Newsbits 7/31: Loco Roco song CD, 20M PSPs shipped, cheap accessories

July 31, 2006 on 4:06 pm | In Uncategorized | Comments Off

PSPFanboy has featured a video posted over at YouTube showing how to get Flash games running on your PSP. If you can't get the official PSP-Vault Flash Portal working on your unit, this video might help you get started. A new article over at Famitsu.com indicates that Columbia Music Entertainment is releasing "that Loco Roco song" on a CD on August 30th in Japan. According to the article, Sony has been "flooded" with inquiries about what the song is. The CD will cost 1,000 yen (~$8.66 USD), and features four versions of the song. Note that this is not a Loco Roco soundtrack; this CD features only the song that you hear in Loco Roco commercials. TechEBlog has a nice article featuring five of the strangest PSP or Nintendo DS mods. New figures released by Sony Computer Entertainment International indicate that as of July 24, 2006, 20.02 million PSPs have shipped. 5.20 million in Asia, 8.17 million in North America, and 6.65 million in Europe. The official Japanese website for the upcoming "Shinobido Homura" has opened. Looks like a knock-off of Tenchu... but the PSP version of Tenchu pretty much sucks, so hopefully this will be better. A post over at Cheap Ass Gamer says that Kmart has some kind of clearance sale going on right now where you can score a PSP car adapter for $3 or a PSP battery for $4. My local Kmart had neither in stock when I checked today, so hopefully you'll fare better than I did.

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New “VIDEO” folder: why doesn’t it work?

July 31, 2006 on 1:13 pm | In Uncategorized | Comments Off

I've been messing around with the new VIDEO folder of firmware version 2.80. The one that nobody really understands. Here are the conclusions of my experiments: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video file conforming to PSP naming scheme: Not working MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video file not conforming PSP naming scheme: Not working See update! Plain MPEG-4 video file conforming to PSP naming scheme: Working Plain MPEG-4 video file not conforming to PSP naming scheme: Working As you can see, the results are clear: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 videos don't work at all, and MPEG-4 videos work even if their filenames don't conform to the old standards. I guess the latter is a victory for us PSP users, but the former seems to defeat the entire purpose of implementing the new VIDEO folder. If you can't play all your PSP videos from it, what good does it serve? I should also mention that thumbnails do not work at all. I've tried .THM, .BMP, .JPG, .PNG, and .GIF, and nothing seems to be recognized. Anyone out there gotten thumbnails to work? Update: As reported by PSP-Vault users in this article's comments, AVC files created with certain software play, but AVC files created with other software don't. At the time of this writing, PSP Media Manager and 3GP Converter create playable AVC files, but PSPVideo9 does not.

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Newsbits 7/28: RSS video roundup, slow sticks, and so on

July 28, 2006 on 6:59 pm | In Uncategorized | Comments Off

PSP Fanboy has a nice collection of video podcasts that you can use with your 2.80 firmware. Impress Watch performed tests comparing Sony's 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo with SanDisk's 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, and found that the Sony stick's HDBENCH scores were far, far worse than the SanDisk stick's scores. Because of the huge difference between the scores, Impress Watch called Sony to ask what was going on. Their response? They didn't know. Between this and the SanDisk stick being cheaper, there's really no reason to buy the Sony stick at all. Impress Watch also posted several screenshots of the upcoming Tales of Phantasia: Full Voice Edition. DevHook 0.46 is out. Speaking of homebrew, there's also some interesting new software that lets you use your PSP as a PC gamepad. A truckload of official Japanese sites have opened today: Tenchi no Mon (Heaven's Gate) 2: Busouden, Homestar Portable, Chronicle of Dungeon Maker and King's Field Additional II. PSPGadgetZ brings word that Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is preparing two new "accessory packs" for the PSP. The first is the "Play! Game Pack" that includes a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, black PSP pouch, hand strap, black accessory pouch, and cloth. The second is the "Enjoy! AV Pack" that includes a black remote with headphones, USB cable, stand, black accessory pouch, and cloth. Either pack will retail for 3,800 yen (~$32 USD). They're not really useful if you picked up a Value Pack or Giga Pack, but if you're in the market for official PSP accessories, they might be a nice option.

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Free PSP Downloads!

July 27, 2006 on 11:49 pm | In General News | Comments Off

How about free game downloads, trailers, music and pics for anyone waving a PSP? Launching from this Friday, 28 July, the PlayStation Spot 'service' will treat any customers wielding their PSP in participating stores. ... - Read [source: CVG]...

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PSP and PS3 Oblivion Rumors Reignite

July 27, 2006 on 11:45 pm | In PSP Games | Comments Off

The source of this information was an alleged leaked release schedule from Bethesda, which listed both the PSP and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The rumour slowly died down, but now it's back for more. ... - Read [source:...

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GTA Vice City Stories Confirmed for PSP

July 27, 2006 on 11:43 pm | In PSP Games | Comments Off

Fans of the series need to book off the weekend of the 20 October as Rockstar has put that date to its next instalment of its Grand Theft Auto games although other details about gameplay and missions are still thin...

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