Posting tweet...
this holiday weekend i decided to head up to my parent’s farm to spend some time with them and relaxing in the middle of nowhere.
to my surprise, the first thing i notice in my parent’s living room is a nice ole 40″ Samsung LCD HDTV. Bravo mom and dad!! Most of my pals don’t even own hdtvs but yet my retired, ex-farming parents do.
Happy New Year to everyone! This last year was a pretty crazy year in regards to technology, gaming and being a geek. Today’s post will be a personal recap 2007, and what i thought was the biggest trend from it.
2007: The year that gaming really went mainstream?
2006 yielded an estimated 12 billion dollars in revenue for the video game industry however 2007 could end up being an even better year. This year we saw the X360 sales thrive (not counting japan of course) w/the release of much the anticipated Halo3 (which itself set a record for most copies sold on release for any media; movie, music, game). We also saw gaming go mainstream with the help of the casual gaming system, Nintendo’s Wii (ie money printing machine, hehe). Sony’s PS3 also started to pick up steam in sales with the price drops and release of two new models; however the PS3 was/is still trailing the pack in sales but has seemingly helped the next-gen format war for blu-ray vs. hd-dvd (x360 did not include the hd dvd, optional drive vs sony making blu-ray a requirement in the ps3).
downloadable content, micro-transactions; the buzz words for 2007 and how developers feel they can gain extra revenue off a base product/game.
i’ve blogged previously about my disgust of downloadable content that IS NOT FREE. in my opinion, downloadable content seems to be overpriced and usually things that SHOULD have been in the final game.
just recently two huge breakthroughs were made in the PSP underground/hacking world. Noobz and Archaemic found an exploit in the game Lumines that basically allow all PSP firmware versions (1.5 to 3.50) and allow it to run homebrew. this is a pretty huge find, so much so that for a few days Lumines sales on amazon exploded, at one point its sales were up 5,700%! whoa.
however, this is not the first instance that a game exploit/buffer overflow has been the entry point for hackers into a gaming console. with the xbox there came to be a way to softmod it via a hacked game save file, i believe the game used was mech assault.
the gamecube also had a game hack too, that game was phantasy star online. it allowed users to even put linux on the gamecube.
so i’ve always wondered, do developers purposedly leave the rare exploit in their code in hopes to drive their own software sales due to the exploit? even though the console maker and other software makers may not like the idea, it really seems to be plausible thought. one that i am sure that most devs would ever speak of.
anywho, i also see that the iphone activation has been hacked, DVD Jon has figured out a way to emulate the apple activation servers, however you will not have any cell phone abilities (but give this some time, once the sim card lock has been broken, a combination of this hack and a future one could allow those non-cingular/att users to have actual working iphones; not saying it will be me but ya never know.. i like a good hack!).
peace
this weekend i decided to go back and visit the parents out on the farm. had a great peaceful and unplugged weekend. unplugged meaning no internet, cellphone, or text messaging (still had my tablet pc and all but no web, hehe). i feel so lucky to be able to go back to my parent’s farm to relax and unwind. its such a stark contrast to my usual daily techno life in minneapolis, mn.
(however sega never seemed to deliver after the ole genesis… just a poster i still have hanging in my old bedroom at my parents house.. hehe)
well, i’m a PS3wii guy. i got my Wii on launch (i laugh at all who assumed they could get one whenever they wanted after launch.. haha!). i got my PS3 about less than a month ago. after playing both and using them to their abilities:
Wii: browsing web, mii exchanging, adding friends, adding music/photos/video to sd cards, gaming, virtual console purchases, etc
PS3: installed yellowdog linux, added music/video/photos, web browsing, PSN setup, adding friends, gaming, blu-ray, remote play w/my psp, etc
i’ve decided i’ give my thoughts on what i liked, hated, and want from the now-gen consoles. so here we go (remember, as much as it may sound like i’m dogging the ps3 and wii, i’m not. just some constructive criticism, hehe. x360 lovers are lucky i don’t have one or else their machine may be the next victim!)
well, as many or most that read my blogs may notice is that well, i’ve swayed to the nintendo-side these days. my sleek black ds lite had replaced the psp on my morning commutes since its battery life is superior to the psp and the wii purchased on launch day.
however my ds lite has been sitting on my desk while my PSP steals the glory/spotlight again due to me updating the firmware w/Dark_AleX’s 3.10 OE firmware and getting my old PSone games on it!!
recently, Sony has decided to dust off its PlaystationOne games library and in turn is releasing PSone games to play on the PSP (downloaded from your PS3). the funny thing is that a homebrew PSone emulator was released about two weeks prior to Sony’s official emulator. like nintendo’s virtual console, game selection is a bit small and limited. however, what if your like me and actually still have your PSone game discs; can i convert these games over?
the answer is YES! however it will require a few steps to do and also a custom firmware (Dark Alexa 3.10 OE-A’ firmware). here’s a VERY quick run-through on how to do this:
here’s what applications/utilities you will need:
(more…)
well, woke up and went to the living room to see a nice suprise! my wii was glowing, so i powered it on and saw the message on the boards that it was live. so i updated my wii and got a taste of the news channel.
very nicely done! see my youtube video of it over here of it in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceyLU3PRR7E
peace! give my video a moment or two to load. i’ll embed once its live.
well, as born-again nintendo boy, i had to go out and get some wiimote skins from http://decalgirl.com just cuz.. i figure i’ve skinned my psp, ds, and why not my wii? plus, i get to brag about my nearly complete wii setup with 4 wii-motes! just am 2 nunchuks and a classic controller from my full wii setup! hehe.
wii!
well… i’ve been playing with the wii browser now quite a bit.
blogged this on my wii. hehe. it seems like my pointer accuracy is improving the more i type. not a bad way to fine tune your aiming while browsing. anywho back to zelda!