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PSP News is a News and downloads site for the PSP, PSVita, PS4, PS3, PS2 and PSOne, We have all the latest emulators, hack and custom firmwares, homebrew and all the downloads on this site, we also cover commercial gaming and console news., the latest homebrew and releases, Part of the
DCEmu Homebrew & Gaming Network.
This Website
THE LATEST NEWS BELOW
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February 11th, 2007, 17:59 Posted By: PSPKOR
This is my game Bruce Lua its a fast pace 2D bet'um up game, with you playing as the legend Bruce Lee as you try to kicking the s**t out of Ryu. And yes I did say fast pace and yes its LUA, try it if you dont belive it.
This is my third public release of this game and i'm liking the way its going and its been a while since I made the last release so here it is V1(beta). The reason its now V1 is because as the system is now its more than likly its going to stay like this, with only a few things will be changed and theres still one or two bugs, hence its a beta.
This is whats changed since the last release:
-Added reverse images, so you can fight from each side.
-Redone alot of the in game code and hitting system.
-Added mutch better A.I.
-Added more moves for Ryu.
-Added Rounds (best of three).
-Added ingame music and sound effects.
-Changed the look of the High score screen and other graphics.
-New XMB icon and background.
-New in game background(By me  )
-Redone alot of the training stuff.
+ some other stuff
Thats what I've done and this is what I want to do to it:
-Extra characters
-More Back grounds
-Maybe a stry line
+ Other stuff that people want
Instulation- In EBOOT format so no need for Lua player
1.50 - just copy Bruce Lua and Bruce Lua% into the GAME folder on your memory stick
3.03 OE etc - copy Bruce Lua and Bruce Lua% into the GAME150 folder on your memory stick
Notes:
-Just before I released this I did also have nunchuks working with Bruce but I had some memory issues with it so that'll have to wait until the next release.
-The characters are fully modable aswell(not tried), so you could change the sprites to look how you want different sizes ect. and they will still hit each other.
-Button Config - (Learn most in training)
Square = Block
Triangle = Punch (double tap to double up)
Circle = Kick (double tap to double up)
Cross = Jump (Punch and kick avaliable)
Down = Crouch (Punch and kick avaliable)
Hold up and tap circle = Jumping kick
Credits
This whole game was created by me i.e coding, most graphics and sounds optained, converted.
But I would like to give a thanks to Yaustar, not that he directly helped on this game but he is a great help to people like me trying to code.
And a big thanks to Evilmana.com for a great site.
History-
----------(V.2)------------
-Actual game mode now playable.
-Ryu(Enemy) with some Basic A.I.
-Changing color health bar as your health gets lower.
-side scrolling background, as you walk close to it.
-A score board, to see how well you can do.
----------(V.1)------------
-Concept
-Training mode
-Eboot format
Well thats it for now hope every one enjoys this and here are some screens:
P.S.- Comments welcome to help improve the game.
download, screen, and give feedback via comment
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February 11th, 2007, 17:47 Posted By: Zion
I am currently recoding the game in C and have decided to release the souce code of the lua engine i made for the game to help new comers to lua coding or experienced lua coders alike.
unfortunatly, i dont have the source code of the released version (i changed os) and lost some of it,...
i have the code though from the version that was made 3 days prior to release.
Feel free to use this code, with or without credit although credit is always appriciated.
Also included is the demo of the engine i am coding in c for the game, i am basically porting my lua engine to c and changing and improving where i see fit.
Again my appologys to dcemu and others for my past drama of late see here for full appology and reflection - Here
The source Code.zip is the source code from the lua release of quest of link
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February 11th, 2007, 16:33 Posted By: ExcruciationX
StrmnNrmn has answered some questions asked by his blog users:
Via: strmnnrmn.blogspot.com:
A few common questions cropped up in yesterday's post so I thought I'd deal with them here so everyone could see the responses.
Firstly, lots of people were asking about the possibility of moving the audio processing to ME. I'm really keen on doing this, but I'm not very familiar with the ME yet so I need to spend a few hours investigating it before I can figure out how much work is involved. Maybe I can do a few technical posts about the ME as I find out more about it?
A few people were asking about an ingame menu and screen size.
gotwake424 said:
will there be an ingame menu? that will let you change the size of the screen and other stuff in game?
xabier:
i have just one question: you have mentioned viewport scaling/screen ratio a few months ago. is that going to be featured in Release 9 of daedalus? and i think that i heard somewhere that it should speed up the emulator a little with the new scaling, is that true?
flyinghippo:
One of your earlier posts showed your progress on implementing a 4:3 screen ratio. Would this possibly have any effect on the framerate?
reuben:
A while ago you noted that you had been working on viewport scaling. Will that be implemented in the upcoming release?
I'm currently working on the in game menu - this is the last main thing I want to squeeze into R9. With this you'll be able to change the screen size while the rom is running, as well as a few other things (toggle audio on/off, swap controls etc).
I doubt that knocking the screen size down will help the framerate all that much, as the framerate is still largely limited by the cost of CPU emulation rather than rendering.
From philip:
Do you have plans to implement frameskipping? That would greatly improve the speed, and shouldn't be too hard to add.
on the rise1:
have you ever thought or messed about putting in frameskipping in the emulator?
Now that audio support is in, I think frameskipping makes a lot more sense. I'll see if I can squeeze this in for R9 too.
yatahaze:
can Daedalus run under 300mhz? would that boost those numbers in the table even more?
Unfortunately Daedalus is already clocking everything at the maximum frequency, so there won't be an easy win there 
imitiaz:
Are the rom files you are using zipped or unzipped? Will the extensions of the rom files even matter anymore?
I was using unzipped rom files. The extension shouldn't matter, provided it's recognised (.v64, .z64, .rom etc) Daedalus should always figure out the correct thing to do with a given rom. I suggest you use a tool like RomCenter to manage the naming of all your roms, and extract them to the roms directory on your PSP as required.
sroon said:
Will expansion pack be inplented in your blessed R9?
The expansion pak should already be supported: 'Expansion Pak: Yes' in the Rom Settings screen (just before the rom launches). If it's not working, it's a bug, and it'll be easy to fix.
nick:
Have you always been able to add audio support? Or did you hold it back because of the slow framerate?
I've been holding off because of the framerate - I just thought it would sound horrible. The framerate is still a limiting factor with audio support, I'll talk a bit more about this soon.
jeffrey said:
Is there any official way to support your work? Either through paypal donations or whatever?
No, not currently. To be honest, I'm a bit uncomfortable about accepting money for this. Financial reward has never been a motivating factor for me, I do this because it's an interesting project with lots of juicy technical problems to solve. If I was to ever accept donations, it would be for a specific goal (e.g. if I broke my development psp and it needed replacing, or to pay for hosting/bandwidth etc).
andrew said:
The best update possible for R9 is an icon for the PSP menu.
Yes, I know I do like the Pochi Style icons. I emailed him asking for permission to use them with Daedalus, if I get the go ahead I'll bundle them with R9 by default.
A few people were asking for videos of the work in progress. I'm not all that keen on doing this as I'd rather spend the time getting the final few features in place and releasing early rather than spending the time making videos. You'll be able to play with it yourselves soon enough
As for a release date, I'm going skiing for a week on the 25th February, and I'd like to have R9 out before then.
-StrmnNrmn
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February 11th, 2007, 02:44 Posted By: wraggster
New from Blackshark
Hi guys!
just wanted to give you guys a heads up on what I've been up to.
So im here to release an early Alpha of what I've been doing, for two reasons mostly,
1. to see how you guys like it so far,
2. To see if I can get some help with the GFX....you'll see.....
CONTROLS
you can use the analogue stick or the directional pad for moving,
R is to fire
Triangle is for music off
Circle is for music on,
that is basically it for not,
Note that the charge shot does not fire any thing yet, to make the bar rise as if you were doing a charge shot though, hold both L and R.
GAME TYPES
Time Trial
so far only the Time Trial mode is really "done" sort of, its definitely playable
you have to shoot the Invincible enemies as many times as you can in 1 minute, the more times you hit them, the more your score goes up, be careful, they shoot back.....
Campaign
Not even done yet, you can enter it, but, theres only two guys, there to shoot, and when they die nothing happens yet, don't worry, won't remain this way forever :P press Start to go back to menu from here.
ETA or Escape the Asteroids
Still working on this as well, there are no asteroids yet :P, use the analogue to go to the TOP of the screen, currently the only way to exit. this should be an interesting mode when finished!
Classic
Not even started yet :P this will be like the classic space game, were the enemies are in a row, and they move side to side, when they hit a side, the move down, this will have many speeds as you move from level to level!
Thats all for modes for now,
there is also a name impute and Scoring system, you can view the high score for each game mode and WHO set them! (maybe your friend beat your score and now you got to teach him who's Boss)
I plan for Multi player modes, but mostly just 2 to 1 PSP, Im not so sure about wifi, unless you would like to code it for me, it most likely won't happen in time for the PXP compo. But maybe in even later versions, that way it would make good use of the name system, so you can know WHO you are beating down ...
also Almost for get to mention, there is a Ship selector, there's only a few for now, but I have a couple more to add, (Credit Goes ALL to comeonfhqwhgads for those ships, Thank you so much dude!, I couldn't stand my Paint creations any longer!)
So I Need from you guys feedback!, please...
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February 11th, 2007, 02:28 Posted By: wraggster
New from Pasky13 is an update to his CWCheat Database editor:
Whats new in v1.60
Now able to download the latest official CWcheat database directly and open it for editing at user discretion.
Base convertor added to the hexadecimal calculator for those that don't know how to convert decimal to hex very well.
Icons have been cleaned up, interface should have a crisper look than before.
Shrinked the size of the loading forms, I thought they were unnecessarily big.
Large database files are loaded slightly faster.
More bug fixes. (It's a given....=P)
*** NOTE ***
If you downloaded v1.55, I highly suggest you upgrade the program. I made an error when making the joker command, I didn't realize the joker address is always the same for PSP games. It is now fixed.
Requires the Microsoft.NET framework 2.0 which can be downloaded at Microsoft's website:
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via pasky13
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February 11th, 2007, 02:24 Posted By: wraggster
New release from hallo007:
Here we are again , as you will know , much people are still on 3.03OE-C for there custom xmb icons , so here is flash agent F1 with multi firmware support
Remember USe at own risk
Only USE AT 3.10OE AND 3.03OE
changelog F1
Quote:
-works now on 3.03OE andn 3.10OE firmwares
-topmenu_plugin enabled for 3.03 , disabled for 3.10OE
-new ICON0.PNG (made by silvenius)
-Give your own site as online instruction manual
-logo while start up(by Moose_Island)
-exit on non supported firmwares
-you need to accept agreements
-rco file menu
what is flash agent?
flash agent is a homebrew programm for 3.10 OE firmware
you can customize your dark alex custom firmware
how to use it?
flashing a files
put the files you want to flash somewhere on your memory stick
start flash agent
go to filebrowser
select the file you want to flash
I want my original files back , how?
start flash agent
go to recovery menu
select flash original ......(example gameboot)
I dont want flash to much,how?
start flash agent
go to firmware hacks
select redirect gameboot to....
if you want to change your gameboot , just replace him on the ms0:/
Free up some space
start flash agent
go to recovery menu
select replace font
you saved 2.5mb
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February 11th, 2007, 02:18 Posted By: wraggster
New from pspballer07:
This is v0.5 of Icon Action Replacer (aka IAR). It replaces the action of an icon to do an action of another icon. For example, it can make the Network Update Icon in the XMB open up your photos or vice versa. It can also do the settings,remote play, and saved games. Read the ReadMe for more info.
USE WITH CAUTION
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via pspballer07
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February 11th, 2007, 02:14 Posted By: wraggster
via pspfanboy
PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com.
Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to MP_ROOT/101ANV01/. Requires firmware 2.00 or above. Do NOT place in "VIDEO" folder. Firmware 2.80 or above do not need to download thumbnails.
Ocean's 13
Flow (PS3)
The Warriors (PSP)
Tales of Destiny 2 (PSP)
Sid Meier's Pirates! (PSP)
All via link above
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February 11th, 2007, 02:12 Posted By: wraggster
via pspfanboy
Did you know that the upcoming After Burner: Black Falcon uses real world, licensed aircraft? Neither did I, until Gamespot talked to producer Ryan Kauffman. He reveals the crafts that are used in the game, such as the F-14X Tomcat, the F-15E Strike Eagle, and the F/A-18E Super Hornet. Those that know their planes may appreciate the inclusion of more modern craft, such as the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II.
While the vehicles of After Burner may stick true to the real world, it appears that the locations are based in fantasy. The term "reality plus one" reflects upon the level designs, which vary from a lush jungle environment, to a snowy tundra. My favorite named level? Mountainistan. Just has a nice ring to it.
More Info
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February 11th, 2007, 01:36 Posted By: fatcat04912
Hello again im finally
releasing CTF Paintball v 1.0
CTF made by FreshMilk & Mod by Fatcat04912
***************************
Whats with this release:
New Enemy sprites
New Characters Sprites
New Background
Changed Paint balls
Updated to 20 lives
Heres the DL Link :http://www.sendspace.com/file/g03aeh
***************************
Next Release:v1.2
With hopefully The help of FreshMilk.
Four members to each team:thumbup:
Every one can shoot:thumbup:
Bigger maps:thumbup:
Three hits to One Life:thumbup:
Online play "possible":thumbup:
Different characters :thumbup:
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February 11th, 2007, 01:07 Posted By: wraggster
News from Undertaxxx:
I now allot of people here asked for this sort of prx so here it is. It's made by TEAM280 and works realy good ( tested myself ). Normal it whas mean to launch recovery from the Network Update option burh i try with itshell, SnesTYL & copple of other homebrew and works perfect here . So in the package there is a update_plugin.prx that you must flash with the auto flasher included the package or flashing manualy. You must puth the eboot from homebrew you whant to launch in the GOTORECOV folder, you easy can change the pad inside the prx. Anyway thnx to TEAM280 and download below. Grtzz
Movie here:
Download here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/o8vbqc
Icons, background & Waves here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/kzd09k
CREDITS GO TO TEAM280
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February 10th, 2007, 18:38 Posted By: psposte
Here's a list of what's changed in Beta 6:
- Support for 2.x+ firmwares, that means WPA connections will now work. Note that only the "Automatic" (DHCP) connections work with the 2.x version. Tested on 3.03 OE-A.
- This means there are 2 versions to choose from when downloading: FW15 and FW2x. If you must have a manually configured connection, use FW15 (that means no WPA). If you're experiencing crashes on FW2x, try to reproduce them with FW15 version since it's able to produce more debug info (crash.log).
- Analog stick navigation now disabled by default. Can be enabled from the Input tab in the Settings window.
- Fixed a bug in the network connection detection that meant the app wouldn't start because it incorrectly thought no network connections were present.
- A crash.log is now created when the FW15 version crashes with a blue screen. If reporting crashes when running the FW15 version, please attach the crash.log file.
General notes:
- Thanks to Giovanni for helping me debug the settings problem.
- If users are still experiencing crashes opening the settings window, please contact psposte@gmail.com.
Install/Upgrade Notes:
- FW15: Unzip PSPoste_Beta6_FW15.zip into your PSP/GAME (PSP/GAME150 for OE users) directory. Existing settings, contacts and mail will be preserved.
- FW2x: Unzip PSPoste_Beta6_FW2x.zip into your PSP/GAME303.
- Upgrading from FW15 to FW2x: Rename your existing __SCE__PSPoste to PSPoste, move it to PSP/GAME303, then unzip PSPoste_Beta6_FW2x.zip into PSP/GAME303. You can delete %__SCE__PSPoste.
Notes on mirroring: we would appreciate if sites did not mirror our releases, but instead link to the "Files" section (or "PSPoste" package) on our sourceforge project page. Thank you in advance for your co-operation.
Download link: http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...kage_id=181627
The PSPoste Team.
http://www.psposte.org
psposte@gmail.com
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February 10th, 2007, 16:08 Posted By: On The Rise
StrmnNrmn posted this news on the latest of his work on the Nintendo 64 emulator for the PSP
In my long-overdue update on Thursday I explained how some of the work I've been doing on the dynarec engine has produced a significant speedup. This post will give a few numbers to give an idea of what you can expect in R9.
The table below shows the framerate for various scenes in R8 with a column showing the framerate for the build I'm currently testing effectively R9). The final column shows the relative speedup:
http://strmnnrmn.blogspot.com/
check out the the screenshots comparing r8 and r9 to certain games visit the website there is also another update before this.
Clearly there's a significant improvement in framerate. On average, games are running about 40% faster, but in many cases the framerate has almost doubled. Subjectively, the difference means that many games are feeling a lot more responsive and playable now. Anything over 20fps 'feels' pretty good, but my long-term goal is to get this up to 30fps for as many titles as possible.
I noticed a couple of interesting differences between the two builds when running the tests, and you can see some of these in the new screenshots. Firstly, notice that the shadows in Super Mario 64 are all nice and round. This is due to the 'mirrored texture support' that I mentioned in Thursday's update (this also fixes the star that opens over Mario's head in the title sequence).
Secondly, the jerky/shaky screen that was affecting Mario Kart 64 now seems to be fixed. I'm not quite sure what was causing this, but I'm glad it's fixed
Next, notice that the text is Quest 64 is now fixed. In R8 this was horribly corrupted. This is due to the fixing a few texture conversion bugs as I was introducing proper support for 16 bit textures.
Finally, the texture on the floor in Quest 64 is now fixed. Again, I'm not totally sure what change is responsible for this, but it's nice to see it working correctly.
One final thing to note is that these figures were obtained by running the emulator with 'optimal' settings. For the current build, this includes disabling audio output. I'll talk a bit about audio support soon, including a bit about its impact on performance.
-
http://strmnnrmn.blogspot.com/
check out the the screenshots comparing r8 and r9 to certain games visit the website there is also another update before this.
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February 10th, 2007, 13:10 Posted By: wraggster
Winnydows has released a new version of his Video Converter for the PSP, heres the info and whats new:
Info:
Easy use and high quality program for converting videos for PSP, iPOD and PC.
Import formats:
AVI DIVX ASF MPG MPE MPEG VOB TS M2P D2V MOV QT 3GP HDMOV RM RAM RMVB RPX SMI SMIL MKV OGM WMV DVR-MS PMP FLV.
Export formats:
PMP AVC, MP4 PSP 2.80, MP4 PSP 480, MP4 iPod, MP4 iPod 640, MP4 PS3, MP4, AVI, AVI DV PAL, AVI DV NTSC, MPEG-2 PAL, MPEG-2 NTSC.
Whats new:
4.102 changes:
Fixed aspect calculation.
Ffdshow now installed with selected language.
Ffdshow icons removed from tray by default.
Add new SBC prest - Ghost Buster. Help remove red ghosting on PSP.
Removed format MP4 PSP (MP4 PSP 2.80 and MP4 PSP 480 full replace it).
Removed Fix gray flicks option.
For AVI format audio now encode in video path - doesn`t need muxing.
For AVI format now possible create files with PCM sound.
Added two new formats - AVI DV PAL and AVI DV NTSC. DV files created progressive (no interlacement = HQ)!
Removed encoding VirtualDub - mencoder full replace it.
For AVI format added two new LossLess (без потерь) codecs - FFV1 and FFVHuff.
From framerate list removed non-standart framerates (15.000). All non-standart inut files will be converted to near framerate. This fix sync on some RM and MOV files.
Removed Engine DropDown.
Removed PMP 2.01 - PMP AVC much better in all cases.
Removed Base64 encoder-decoder tool.
Removed VirtualDubMod.
Default aspect correction now - Black.
Mencoder updated to r22178.
Finished CLI for x264.
Reorganzed tabs.
Fixed small bugs.
Now always used mencoder MT.
Download Here
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February 10th, 2007, 13:07 Posted By: wraggster
via siliconera
Nihon Falcom has always been known for its intricate storylines and deep character relationships in their respective RPGs. I remember playing Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion back when it was released and noticed just how deep each character’s relation to each other was, and even the ending sequence to the game was something deep and profound, something not many RPGs have today. The focus on friendship is omnipresent throughout each of the Legend of Heroes games, and A Song of the Ocean is no different.
Full article at link above
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February 10th, 2007, 13:02 Posted By: wraggster
via ign
As far as I'm concerned there are only two major rules when dealing with my childhood memories; don't screw with the Ninja Turtles, and don't screw with Transformers. As luck would have it, both franchises are getting rebirths this year on the big screen, and in true Hollywood fashion they're being screwed with in a huge, huge way. TMNT now looks like a shell (pun definitely intended) of its previous design, and Transformers is getting zapped with the Bay-ray, as the franchise is now true-to-life, has a ton of explosions, and is - quite frankly - pissing off the loyal fan base left and right.
Whether you're a fan of the movie or a hardcore loyalist, it really shouldn't matter too much when you jump into the official Transformers game though, as everything that's being added into the franchise remake - lots of explosions, mindless destruction, and robots kicking the ever-loving tar out of each other - are all fundamental elements for an entertaining videogame. Bumblebee may not be an 80's VW Bug, and Optimus has flames, but when it comes to busting some good ole' deceptichops Activision's movie-game still works to get the Transformers feel down.
From our first official eyes-on with the game today at Activision HQ, it was pretty easy to tell where the design inspiration for Transformers came from. Take one part Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, one part Grand Theft Auto, and one part Transformers remake, throw it in a pot and let it simmer on high for 20-25 minutes. Players can kick off the game by selecting either Autobot or Deceppicon affiliation, and from there work through missions that run somewhat parallel to the main movie. We'll avoid any spoilers for die-hard fans out there (the 12 of you that haven't already read the script, that is), but basically the game builds off the key pops of the movie, recreating the battles, areas, and characters you'll be seeing on the big screen. On the Autobot side, the game is pretty much a comparable to the movie, since the Autobots are the focus in the main story. With the Decepticons, however, you're getting more of a "what if" scenario, as you try to topple the Autobot warriors and take over earth for yourself.
Once you select your allegiance you're dropped right into the action. The game is laid out in the oh-so-familiar sandbox atmosphere of titles like GTA, Crackdown, or True Crime, where you've got a top-view map with destination blips, red dots for enemies, and green areas for objective sections. Along with the familiar map system is a integrated "good/evil" meter that works along the lines of Star Wars: Nights of the Old Republic. Just because you're an Autobot doesn't mean you can rampage through the city without the cops, military, and CIA noticing, and if you select Starscream and start helping little old ladies across the street instead of trying to become the Decepticon's "New LEADER!" you'll be sure to lose some alliance points as well. It's a pretty cool feeling to see Optimus rampage through the city knocking over police stations and Burger King buildings (it's like the old 80's episode where he turned evil, minus the red eyes), and while it's a bit out of character for the Autobots to be destroying everything, there's something to be said for taking into account the amount of collateral damage you cause during battles.
To add to the formula, nearly everything in Transformers can be smashed, picked up, and used as a weapon. Trees were torn from their roots, light posts were used to knock Decepticon cronies (that looked a bit like the 80's Shockwave, by the way) into busses, and buildings would crack and crumble as Bumblebee scaled them to reach a higher vantage point. If you want to knock a Decepticon on his ass and use him as a projectile, it's all fair game. Likewise, if the local police are getting in your way you can lift them sky-high, scout out a target, and give them a little airborne encouragement to fight the real enemy. It should be noted though, that players can't actually fight physical humans, so rather than having hundreds of puny earthlings nipping at your heals you'll be getting a lot of squad cars, tanks, and helicopters instead. We would have loved to stop over buildings, ending thousands of lives just to take a short-cut, but it just wasn't in the cards.
Since the game is still in development we weren't able to enjoy any of the more vehicle-specific missions, such as air combat with Starscream and Megatron (who, by the way, is a stealth bomber if you aren't up to speed in the new Transformers) or rampage driving missions with Optimus, utilizing real transform and roll out action. Still we had a chance to see the transformations in action, and though they don't have the classic noise from the original 80's show they're still really cool to watch. Switching from robot to vehicle is as easy as hitting a button, and a transformation can occur at any time. That means you can leap off buildings and go into jet mode with Starscream, transform from car to robot and then back again to jump over roadblocks with Jazz, or try to reenact the classic "Optimus jump" from the first movie, where Prime blazes into a group of enemies, transforms into a jump, and blasts the hell of them before landing. What we saw in action was a pretty solid start, but hopefully the idea of transforming everywhere (something that Activision was very adamant about) realizes its full potential before the game goes gold.
On the visual side of things, Transformers comes up a bit short when compared to the more dazzling 360 games out there, but is still a pretty standard visual presentation as far as sandbox games go. The amount of space in the towns and cities are pretty huge from what we could tell, and all graphical goodies such as normal mapping and bloom effects are put to good use. The game uses real-time shadows and has some solid explosion effects, but while the Transformers themselves are pulled directly from the movie models (scaled down a bit, of course), the world around the characters is a bit less impressive as a whole. Cars and busses have more of an Xbox look, rather than 360, and the human models are totally basic. Still, the game's presentation has a solid feel, with the camera bouncing to follow the robots' heavy steps, or shaking wildly as buildings crumble to the ground. It isn't the most visually-appealing title out there, but it does carry a decent overall style. As a quick note on audio, there's no official word yet as to whether or not the main actors will be used for VO or not, but we can tell you that the opening cinema (which had a pretty cool look), did have the voice of Optimus Prime included in it. They even end it with a classic line; one shall stand, one shall fall.
From what we saw today Transformers: The Game isn't a perfect title by any means. The game makes great use of the world the movie creates, plops some solid looking robot models into the mix, and delivers the same destrucable environments as a game like Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, minus some of the speed and solidarity. Still, the general entertainment in cruising through city streets, beating the hell out of enemy robots, or driving in a stealth "robots in disguise" mode to avoid panicking police is still a blast. It may not be the classic 80's game we imagined so many years ago, but it's definitely a good first step in winning us over into the new look and feel of the franchise. We're hoping to see a bit more frenzied action added into the mix, as the lack of killing humans makes for mainly vehicle/vehicle combat when dealing with police, and the addition of more character-based attacks or power-ups to look forward to is always a nice top-off as well.
As a final note, Activision couldn't tell us anything about the extras in the game, but knowing how big of fans the team seems to be with the franchise I'm personally expecting some awesome extras or bonus features included in the final version. Maybe we'll be treated to some classic audio samples or some sort of retro flair to the game, but if all else fails I'm still holding my breath for the song "You've Got The Touch" from the old 80's movie. Guys, we love that song, and in two decades of music there's still no better tune we can think of to light our darkest hour.
We'll have more on Transformers: The Game as it nears completion, as well as an official hands-on shortly. Transformers: The Movie hits theatres on July 4th.
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February 10th, 2007, 13:00 Posted By: wraggster
via ign
Yoichi Wada is one of the most outspoken industry figures in Japan, often sharing his thoughts as one of his two identities: chairman of the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association or president of Square Enix. In a recent interview with Japan's Nikkei BP, Wada assumed the latter form as he discussed Dragon Quest and the future of the PS3.
With Dragon Quest IX coming out for the DS, Wada fielded a question about this meaning a shift in Square Enix's development strategy towards the platform. This isn't necessarily the case. "Following portable machines, we see the market for the PlayStation 3 and other next generation consoles taking off, so we will develop for that."
In fact, nothing has apparently been decided for the next Dragon Quest. "Aside from the Dragon Quest titles that have been announced, nothing has been decided. We're not thinking about fixing [the series] on the DS."
The Square Enix president seems to have a lot of faith in the PS3. "We have expectations from the PS3. However, it's still early. For us to do business [on the platform], it will take a bit more time."
Wada expects a shift to the PS3 to begin first with a more pronounced shift to high definition television sets. "Once the television environment is in place, at last the true game business will form. I see the PS3 market taking off starting around 2008."
"Some journalists don't understand that there's a difference in the amount of time hardware takes to spread and have taken the tone of 'the world of high vision, high quality gaming has come to an end.' However, once you see the world of high vision, there's no going back."
Closing up, Wada offered his vision for how gamers will split across all the various systems out there. "I believe casual gamers will go to the Wii, DS, or even PSP while those who want to have a fuller experience will go to the PS3 and Xbox 360."
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February 10th, 2007, 12:59 Posted By: wraggster
Are you one of the few importers who picked up a Virtua Stick High Grade arcade stick with your copy of the Japanese version of Virtua Fighter 5? Then a big, fat Nelson-ish Ha-Ha to you!
Following the 2/8 release of the PS3 peripheral, Sega learned of a strange problem with the device that at times makes it fail to register lever and button inputs. The company stopped sales of the device (shortly after they'd begun) and is looking into the problem.
Those who purchased the peripheral will be able to get a refund from Sega. Specific details will be offered on Valentines Day, 2/14. We're not sure if importers will be taken care of by Sega directly, but we'd suggest contacting your importing source for further information.
via ign
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February 10th, 2007, 12:52 Posted By: wraggster
via ps3fanboy
He not only answered questions, but he even said things that he probably shouldn't have said, like when asked what he's been playing, he replied: "The next version of LocoRoco which... I can't really talk about because we haven't announced it." Nice. Well, let's make a list of other questions and answers that were pretty important.
What will the PS3 do to reach out to casual gamers?
"Something we've done successfully in Europe is something we've coined 'social gaming.' We've had great success with SingStar and EyeToy, which combined is over a $500 million category - Singstar has sold 7 million units." He then demonstrates Singstar (I wonder if he was any good!) and talks about an upcoming PS3 iteration that goes online. The SingStore concept will allow you to buy songs off of the PS-Store to use in the game. Neat!
What's up with the apparent lack of developer support?
Some key technical documents and information originate in Japan and don't flow very easily to other parts of the world. Harrison also notes that many of the critical PS3 components were created in English-speaking parts of the world.
Are you planning to improve the PlayStation Store to better compare with XBox Live?
Harrison says: "The launch of a platform like PS3 is not a fixed specification the day you buy the console. The chipset stays the same but what it does in software changes over time. We'll continue to refine [the PlayStation 3 Network], not just for developer experience, but for consumers too. This year we'll be adding some functionality to the PSP that will unify our approach."
So... why's it taking so long for the PSP to get some creativity? You said it would be a console in the palm of your hand. What gives?
Phil was pretty direct here. "I don't mean to belittle developers, but we've only managed to recreate PS2 in the palm in your hand. I think we can go deeper, I think we can explore more features of the machine, connectivity, social aspects, media aspects, and integrate it into game design that is unique to that format. It's not a missed opportunity so much as a future opportunity."
All right. Well said, Phil Harrison. We'll keep mental tabs on the things you've said and make sure that at least some of the promises are achieved. Anyone think these goals are possible? Impossible? Useless? Useful? Question number five?
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