Portable Gaming Revolution

Woohoo! I’m finally back on track with the new of upcoming games this week!!

Check out the following DS games this week:

- Cartoon Network Racing
- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
- Kirby: Squeak Squad
- Lionel Trains: On Track

The following titles are scheduled to be released this week for the PSP:

- Hard Rock Casino
- Brothers in Arms: D-Day
- Metal Gear Portable Ops
- Star Wars: Lethal Alliance
- WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007
- Blitz: Overtime

I talked about this a bit in the last PSP Podcast; days after Sony released firmware version 3.01 it was promptly decrypted for all to look at. We all speculated that it would be just a matter of time before a new Devhook supporting the PS3-talky goodness that this new firmware brought us. That time is now.

Booster has released version 0.51 of Devhook with full support for emulating firmware version 3.01!

I do not have a PS3 to test with, but from what I understand the downloadable PS1 titles fully work with this emulated version of the 3.01 firmware. Homebrewers rejoice!

Check out qj.net for all the necessary downloads to get this bad boy up and running.

[tags]Devhook, PS3, Firmware, Emulation[/tags]

Or if not the Gods, then at least the folks over at Philips have, anyways (and yes, if you were wondering, I probably could’ve found a bigger picture).

It has always been a monster pain in the butt (I would use stronger language, but this is a PG site and all) to travel anywhere with my portable gaming systems. First, you have to pack the system itself, any games that you might want to play, along with the various adapters because the batteries on both the DS and PSP never seem to last long enough during those marathon gaming sessions. By the time I get my PSP and DS loaded up and arrive at my destination I have a nasty jumble of cords from both the chargers I have to bring. It’s not a pretty sight!

So along comes Philips and their revolutionary Universal Hand-Held Travel Charger & Adapter and I have to say… what an amazing idea! With this bad boy you can charge a whopping five of your portable gaming systems, including your DS, DS Lite, GBA, GBA Micro, and PSP.

Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on exactly when this miracle charger will be hitting the market, but I gotta hope that it will come soon!!

Check out the following DS games that were supposed to come out on Tuesday, November 27th:

- Cartoon Network Racing
- Catz
- Hamsterz Life
- Horsez
- Lionel Trains: On Track
- March of the Penguins
- Totally Spies! 2: Undercover
- Xiaolin Showdown

The following PSP games were scheduled to be released earlier this week:

- Online Chess Kingdoms
- Shrek Smash and Crash
- The Sims 2: Pets

If you’ve been looking to convert your DVDs to other formats on your Mac you’ve probably downloaded, or at least heard of a program called Handbrake. It’s a great and powerful application for DVD ripping, although it suffers from a confusing user interface and huge learning curve. Well now you are in luck! Instant Handbrake has just been released as a beta, and it has simplified the process of ripping DVDs to iPod or PSP format!

Simply drop in the DVD you wish to encode, open Instant Handbrake, choose the video file and options and hit convert. Instant Handbrake will worry about transcoding the video to the format you selected, and even import it into iTunes for you.

This is great news for people who like to watch movies while on the go and do not want to pay the premium for the limited UMD movie format. Again, ripping a DVD may be illegal in your country (Yes you US, I’m talking to you), so be sure of the legality before downloading and using this application.

Download Instant Handbrake

I’m back from my whirlwind tour of the world, well.. OK I was actually only in Atlanta for a week, but it was awesome!! I’m over the nasty cold that I picked up, so I can talk long enough to get this podcast out.

I have lots of news for you guys this week, as there has been a lot going on in the PSP and Homebrew scene. I chat a bit about the 3.0 firmware and It’s new features, then get into a long segment on Dark Alex’s Custom Firmware SE-C. No Cara this week as she caught the cold I just kicked.. doh! Enjoy!

Call our voicemail line and leave us a comment! 1-206-326-1221

Shownotes

Continue reading ‘PSP Podcast #57′

 Standard Podcast [43:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I figured that this would be an appropriate article to put up following the news about the DS download stations at the Atlanta airport.

According to IGN, PSP gamers in the US can expect to shortly be able to download their own content via kiosks… not at airports, but at several popular retailers – including Circuit City, Toys “R” Us, Target and GameStop. PSP fans in both Europe and Japan have been able to take advantage of this sort of download system for quite a while now… it’s about time that it migrated overseas!

Beginning this month [November 2006], consumers can take their PSP system to participating retailers, and download gaming and entertainment content directly to their PSP system. These interactive kiosks will offer game demos, movie trailers, music clips, mini-strategy guides, wallpapers and more.

Sony has announced that the first line of games that will be available for download will consist of Outrun, Worms, Dungeon Siege, MLB 2006, Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins, Lumines 2, Every Extend Extra, Race Driver 2006, and Daxter.

Plans are in effect to have the program expanded to 6,000 retail locations across the US by January 2007.

Yeah, I know… my article title is a little on the confusing side. Let me explain… earlier this week, Delta Airlines opened kiosks in the Atlanta Airport, offering their customers DS downloadable demos. Apparently, The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is just going to be the starting point, with plans to expand to other airport in the near future.

Delta is excited to partner with Nintendo, makers of some of the most popular video games of all time, to provide yet another innovative entertainment offering to travelers,” said Joan Vincenz, Delta’s managing director of Product Marketing. “This program reflects our ongoing commitment to provide a distinctive, enjoyable travel experience — both on the ground and in the air — especially during the busy holiday travel season.”

The download service is absolutely free, all you need is your DS and to follow the simple instructions at one of the six installed download terminals – if you’re familiar with the Atlanta airport, they can be found on concourses A, B and T. The offered demos include Brain Age, Elite Beat Agents, and Clubhouse Games.

Just a little something to keep in mind though (just in case you haven’t flown lately), is that you do need to turn off your DS during take-off… and that will erase the demo. I guess, for the time being, that this’ll just be a diversion to keep yourself occupied while waiting for your flight.

After an intense couple of weeks of game releases for both the DS and PSP, things have finally settled down a bit. It had gotten a little tough to keep up with all the new games… not to mention the strain on the wallet!!

You can watch for the following DS games being released this week:

- Brain Boost: Beta Wave
- Brain Boost: Gamma Wave
- Dogz
- March of the Penguins
- Monster Bomber
- Superman Returns: The Videogame
- Totally Spies! 2: Undercover

And on the PSP side of things:

- Hard Rock Casino (delayed from last week)
- Tony Hawk’s Project 8

It’s been a long time coming, but PGZine Issue #2 is ready for you all!

While I reported the magazine as being dead in a recent PSP Podcast, a collection of BMashers.com forum regulars wouldn’t let that happen. They pulled together and have all contributed to this issue you have before you.

You may notice some HUGE differences with this issue. Besides the awesome new look done by our new EiC, Mark Guilherme, you’ll see that PGZine is covering all the handheld systems now. We figured since PGRevolution.com has made that switch, we should too. We think you’ll enjoy it.

So get to reading, and please let us know your thoughts over at the bMash forums. Your thoughts and direction are greatly appreciated.

Download PGZine Issue #2

Are you getting tired of looking at the same old, same old faceplate that your PSP originally came with? Well, Talismoon has gone ahead and done up some wild animal-themed faceplates to jazz up your gaming experience! I’m not too sure why they settled on the two animals-prints that they are initially creating… namely, cow and leopard… but I shouldn’t say anything, my sister loves everything to do with cow-prints and would probably go for it.

With Talismoon range of Evolve ‘Wild Jungle’ edition for the PSP, gamers are treated to extreme levels of comfort thanks to a soft ‘like fur’ finish, as well as refreshing and unique new look.

The package is going to come with everything that you will need to remove your plain old faceplate and install the new one:

- The snazzy new cow/leopard-print PSP Faceplate
- PSP diamond series buttons
- Optimal precision jeweler’s screwdriver
- Illustrated installation diagrams
- Unique polishing cloth

You’ll be looking at around $15 for the entire kit, so it’s fairly reasonably priced. Just make sure that you keep in mind that removing your PSP’s faceplate will void any warranty you may have left on it.

If the animal-themed faceplates just don’t grab your fancy, the new Evolve series at Talismoon also has new faceplates in Blue, Crystal and Chrome.

Every year, IGN puts out their guide to the best gear for the holiday season… and this year they don’t disappoint! They have released their 2006 Holiday Buyer’s Guide, and here is their insight into the best games to put under the tree for both the DS and PSP:

With all of this momentum behind the Nintendo DS comes a ton of fantastic games to own. Games for the hardcore. Games for the grandparents. Games for the younger crowd. There’s a wide range of software for the system, and we’ve gone through this year’s releases and handpicked the games that will make any DS owner cheer this holiday season.

- Big Brain Academy
- Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
- Clubhouse Games
- Elite Beat Agents
- Final Fantasy III
- New Super Mario Bros.
- Tetris DS
- Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam
- Yoshi’s Island DS

Unlike console gamers, who always find themselves stuck in front of those dastardly television sets, PSP owners benefit from the freedom to game wherever the hell they want. That’s right, they can enjoy the hottest games of the 2006 holiday season whenever and wherever they damn well please.

- Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception
- Daxter
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
- Killzone: Liberation
- LocoRoco
- Medal of Honor Heroes
- Mercury Meltdown
- Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
- Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
- Tekken: Dark Resurrection