Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It’s free!
Latest Gear Live Videos
Microsoft Working On Fix For Fall Update
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
After Microsoft’s Fall Update was released, a number of people reported problems with the update “bricking” their consoles. At first, this seemed to be restricted to hackers with modified firmware releases, but there seems to be two parallel issues with the update. Firmware hackers are typically seeing an E66 error. People with non-modified Xbox 360s that have problems will typically see an E71 error or will see crashes in software that ran normally before the update. A post on Microsoft’s Gamerscoreblog indicates that they are seeing problems from less than 1% of customers and that an updated version should be coming within 12-24 hours. No word on whether the current version of the update has been pulled from the site.
Read More 
| Gamerscoreblog
Gallery: Microsoft Working On Fix For Fall Update
Advertisement
Phantom Entertainment, formerly Infinium Labs, today announced via press release that they have managed to find a buyer for their upcoming Phantom Lapboard. Gaming PC manufacturer Alienware has ordered the Lapboard and Wireless Laser Mouse for use in some of their Media Center-based PCs and their PC gear product line. Shipment of the Phantom hardware is scheduled to start in November, but given the company’s history, one might want to wait until the hardware is actually available before giving it a shot. Having Alienware order the Lapboard does give the company a little bit of credibility. Considering that the Alienware’s order is more than likely based on credit terms, though, means that Alienware is probably risking less money on this venture than the typical consumer.
Phantom Entertainment’s full press release continues below.
Click to continue reading Alienware To Offer Phantom Lapboard
Gallery: Alienware To Offer Phantom Lapboard
Sony Adds New PS2, PSP Colors In Japan
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 2, PSP,
Sony will be adding a pink Playstation 2 to the line up and will be bringing back the satin silver Playstation 2 on November 22nd in Japan. On the same date, Sony will release a pink PSP. Then, on December 14th, Sony will launch a silver PSP, which will be followed by a metallic blue PSP on December 21st. Having more color options for the PSP may help Sony prop up Japanese sales of the handheld against the continually tough competition of the Nintendo DS, though this may be a stretch. While North America will get the silver PS2 in the near future, it would be nice to see more color options for the PSP in the United States as well.
Read More | Famitsu
Gallery: Sony Adds New PS2, PSP Colors In Japan
Microsoft Japan Offers Lost Planet Bundle
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
When Lost Planet: Extreme Condition launches in Japan in December, Microsoft will offer a hardware bundle that includes the game, Xbox 360 console, 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, HD AV cable, remote, a 3 month subscription to Xbox Live, and a card that will allow gamers to download an additional stage for Lost Planet. The bundle will retail for 44800 Yen ($381 US). This, put together with the Blue Dragon bundle shows that Microsoft is trying hard to penetrate the Japanese market. The Lost Planet bundle seems to be less of a draw, however, and one wonders if this will drive that many more console sales.
Read More | Famitsu
Gallery: Microsoft Japan Offers Lost Planet Bundle
Xbox 360 Fall Update Breaks Some Hacked Consoles
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
Shortly after Microsoft’s Fall Update for the Xbox 360 was released, some users who had hacked the firmware of their Xbox 360 drive found that their consoles were no longer able to boot. Team Xecuter has dissected one of the “broken” consoles and found that older versions of the Xtreme firmware would cause problems after the update, but upgrading to the latest Xtreme 4.2 would fix the problem. Without knowing what exactly has changed in the Fall Update, it is hard to judge whether Microsoft is actively pursuing hacked consoles. Regardless of whether this is intentional or not, though, this means that firmware hackers are going to have to keep up to date with the latest releases to ensure a fully functioning console.
Read More | Team Xecuter
Gallery: Xbox 360 Fall Update Breaks Some Hacked Consoles
Konami Offering Special Edition PSP With Portable Ops
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, PSP,
Konami will ship Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops on December 21st in Japan. While the debut of the software comes after the United States release, the Japanese audience will receive two special edition bundles that include a special camouflage version of the PSP and special slip cases. The Limited Premium Pack includes a special snakeskin slipcase and wrist strap, while the regular Premium Pack will include a cloth case and strap. The Limited Premium Pack will sell for 39,690 Yen ($337 US) and the regular pack will sell for 29,190 Yen ($248 US).
Read More | Famitsu
Gallery: Konami Offering Special Edition PSP With Portable Ops
Sony To Reduce Japanese Launch Numbers By 20 Percent
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, PlayStation 3,
A Japanese report in Nikkei Keizai Shimbun indicates that Sony will only be offering 80,000 consoles on launch day in Japan, down from their initial estimates of 100,000. The reason cited, according to GameDaily, was continuing component shortages which have continued to plague Sony’s new console. GameDaily talked with SCEA and there will be no changes in the North American launch allocations. The shift does call into question Sony’s ability to continue to feed hardware into the various markets and may be the first indication that other markets may suffer more intense shortages later.
Read More | GameDaily
Gallery: Sony To Reduce Japanese Launch Numbers By 20 Percent
GameSpot Tries Out PS3 Backward Compatibility
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3,
GameSpot was recently able to take advantage of some extra time with the Playstation 3 and look into the console’s backward compatibility options. GameSpot wasn’t able to look at a lot of games, but they had enough time to look at a Playstation game, a Playstation 2 game, and a Playstation 2 game from a different region. The Playstation game tested was Battle Arena Toshinden 3, which seemed to work fine. Gran Turismo 4 also appeared to work normally on the Playstation 3, while the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts 2 was locked out because of region restrictions. None of the games were enhanced in any way by the PS3, as expected. While the tests are interesting, they still don’t detail how Sony is achieving backward compatibility, and there is still no official list of incompatible games.
Read More | GameSpot
Gallery: GameSpot Tries Out PS3 Backward Compatibility
DS-Xtreme Nintendo DS Flash Cart Reviewed
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo DS,
Maxconsole.net has taken an in-depth look at the DS-Xtreme flash cartridge for the Nintendo DS. The cartridge manufacturer claims that this is the first all-in-one solution for the Nintendo DS for homebrew development, movie and music playback, and game backups in a package that fits within the DS cartridge slot. Other implementations have either required users to have some kind of PassMe device, or would use a combination of the DS and the GBA slots on the DS to function. Many devices have required game patching to allow cartridge backups to run. The DS-Xtreme offers plug-and-play functionality with 4 gigabits of RAM (512 megabytes) in a small form-factor. Maxconsole’s review finds that the DS-X claims are generally true, and only really dings this solution for the inability to expand the internal memory, the slightly high price and the lack of a manual. Overall, this offering appears to be a homebrew developer’s dream come true.
Read More | Maxconsole
Gallery: DS-Xtreme Nintendo DS Flash Cart Reviewed
Jim Kahle Talks Next Generation Cell
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3,
Jim Kahle, chief architect of Sony’s Cell processor recently talked with Dean Takahashi of Mercury News about the Cell, and the next generation of the cell processors. Kahle described the current Cell as handling roughly 200 gigaflops, but the next generation efforts are targeting a teraflop on a chip. Sony is currently targeting 2010 for the release of the new processor, anticipated to have about 32 special processing units. Kahle also discusses the potential of integrating the GPU with the CPU, but doesn’t commit either way on the process, other than to state that Sony is investigating the pros and cons of this approach.
Read More | Mercury News
Gallery: Jim Kahle Talks Next Generation Cell
Advertisement
© Gear Live Inc. {year} – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.