For gamers, the new year usually begins after mid-November and this year’s no different; pretty much all major console exclusives have been released.
So, this is the first time that we can actually look back at 2008 and see which console had the best exclusives for the year - the PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii.
To do this, I decided to tally up the Metascore ratings (as of 11/20) for what are arguably the top ten exclusives for each console. Games that are available on PC and only one console are on the list as well (World of Goo and Left 4 Dead are two examples). So let’s dive right in to those potentially forum-rioting numbers:
Nintendo Wii:
1. No More Heroes - 83%
2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 94%
3. Mario Kart Wii - 82%
4. Wii Fit - 80%
5. Wario Land: Shake it! - 78%
6. Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility - 64%
7. World of Goo - 95%
8. Wii Music - 63%
9. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the N... More »
PlayStation Portable developer AhMan released PSP iR Shell 4.7 last week, and today he has updated it once again to revision 4.8.
Those interested can find it below, along with the updated changelog.
Download: PSP iR Shell 4.8 / PSP iR Shell 4.8 [Mirror]
Changelog:
This is mainly a maintenance release with a few bug fixes. It also adds a new feature to support homebrew to use extra slim memory.
New Features for PSP Slim:
- Added support to homebrews that are built with the option PSP_LARGE_MEMORY, that is, to use the extra slim memory. When running these homebrews under iR Shell, they will have access to another 26MB slim RAM. Pls note 2MB of slim RAM is reserved for iR Shell.
- Enhance th... More »
French coders known as the BlackDevs Team (composed of Darkside, Zer01ne, and Spimort) have released an alpha version for their 0x584d42 XMB alternative project.
Note that this version is still in alpha, and was released to the public more as a proof-of-concept than anything else. For now though, the XMB's functionalities encompass Recovery, Settings, Photo, Music, Video, Game, and Network.
There are two versions released by the team, one for Time Machine v3.40 (Phat), and another for Despartar Cementerio 7 v4.01 (Phat, Slim). The readme in both archives are included.. enjoy!
Download: PSP Shell 0x584d42 Alpha (v3.40 Phat) / PSP Shell 0x584d42 Alpha (v4.01 Phat + Slim)
Hexus (linked above) is reporting that hackers are 'bamboozled' by the security on the PSP-3000. They discuss whether a hack will be found, and explore the possibility that Sony has won its battle against PSP piracy and homebrew.
To quote: It's still early days in the life of the PSP-3000, which was released approximately 3 weeks ago, but Sony will be happy to hear that hackers have so far failed to exploit the latest hardware revision.
So far hackers have only been able to swap its CPU with that of a PSP Slim, but haven't been able to exploit the hardware in the same way as previous models.
Dark_AleX, one of the most popular PSP sites for the hacking and homebrew community, has been unable to find a work around to hack the hand-held and the community as a whole appear to be stumped as to whether it will even be possible.
If it can't be hacked then Sony will have finally won its long battle against piracy and the homebrew comm... More »
Logic-Sunrise has shared the results of their investigation into the screen issues with the latest edition PSP-3000 consoles.
They took out a microscope in order to test the difference between the screens as follows:
On PSP-3000 and newest PSP-3004, Everyone get a "bad screen" (scanline effect). But what happen on these screens ? in fact we get a microscope, and we tested differencies between old good screens, and newest bad screens.
In fact, after looking it 40X bigger, we can see all pixels. As you know, a pixel got 3 colors : blue, green and red. The biggest issue is the blue part of the pixel is not "light", but very dark, near black ... The or issue is that the blue part is horizon aligned, not vertical aligned, like old screens. It's why we have a scanline effect.
Also, we contacted SONY: No new console will b... More »
Per Alan McDermott (Audio Lead, Evolution Studios) via PS Blog today:
Since Day 1, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to put a soundtrack together that would have the right vibe for a festival of racing like MotorStorm. You see, Music is one of those things that no one is ever “wrong” about. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone knows best, but no one is ever wrong!
After countless discussions with various people involved in creating the Festival Infrastructure around the MotorStorm racing events, my challenge was set: I needed to put together a lineup that not only fit with a racing game, but one which could feasibly be the Festival line up to end all Festival line ups.
It had to be Anarchic, Aggressive and Raucous. That was the easy part. The tough part was making sure that the soundtrack became as much a signature of MotorStorm as the racing itself was.
With Pacific Rift, I fa... More »
Eurogamer has uncovered that the PSP-3000, scheduled for release next week, comes with PSP Firmware 4.20 preloaded... for reference, the latest officially released Sony PSP Firmware is currently v4.05.
In addition, the updated system software revision includes a “USB Auto-Connect” option that automatically begins charging the PSP within the XMB when a USB cable is inserted.
To quote: Elsewhere, our side-by-side comparison of the current PSP/PSP-2000 firmware, 4.05, and the new 4.20 firmware on the PSP-3000 reveals a "USB Auto-Connect" option, which promises to automatically switch the handheld to USB mode when a cable is connected.
It will do this from anywhere on the XMB, but it won't interrupt gameplay. Nor does the PSP charge from USB during gameplay, although - as of the original Slim & Lite revision - it will do so while in USB mode.
At a recent event held in Delhi, Microsoft revealed some very interesting pieces of information.
For one thing, most sites have posted conspiracies and possible shots of what appeared as the console’s slim version; Engadget received a tip as far back as May concerning the planned 45nm Valhalla combined CPU / GPU motherboard design for the 360 and how it would most likely come in a new slim case.
MS execs here confirmed that the Xbox 360 Slim exists and you can expect an official announcement on the console in December.
When the redesign will be officially available (in 2009) to consumers is uncertain but this certainly looks to be a worthy purchase to start the New Year, especially with the upcoming October releases of Fallout 3, Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 in India.
The image below is an artists impression only.
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