Disinter v3.80

February 1st, 2008, 00:30 Posted By: wraggster

News/release from DJB:

Disinter is a .NET v2 application written by PSP Devloper Klutsh, it is used to copy applications and files to a PSP for use in making a "Pandora" MemStick for both the "Phat" & "Slim" PSP's.

Features:

- Either a 1.50 or 3.80 Firmware "Pandora" MemStick can be created.
- Option to install the 1.50 Kernel extentions for M33-3.80 on a "Phat" PSP.
- Loading of eBoots directly or from rar files.
- Full onscreen instructions.
- All features can be used on Vista.
- MD5 verification of eBoot's.

Updates:

v3.80 (Update by DJB)
- Updated to use Despertar del Cementerio v4. (Installs M33-3.80-5)
- Updated to use Hellcats Pandora Installer for 3.xx, V3a
- Updated to use M33-3.80 1.50 Addon

NOTE: I had full permission from the Klutsh to do this version.

Dark Alex's Time Machine - 1.50 Kernal for PSP Slim's

February 1st, 2008, 02:13 Posted By: Safari Al

Dark Alex and the M33 Team have posted a Video on youtube of their latest soon to be released project called the Time Machine, this release when it happens will allow all PSP Slim users who use Custom Firmware to have access to the wonderful world of 1.5 Firmware Homebrew.

Heres the Video



Awesome news

Share your opinions on this wonderful news

GP2X-SIM: A SamCoupé Emulator for GP2X v1.0.2

February 1st, 2008, 13:39 Posted By: zx-81



Hi All,

SimCoupe emulates a SAM Coupe - an 8-bit, Z80-based home computer released in 1989 by Miles Gordon Technology.
For more information on the machine itself, including history and technical specification you can go on the http://www.simcoupe.org.

Originally developed for UNIX and DOS systems by Allan Skillman, it has been then improved and ported to SDL by Simon Owen, Dave Laundon.

GP2X-SIm is a port of the CVS version 0.90 beta 4 of SamCoupe.

What's new in this version ?

- major speed improvements !

How to use it ? Everything is in the README.txt file.

All is on my blog : http://zx81.zx81.free.fr/

Enjoy,

Zx.

XCM XFPS Rateup with Call of Duty 4 PS3

February 1st, 2008, 15:52 Posted By: bandit

Here is another video of XCM's Rateup for the PlayStation 3. This time, its being used with Call of Duty 4 (COD4) on the PS3. This product allows you to use a keyboard and mouse just like the Xbox 360 counterpart. The video also shows you how to map controller buttons to your keyboard and mouse. It will cost you $90-$100USD at Play-Asia, Divineo China, Divineo France and Divineo US.

XCM XFPS Rateup with Call of Duty 4 PS3

February 1st, 2008, 15:52 Posted By: bandit

Here is another video of XCM's Rateup for the PlayStation 3. This time, its being used with Call of Duty 4 (COD4) on the PS3. This product allows you to use a keyboard and mouse just like the Xbox 360 counterpart. The video also shows you how to map controller buttons to your keyboard and mouse. It will cost you $90-$100USD at Play-Asia, ConsoleShop, ConsoleSource, Divineo China, Divineo France and Divineo US.

Mame Player 1.8.5 released

February 1st, 2008, 16:40 Posted By: JKKDARK

New release of this frontend.

Changelog:

* Fixed 'Seconds to run' text box allowing blank entry to save (0 is the default).
* Fixed 'Seconds to run' text box allowing non numeric values.
* Fixed options dialog showing gamename.ini name when confirming a drivername.ini deletion.
* Fixed bug in show available/unavailable/fav menu items becoming wrongly checked.
* Added 'Game speed' slider to default options...advanced.
* Fixed main application caption not updating to new mame version, when changing a rom path (if your mame.exe has changed).
* Added a scrollbar (end of toolbar) to select up/down the setlist. (same as keyboard up/down and joy select).

Download and give feedback via comments

Visual PinMAME, PinMAMEW, PinMAME32 v1.58 released

February 1st, 2008, 16:42 Posted By: JKKDARK

New versions of the Pinball machine emulators for Windows.

Changelog:

- Added support for Stern's "The Sopranos"


Version 1.58 (February 1, 2008) - "The complete series"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is more of a bugfix release. It does not implement any new features besides the inclusion of Zaccaria's "Ski Jump", which makes this series complete (with the exception of sound).

The first and probably most important issue is the bug fix for the PPS-4/2 CPU used on Gottlieb System 1 games. Version 1.57 had a bug left that kept the bonus from accumulating properly (or counting down, for that matter), and another "bug" that kept the game diagnostics / adjustment menu from progressing through its items. Actually if you look at the data sheets for the PPS-4, it seems the emulation was *correct* in 1.57 and now we had to deliberately introduce a bug so it works!? Well, never mind now - as long as it plays fine. smile.gif

Next, we are quite worried by the fact that many Gottlieb / Premier games have sounds missing, so some effort was put into getting these to work. Most notably, all of the drum sounds were missing from System80B games of the first generation. Well, not anymore now! wink.gif Also, the general output volume of the SP0250 sound/speech chip was too low so far, making most bass sounds almost inaudible, so we cranked that up!
Finally, Gerrit turned off the channel suppression feature of the OKI6295 ADPCM chip, so now essentially every started sound will play until it ends, or until it's cut short by another sound playing on the same voice channel. This, of course, is a step back in terms of hardware accuracy, so it won't last long... it was done as a quick fix to show the hardware is capable of producing more sounds than in did in previous releases, and maybe to find a way of getting it right someday.

For all 6-digit display haters out there, we added support for Oliver's 7-digit Gottlieb conversion roms. Doing so, Gerrit also extended the "bios" system to these games: you can now keep the System80/A system roms common to all of those games in the gts80 / gts80a sets, without the need to copy them into each and every Gottlieb rom set. Same goes for the sound PROM used on early System80 and late System80A games: these may go into gts80s / gts80as, who in turn inherit from gts80 / gts80a. Sounds complicated? Well - it's not.

However, as MAME architecture does not support multiple inheritance for games, this produces one little problem: some Gottlieb games (using the sound and speech board) have sound-only clones with completely different roms. These three games (Volcano, Black Hole, and Devil's Dare) need to be split into different sets now, as they don't have a single rom file in common. Also, the new 7-digit common roms must go into their own sets (eg. spiderm7) because those games already inherit from their 6-digit parents, and thus can't inherit from a common set with support for the 7-digit system roms anymore. This sounds even more complicated? Erm - well, maybe a little. wink.gif

So, have fun now and enjoy the most finite state of PinMAME there ever was.

Changes:

*** CORE/CPU ***
* Fixed two bugs in PPS-4 emulation (corrects Gottlieb System 1 games)
* Enabled missing drum sounds on Gottlieb System 80B games
* Increased general output volume of the SP0250 sound/speech chip
* Disabled muting option for OKI 6295 chip to produce more output in GTS3 games
* Fixed GI support for all five GI strings on Who Dunnit and JackBot
* Enabled sound solenoid outputs on Gottlieb System 1
* Removed tones from Cleopatra, Sinbad, and Joker Poker (those use chimes)

*** ROM SUPPORT ***
* Added Zaccaria Ski Jump
* Added Okaegi's 7-digit conversions of Gottlieb System80 games
* Added the "machinaZOIS" clone of ShaqAttaq, created by a Czech programmer team

VBA-M public SVN build: revision 347 released

February 1st, 2008, 16:51 Posted By: JKKDARK

New build of the Game Boy Advance emulator for Windows.

Changelog:

* Added compile date to about box
* Redesigned about box a little
* SDL Windows updates:
- Clear the screen on each frame when using OpenGL blitter
- Use the C++ version of 2xSai instead of ASM version
* SDL Linux version can display the SVN revision number, IF SVN is installed
* Fixed deadlock involving fullscreen and logging window
* Added performance logging
* Renamed FileToggleMenu accelerator to FileToggleFullscreen

Source code here

Download and give feedback via comments

2.70 Updater Running on a PSP Slim

February 1st, 2008, 19:15 Posted By: Safari Al

Well lets call it a revolution for slim users, thanks to Dark Alex's "Time Machine":

Big images below in the spoiler

Spoiler!

Japanesse Hardware Sales: January 21st - 27th, 2008

February 1st, 2008, 19:48 Posted By: Shrygue

The state of play for console hardware sale figures in Japan are shown below:


Nintendo DS Lite: 79,370
Playstation Portable: 77,933
Nintendo Wii: 74,544
Playstation 3: 34,363
Playstation 2: 11,364
Xbox 360: 4,296


The DS lite tops the list as usual with the PSP quite close in second and Wii at third. The last 3 consoles sell at normal rates.

Nintendo confirms cobalt/black DS

February 1st, 2008, 19:58 Posted By: Shrygue

via Games Industry


Nintendo has officially confirmed the rumour that they are releasing a new cobalt/black-coloured DS Lite.

The latest version marks the seventh colour in the DS Lite palatte, joining white, pink, onyx, crimson/black, gold and metallic rose - the latter of which are limited editions.

When asked earlier this week if such a colour was in the works, a Nintendo spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny, saying simply: "Nintendo has not made any announcements about a new color for DS."

Nintendo sold more than 8.5 million DS handhelds in the US last year alone, bringing the total to more than 17.6 million since the DS was launched in November 2004.

The new version will be available in the US on February 10.

ELSPA distances itself from DS piracy report

February 1st, 2008, 19:59 Posted By: Shrygue

via Games Industry


ELSPA has told GamesIndustry.biz that a recent story about DS piracy in North America contains false quotes attributed to a company spokesperson.

The Sunday Post quoted John Hillier, manager of ELSPA's Intellectual Property Crime Unit as saying "In America, it's thought 90 per cent of Nintendo DS users are playing pirated games because of R4s," while discussing the notorious chip that allows easy piracy on Nintendo's handheld.

However, a spokesperson for ELSPA told GamesIndustry.biz that, "[John] didn't quote The Sunday Post on any figures whatsoever."

"ELSPA would certainly never presume to comment about America or anywhere else outside of the UK," added the spokesperson.

The report, said ELSPA, is a hatchet job consisting of facts from an article from Singapore, false quotes and a genuine conversation with Hillier on the availability of the R4 cartridge in the UK.

"The quotes from The Sunday Post were ascribed to his name from another article which originates from a website in Singapore. This, it appears, is where The Sunday Post first found out about the supposed R4 situation and for some reason unknown to John have quoted him on what this article said."

The spokesperson also stated that Nintendo views the reported facts in The Sunday Post article as completely false.

"As far as Nintendo are concerned, the facts are completely spurious."

Nintendo's mysterious new patent

February 1st, 2008, 20:02 Posted By: Shrygue

via Eurogamer


Nintendo has registered a patent for what looks like a series of casings in which the Wii remote can be slotted to create a new peripheral.

As spotted by 22hundred.net, the patent document refers to "A video game controller for a video game and a receptor assembly" and "A receptor having a shape substantially similar to a component appearing in the video game."

That sounds the Wii Zapper, you might think, the bit of plastic that turns the remote into a light gun. And indeed, the document states, "The receptor may be a gun-shaped sub-unit."

But have a look at the drawings included in the patent. They show all manner of casings which could be used to hold the remote.

Some of these make instant sense, like the tennis racket, baseball bat and fishing rod. But what about the bicycle, motorbike helmet and chair? Not to mention the teddy bear, which looks familiar. And is that some kind of virtual reality headset? Please, not that again.

Course it could be Nintendo's just trying to prevent other companies creating such peripherals, rather than working on plans to do so itself. But you know.

Poker Smash next up for XBLA

February 1st, 2008, 20:06 Posted By: Shrygue

via Computer and Video Games


Developer Void Star Creations has revealed that its erm, smashing Poker game Poker Smash will be released on Xbox Live Arcade next Wednesday.

It'll be out on Wednesday, February 6 (thank Christ January's out the way) and it's set to cost 800 Microsoft Points (about £6.50) - exactly what we don't fancy shelling out for a hi-def card game.

Thankfully thought it isn't just your straight-forward hearts and clubs affair; Poker Smash is spruced up with a fancy puzzle twist which has you picking out sets of Poker hands from a conveyor belt of scrolling cards. Interesting, but it still doesn't sound worth seven quid.

Look for it on Xbox Live next week, along with a short news story where we tell you it still doesn't sound like it's worth the money.

Sudoku on Live Arcade too!

February 1st, 2008, 20:08 Posted By: Shrygue

via Computer and Video Games


As if you weren't excited enough about next week's Poker Smash, unknown and rubbish-named developer Merscom has revealed that Buku Sudoku is coming to Xbox Live Arcade this spring.

Featuring "high resolution graphics" (!), Buku Sudoku takes the game on the back of the ratty tube newspaper and makes it even more confusing, by replacing the numbers with fish, Japanese characters and probably different shades of brick for all we know.

There's even the promise of Xbox Live Sudoku deathmatch. Oo-eer...

But we digress; it'll probably appeal to a certain kind of Xbox audience who've gone ignored up until now, and we might even but it if it's going cheap... and has Sonic 3 as an unlockable side-game.

Have a look at the (tiny) screenshot on the right.


A couple of screenshots

Is Sony's PS3 getting a redesign?

February 1st, 2008, 20:09 Posted By: Shrygue

via Engadget




According to T3 magazine and a "particularly well-informed insider," the PS3 is due not just for hard drive updates, but a total design revamp down to a slimmer and smaller package sometime in the Fall. If you believe what you read, the refreshed console will sport all the same specs, but will receive a fresh coat of paint, a trip through the shrinking machine, and probably a lightened load.

Of course, this is all just wild speculation coupled with salacious, magazine-selling 3D renders of the phantom device, as Sony denies the existence of an update and we don't really know who this source is. On the other hand, the company pulls this kind of ditzy "who me?" stuff whenever it's got a new product up its sleeve -- though we're not feeling the timing on this shocker.

Wii Fit spends fourth week as Japanese No. 1

February 1st, 2008, 20:11 Posted By: Shrygue

via Games Industry


Nintendo's Wii Fit is the best-selling console game in Japan for the fourth week running.

The game has sold an estimated 1,283,000 units since it was released on December 1, 2007.

According to data from Media Create, the highest new entry in the Japanese charts for the week ended Jan 27 is Konami's World Soccer Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 for the PSP, at number two.

The full top ten for Japan follows:

1. Wii Fit (Nintendo) – Wii

2. World Soccer Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 (Konami) – PSP

3. Lucky Star: Misasagi Sakura Gakuen Sakura Fuji Festival (Kadakawa Shoten) – PS2

4. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) – Wii

5. Wii Sports (Nintendo) – Wii

6. Mario Party DS (Nintendo) – DS

7. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom) – PSP

8. Doraemon Baseball: Dramatic Stadium (Bandai Namco) – DS

9. Yggdra Union (Sting) – PSP

10. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (Level 5) – DS

Buzz! Announced for the PSP

February 1st, 2008, 20:21 Posted By: Shrygue

via IGN


The days of you being on a bus and getting pissed off because you can't participate in a virtual game show are coming to an end, my friend. Sony announced today that Buzz! is headed for the PSP this summer.

Developed by Relentless Software, Buzz! will keep the wonky antics from the previous Buzz! games that tested your general knowledge acumen and toss them onto a UMD for one to six players to enjoy on the go.

The game will pack more than 5,000 questions covering topics such as music, celebrities, and more to tackle in six new round types specifically designed for PSP. Sony descried Quickfire Challenge as a "speed-is-of-the-essence" challenge, Picture This as a "picture-puzzler" and Virus Challenge as "mind-boggling." Each round comes complete with pictures and videos.


Screenshots

Buzz! will have three multiplayer modes including Pass Around -- where one user answers and then can choose who to pass the next question to based on the subject material -- four-player Fast Fingers via game sharing, and Quiz Host mode, which allows six players to face off with one of them asking questions and controlling points.

Of course, Sony isn't forgetting the "table for one" crowd. Single-player in Buzz! will have 15 different quiz challenges to test general knowledge and award bronze, silver and gold medals as well as special trophies for answering a certain number of questions correctly, answering quickly and answering a certain number correct in a row.

No Euro 2008 for Wii or DS

February 1st, 2008, 20:26 Posted By: Shrygue

via Eurogamer


Electronic Arts has confirmed to Eurogamer that there are currently no plans to release UEFA Euro 2008 on Wii and DS.

The game was unveiled earlier today on PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, PSP, PC and mobile.

But despite EA's Vancouver men turning out an interesting Wii version of FIFA 08 last year, a spokesperson told Eurogamer that nothing's been announced or is on the cards.

Still, who cares any more? It's not as though we're going to watch any of it on telly because it will make us cry.

Anyway, the other versions include a mode which lets you fight to become your country's captain, as well as interactive celebrations (punch Stewart Downing?) and a "Battle of the Nations" online element.

Watch out for more closer to the 11th April release.

PS3 Home improved - new screens to prove it

February 1st, 2008, 20:28 Posted By: Shrygue

via Computer and Video Games


Shiny new graphics and a number of new and improved areas have been revealed in the latest batch of screens of Sony's PlayStation Home.

After being delayed from its 2007 release, the world still awaits a firm release date from Sony, but it seems the extra development time is being put to good use because it's looking really nice.

In the shots you can see some of the new outdoor environments, an empty home space that'll be yours to full with furniture and whatnot, and another peak at the Lounge, where playable arcade machines and other recreational activities can be found.

We'll have loads more info on PS Home soon, but in the meantime take a look at the screens below and, if you fancy, poke around on the new official Japanese site.


Screenshots here

Adventures of Lolo 2 on PAL VC

February 1st, 2008, 20:30 Posted By: Shrygue

via Eurogamer


HAL Laboratory's oft-overlooked NES puzzle game Adventures of Lolo 2 is the only new title on the Wii Virtual Console in Europe this week.

Presumably it's often overlooked because we want them to put games like Chrono Trigger on Virtual Console not this fluff no one remembers.

Anyway, HAL made quite a few of these Lolo games, which descend from the "Eggerland" original and involve navigating around tricky monsters to collect items and acquiring a Jewel Box to clear the way to the next room.

This one is from the NES, so costs 500 Wii Points (let's get this right this week - approx. GBP 3.50 / EUR 5.00), and has 50 rooms and four hidden "pro-puzzle" rooms to uncover.

We'll be letting you know whether it's any cop once Nintendo's released enough Virtual Console games to justify our doing another roundup! In the meantime, share your wisdom using the devices below.

EA to split Orange Box components

February 1st, 2008, 20:31 Posted By: Shrygue

via Eurogamer


Electronic Arts has announced it plans to make the components of The Orange Box available separately.

The Orange Box, you will recall, was originally released for PC and Xbox 360 in October, and PS3 a bit later. It was comprised of Half Life: Episode 2, Portal and Team Fortress. Kristan thought it was marvellous.

The three components have been available separately via Steam for some time, but now EA boss John Ricitiello has said individual box copies are also on the way.

Speaking in a conference all he said, "We are unbundling Orange Box and releasing separate PC SKUs, Half Life 2: Episode 2, Portal and Team Fortress." Nice one John, one wonders if your hair is made of real silver.

No word on a price or date yet, but we'll keep you posted.

EA still experiencing delay with PS3 software

February 1st, 2008, 20:32 Posted By: Shrygue

via Games Industry


CEO of Electronic Arts John Riccitiello has admitted that the company is still experiencing issues with PlayStation 3 software development, although not with titles where the PS3 is the lead format.

Speaking in an investors conference call following the announcement of the company's financial earnings, Riccitiello said the group still had engineering work to do on the format.

"Games where we led development on the PS3 platform, like Burnout, which is doing very well on the market today, we had no issue at all," he said.

"But in circumstances where we either led on the Xbox 360 or ran parallel production, for the most part, we're still experiencing some delay on the PS3. It's a little bit more of a challenging development environment for us."

Admitting that the problem has improved over the past months, he added, "there still remains some catching up to do on the engineering side for the PS3."

PlayStation Eye hacked for desktop VR use

February 1st, 2008, 20:38 Posted By: Shrygue

via Engadget


The Wiimote may be spurring on the majority of desktop VR hackery these days, but at least one enterprising developer seems to be aiming to change that, and he's now showing that you can do more or less the same thing with a PlayStation Eye.

As with the Wiimote, you need a pair of homemade IR-equipped glasses, but you'll also need to perform a couple of minor modifications to the PS Eye itself. That all-important detail consists simply of a homemade lens cap that houses some exposed and developed film, which lets the camera receive only the infrared signals from the glasses. Pair that with some custom-made software (now available for the taking), and you'll be giving unsuspecting visitors motion sickness in no time. Head on over after the break for a peek at the setup in action.

DS Lite Sound Shell Adds Speakers, Unnecessary Weight

February 1st, 2008, 20:44 Posted By: Shrygue

via Gizmodo




The built-in speakers on the Nintendo DS Lite may not be spectacular, but they manage to get the point—and by point we mean the musical bleeps and bloops of the latest Zelda game—across quite well. GameTech disagrees, which is why they created this Sound Shell DLite addition that not only adds slightly stronger speakers on the back, but a stand to prop your DS up in case the whole thing becomes slightly too heavy for your underdeveloped arms to lift. $30 [£15] gets you the entire contraption.

Silent Hill Origins Comes To PS2 In May

February 1st, 2008, 20:49 Posted By: JKKDARK

via Cinema Blend

Following the success of Silent Hill Origins, Konami’s prequel to their popular horror series on the PSP, we are going to get the game on our PS2’s. The game will be the same, following truck driver, Travis Grady, as he wanders around town for some unknown reason. Maybe he likes the ambiance in the air, it gives him a tingling sensation.

The PS2 version will be visually upgraded, but probably not by much. Just enough to make it worth a look if you can’t decide between the two versions. The feel of isolation is going to be maintained by the new features like “Cineractive System”, which has players facing monsters with a changing control scheme depending on the situation. The idea is to make the player feel like their some moronic truck driver just wandering through town, rather than an elite super agent with uber monster ass-kicking training.

Silent Hill Origins is set to release on the Playstation 2 in May 2008.

19 AWESOME Soul Calibur IV screens!

February 1st, 2008, 20:50 Posted By: Shrygue

via Computer and Video Games


The Soul Calibur games have always been among the best looking titles on their respective platforms, and SCIV is no different.

Here are 19 super-shiny shots of Namco's latest fighter, featuring Yunsung, Raphael, Cassandra, and a very vainy Maxi swinging their lethal blades around in sparkling new current-gen worlds.

Soul Calibur IV is expected to arrive with it's weapons-based combat on Xbox 360 and PS3 in summer. We'll have our arcade sticks ready.

In case you missed it, you've got to take a look at this movie of the game, revealing Darth Vader and Yoda in the game. We don't care what you say, it's going to rock.


Screenshots

EA posts $33 million Q3 net loss, but record revenues

February 1st, 2008, 21:05 Posted By: Shrygue

via Games Industry


Electronic Arts has posted a net loss of USD 33 million for the third quarter, compared with net income of USD 160 million during the same period of the prior year.

Even so, revenue rose 17 per cent to USD 1.5 billion compared with USD 1.28 billion last year. The company's net income of USD 290 million, or USD 0.90 per share, was in line with analyst expectations.

"This was a record revenue quarter for EA and the single biggest revenue quarter for any third party publisher in our industry," said CEO John Riccitiello.

Sales were driven by Need for Speed: Pro Street, FIFA 08, The Simpsons Game, Madden NFL 08, The Sims 2 Castaway, and NBA LIVE 08. The company reported that it had sold 1.5 million units of RockBand through the end of December.

EA also reported delays for Battlefield: Bad Company and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. Their release dates have slipped from March, but the company expects to ship both titles in fiscal 2009.

EA has revised its Q4 guidance, expecting revenue in the range of USD 925 million - 1.05 billion, and earnings per share in the range of a loss of USD 0.03 to a gain of USD 0.02.

For the fiscal year, EA raised its guidance regarding revenue in the range of USD 3.462 - 3.587 billion, compared to earlier guidance of USD 3.35 billion - 3.65 billion.

Update: In a conference call to investors, CEO John Riccitiello indicated that RockBand would not be shipping in Europe until Q1 2009, which begins in April. He also refused to give a firm release date for Spore, saying only that it would be released "before the holidays" this year.

Space Siege coming to consoles?

February 1st, 2008, 21:08 Posted By: Shrygue

via Eurogamer


The PC game may not be out till the autumn, but Gas Powered Games is already thinking about doing a console version of Space Siege.

The news emerged on our old friend Pat's spanky new website, Videogaming247.

"We're talking with them about it," said Shawn Green, associate producer of Space Siege for SEGA.

"We don't want to let any cats out of the bag too early but definitely a console version is something that's being considered right now. But currently it's not confirmed."

Space Siege is an action RPG promising multiple gameplay paths, a robotic partner you can customise and online co-op for up to four players. If you like Dungeon Siege and Babylon 5, you'll like this. GPG's Chris Taylor, the man who also oversaw Supreme Commander, is heading up the project.

"We're seeing on console that a lot of gamers are appreciating the short and sweet experience, where you can play through and really like it and enjoy it," Green added.

"I think that's where a lot of Chris motivation comes from, taking that to the PC and creating a game that you can beat."

According to Green, Space Siege PC is out this September.

EA promises Spore before Christmas

February 1st, 2008, 21:09 Posted By: Shrygue

via Computer and Video Games


EA has said Will Wright's Spore will definitely be out before Christmas, in the wake of analyst speculation that the game will be delayed to autumn/winter '08.

"We're very, very bullish", said EA CEO John Riccitiello about this during some financial conference call thing yesterday - but at this stage that's as much as the publisher is willing to divulge on release timings.

"We're not announcing dates for any of our titles", Riccitiello teasingly added.

Last year Riccitiello gave an expected "March, April, May" 2008 launch timeframe for Spore, but explained that it won't ship until it's ready.

Earlier this week an industry analyst speculated that EA may delay the game to autumn/winter following underperformance of the publisher's shares.

As the latest game from design genius Will Wright, Spore is understandably surrounded by Godzilla-sized anticipation. Read all about the title on our gamepage.

First Tomb Raider Underworld Screens Unearthed

February 1st, 2008, 21:22 Posted By: Shrygue

via Kotaku


Eidos has released the first batch of screenshots for Tomb Raider: Underworld for the Xbox 360, and look how Lara has changed! This is definitely the latest in a long line of more realistic Lara models, standing there on that tree limb, teasing those panthers with her delicious human flesh. Yum! I'd daresay that within a few more games, Lara Croft will actually be more realistic than you and I, causing us all to look like our hips and breasts are ridiculously disproportionate. Looking good, Lady Croft.


Screenshots here

Xboxfounder (Xbox Insider) Answers Questions

February 1st, 2008, 21:31 Posted By: wraggster

* Q: After reading the article, my Xbox got the RROD, but that's not what this post is about. Instead of sending off refurbished systems, why not send consumers a brand new xbox when they experience the RROD? Isn't sending them one that got the RROD, just delaying the inevitable?
* A: Sorry to hear about your 360 dying. I hope you get swift satisfaction from MS and get back into the action soon.
The reason MS uses used materials to fulfill repair and refurb needs is purely economic. It is rational for any electronic company to try to do what MS is trying to do. Especially when the failure rate is so high. If MS had to eat the cost for all those failed units, it would put pressure on the biz unit up and down the food chain. Who can write off 4 million units at 400 bucks each? Well MS can. But they won't. Another bad decision.
What's irrational about the way they are doing this is that they don't have a good idea, a high confidence, that the actions they take in repair lead to a unit that is as good as new. Or as good as it needs to be. They don't even clean them off. So you can baby your console, play it 100 hours, have it fail, and get one back that has been abused at a frat house and has a couple of thousand hours of use on it. Not a very fair deal. Regardless of the warranty. I could write for hours about this subject alone. But I hope you get what I'm saying.

Q: You mentioned in the past that the 360 can scratch you discs. How does this happen, and is there a way to fix that problem?
There was only a span of about 4 years between the launch of the XBox and the XBox 360. Should we expect to see the newest XBox within the next 2 years, or is it more likely for Microsoft to perfect (Or get as close to that standard as possible) the 360 before even thinking of launching a new console?
* A: Disc Scratches?
The 360 scratches discs when gamers jump around. The shock gets coupled into the console through the floor. The disc wobbles and hits the laser assembly. The part of the laser assembly that causes the scratch is about 1/2 inch to the outside of the laser, so the console doesn't show a problem at the time the disc is scratched because it isn't reading where the disc is scratched. It's only later when the laser hits the scratch that read errors occur. Then the user doesn't associate their activity with the damage because they didn't happen at the same time as far as they can see. An ODD has to be susceptible to this. It must be missing the pads on the inside of the top cover that are put there to stop the disc from traveling into the laser. A lot of this info is on the web, but I figured out how it happens and why it's controversial when it happened to my son on a new game. I sent this info to a friend at MS. Let's see if they do anything about it.
3rd gen when?
The reasons the span between XB1 and 360 was so short were that XB1 was losing so much money, and MS wanted to get a head start on Sony in this gen. But the plan for 360 was for a 7 year life cycle before the next console. I don't know if that has changed since I left, but I don't see anything to cause it to. Just because they are already working on it doesn't mean it's anywhere near shipping. It's normal product development practice to always be working on new technology. And what should they be doing, given the problems on 360? I'm sure they don't want to repeat that.

http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives..._questions.php

Game Critics: Game of the Year Winners Announced

February 1st, 2008, 21:32 Posted By: wraggster

GAME CRITICS: GAME OF THE YEAR AWARDS ANNOUNCED
BioShock Takes Top Honors as Game of the Year

The full list of the 2007 Game Critics Awards: Game of the Year winners is now posted on the Game Critics Awards website. You can see the full list of winners at http://www.gamecriticsawards.com/goty.html.

Top 10 Games of 2007:
1.) BioShock
2.) The Orange Box
3.) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
4.) Rock Band
5.) Super Mario Galaxy
6.) Halo 3
7.) Mass Effect
8.) God of War II
9.) Assassin's Creed
10.) Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

BenHeck Testing 65nm Xbox 360 in a Laptop Configuration

February 1st, 2008, 21:33 Posted By: wraggster

For the last year or so talk of the new, fabled 65nm Xbox 360's have circulated the interwebs. Now - in this brave year 2008 - I have installed one of these newer 360's in a laptop-type environment, to replace a Zephyr Elite I had been using.

The hottest visible spot on these heatsinks is an area I like to call the "crotch" - where the [GPU] heatpipe emerges from the base of the 'sink'. Anyway, word on the street is that the GPU remains 90nm, and this seems to be the case. At peak it was reading about 140 degrees, which is in line with the Elite Zephyr MB. So in this laptop I think I'd like to shore up the cooling for the GPU more than the CPU because ... the CPU runs a lot cooler than it used to. Even after 30 minutes the crotch of my "super copper heatsink" only got to about 110 degrees. This is in contrast to the Zephyr which easily got up to the 150's at this same spot, with the same heatsink.

Here's also hoping I can finish up this laptop and show it on the site. Everything is done but the heat issue, and it's quite the looker.

http://benheck.com/01-30-2008/testin...-configuration

ZDNet's Robin Harris: Steve Ballmer is Worst CEO

February 1st, 2008, 21:34 Posted By: wraggster

Steve Ballmer may be the worst CEO among large tech companies - now that Kevin Rollins got booted from Dell and Sanjay Kumar of CA is in jail. Put him in a room with Steve Jobs of Apple, John Chambers of Cisco and Mark Hurd of HP and he'd look like the bouncer, not a peer. He just isn't in their league and Microsoft is suffering for it.

What hath Steve wrought?
If he wasn't Bill's freshman roommate at Harvard - and Bill wasn't majority owner of Microsoft - any other board would have booted Ballmer years ago. He's cost Microsoft billions in profits while the stock price stagnated.

Just to pick some of the most obvious fiascos on his watch:
* The Netscape anti-trust fiasco.
* The Google fiasco.
* All the other product and market fiascos. Virtualization: late to the game. The Xbox - losing market share to the Wii - will never pay back its investment despite a recent Halo-fueled lurch into profitability. Vista's 5 year development cycle. The continuing security mess. The smart phone failure - a market they should have owned. Major resellers, like Dell, offering Linux. The steadily shrinking cash horde. Continuing anti-trust troubles. The current OOXML debacle.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=283

Xbox 360 Voice Recognition Controllers

February 1st, 2008, 21:36 Posted By: wraggster

Creating Voice Recognition Controllers. Here is Part 1 of this video tutorial the SR07 board this is the brain of the kit and does require loads of soldering. This kit is super easy to put together. This controller board is what analyzes spoken words and determines matches. I plan on adding this kit to a Xbox 360 controller for things like (Reload, Scope, Plasma...) this kit can be found here

http://www.acidmods.com/forum/index.php?topic=14765.0

Epic's Mark Rein about UT3 User Mods on Xbox360

February 1st, 2008, 21:37 Posted By: wraggster

* Are you any closer to resolving the problem of getting user-gen content into the Xbox 360 version?
* Not yet but we're hopeful. Microsoft hasn't said "no" yet, but then they haven't said "yes" either. We need them to say "yes," and we need them to do it soon.

* So it's technically possible?
* Sure. I mean, you can go onto the console and copy your songs on to it and play movies off a memory card - the machine's capable of allowing you to transfer your content around, and even letting you play your music while playing many games.

* So why wouldn't Microsoft say yes? Is there a fear of losing control of Xbox Live?
* Well, yeah and we don't fault them for that. They've got a closed system where everything's checked, users know the quality of everything they download, and you know it won't crash your machine. User generated content - well, it can be dangerous, you could theoretically download a mod that uses too much memory and crashes your machine.

I think Sony are real pioneers in this - I think they deserve a lot of credit for letting us do this. They're really doing something different, and it hints at what they want to do with the PlayStation Network in the future. They're definitely on the right track!

If it doesn't work out with Xbox 360, depending on sales of the game on that platform, I imagine we'll find a few of the best mods and get them on Xbox Live Marketplace. I don't think 360 users are going to suffer drastically - they're just going to miss out on a lot of crazy, cool fun stuff and the ability to exchange it among themselves. They may also end up paying for content that is free on other systems because Microsoft now has to host it and certify it. But I'm confident Microsoft will look at what's happened with UT3 on the PS3 so far and think, 'Well, we'll take that baby step with you,' because what we've done so far really is just a baby step if you think about it. You've got to go online, you gotta download the mod, and you're responsible for putting it on your machine yourself. There are some exceptions - there are mutators, which modify how gameplay works, that are pretty small - and we let those auto download, but most of the other stuff you've got to go and say 'I'm going to install this on my machine.' We hope to change that in the future.

So it really is the user knowing what he's doing. He's not accidentally going to a server which has this really horrific mod on it... and if you do find a horrific mod we have a way to make sure that people can't serve that mod for other users. I think we're going to do much more with the PS3 version - maybe have an easier way to download mods, a way to auto download some that have been approved, ideas like that. We're looking at ways of taking the mod scene and making it better and broader.

The game is up and running on Xbox 360 - it has been for a long time, and its running wonderfully - it just doesn't have any Xbox Live written into it yet so that's the work that remains.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/ar...interview.html

EB Games Australia: No 10M AUD Defective 360s

February 1st, 2008, 21:38 Posted By: wraggster

Retailer EB Games has hosed down reports suggesting that a spate of hardware defects with Xbox 360 video game consoles were straining its relationship with Microsoft.

A chat transcript published on the popular gaming blog Kotaku purportedly showed a high-ranking EB Games employee saying the retailer had $10 million worth of defective Xbox 360 consoles for which Microsoft refused to reimburse it.
"There have been threats of EB dropping the Xbox range all together," the transcript read.

"It's 99 per cent bullshit really," EB Games chief executive Steve Wilson said in a phone interview.
Wilson said EB Games had to recall and replace its stock of Xbox 360 units in the middle of last year, but that was an isolated "hard drive batch problem" and all defective units had been returned to Microsoft.

Wilson said EB Games had experienced high returns due to the red ring of death issue earlier in the Xbox 360's life, but the number of defective consoles had declined since Microsoft announced the extended warranty.

"Even when we had the batch problem six months ago, we were talking about a couple of thousand units," Wilson said. "$10 million is 25,000 units - that's a ridiculous number."

http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztec...369215112.html

Star Ocean 2 Dated in Japan

February 1st, 2008, 21:40 Posted By: wraggster

Square Enix announced today a final Japanese release date for Star Ocean 2 Second Evolution. The PSP remake of the PlayStation classic will hit Japan on April 2, carrying the standard price point of 4,800 yen.

Those who pre-order the title will get a very special bonus. Square Enix will be giving away a DVD containing promotional clips for future tri-Ace titles, along with the latest footage of Star Ocean 4. Maybe this means we'll at last have learned a platform for the mysterious fourth entry in the series in time for the remake's release.

The remake of Star Ocean 2 features new character designs, battle scenes, animation from Production I.G, and full voice for event scenes. The game will presumably see an international release following the first one, which hit Japan in December.

http://uk.psp.ign.com/articles/849/849048p1.html

Minna no Golf Portable 2 Demo

February 1st, 2008, 21:47 Posted By: wraggster



Today we have a treat for Golf fans on the PSP and thats a demo of the game Minna no Golf Portable 2, the demo is of the Beginner stage.

Buy at Play Asia

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Firmware 3.90 fixes mysterious Store errors

February 1st, 2008, 22:11 Posted By: wraggster

via pspfanboy

Earlier, we reported that some users of the PLAYSTATION Store were unable to transfer content from their computers to their PSP systems. Looks like that's finally been fixed in firmware 3.90. Many users are reporting on the PlayStation forums that their once defunct systems can now play with the rest of 'em. Games like Beats and Syphon Filter: Combat Ops eagerly await those systems.

Supposedly, the fix only affects PSP-2000 systems, but it's clear that each firmware update Sony releases fixes a few more issues that users are experiencing.

GH for the c64 lol

February 1st, 2008, 22:13 Posted By: GPF

The Shredz64 project is an attempt to build an interface to connect the Playstation Guitar Hero controller (and any other PS controller) to the Commodore 64 computer, then create a Guitar Hero like game on the C64 utilizing the guitar controller.

So far the project has been going well! As you can see, the interface, which I call the "PSX64", is 98% functional (There are some tiny bugs which don't really impact functionality on the whole). Not only are all guitar functions mapped over successfully, but it works great for playing C64 games with a normal dual shock controller. What's more, since the same DB9 port is used, the PSX64 can be used on the Amiga, Atari and Sega Master System (All tested except SMS). Read more about the interface by clicking "PSX64 Interface" on the left.

The Shredz64 game itself is still in its infancy, but progressing nicely. You can read more about it by clicking "Shredz64 Game" on the left.

http://freedomirc.net/~megaboz/shredz64/

Ootake 1.35 released

February 1st, 2008, 22:14 Posted By: JKKDARK

New version of the PC-Engine emulator for Windows 2000, XP and Vista.

Changelog:

- The function to convert a "bad 3Mbit Rom-image file (overdumped with specific dump machine)" was added. Operating a "bad Rom-image file" troubles other PCE/TG16 emulators. The converted "just proper" image file can be used with a lot of other Free PCE/TG16 emulators, too. This is a "fair" method for the "PC Engine & TurboGrafx16" emulator and the PCE/TG16's fan.
- When setting it to "BigAudioBuffer Mode", the amount of the buffer was increased. As a result, tone quality has improved.
- "FullScreen Customize" menu was added to "Screen" menu. It is possible to use it by an arbitrary display resolution at full-screen. And, when the check is put on "FullScreen ResolutionAuto Change" of "FullScreen Customize" menu, "display resolution" can be automatically switched by "resolution of the game (width 256,336,512)". It is a function to use it on the display such as 15kHz cathode-ray tubes.
- In the SuperGrafx's game with black belt display right and left, the bug to which garbage had been ultra uncommonly displayed was corrected.
- Additionally, a detailed part has been improved and corrected.

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