QuickJump QuickPeek 13: Of PSP homebrew leaks, Halo 3 leaks, and enzymes that leak HIV away
(Editor’s Note: We’re cooking up something specially hot for you guys with our weekly QuickJump QuickPeek! Some of you may have already noticed that this current issue – the 13th issue, no less! – has rolled out early! Why? It’s because we’re gearing up for a QuickJump QuickPeek TGS 2007 Special Edition once the festivities are done! So while we wait for that, we’re giving you this Early Edition that focuses on other news that have cropped up during the week!)
It’s Tokyo Game Show week! And even though it’s the 13th issue of QuickJump QuickPeek, it’s anything but riddled with bad luck! This “Early Edition” will be focusing on the non-TGS updates that have surfaced through the week, because really, the TGS might be one heck of a show stopper on its own (that’s why it’s getting its own QuickPeek Edition all to itself), but the days building up to the trade show saw a couple of astounding news as well. Almost every gaming platform has had some rather leaky business to deal with, and we’re not letting the taps run dry.
Grab your pirate accent and sing your favorite shanty; there are more reasons to celebrate than just Talk Like a Pirate Day! Yaaarrr!
Click the Full Article link below for to read this week’s Issue!
*Article originally posted Sep 21, 2007 at 02:28PM
(Editor’s Note: We’re cooking up something specially hot for you guys with our weekly QuickJump QuickPeek! Some of you may have already noticed that this current issue – the 13th issue, no less! – has rolled out early! Why? It’s because we’re gearing up for a QuickJump QuickPeek TGS 2007 Special Edition once the festivities are done! So while we wait for that, we’re giving you this Early Edition that focuses on other news that have cropped up during the week!)
It’s Tokyo Game Show week! And even though it’s the 13th issue of QuickJump QuickPeek, it’s anything but riddled with bad luck! This “Early Edition” will be focusing on the non-TGS updates that have surfaced through the week, because really, the TGS might be one heck of a show stopper on its own (that’s why it’s getting its own QuickPeek Edition all to itself), but the days building up to the trade show saw a couple of astounding news as well. Almost every gaming platform has had some rather leaky business to deal with, and we’re not letting the taps run dry.
Grab your pirate accent and sing your favorite shanty; there are more reasons to celebrate than just Talk Like a Pirate Day! Yaaarrr!
PSP: Kevin Bacon likes his homebrew
The PSP community is definitely populated by a lot of people. However, in the PSP scene there are a couple of notable icons that impose lasting impressions on the entire community. They’re like your Dalai Llamas, George Bushes, Dr. Phils, Briteny Spears (or Chris Crockers, at that), and Kevin Bacons. This week in the PSP scene, we get a glimpse of the movers and shakers of our community.
Some big new developments in the homebrew scene have cropped up in the form of a blog from one TehSkeen. He’s been blogging about the nitty gritty of the whole ordeal behind the leakage of Dark AleX’s OE Firmware source code. Yes, we know it’s old news, but this seems to captivate those wanting a dose of homebrew soap operas. How did that leak really happen?
The leakage has made a lot of people to believe that it’s allowed Sony to grab hold of DAX’s OE power brew and use it to bolster every single official system firmware release they roll out for the PSP. Looks like Open Edition has gotten all too open. See, if Sony’s gotten hold of the source code, they could easily use it to improve security measures with every firmware update, thus allowing them to effectively combat homebrew. Their key to victory would be nothing less than DAX’s OE source code itself.
Link: The Six Degrees of Dark AleX: when things get leaky
Almost as if it were a response to this ongoing drama, Team M33 released their own statement on custom firmware development and a clue on when they would be releasing their next CFW. For those waiting for the newest custom firmware will have to wait a little longer, that’s for sure. The delay is apparently due to the OE leak, which gave everyone – including Sony – the chance to look at how the OE firmwares worked. According to M33:
Sony saw this and made some interesting changes in some modules (mainly loadcore), plus the change of some nids that are used to the development of M33 Custom Firmware.
Ok, so maybe it was a direct response to the DAX issue. Fortunately, M33 isn’t going to be fazed by the whole issue and they won’t be pulling the plug on their homebrew CFW. It’s coming out soon enough, we all just have to sit tight and wait.
Link: Team M33 releases statement on custom firmware development, next cfw release
On a lighter note, the father of PSP’s N64 emulator Daedalus is back with an update. Ahh, fresh air! It’s been a while since we last heard from StrmnNrmn – he’s finally gotten his broadband Internet connection set up in his new pad, so we can expect a couple of regular updates from here on out.
What’s on his mind? The imminent release of Daedalus R13! StrmnNrmn’s recent update has him talking of savestates. You may already be familiar with savestates from emulators on your PC, which allow you to save the exact state the emulation is in at the precise moment. Aside from skipping everything from the title introductions and even the load save screen (for games with one), it would even help StrmnNrmn in quickly getting to states in the emulation for testing and debugging, for instance.
Right now though, StrmnNrmn has a little bit of work left to clean up but he’s going to keep savestates as a new feature for Daedalus R13. To give you guys a ballpark figure – ballpark date, rather – StrmnNrmn plans to release R13 sometime between September 29 and the first week of October.
Link: Daedalus R13 update: Release date, progress on savestate feature
Now have you guys ever wondered what made the PSP Slim & Lite… slimmer and lighter? Nikkei Electronics was able to dissect the matter (literally) and investigated some differences between the hardware in the PSP-1000 and PSP-2000. Here’s the lowdown of their assessments of the PSP Slim:
- it was easier to disassemble
- its LCD module was not fixed by a metal plate
- didn’t have the metal chassis of the PSP-1000
The metal plates are the major reasons why the Slim weighs less than its fatter brother, but there’s also another revision that made the Slim lighter. See, the old PSP has two layers of molding the protects the portable console, with a transparent resin layer to protect the LCD. On the other hand, the PSP Slim only has a single layer monochromatic molding, with a separate resin plate embedded at the top. You can check out more details via the link below.
Link: What made the PSP-2000 lighter
Busy, busy week we’ve had in the PSP scene. And that’s without the TGS updates! What’s in store for the PSP in our QuickJump QuickPeek Special Edition? Well, there’s a whole slew of Square Enix news, so you better keep your eyes peeled for that one!
– QJ.net’s PSP Team
PlayStation 3: Speeding up the console war, fast-forwarding to 10 decades later
The PS3 is one power house enough to shake the very foundations of the way we see home entertaiment. And yes, we echo what the Sony big-wigs keep on harping about: it’s not just a games console after all. Not only does it play Blu-ray, but it also saves lives too.
The PlayStation 3 is helping Stanford University’s project with Folding@Home – they’ve got their medical research to power, and have you been doing your fair share? In case you haven’t joined in on the fun, it might benefit you to know that F@H has finally hit petaflop level!
A petaflop is the capability of a computer to do a quadrillion point operations per second. In short, it processes input very fast (understatement). For F@H to have reached that level has allowed the research process about different diseases to speed up by a decade. That’s one heck of an achievement for those who have been contributing to the cause! Be proud of it! And while you’re at it, join the QJ.Net F@H team!
Link: Folding@Home hits the Petaflop milestone thanks to PS3
Join: QJ.net Folding@Home Team: #52781
Speaking of speeding up, the PS3 is also catching up with everyone else on the console wars, and analysts recently studied some trends enough for them to make a forecast of PS3 eventually winning by the year 2009. According to DFC Intelligence
- the Wii could be dominating until the end of 2008
- the 360 will fall in a distant third by 2009
- and the PS3 will hit overdrive on 2009
The DFC has other expectations of the gaming industry as a whole, including a projected US$ 47 billion in total revenue for the industry. If you’re pretty good with math, there’s more analysis via the link below.
Link: Analysts: Xbox 360 to fall in “distant third,” PS3 to win console war by 2009
So yes, everyone does admit that “the PS3 is more than just a games console.” And you best believe it. For the EISA at least, they think highly of the PS3 despite its ability to play games. Remember when they awarded the PS3 as the Best Home Entertainment Gadget of the Year? We’ve got an update to that.
The European Imaging and Sound Association has confirmed the reason why the PS3 bagged the award: it’s because of Blu-ray. The EISA committee, composed of 50 editors of electronics magazine spanning 20 European countries, awarded the PS3 despite its being a games console as well. Not to say that that’s bad. If you’d recall, SCEE prez David Reeves himself was quoted to have said that they’ve very honored for being able to “receive [an award] for a product that is usually thought of as simply a games machine.”
Link: PS3 won EISA award because of [drum roll…] Blu-ray
Folks trying to keep up-to-date with their content from the PlayStation Store, this week’s DLC has just kicked in the other day. For one, LocoRoco Cocoreccho (the game that acts like a screensaver – or is it vice-versa?) is now available for all territories. Other online content include demos for the following titles:
- Skate
- NBA 08
- Sega Rally Revo
- Stuntman: Ignition
Link: LocoRoco Cocoreccho, new game demos on US PSN
Link: PSN Europe Store Update: MediEvil, LocoRoco Cocoreccho, Syphon Filter
Sony’s presence in the TGS was felt with the size and tremor of a hippo doing pirouettes over a sheet of tissue paper. Undeniably, they were hard to miss! Keep checking back for the TGS edition of QuickPeek soon!
– QJ.net’s PS3 Team
Xbox 360: Busy taking a leak…
It’s been a long time coming, and we’re finally at the eve of Halo 3‘s release. Yes, boys, this. is. IT! Some of you probably think that it’s the best time to be an Xbox 360 console owner. And why shouldn’t it be? There’s been lots of leakage of or relating to Halo 3 during the week and it has done nothing to subside our burning desires to get the game.
First off, the ending of Halo 3 was leaked. Massive spoilers on that one. If you’re curious, you can go online and search for it yourself, but of course, be mindful of where you click just in case you accidentally stumble onto anything. For what it’s worth though, the video has been taken down, but there seem to be a couple of others cropping up every now and then.
It’s interesting to note though that recent rumors actually say that the video that was posted on YouTube was actually fake. Ok not fake per se, but apparently, there was more to it. That’s what Cesar over at TeamXbox said. His statement allows us to easily assume that a different ending will be unlocked if you played the game on either Heroic or Legendary mode.
Link: Watch at your own risk: Halo 3 ending leaked
Link: Rumor: Leaked Halo 3 ending fake?
Not only was the Halo 3 “ending” leaked, but the game itself was accidentally released in UK a week before it should have been made available. Argos took most of the brunt when they broke the street date (in UK, it’s on the 26th). What happened was that a couple of customers who had pre-ordered the game just walked into the store with their online reservation/ticket number and purchased the game right over the counter.
Argos has indeed already realized their mistake and is now taking measures to prevent it from happening again until the 26th. Meanwhile, Microsoft is giving the retailer a reprieve, stating that these mistakes happen. Microsoft UK regional director Neil Thompson recognizes the mistake as something honest and was not malicious to begin with.
Link: Halo 3 street date broken in UK
Link: Microsoft gives Argos reprieve for early Halo 3 release
Also another Halo 3 leak would be the game rip itself. While it was bad enough for the game to be leaked via retail mishap, this is even worse and something all of us would frown upon: an illegal file deliberately uploaded online for circulation.
The group of hackers that ripped the game supposedly got their original copy from one “Mickey Mouse” and was eventually patched to avoid detection from the big MS.
Link: Halo 3 leaked on torrent sites by hacker “Paradogs”
Microsoft, like Nintendo, isn’t making much of a stand in the ongoing TGS, however, some third party titles for the 360 have been already been showcased. We’ll bring you the scoop in our QuickPeek Special Edition!
– QJ.net’s 360 Team
Nintendo Wii: Unanswered questions finally get official confirmation!
For a handful of weeks now, we’ve been bombarded by Super Smash Bros. Brawl updates care of the DOJO. Some might actually think that everyone’s getting desensitized by all the news, but it’s pretty rare that something big would eventually crop up (just like the confirmation of that we can use pretty much any controller for the game).
One of the biggest news this week for the Mario Wii party is that Super Smash Bros. Brawl is finally confirmed to support online play via the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. Sweet! It’s long been talked about and was actually assumed to be incorporated. What everyone was just waiting for was an official statement.
SSBB will have two online modes: With Friends and With Anyone. With Friends allows Wii Friends who have registered one another’s names to play together. With Anyone connects you to the greater world of Nintendo’s network (don’t worry, your personal info won’t be leaked out).
The DOJO also confirmed that there are more features which would make use of Wi-Fi, but they say they’ll be revealing them gradually from here on out.
Link: Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s With Friends, With Anyone WiFi mode
On a related note, one of the other “everyone-assumed-it-was-bound-to-happen” unconfirmed issues was if Star War: The Force Unleashed would head to the Wii. Face it. Almost every other current-gen platform has it: PS3, 360, PSP, PS2, DS. So why not allow it to go waggling off to the Wii too?
Fortunately, the same guys from down under who are developing the game for the PSP and PS2 versions are also unleashing the Force for the Wii. Krome Studios is promising full Wiimote and Nunchuck support. Wiimote for the lightsaber, Nunchuk for the Force. Exclusive to the Wii edition would be a duel mode where players can pit their powers against each other.
It is yet to be revealed whether or not the game will make use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi feature or if lightsaber-wielding with the Wiimote will be 1:1 motion-sensing.
Link: Wii gets Star Wars: The Force Unleashed pimped with Wiimote + Nunchuk controls
Meanwhile, Nintendo wants everyone to know that they confirm the recent bug found in PAL copies of Super Paper Mario and are willing to replace the game discs for free. The glitch involved a game freeze during Chapter 2-2 in Merlee’s Mansion. Though a simple re-configuration of the language settings could solve your problems, Nintendo is giving everyone another work-around for the problem:
Before the [spiked] ceiling reaches [Mario], flip into 3D and jump on it to find a key. If you pick up the key, you won’t run into any problems. Use it to open the locked door to Mimi’s right. However, if you talk to Mimi without picking up the key, the game will freeze.
Details about the replacement program for the game discs are yet to be announced, but at least we’ve now got a couple of temporary solutions for the glitch.
Link: Nintendo Europe confirms Super Paper Mario glitch, will replace game discs for free
According to a Nintendo-Scene forum user, an exploit for homebrew games could actually be built on Wii game saves. Save game files for the Wii use a certain type of cryptography (elliptic curve, or “sect233r1”) that could be the first step for homebrew games via a soft-mod method.
Our post tackles some technical jargon, and this being a QuickPeek, we’re leaving out all of the nitty-gritty details for the link below. But the bottom line is save game files produced in one Wii console can be read by any other Wii unit. That could be the key here, and once everything finally falls into place, it’s going to be imperative for eventual homebrew games in the future.
Link: Savegame files key for Wii homebrew games?
And what did the TGS fairy leave under the Ninteno Wii’s pillow? Though Nintendo is absent in the trade show (strange, huh?), there’s also a couple of third party studios announcing different things left and right. We’ll keep you updated once the Special Edition of QuickJump QuickPeek finally goes live!
– QJ.net’s Wii Team
General Gaming: Rest in peace, Colin McRae
Some somber news for gamers and racing enthusiasts out there this week. And though you might not have known him or the series of video games that he and Codemasters has established, you still can’t deny the fact that this affects us all – that we are all but humans, and eventually must shuffle off this mortal coil.
We regret to report that Colin McRae was killed in a helicopter crash with his five year old son and two others. According to the police, the helicopter was supposedly piloted by McRae himself. The crash happened near the former rally racer’s home in Jerviswood, Lanarkshire. The bodies were difficult to identify due to heavy burns, but authorities were quite certain that McRae was onboard.
In light of this, Codemasters has released a statement concerning the loss of one of their most prominent figures.
For over ten years, Colin was part of the Codemasters family and it was a privilege to have a man recognized as a true legend on the team. He always took a keen interest in the game experience, wanting to make sure it was without equal in its portrayal of the sport. His contribution was inspirational and brought his technical expertise and passion for rally driving to each and every McRae game. Through the popularity of those games, he brought a whole new audience to the sport itself.
Let us now have a moment of reflective silence for the late racer…
Link: RIP: Colin McRae dies in helicopter crash
Link: Codemasters speaks about Colin McRae’s death
Honorable Mention: HIV bygones
From outer space to ancient fossils uncovered, this week’s coverage of Sci-Tech news has seen many new developments. Barring the usual format wars between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, it seems as if a different kind of war is just about to be won!
Enzymes are a great thing. They’re proteins that trigger chemical reactions in our body. And small as they are, they can achieve great things, one of the latest is being able to destroy HIV. Yep, Dr Indrani Sarkar and his team have recently developed an enzyme that, under certain laboratory conditions, could eliminate the virus by removing it from the human genome within three months. Sarkar explains:
In laymans terms, it’s an engineered enzyme which recognises sequences in the HIV genome that is duplicated, integrated virus and by the process of recombination, it cuts out the virus from the genome.
The enzyme is called “Tre” and has been based on a research done for years now. The results have definitely proven to be promising, but Sarkar says that this experimental treatment won’t be available in clinics anytime soon. We could actually wait for as long as 20 years before it becomes common practice everywhere, and for that we’re definitely crossing our fingers, hoping that maybe it would arrive sooner. May the war against HIV end…
Link: Researcher develops HIV-killing enzyme
Comment of the Week: Academic dissertations and gray areas
After anonymous and unregistered commenters were banned, it’s getting pretty tough to choose the comment of the week. Why? It’s because most everyone is spouting very intelligent and valid arguments when they comment! We’ve seen and read long comments written like academic dissertations – and posted in articles with relevancy too. As logicbomb.de put it rather humorously:
And what’s an example of one of those intelligent responses from our commenters? Here’s one from shabghai360, on a subject we all loathe to the depths of our existence: piracy (yaaarrrr!). ROMs, ISOs, NFOs, whatever. It’s an iffy subject indeed but here’s our commenter’s take on the gray area, taken from our post on Halo 3 getting leaked online:
*Article originally posted Sep 21, 2007 at 02:28PM
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