Nintendo released a recent update that once again tries to secure some existing bugs on the console, breaks some things, deletes others. This time they’ve also gone around and modified the TOS. As usual, mass panic ensues.
The people who are panicking can be divided roughly into two groups (non exclusive):
- The pirates
- The clueless
This should go without saying, but we don’t want to have anything to do with the former group. Nintendo is obviously going to fight piracy (and that’s going to hurt homebrew). We’ll have to deal with the homebrew part, but don’t expect that to help piracy in any way. It may, or it may not. And if it doesn’t, pirates will have to deal with fighting nintendo themselves.
The usual messages about WADs, “backups”, and all that crap are going straight to /dev/null, and we’re seeing... More »
To quote via PlayStation Underground: Tomorrow, we are releasing a new version of PlayStation Home called PlayStation Home 1.0. This version will add some exciting new features and fix several known bugs, preparing us for launch into Open Beta. You can find the full list of new features below.
Highlights include new emotes and dance moves for avatars, new arcade games, new ways to launch into games from PlayStation Home, a new game rewards system, and much, much more! We think you’ll enjoy these many changes and improvements.
Home will be down for a period of time tomorrow to prepare for the launch of Version 1.0. I will let you know in the forums when it is back up.
We will be inviting a tremendous number of new beta testers soon, and conducting a massive load test this Friday night, November 21st. We will have an event to celebrate the moment. Stay tuned for further information as your assistance with this event is greatly appreciated.
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The New Xbox Experience, a.k.a. the new Xbox 360 Dashboard, hits today. If you've got an Xbox 360 that's connected to the Internet, you're going to be prompted to update your console as soon as you turn it on.
No exceptions; this is what your machine will look like until either it dies, you die, or Microsoft decides to make ANOTHER Xbox Experience.
Unfortunately, unlike Batman, you didn't have time to prepare. Here are the ten things you should know about the new Xbox experience so you can be set for today.
1) Installation is quick. Owners with hard drives that aren't 100% full will be able to update with no problem, but Xbox 360 Arcade fans that rely on memory cards can get in on the free 512MB card deal from Microsoft. We'd recommend you go for the 20GB hard drive for $20 if anything.
The update won't be as fast as the 10-second patches you're used to for standard Xbox Dashboard upgrades, but clocking in at somewhere between five... More »
A new Firmware update for the Nintendo Wii has been released, specifically System Menu version 3.4. In the update, the following changes have been made:
- Enhanced parental controls
- USB Keyboard support for Mii channel added
- System functions improvement (Improved SD card read/write speed, Improved disc reading)
- Twilight Hack version 0.1 BETA1 cannot be copied to the console.
Sadly, the update also removes any illegal saves (i.e. Twilight Hack) and any other homebrew channels you may have on your Nintendo Wii.
To quote: It's recommended that you do not update your Wii through Nintendo, as it disables some homebrew (DVDx, PatchMii, Twilight Hack). Recent reports suggest System Menu 3.4 removes all custom channels.
It is suggested that you disable your Wii from the Internet as their network service privacy policy has been updated so that they now have the right to auto-update your system without notification.
... More »
Raing3 is not yet through with this PSP homebrew app, Memory Stick Utility. He's released v0.6 today, and has made several changes to improve its function.
Just a recap for those not familiar with this app. PlayStation Portable Memory Stick Utility is a mutli-player utility which allows you to perform various general management functions on your MemStick.
Here's the list of what it can do:
• Connect various devices through a USB cable (Flash 0, Flash 1, Flash 2, Flash 3, Memory Stick and UMD Disc)
• Inject a variety of included IPLs or an IPL from a file to the Memory Stick
• Erase the entire IPL space of the Memory Stick
• Check the IPL injected on the Memory Stick or a file located on the Memory Stick
• Create a checksum of the IPL injected on the Memory Stick or an IPL located on the Memory Stick
• ... More »
In a recent interview, Insomniac CEO Ted Price admitted that he sees the benefits in going multi-platform and breaking the company's exclusivity with Sony.
However, for now it seems as if the benefits of actually sticking with Sony slightly outweigh the benefits of parting, so don't expect any radical changes in the immediate future.
To quote: Of course, Insomniac has historically been a Sony mainstay. "For the last ten years or so, we have been working very closely with Sony," Price said.
"I mean, people ask me all the time, 'so, do you consider going multiplatform? What are the drawbacks?'" He says that one benefit of exclusivity is that the company's games "tend to be associated with the hardware - but that could be a drawback too."
He cites the original Resistance: Fall of Man as an example of this kind of product association. "We did get a lot of additional exposure simply because it was synonymous with the PlayStation... More »
The guys over at Mgestyk Technologies have been playing and come up with a pretty awesome melding of gaming technology dubbed Mgestyk Fusion, currently available for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
To quote the link above: If you've tried games like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and the recent Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels on the Wii, you may have been disappointed that the in-game lightsaber does not always match how you are holding the wiimote.
Introducing Fusion from Mgestyk Technologies: Fusion is a patent-pending technology which combines Mgestyk's gesture processing with other sensor data such as from Nintendo's wiimote.
It looks pretty cool to me. It's a shame we won't see it on the PS3 until either someone hacks it for homebrew or Sony buys Nintendo. :)
Continued: We'll be demoing this at MIGS next week along with some of th... More »
PlayStation Home Community Manager TedTheDog has outlined a rough overview of the coming weeks leading up to the launch of the PlayStation 3 Home Open Beta. Details are as follows:
To quote: Excited? Me too
Frustrated? Sorry, but not long now.
Here's a rough overview of the coming weeks:
1. The version 1.0 Patch Notes will be published in the closed beta forum so they know what to expect and to help plan testing.
2. A couple of days later Version 1.0 will be released into the Closed beta. That will not happen this week.
3. SCEE will be inviting a large number of extra testers into the closed beta to load test and that process will start within a day or so of v1.0 going live. We wont invite them all straight away, we'll ramp it up over a a period of time. We will be inviting non-English speaking testers for the first time.
Languages covered will be English, French, Italian, German an... More »
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