed for the fashion-forward "tween," the Limited Edition Hannah Montana PSP Entertainment Pack includes the new "Lilac" PSP-3000 system, Disney Interactive's Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show video game, three Hannah Montana episodes on UMD (Universal Media Disc), a 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, and fashionable vinyl stickers to customize the PSP system for $199.99 (MSRP).
"The gaming world has traditionally been a male domain, but today we're seeing more and more female gamers, particularly on portable devices," says John Koller, SCEA's Director of Hardware Marketing. "While SCEA has a broad range of PSP owners from under 12 to over 45 years old, we saw a tremendous opportunity for us to connect with the female and 'tween' demographic and create a PSP system that girls will love. The new Limited Edition Hannah Montana PSP Entertainment Pack plays a central role in SCEA's larger 'Girlz Play Too' initiative and we're committed to bringing a steady stream of female-friendly content to consumers."
As part of SCEA's "Girlz Play Too" marketing initiative, a highly targeted television, print and digital campaign focused on female gaming will appear throughout the fall. In addition, SCEA has launched a "Girlz Play Too" specific Web destination (www.girlzplaytoo.com) in which girls can discover and explore all of the multimedia features available on the PSP system.
With PSP games such as Ubisoft's Petz line, MTV Games' Rock Band Unplugged, LittleBigPlanet PSP and Buzz! Quiz World making their way to shelves this year, girls and women alike can enjoy a broad range of fun, pick-up-and-play games on the PSP system. The PlayStation Network offers more than 200 downloadable games, such as Patapon 2, Flow and Echochrome, which appeal to female gamers with more on the way. In addition, the PlayStation Network's video delivery service enables PSP owners to choose from 2,000 movies and 10,500 TV shows for everyone in the family, giving PSP users access to download their favorite video content directly onto their PSP system.
The PSARDumper of Dark_AleX has been updated so that decrypts files from 5.50 firmware. However, not all decrypts, because we did not reverse engineer the files containing the keys of the firmware, the truth, we do not believe that what we will do and we understand that there are websites, people, ... that have already completely decoded.
Perhaps this update will never see the light of day, whether that be from Sony’s website or via Network Update; however, G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra UMD comes pressed with firmware 5.55, much like IdolM@ster SP and 5.05. Currently, as confirmed in the below video, 5.55 is required to run G.I. Joe. But really, we all know that’ll be hacked/bypassed in due time.
As brilliant as the $99 subsidized iPhone 3G strategy might seem on paper, the fact remains that the 3G now is a 13 month-old device -- the better part of a lifetime by smartphone standards -- and it stands to reason that Apple wouldn't be interested in consuming manufacturing capacity indefinitely with outdated equipment, especially since that game plan cuts into economies of scale on the 3GS' chipset and superior camera hardware. The solution? Let iPhone 3G inventory cool down for a few months -- $99 is a nice, round number after all that's plenty low enough to move units -- and when the carnage is over, phase it out in favor of a new lower-cost 3GS. That's sure to leave new 3G owners fuming, but newly leaked screens out of Rogers seem to indicate that's exactly how this is likely going to go down: add a black 8GB 3GS into the mix that can serve as the company's new entry-level device below the 3GS in two colors, likely for $100 less than the 16GB model. There's no word on when this might happen, but Apple's likely to host its usual Fall event to roll out new iPods (and more?), so this could serve as an interesting -- if not ultimately predictable -- footnote.
Here's the latest Doom for DC. After messing with the music for a whole day, I decided to take another approach - I converted libWildMidi to the DC and used it and mus2mid from Chocolate Doom to play the music. Funny enough, things sound rather similar... I wonder if my TIMM has some problems, or if it's the Dreamcast having the problem. I need to put some MP3s on a CDR and try it on the my system.
Anywho, give this a try. It's got a nice set of instruments on it - the same ones I use on my PC for MIDI music. The archive of libWildMidi is also attached here in case you wish to use it yourself. Just copy the lib and includes from the arc into kos-ports, add libWildWidi to the list in the makefile in kos-ports, then make. To see how to use it, look at the Doom source code in dc-sounds.c.
Blizzard has just announced that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty won't be released this year. From their announcement: "Over the past couple of weeks, it has become clear that it will take longer than expected to prepare the new Battle.net for the launch of the game. The upgraded Battle.net is an integral part of the StarCraft II experience and will be an essential part of all of our games moving forward. This extra development time will be critical to help us realize our vision for the service. ... As we work to make Battle.net the premier online gaming destination, we'll also continue to polish and refine StarCraft II, and we look forward to delivering a real-time strategy gaming experience worthy of the series' legacy in the first half of 2010."
Google's second Android Developer Contest (ADC2) has started, despite some confusion around how to submit applications. The prizes are different from the first ADC, with each category having prizes of 100k, 50k, and 25k and an overall best of 150k,50k and 25k, meaning the best Android application from ADC2 is eligible for ~250k. The rules seem to allow any application never published before August 1st to compete, and the contest is open through the end of August (so break out your keyboards!). The top prizes are certainly less than that of first ADC, but with the prizes broken down by category, Google may be hoping to inspire some love for less popular categories
Nicky Boum is a classic platformer game initially designed for the Amiga. The
game was published by Microids in 1992 and was also ported to the Atari ST and
PC EGA platforms.
Dingux port is based on a cross-platform game engine recreation by Gregory Montoir (http://cyxdown.free.fr/nicky/)
INSTALLATION
----------
Copy nickyboum folder to miniSD:/local/games
You need the original DOS version data files. The list is :
*.BLK
*.CDG
*.REF
*.SPR
*.SQX
CONTROLS
------
Up = JUMP
DPAD = IN-GAME MOVEMENTS
R-TRIGGER = FIRE / BOMBS / ACTION
B= FIRE / BOMBS / ACTION
X = INVENTORY
START = PAUSE
SELECT = EXIT TO Menu
KNOW ISSUES (BUG):
-------
-The game run only in 300x160.
-Some slowing down sometimes
I work on the problem of resolution nowadays, a second version will be release as soon as improvements will have been found.
CREDITS
------
Alain Lambin - Graphics / Sound / Music
Dominico Manfredi - Original game programming
Gregory Montoir - Cross-platform game engine recreation
Yoannd26 - Dingoo linux port
Thank's to Ezial for the mapping Select key for exit to menu.
FranXis has released a new version of the Arcade Emulator for Wiz, heres whats new:
- Added full image scaling (Rampage, Popeye, Super Sprint, etc). Horizontal scaling with linear filtering is still used internally when applicable.
- More Neo·Geo games are playable, e.g. Art of Fighting 3, Fatal Fury and Pulstar. Still some games run in the GP2X and not in the WIZ due to lack of memory (blazstar, kof96, mslug2, ninjamas, ragnagrd, rbff1 and shocktro).
- Upper memory is used as primary memory for all memory allocations. If the upper memory is full, the Linux memory is used instead. Strangely the emulator is faster using this approach and it avoids lock-ups.
- No more lock-ups when exiting from games to the frontend (e.g. Out Run, Shinobi, etc).
Quick update - this solves the audio problem. I had overlapping buffers in the sound ram, and additionally didn't transfer buffers to the right offset in sound ram during the audio loop. Oh well, now it sounds GOOD!
EDIT: Whoops! Rename the file from .zip to .sbi to use with SBI. Was in too big a hurry this morning.
Google developers are always working on and updating Chrome in three channels — Stable, Beta, and Developer — in increasing positions on the bleeding-edge scale. Today the company thought changes to the Beta channel warranted a post on the main Google Blog. The advances range from the superficial addition of themes for customizing the browser's window borders to even faster speed under the hood to internal support for HTML 5 tags such as <video> and 'web workers,' which allows the browser to divvy processing work among sub-threads
Microsoft’s digital service to offer premium prices – but has retail got the shelf space to compete?
Though we’re yet to hear the specific price of each title heading to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Games On Demand service next week, Joystiq is claiming that all titles will be priced between 1,600 MS Points (£13.50) and 2,400 MS Points (£20).
This is good news for bricks and mortar retail – MCV research has shown that nearly all of the titles due to arrive on the service next week can be sourced for significantly less on the High Street.
Taking eight of the titles that will form the debut offering for Microsoft’s Games-On-Demand service, MCV used online price comparison site GamesTracker and phoned a number of GAME outlets to find how much physical copies currently cost:
* Assassins Creed – £14.99 (High Street); £8.99 (Online)
* Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – £14.99 (High Street); £9.94 (Online)
* Fight Night Round 3 – £14.99 (High Street); £6.19 (Online)
* Perfect Dark Zero – £4.99 (High Street); £4.99 (Online)
* Prey – £? (High Street); £4.99 (Online)
* Rockstar Presents Table Tennis – £4.99 (High Street); £4.34 (Online)
* Sega Rally – £9.99 (High Street); £7.39 (Online)
* Viva Pinata 2 – £? (High Street); £7.98 (Online)
As the results show, at the very least retail looks to be competitive with Microsoft’s price. In the majority of cases retail looks to be significantly cheaper, particularly when shopping online.
And these prices don’t take into account the savings that can be made when buying pre-owned.
However, one obstacle that High Street retail might face is shelf space and stock availability. MCV was unable to obtain prices for two games – Prey and Viva Pinata 2 – as none of the ten stores contacted had any stock of either title.
MCV contacted Microsoft was unable to confirm the UK Games-On-Demand pricing at the time of writing.
In further Games-On-Demand news, three additional titles have been added to the North American Games on Demand selection that won’t be appearing on the European service next week – 2K Games’ BioShock, Namco’s Ridge Racer 6 and Konami’s Karaoke Revolution American Idol Encore.
Forget VidZone. Japanese firm DDM.tv is readying a new HD porno streaming service designed specifically for the PS3.
According to details on the official site (via Kotaku), you need only have a PS3 hooked up to a broadband connection, and a HDMI cable to make all your HD fun happen.
Oh, and of course you'll need a few (Japanese) credit card numbers to slam in, before logging into the DMM.tv website through your PS3 (the only device it works on for now), and searching for the production of your choice using keywords, genre or an actress' name.
We would 'research' some names for you with Google images (safe search off), but I.T. police might hit us with the ban hammer...
Official application portals like Apple's App Store and Palm's App Catalog are the big box retailers of the mobile space: plenty of choices, but to get the really good stuff you have to go elsewhere. Case in point: My Tether, an app that, naturally, allows tethering through a Pre, and does so quite comprehensively. Palm's savior can be directly attached through USB, but Bluetooth and WiFi are also available, thus delivering the connectivity trifecta. It's a lot easier to enable than the last option we found, and though the fully-automatic, self-installing version costs $10, there's a free one if you're feeling cheap (and know your way around a shell prompt). We're still waiting to see whether Palm or Sprint will put an end to these 3G hijinks, since the pair are obviously not in favor of them, but right now this particular carrier needs every selling point it can get -- even unofficial ones like this.
Western Digital may have been first to launch a two terabyte 3.5-inch desktop hard drive, but it's Hitachi snagging the first 7200RPM 2TB crown (WD's entry hummed along at 5400RPM). Launched today, the 2TB Deskstar 7K2000 also features 32MB of cache and a 3Gbps SATA interface, but unfortunately, few other details are being disclosed. As in, there's no pricing or release information whatsoever. In related news, the company is also refreshing its 7200RPM Deskstar 7K1000.C line, which is available in sizes ranging from 160GB to 1TB. The full, completely unprovocative press release is just after the break.
And this is actually a good thing. Why? Because it means a major Symbian UI redesign is on the way.
TamsS60 spoke with Symbian Foundation rep David Wood, who explained that theyre killing the Avkon UI engine, in favor of Qt, meaning there will be a binary break when it comes to S60 apps. The term "revolutionary" was also thrown around with regard to UI changes. All hope isn't lost yet, Symbian fanboys. Then again, we're probably gonna have to wait another year (at least) for this.
Over 500,000 copies of Wii Sports Resort were sold in the US during the game's first eight days on sale, according to Nintendo figures.
The game, which comes packaged with the new Wii MotionPlus accessory, reached the landmark figure on August 3, eight days after its US launch on July 26.
"Through Monday we sold one copy of Wii Sports Resort roughly every 1.5 seconds continuously since it launched in the United States," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive VP of sales & marketing. "This tells us consumers were eagerly waiting to get their hands on these fun activities, and it's a great start for a game that will have long-lasting appeal."
Since being released in the UK on July 24, the game has been at the top of the all-format chart with second week sales growing on first week ones by six per cent.
Natal is looking "really cool", according to Valve's Left 4 Dead writer Chet Faliszek, but he is concerned it won't come with a launch title that makes it as compelling a purchase as the Wii, or that gamers actually want to move around in order to play games.
"We [Valve] got to check it out, and it’s actually really cool,” he told Destructoid. "Like, there's someone running around, jumping around and someone else walks up and it instantly recognises this other person, splits them off and [they do] their own thing.
"There's a lot of coolness around it, but I'm not sure about the game that comes with that, and I'm not sure, personally, how much I want to move around. I'm a lazy, lazy man. I don't want to move. I don't want to be fatigued playing a game."
Of course, Nintendo has proved with Wii that a large number of gamers are happy to move around to play games - but a large part of the console's success was down to its launch games, according to Faliszek.
"I think Wii hit it out of the park with the titles that it shipped with. I bought two Wiis, and they're both [for visiting] family, and playing. I can't seem to box them up and carry them, so I had to buy two. [Wii's launch titles] are perfect games for that … I haven't found much else that's compelling.
"I want to see the compelling game first," he concluded.
Former presidential candidate ... vice-presidential, really? Could have fooled us. Anyway, former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin saw fit to grant a man her autograph on an Xbox 360 and now he's selling it on eBay for ...
One billion dollars (dramatic music)
No, but the actual figure is almost as ludicrous at $1.1 million. And for that price, you're not even getting an Elite, just a plain ol' Pro -- which may be a collector's item soon anyways. Perhaps, if the gentleman sells the item, he'll be a very supportive donor to Palin's expected 2012 presidential bid. Yes he can.
Do you like Rock Band Unplugged? Do you like ... buying a new PSP? If so, you'll be pleased to hear this. According to Destructoid, Best Buy's PSP Go listing mentioned a free voucher for a download of Rock Band Unplugged. If it was in the listing, it has since been removed. We've contacted Sony to determine the truth of this rumor.
If this turns out to be true, then the PSP Go won't cost $80 more than a PSP -- it'll just cost $50 more than a PSP Rock Band Unplugged Entertainment Pack, which sounds better. The existence of a current PSP/Rock Band bundle makes this more plausible, as well.
Update: Looks like the PSP Go will only be bundled with a Rock Band Unplugged demo -- not the full game, as seen by this image from thatgamecompany's forums.
We don't have any official word on this yet, but the above image (sent by GameStop employees to Kotaku) seems pretty convincing: The Xbox 360 Pro is no longer listed among the 360 offerings on the Arcade box on the right, leading many to believe the middle-of-the-road offering is being phased out.
You may remember that the Pro's death was heralded by Ars Technica's reliable mole back in June, leading us to hope that the second part of that prediction (irresistibly attractive Pro bundles) may not be too far off.
We'll keep trying throughout the day to get official word from Microsoft.
The OpenChord V1 is one of those ideas that seems like it's just missing one key component keeping it from greatness. What the company's developed is a real guitar that you can plug into a Wiimote and use to play Guitar Hero. Cool idea, right?
Except there's just one tiny problem: Playing the guitar with Guitar Hero sounds like a nightmare. It's the kind of sound that makes you wanna storm into your bedroom and tell your little brother to stop playing with your axe before you punch his face off. No, we have no idea how to go about fixing this (we're not even sure unplugging the guitar would help), but it seems like it might be a deal breaker for some folks. Check it for yourself after the break.
icrosoft has released the newest edition of its online PC service, Games for Windows Live.
The most significant addition to Microsoft’s new platform is how users can access the Marketplace in the middle of a game.
The Xbox 360 manufacturer says that when players buy an item from the in-game Marketplace, Games for Windows Live will download and install the item in the background.
It would be a logistical triumph if such DLC could then be accessed in-game without restarting, though since the company has not mentioned such a feat in its press release, expect this to not feature.
Game publishers are also able to implement new anti-piracy measures. Server-side authentication, for example, will tie Gamertags to game licences.
Researchers from The University of Tokyo have demoed a touchable hologram at Siggraph 2009. The project, called Touchable Holography, involves the use of Wiimotes placed above the display to track hand motion, and an airborne ultrasound tactile display created in the university's lab to create the sensation of touch. The result is a holographic image that produces tactile feedback without any actual touching, and without degrading the image itself. Check out the video after the break for a fuller, more stunning explanation.
SuccessHK have today posted that they are now charging from $2 for worldwide shipping on games and more, great if you want to import cheaper region free PSP, PS3 and DS games.
The newly added shipping method, Ground Mail, helps you save a lot on the shipping fee.
For example, if you buy a video game software and select Ground Mail for shipping method, it will cost you as low as $2 on the shipping fee!
I've been lately throwing some serious time on this issue. It is a slow process because each trial-and-error iteration takes about 5 minutes (must write hundreds of MB to get the corruption to show up). I'm checking the SD/MMC code line by line with the aid of the leaked JZ4740 manuals (which are far far far from being clear), comparing the driver kernel code to the uCOS-II code also released by Ingenic (I've got the feeling it is a bit more up to date) and so on. I've fixed the DMA round robin prioriry bug, which was of course not the cause of the corruption, fixed some other apparent bugs in the jz_mmc.c code, and I'm testing everything that comes to my mind, including slowing down the SD/MMC clock. But it is a slow process, please be patient. There's also the possibility that I can have access to further Ingenic documentation (will comment on this in another post) which could help on this issue.
Well, the good news is that one of the things I tried worked: setting the SD/MMC interface in 1-bit mode (instead of 4-bit) seems to fix the corruption. The downside is that the throughput goes down the drain (yeah, you guessed it, one fourth of throughput of the 4-bit mode). I was about to say that this pretty much rules out a DMA related problem, but I'm not sure that's 100% true since lower throughput also means lower stress on the DMA subsystem which could avoid the glitch or corner case causing the corruption. Anyway, the main suspect is still the SD/MMC interface, either the silicon or the A320 hardware. My bet so far is that the code is not properly detecting and handling an error condition that arises during writes.
I'll be preparing today a new release of dual-boot and system packages. Besides the SD/MMC interface in 1-bit mode, it will include some other improvements like support for partitionless cards.
There are 
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Oh well, now it sounds GOOD! 
