Played the demo yet? It sure feels so cool when you realize that you're playing Resistance on the PSP
. That's exactly what the guys at Sony Bend were aiming for. They wanted to get that intense Resistance gameplay that we know so well from the PS3
and put it into Resistance: Retribution.
Co-director at Sony Bend Studios John Garvin takes us deep into the development stages of the game, showing us clips of what we can expect from Resistance: Retribution. Working very closely with Insomniac Games, they were able to translate the PS3 gameplay into handheld, but at the same time, they were able to come up with a unique title.
With a new hero and a new dimension to the game, I'd say Resistance: Retribution lives up to the hype and the reputation of the Resistance franchise.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Know your psp models
PSP Phat (1000)
First up is the classic: the PSP-1000, better known as the PSP Phat (or Fat, whichever way you spell it).
Backstory:
First announced at a press conference before E3 way back in 2003, ex-Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Ken Kutaragi dubbed it then as the "Walkman of the 21st century." The following year, at E3 2004, Sony officially unveiled this little multimedia wonder, much to the delight of the awaiting fans and impressed critics.
And then the glorious day arrived. December 12, 2004 became witness to the birth of the PlayStation Portable, launching in Japan with a successful 200,000++ units sold on the first day alone. Three months later, on March 24,2005, the PSP finally crossed the oceans to North American shores. The reception was resounding despite the initial concern over the supposed high price of the handheld. After a month-long delay, it then made its way over to the PAL region on April 25.
Specs:
When it first came out, the PSP Phat was sold with only two variants of retail configurations. There was the Core Pack (aka the Base Pack), and the Value Pack. The Core Pack is the basic unit package which contains the console, a battery, and an AC adapter. On the other hand, the Value Pack gets all that's in the Core Pack and more, including headphones with remote control, pouch, and wrist strap. Later on, the Value Pack would see some variations in the accessories included in it.
And then here are the numbers for the hardware:
- Full form: 17 x 7.3 x 2.2 cm (6.7 x 2.9 x 0.9 in)
- Weight: 280 grams (9.88 oz)
- LCD screen: 11cm (4.3 in)
- Pixel video playback capability: 480 x 272, with 16.77 million colors
- USB 2.0 mini-B port
- WLAN switch
- Power cable input
- UMD drive
- MemStick Duo flash cards reader
- built-in stereo speakers and heaphone port
- IEEE 802.1b Wi-Fi for the Internet, ad-hoc multiplayer gaming, data transfer
Homebrew Heaven:
Being the burly handheld that it is, the first PSP model can take more punishment than its two descendants. It can handle a few careless moments and a bit of neglect (let's keep it at just FEW and A BIT, ayt?). But certainly, the PSP Phat isn't just famous for its sturdiness. There is, in fact, that one other thing that it (and QJ) is known for - homebrew!
For PSP homebrew neophytes out there, if you're planning to get a PSP all for the sake of hacking and homebrew, the PSP Phat is your baby. It runs all sorts of homebrew - apart from the model-specific ones, of course. This is where it all began, basically. It was with the Phat that the brew community's pillars built their foundations: Nem, PSP-Dev, MPH, Fanjita, Ditlew, Booster, Dark AleX, and many others, opened the gates to homebrew heaven and paved the golden road that you are all enjoying today (but we'll have another space for their tributes at another day here on QJ - so do watch out for that as well!).
On the downside, if you're not into hacking your PSP, the PSP-1000's obvious flaws will definitely bring the fun factor down. For one, it's plain bigger and heavier than the other two models, it has no video out, and it doesn't support charging via USB. Also, well, Sony did not exactly punch the air and cried out "Woot!" to all the delicious homebrewed concoctions that came out.
And so we now have the Official Firmware Updates (OFW). But our homebrew gods are not to be deterred. To counter this, we now have the Custom Firmwares (CFW). It's a never-ending overtaking of capabilities from then on out, and really, it's us who benefit the most, actually. It's a mad, mad race out there. MAD, I tell you.
PSP Slim and Lite (2000)
Backstory:
A mere couple of years after the release of the Phat, word was already abuzz about Sony prepping for the launch of a new PSP model. Back then, there were a lot of rumors, denials, speculations, denials, bucketloads of "No Comments" from Sony reps, and more rumors. And denials.
At the E3 2007 however, Sony could no longer keep up with all their denials and instead confirmed what many have predicted all along: a new PSP version, to be released in September of 2007. Say hello to the PSP 2000.
Better known as the Slim and Lite, the second model is 33% lighter and 19% slimmer than the Phat. With its RAM beefed up to 64MB, the PSP Slim also outperforms Phat with its faster read and load time. It's got about the same battery life as Phat, but you can use a PSP-1000 battery to prolong the Slim's batt life.
Specs:
There's also an improved LCD screen and a TV out, so the bigger screen option is always open, and gameplay got better with its improved D-pad and analog stick (if you can call it a stick). Slim also has the benefit of charging via USB, which is handy if you're downloading a huge file and you forgot to charge the day before.
It's better in some ways than Phat, but not in all aspects. For one, the lack of a metal chassis on Slim makes it feel so flimsy and fragile. It also lacks the IR port that Phat has. Plus its TV output is limited to progressive scan TV sets; luckily, this can be remedied with homebrew plugins.
Homebrew Heaven:
As far as homebrew goes, most PSP-2000s can run 1.5 kernel-based homebrew by using Time Machine. Unfortunately, the infamous TA088v3 motherboard still hasn't gotten hacked, so those Slim PSPs won't get any homebrew anytime soon. There was a rumor about the said motherboard getting hacked, but it was a fake, and all it did was get hopes up.
PSP Brite (3000)
Backstory:
Prior to release, Sony proudly introduced the PlayStation Portable's latest model with its vibrant new screen as the centerpiece. The improved LCD, increased color range, and five times the contrast ratio of the Slim gave it its nickname, PSP Brite. This bright screen is also equipped with anti-reflection technology which improved playing outdoors in broad daylight. To reduce ghosting and blurring, Brite came with faster pixel response and a new sub-pixel structure.
Unfortunately, controversy erupted at the PSP-3000's release, when its pride and joy turned out to show interlacing-like lines during on-screen motion, and dark lines when on-screen brightness changes drastically. While some PSP-3000 owners really don't mind this "feature", as Sony called it, It turns out to be a big deal breaker for many would-be buyers.
Homebrew (yet-to-get-there) Heaven:
Then there's the matter of homebrew. The PSP Brite is still new, but while it's understandable that it hasn't been hacked yet because of this, there is a bit of growing concern that Sony might have really, finally padlocked once more the gates to all that is homebrew. Heck, TA088v3 on the Slim hasn't been hacked yet.
Hopes are high, though, and optimism is abundant, as a silver lining appears to be up above, thanks to the efforts of FreePlay and Matiaz (and recently, Team Noobz joining the power team) in bringing us the GripShift exploit. We're still keeping our fingers and toes tightly crossed for a major breakthrough here, but if there's anything that the PSP brew history has taught us, patience is the key.
Conclusion
So which model suits your preference the best? They say the PSP is a dying console, but that still is highly debatable. Despite the seemingly lackluster software lineup the past couple of years, we still firmly believe in the PSP as the foremost handheld gaming console of the current generation.
There's still more to see from this little wonder, believe you me. And you bet we'll be right along with it. You all are more than welcome to join us, too.
So that's it for this edition of PSP How-To right here on QJ. Was that helpful? Be sure to check back same time every week for more PSP How-To articles. For next week, it's "How-To: Get Homebrewed: List of requirements to get brew running on your PSP." That should be fun.
Source qj.net
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
How the PSP could have been the iPhone
Sony's missed opportunity: How the PSP could have been the iPhone
A couple of years ago I was talking to the folks from Sony's PlayStation division in a hotel suite in Manhattan where they were showing us the second-generation PSP, the PSP-2000. I was telling them all the things I would like to see in the PSP. "This is a mini computer," I said, complimenting them on what a great device it was. But I thought it was being underutilized. "Why don't you open this thing?" I suggested. "Let people develop for it. Screw the UMD. It's got built-in wireless, you should be able download all kinds of games and apps to it. Slap on a detachable BlackBerry-style keyboard and you're good to go."
At the time, Sony's marketing department had seemingly grappled with and settled on selling the PSP as a gaming device first and foremost with a dash of multimedia thrown in for good measure. Even if there was an active homebrew market percolating, there was little beyond the idea that the PSP could play games, music, and movies (from a UMD disc) and surf the Web on a second-rate browser. Yes, the whole PSP "store" concept was in the works, but it seemed to be moving at a glacial pace. VoIP support in the form of a Skype client was also on the table.
One of the concept designs for the PSP2.
(Credit: psp2hacks.com)Cut to today. Sony has sold a lot of PSPs. More than 40 million, actually. And in those terms, the device is a lot more successful than people give Sony credit for. But for some reason, even with those numbers, developers don't seem all that excited about developing kick-ass games for the device, and unfortunately, there aren't as many good games as there should be considering the size of the PSP's audience. (For the record, I am a fan of the PSP, and play it regularly--perhaps more than any other game console).
Clearly, Sony missed an opportunity to create its own version of the Apple App Store, which is turning into a small goldmine for Apple. In sticking to its tried-and-true model of getting the hardware out, bringing the cost down to a break-even point, then making money on the software, Sony neglected to see an even bigger market for smaller, cheaper games and apps made by enterprising developers. Guess what: those guys (and gals) are now all over on the Apple App store. And they're making money--not only for themselves but for Apple.
The Mylo Communicator looks similar, doesn't it?
(Credit: Sony)Alas, Sony developed a truly cutting-edge piece of hardware but forgot to include a cutting-edge delivery system for content. True, flash memory was still a little too expensive when the PSP first launched. But everybody knew prices were rapidly falling, and Sony could have been more ahead of the curve. Instead, it chose to stick largely to an optical disc system (UMD) that appealed to game makers and movie studios because it had a rock-solid layer of DRM to keep things secure.
Not so much. Movies failed on the PSP because they were too expensive and pirating has become rampant (just as it has on the Nintendo DS). The PSP is extremely easy to hack, and in the BitTorrent world, thousands of free PSP games and movies are downloaded daily. Sony and the developers get nothing. As an example, LocoRoco 2 was available on the Web well before it was available to U.S. customers because it had already been released in Europe and posted as a Torrent.
Considering the fact that Sony's traditionally been much better at making hardware than back- or front-end software, the fate of the PSP (and Mylo) isn't all that surprising. Is it too late for Sony to do anything about it? That remains to be seen. Prior to the release of the PSP-3000, the PlayStation Store on the PSP was something of an also-ran--games and movies had to be downloaded on the PC or PS3, then transferred to the portable. In October of 2008, Version 5.0 of the PSP firmware finally enabled direct access to and downloads from the Store, so now you can finally download movies and games straight to your PSP's Memory Stick.
To Sony's credit, it's been gradually adding more games, though the majority of them are overpriced downloadable versions of UMD games, as well as old PSOne titles that are playable on both the PSP and PS3. I noticed two travel apps and just handful of downloadable games are made exclusively for distribution in the PSP "store," which isn't organized as well as it could be. On a positive note, there are plenty of demos available for download. However, overall the PSP's offerings just don't compare with the wider variety of original titles available on Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade or Nintendo's WiiWare program on the Wii--or even what's up on Sony's PS3 store.
Slow as the transition away from UMD is, it's a step in the right direction for Sony. The fact is that in this economy cheap sells. Yes, people will buy still but $60 games (and $40 games for the PSP), but they're going to be much more selective in what they buy. In other words, only the best games will do well at top-of-the-line prices; second tier titles, even if they're good, will have to come down in price to move a lot of units. And when it comes to the PSP, the more sub $10 (and $5) titles that are offered, the better.
Obviously, Sony--like everyone else--has looked at the success of the Apple App Store and considered how it can bring that kind of enthusiasm and creativity to its portable gaming platform. I'm not sure what we'll see in a true next-gen PSP. The rumored PSP-4000 will probably just be an incremental improvement over the current PSP-3000, but Sony needs a serious paradigm shift when it moves to the PSP 2--or whatever it's called. Doing away with the UMD would be a start. And refashioning the PSP--or at least a premium PSP--as part game console, part Netbook, would be the next move.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: marry the PSP and the Mylo, throw in a killer app store, slap a $299 price tag on the whole thing, and you've got something. Oh, and, Sony, if you're going to continue using Memory Stick Duo, please bring prices in line to that of SD cards.
Anybody else have a better idea?
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of Knife Music, a novel that's available as a print and Kindle book at Amazon.com, as well as a free e-book download for the iPhone/iPod Touch and the Sony Reader. E-mail David.Source : reviews.cnet.com
Homebrew Loader for us non 1.50 Kernel Slim owners
LEDA - Legacy Software Loader Beta 0.1
Introducing Dark_AleX’s LEDA: the Legacy Software Loader for older 1.0/1.50 compiled homebrew. This means any homebrew requiring the 1.50 kernel may be usable under CFW 5.00 M33 without the kernel add-on, even on the PSP Slim. Now keep in mind, LEDA is currently beta leaving compatibility unknown at this time. Please comment with your experience below should you have success or failure with whatever homebrew.
PSP Fat users may also take advantage of LEDA despite the already working 1.50 kernel add-on. Like anything, LEDA has both its pros and cons –
LEDA Advantages:
- It works on the PSP Slim too
- It doesn’t require much flash space
- You don’t need to care about which folder your homebrew is in. LEDA first tries to load the homebrew program normally. If it works, then the homebrew is a 3.XX+ one, and LEDA terminates itself to not waste RAM. Otherwise, LEDA does some patches to load the 1.0/1.5 homebrew.
- Unlike 1.50 kernel add-on, LEDA tries to be independent of firmware. This means that whenever a new version of M33 is released, LEDA will probably work without need of an update.
LEDA Disadvantages:
- Less compatibility. Anyway, I will try to make LEDA compatible with those old homebrew that are still useful today because they weren’t updated or because they have a better old version.
Download: LEDA Beta 0.1
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