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Gamer Builds Wireless Wii Sensor Bar
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Wii,
Once gamers figured out that the Wii sensor bar was little more than a housing for an array of LEDs, one had to figure some hacks would come soon. First, someone figured out that a couple of IR-based television remotes could replace the sensor bar. Of course, this was hardly practical. Now, Brian “DoctaBu” Moore has built a wireless sensor bar. The homemade bar is a little ugly, but apparently functional according to the video posted on the site. With a little work, a cleaner wireless sensor bar could be built for those gamers that have AV setups that aren’t really conducive to the wired sensor bar placement.
Read More 
| Doctabu's Livejournal
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Upgrade That 60 GB PS3 Drive!
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, PlayStation 3,
I know what you’re thinking: “But, 60 GB is more than enough for all my PS3 needs!” Yeah right. They said the same thing about 1 Gig drives just a few years ago. Gamers Reports just posted a mini guide to help all hardcore gamers like us make the most of the system, and I don’t mean just game saves. The system is so much like a media center that I can see folks using up that space pretty quickly, what with all the HD videos and music streaming out of it. Luckily Sony had the good sense to make the built-in drive swappable. It’ll probably be just a matter of weeks before hackers find a way to rip other content into it as well, although I’m sure the firmware updates will try to prevent that, ala PSP.
Read More | Gamers Reports
Contra on Xbox Live is Really, Really Broken
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Adventure, Mods/Hacks, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,
First a laggy Street Fighter II, now a non-playable version of the nearly-20-year-old Konami classic Contra... What’s next Xbox Live, a Pong clone that runs at 5 frames per second while installing spyware on every computer in your house??!?
Wired’s Gamelife is among the first to note the ridiculous problems that the Xbox 360’s version of Contra has been seeing. According to their story (and the pictures above, to prove it!), online multiplayer for the title is completely, unequivocally broken. Granted, getting any game to work well online is hard, but if we’re expected to drop $4 for a 20 year old game that we could get free by *other means*, shouldn’t we at least expect some quality in the production??
Click the jump for the full transcript documenting Contra‘s woes.
Click to continue reading Contra on Xbox Live is Really, Really Broken
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Microsoft Deploys DVD Version Checking In Fall Update
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
While Microsoft has apparently fixed their installer so that users can feel free to install the Fall Update, firmware hacker Commodore4eva has dug into the update to determine why users with hacked consoles are having issues. His determination is that Microsoft has implemented a combination DVD device and firmware version check in the kernel, possible as an attempt to block hackers. The implementation, according to Commodore4eva, stores a stock factory drive and version code on the Xbox 360 and will compare this version against the current version in the drive. Because some of the hacked firmware versions are based on older versions than what Microsoft believes to be current, these drives will fail the check and give an E66 error.
Read More | Xbox-Scene
IGN Reviews PS2 Xploder HDTV Player
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Mods/Hacks, PlayStation 2,
When Xploder’s HDTV Player for the Playstation 2 was announced, it was greeted with a bit of skepticism. The HDTV Player promised to offer PS2 owners the ability to upscale their 480i games to HDTV resolutions, including 480p, 576p, 720p, and 1080i. IGN reviewed Xploder’s software to find out if it really works. The results were definitely mixed: 480p mode seemed to work the best, giving HDTV owners the option for progressive scan video output in games that normally don’t support it. Other modes like 720p and 1080i were judged unacceptable by IGN, and they were unable to test the 576p mode, which Xploder claimed to be the best mode for the player. If gamers have displays that support 576p, or are desperate to get 480p, then the software may fit those needs. However, according to the review, it appears that higher resolution display modes just do not seem to work well enough for recommendation.
Read More | IGN
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
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
Ubisoft To Charge $19.99 For Big Hunk Of Plastic
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Driving, Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Wii,
Ubisoft’s steering wheel controller for the Wii, essentially a circular frame for the Wii remote, will be included free with two of its launch titles. However, gamers that would like to buy this big piece of molded plastic separately will have to pay $19.99 as reported by GameSpot. Given that there are no electronics in the wheel “add-on” it seems likely that an enterprising third-party could do something very similar for much cheaper.
Read More | GameSpot
Playstation 3 Gets Yellow Dog Linux
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, PlayStation 3,
Sony Computer Entertainment released a version of Linux for the original Playstation 2 through a hardware and software kit, and now it looks like that Playstation 3 will be getting its own version of the open source operating system. Terra Soft will be providing a version of Yellow Dog Linux for the Playstation 3. While the original Linux kit for the Playstation 2 was clearly targeted at Linux enthusiasts with its command line based installation, the new version from Terra Soft promises to be more user-friendly, with a graphical, single-click installation. While specific hardware and peripheral support has not been announced, Terra Soft has indicated that a number of software packages will be included with the distribution, including FireFox and OpenOffice, making the Playstation 3 potentially a fully functioning computer. This could open up the platform to homebrew developers as well, depending on how much hardware access is allowed by Sony.
Terra Soft’s complete press release continues below.
Click to continue reading Playstation 3 Gets Yellow Dog Linux
Read More | Terra Soft
Bubble Bobble Broken on DS
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo DS, Screenshots,
**Warning: Extreme Shaky-cam video above**
Go Nintendo has discovered some bad news for all of those gamers out there that bought Bubble Bobble Revolution for the DS. No, it’s not JUST that it’s a terrible game (IGN gave it a 3.5 out of 10, though they noted that the core gameplay is still there). The next big piece of bad news is that the all copies of the game have a huge, game-destroying bug. The bug? When you get to level 30, you should expect to see a boss to battle that will let you progress further in the game. Trouble is, the boss never appears - not ever. So until you decide to reset your DS and/or throw the cartridge out the window, you’ll be stuck. IGN notes that there is a cheat code to skip this level and progress further in the game, but really guys - couldn’t your playtesters at least make it through the full game once? See the shaky-cam video above showing a player sitting around in level 30 and just waiting…..
Read More | Go Nintendo
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