PSP homebrew - IPL & Memory Stick Tool 2.0
Rain has released his IPL & Memory Stick Tool 2.0. It includes an IPL Injector, Dumper, and diagnostic features that’ll help you check the IPL on your memory stick, how much space is available for the IPL, and erase the entire IPL section clean.
Basically, what this app does is that it can inject, dump, erase, and check Memory Stick IPLs, as well as provide diagnostic information on the Memory Stick. It can also format FAT32, FAT16 and on 2000/XP MSP format the memory stick.
System requirements:
- Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 or newer
- Help requires a Windows OS with IE 4 or newer
- Memory Stick Pro DUO and PSP or card reader
Available IPLs
- Time Machine
- Boosters Multi
- z3rosoul Single (Sleep Fix)
- z3rosoul Multi (Sleep Fix)
- Classic Pandora
- TA-088v3 Test 1 (3.90)
- TA-088v3 Test 2 (4.05)
- Load from file
Available format methods
- Windows FAT 32 (Vista/XP/2000)
- Windows FAT 16 (Vista/XP/2000)
- MSPformat (XP/2000 only)
For more info, click the visit link below.
Visit: [PSP Development Forum]
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Microsoft’s Neil Thompson says educational games will cause game industry to lose money
Remember those news bits about the Wii and DS being used as educational tools in classrooms around the world? What about those educational games like Brain Training and the like? Those sound like great ways to make the non-gaming masses more open to video games, right? Well, Microsoft’s Neil Thompson thinks otherwise.
It’s not that Thompson is against combining education and entertainment. He just thinks it’s a bad idea. Speaking at the recent Games 3.0 event, Thompson emphasized that instead of trying to combine the two, developers should concentrate on stuff that will sell, “because it costs too much money to get that wrong”:
We’re in the business of creating fun entertainment and the moment we try to pretend we’re in the business of education we’ve crossed the line and it’s dangerous for us as a company and as an industry.
Yeah, it all boils down to money, which is a bit understandable since we are in a financial crisis right now and hey, gaming is big business. Like analyst Colin Sebastian said, core gamers haven’t been affected yet by the economic crunch, but casual and mass market gamers have gotten a bit tight with their money. Parents have also been shown to still be wary of so-called educational games. Still, didn’t Nintendo’s Brain Training titles sell like a gazillion copies?
Nintendo has done some great work in producing products that are both fun and educational, Brain Training is one example, but I think for us to quote this as an industry and say let’s start producing edutainment type products we’ll lose a lot of money. I don’t think it’s ever been done in a clever and good way because you lose the focus of it being fun and involving.
Thompson does acknowledge, however, that games can be used in education, but finding ways to combine the two isn’t the job of game developers:
Educators and government should understand what great education is in order to look at the products we produce and ask can they be used in different scenarios that can benefit children in their educational process?
Related articles:
- Analyst: economic crisis bad for small studios, console life cycles might extend
- Adults dismiss educational video games too quickly?
Sony on Firmware, the PS3, and the PSP
Since the release of Firmware 5.0 for the PSP and 2.5 for the PS3, gamers got the much needed boost in the use of their platforms. Munechika Nishida, a well-connected technology writer, managed to speak with Naoya Matsui, Koujiro Umemura, Masaki Takase, and Shinji Noda from Sony Computer Entertainment about the upcoming firmware for PSP and PS3.
Sony has actually been working on Flash 9 support for some time now. This has been a heavily requested feature, said Matsui, more particularly for Japan users who wish to watch vids from Nico Nico Video, a Japanese version of YouTube. To do this, Sony customized a separate Flash implementation provided by Adobe.
According to Takase, to run Flash-based playback for H.264 videos requires the use of an SPU. This separates web page loading from video playback, giving users improved frame rate.
The PSP, however, will not be getting Flash 9 support just yet. Noda explained that the PSP is extremely resource limited. Getting the full-screen keyboard to run is already hard enough. Noda also points out that it would be impossible to run the full-screen output of the PSP on TV sets unless you have hardware support.
In the meantime, Sony engineers are working on a future firmware update for the PSP to add video capture support, in addition to the screen capture support that it already has.
Unfortunately, owners of the early 20GB PS3 will have something to rant about. Sony’s Ad-Hoc Party initiative will not be supported by the old system. Umemura explains that it would be difficult at present to allow 20GB owners to simply attach a wireless LAN adapter via USB and use the service. Boo.
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No worries: Sony still on target despite forecast slash
The industry worried for Sony last week when they slashed their earnings forecast by 57 . Sony doesn’t intend to let it drag them down though.
Speaking at the Nikkei Global Management Forum in Tokyo, Chairman Howard Stringer said that:
I have to offset the losses that the yen created so that we can get the company back on target along the target of 2010 which I intend to keep.
Ok, let’s talk business. To fill you in, a major part of Sony’s woes right now stem from a strong Yen against the weakening dollar. Despite being a Japanese company, much of their investments are in the US, so a weak dollar will naturally affect it.
Sony’s target for 2010 is to raise its return on equity by 10 , a plan which they announced last June. It’s ambitious, as it’s almost double Sony’s average in the past five years. With their slashed earnings forecast, one would naturally assume that they wouldn’t be able to meet this goal. However, it sounds like Stringer is confident that they’ll be able to meet it.
Business talk over. So what does this mean for us gamers? It means Sony doesn’t intend to just lie down and take it, so let’s not worry for the future of the PS3 and the PSP just yet.
Related Articles:
- David Perry: E3 is lost, Sony needs new strategies
- Yen gains against dollar, Nintendo shares go down
LittleBigPlanet planning to expand beyond video games
We already know that a PSP spinoff of LittleBigPlanet is in the works, but it seems Media Molecule has a more ambitious dream for the franchise.
The studio wants to expand it well beyond video games, to comics, cartoons, and even action figures. Seems like they plan to expand everywhere except other consoles.
Previous talks with Alex Evans, co-founder of Media Molecule, hinted that they were also considering on making a spin off with a first-person perspective. Speaking with BBC, he had this to say about the game’s success:
There’s been a lot of being in the right place at the right time. When we went to Sony we were a tiny but very experienced team. Sony had to trust in us in terms of the quality of people. It was amazing how much they understood what was a new concept; it was quite blue sky.
Forget the action figures. I want them plushies! And I wonder what’s happening with that LittleBigPlanet PSP game?
David Perry: E3 is lost, Sony needs new strategies
A few months ago, Acclaim’s David Perry said some pretty harsh words that got him into the headlines, saying that E3 is broken and an embarrassment, and that Sony has no chance of making money on the PlayStation 3.
Apparently he wasn’t through speaking his mind. This guy gets into the news more often for what he says than for his games.
On the recent 57 slash on Sony’s earnings forecast, Perry is of the opinion that the company needs new business models, saying:
The PS3 hardware is there, and there are plenty of opportunities for Sony to disrupt in other ways, via new business models. If they stick with status quo, it’s going to be an incredibly tough time for them. Microsoft is ahead with their online strategy and Nintendo is ahead with sales.
Besides great games, I think the lessons learned are that price and accessibility are key. So what are Sony doing about that every day now, and what new business models will they introduce on PS3? They are rapidly running out of time to make these decisions.
Well, Acclaim would be in a position to know something about changing business models, considering it was built on a company that went bankrupt. Ouch. Anyway, Perry isn’t through. On E3, he has this to say:
There’s very little innovation required here, it’s completely clear what we need, and how we need it. [...] They were at the tipping point before, if they can get there again, I do believe they can get their mojo back and actually grow the show beyond what it was before.
It should include consumers as the industry is changing, the direct relationship with the consumers will be everything in the next 20 years and they might as well get started!
Dark AleX: PS Store bypass plugin tomorrow, 5.00 M33-3 soon
PlayStation Store access is just a few hours away for PSP owners running Dark AleX’s custom PSP firmware on their Sony handhelds.
The man himself has said that a plugin that allows users to easily bypass the store check will be released tomorrow. This should be a big help to those who want to access the PlayStation Store but don’t have the technical know-how.
Speaking of custom firmware, it also looks like the 5.00 M33-3 update should be along soon. The update will also include the store bypass plugin. Keep checking back here for more news.
Thanks to BiigBiscuit for the tip!
Related articles:
- Dark AleX rolls out CFW 5.00 M33-2 Update Popsloader 5.00 M33-2 also released
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- From Dark AleX with love: PSP CFW 5.00 M33 released Update
Irem Software reveals first Disaster Report 3 trailer
Irem Software releases the very first video for their latest installment of their survival action adventure title coming to the PSP, Disaster Report 3 (Zettai Zetsumei Toshi in Japan).
The video shows that the game will be coming on 2009, and also provides a look at some in-game scenes. It also shows main characters Keith and Karen meeting amids the earthquake-stricken city. We’ll let the video speak for itself. In the meantime, do stay tuned here at QJ for more news and updates on the game.
There’s still no word if other territories will be seeing this game, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for it.
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Sony announces MotorStorm launch date, new PS3 and PSP bundles for Australia
The other SCEA - Sony Computer Entertainment Australia - has just announced a couple of new bundles for gamers down under.
First is a new PS3 bundle that contains an 80GB PS3 unit along with a copy of Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet. The bundle will become available to coincide with the game’s October 23 release in Australia.
Speaking of the PS3, Sony also announced an Aussie release date for MotorStorm: Pacific Rift. Australian gamers will be able to get their copies of the game on November 13.
PSP fans will also be getting some love by way of a new PSP-3000 bundle that includes a copy of Lego Batman. This bundle will also become available on October 23 along with the standalone PSP-3000 pack.
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- SCEE: New bundles, cinema ad campaigns to power Sony’s marketing strategy for Christmas
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More characters confirmed for Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
The dual wield ability was enough to convince me to buy Namco Bandai’s Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 when it comes out (here’s hoping it gets a U.S. release quick!), but now there’s another reason: Mint’s in it.
This was revealed in a recent issue of the Japanese weekly gaming mag, Famitsu. You can check out a scan of it to the right. The part about Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 is at the bottom half of the scan.
To make things easier for those who don’t wanna click on the thumbnail or can’t speak Japanese, here’s a list of the confirmed characters included in the scan. Check it out to see if any of your favorites are in there.
- Tales of Eternia: Paneer, Keel, Farah
- Tales of Phantasia: Mint, Suzu
- Tales of Innocence: Ruca
- Tales of The Tempest: Rubia
- Tales of Rebirth: Mao
- Tales of Symphonia: Zelos
- Tales of Destiny: Kongman
- Tales of Innocence: Iria
- Tales of The Abyss: Anise
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- TGS 2008: Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 gameplay video
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