Since it's Friday I didn't feel like doing a whole bunch of individual posts on the 360 news I've found, so I thought I'd do it all at once, so here it goes:

According to Next-Gen, the 360 has been well recieved down under. In the first 4 days of availability, M$ sold 30,000 units of the now popular console. Good news for M$ I guess, maybe the success of Xbox will help support the lagging Vista division.

Gizmodo turned us on to a cool website which allows you to stream podcasts on your 360. Of course they are only WMV feeds but at least its a start :)

From Make Blog comes word of a connector that allows you to connect your 360 HD to your PC. What's cool about this is that you don't need to crack your case to do it!

Finally today for the hard core gamers, a new 360 cooling solution called the "Intercooler." It's supposed to help reduce the temperature within the 360 by between two and ten degrees Fahrenheit, depending upon the location.

So there you have it - a bunch more 360 links to drool over :)

To me, owning a super sleek super fast car indicates that the owner must be trying to compensate for something.

So when you first manage to annihilate a priceless Ferarri your ego has to take a hit.

So it's really gotta hurt when the government takes away another of your babies. But that's what happened recently to Stefan Eriksson, former Gizmondo executive.

You see, 90210 PD impounded a very expensive Mercedes SLR McLaren owned by Eriksson because, get this, it wasn’t registered in the U.S. AND Eriksson's wife was caught driving it without a license.

Life sucks, eh Stefan?

According to a recent report from In-Stat Sony will still maintain a strong market share - stronger than it's competitors - despite an eroding share of the global market.

According to the report Sony shipped its second-largest volume of PS2 consoles in 2005. They shipped over 8 million more consoles than 2004 - up to 20 million for the year ended 2005.

Not only that, the report suggests that the PS3 shipments will far outlast those of competitors such as Xbox which will stop shipping next year or so.

This makes sense when you also consider that, according to a recent report by Forrester Research (and quioted by PS3 News) Sony has a much stronger brand than competitors such as Microsoft and Nintendo.

Recently Google has filed 3 patents that could lead to free wireless internet access for everybody. How is this possible and what's the catch? Advertisement. By selling advertisement Google would get the money needed to pay for the free wireless internet. Right now it looks like it would most likely start in the San Francisco area but look for it to expand into other cities as well.

Patent 1
This talks about the method of providing wireless access

Patent 2
Talks about how they plan to incorporate advertisements in order to pay for the free wireless.

Patent 3
Talks about how branding is done with providing wireless access.

This could happen anywhere and be free!

This is Cool!

According to the NCSA they have created a cluster out of PS2 consoles :)

The cluster consists of 65 compute nodes, 4 user login and development nodes, and 1 prototype node for software installation tests. All the nodes run the Sony Linux distribution for PlayStation 2. The compute nodes fill a 24-inch rack; 5 shelves at 13 per shelf.

The Sony Linux kit (for PlayStation 2) includes a full Linux operating system. This distribution uses Linux 2.2.1 ported to the PlayStation's Emotion Engine CPU, and is based on an earlier version of Red Hat Linux for PC's. The distribution includes development tools that you would expect; libraries, editors, compilers and debuggers that you'd find in any Linux distribution. The kit also includes software tools that provide hooks into the PlayStation 2 specific hardware.

Several other pieces of software have been built for the cluster that were not available from the distribution. These include tools to make the nodes work together. Since most any software that will build on a Linux mips system will build on the PlayStation 2 Linux kit, any mips-compatible software with source code available can be run on the cluster. (Even though the core CPU has a mips architecture, it is not directly binary compatible with Linux mips binaries.)

Wow....

According to Gonintendo.com, the DS will likely get Opera, the world famous web browser, as part of the console in December.

While this hasn't been officially confirmed by Nintendo, they did manage to get a screenshot of the supposed announcement:

- NTHax0r

According to Gamespot, the Revolution will play a whack of non-Nintendo titles including old Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx games.

From the Gamespot site:

"At its GDC keynote this morning, Nintendo unveiled plans to flesh out the Revolution's classic-game lineup even beyond its own storied library. Today during his keynote speech at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that two former hardware rivals--Sega and Hudson--will make sizable chunks of their own back catalog available for download on the Revolution."

Wicked!!

So one of our readers sent this in. Check out the line for (Depending on how you translate) The Nintendo DS Lite or a Hello Kitty SD Card. I mean c'mon people. Is the Nintendo DS really that huge in Japan? Is a Hello Kitty SD Card really worth losing sleep over? I mean Circuit City had a nice Dell Laptop last Christmas for around $400.00 and I sure as hell didn't get up at the ass crack of dawn to purchase one. Oh well. Can someone explain to me the draw of the Nintendo DS LIte? iamsiam? Anyone?

- iamlegend

I know this is old news, but I had to report it - it's been sitting in my inbox for a while now.

Sony has confirmed that the PS3 will come shipped with a drive.

A rep for Sony is quoted as saying "It's a fully upgradable, 60 gig hard drive that will come pre-packaged with the system."

Due to hosting problems (and I'm the host - go figure!) We had some technical issues BUT they are solved now, so we're back.

FYI, if you are running movable type, may I suggest you keep an eye on your disk space - you see we ran out, and when I went to publish the pain station entry it corrupted the DB hence the reason there haven't been any new entries in a while.

Anyways, we're back now so be sure to check back often!

Thanks
CC Staff

Amazon had a 4 GB memory stick Duo that you can preorder for $133. It's scheduled to ship out on April 1st. And with its retail price of $299 this makes it a kick ass deal!

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a misprint and Amazon has canceled everyone's order without any notification. If you were one of the few that pre ordered this then know you won't be getting it. Check out the link and read the comments to see how pissed everyone's getting.

-iamsiam

Tags: portable gaming

Ever since its debut in Japan, the Nintendo DS Lite has been in high demand. The DS Lite sold out within hours but there's good news for those waiting for a DS Lite.

Nintendo has announced on their official website that they will be stepping up their production in March from 450,000 units to 550,000 units. As for April, Nintendo plans to produce 700,000 units.

A release date for the DS Lite in North America or anywhere outside Japan has not been announced yet.

-iamsiam

Tags: portable gaming

The PSP is a little different over in Japan. However you probably already knew that if your into portable gaming at all. The Japanese tend to like things a little different. How different? Well the top selling PSP game in Japan is Hot Shots Golf Portable, with 399,257 copies sold. It has been available since the system's launch in early December 2004 -- so yeah, about a year and three months. Monster Hunter Portable, which went on sale in December of 2005, has sold 381,866 copies in about a sixth the time it took Hot Shots Golf. The third highest-selling game is Sangoku Musou (aka Dynasty Warriors), which sold 286,274. It, and Hot Shots Golf, are the two games people buy (in Japan) when they purchase a videogame console for reasons they don't understand. Find out more here.

- iamlegend

Tags: Tags: portable gaming:Sony PSP

Check out this sweet little post one of our readers sent in. I found it while browsing some our old email. Looks like you can take your DS and make it into a nice little organizer with this new software called DSorganize. Check out the link here.

Current features include:

* Calendar mode with editable reminders.
* Day Planner mode with editable time slots.
* Address Book with vCard support. Currently this can read and write back .vcf files that can be used in Apple's Adress Book, Outlook in * Windows, and probably plenty of other apps in Linux. It does not, however, preserve data that it doesn't support, as currently there is a bug I can't trace in this routine.
* INI file settings, with a configuration screen in the app.
Handwriting recognition. Just start a glyph on an empty part of the screen.

Cool! Anyone using this?

Although not exactly Ultra PC's I wanted to talk a little about gaming on your average Laptop. With today's modern Laptop gaming is not something that is relegated to the back burner. I remember when I got my first Ibm Thinkpad around 2001, it could barely burn a CD much less burn rubber in Carmageddon. Yeah, that's right, I used to play that punks. Haha the good old days.

Anyway today's laptop have come a long way. Even the sub $1,000 Dell Laptop can contain a ATI Radeon 256 MB graphic card. In fact check out the Dell Laptop that my wife's school bought her below. Although I don't know the graphics card, as you can see it's running Call of Duty 2 full screen and around 50fps. (In fact she whupped the Call of Duty 2 demo in around 40 mins) Don't you just love girls that game? Anyway are any of our readers out there gaming on a laptop? If so post your comments!

- iamlegend
Tags:portable gaming

Looks like there's still a shortage on Nintendo DS Lites. Sellers everywhere have had to inform customers of the delay. It didn't help that the launch of two of the three colors were postponed until March 11.

While you're waiting for your DS Lite to arrive you can read this article as they take the DS Lite for a test drive.

More pictures like these from the link:

So I am a little obsessed with Laptop/Tablet portable gaming lately. I saw this little beauty over at InfoSync World the other day. They gave it a 70%. However I think it should of scored a lot higher than that. Here are the specs:

At 210 x 165 x 33 mm and 0.98 KG, it's an ultraportable in the true sense of the word - but alas, its impressively small size also places severe constraints on the otherwise brilliant glossy display of the unit, which is kept at 7.2 inches with a stunning WXGA resolution of 1,280 x 768 pixels. Powered as it is by an Intel Pentium M 753 processor running at 1.2 GHz, the libretto U100 is no screamer - and certainly not when one considers that its maximum amount of RAM is 1 GB. Still, this is quite sufficient for productivity applications, and the integrated graphics chipset from Intel also propels graphics with reasonable prowess. What's truly impressive, however, is the inclusion of a shock-mounted 60 GB hard drive with drop detection spinning at 4,200 RPM; a tad sluggish, yet distinctly spacious for a laptop this size.

- iamlegend

Thinking about the days of old when you use to play NES games? Wish you can still play them? Have an iPod?

Well you're in luck! You'll be able to play NES games on your iPod thanks to this project:
INES

The project has progressed to being able to run the program but it is extremely slow. Just keep checking on that site to here the latest news.

-iamsiam

Pffft. I have been reporting on Microsoft's "Handheld" since the days I wrote for the Console Conspiracy. It was always lies and rumors. However this time something is different. Check out this sweet little article over at Spong. It looks like this time there is some truth to the rumors. Respected San Jose Mercury gaming news journalist Dean Takahashi has unveiled some interesting details about Microsoft’s forthcoming handheld gaming device, which he uncovered in the reporting for his forthcoming book The Xbox 360 Uncloaked: The Real Story Behind Microsoft's Next-Generation Video Game Console.

Rumours have persisted for some time now that Microsoft is planning to leverage the Xbox gaming brand in the handheld sector - designing a product that combines video games, music and video in one handheld device – the so-called ‘PSP-Killer". Takahashi also states that: “One benefit of waiting longer is that the handheld will likely have sufficient technology in it to run a lot of original Xbox games from a few years ago. Hence, it wouldn't be hard to create a new library of games for the handheld.”

What with the recent announcements of PS1 games being made available for users to download onto their PSP, it’s not really hard to imagine a handheld running Xbox games being a technical and commercial reality in a relatively short space of time.....

- iamlegend

Tags: portable gaming:Microsoft:Sony PSP

This is not for those who can't tolerate pain.

If you like to dole out a little punishment to your opponents then the PainStation is for you. This device allows you to shock your oppontents - literally.

From the interview: "It's a two player table console that dishes out real pain to bad player's. People have to place one hand on a so called "PainExecutionUnit" and play an enhanced version of the game "Pong".
If one player misses the ball he gets a dose of punishment in the form of electricity, heat or a small rotating whip. The first player to pull back his hand looses."

Talk about retribution.

If your interested, check out the interview - it's pretty good!

Now this is a sweet looking device. Check out the new Samsung Q1. This is a new line of Ultra-portable tablet PC's that Smasung is coming out with. It's alunched under the Microsoft codename of Origami. Revealed as the first Origami device, Samsung's Q1 is roughly similar in size to the Toshiba libretto U100 ultraportable, albeit thinner and with a wider form factor due to its widescreen display and lack of a built-in keyboard. A 7-inch touch screen with a 800 x 480 pixel resolution enables interaction with the system, but is in need of a brightness boost - an improvement Samsung says is in the pipeline.

Powered by a 900 MHz Intel Celeron M processor the Q1 is fitted with 512 MB of RAM and a 40 GB hard drive, and also offers wireless connectivity courtesy of Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth support. An SD card slot is also present along with USB connectivity, all in an attractive and highly fingerprint-conducive package weighing in at 780 g. But can it game? Only time will tell.

- Iamlgend

Tags:Tags: portable gaming:Samsung:Origami

All you gotta do is watch the video:

Tags: Nintendo DS : Nintendo : portable gaming

I really don't have a problem with handhelds. In fact I wish they were around like they are now when I was a kid.

Griffin Technology has released a cool docking station for your PSP called the iTrip (what's with all this "i" stuff anyways? I mean, just cause Apple is doing it, does everyone now?)

Anyways, the iTrip is similar to its iPod counterparts in that it allows wireless streaming audio to any stereo device capable of picking up FM frequencies.

And the price is good at $49. If your interested, here is the product page.

Press Release Source: Microsoft Corp. Thursday March 16, 7:00 pm ET
The online entertainment network features Natasha Bedingfield as first Artist of the Month, and offers music videos and Game with Fame sessions.

REDMOND, Wash. and NEW YORK, March 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) and music giant Epic Records today announced an agreement to make available a full year of exclusive artist content and high-definition music video downloads free for all Xbox 360(TM) gamers. Over the next year, Xbox 360 and Epic Records will showcase 12 up-and-coming artists through the Artist of the Month (AOM) program via the Xbox Live® service, the first and only unified global online entertainment network. Through the alliance, millions of Xbox Live members can enter a monthly sweepstakes with a prize of gaming against some of the hottest musicians through the Xbox Live Game with Fame(TM) program.

Continue reading »

Well guys! And girls. The 2006 Playstation Business Briefing was this week in Tokyo. Sony Computer president Ken Kutaragi took center stage to make some important announcements. Besides confirming the official release date of the PS3, he spoke about the future of the PSP.

For starters, he mentioned a price drop on the PSP. It will now cost $199 instead of the $249 tag it has now. But don't think you're getting the same package! The $199 PSP Package will only have a charger and battery package unlike the $249 "Value Pack" which contains a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, headphones, remote control and a soft case. Now you have a choice on whether you want those extra things or not.

For those in Europe and Canada don't worry. You guys also get a price drop. 199 euros and CA$299. The package will also have only the charger and a battery pack.

Mr. Kutaragi also mentioned some new peripherals for the PSP. Look for the GPS receiver (PSP-290) to come out sometime in October. The device will be silver and attaches to the top of the PSP.

Kutaragi announced the future support of video voice-over IP. It will require the new digial camera (PSP-300) which is silver and attaches to the top of the unit. The new camera will also have video chat using motion jpeg and an EyeToy game. Look for the camera to be out in October and the game to be out in September.

Sony also announced the development of an emulator that will allow the PSP to play original Playstation games. I wonder if they know about the hacks that are out there which also lets you play Playstation games on the older version of the PSP. They could be saving a lot of time.

Of course, this announcement led many to believe the rumors that future PSPs will have flash memories built in are true.

Speaking of rumors, Kutaragi confirmed another rumor. The PSP will support RSS feeds later this year. Also the PSP will play games with version 6 of Macromedia Flash.

Sony also used the briefing to announce some sales figures. Since the PSP's launch in March, there has been 15 million PSPs shipped worldwide. The handheld device has brought in more that $1.6 million as of 2005. Looks like they are doing well for themselves.

Hope you all enjoyed this friendly informational post brought to you by your friendly neighborhood portable gamer. Until then, take care.

motion jpeg in action

eye toy

close up of the GPS

-iamsiam

portable gaming

According to Xboxic it may be possible.

At this point this hack is only for the die hards and doesn't even guarantee that it will run unsigned (read ripped) games. But it does open the door to the possibility.

According to the post, some ingenious people have found that the firmware driving the DVD is flawed allowing one to rebuild firmware and reload it on the system to allow it to read unsigned games (theoretically).

It is important to note that flashing the firmware isn't that easy and that M$ could send a live update to reflash it, but it does show that there is at least one possible flaw.

If you read between the lines however, it sounds like a group of hackers have found a series of potential flaws or exploits which means the 360 could, in the very near future, be hacked or modded to play ripped games. Only time will tell I guess....

Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutagari made it official--the PlayStation 3 has been delayed. That's the bad news. Apparently it's so that they can get the blu-ray stuff finalized and also ensure that they have enough production to meet demand so they don't pull a Microsoft and short ship everyone new consoles.

So now for the good news:

It will launch globally in November and only Japan should experience shortages. The company is planning to be able tp supply a million consoles per month (although I'm not sure if this is worldwide or what). The goal was to ship 6 million PS3s worldwide by March 2007.

Sony will also be releasing an Xbox Live competitor called the "PlayStation Network Platform" and while there were few details Kutagari said the service will be free. My opinion is that they will offer a bunch of PS and PS2 games for download or online play.

The PS3 will come with a 60 gig hard drive loaded with Linux! BUT the drive will be required to play games. Hey this isn't so bad - it just SHOULD mean that the game interacts with the drive which should mean a richer gaming experience.

Finally, Sony reps confirmed the PS3 will not only play Blu-Ray but will still also play DVDs and CDs, as well as PS2 and PSone discs, as previously announced.

For quite a while now Sony has been embroiled in a legal battle with a company called Immersion Corporation over technology that makes gaming controllers vibrate.

Sony's battle with Immersion dates back to 2002, when Immersion came after it and its DualShock vibration feedback system for game controllers.

Since then the courts have awarded Immersion a settlement of $82 million for the use of previously patented technology.

US patents 6,275,213 and 6,424,333, were issued in 2000 for "haptic feedback." In other words, these patents (covering both console controllers and games) explain how to use of computer-controlled vibrating motors to provide tactile feedback to a user in a game or other application. It was filed in 1995 and that has been the basis for this disagreement.

Sony appealed the original order but lost and the settlement was upped to a staggering $91 million. But of course Sony appealed again and again, just recently, a judge ruled in favor of Immersion.

In my opinion, Sony should just give up and go home - pay the settlement and make some kind of licencing agreement with the company like Microsoft did, which would allow Sony to continue to use the technology.

I think the Pictures speak for themselves.



Somebody made their classic NES look like a PS2 with some simple paint and lights. He even colored the controllers and created a stand to make it stand up like a PS2. How cool is that?

Remember those good old days of playing Pacman or Ms. Pacman at the arcades? Well now you can relive those days. Earlier we mentioned the ability to play Pacman and Ms. Pacman on the ipod nano and the ipod with video. Well now if you have the ipod nano you can build your own cabinet. The instructions are great and it's got tons of pictures to show you how it's done. Go here and check it out.

-iamsiam

Today I attended the hilarious Burnie Burns Keynote. Burnie Burns is the head of Rooster Teeth Productions. He used slides, videos and audio to talk about what's comjing down the pipe as far as Creating Content Online.

He described it as "The Coming War", menaing that it's not looking good for the average user like you and I. Some of these probelms include who owns what? What wires does the Phone Network (AT&T) own versus what does the Cable Network own? Why does AT&T think they can charge Google for using their network? Eventually you may have to pay to download and upload on the Net as a Content Provider. How will this effect Content Providers?

His next issue was Film/TV vs. Internet. Now that viewership of Film/TV is down due to the Internet how is the Film network going to strike back against losing viewers? The Network's Strategy is Content, Content, Content. If something sticks they play it to death. What's next?

He ended the subject by saying that people need to remain independent in today's changing enviroment to be successfull. That staying independent can, and will, work if you make it work.

- iamlegend

Today I attended the hilarious Burnie Burns Keynote. Burnie Burns is the head of Rooster Teeth Productions. He used slides, videos and audio to talk about what's comjing down the pipe as far as Creating Content Online.

He described it as "The Coming War", menaing that it's not looking good for the average user like you and I. Some of these probelms include who owns what? What wires does the Phone Network (AT&T) own versus what does the Cable Network own? Why does AT&T think they can charge Google for using their network? Eventually you may have to pay to download and upload on the Net as a Content Provider. How will this effect Content Providers?

His next issue was Film/TV vs. Internet. Now that viewership of Film/TV is down due to the Internet how is the Film network going to strike back against losing viewers? The Network's Strategy is Content, Content, Content. If something sticks they play it to death. What's next?

He ended the subject by saying that people need to remain independent in today's changing enviroment to be successfull. That staying independent can, and will, work if you make it work.

- iamlegend

Tags: SXSW:portable gaming:Red vs. Blue

Just got out a good little panel called "Convergance and Advertising". One of the speakers was from Wild Tanget and gave a good talk about all the ways advertising was creeping into Video Games. The best part is that he was so excited about this! For those of you that don't remember Wild Tanget used to be known as one of the big spyware companies that was always infecting your Mom's computer when she downloaded on of their cutesy Java Games or a Teddy Bear Screensaver. Now they have grown up and produce Video games that feature in game Billboards from Sony and product placement of Honda Accords. Such a radical departure huh? Some of the other interesting facts are that the main Video Game ads the industry is working on are

- Around Game Ads (Traditional Banner Ads)
- In Game Ads (Billboards inside the Game World)
- Product Placement (Such as only racing Honda Cars in Game)
- And ads on the Loading Screen of Games (Usually 300X225 Flash Commercials)

Quite eye opening isn't it? They also went on to say that through their research they think people want McDonalds Fast Food gaming rather than traditional 15 plus hour games. Is this true? Does this model work for you?

- iamlegend

Tags: SXSW:portable gaming