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Over the last two months numerous articles on the PlayStation 4 have surfaced ranging from PS4 Cell Architecture to PS4 Spec Info, and even an article on simply Ignoring PS4 Rumors.

Today, eDepot (linked above) has done some PS4 speculating of their own, covering numerous aspects including PS4 hardware, security, audio, display, and even anticipated release dates.

Those interested can out all of the details linked above, and to quote:

This Web page provides information on the Sony PlayStation 4 console that will probably arrive sometime in 2011 the earliest. It will be updated regularly as more PS4 secrets are uncovered in the public... More »  


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Many people have been wondering exactly what the differences are between Development and Retail PlayStation 3 Systems, and we figured now would be a great time to clarify these along with reporting some new findings.

Aside from the different hardware revisions of the PS3's motherboard, the systems are virtually the same as mentioned in previous posts. We have examined multiple PS3 TEST's, Retail PS3's, Demo Unit PS3's, and even Factory Mode PS3's, and found that there are no hardware differences between them at all.

Mind you, there are differences, but they are due to the hardware revision, not due to the systems themselves. To make that more clear, the units are identical to their counterparts of the same hardware revision.

So, the question is- what's the difference? Software!

We all know the difference is in the software, and after examining countless dumps from these systems, on top of flash dumps given to us by you, our loyal re... More »  


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Andy Kelly recently reviewed the PlayStation 3 version of Fallout 3 for PSM3. The review has been leaked onto the Web and there has been concern as Andy's review stated that the graphics in the PS3 version compare poorly to its XBox and PC counterparts.

To quote: Our exclusive Fallout 3 PS3 review (from PSM3#107) has leaked onto the Internet and, as expected, a single sentence has been dragged out, beaten and interrogated under a spotlight.

This one; "The PS3 version compares poorly to its Xbox and PC counterparts." Which, in the parlance of the Internet, obviously means; "THE PS3 VERSION SUCKS! XBOX WINS! ANOTHER CRAPPY PORT!" But that isn't the case. The PS3 version just looks SLIGHTLY WORSE than the other versions.

The PC version of Fallout 3 is gorgeous. The colours are vivid, the draw distance is endless, the textures are high-res and the lighting effects are beautifully subtle, especially when you're gazing over the Capital Wastelan... More »  


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Slated for release tomorrow, PlayStation 3's upcoming 2.50 firmware includes support for Flash 9 via the console's Web browser alongside various changes.

Eurogamer has also been told that you'll be able to see optional EXIF (exchangeable image file format) information while viewing photos.

And finally for the things that weren't mentioned yesterday, the Y and Z and Q and A keys have been remapped for the German on-screen keyboard. Gut.

Things we already knew about Firmware 2.5:

• Pads and the PS3 itself now have tweakable power-save settings for turning off after a period of inactivity.
• You can tell the PS3 to power down once it's finished downloading or installing content.
• In-game screenshots can be taken in compatible games.
• It enables high-quality mode for the official PS3 Bluetooth headset.
• The Trophy interface has been improved, so you... More »  


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We recently purchased a new 80GB PlayStation 3 console, and our very own PS3 Dev Courier dissected his new system.

The item that peaked his interest the most was that it had one single 56-pin Flash chip, the S29GL128N90TFIR2, and was 128MB in size in contrast to older PS3 consoles utilizing dual (2x256MB) 48-pin chips totaling 512MB. So, he bought a new adapter, and some blank chips and proceeded to pull the 56-pin flash, and dumped it.

To our surprise, he was unable to dump more than 16MB of it! At first, we believed that the other blocks in the flash were protected via password, however there was something else brewing.

He took the 16MB dump that was made and flashed it onto a completly blank chip, and reinstalled it in the PS3.

To our surprise, it worked!

Now, if you recall, newer version PS3 Firmwares have ask... More »  


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Well this week we have some exciting news that we hinted about last week.

First, a small technical explanation. We were not able to modify any data on the PS3's flash chips due to the ECC. The ECC is a checksum basically, that ensures whatever data is in the block is not changed or corrupted, and if it is it errors.

So, the problem was since when we tried to alter data, the ECC would then in turn be invalid, causing errors, making the system not boot.

We did develop a way around this, however, it was time consuming and quite slow. We used the PS3 to write data to the flash, then dump it, with its proper ECC, then rewrite to where we needed it. This would take hours on end! We were not able to regenerate the ECC since we did not know the proper algorithm.

But now, we can!!

After multiple tests done by NDT to see what the ECC... More »  


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Don Reisinger of CNET believes that the PS4 will not feature a Blu-ray player of any kid, he foresees the tech industry pushing Blu-ray aside as more capable technology becomes available and Sony's PS4 strategy will change to a focus on streaming and HD downloads.

To quote: Assuming what the analysts say is true -Sony will release a new console in three to five years and Blu-ray will be dead in five -how can the company justify putting a Blu-ray player into the Playstation 4? Does it really want to tie itself to a loser even though it spent so much money trying to make it a winner?

Given the company's financial woes in the video game space as of late, that could turn into its greatest blunder.

The technology industry is pushing Blu-ray aside as more capable offerings become available. I think Sony knows that already and will try to milk Blu-ray for as long as possible. But once the Playstation 4 is announced, the company will make its stra... More »  


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Some news from Geremia for XBox 360 users, to quote:

Got a drive as gift for testing (thanks Raiden)

Some small update:

It's an embedded spi flash, exactly an MX25L2005 and dosflash1.6 can write it. The bad is that you can access it only if it's completely erased, this seems to be the "check module" mentioned into the patent

About reading the fw, i can just get 3-4 256bytes chunks in a tricky way, but can't have a complete dump this way.

reading dvdkey: ok
reading unique drive data: ok
erasing flash: ok
writing flash: ok
reading flash: missing


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