The PSP UMD’s have been cracked and the iso images of three games have been uploaded to the net and newsgroups. While this in itself is of no threat as there’s no way to burn the iso to a UMD disk, how long before someone figures out a way of executing a game from the memory stick in the same way that the firmware upgrade can be executed? Also interesting that the iso’s are so small – around 150Meg. Could fit a few games on my 1 Gig card.
Category: Games
XBox 360?
There’s still three weeks before the MTV Xbox 360 announcement but a few sites are saying this is what the 360 will look like. Interesting. Two versions apparently as well with the higher spec one more like an XBMC 360 with a removable hard drive, web browsing, instant messaging, media player/sharing all in one device. Out this year, in Europe too. Time to start saving the pennies. More can be seen on Team Xbox.
Gamics
Stumbled on gamics.com at the weekend – comics made from game engines. At first I thought the quality would be fairly poor…typical home-brew type affair but I was wrong. The strips are great, look very cool and some of the writing is far better than I expected. If you like comics it’s worth a try. PHWComics is also worth a try – based on the Half-Life 2 engine so quality is top notch.
Cheat Free Halo?
From Monday Halo2 will be patched. Hopefully online play will now be glitch free. Like most online games at the moment cheaters spoiled the game for the average player. From Monday most glitches will be patched or there advantage removed. Next rankings will be reset with some new maps to follow at the end of the month. Can’t wait to get back playing this.
PSP Games
Having great hardware is all well and good but you need great games as well. You only need to look at the Gamecube (stunning hardware spoiled by having a few great games) to see what I mean. At launch of a new platform there is always a wide mixture of good and bad games, usually down to time pressures and lack of familiarity with the new platform. That being said the PSP has a couple of cracking games out from day one with some more to follow soon.
PSP Multimedia
While all other gaming hand-helds to date have focused purely on games Sony also want the PSP to excel at multimedia. Therefore with your PSP you can watch videos, play MP3’s and also view photo’s. What surprised me was how capable the PSP was at all three.
PSP Hardware
I finally have my hands on a working Playstation Portable and thought it only right and proper that I post my views after a few days use. I have a fair bit to say so I’ve split this post into three. The first will deal with the hardware and the value pack that Sony supply’s. Next will be the multimedia elements of the PSP and the final post will talk about games. Don’t know why I’m doing it – just feel the need.
PSP Update
I’d planned to do a massive review of the PSP, the good bits, the bad bits, what Sony should be selling etc etc but it will have to wait. I’m getting it replaced as it developed some ‘dead pixels’. Graham got a new one shipped this morning which looked great which convinced me that I should swap mine while I can. Hopefully have it back by next Tuesday.
I’ll start putting the review together as it’s a great gadget which should appeal to multi-meeja lovers as well as gamers.
Arrived
Well….the PSP arrived this morning. Well – 2 arrived as I’d ordered one for Graham as well. Unfortunately one (thankfully not mine – no conspiracy theories allowed) had 11 dead pixels. So it has been returned, but mine is fine. The screen is gorgeous, it really is the most difficult thing to keep clean and when I sort out my 1 gig memory card videos on the go will be a joy. I’ll do a fuller post over the weekend as it’s not without flaws, but it’s still highly recommended.
Ordered
I’ve caved in and ordered a PSP through ebay. Ridge Racer and Wipeout Pure too. Hopefully delivered next week. This is a device that could replace the iPod as my favourite gadget – it certainly has the potential. I cannot wait for Wipeout – when the PS1 and Saturn were jostling for best new console (95/96) this was the game that showed what next gen really meant – great graphics, amazing style and Chemicals Brothers all in a game which was difficult but once mastered impossible to put down – hopefully pure will be the same.