QuickJump QuickPeek 16: Of Sony’s seven dwarves, Sonic rushing to the Smash arena, and wanting world peace

October 14, 2007

QuickJump QuickPeek 16 - Image 1

(Editor’s Note: QuickJump QuickPeek just turned 16. Ah, sweet sixteen. Sixteen is definitely a lovely number. For those inclined to all things mathematical, four is the square root of 16. And that’s just what we’re going to try to get to the bottom of right here. The root of all things gaming. For this week at least. Here again is QuickJump’s weekly article dedicated to the un-updated. A week’s worth of great news, in bite-sized form!)

So here we are in QuickPeek 16. Last week’s edition was pretty jam-packed with hot news items, confirmations, and releases, and there’s also been a couple of heated debates between icons in the industry. This week will have you guys feeling good about the little big tiny giants that you have sitting in your living rooms – or handhelds snuggling comfortably in their respective pouches or carrying cases.

This isn’t about one platform besting another. It’s about shaking hands and welcoming people with open arms. As beauty pageant contestants always put it: World Peace! Because if Mario, Solid Snake, and Sonic can do it, then so can we. Err, that is barring the fact that Mario, Snake, and Sonic are in a Brawling game, but the essential thing remains: they’re together.

Click the Full Article link below to check out this week’s full issue!

QuickJump QuickPeek 16 originally posted October 13, 2007 at 02:00 PM.

QuickJump QuickPeek 16 - Image 1

PSP: Sony’s seven dwarves

It was pretty tough to top last week’s rush of homebrew from none other than Dark AleX himself. But that’s not to say we didn’t see anything remarkable this week. From improving sales figures in Japan to some Freeesh homebrew from the team who did No Gravity.

Let’s get some juicy stuff out of the way first: Sony’s handheld is getting a handful of new PSP titles and what’s interesting about the coming releases is that they will be downloadable from the PlayStation Store. If it turns out to be true, that is. Get those fingers crossed. According to a report from GamesIndustry, Sony is working on at least seven new downloadable games.

These seven consist of three action games, two music-based games, one racing title, and one shooter. Meanwhile, Sony is also in the process of getting third-party publishers to develop downloadable titles for the PSP. There are also 13 PSOne games for the PSP being readied for release on the PSN next year.

While those seven titles are worth keeping an eye out for, could it also be possible that one of the 13 PSOne titles being readied for next year is FFVII? Considering that Crisis Core might get a release early next year, then an FFVII couldn’t come at a better time!

Link: Sony working on seven downloadable PSP titles

After the PSP Slim ws released in Japan, we’ve seen but nothing soaring sales week after week. Now, the numbers are in for the whole of September, and it’s not surprising that the PSP is right on top of everything else.

After 19 months, it’s back on the throne of Japan hardware sales. Numbers show 448,000 Slims blasted off the shelves, adding up to a record-setting total of 529,000 PSP units sold for the month. Meanwhile, Nintendo’s handheld still sold 391,752 even with the Slim craze, but the Wii sold considerably less at 168,220.

For those who remember, the last time Sony was on top was back in February 2006 when the Nintendo DS had a shortage in supply.

Link: PSP back on top of Japan’s sales charts after 19 months

Both Rockstar Games and the BBFC seem to be having a hard time dealing with each other. This week, we’ve seen update after update on the ongoing appeal to get Manhunt 2 published (in the UK). See, the BBFC rejected the revisions that Rockstar has made to the game. And considering all the effort that Rockstar must have put in “watering down” the violence in Manhunt 2, you best believe that they don’t want it to go unpublished in the UK.

First, BBFC announced the rejection to the revisions. Just a few hours after, Rockstar responded to this rejection, calling it something “unacceptable” and that it “represents a setback for video games.” This statement from Rockstar was then responded to by the BBFC, saying that they aren’t being stricter to Manhunt 2 (and, in general, video games) than they are to any other medium.

Link: Manhunt 2 revisions rejected by BBFC
Link: Rockstar calls Manhunt 2 BBFC Ban “unacceptable”
Link: BBFC responds to Rockstar’s statement on Manhunt 2 ban

Two good homebrew projects also surfaced this week for the community. The first is a homebrew game from none other than the creators of No Gravity. It’s a game that plays like fl0w, but of course with its own twist. The name of the game is Freeesh and is about evolution and the origins of life. At the beginning of the game, players are given a small molecule. You must allow this molecule to grow by feeding it other molecules and by protecting it from bigger molecules that may eat it in turn.

Thought it’s just a simple prx plugin, it’s already been downloaded about 1,500 times. How’s that for popular? What makes this little homebrew app popular is its usefulness: Anti Update for the PSP Slim & Lite allows you to hide the UMD update icon. Which is cool for those guys who have little sisters or cousins who always like pressing buttons randomly – thereby accidentally causing your PSP to update its own firmware. Definite ouchie.

You read up more and download the two homebrew via the links below. Make sure you give you shoutouts to the devs!

Link: Freeesh from No Gravity creator RealTechVR
Link: Anti Update for the PSP Slim – a plugin to hide that UMD update icon

See you guys next week! We’re still crossing our fingers for the release of Daedalus R13. Sadly, it hadn’t shown itself this week. We’re hoping all things are running fine over at StrmnNrmn’s little Mac lab. For now, keep them homebrew coming guys! From plugins to launchers… Everyone’s welcome!

– QJ.NET’s PSP Team

PlayStation 3: Working from the periphery and setting the stage for PlayStation Home

We’ve got some keen updates this week on some of the PS3’s peripherals. And of course a bit of a side order of one highly anticipated title: Metal Gear Solid 4. We’re not sure if it was only a slip of the tongue, but it looks like Europe’s finally gotten a rough estimate of when they can get the game.

According to SCEE vice president James Armstrong, European PlayStation 3 owners could very well be getting their hands on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots before Easter comes. How so? The Sony VP mentioned that they and Konami are planning to release a new PS3 bundle that includes a copy of MGS4 and a DualShock 3 controller during that time – before Easter.

How about the US? Will we be getting the same bundle? Will we be getting the same release date for MGS4? We’ll let you in on something good though. While Sony hasn’t said anything solid yet regarding the compatibility of Japan’s DualShock 3 controllers with North American game releases, Insomniac Games has reportedly stated that Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction will indeed support the new controllers from Japan.

Link: MGS4, DualShock 3 bundle planned for Easter release in Europe
Link: Insomniac: Japan’s DualShock 3 will work with North America’s Ratchet & Clank Future

More details about the PlayStation Eye also surfaced. Check this: it’s already coming out on October 23, with a price tag of US$ 40. This little peeper is going to work with titles such as Eye of Judgment among others. Also on October 23, Sony will also be offering the EyeCreate software which lets you edit, save, and share video clips, audio files, and images – and it’s all goin gto be for free as a downloadable program via the PlayStation Store.

What everyone’s asking though is what’s the diff between the PSE (ParaSiteEve?) and the EyeToy. Well, we’ll have to leave that for the article linked below. We give you the low down on framerates, lighting conditions, and all the other features, functions, and capabilities of this gadget.

Link: More PlayStation Eye details revealed, to retail for US$ 39.99 on October 23
Link: Sony reveals EyeCreate, free movie maker for PlayStation Eye

We also got whiff of some interesting news: the PlayStation Network has revised its TOS (Terms of Service). The new User Agreement is to be effective by October 30, which also welcomes in PSN v2.0.

For those wondering what the changes in the User Agreement are, they mostly pertain to the uploading and downloading of content online. Here’s a short excerpt of one of the many changes:

In addition, you will have the option to post, stream or transmit pictures, photographs, game related materials, or other information through PSN to share with the PSN community (“User Material”), provided no rights of others are violated.

We’ve tried to rack our brains on what triggered the sudden change. And as of writing, there’s one thing on our minds: PlayStation Home. Think about it for a second: if you take a look at the changes they’ve made, most of them are centered around community features. PlayStation Home goes live come Spring of next year, so maybe Sony is already setting the stage for its eventual release. This update couldn’t come at a better time too since PS Home hits public beta testing later this year. Coincidence much?

Link: PlayStation Network v2.0 to implement policy changes

In gaming-related news, details have been revealed for upcoming L.A. Noire. The game looks like development’s coming along smoothly. The story is to be set in 1947 (in L.A., of course) and a US marine will be playing a big role in it – it wasn’t indicated if this US marine is actually the character you’d be controlling.

What’s catching a lot of readers’ attentions though is the fact that the main reason why the game isn’t going to be released on the XBox 360 seems to be issues with disk space.

Link: Disk space main reason why L.A. Noire goes to the PS3?

PlayStation Home, PlayStation Eye… There’s lots of things to look forward to. We’re going to bring you more updates next week, you can be sure of that. For now though, we’ve got to do the “sitting, waiting, wishing” bit as announcements for the holidays start rolling in.

– QJ.NET’s PlayStation 3 Team

Xbox 360: Cracking the code, beating down the ranks

Unsurprisingly, it’s yet another week splattered with Halo 3-related updates. But to balance things out, other recent developments have also caused the 360 flag to flutter crazily on the winds of change.

Following last week’s Easter eggs found in Halo 3, more and more secrets are being uncovered. Like what we managed to sniff out this week: Halo 3‘s debug mode! How do you unlock it? All you need are a few button presses, actually. Here they are:

Coordinates Display = Lstick Rstick LB RB Dpad down/right
Pan Cam = Lstick Rstick LB RB Dpad up/left

Some of you might be asking what the debug mode offers. Firstly, it allows you to view your movies and lets you without any visible weapon at hand. There’s nothing really groundbreaking with that, but it can drive more creative people to create Halo 3 machinima if they’ve got the patience for it.

Link: Halo 3 debug mode found

Now for those keeping tabs on Halo 3‘s success (in the UK, to be specific), do know that it was just overthroned from the top spot by FIFA 08 after staying there for just a week. Halo 3 is now on the top two spot in Chart Track UK for the week ending October 6, but who ever said that getting second place was bad?

There are probably a lot of factors that dictate the fluctuation of ranks in a chart. For one, it seems that the Europeans do love their football. And secondly, given Halo 3‘s stellar success during its first week out, it could be that anyone or everyone that would have gotten the game already did.

Link: After a week, Halo 3 dethroned by FIFA 08 in Chart Track UK

Modders, listen up! As some might have heard from last month, it’s possible to run you XBox 360 using a consumer SATA DVD drive. Team mofreaks just made waves again the other day restating this revelation, now with a video to prove it!

While last month’s claim involved a Hitachi drive, this week’s “mod” used a Philips DVD drive running on retail Xbox 360 firmware. Take note that this feat requires no actual modification to the game console… which means, you can log in to Xbox Live. Check out the vid yourself via the link below.

Link: It works: SATA optical drive on Xbox 360

Taking a number from the rumor mill, it seems to be that Microsoft has its sights set on having a virtual world for players to walk around in and socially interact with other players. Much like Sony’s PlayStation Home. This all comes from the general manager of strategy in Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, Daniel Schiappa, who was sighted in a recent “virtual worlds” conference in San Jose, California. He told attendees that, by next year, they’ll know exactly why he was attending the event itself.

How that for a teaser? Even with Schiappa did confirm that the company itself is considering the jump into the virtual worlds business, he also expressed concern about how much Microsoft would have to play catch up, seeing as games such as Second Life and World of Warcraft have already captured much of the target demographic.

Link: Microsoft to develop a PlayStation Home-like virtual world?

Microsoft doing new business ventures? Halo 3 sliding around the charts? How’s that for a dynamic week? By this time next week, who knows what’ll happen…

– QJ.NET’s Xbox 360 Team

Nintendo Wii: Speeding into the Smash arena

We’re not going to beat around the bush for this. Cut the intro. It’s a good week to be a Nintendo fan. Or a Sega fan at that. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves now. This week’s Nintendo Wii updates are speeding in with blue spikes and red boots in… 3… 2… 1…

Nintendo’s biggest news this week – probably the biggest news this whole month, at that – is the revelation of Sonic joining Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It’s long been rumored about. And it’s been keeping people wishful thinking for ages. He’s been on everyone’s “Golden Line Up” of characters for Brawl. And now he’s here. Confirmed.

He’s got his own set of moves to bring to the Smash arena: from turning into a whirring blue speedball of death to conjuring those red springs littering Mobius into the battle stage.

Link: Nintendo adds Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, moves game’s release
Link: Super Smash Bros. Brawl update: Sonic’s super fast special moves

Good news as that might sound, there’s a bit of a set back for us Brawlers. Looks like Sonic’s inclusion in the game had to come at a price. Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which was originally scheduled to come out during the end of this year is now getting pushed back to be released next year.

Don’t worry. It’s not the end of the world. We still got Super Mario Galaxy! (Hmmm… Maybe they want to keep Galaxy and Smash far apart to get most out of the sales?) But whatever their reasons are, you better get out that red marker for your calendar. Super Smash Bros. Brawl comes out on February 10.

Link: Super Smash Bros. Brawl coming to U.S. on February 10

While Sonic and Mario are happily living together in their own patch of heaven (ooh, Brokeback moment), a big announcement has Capcom crossing oceans. The Monster Hunter series is quite the big hit in Japan as they were released on the PS2 and PSP, and now, it seems the latest sequel for the game will be heading onto Nintendo’s Wii console.

Later, more light has been shed on their decision to bring Monster Hunter 3 to Wii. Apparently, development costs for the Sony PlayStation 3 played a part in the company’s decision.

Link: Monster Hunter 3 heading to the Wii
Link: Capcom: Monster Hunter 3 heading to Wii due to PS3 development costs

Now just in case you’re not aware, you might want to fire up your Wii console and activate the System Update. Nintendo has just released Wii FW v3.1. Most changes seem to center around the Internet Channel.

USB keyboard compatibile
Links received on the Wii Message Board now open in Internet Channel
Send links to friends
Copy text from page in the Internet Channel and paste it into the Search field

The Everybody Votes Channel also got an update, but no one seems to know what specific changes have been made.

Link: Nintendo Wii gets updated to 3.1U/3.1E

Happy week, huh? More to come in seven days. And if you guys have been keeping tabs on the rumor mill… there’s that one bit of info about a Super Paper Mario movie…

– QJ.NET’s Nintendo Wii Team

General Gaming: Miss Teen USA wants world peace

Gamers from all sides of the world unite under common fundamental elements. Whether it’s the ongoing plight of video games getting banned for being to violent, or maybe something as simple as the ever-so-useful Konami code (all together now: up, up, down, down…). This week, we find more reason to hold hands together, whether under roof of a church or in silent prayer for an untimely death of young one.

The Halo 3 fever has gotten the attention of the New York Times. They reported of how churches actually do have a soft spot for games. In fact, some churches are using video games as an actual tool to recruit more youths. They’re taking a more modern approach at enticing kids to their community.

Church leaders have been renting out video games and inviting teenagers for “video game night” down at the church – and this is despite the fact that some churches hold some grudges against violent games. Although it has been going on for quite a while now, there’s been quite a boom in using this new method recently, especially with the release of Halo 3. The story of the gane is sometimes used even as a spring board for discussion about faith.

After all, considering that the game is called “halo”; it connotes something divine. Plus there’s the Covenant, which totally means a different thing for most of us right now.

Link: Master Chief the next apostle; Church uses video games to bring in kids

Also, our condolences go out to Andrei Smirnov’s family for their recent loss. Ten year old Andrei had committed suicide, jumping from their apartment on the 19th floor of a building. This was after his parents decided to ban him from playing video games on his PC for bad conduct and poor school performance, as reported to them by Andrei’s school teacher.

Link: Parents ban 10-year old from video games, ends in kid’s suicide

Science and Technology: Ultimate God Mode Cheat unlocked

Life is indeed a complex thing. And the very basic unit of life – in the organic sense, of course – is complex in itself. So imagine how much fun the geekoids here at QJ.NET had upon hearing that a DNA researcher has created a synthetic chromosome from lab chemicals.

See, it’s not mere chromosome modification either. Esentially, what Craig Venter and his team did was breakdown the components of a bacterium specimen and studied it. They then reconstructed the bare essential components needed in supporting life and transplanted this into a living bacterial cell, which it will take over and change, creating a new species.

Take note: the cell isn’t artificial per se, but its DNA is. It sounds like one of those mad scientist movies, but something like this was bound to happen someday. After cloning a sheep, this is just the next step. More details are said to be published next week, so you better keep an eye out for that!

Link: Playing artificial god: artificial life created in laboratory

Comment of the Week: A gamer’s creed on Assassin’s Creed

Before we introduce you guys to our Comments (yeah, it’s actually the whole thread this time) of the Week, you have to take it into context. This thread was started by Koolaidsred1 on the topic of Patrice Desilets talking about the development issues they encountered on creating Assassin’s Creed for the 360 and PS3.

Desilets said that developing on both platforms had their own challenges. But one of the major ones they’re concerned with right now is the amount of disk space that they could tap into when they publish the game. This was taken up by Koolaidsred1 and pushed the conversation to the side of RAM and processing power. Thinker and KnowLedge put in their own views as well, which made the whole thread very informative and some of their points are very valid.

The above three comments are merely the start of it all. Along the way Shatterdome makes a cameo too. Check out the link below to see where their conversation led them.

Link: Assassin’s Creed: Patrice Desilets talks dev issues for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

QuickJump QuickPeek 16 originally posted October 13, 2007 at 02:00 PM.

QuickJump QuickPeek 16: Of Sony’s seven dwarves, Sonic rushing to the Smash arena, and wanting world peace

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