The Wii’s Twilight Hack has been a big hit for the homebrew crowd. Using the software flaw, they’ve been able to play Tetris on their Wiis and even create some custom Wii channels. Nintendo tried to shut that program down, but 8 hours later, it was back. Nobody can keep the homebrew devs down, and over the past week there have been two more major breakthroughs in “hacking the Wii.”

A group called Waninkoko has created a custom firmware for the Wii which allows writable DVDs to be read by the system. This means that downloading Wii titles to your PC, and then playing them on a burned disc could be right around the corner. The second crack for the Wii came from teamshift. They were able to create a PSP emulator that can play whatever games you wish.

Of course, neither of these hacks have actually been confirmed, so take heed before you try to install the Waninkoko hack. Do so at your own risk. The PSP emulator rumor from teamshift comes from a single image posted on NintendoMax showing Puzzle Bobble Pocket playing on a Wii. The image doesn’t hold much credence, and could be completely fake, but if it’s real then PSP games may become the new black for a while in Wii owner’s homes.

As more information is revealed on this, we’ll let you know.

Read more at engadget and DCEMUuk

No, as much as we’d like to see it happen, this isn’t some kind of monster emulation effort. Instead, an intrepid young — and we mean young: his YouTube display name is “obiwan222222″ – PSP Fanboy has managed to get his PlayStation Portable to act as a screen for his Wii using Sony’s LocationFree Player solution for the PSP. By patching through the PSP to LocationFree and by sticking what looks like a custom made Wii sensor above the console, the PSP can display the Wii’s output using its WiFi to connect to the internet video stream, and a spare Wiimote to control the cursor. Unfortunately, this solution is far from practical, as there’s an built-in lag of around 6 seconds: not something you want when playing twitch games. Besides the actual concept, the best part about the walkthrough video (which is after the break), is Obiwan22’s narration. One typical quote for you: “I am not some kind of genius. I just want to make a statement [to show] what you can do with your LocationFree Player!” Aww, bless.

Promise of smaller and lighter console

Sony is to redesign its PSP handheld console, Sony Computer Europe UK managing director Ray Maguire has confirmed.

Although the gaming giant has confirmed that a “smaller, lighter” system will be introduced in the future, it has failed to suggest when that would be.

However, Maguire did say that the redesign will not affect the size of the consoles screen, which is considered to be the handheld key strength over the Nintendo DS.

“Nintendo did it with the relaunch of the Nintendo DS and look at the popularity of that. It went from a big bulky game console to something you actually want to own. The same could easily happen for the PSP,” an industry insider told us.

It won’t be the first time the company has redesigned its products to give flagging sales a further boost. Both the original PlayStation and Plastation 2 had a re-working to make them slimmer and smaller and received a price reduction at the same time.

No date has yet been put on when a new design would be unveiled.

We will keep you posted

Here are a few renditions of what the new PSP may look like.

 

It has been announced that Sony Corp. will launch a slimmer model of its PlayStation Portable handheld game player in September, in its latest attempt to ignite demand for its game hardware and compete better with Nintendo Co. Ltd.

Both Sony and Nintendo released their handheld gear, the PSP and DS, respectively, late in 2004, but sales of the PSP, which can play movies, music and games, have recently been outshined by the DS.

“From a distance, this PSP might not look very different from the current model … but when you have it in your hand, the difference becomes quite clear,” Sony Computer Entertainment Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai said. “It’s actually 33 percent lighter than the current PSP. It’s also 19 percent slimmer.”

Hirai, who replaced Ken Kutaragi, known as the “Father of PlayStation,” as head of Sony’s game division earlier this year, made the PSP announcement during a presentation at the E3 video game exposition, the industry’s biggest event.

Nintendo sold 23.6 million DS units in the year ended March 2007, outpacing PSP shipments of 8.4 million.

Underlining its lead both in the console and handheld markets, Nintendo last month zipped past Sony in market value and bumped the Tokyo-based electronics conglomerate off the list of Japan’s 10 most valuable companies.

A Sony spokeswoman said the slimmer PSP would retail for about $170, the same as the current PSP. Nintendo’s newest DS model, the DS Lite, sells for $130.

Like Sony, Nintendo last year launched the lighter version of the DS, accelerating already white-hot demand for the handset. The DS Lite has two screens, opens like a book and allows gamers to control play with a stylus, instead of manipulating a keypad.

Nintendo executives said on Wednesday that portable sales made up 50 percent of its hardware sales in 2006, compared with just 30 percent in 2002.

PRICE CUT

On the console side of its game business, Sony this week cut the U.S. price of its PlayStation 3 by $100 after seeing the PS3 far outsold by Nintendo’s Wii.

“This new price went into effect on Monday. Since then sales of 60-gigabyte PS3 have doubled at top five retailers,” Jack Tretton, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said during the E3 presentation.

Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 and the Wii have outsold the PS3 by several times in the crucial U.S. market, leaving Sony, which has dominated the game industry over the past decade, in the unfamiliar position of playing catch up.

Its high price and scarcity of attractive titles have been cited as main reasons for the PS3′ slow start.

Even after the price cut, the PS3 costs $20 more than the most expensive version of the Xbox 360, and twice that of the Wii, whose $250 price and motion-sensing controller have made it a best-seller despite its lack of life-like graphics.

In a bid to send a message that strong PS3 titles are in the pipeline, Sony showcased some 50 upcoming games at the presentation, including the latest installments of blockbuster fighting game “Metal Gear Solid” from Konami Corp.  and popular in-house racing title “Gran Turismo.”

During the presentation, it was indicated that “Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots” will not be available until early 2008, giving hard-core gamers one fewer reasons to rush to store shelves.

Following the announcement, shares in Sony were up 0.3 percent at 6,350 yen by midday on Thursday, roughly in line with the benchmark Nikkei average.

A piece of code referring to Skype has been found in the recently decrypted firmware version 3.10.

There is a rumour circulating that Sony is working to partner the PSP with Skype. Skype is a popular application that allows PC and Mac users to call one another for free based on P2P telephony technology.

A reference to Skype was recently found in a decrypted version of vshmain.prx from PSP firmware revision v3.10. It is worth noting that references to both POPS and GPS PRX’s were found in previous decrypted firmware versions and have both since emerged as new features included in subsequent firmware upgrades.

Less than two weeks ago, the internet was abound with rumours about Sony entering into a partnership with some new major software companies and at least one major ISP. This may well have been the smoking gun for an as yet unannounced union between Skype and the Sony PSP, although at present this is as speculative as the recent claims that Yahoo were a likely future business partner for Sony Computer Entertainment.

Unlike the DS the PSP is not equipped with a microphone and so would need a peripheral microphone in order to be used as a P2P telephony device. There have been a slew of mods that allow the DS to be used as a two way communication device and Nintendo themselves demoed an application of their own at E3 2005 (complete with lip synching Mario and Luigi avatars).

Considering the growth in Mobile games and the recently unearthed Nintendo phone patent, it seems that the major console manufacturers certainly have communication in mind as a key feature for the future of their devices. Sony may well be trying to ensure their future credentials in that area of the market.

“Homebrew coders push the boundaries on the PSP again, StrmnNrmn has released a new version of his Nintendo 64 emulator for the PSP that has been confirmed to play Mario 64 at Full Speed on Sony’s Handheld. A full Compatibility listing is available with games such as Starfox64 playble too.”

Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will lower the price of its PlayStation Portable gaming device by $30 to $170 amid intense competition among game console rivals, particularly Nintendo Co.

It’s the first time Sony has officially lowered suggested retail prices on the PSP since its debut in March 2005. Video game publishers and financial analysts have been urging Sony to slash hardware prices in recent quarters.

The cuts come two months after Sony’s gaming unit posted a third-quarter operating loss of $443 million, largely due to hefty costs for the launch of its PlayStation 3 video game console.

Although Sony promised business at the gaming unit would improve by the latter half of the fiscal year, the company said declining sales during the October-December period of Sony’s predecessor console, PlayStation 2, as well as the handheld PlayStation Portable and PSP game software, hurt quarterly profits at the gaming unit.

Sony’s PSP competes mainly against Nintendo’s Game Boy and DS. Despite being launched in 2004, the DS — which some retailers sell for as little as $130 — outsold every other console in the United States in February, registering 485,000 units sold, according to market researcher NPD Group.

Nintendo has also been a formidable player in next-generation consoles, traditionally a Sony stronghold.

The Nintendo Wii, released in November, sold 335,000 units during the month, followed by Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 with 228,000 units and Sony’s PlayStation 3 with 127,000 units.

With its diminutive “Wiimote” — a motion-sensitive, wrist-mounted remote control — Nintendo’s Wii has been a surprise hit among kids, women and older players, catching on far beyond the “hardcore” gamer niche of young men. The Wii sells for $250, far less than the PS3, which starts at $500.

Jack Tretton, president and chief executive of Foster City-based Sony Computer Entertainment America, said Sony’s price cuts were an effort to make the game more affordable to young gamers.

“We have recently seen a steady rise in the number of teens adopting PSP as their primary handheld entertainment system, and we expect the new price will accelerate that trend,” Tretton said in a statement.

Sony, which also lowered the price of its higher-end PSP Entertainment Pack 20 percent to $200, will launch a print and online advertising campaign targeted at teenagers.

In late November, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. slashed prices on the PSP to $170. Although world’s largest retailer didn’t release sales numbers, analysts said the promotion was a success, and they were encouraged about Sony’s official new prices.

“We expect a modest step-up in PSP unit sales during an otherwise seasonally slower period for the video game industry,” Colin Sebastian, senior research analyst at Lazard Capital Markets in San Francisco, wrote in an investor note.

If everything goes according to play, eyeVio — the new video sharing service launched by Sony — will get bought out by Google, just like YouTube before it. Then again, I don’t think Sony is as willing to sell off portions of its business.

The eyeVio service is scheduled to launch in Japan (only) today, providing users with a space where they can share “my life, your emotion.” Whatever that means.

Videos can be remotely uploaded via portable devices (like cell phones and web-connected PDAs) using the mobile version of the site (m.eyevio.com). On the flip side, videos can be downloaded in PSP-compatible formats for later viewing. They’d probably work on iPods too, but Sony wouldn’t say.

Will this be another PS3? Powerful but with no one caring? Or will it be the killer app to revitalize interest in the PSP? Considering that Japan is currently Nintendo-land, I think it’s pretty safe to draw certain conclusions.

Hackers have figured out a way to make the PSP and PS3 version of Manhunt 2 from Rockstar be uncensored meaning that the game has been brought back to its original Adults Only rating state.

Hackers seem to do some amazing things and this is a perfect example of that. Manhunt 2 was originally given an Adults Only rating by the ESRB in North America, which kept it from releasing in July on the PSP, PS2, and Nintendo Wii platforms.

Rockstar had to go back to the drawing board and re-work the game to the point where they had to dumd down the violence a bit so that they were allowed to release it. They did so an yesterday on Halloween the game launched finally on the PSP, PS2, and Wii.

Now hackers have apparently found a way to remove all of the censoring by Rockstar. This reverts Manhunt 2 back to its state as an Adults Only game which will please many gamers who were not happy that the game was dumbed down a bit.

The pop culture sensation is headed to handhelds, but three years after the movie’s release.
Crave Entertainment today announced that they’ll be bringing Napolean Dynamite to handhelds (three years after the movies release). The title till debut on the Nintendo DS and PSP sometime later this year.

The game promises to bring all the idiosyncratic moments from the movie. Napolean Dynamite will feature characters such as Kip, Uncle Rico, Pedreo, Tina the llama, and of course, Napolean himself.

Napoleon Dynamite is one of the great cult classics of the past decade, said Mark Burke, senior vice president of product planning and business development at Crave Entertainment. Its one of those films that has great memorable lines and characters, and we expect that fans of the movie will really like the game.

Well just have to wait and see if Napolean Dynamite is still a commercially viable title when it�s released later this year.