QuickJump QuickPeek 33: Of PSP’s super bowl of downloads, super hacked PS3s, and super rewards for male gamers

QuickJump QuickPeek 33 - Image 1(Editor’s Note: Super Tuesday, Super Bowl, super QuickPeek 33!)

The gaming industry had its own Super Tuesday/Bowl and the best part about it is that it lasted for a full week! Valentine’s is just around the corner, and we’re already prepping up another QuickPeek Special Edition for all of you (sans the mushy stuff, of course). But before that, we’ve got more news from all corners of the gaming globe as we give you guys one huge bundle of updates in issue 33!

QuickJump QuickPeek 33: PSP, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii news - Image 1

(Editor’s Note: Super Tuesday spilled over to pretty much the whole week, actually. Yeah, we’re all feeling super – thanks for asking! And whether or not your were on super politics mode or watching the Super Bowl – great game, ya? – the gaming industry was feeling uber duper super all in itself.)

Super Tuesday or Super Bowl? Whichever (and whoever) you vote for, it’s all good in the gaming industry. Because still, Valentine’s season is eating up everyone in a musky embrace.

Oh and guess what? We here at QJ.NET are going to be giving all of you a present come Valentine’s day! No, no, no. Not some mushy greeting card or anything – much to some of your dismay perhaps? But really, you better watch out for next week’s QuickJump QuickPeek Special Edition. You surely wouldn’t want to miss it. Consider it our show of thanks to all of you readers!

Now, as for this week, it’s still more and more news from all corners of the gaming globe. The PSP scene’s gotten eerily quiet after so so many releases from Dark AleX previously, but we’re still getting quite a noisy bunch of downloadable homebrew to keep all of you guys happy in the meantime.

The PS3 scene has been getting a number of haxxorz slowly trying to break into the system. More chances for ‘brew! Sweet! And the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii have as much beef to pile onto your already-full platter, so be ready to stuff yourself silly.

Time to wear those tights – and don’t forget to don your underwear on the outside! We’re in for something super! And that’s with or without the Slam Dunks by Dante in Devil May Cry 4!


QuickJump QuickPeek 33: PSP - PlayStation 3 - Image 1


PSP: A super bowl of downloads

Yeah, DAX might be all hushy-hushy right now. But that doesn’t mean we can’ have fun. We’ve got a couple of interesting homebrew that came out this week (we’ll be notching them down here first in just a sec), but before that, some industry news, if you please…

Waiting for that PlayStation Store PC to go live was worth it. We know some of you have already been able to download quite a number of content from there, but you better start making room for what’s coming in next month: fl0w for the PSP has been confirmed with a March release in the online PS Store.

Still no details about how much it might cost, or if they will release it on retail shelves as well. But just so we have a gauge, the PS3 version that’s available on the PlayStation Network since February of last year (whoa! it’s been that long already?) costs around 8 bucks.

Link: fl0w confirmed for PlayStation Portable, coming out this March

Meanwhile, Capcom‘s got something new up its sleeve for Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G. They’ll be incorporating this new feature called Media Install – something that’s related to DMC4 for the PS3 as you’ll soon find out. This additional options allows you to dump, so to speak, some data onto your memory stick so that the game could load faster. Pretty sweet, especially if you’ve got ample room to spare. (Time to buy some large-capacity storage!)

Link: Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G: installation option cuts load times

Now, on to some homebrew goodness. Ahman may have already made a graceful exit last week with the release of the final public version of iR Shell, however, he snuck back in right before the close of last week to release a patch for iR Shell v3.9.

Under some circumstances, the final release really wouldn’t fully operate on CFW 3.90 M33. This patch allows you to somewhat circumvent that – a work around, if you will – to get it running on 3.90 M33. There are caveats however, so you better read up on it first.

Link: iR Shell patch enables iR Shell v3.9 for 3.90 M33

Though iR Shell has its many uses (ha, understatement right there!), you guys may opt for Media Maestro Mini. It’s not really homebrew in the strictest sense. But Harmony Studios, the guys who created this app, released the free downloadable app this week – it basically turns your device (PSP, iPhone, etc.) into a wireless remote control for iTunes or Windows Media Player.

It allows your to browse through your music, check out the album artwork , look at the lyrics of the song… all from your PSP! For those who have been with us since way back in 2006 will recall that a homebrew version of this (with its own limitations too, of course) is MyTunesRSS.

Link: Media Maestro Mini: PSP as remote control for iTunes, Windows Media Player

Now for some fun! We got a homebrew game this week that you might want to check out, if you haven’t yet. The Counter Strike homebrew spin off project got an upgrade this week, bringing with it support for infrastructure multiplayer mode as well as other additional features.

Link: CSPSP v1.5: infrastructure multiplayer, new camera system

Oh if only we could tell you right now what the QuickPeek Special Edition is all about… We’re definitely psyched up for it. Damn, that’s gonna be one hot number. Hot enough to burn through your pockets, surely.

– QJ.NET’s PSPUpdates Team


PlayStation 3: Super hacking, super slam dunking, and super games for the future

Before we get on with the all hacking news (and trust us, there’s a lot of it), we take a look first on what’s been going on over at the commercial side of the Cell Processor’s baby. And yes, trust us, there’s also quite a lot of the consumer-side updates to be had. Shall we?

First up, let’s go slam dunking with Dante. Picked up your copy of Devil May Cry 4 yet? Chances are, you’ve gone through the 20-minute installation time before you finally got to play it. Well, that 20 minutes, mind you, are worth 5GBs being slam dunking into your PS3’s hard disk.

What’s 20 minutes anyways? We’re sure you wouldn’t mind. After all, all that installation is supposed to help with the loading times. Also, you get treated to an “In Devil May Cry so far…” mini recap for those wishing to catch up with what they’ve either missed or forgotten about in the series.

Link: PS3 Devil May Cry 4 has 20 minute install time
Link: Capcom explains the benefits of 20-minute DMC4 installation time

Resistance 2 is looking and sounding better and better every time we hear about it. This week, aside from learning of more details about the 8-man co-op and 60-player multiplayer mode, it looks like the Fall 2008 release is as concrete a date as we could imagine. Turn out that all the single-player maps are done, as are big chunks of the co-op campaign. Cross your fingers for a delay-free wait!

Link: Resistance 2: Fall 2008 release looking good, more details

Now if you guys are just too excited for PlayStation Home, a couple of screenshots have surfaced in the official website. Man, they’re looking pretty indeed. The architecture of the buildings captured in the screens look stunning indeed.

Link: PlayStation Home screenshots from Japanese PS3 site

Speaking of Home, Folding@Home’s now clocking (and yes, still very much folding, at that) over one million PS3 users contributing to the workload. That’s like… a lot. Like, we’re talking about a 1 followed by six zeroes right there.

Link: SCEI: Over one million PS3 units now registered to Folding@Home

Now, time for all the hacking hoopla that dropped in this week. We’ve got .tiff exploits and heap overflows, and later on, ELF files were decrypted from a PS3 game disc. Soon enough, Team ICE released a tool that gives hoembrew devs the ability to run ELF files via the R:FoM (and MotorStorm) exploit from a couple weeks back.

Ok, hold up. If didn’t understand how all that could lead to homebrew, the point is basically this: all of it could eventually lead to a Hello World jailbreak. Though a video showing such Hello World hack running on the PS3 was published during the week, do note that it’s already been debunked.

Link: PS3 hacking ahoy, Overflow .tiff exploit discovered
Link: PlayStation 3: Game disc EBOOT.BIN decrypted
Link: Team ICE releases ELF2SELF: run ELF files on PS3

Blargh. We’re pretty out of breath here. And still, we suggest you guys to scroll down some more to the Sci-Tech section below. Can you say 45nm Cell Processor?

– QJ.NET’s PlayStation 3 Team


QuickJump QuickPeek 33: Xbox 360 - Nintendo Wii - Image 1


Xbox 360: Super content online

If you haven’t checked out the recently revamped Grand Theft Auto 4 website, you might want to do so. The Flash-powered webpage gives you a sneak peek into Liberty City and some media assets for the game. But… if you want something extra… Here’s something to look forward to, given that it will prove to be true.

Recent murmurs indicate that Microsoft will be offering free DLC if you pre-order GTA4 (the Xbox 360 version of course). Though this ongoing rumor was previously debunked by Rockstar themselves, people are still clinging on to the prospect of episodic content on the 360 version.

Link: Rockstar Games revamps Grand Theft Auto IV official website
Link: Microsoft to offer free DLC for every Grand Theft Auto 4 pre-order?

For the Halo fans, Bungie Studios revealed an interesting bit about their previously announced non-Halo title in the works. Though no specifics were given, what we can latch on to, however, is the promise of Brian Jarrard that the game will be “something totally different from Bungie.”

Equally so, even if they did decide to reveal actual details, Jarrard also mentioned that they just really couldn’t, saying that it’s just basically far too early to expound on. Right now, we go by the eventual hope that mroe will be revealed in the future. Like… GDC future? Which is in… one… two… nine more days!

Link: Bungie: next game to be “totally different”

Whoopdedoo! Ready them rifles, guys. More DLC is scheduled for Call of Duty 4! Infinity Ward confirmed the DLC to be available for both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, saying that, aside from additional maps, there will also be some “added gameplay variety.”

Link: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to have new downloadable maps

But that’s for the future. What we do have presently are a couple of demos in XBL. We get Conflict: Denied Ops and, for the Silver Members in PAL, Beautiful Katamari. As for Burnout Paradise, Electronic Arts is giving everyone a chance to make tyhe most out of the online multiplayer portion of the game, as they are now extending the deadline for its planned shutdown.

Link: Xbox Live gets Conflict: Denied Ops single player, co-op demo
Link: PAL Beautiful Katamari demo currently available for Silver members only
Link: Burnout Paradise: EA extends demo’s online multiplayer portion

Modding master Ben Heckendorn (Ben Heck for short) is back again with his drool-inducing console hardware mods. This time around, it’s an Xbox 360 Eltie laptop. As what the mod suggests, Heck basically managed to turn his 360 unit – with a lot of shuffling around of hardware components – into a laptop.

And it’s looking mighty sweet.

To top things off, it’s got a built-in Xbox Live Vision camera as well as a Halo 3 GUI-inspired theme flaunted by the outer shell. Gotta love those hexagons…

Link: Ben Heck mod project (with video): The Xbox 360 Elite laptop

More updates next week! Hope you guys love the Special Edition we’re preparing for all of you! And sorry, no spoilers!

– QJ.NET’s Xbox 360 Team


Nintendo Wii: Super… Smash Bros. Brawl?

You heard about the Japan-exclusive Everyone’s Nintendo Channel, right? Well, it looks like it’s going to be tagged with a full “Japan-exclusive-for-now” label if this proves true. A rumor has sprouted that the Wii Channel that offers trailers, interviews, and other Nintendo content (it also turns your Wii console into a DS demo downloading station, actually) is being readied for a release in North America. Hellsyeah.

Link: Rumor: Everyone’s Nintendo Channel to go live in North America soon

Aside from this, floating around the net is a patent from Nintendo showing off some designs for possible Wiimote peripherals. We’re talking bizarre setups with the Wii remote being plugged into all sorts of things: a skateboard, teddy bear… the works.

Will this eventually lead to some form of Head Tracking peripheral? Who knows. But for now, it’s only Wii Zapping, Wii Wheeling, and Wii Balance Boarding…

Link: Nintendo planning new Wiimote accessories?

On to something more concrete now: we finally get confirmation of Call of Duty 5 for the Wii! Snazzy news, we know. The last we saw of CoD on the Wii was the third installment – Modern Warfare was excluded from the console platform release lineup. This time around, the new installment will be heading to the Wii, as well as the PS2, DS, PS3, 360, and PC.

What we do have to note here is that the title is still temporary. No one really knows, actually, whether it really will be CoD 5, or maybe some sort of spin off from the franchise.

Link: Next Call of Duty game will have a Wii version

Ah. And then come the Super Smash Bros. Brawl updates. First things first: 700,000. That’s the number of sales the game got for its first four days in Japan. That’s definitely something. Will it hit a million when the week is out? We’ll probably see next week…

Link: SSBB sales hits 700,000; expects to hit million in second week out

More updates came in from the Dojo too, as expected. From more Assisst Trophies to Final Smashes. We also got a bulk load of more videos from the game. Oooh, including the arrival of a Fire Emblem hero.

Link: Super Smash Bros. Brawl update: Port Town Aero Dive stage
Link: Super Smash Bros. Brawl update: Final Destination stage
Link: Super Smash Bros. Brawl update: more Assist Trophies
Link: Clear some room: Details on Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s save space requirements
Link: Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Japanese gameplay videos galore
Link: Marth joins the Super Smash Bros. Brawl roster
Link: Super Smash Bros. Brawl updates: Zero Suit Samus Final Smash, new video

More updates next week! Just a few more weeks before Brawl finally gets released. Meanwhile, that Special Edition can keep you guys comfy in your seats. Who knows what that piece of QJ.NET history will bring. Awww, the sentimentality of it all. (Oops, did we just give you guys a clue? Nah, we don’t think so…)

– QJ.NET’s Nintendo Wii Team


Grand Theft Auto movie - Image 1


General Gaming: Showing off their wares

Nice! Snaps for more hardware sales data from Japan this week. Some of you guys might already be thinking, “yeah, yeah, lemme guess: DS still on top huh?” Well, look again! For the week of January 28 to February 3, the DS actually slipped down to third place. [jaw drop] Meanwhile, the Wii claims tops spot while the PSP sits comfortably on second.

Link: Japan hardware sales: Nintendo DS declines to third place

We know, we know. FF7-remake rumors and whispers are getting too told, too quick – if it hasn’t already grown old since 2001. But face it, there will always be this discussion going all around. As long as one person thinks about it and wishes so much that it would come true, then talks of it won’t simply die.

Now. We hear about Crisis Core director Hajime Tabata, who basically addressed more and more questions about a remake for FF7. Tabata explicitly stated that there would be greater possibility of a remake if they managed to form the original team who did Final Fantasy 7.

Of course, two names that will ring a bell would be Tetsuya Nomura (head designer) and Yoshinori Kitase (game director), and if their schedules do permit them to sit down, talk, and start the whole remaking process…

Link: Final Fantasy VII remake depends on Square Enix’s schedule

In other news – and yet, still Square Enix-related news – we hear about how SE president Yoichi Wada plans to have more acquisitions and alliances among other industry partners (or soon-to-be partners) as a big part of their strategic plans for this year. And not only do they want local (meaning Japan-local) partners, but also foreign companies as well.

Link: Square Enix to acquire more local and foreign companies

Lara Croft was just awarded by the Guiness Book of Gaming Records for her big… uh… big… bountiful… err… contribution to the gaming populace. Back in 2006, the Tomb Raider star earned the title of “Most Successful Human Video Game Heroine”; but this time around, she’s actually got a full two-page spread complete with tips, trivia, and a lot of interesting facts to make your girlfriend envious.

Link: Guinness Book of Gaming Records anoints Lara Croft


Science and Technology: A rewards program like no other

Remember back in January when Warner Bros. Entertainement announced they’d be going Blu-ray exclusives? (Well, how could you forget such a thing as that.) But more numbers are in.

Following last week’s revelation of the 90% market slice of Blu-ray – during the week after Warner’s announcement, at least – we now hear of Blu-ray movie titles gaining steady ground over HD-DVD. In a recent data figures, it’s been shown that for three consecutive weeks now, Blu-ray has managed to lock HD-DVD movies out of the weekly Top 10 charts.

Link: Blu-ray titles outperforming HD DVD for 3 weeks running

Meanwhile, a definite one up on Sony‘s sleeve is IBM. They just recently revealed their plans of further reducing the size of their Cell Processor. From the current 65nm, they’re eyeing chips the size of 45nm. Man.

That eventually leads you into thinking… smaller chips lead to manufacturing cost reduction… cost cuts eventually get spilled over to the consumers, in the form of product price cuts. The only question right now though… is when? Also, will Sony embrace it for the PS3 and finally announce a price cut? When, oh when, indeed.

Link: ISSCC 2008: IBM announces plans for 45nm CELL BE

With lots of research being done on how video games affect children’s impressionable minds (is it good, is it bad, is it healthy, is it not… can’t we just make up our minds! oooh, pun). Recently though, a test was conducted to see the differences of effects on men and women.

Turns out that more “reward” neurons – so to speak – fire up in a guy’s mind when playing a video game then when girls play. Also, those three parts of the brain attributed to the reward neurons affect each other more in men than women. Since guys’ brains get fried silly with all these “reward points,” this probably explains why guys are more likely to become addicted to video games than women are.

Link: Study: Video games activate reward regions of brain in men more than women


Odds-and-Ends: Slipping on some banana peels shot out of go-karts

Some of you may have remembered Ron Howard’s Grand Theft Auto movie from waaay back in 1977 (yes, apparently, some of us are that old), but other than this, the only Grand Theft Auto most everyone knows of now is the franchise from Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games.

What’s this, now, about a supposed GTA movie in the works? The rumor spread quick indeed – but was quickly debunked soon after by Rockstar Games. No, there’s no GTA movie coming, and no, we don’t think Eminem would do a good CJ or Niko either.

Link: Rumor: There “was” a GTA movie in the works?
Link: Rockstar Games: No Grand Theft Auto movie was ever in the works

After Jeff Gerstmann, Frank Provo, and Alex Navarro, a new Gamespot reviewer this week has shuffled off his editorial coil. Ryan Davis will have his last day in Gamespot, quite ironically, on Valentine’s day itself. Turns out he was affected by the controversial termination of Gerstmann, a long time friend and co-worker at Gamespot, and he (Davis) just wants to move on to other things.

Link: Yet another reviewer leaves GameSpot: Ryan Davis

Time to lossen up now. Weekend Watching time! That’s if you’re old enough, of course – there’s a bit of swearing and cursing in this video. But anyways, we get to hear from God of War director David Jaffe. In his video, we see why exactly he earlier posed an open question of how banana peels could be shot out of go-karts.

Well, as Jaffe explains, it’s not that he thinks he’s a better developer than Miyamoto. In fact, he’s got nothing but respect for the Nintendo guru. Also, we get to hear his explanation as to why he just keeps on throwing around all these swear words. Yep, there’s rhyme and reason – sort of – to it after all! Now, can’t we all just be friends?

Link: David Jaffe video: on swearing, Miyamoto, and his comments


Comment of the Week: Why remake?

That never ending question we all ask ourselves is this: will a remake of a game really be that beneficial? Will it really make ends meet or will it spell doom for the original? Well, there sure is a lot of things at stake, and the developers must really be having a tough decision to make a final call about taking the plunge into remake landia.

So. Do you think an Final Fantasy 7 remake is worth all the trouble? Well, depends how you look at it. While it’s valid to assume the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” defense, QJ.NET commenters asusboy and Seoulfood give some solid reasons as to why Square Enix ought(?) to do the sequel. Check it out:

Comment of the Week: asusboy, Seoulfood - Image 1

*Article originally posted on Feb 09, 2008 at 02:34PM.

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