Games and Gadgets: How I See It!

PS3 Firmware update 2.52 is now available.

2008-11-06T17:38:00.002+08:00

Following a short few weeks, Sony have released Firmware V2.52 for its PS3. Citing some improvement is some software (not mentioned which games), some text entry issue within PS3 and corrected some TV display issues of with regards to the PS3 refreshing at 59.94Hz.

So its not as big as the V2.50 update, but you will still have to get it..... so go on.

Asian version of UNCHARTED: DRAKE'S FORTUNE patched to V1.01, Trophies added.

2008-09-18T22:52:00.009+08:00

Our Asian version of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune finally receives a patch to version 1.01 on Sept 15. The patch adds the long awaited Trophies (all 48 of them) to the game.

However, you must play the game again to unlock the Trophies even if you have collected all 61 treasures and 1000 medal points in your previous saves.

Happy Trophies collecting!!

Latest games in MY stores.

2008-09-18T22:52:00.002+08:00

PS3:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (EU) - Action

Xbox360:

Infinite Undiscovery (JPN) - RPG
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (EU) - Action
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (US) - Sim
TNA iMPACT! (US) - Wrestling
Warhammer: Battle March (EU) - RTS

Wii:

Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli (US) - Racing
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All Play (US) - Sports
Mario Super Sluggers (US) - Sports

PS3 Officially Launches in Malaysia, on Sept 20th.

2008-09-13T01:38:00.003+08:00

Its finally here, Sony Malaysia have announced that PS3 will be officially sold in Malaysia. It will be launched 10am on Sept 20th at 1U at Ground Floor Highstreet New Wing (that's a popular mall in PJ, locals will know how to get there) and there is even a 24hours Soul Calibur IV tournament before the launch day.

For the launch, Sony Malaysia will be selling a special launch bundle:

80GB PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) Bundle Early Birds Promotion

1 x 80GB PS3™ (CECHK06)
1 x DUALSHOCK 3® Wireless Controller
1 x Soul Calibur IV™ game
1 x Selected PS3™ game (Resistance, Ratchet and Clank Future, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Assassin's Creed)
1 x Custom made PS3™ Tote bag
1 x Soul Calibur IV™ CD holder
Price: RM 1,799

To sweeten the bundle further, Sony Malaysia have generously added special gifts for the first 120 buyers of the PS3 Malaysian bundle, as detailed below:-

1st - 3rd customer - RM 1,000 Sony Cash Voucher
4th - 21st customer - RM 500 Sony Cash Voucher
22nd - 50th customer - RM 300 Sony Cash Voucher
51st - 120th customer - RM 100 Sony Cash Voucher

To facilate for those who wants to be 1st in line, the queue line will be opened at 8am, so plan your day/night well.

And not forgetting those of you who don't ever leave the house, Sony Malaysia have generously made the same PS3 Malaysian bundle available as an online pre-order purchase. The first 20 online buyers will get a bonus Blu-ray movie thrown in. However, details on the online purchase, delivery method and the free Blu-ray movie are not included.

All these details (except for the online pre-order deal) are available from here (http://corp.sony.com.my/3/main.asp).

What this means is that Malaysia will join HK, Singapore and Taiwan as the 4th country to officially have the PS3 (Japan is a whole region as far as PS3 distribution, and its not Asian region). All these while, the PS3s in MY stores are simply parallel imports (usually from Singapore) and the warranty is from the country of origin only. With the launch, Malaysian PS3s can be repaired by Sony service centres in Malaysia itself.

Hopefully, this will lead Sony Malaysia to bring in PS3 games directly as well as any PS3 peripherals and accessories, and that the prices will be cheaper than the parallel imports.

US Xbox 360 price cuts now official.

2008-09-04T18:47:00.004+08:00

With the rumors and leaked info being rampant over the past month all pointing to Xbox360's imminent price cut, Microsoft have finally made it official.

With effect from September 5, Xbox360 Arcade is priced at US$199 (RM650), lesser by US$80. The standard 60GB Xbox360 is now cheaper by US$50 to US$299 (RM1000) and the 120GB Xbox Elite gets the highest price cut, from US$449 to US$399 (RM 1300), a cut of US$150.

Microsoft's latest move is seen as it's effort to boost stagnant sales especially with Xmas season coming soon. This effectively makes Xbox Arcade as the cheapest next gen console in the market.Will Sony and Nintendo follow suit? With Wii's leader position and sales not seemingly letting up, its highly doubtful, but hey.... anything is possible.

Also, be mindful that prices in Malaysia may not come down so soon as prices in Asia have not been announced and due to existing stock levels.

Latest games in MY stores

2008-09-04T18:12:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since new games appeared in game stores, but the flood gates for Fall 08 games have started.

PS3:

Vampire Rain: Altered Species (US) - Action
Disgaea 3: Absense of Justice (US) - RPG
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (US) - Sports
Siren: New Translation (Asian) - Horror
Soul Calibur IV (US) - Fighting

PSN:

The Last Guy - Puzzle
Racthet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty - Platformer

Xbox360:

Too Human (US) - Action RPG
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (US) - Shooter
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (US) - Sports
Spectral Force 3 (US) - Strategy RPG
Tales of Vesperia (JPN) - RPG
Soul Calibur 4 (US) - Fighting

Wii:

Order Up (US) - Simulation
CSI: Hard Evidence (US) - Simulation

PSN game: The Last Guy available now.

2008-08-29T13:35:00.004+08:00

The Last Guy, a highly addictive PS3 game that uses googlesque map and "follow the leader" type gameplay, is now out in Playstation Network for all regions. I have played the demo and absolutely love the concept, simple yet challenging to get everything, especially the hidden VIP on each of 15 levels.

Its retailing at SG13.99 (RM33.00) while its US9.99 and Pounds4.99 for US and EU regions respectively. To buy the game from each region, you will need to top-up your PSN wallet to the currency of that region. For SG, I got the top-up card and bought the game this way.

PS. Am currently playing Heavenly Sword (patched) and it feels very different with vibrations. Even the cutscenes vibrates. Cool.

I'm back..... from the Twilight Zone

2008-08-29T13:01:00.003+08:00

I have been missing from the cyberpages, due to personal and work commitment. Also that it has been a very slow period for gaming in MY, and not much new stuff are emerging.

However, as this is the Fall season, more games and gadgets are coming out to MY. As such, I will work harder to update the local info, and be active in these pages again.

Thanks for visiting, and keep the comments coming in.

Firmware 2.40 removed from PSN, temporarily according to SCE.

2008-07-03T22:53:00.004+08:00

Due to some reports of buggy installation causing some PS3s experience problems. These problems range from reports of bricking, PS3 restarting itself halfway during installations, and even claims that the update wipes out the whole HDD.

SONY have responded to this complain by removing the firmware completely from PSN, and issued a statement in their Playstation.blog. The full statement there is as below:-

"As has been reported on many gaming blogs and websites, we have temporarily taken Firmware v2.40 offline. We’ve received a limited number of calls from consumers experiencing an issue with installing the system software update on their PS3. While our consumer services department has seen a low volume of calls on this topic, we are committed to providing the PS3 community with XMB access features delivered in the v2.40 update. We are working diligently to isolate the problem for those few consumers and to identify a solution before we put the firmware back up.

We’ll provide further information as necessary here on the Blog."

However, there are also numerous PS3s that have been update with no problem whatsoever. For those of us that have not update the firmware yet, we can only wait for SONY to fix this snafu and hopefully get their act together and not release buggy firmware.

For me, there is no hurry as most of the new features (custom music soundtrack, Trophies) only work in ONE game so far. With the already released games not supporting it yet, and only games coming after fall supports it, there is no hurry to update the firmware.

GTA4 patched to V1.02

2008-07-01T12:14:00.004+08:00

Last week, GTA4 was patched to version 1.02. The patch is mainly to improve the online multiplayer experience by fixing the following:-

Fixed an issue where players were unable to enter or exit vehicles in GTA Race.
Fixed an issue where scripted vehicles were causing games to unexpectedly crash.
Improved reliability and frequency of PS3 online leaderboard updates.
Fixed a rare hang some players encountered when moving from a Race or GTA Race lobby into gameplay.
Fixed a hang that would occur when players were switching teams during the countdown in the lobby.
Fixed an issue where players were able to get ridiculously high scores from Cops 'n Crooks matches.
Changed GTA Race and Race so that the last player remaining always receives a reward of $250.
Fixed an issue where spectating players would prevent the game from finishing.
Fixed an issue where players were unable to spectate in Round 2 of Cops 'n Crooks games.
Changed countdown timer in lobby so that it no longer resets when new players join a game.
Changed the kick option so that kicked players are no longer brought back to single player.

The patch retrieval is done automatically when you launch the game and is connected to the internet, and the patch is small download at 19MBs only (if you are using broadband). Now let me get back to MSG4....

PS3 Firmware update 2.40 to be released July 2, 2008.

2008-07-01T11:01:00.005+08:00

PS3 will get the much awaited Firmware 2.40 tomorrow. This latest update is different Firmware 2.36 (released last week) which improves "system stability when playing select PlayStation format software titles," but not mentioning which games.

With Firmware 2.40, SONY finally adds in-game XMB, custom soundtrack options and their own version of Xbox's Achievement system, known as Trophies.

The in-game XMB is a full scaled XMB, with new options to quit game, go online, access Playstation Store, change headset settings and even checking on which of your friends are online, all done without ever leaving the game. Note that the XMB will only work for PS3 games, so accessing the XMB by pressing the PS button on the controller while in a PSOne or PS2 game wont work.

Custom music option for games are also added to the XMB to play your own music, and SONY have added a control panel within the Music category with buttons to play, pause, skip and even to control the volume if its affects the game's audio effects. This feature needs to be added to the game, so it wont work on existing releases but it could be easily patched if the developer chooses to.

The biggest addition to Firmware 2.40 and to the PS3 itself is the Trophies system. Similar to Xbox360's Achievement system, PS3's Trophy system goes a few step further. Instead of points, different type of Bronze, Silver and Gold Trophies will be awarded for completing different tasks. Each game will also have one single Platinum Trophy is available for completing all Trophies in the game. You can then compare your Trophy collection with your friends, and the collection will also be added to you profile for all to see.

To make things more enticing, Sony have added a Level system to the Trophies. Gaining Trophies will level up your profile in PSN, giving gamers more incentive to collect as many Trophies they can find. This will definitely improve PS3's online community draw, as there are much more reason to getting Trophies as opposed to simply having Points to show.

All this and more will be available to PS3 users come tomorrow, so be ready to fully embrace SONY's new online community direction.

Metal Gear Online patched to V1.01.

2008-06-13T01:23:00.004+08:00

Well that was fast. With the game available to the mass market just within one day, Konami have already released a patch for Metal Gear Online. Version 1.01 will help "Lighten the strain the game places on our server" as well as "Adjustments have been made to the character's moving speed", as per screen shot above.

You will need to download and install the patch to run the game, via two options given by Konami, namely Peer to Peer (Bit Torrent) or direct http download. It should be a 40-50MB download, based on my speed of download (as described below).

Strangely, I initially used the Konami's recommended method (which is the peer to peer Bit Torrent method and supposedly faster) but found it too slow. After few minutes and being at 3% with download speed of averaging 14-20kbps, I canceled it and tried the direct http method. I got the file in 4 minutes. So try both methods to see which works for you.

BTW, I do manage to get 10MB files per minute (thats 150++ kpbs average), that's how I estimated the patch to be 40-50MBs in size.

Metal Gear Solid 4 for PS3 arrives in MY!

2008-06-12T22:04:00.003+08:00

Here it is, available on the exact worldwide launch date! Yes, it's the Asian version (with English and Chinese language options) of Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4 for Sony's PS3 console. It was available in KL since late last night and with every purchase of the game, you get a free poster (pictured above with the game at the lower left corner). Its very cool to get some freebie especially with a game that's expected to be sold out very quickly.

The game is actually brought in by a local company (as opposed to importing from SG, which usually means that we get the games few days later after the street dates). Lets hope that this company will continue to bring us the games at such fast pace in the future. Kudos to them.

Note: Asian version refers to Sony Entertainment HK (which that covers territories as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore) - and not Sony Entertainment Japan - which western sites (like Engadget, Joystiq) are referring to as Asian. Lets hope they pick this info up.

Latest Game Titles in MY stores now.

2008-06-10T20:36:00.003+08:00

Here are the latest games available in MY stores, but obviously the most anticipated and biggest release for the PS3 ever arrives on Thursday, Solid Snake's first and final appearance on Sony's console, and I hope to bring you impressions as soon as I get my hands in it the same day.

PS3

Haze (US) - FPS
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (US) - Adventure
Singstar (game and mic) (US) - Singing

Xbox360

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy - (EU) - Action
Ninja Gaiden 2 (EU) - Action
Grid (EU) - Racing
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (US) - Adventure

Wii

Kawasaki Snow Mobiles (US) - Racing
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (US) - Adventure
Wii Fit (US) - Fitness

3G enabled iPhone goes official, available in 22 countries on July 11, 2008.

2008-06-10T18:42:00.011+08:00

The highly leaked but much anticipated iPhone 3G is official, revealed yesterday during Apple's WWDC 2008.

iPhone 3G will be available in 2 flavors, 8GB at US$199 (RM700) and 16GB at US$299 (RM1000), in the US via AT&T in a 2 year contract, beginning July 11. 2008.

In a strange move, the new iPhone 3G will not be available from Apple's online store nor can you activate it yourself from home. You will now have to walk into an AT&T store to buy and activate it in-store while you are there. AT&T have said that activation can be done in a few minutes, but its still a departure on how Apple traditionally sells its stuff.

Packed with new features are: 3G (duh), Firmware 2.0, GPS (A-GPS that uses cellular signals to complement satellite signals), Wi-Fi (still at 802.11a/g, no N support), new dock (to fit the new shape), 300 hours standby, 8-10 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio, 3.5mm flushed headphone jack, and the back is completely in black plastic. Better still, it is also available in full WHITE, way cool!

Pic from Laptogmag.com.

It will be available in 22 countries by next month July 11, 2008. These countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US.

Another 48 countries have been identified to receive the iPhone 3G "later this year": Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, C. African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macau, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Singapore, Qatar, Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay.

You will notice that Malaysia is not listed, damn! Look like I'll have to wait for the unlocked version then.

Wii Fit (US) is available at selective MY stores

2008-06-09T08:56:00.005+08:00

Wii Fit (US) is here. Its not as widely available as other games so you will need to do some walking to find one. It's retail price here is much cheaper than in Singapore, so get it here if you can find one (if you are wanting to get one).

It was here several months ago in the Japanese version, but as I dont read Japanese, I have not bought that version. I will be collecting one unit soon and looking forward to testing the unit out.

Dark Mist themes are to be bought, no longer free?

2008-05-17T01:53:00.007+08:00

Oh no!! If this are the shape of things to come, then PS3 users will be lighter in the wallets from getting new themes to dress up their PS3s.

In order to dress up your PS3 with the new Dark Mist themes, users will have to fork out SG1.29 or HKD7.00 (RM3.00) to get it from Sony HK, as per screen shot above. This is an unprecedented move and this may signal the end of Sony PS3's free online content?

Whats even more strange is that Sony HK is asking you to pay for Themes! I really hope that they will not start charging for their online multiplayer, as this is their key difference from Xbox Live, a paid user online service for Microsoft's Xbox360.

It seems that US and EU PS Stores have not started this, perhaps it will soon?

Metal Gear Solid 4 Limited Edition bundle for US official.

2008-05-16T23:38:00.002+08:00

US gamers can stop hating their Japanese counterparts now. The limited edition gunmetal grey Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 hardware bundle is official for the US market.

Setting your wallet lighter by USD600 (RM1980), the bundle will be available from March 19, 2008 but ONLY exclusively from Konami.com website. The bundle will include a 40GB gunmetal PS3 console, a matching color Dualshock3, Metal Gear Online starter pack, an exclusive blu-ray disc containing "making of documentary" and production team look, and the Metal Gear Solid 4 game disc, of course.

As the set is limited in quantity, better rush to Konami's website on March 19 if you want it.

PS3 Firmware updated to V2.35, but dont fix GTA IV's freeze.

2008-05-16T23:15:00.008+08:00

PS3's latest firmware patch is now at V2.35, available as of May 15, 2008. Sony was pretty vague about what the patch do, only stating "System stability during use of some PLAYSTATION(R)3 format software has been improved."

Users have reported online that the patch DOES not fix the problems with GTA IV, and Sony acknowledges it while saying that they are looking the problem and may have a solution soon.

You can try calling Sony's customer support in your area to check.

GTA IV PS3 gets patched to V1.01

2008-05-08T13:17:00.004+08:00

Rockstar have released GTA IV patch for PS3. Weighing in at 18MB in size, the patch is said to improve online experience by fixing some server related issues and stuff as mentioned below.

"Rockstar Games has released a GTA IV patch for Playstation 3 today that prevents Gamespy's servers from being overloaded and therefore reduces the impact on those servers that were causing the game to stutter and lock up. This update will ensure that everyone will experience Grand Theft Auto IV the way it was intended. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused," statement released by Rockstar regarding the patch.

Online forums users have reported that the patch also helps with the lock-ups on single player mode, especially the one dealing with the auto saved game load. The patch seems to have fixed that too.

I personally do not have any lock up issues in both single and multiplayer mode, so I cant tell the difference. Will play the game more to see if I can see any fixes done.

My wish list for Rockstar if they are reading this (yeah, fat chance), if the player thats hosting a multiplayer game (the one with the "crown" icon who decides on the settings) is idle for extended periods, please kick the player out automatically. I had several instances where many players are waiting to get into the game but is hampered by the host not being ready. Fix that and the multiplayer will be much much sweeter.

Also, why is the PS3 version darker than the Xbox360 version, even if the PS3 version have better shading and looks more realistic??

PS. I have been playing multiplayer so much that I have neglected the single player mode....

GTAIV Xbox360 is region locked.

2008-04-30T20:21:00.003+08:00

A warning for all Xbox360 owners, Rockstar's latest humongous game, GTAIV, is region-locked.

This simply means that you have to get the game region that corresponds to your Xbox360. It means that you cant import the game from locations that have released the game (ie. Australian and Asian gamers cant play US or European version of GTAIV, imported or otherwise).

You have been warned.

GTAIV arrives in MY, and along comes problems!

2008-04-30T17:33:00.005+08:00

The much awaited and anticipated open world game from Rockstar arrives in MY, but only the Xbox360 version for now. Unfortunately, the PS3 versions have not arrive so there will be more waiting for PS3 users, and this means that I could not compare the two versions yet. Even as the game just arrives, the internet boards have lit up with several problems being mentioned.

The biggest problem so far are reports that GTAIV is locking up during or after the FIRST cutscene! This problem appears on both consoles, and Rockstar is working hard to find out the problem. The other problem mentioned is specifically for PS3 players only. It seems that the system is having some problem in connecting to the multiplayer portion of the game. If players try to connect the multiplayer by dialing the option on the phone, users will get the messages: "Cannot connect to game provider, please try again later". This could simply be due to the massive amount of players trying to connect to the servers, but Rockstar is also looking into this issue.

There you have it, GTAIV finally arrives in MY(even if only the Xbox360 version, so PS3 owners sulk a few more days, like me!), but it seems that there are some bugs that have followed it too. Also note that the PS3 version requires a 3.4GB HDD install while not for the XBox360.

Let me know if the problems happens to you.

PS Store new look, and PS3 Firmware 2.30 out now.

2008-04-17T23:36:00.002+08:00

Sony's brand new layout for the PLAYSTATION Store is now live. Also tagging along is PS3 latest firmware update to version 2.30, which brings DTS-HD Master Audio sound reproduction to the console. Cool stuff.

Playstation Store revamp starts today.

2008-04-03T18:47:00.006+08:00

The above is the new re-designed Playstation Store layout and look. To facilitate the revamp, Sony will not be updating the PSN Store with new content for two weeks with effect from today. Users will still be able to access to existing contents while the revamp goes on.

The new revamped Playstation Store is expected to be go live "mid April" in all regions. The redesign will not affect existing PSN accounts or their virtual wallets.

Dualshock 3 finally reaching US shores, Sixaxis phased out.

2008-04-03T16:43:00.005+08:00

Sony announced that the Dualshock3 will hit US next week, one whole week earlier than the April 15 2008 expected release date. In the same announcement, they have released a list of PS3 titles that are compatible with the Dualshock3, click here to check the list.

This will also mean that future PS3s will be shipped Dualshock3 in the package, which will be very good news for future PS3 purchasers.

With Dualshock3 already available in Japan and Asia, it is not shocking news that Sony is plasing out of Sixaxis. Existing stocks is estimated to be cleared by summer 08, so buy now if you wish to have rumble-less controllers for the PS3 in the future.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2008-04-03T15:02:00.005+08:00

PS3:

Dark Sector - (US) Action
Viking: Battle for Asgard - (US) Action
SEGA Superstar Tennis - (US) Sports

Xbox360:

Universe At War - (EU) RTS
Football Manager 2008 - (EU) Sports
Armored Core: for Answers - (JPN) Action Shooter
SEGA Superstar Tennis - (EU) Sports
Viking: Battle for Asgard - (EU) Action
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 - (US) Action Shooter
Dark Messiah: Might and Magic Elements - (EU) FPS RPG

Wii:

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 - (US) Sports
Dewy's Adventure - (US) Platformer
George of the Jungle - (EU) Platformer
Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure - (EU) Action
Arctic Tales - (US) Action
Destroy All Human! Big Willy Unleashed - (US) Action
Puru Puru Pack - (US) Mini-games compilation
Cocoto Magic Circus - (US) Mini-games Complilation
My Horse and Me - (US) Pet Sim
Super Mario Galaxy - (US) Platformer
Big Brain Academy Wii Degree - (US) Mini-games Compilation
My Word Coach - (US) Mini-games Compilation
Worms: A Space Oddity - (EU) Action
Baroque - (JPN) RPG
No More Heroes - (US) Action
EA Playground - (US) Mini-games Compilation
Ninja Reflex - (US) Mini-games compilation
The House of The Dead 2 & 3 Return - (US) Light Gun Shooter
Go, Diego, Go! Safari Rescue - (US) Action

Major security vulnerability on PLAYSTATION Network discovered, rectified.

2008-03-27T18:10:00.007+08:00

Following a SCE Japan alert, SCEA US Site have released a consumer alert, reproduced in its entirety as following:-

"Notice to PLAYSTATION®Network Users:

We have found out that there has been a possibility of unauthorized access to personal information on the PLAYSTATION®Store through PCs, a content download service of the PLAYSTATION®Network. Although unlikely, it is possible that the passwords of a small percentage of PLAYSTATION Network users may have been changed through unauthorized access, making it possible to view users' personal information and/or use the Wallet for the PLAYSTATION Store. PLAYSTATION Network accounts do not display entire credit card numbers, so any unauthorized access to your PLAYSTATION Network account is very unlikely to compromise your credit card number.

We have taken immediate measures to rectify this issue and system security is restored. We have investigated the extent of unauthorized access and possible alteration of passwords that could have occurred before corrective measures were taken, and are directly contacting customers who may have been affected by this incident. In order to verify that your account is intact, we strongly suggest that PLAYSTATION Network users sign in to the service. If you can successfully sign in with your pre-set password, your account is not affected by this incident.
For additional information and immediate 24 hour online support, click here for the PlayStation Knowledge Center."

What this mean is someone have hacked and accessed into some member's PLAYSTATION Network accounts, capturing their ID, password and wallet. Sony have rectified the security issue and is in the process of investigating the damages.

Meanwhile, if you want to know if you are affected, login to your account with your password. If you can't get in, chances are you have been affected and should contact your nearest Sony service center.

PS3 Firmware 2.20 is available now.

2008-03-27T17:47:00.004+08:00

SCEH released PS3 Firmware V2.20 via PLAYSTATION Network last night. The firmware is a 121.8MB download and installs into your PS3.

The firmware update enables BD-Live, a feature that enables users to access online contents for Blu-Ray movies. The 2GB file size restrictions for DivX and WMV movies have been removed too.

Also available are updates to playlists (users can copy their PS3 playlist to PSP) and other minor tweaks.

Good times for BD movies buff using the PS3.

SCEH (Asia) Network Top-up promotion starts in April 2008.

2008-03-27T17:26:00.007+08:00

For the whole month of April 2008 (thats from 1st to 30th... in case you are wondering), Sony Computer Entertainment HK Limited (covering the Asian regions of HK, Singapore and Taiwan) will run a promotion on encourage members to spend more on credits.

During the entire month of April 2008, for any single wallet top-up of SGD30/ HK$150 or above with a credit card or prepaid code in PLAYSTATION®Store or PLAYSTATION®Store (PC version), members of PLAYSTATION®Network will get an extra SGD 3/ HK$15 top-up to their wallet.

That's a 10% worth of credits value SCEH is giving you for the effort. The catch? These additional credits will be only given to your online wallet AFTER the promotional period.

Anyhow, it's a good deal, especially now as GT5: Prologue and echochrome (full version) is available for purchase and download via PLAYSTATION Store.

Satin Silver PS3 retails in Singapore today!

2008-03-27T16:49:00.003+08:00

The new Satin Silver 40GB PS3 will be available in Singapore market today according to Sony HK's press release. This new colored PS3 will retail at SGD499 (RM1150), the same as the White or Black 40GB PS3 available currently, while a matching colored Dualshock 3 will also be available at SGD73 (RM170).

Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (Traditional Chinese) available for puchase now.

2008-03-27T16:06:00.007+08:00

For local gamers looking to get their copy of Sony's much anticipated "demo" Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (Traditional Chinese), you have two options. The game is available for download from Playstation Stores from Sony HK, Singapore or Taiwan, and this option will cost you HK$298 / SG$59.99 / NT$1320 respectively. Alternatively, you can get the Blu-Ray disc version from the same markets at HK$328 / SG$66(tax included) / NT$1490.

The main difference is that the BD (Blu-Ray Disc) version will have the game codes and movies for the Gran Turismo TV (GTTV - featuring motor sports news) while the download version will require additional content download for GTTV after the game's code is installed.

The download will be approximately 1.9GB in size, so if you dont have a speedy connection and is very impatient to play GT5: Prologue (Traditional Chinese) in your PS3 (like me!), get the BD version as its much easier.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2008-03-27T15:41:00.003+08:00

PS3:

Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (Chinese) - (Asian) Racing [Download or Blu-Ray]
echochrome - (Asian) Puzzle
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 - (Asian) Shooter

XBox360:

Condemned 2: Bloodshot - (US) FPS
Army of Two - (US) Shooter
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - (US) FPS
Lost: Via Domus - (US) Action
Frontlines: Fuel of War - (US) FPS
Lost Odyssey - (Asian) RPG

Wii:

Winning Eleven: Playmaker 2008 - (Jpn) Sports
Pinball Hall of Fame: The William Collection - (US) Pinball Sim
Bully - (US) Action
Balloon Pop - (US) Puzzle
SEGA Bass Fishing - (US) Fishing Sim

PS3 and PSP software updated, COD4 PS3 patched as well.

2008-03-19T21:22:00.002+08:00

Sony's PS3 firmware is now at V2.17, while PSP is upped to V3.93. Downloading them give your PS3 and PSP under the hood tweaks: PS3 will experience improved gaming experience (what the heck that means, let me know if you find out!) while PSP will get 20 (count 'em) players for its internet radio feature (I think there are some stuff to twart hackers thrown in too).

Meanwhile, after being patched on the Xbox360 earlier, the PS3 version is now receiving the same love as Call of Duty 4 is now at Version 1.20. This patch is a 12MB download, and it improves gameplay slightly.

Haze is PS3 exclusive?

2008-03-19T20:17:00.004+08:00

Ubisoft's Haze is now being mentioned as a PS3 exclusive during a Play.com live event. Initially announced as a multiplatform title for PS3, Xbox360 and PC, it was later hinted as a "timed exclusive" for PS3.

Its now being mentioned as PS3 exclusive, heading for Sony's console in May 2008. We shall find out which is true by then.

PS3 MGS4 bundle shown by Famitsu.

2008-03-19T19:51:00.002+08:00

Here's how it looks like, the upcoming Japanese Premium Pack: PS3 Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle, courtesy of Famitsu.

The entired package comes with an alloy-ring colored PS3, a matching colored controller (no mention if this is a Dualshock 3), Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots game, Metal Gear Online Starter Pack and a special DVD (no mention of contents, but surely filled with the game making-of materials).

The whole package will cost 51,800Yen (RM1800). For US importers, bear in mind that there will be a US version too come June 2008. Lets cross our fingers again for this bundle to appear in Asia. Seems there are much fingers crossings for Solid Snake stuff coming to Asia.

Metal Gear Solid 1 coming to Japanese PSN on March 21, 2008

2008-03-19T19:28:00.002+08:00

Japanese PS3 gamers will be able to get Solid Snake's first adventure come March 21, 2008. Konami will release Metal Gear Solid to Japanese PSN, available for download at 600Yen. For that amount, Japanese PS3 owners can play Solid Snake's very first PS1 outing in their PS3 and PSP, presumably to stoke interest in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 release.

No news for the game to be released in other territories, but keep your fingers crossed!

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2008-03-11T21:11:00.003+08:00

PS3:

Army of Two - (US) Action Shooter
Conflict: Denied Ops - (US) Action Shooter
Lost: Via Domus - (US) Action
Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions - (US) Action Shooter
Fifa Street 3 - (US) Sports Sim
Unreal Tournament 3 - (US) FPS
Dynasty Warrior 6 - (US) Action

Xbox360:

Army of Two - (US) Action Shooter
The Spiderwick Chronicles - (US) Action
Devil May Cry 4 - (US) Action
Turok - (US) FPS

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (US) won't play on Wiis with dirty lens, Nintendo offers fix.

2008-03-10T20:56:00.003+08:00

US Wii gamers are faced with the same problem Japanese gamers faced with Nintendo's hottest title, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. As reported in Japan early February, Wiis with "dirty" lens are unable to read the dual layered DVD thats stores Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

To help solve this, Nintendo of America have offered to collect and clean the dirty lens, on their expense. All you have to do is fill up the form here, and wait while its being collected, cleaned and returned to you.

So all it will cost you is not having the Wii to play on while its being cleaned.

Blu-Ray wins the High Def video format, blu-ray in Xbox360 soon?

2008-03-10T20:24:00.003+08:00

The 1080P High Definition Video format war is over. When HD-DVD exclusive Warner Bros studios switched to support the Blu-Ray format exclusively, the winner was effectively decided. Shortly thereafter, Toshiba (the main player in the HD-DVD format) too announced that they will cease to produce new HD-DVD players and withdrawing from the format war.

Now, its reported that Sony is talking to Microsoft about adopting the Blu-Ray format to its systems. While Sony have approached Apple for the same talks too (Microsoft and Apple are supporters of HD-DVD format), there are now strong rumors that Xbox360 may feature Blu-Ray as standard drive format.

While these are rumors at this point of time, it is not impossible for Xbox360 to adopt the Blu-Ray as the format due to the larger storage capabilities and as games becomes bigger (Lost Oddessey will fit in one dual layer Blu-Ray disc instead of four dual layer DVD dics). Alternatively, Microsoft could come up with a Blu-Ray add-on drive, as they have done with the HD-DVD add-on drive.

This will be interesting to keep watch, to see how Microsoft will react.

Silver Satin PS3 and Xbox360 Arcade debuts in Japan.

2008-03-10T20:11:00.005+08:00

This past weekend is a good weekend for Japanese games. On March 7th 2008, two new console SKUs have appeared in the land of the rising sun to woo gamers to these brands.

Sony rolls out their Silver Satin PS3 thats is of the same specifications with the Ceramic White and Black cousins, while Microsoft unleashes its Xbox360 Arcade, which have been long available in other markets.

Will these two new SKUs from Sony and Microsoft pry Japanese fingers from Nintendo's Wii? Only time will tell.

Hackers able to run PS3 back-ups via HDDs!

2008-02-12T15:16:00.000+08:00

Hackers working on PS3 have manged to run PS3 retail games back-ups off its internal HDD or via USB HDD! This may soon lead to piracy issues similar to Sony's PSP UMD games being run off the Memory Sticks. While there seems to be more that needs to be done before this leads to mass piracy so rampant on the PSP, but things are slowly creeping towards that eventuality. Oh no!

While some are quick to point out that blu-ray discs can contain up to 25GB of data in one single layered disc, it must be noted that cross platformed games appearing on Xbox360s and PS3s does run on dual layered standard DVD (9.6GB) for the Xbox360 console. This simply means that current games are not using the limit of the blu-ray discs yet. So a 40GB HDD PS3 could still store up to 4 dual layered DVD games, theoritically speaking.

This will be very interesting to watch, as the PS3 is seemingly close to being fully hacked for piracy.

Link to the mumbo jumbo tech stuff here.

PS3 Devil May Cry 4 requires HDD install.

2008-02-12T15:02:00.000+08:00

As a first for PS3, Capcom's Devil May Cry 4 will install 5GB worth of files on the PS3's HDD. The whole installation will occur during the initial run of the game and will take a whopping 20 minutes to complete. In that time, Capcom have kindly inserted a history of the entire Devil May Cry series while the PS3 is locked during the installation process.

The installation is supposedly to improve loading times on the PS3, but there are contrasting reports that this may not work that well. Many have said that load times are just few short seconds faster than the DVD streaming of the Xbox360. I will test it out when I get the Xbox360 version soon.

I sure hope that this is not the sign of times to come, as I did not get consoles to bear with installation times.

Xbox360 HD DVD prices cut to USD130 each

2008-02-12T14:31:00.000+08:00

Microsoft had announced further price reduction of the Xbox360 HD-DVD addon peripheral. With immediate effect (from last week, I was slow in reporting this), you can get it for only USD130 (RM560), down from USD180 previously.

While this latest move will undoubtly save HD DVD from losing the format war (Blu-ray have many exclusive studios, with Warner being the latest to run away from HD DVD to be Blu-ray exclusive), its a good time to invest in one unit if you are wanting to see high defination movies via the Xbox360.

Me? I will stick to my blu-ray playing PS3 for my high def movie fixes.

Lost Planet demo pulled from PSN.

2008-02-12T13:24:00.000+08:00

Capcom had released a demo for their upcoming PS3 game, Lost Planet, last week's Thursday to be exact. However, the demo was removed from PSN shortly therafter, as there were reported bugs in the demo with reference to its online features. The servers for the online play was also shut to prevent those who have gotten the demo from playing it online.

Capcom have since promised to release a clean, bug free version soonest possible back on PSN, but no mention of the bug or what it does. Or it could be a hidden / secret feature that was leaked in the demo version and Capcom just didn't want us to find out? Guess we will never know while looking forward to the new improved demo.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2008-02-12T12:47:00.000+08:00

Xbox360:

Burnout Paradise - (Asian) Racing

PS3:

Turok - (US) FPS

Yahoo! board rejects Microsoft's bid, saying its too little.

2008-02-12T12:11:00.000+08:00

Well, that was fast. Shortly after Microsoft announced a USD 44.6billion offer for Yahoo! to the Yahoo! board, Yahoo! have officially announced that they are not interested in the deal, citing that the offer was too low for Yahoo!'s potential.

In the press release, "the Yahoo! Board of Directors has carefully reviewed Microsoft's unsolicited proposal with Yahoo!'s management team and financial and legal advisors and has unanimously concluded that the proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders."

"After careful evaluation, the Board believes that Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo! including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments.", it adds.

Microsoft have since then said that they are still very keen on pursuing this merger/buy-out. Lets see how this unfolds.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2008-02-04T18:03:00.000+08:00

For once, a big title comes out in PS3 version earlier than the Xbox360 version, and in time for Chinese New Year break too.

Please take note this Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is the Asian version that comprises the game disc and a bonus "making of" DVD, selling for RM250++. The US version of the Devil May Cry 4: Collectors Edition will have more goodies. In addtion to the bonus DVD, there are a disc with the first four episodes of the 12-episode anime series (Vol. I of the four-disc DVD anime series) and music from the DMC4 soundtrack, a digital art book with images and sketches from the development team, wallpapers, icons and screen savers. The set will sell at a suggested retail price of USD$79.99 (RM280++).

PS3:

Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition - (Asian) Action

(Box art may not be the same)

UPDATE:

Devil May Cry Special Edition boxart is the same as regular boxart, as per below:-

Japanese Super Smash Bros. Brawl disc read error on Wii.

2008-02-04T17:45:00.000+08:00

Nintendo of Japan have issued a statement about reported disc read errors for the game. According to the statement, Nintendo has received complaints from Super Smash Bros. Brawl buyers of the Wii being unable to read their newly bought disc, or of videos chopping up during playback. These users claim to have had no such problems with past games.

Nintendo then did a study, and concluded that the problem arises from dust building up on the Wii laser lens. As Super Smash Bros. Brawl uses a dual layer DVD (the touted D9), the disc is more sensitive to dirty lens. A fix to this problem is to clean the Wii laser lens but its not something regular Wii owners can't do on their own.

To fix this, Nintendo of Japan have offered to clean Japanese Wiis for free and even pay for the shipping fees. All you have to do is ship your Wii, warranty card and a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl (to prove you actually bought the game, and not simply wanting a free service) to Nintendo's service center in Kyoto. Only drawback, you lose your Wii for one week while Nintendo cleans your lens.

Be aware, please don't send in your modded Wii and expect a free service, ya?

"PlayStation 3 the Best" budget titles for Japan.

2008-02-04T17:36:00.000+08:00

A Japanese online retailer have revealed Sony latest marketing strategy, a line of budget titles for PS3. These budget titles started life on the PS1, moving on to PS2 and now caught up to PS3.

According to the retailer, PS3 owners in Japan will soon be able to pick up "PlayStation 3 the Best" versions of Resistance, FolksSoul (known as Folklore elsewhere), Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Gundam: Target in Sight, and Ridge Racer 7 for 3,800 yen each. That's a saving of 2,200 yen per title.

Expect to see them by March 19th, 2008.

Entry-level Xbox360 debut in Japan on March 6th.

2008-02-04T17:27:00.000+08:00

Microsoft is trying to revive Xbox360's fortune in Japan by announcing an entry-level Xbox360. Consisting of a console bundle with an extra 256MB memory unit, wireless controller, and game pack, all for tax-inclusive ¥27,800 (about RM1000).

No mention of the games titles in the pack, this SKU will debut on March 6th, 2008.

Microsoft bids for Yahoo! at USD$44.6 billion.

2008-02-04T17:13:00.000+08:00

Steve Ballmer CEO have sent a letter to Yahoo!'s board of directors, persenting a formal offer of USD$31 per share for the company. This merger will cost Microsoft USD$44.6 billion at that offer price, with Mr. Ballmer stating "We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market."

"Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers." he adds. Microsoft's current move is seen as their move to counter the threat of Google's market share in search engines.

Yahoo! have yet to respond to the "merger agreement", while Google's David Drummond, senior VP of corporate development (and the company's chief legal officer) says that he worries the acquisition of the internet portal by a company that has "frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies" could "extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the internet." His concern centers around the possibility that the combination of the two monoliths could "unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors' email, IM, and web-based services."

Seems Google is anxious to keep their lead on their ad revenue, but this is going to be a very interesting watch over the next few months.

Rock Band for Wii, officially mentioned.

2008-02-04T12:21:00.000+08:00

EA's CEO John Riccitiello confirmed a Wii version of Rock Band is forthcoming during his third quarter conference call done on Jan 31, 2008. In it, he mentioned of a "coming launch" of the Wii version of Rock Band. This is in line with Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos' mention of a Wii-specific version of the title, way back in April 2007.

No pricing, song list, DLC support nor release date was mentioned.

Rumor: New PS3 120GB SKU soon?

2008-02-04T11:36:00.000+08:00

The rumor of a new PS3 SKU since the announcement of the death of the 80GB version have been rife on the internet. During a recent Gamestop conference call, the details of the new SKU was mentioned.

The new PS3 SKU has a 120GB HDD built in with Dualshock 3 thrown in. No price or debut date was mentioned, but it may come to light during GDC.

Wii Fit dated for US and EU regions.

2008-01-29T16:29:00.000+08:00

For the benefit of the few of you who don't know this fact, Wii Fit, the fitness game with a balance board, have sold over a million units in Japan since its debut on Dec 1, 2007.

Now the rest of the world will get to work their flabby muscles on the same balancing boards. Wii Fit is dated for release in April 2008 for the US markets and June 2008 for the PAL (EU) regions.

Now where have I placed my workout clothes...?

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2008-01-29T15:53:00.000+08:00

After a long draught, games are slowly trickling back to MY stores. I expect the draught to last longer till mid February as Chinese New Year is around the corner and most stores will be closed for the holidays.

PS3:

Burnout Paradise - (US) Racing

Wii:

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity - (US) Racing

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None - (EU) Adventure

GT5 Prologue Official Chinese Version is "slightly postponed".

2008-01-29T10:25:00.000+08:00

"GT5 Prologue" Official Chinese Version was reported in Sony Playstation Singapore site as being available on 17th Jan 2008. Evidently, that date arrived and passed us by with no sight of the demo/game in stores.

A quick check at the same site reveals a new notice, as follows:

"In order to provide better online service and support for the Chinese version of GT5P, the release date of the game will be slightly postponed. We apologize for keeping all GT fans waiting."

Now I know why I can't seem to find them in stores...

"GT5 Prologue" Official Chinese version expected to retail on Jan 17th 2008 in SG.

2007-12-18T14:03:00.000+08:00

Yes, Sony is releasing Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (Traditional Chinese version) for the Asian market. It is expected to retail in Singapore on January 17th 2008 at SGD66 (RM150).

As an added bonus for you to buy the "demo", Sony will have a limited edition “PS3™ GT5P special bundle package” where they will throw in a nice black and red windbreaker. That's a real nice incentive for you to pick up the "demo" game, which is expected to be the same "demo" as the Japanese version.

Hurry, pre-order your copy soon as the windbreakers are limited in quantities.

PS3 Firmware 2.10 is available in US

2007-12-18T12:36:00.000+08:00

Firmware 2.1 is out in US. It adds DivX (and xviD) and WMV support to the PS3. Also added are Blu-Ray Profile 1.1 which adds features like Pic-in-Pic capabilities (something HD-DVD have long time ago).

Firmware 2.1 is not yet available for Asian region yet (www.asia.playstation.com) but I am sure it will be there few hours later, so check it again later.

Semi-bricked Wii: What is it and how to unbrick it?

2007-12-14T15:41:00.000+08:00

With many request for semi-bricked Wii and the solution to unbrick it, I have decided to share on how I semi-bricked my Wii and how I was able to unbrick it later.

Please note that Nintendo Wiis are region locked and accordingly, their firmware is also region locked. This mean that you can only update the Wii by using firmware from the same region. Wiis have 3 main regions: NTSC Japan (3.0J), NTSC US (3.0U) and PAL Europe (3.0E); the alphabet behind the firmware represents the region it beloings to.

Many Wii owners have accidentally semi-bricked their Wii when they installed the wrong firmware that don't correspond regions. Usually, installing firmware from a different region that you Wii will brick the "Wii Setting" menu, basically it gives you an error message stating a problem in accessing the Internet via the Opera browser.

This effectively prevents you from accessing the Wii Settings menu. Games will still load and play, but you simply cant change any settings on your Wii, thus the term "Semi-brick" used by myself.

This happened to me when I inserted Super Mario Galaxy JAPAN without noticing the game's region coding, and proceeded to install the firmware. After installing the firmware, my Wii Setting menu crashed with the prior mentioned error code. The games plays fine, but I am stuck with a locked Wii Setting menu.

The solution to this is rather simple. Just wait for the next Nintendo first party game to be released, get that game and make sure it is the same region as your Wii and load it up. Most first party titles by Nintendo comes with a firmware checker, it checks the firmware in your Wii and updates it to the latest version on the disc. Run the update if the disc prompts you to, and it should install the firmware as per the same region as your Wii, and unlocks the Wii Settings menu.

For me, I used Link's Crossbow Training. It ran on my Wii and asked for a firmware update. I installed the update, and behold, my Wii Setting menu is back up and running Firmware 3.0U.

So for those of you who had semi-bricked your Wii, feel free to try this method as it has proven successful to me and other users having the same issues.

Disclaimer: Following the method mentioned above don't guarantee absolute success, just simply coz it worked for me. Also, this method may not unbrick modded Wii. Leave your comments if it works for you.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2007-12-14T15:01:00.000+08:00

Due to the excessive time from the previous update, the list of games out in MY stores is very long, and I have chosen to simply list the titles without the boxart. Fear not, boxarts will return very soon in the future.

Here's the long list, most of the big games of 2007 are now in stores, good luck in finding some of them.

PS3:
The Orange Box - (ASIAN) FPS
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - (US) Action Shooter
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - (US) Action Shooter
Assasin's Creed - (US) Action
Time Crisis 4 (with Guncon3) - (ASIAN) Light Gun Shooter
Timeshift - (US) FPS
Soldier of Fortune: Payback - (US) FPS
Beowulf: The Game - (US) Action

Wii:
Wii Fit - (JPN) Fitness
Trauma Center: New Blood - (US) Medical Sim
Soul Calibur Legends - (US) Action
Geometry Wars: Galaxies - (US) Shooter
Ghost Squad - (US) Light Gun Shooter
Link's Crossnbow Training (without Zapper) - (US) Light Gun Shooter
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles - (US) Light Gun Shooter
Tomb Raider Anniversary - (US) Action Shooter
Super Mario Galaxy - (US) Platformer

Xbox360:
Black Site: Area 51 - (US) FPS
Mass Effect - (US) Action
Soldier of Fortune: Payback - (US) FPS
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - (US) Action Shooter
Beowulf: The Game - (US) Action
Assasin's Creed - (US) Action
Need For Speed: Prostreet - (US) Racing
Bioshock - (US) FPS

PS2:
Puzzle Quest - (US) Puzzle
Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots - (US) Action
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns - (US) Sports Sim
Need For Speed: Prostreet - (US) - Racing
Petz: Catz - (US) Pet Sim
Petz: Dogz - (US) Pet Sim

Wii Photo Channel 1.1, revert back to 1.0 for MP3 support.

2007-12-14T14:22:00.000+08:00

If you prefer to play MP3 music while you view your photos on your Wii, please do not update to Photo Channel 1.1 as this version only supports AAC format music (as reported earlier).

However, if you have update to version 1.1 but still prefer to have MP3 support, then Nintendo have provided the steps you need to perform to revert your Photo Channel back to version 1.0 (that supports MP3).

Here it is (if you dont wish to go to Nintendo's page):-

From the main menu, click the "Wii" button;
Select "Data Management";
Select "Channels";
Select "Photo Channel 1.1" and confirm you want to delete it;
After that, Photo Channel 1.0 will automatically be available again from your Wii menu.
If you ever change your mind, simply go back to the Wii Shop Channel and re-download Photo Channel 1.1!

For Wiis shipped in December 2007 and after, Nintendo have preinstalled Photo Channel 1.1 and you cant perform the steps above to get Photo Channel 1.0. New Wii owners will have to live with AAC support only.

Belkin's 2 - 1 HDMI switch avaiable in US & Canada now.

2007-12-04T14:58:00.000+08:00

With limited HDMI inputs in LCD/Plasma TVs, there is a growing need for HDMI switches. Belkin have rolled out their own recently, and while the box are similarly spec-ed as others (HDMI powered, 1080P compatible, IR remote control for switching, housed in a box), its the price that sets Belkin's offering apart.

Retailing for USD$49.90 (RM175), its relatively cheaper than the other options in stores. Available now in the US and Canada, while Europe, Asia, and Australia gets it in March 2008.

Wii Fit out in Japan.

2007-12-04T10:00:00.000+08:00

Wii Fit is out in Japan as of Dec 1, 2007. Nintendo of Japan's idea of getting their customers healthy via a console game is shipped with a new peripheral, the Balance Board. The Balance Board is wireless with its own sensors, and connects to the Wii effortlessly powered by 4AA batteries, and weighs slightly more that Wii itself.

Players, or rather users, loads up the game and steps on the Balance Board. Data such as age, height and clothing that you are wearing (it does affect your weight) needs to be entered, and Wii Fit will do the rest. It will give you your weight, BMI (Body Mass Index) and spells out your ideal BMI.

You can then choose to set your target BMI and planned duration to achieve it, and Wii Fit will help you work out towards your target. There are 4 main groups of exercises to be had: Yoga, Balance Training, Cardiovascular Workout, and Muscle Training. Each type has 9 to 15 exercises, and you unlocked new ones with points earned based on the amount of time you've spent working out.

Wii Fit allows up to 8 users with individual password access to secure your data and progress. Retailing at 8300Yen or USD$80 (RM280), the whole package consists of a Wii Fit disc (can call it a game?), Balance Board with wireless sensors and 4AA batteries. US will get Wii Fit sometime in January 2008.

Super Mario Galaxy disc contains Firmware 3.1 update, semi-brick modded Wiis!!

2007-11-21T17:42:00.000+08:00

Super Mario Galaxy discs comes with Firmware update 3.1 for the Wii. Nintendo have apparently added some form of copy protection method in it.

Upon insertion of the SMG disc into the Wii, it will prompt for a Firmware update to 3.1. What happens next differs from different mod chip users. Some will report a black screen in the middle of updates, some reports of the screen "hangs" at 30+%, then shoots up to 100% (WiiKey: mine did exactly the same).

After the firmware update, SMG wont play and give you an error, stating that it has detected an unauthorised device within your Wii (that's the mod cip in case you are wondering). You will then need to reset the Wii. Also, it will freezes up your access to Wii settings (as some mod chips enables Wii game region change settings here). Luckily, other games still works.

So updating to Firmware 3.1 effectively semi-bricks your Wii. Update at your own risk. Meanwhile, I will be looking for some solution here (ie.WiiKey update to 1.9g)

PS3 Firmware 2.01 released.

2007-11-20T16:28:00.001+08:00

US users have reported that Firmware 2.01 for PS3 is available for download today. This update is to adress the issues of freezes and other performance glitches caused by V2.00.

As of posting, the Asian Firmware 2.01 is not posted on the PSN yet. Keep checking, it will soon.

Nintendo Wii turns ONE too.

2007-11-20T15:40:00.000+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Nintendo Wii, you turned ONE too this week.

Wii: Launched on Nov 19th 2006 in US, Dec 2nd 2006 in Japan and Dec 6th elsewhere.

Wii had a stellar first year, outselling all "new-gen" consoles (PS3 and XBox360) by at least 2:1 ratio. Its performance was so impressive that by September 2007, it had overtaken Xbox360 as the most sold new-gen console, despite Xbox360 having a full year head start.

While many games on Wii are shovelware (games that are easy ports from PS2 or other consoles), there are several biggies amongst them. Wii Sports, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Resident Evil 4 Wii, Metriod Prime 3, Super Paper Mario, Ghost Squad, Medal Of Honor: Heroes 2, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and the latest, highest rated game ever (complied from review averages) Super Mario Galaxy.

As Wii is the only new-gen console that offers one SKU (PS3 had 4, XBox360 had 5), this makes buying the Wii clearer, but not necessarily easier. Wii have been sold out all over since its launch, and despite Nintendo's claim of producing 1.8 million units a month. Good luck in getting yourself one this holiday season (I have one since early this year).

Going ahead, its crucial for third party games develor to make money on the Wii, as Nintendo is the traditional winners when it comes to games on its systems. With a weaker system graphical processors than its competitors, Wii need to rely on variety and unique gameplay immersion to continue win gamers hearts and lead in its second year.

Sony PS3 turns ONE.

2007-11-20T15:02:00.001+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sony PS3, you turned ONE this week.

Some history in case you are wanting to get the facts:-

PS3 - launched on Nov 11th 2006 in Japan, Nov 17th 2006 in Japan and Sept 07 in Singapore (my region).

Had a stumbling first year, with reports from games developers that its a bitch of a system to develop for. Sony's PR liken this to PS2, where it too had the same comments early part of its life.

Games are often delayed and Sony PS2 exclusives (Devil May Cry 4, Silent Hill 5) were lost. However, towards its first birthday, PS3 redeemed itself with several high quality games like Heavenly Sword, Call of Duty 4, Assassins Creed, exclusives Ratchet & Clank Future and Uncharted, have propelled the system back on track.

Also, in Nov 2007, Sony rolled out the cheaper 40GB version, which proved to be a hit despite it losing several features. Also, Nov is the roll out month (in Japan at least) for the rumble enabled Dual Shock 3.

The next year is expected to be better for the PS3, with a cheaper console in the markets, and bigger exclusive games like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII is hoped to push the system to greater heights.

Pics from Engadget.

Mass Effect ban in Singapore lifted with M18 rating.

2007-11-20T14:26:00.000+08:00

Mass Effect fans in Singapore can rejoice. The game, which was banned in Singapore last week, have been approved with an M18 rating by the Singapore Media Developmental Authority. It will be available in SG stores next week.

According to The Strait Times (a local SG newspaper), the Board of Film Censors "will selectively use games ratings to 'enable highly anticipated games to be launched in Singapore' until it puts in place a games classification system in January." Singapore's MDA banned the BioWare game due to the "alien lesbian love scene" found within the game, making Singapore the only country in the world to ban it.

Now Singaporean gamers can breath a sigh of relief while seeing the anticipated scene with bated breath.

PS3 Firmware V2.01, to be out soon.

2007-11-19T18:54:00.000+08:00

Expect to find PS3 Firmware 2.01 any day now. Apparently Firmware 2.00 causes some lock-up problems when you are accesing the information boards or when the PS3 is gathering data for the info scroll.

Sony will rectify this with Firmware 2.01 but no details on when it will be available. I will post it here when its available. In the meantime, you can disable the info boards and scroll if it freezes your PS3. I did.

Dual Shock 3 out in Japan, is compatible with PS2 games.

2007-11-16T18:24:00.000+08:00

Dual Shock 3 is out in Japan this week, retailing at Yen 5,500. Some PS3 games have rumble support out of the box (Ratchet and Clank Future, Uncharted), while some required updates (Resistance).

And its is rumble compatible with PS2 games too, guess now we know why Sony chose to use the older rumble technology as they rejected the new generation rumble technology from Immersion.

Good luck in finding one locally, but I won't give up hunting so soon. Else, you can import it as with all PS3 related stuff, its region free.

Pic from Engadget.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2007-11-16T17:37:00.000+08:00

PS3:
Clive Barker's Jericho (US) - FPS

XBox360:

Assassin's Creed - (US) - Action

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (US) - Action

Wii:

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (US) - Sports

WWE Smackdown! VS Raw 2008 (EU) - Fighting

Victorious Boxers: Revolution (US) - Sports

Lego Star Wars : The Complete Saga (US) - Action

Asterix in the Olympic Games (EU) - Sports

PS2:

WWE Smackdown! VS Raw 2008 (EU) - Fighting

Asterix in the Olympic Games (EU) - Sports

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2007-11-15T12:39:00.001+08:00

Wii:

Super Mario Galaxy (JAP) - Action Platformer

The Simpsons Game (US) - Action

Ben 10: Protector of Earth (US) - Fighting

Bee Movie Game - (US) - Action

Namco Museum Remix - (US) - Retro Compilation

PS2:

Ben 10: Protector of Earth (US) - Fighting

Bee Movie Game (US) - Action

The Simpsons Game (US) - Action

Wii Photo Channel V1.1 updates loses MP3 support.

2007-11-15T12:26:00.000+08:00

Nintendo's upcoming update for its Wii Photo Channel will remove MP3 support in favor of the AAC format. This means that after updating to Photo Channel V1.1, you can no longer enjoy MP3 tracks playing in the background while you view your photos off your SD card.

New Wii available in the markets effective December 07 will also have Photo Channel V1.1 pre-installed, so new Wii owners can only play AAC track for background music.

For current owners of Wii, you have the option of NOT updating you Photo Channel, be warned.

Bug: Wii Guitar Heroes outputs mono sound!

2007-11-12T16:16:00.000+08:00

Some owners are reporting that the Wii version of Guitar Heroes III are hearing less audio. Not only the game does not support Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound (its a feature as advertised), the game apparently only outputs in MONO.

Activision is looking into the problem, but offers no timeline or correction method (I think its an online patch for download) for the audio fix. You just have to rock in MONO sound for the time being.

Or just dont go rushing to the stores to get the bundle until they fix it.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2007-11-12T14:41:00.000+08:00

Wii:

Guitar Heroes III bundle with Guitar Controller (US) - Music

Battalion Wars II (US) - RTS

Manhunt 2 (US) - Action

Ghost Squad (JPN) - Shooter

PS3:

Guitar Heroes III bundle with Guitar Controller (US) - Music

Xbox360:

Guitar Heroes III bundle with Guitar Controller (US) - Music

Note: GHIII with guitar controller retails at RM399 for PS3, Wii and X360 as mentioned above. Wii gets a white Les Paul while PS3 and X360 gets the black version.

Update: Uncharted US demo now region unlocked for all.

2007-11-10T21:01:00.000+08:00

Christophe Balestra, Co-President at Naughty Dog, have apologised to PS3 users outside US that have spent time downloading Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demo (me included). He posted this in Playstation blog:

"We’re really sorry about what happened and didn’t anticipate this at all. We just didn’t know people from other territories could connect to the US PLAYSTATION Network Store and download demos … now we do! We’ve been too busy working on the game to wrap our head’s around the infrastructure of the PSN.

We absolutely did not plan the demo to be region locked. As soon as we figured out the problem existed, Sam Thompson called me and I jumped into my car, drove to the office and fixed it right away. It’s an honest mistake and we didn’t try to prevent anybody from enjoying the Uncharted demo. I feel even more sorry because most of the people who experienced the problem are in Europe and I’m European myself.

So again, we’re really sorry about what happened and it wasn’t done on purpose. The good news is it’s now fixed and a new demo of Uncharted has been posted to the US PLAYSTATION Network Store so the entire world can enjoy it."

There you go. It was not Sony's decision to region lock the demo and Naughty Dog have corrected themselves by unlocking the demo. So its safe to go to US PSN and download the demo now.

I am doing so as I post this, and if the demo dont work on Asian PS3 again, read about it here soon.

Uncharted (US) demo is region locked.

2007-11-10T20:12:00.000+08:00

For PS3 owners outside of US who wanted to try playing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demo and wish to spend some time downloading the demo, you can stop wasting your time.

The game's demo available in US PSN since Nov 8th is region locked. Unless you are having an US PS3, you will not be able to play the demo. This is because Naughty Dog, the game's developer, have locked the demo for US region players only. Reason given by Naughty Dog is that the in game video will not work for PAL PS3s. This is false, as my NTSC type SG registered PS3 will not play the demo either.

This is the first time any game demo have been region locked, and if this is the sign of future region locked demos, this will not bode well for Sony and PS3 for the long run. Gamers are now used to the idea of region free games and demos and any move to region lock games will further alienate PS3 loyalists.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2007-11-09T17:10:00.000+08:00

PS3:

John Woo Presents: Stranglehold (US) - Shooter

John Woo Presents: Stranglehold Collectors Edition
- Inclusive of Hard Boiled blu-ray movie

The Simpsons Game (US) - Action

Xbox360:

TimeShift (US) - FPS

Naruto: Rise of Ninja (US) - Fighting

The Simpsons Game (US) - Action

Wii:

EA Playground (US) - Minigames Collection

Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (US) - Action

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Nights (US) - Platformer

PS2:

Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (US) - Action

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Nights - Platformer

PS3 Firmware 2.00 available for all regions, from Nov 8th.

2007-11-09T00:15:00.000+08:00

PS3 Firmware 2.00 is out as of today. This latest firmware update adds several features to the PS3 but none are earth shattering as many owners had hoped.

The features of Firmware 2.00 are:-

Remote Start - The PS3 now needs only be in standby mode to allow remote start by your PSP. Previously the PS3 need to be switched on to be accessed by PSP.

Information Board - Scrolling headlines featuring Sony selected news. RSS feeds to be added in future updates.

Themes - You can create and share theme; customize backgrounds, icons and fonts with companion PC software; and you can get more via PlayStation.com and PlayStation Store.

XMB Color Selector - Control the mood of the PS3 to suit yours.

Music & Photo Playlists - You can now create your own custom playlist.

Additional Sorting Options - You can now sort your music by year.

DualShock 3 support - Finally, your PS3 is ready to rumble to games that support it.

PLAYSTATION Network XMB group - A new icon for PlayStation Store.

Canon printer support - Allowing you to print to your Canon printer, used to support Epson printers only.

While these features wont make the PS3 cooler to challenge Xbox360's Halo 3 or Wii's Super Mario Galaxy, the options to create themes and XMB color selector helps to make your PS3 more to your liking while you play PS3's best game to date, Ratchet & Clank Future.

Go to your own region's system update, and good luck in downloading the Firmware as Sonys' servers are pretty much fully loaded now (I have failed to get the firmware few times now).

Guitar Heroes III's faulty guitar controller connections FIX-IT.

2007-11-06T15:04:00.000+08:00

Some of the new Guitar Heroes III Les Paul guitar controller appear to have connection problems. The root cause seems to be at the connection point between the neck and the body of the guitar.

In order to save box space and mother earth (but it could be due to saving cost, but what do I know?), the Guitar Heroes III Les Paul guitar controller was "broken" into two parts, the neck and the body. These two parts are to be assembled to resemble a full guitar by connectors, and here is the problematic area.

It seems that the PCB board surface (on the neck) and the pin connectors (on the body) does not maintain contact very well. Several options were posted on the internet by ingenious users, and here are two ways.

The Simple FIX:

As per pix above, affix a 3M Utility Hook on the body and strap a rubber band onto the neck. This will improve the connection, but may not last too long (even if the 3M hooks do have very strong and lasting adhesive backs).

The complicated FIX:

By this method, you will need to loosen several screws on the neck, pry the fret part open, and re-position the PCB board. Its not as complicated as it sounds, but it does take some technical knowledge (using a Torx screw driver) and finesse touch (prying open a plasticky part). Click here to see the instructions and pictures.

Warning, do this at your own risk and success is not guaranteed. But if it helps to improve the connection, try ahead.

Note: The pix are of the Xbox360 controller, there are no information if the PS3, Wii or PS2 versions suffer similar problems, but as the controllers are built similarly, I suppose the problem may exist on Sony's or Nintendo's versions too.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2007-11-02T17:20:00.000+08:00

The flurry pace of games being let loose to MY stores is hectic, with games appearing shortly after (and BEFORE) it is released in their native region. I discovered Call of Duty 4 for PS3 in my regular store last night, way ahead of its US release date of November 5th.

PS3:

Call of Duty 4 (US) - FPS

XBox360:

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (US) - Flight Sim

Wii:

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (US) - Puzzling Adventure

Note: I was told Call of Duty 4 is sold out by now, but you can call Wega Enterprise in KL at +603 2141 8688 for more news on availability (for Malaysians only).

Metal Gear Solid 4 slithers to Q2 2008

2007-11-01T17:50:00.000+08:00

More sad news for PS3 fans. Metal Gear Solid 4, the PS3 exclusive game that many PS3 owners are waiting for, will be delayed further to Q2 2008. Originally time slotted for Winter 2007 then to March 2008, and now to Q2 2008, which could mean anytime from April (highly unlikely) to June (probably) 2008.

Let the weeping begin.

Spiderman 3, the 2 Blu-Ray Disc Special Edition, in MY stores now.

2007-10-31T17:42:00.000+08:00

Spiderman 3 (2 discs Special Edition), of the blu-ray flavor, can be found in local video stores now (although you may need to do a bit of walking to find them on shelves). One store indicates the price of the blu-ray set at RM179.00.

Happy hunting.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2007-10-31T17:28:00.000+08:00

Xbox360:

Guitar Heroes III (US - Game only) - Music Simulation

Clive Barker's Jericho (US) - FPS

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary (US) - Action

Wii:

Rockstar Table Tennis (US) - Sports Simulation

PS2:

Guitar Heroes III (US - Game only) - Music Simulation

Glitch: Copied and printed Eye of Judgement cards, plays fine.

2007-10-30T17:56:00.000+08:00

It seems that the security features (the special ink with magical properties) used to print the cards for PS3's Eye of Judgement game has flaws. You can copy the cards, print them using regular color printers, and the Eye Play camera will still read them fine.

While the game itself has anti cheater codes (like limiting total numbers of special cards) in built, this does seem to be a big problem for Sony and developer Wizards of the Coast. Players can now find the special and rare cards online from other players who will scan these cards and post them online, perhaps some entrepreneurial ones will start charging a small fee for access to these cards. This will surely hurt Sony and Wizards as they see future income in terms of expansion card packs sold to players.

I suppose a patch by Wizards will be out soon, but as there is already a way to copy and use the cards with the distribution power of the world wide web, Sony and Wizards stands to lose big time if they cant come up with a solution. Lets not hurt Sony any further, financially.

Pic source: http://kotaku.com/

iPhone available in MY, but don't work with Maxis.

2007-10-26T18:36:00.000+08:00

Local handphone shops have the unlocked iPhones! Prices range from RM2000++ for the 4GB version and RM3000++ for the 8GB version.

While the stop sales reps are unsure of the iPhone firmware version, I am pretty sure its the V1.02 Sim unlocked with the tools available from the internet. Be warned that if you upgrade the firmware to V1.1.1, you are guaranteed to brick your new toy.

Contrary to earlier reports, these sim unlocked iPhone will not work well with Maxis where you can only make outgoing calls and not receive incoming calls (defeats the purpose of having a handphone, doesn't it??). Its report that this is apparently a Maxis internal problem and its not native to the iPhone itself. This was confirmed by several readers as well.

These sim unlocked iPhone works well with Celcom and DiGi, so if you are a subscriber and have deep pockets, get your paws on one today from the local shops.

Transformers, the 2 Disc Special Edition DVD in MY stores now.

2007-10-26T18:22:00.000+08:00

Transformers, this summers biggest blockbuster, is out in MY stores in a 2 disc standard defination DVD.

Featuring the movie on one disc while housing a set of informative features on the making of the movie on the other disc, this DVD is a must have for fans of the movie, like me! Please take note that the discs are full of hidden items (including Michael Bay's commentary track), so have fun hunting them.

So head to your nearest local DVD store to get them.

Super Mario Galaxy leaked to the internet.

2007-10-26T18:00:00.000+08:00

It seems that Gamestop and EB shops in the US have been using a full game disc to demo Super Mario Galaxy. They have put in a 10 minutes restriction on the Wii consoles demo-ing the game, but the game is not restricted.

Now, some industrious person have copied the disc, and made it available on the internet for download. While the downloaded and self burned disc will only work on modded Wiis, this does mean that there are potentially many Asian regions gamers that do have modded Wiis could be playing Super Mario Galaxy real soon.

This case is similar to the leaked PS2 version of the unrated Manhunt 2 game that I was playing few weeks back. In that case, it was a SCEE staff that leaked the game to the internet.

There is no indication where the Super Mario Galaxy files may be found, so don't ask nor go looking for it.

Latest Game Titles available in MY stores.

2007-10-25T17:06:00.000+08:00

Here's the list of games available in local MY stores for the past two weeks. Due to some games being released on multi platforms, I will feature the boxart only on the first format it appears (as they all share the same boxart except for the format header).

PS3:

Oblivion: Game of the Year Version (US) - RPG

(Inclusive Shivering Isle expansion pack)

FIFA 08 (US) - Sports Simulation

SEGA Rally Revo (US) - Driving

DiRT (US) - Driving

Xbox360:

Conan (US) - Action Adventure

The Orange Box (US) - FPS

(Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode 1, HL2: Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2)

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (US) - Sports Simulation

FIFA 08 (US) - Sports Simulation

SEGA Rally Revo (US) - Driving

Crash of the Titans (US) - Action Platforming

Wii:

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (US) - Sports Simulation

FIFA 08 (US) - Sports Simulation

Crash of the Titans (US) - Action Platforming

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (US) - Racing

PS2:

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (US) - Sports Simulation

FIFA 08 (US) - Sports Simulation

Crash of the Titans (US) - Action Platforming

Juiced 2: Hot Imports Night (US) - Driving

CSI: 3Dimensions of Murder (US) - Adventure

Ratchet & Clank Future: Glitch!

2007-10-25T15:26:00.000+08:00

US gamers have reported a glitch in the Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction game. Occurring during initial boot up, the game will install some files onto the PS3 hard disk, but with the random appearing glitch, the game sometimes reports of a full hard disk (even if its not) and simply refuses to boot up.

To fix it, simply add or remove approximately 500Mbs of file, the game should boot fine. Now you know its not your PS3 being problematic, unless you bricked your unit by installing the wrong firmware version (read my previous article).

Oblivion's Shivering Isles expansion coming in standalone disc November 20th.

2007-10-25T13:04:00.001+08:00

Owners of PS3 Oblivion wanting to experience the Shivering Isles expansion pack, but not willing to fork out USD$60 to get the recently released Oblivion GoTY version, rejoice. Bethesda have announced that the Shivering Isles expansion pack will be out on its own standalone disc, retailing at USD$29.99 on November 20th.

Shivering Isles is set in the realms of Sheogorath will add 30+ hours of gameplay, and players can travel freely between Sheogorath and Cyrodiil as they please.

Now you don't have to fret of having two disc containing the same content and needing to fork out full price just to get the expansion pack.

PS3 Firmware 1.94 in Ratchet disc update warning.

2007-10-25T12:49:00.000+08:00

PS3 Firmware 1.94 found in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction game disc will be of the same region as the game itself. If you import the game from other regions while you have a PS3 console of a different region (usually from where you live), PLEASE BE WARNED that you are not advised to install the Firmware 1.94 found on the disc.

This is because the Firmware 1.94 found on the disc is mainly for the same region it was released to, US iirmware updates are meant for US PS3s only. Notices found in Sony's websites have specifically instructed PS3 users not to install firmwares whose origins are of another region, as it may render your PS3 useless (bricked in our gaming terms).

So if you are Asian, European or Australian gamers who imports the US version of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, be warned of the dangers in installing the Firmware 1.94 and do it at your own risk.

Firmware 1.94 out in Ratchet disc, online version later.

2007-10-24T13:16:00.000+08:00

Firmware 1.94 will be available on a disc first, before even its online. How? In Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, arriving in US stores as we speak.

This latest firmware update will add the rumble functionality to the Dual Shock 3, and as Ratchet game be PS3's very first rumble enabled game out of the box, the firmware will be available on the disc itself.

Dual Shock 3, with its rumbling abilities, will only be available in November of Japan and the US will only get them sometime early 2008. For those of you who will not be getting Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, you will have to wait much longer for the firmware to be available online as it should be out in time with Dual Shock 3's release dates.

Xbox360 Arcade made official, available in US today for USD$279.

2007-10-23T17:37:00.000+08:00

Microsoft have finally announced the Xbox360 Arcade pack, priced USD$279 (RM980), available in US today October 23rd. This new Arcade pack is to replace the Core pack.

Xbox360 Arcade ships with a 256MB Memory Unit, a wireless controller, HDMI port (but with standard def composite cables only), and a disc that includes five full Xbox Live Arcade games: Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pac-Man Championship, and Uno.

Note that as this is the replacement pack for the earlier Core pack, this Xbox360 Arcade is sans hard drive of any sorts.

US 40GB PS3 made official, available from November 2nd onwards.

2007-10-19T09:04:00.000+08:00

SCEA have finally announced the existence and availability of their 40GB PS3 for the US markets. Featuring the same 2 USB, card reader-less and PS2-less back compatibility, the American 40GB PS3 will retail for USD$399 with an added bonus, a blu-ray disc of Spiderman 3 movie. The 40GB PS3 will be available from November 2 onwards.

At the same time, the 80GB PS3s will be retailed at USD$499, at USD$100 lesser.

Capcom's Biohazard: Umbrella Chronicles Zapper bundle, Japan only.

2007-10-17T14:02:00.000+08:00

Wii Zapper is being given plenty of love in Japan. With Sega having their Ghost Squad Zapper bundle, now Capcom have revealed their very own Biohazard: Umbrella Chronicles Zapper bundle.

Featuring the game, Wii Zapper, a special 28 page full color book called Wesker's Extra Report and stickers. All this for Yen8610 (USD$74/RM260). No news if it will hit other regions.

AnySim 1.1, free unlocking apps for V1.02 and V1.1.1 iPhones available now.

2007-10-17T13:17:00.000+08:00

iPhone Dev Team have released into the wild AnySim 1.1, their free unlocking application that unlocks iPhones with firmwares V1.02 and V1.1.1 and lets you use the iPhone with any GSM network.

AnySim 1.1 will only unlock "virgin" iPhones only, so it wont unlock your currently locked V1.1.1 iPhones, but iPhone Dev Team have also mentioned of a future apps that will unbrick locked V1.1.1 iPhones, but no dates were mentioned.

And if you update your unlocked V1.02 (using AnySim 1.1) to V1.1.1, you will still brick the iPhone, so be warned and be very informed on what you are doing.

Xbox360 Arcade unveiled by gamers.

2007-10-17T12:39:00.000+08:00

More details of Xbox360 Arcade pack is found by gaming enthusiasts who have landed themselves with the Arcade packs.

Xbox 360 Arcade will not have any hard disk drive but is shipped with a 256MB Memory Card, a Wireless controller, one HDMI output port, and a disc that includes demos (not full games as earlier speculated) of Xbox LIVE Arcade games of Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pac-Man Championship, and Uno.

Xbox360 Arcade is not officially announced by Microsoft yet, but expect to get it off from the US stores at USD$279.99 (RM980) when it hits the streets.

Pic from www.engadget.com

Nintendo Conference 2007 Fall details, from Japan.

2007-10-10T16:47:00.000+08:00

During Nintendo Conference 2007 Fall in Japan, Nintendo have revealed some interesting news for the Wii.

Nintendo will be concentrating on increasing Wii internet users, having reached 7.8 million Virtual Console downloads. More internet related Wii interaction is being developed:

Wii Vote - where users can vote for their favorite games and even search for your favorite games.
Wii Ware - downloadable games specifically developed for Wii, with emphasis on creative competition as well as low prices.
Setting up system similar to the DS retail service, where you can download demos for your Wii.

Mario Kart Wii will include a steering wheel controller, and the game will feature motorcycles. Out in Spring 2008.

Smash Bros Brawl will include Sonic, but will be delayed in Japan till January 24, 2008. Will feature online fights and online cooperative play of some sort.

Monster Hunter 3 will be headed for Wii.

And finally... Wii Fit will retail in Japan on December 1, for Yen8800 (USD80/RM280)

Asia gets the ceramic white 40GB PS3 in November, while AU gets black ones in October.

2007-10-10T16:04:00.000+08:00

Sony have finally unveiled the 40GB PS3 for other SCE regions. It seems that Japan is not the only region getting the new ceramic white 40GB PS3. The same system (model CECHG06CW) will be available for the Asian region as well as the regular black version (CECHG06). All specifications of the Asian and AU version are similar to the EU version, no backwards compatibility to PS2 games, no card reader and 2 USB ports.

Priced at SGD$559(USD$374/RM1280), the 40GB PS3 models will be launched in Singapore on November 11th, the same day Japan gets it. Similarly, Australia will be getting their 40GB PS3 (only in black) on October 12th, priced at AUD$699.95

Now it seems that SCEA (US) is the only region not to have the 40GB PS3 officially announced but its rumored that US wil get them sometime early November. It seems that Sony is very serious in wanting to play catch up and reclaim the world's most popular console throne (as they did with with PS2) away from Nintendo Wii.