Motorstrom And Everybody's Tennis Are Back On PSN

It is rare for me to mention when Sony does something right, so let me do this today.

Many gamers have happily discovered that the 2 psp games Motorstorm Arctic Edge and Everybody’s Tennis, are finally back on the PSN store, and, hopefully for those who had previously bought these games, in their download lists.

Sony Reveals "NASNE" For PS Vita And Other Devices

Sony Japan has revealed images for their brand new "Networked Recorder and Media Storage Device" which is compatible with the PS Vita and PS3, details inside.......


The “nasne” device comes with a 500 GB hard drive in addition to dedicated tuners for “digital terrestrial and satellite broadcast.” It can connect with several Sony devices (Playstation 3, PS Vita, VIAO PC, Sony Tablet and Xperia Play) using dedicated apps so that users can watch and record video.

You can check out how “nasne” will work with each aforementioned device from the details provided by the official press release below:

Three Free PS Vita App's Coming To The PSN Store

PlayStation Vita owners can look forward to a trio of free applications to help you make the most of the handheld console’s unique features, release date and images inside.....
Taken from Official Playstation Blog:

PS Vita Firmware 1.67 Gets Hacked.New hello world on PS Vita 1.67, and vhbl on the way.

Hope you didn’t wait too long since our last VHBL release a bit more than 2 weeks ago… This is a new PSP user mode exploit by thecobra (also discovered a while ago by WosRet), which I confirmed runs on a PS Vita with Firmware 1.67. Unlike Motorstorm and Everybody’s Tennis, this game is available in the US store as well as some other countries (details to come).
Thecobra already ported VHBL to this exploit, and we already have something running, that just needs a few tweaks here and there before being released. So far I didn’t see anything that would prevent HBL from running on Vita 1.67, but that will need to be fully confirmed in the days to come.
The name of the exploited game is obviously kept a secret until the public announcement, and if you don’t want to miss the release, remember that history repeats itself. Sony will most likely remove the game within hours following the announcement, so stay tuned.

10 Things that should be improved on the Vita

For some of us, the vita has been out for 5 months now. I could talk about how the screen looks great, how I’m happy that Sony put 2 analog controllers on the device, etc… but I’d rather focus on the things that Sony failed to achieve with the PS Vita. In the past 5 months, customers have been patiently waiting for useful firmware update that never came, or simply being updated on some of the promises that have yet to be fulfilled…
So let’s have a look at the 10 things I think Sony should have done better with the Vita, or that should have been improved in the past 5 months.

The browser

The browser on the PS Vita is awful. This is Netfront again (an “upgraded” version of the crappy browser they were using on the PSP), a browser that was dedicated to mobile devices (phones) 15 years ago, when phones had very low computing power, screens, and ram. This browser made lots of sense back then, but nowadays, compared to what we have on smartphones such as Android or iPhone, Netfront is an insult (even this new version which has been beefed up to support html5).
Lack of flash, poor refreshing rates, close to no customization… The Vita browser is doing so poorly that I don’t think anybody will ever use it to do more than browsing the PSN Store (which is what Sony wants you to do with the browser anyways). Who cares that it’s doing 99/100 on the ACID test, if you can’t do anything useful with it?


Suggestion: migrate to a proper webkit implementation, or Firefox. Or don’t put a browser in the device, at all: don’t advertise the console as being an online device, as without a decent browser, this is a lie.

PS Vita 1.67 Firmware Update Rolls Out With Free-To-Play Treasures of Montezuma Game

Following on from the recent firmware updates released by Sony for its PS Vita. Sony has today rolled out another together PS Vita 1.67 together with the consoles first free-to-play game in the form of the puzzler Treasures of Montezuma Blitz.  Treasures of Montezuma Blitz is the latest game based on the popular Treasures of Montezuma franchise and includes new power-ups and challenges for players.

A lot of people look at freemium or free-to-play games and think you have to spend money to be competitive and beat your friends. That’s actually not the case with this game.
We built the game so it is actually really fun whether you’re earning your power-ups by playing a lot and being rewarded in-game for your persistence, or if you are short on time and want the benefits of being a seasoned and dedicated player, you can spent a little to get a short-term power-up. It’s really the best of both worlds since it respects players that have a lot of time, as well as those that don’t.”
With regards the 100MB PS Vita firmware update, details of exactly what it updates or brings to the PS Vita console, are still in the dark as Sony hasn’t yet released any details. However can view a video of the free-to-pay Treasures of Montezuma game over on the PlayStation Blog and the game is now available to download from the PlayStation Store. Enjoy!

Game Play Video Of Mortal Kombat !!

PURE CHESS COMING SOON !!

Sony has announce  One of the all time classic Chess game to release on console PS3 (11 Apr 2012 ) and Vita  (18 Apr 2012)these summer !!!

Trailer looks very promising and it will support 8 multi player online involving the cross play tournament !!

Will be definitely replace the Virtual experience !!

Njoy

Price will be around 10 $

Major PS Vita price drop coming

Along with the price cut Sony also announced a "Pioneer Program" This is a set of free gifts and downloadable games which will be available to the early adopters who purchased a PS Vita at its previous $220 price. Starting April 17th PSN accounts which connect to the PS Vita PSN store before 12am April 16th will be entitled to 10 free PSP games, the free PSP games are as follows:

   

Kermit might hold the key to Vita Hardware

Kermit, either a protocol or perhaps a funny name is a communication interface for the PSP emu. Specifically it allows the PSP to talk to the host (Vita).

Now, I can tell there aren’t as many developers here, so I’ll try to simplify for the curious minds but this stuff is pretty complicated. I’ll only explain the API in detail as the lower level still need a little bit of clearing up, but here goes.

Ok, Kermit is here so that the emu can communicate to the host to share resources and other vitality. Perhaps the primary reason is that of hardware; the PSP emu is excluded from many hardware devices. So kermit sets in and allows the system to talk to the vita in order to use the hardware. Blabbering aside, this is the hardware that kermit seems to be responsible for:

Memory stick
Flash filesystem
DMA
LCD
GE
IDStorage
Audio
Camera
Power Control
USB
OSK
WLAN
RTC
… more

Kermit could be the only entry point to the actual Vita hardware

Best PSP/Vita homebrews for APRIL 2012

Here are the 10 most popular homebrews as voted by you in March 2012. The “VHBL effect” is clearly here, with a good share of the top homebrews this month being compatible with VHBL on the PS Vita. Enjoy!

10. Bookr (compatible PSP/Vita)

The PDF Reader for the PSP has been one of the favorite homebrews on the PSP for years, and keeps going strong. The PSP and Vita both lack PDF reading features, and this homebrew is here to fill the void on both consoles.

DOWNLOAD HERE


9. Cave Story (Compatible PSP/Vita)
The old school platformer with some RPG elements is still one of people’s favorites.
Works on the vita too!

Download Here

8. Kingdom Of War PSP

Unlimited X gave a boost to Kingdom of War recently, with an udate to both the game and his servers. Kingdom of War is a MMORPG for the PSP, entirely free!

Download Here

Porting VHBL to your game exploit

This guide is the second major revision of a guide I wrote a year and a half ago. In this guide I will explain how to port Half Byte Loader to your game exploit, and in particular to make it work on the PS Vita. I just updated the main file needed to create the exploit, so the timing is right.
This guide assumes that you found a user mode exploit in a game, and that you were able to write a binary loader.

So now what’s next? Well, as you probably know if you’ve gone that far, the PSP scene doesn’t really like “hello worlds”. A hello world is nice, but it accomplishes nothing, it just draws Sony’s attention to your exploit, and you know the vulnerability will be patched soon, while nobody really used the exploit.
Well, the next step is, ideally, a HEN or a custom firmware. Of course, this requires a kernel exploit, and we know how these are difficult to find. A much more doable task, that will make lots of people happy, is to port HBL to your exploit. HBL opens the door to lots of legal contents on the PSP and the Vita, and we designed it so that porting it to your game exploit can be done fairly easily.
This tutorial is valid at the time of its writing, for all games, and up to firmware 6.60 (Vita firmware 1.61). In theory, HBL will work on future firmwares, but of course new kinds of security might be introduced in new firmwares. Additionally, depending on your game (and its function imports), the compatibility and speed of homebrews might vary.

0. Easy as pie

HBL was designed to be easily ported to new game exploits. Most Game-specific files (except one) go in a subfolder that I will describe below. To complete this tutorial, you need basic shell skills, a working pspsdk, a working game exploit and the associated binary loader / hello world, a ruby interpreter, and basic ruby skills (usually, if you know any other scripting language, you’ll figure it out easily, there are not so many changes required).

1. Get the HBL sources and compile them

The first step is to get the HBL sources, compile them, and if you’re motivated, test them on an existing game exploit, to make sure the copy you have works correctly. (As I write this, it is recommended to test compilation with either the Mototrstorm or the Everybody’s tennis exploits, as we might have broken backwards compatibility with older exploits)
The sources of HBL can be downloaded here (SVN client required)
In order to compile it, you need the PSPSDK (which you probably already have if you wrote a binary loader). Compilation is fairly easy, but in order to compile the HBL for a specific exploit, you have to specify the folder of the exploit. for example, make FOLDER=lifeup will compile HBL for the Motorstorm (EU) exploit.

2. Create your own exploit’s folder

As you guessed, you will create a folder dedicated to your own exploit. Let’s imagine you game is called wololo, then you can create a subfolder “wololo” in the eLoader folder. Basically, we want to reproduce the files that are in this folder for another exploit, and adapt them to our exploit. Let’s have a look at the lifeeu folder:

The folder contains 6 files and 1 folder (which contains 1 file) that you will want to adapt to your exploit. I will describe each of them separately. Most of these files are automatically generated by a script, so this should be fairly simple.

3. Create your exploit’s files

linker_loader.x

This is the linker file for h.bin. If you created a binary loader and a hello world, you already have this file from your hello world, and most likely you named it “linker.x“. Copy linker.x from your hello world to linker_loader.x. Done!

sdk_loader.S

This is the sdk for h.bin. If you created a binary loader and a hello world, you probably already have this file, and named it sdk.S. Copy sdk.s to sdk_loader.S. If you don’t have this sdk, you can create it either by running prxtool on the EBOOT.BIN of the game, or by using the moskitool (a ruby version of the moskitool can be found in the eLoader/tools folder of the HBL). Most likely, if you created a hello world, you already have this file so I won’t give more details for now. Done!

config folder, exploit_config.h, sdk_hbl.S, loader.h,

The contents of the config folder, as well as sdk_hbl.S, loader.h, and most of exploit_config.h (details below for exploit_config.h)  are automatically generated by a ruby script that you can find in eLoader/tools/gen_exploit_config.rb.
The gen_exploit_config.rb has 2 “modes”, but I will only describe the first one, which is required the first time you adapt your exploit. You need to have a usermem dump named memdump.bin (that you acquired from psplink with the command savemem 0×08800000 0×01800000 memdump.bin). Important note: For Vita compatibility, that dump must be done on a PSP running firmware 6.60. In addition to memdump.bin, you need a list of UIDs from the same psplink session, that you will name uidlist.txt. You can get that file by typing uidlist > uidlist.txt in psplink. That file needs to be in unix format, so be sure to convert it if you are running windows. Finally, you need a file named sdk.S, which is nothing else than the sdk.S you created for your game exploit, the one we just named sdk_loader.S above.
Put these 3 files (memdump.bin and uidlist.txt obtained from the same psplink session, as well as sdk.S from your exploit) in the tools folder, and run gen_exploit_config.rb
This should display a list of addresses (you will want to copy these addresses inside the stubs array of gen_exploit_config.rb so that other people who want to improve your exploit won’t need a memory dump/uidlist anymore, although they will still need the sdk.S file), and generate a series of files in the tools/output subfolder.
The files generated by gen_exploit_config.rb in the output folder can be copied “as is” into your game’s folder.

Final edits to exploit_config.h

You’re almost done, but the file exploit_config.h need to be edited in two places, that you will find because they say “TODO” in big letters.
HBL_LOAD_ADDRESS This is where you will load HBL in RAM. You want a value that is outside of the boundaries of the game, and basically, a place where the PSP will accept to alloc roughly 200kB. you can get such an address in psplink while the game is running by typing malloc 2 test l 204800
HBL_ROOT is the name of the folder where your exploited savedata is. That folder name looks like ms0:/PSP/SAVEDATA/UCUS12345000. Important note: my tutorial on how to create a binary loader assumes you will load a file named ms0:/h.bin. On the PS Vita, this is not possible anymore, so you will have to adapt your binary loader in order to load the exploit from ms0:/PSP/SAVEDATA/XXXXXXX/h.bin (where XXXX is the folder of your savedata). In the Vita version of HBL, all HBL files for in that folder, and there is no subfolder.

linker_hbl.x

copy linker_loader.x into linker_hbl.x, and replace the address value with the value of HBL_LOAD_ADDRESS that you figured out earlier while creating exploit_config.h. Done.

4. Compile

• run make FOLDER=yourfolder (alternate ways: make distrib FOLDER=yourfolder to remove debug messaging, make nonids FOLDER=yourfolder to remove NIDs-related heavy debug messaging)
  
• You’re done, grab the h.bin and hbl.bin in the root, the config folder from your exploit’s folder, and the libs_… folders from the root. You now have the meat of your HBL port ready.

5. Last but not least

HBL is licensed under the GPL. If you plan to distribute your compiled binaries, it is required that you provide your source code as well. Don’t make us ask for it
This tutorial is voluntarily vague. Porting HBL is fairly easy, but we assume that if you made it that far, you probably are skilled enough to do some research on your own. Nevertheless, don’t hesitate to ask questions if you are running into problems
You are allowed to reproduce this article on other websites and/or translate it on condition that you put a clear link to this page in your copy.

6. More details

Porting VHBL is simple in theory, but many games do not import some functions that are necessary for HBL to run properly. One goal of the script gen_exploit_config.h is to analyze the imports of your game (this is why the sdk.S is necessary), and define some workarounds in exploit_config.h in case your game does not have all the necessary exports. This should work in most cases, but that script is still experimental and might make mistakes. Below are a few details on some of the “define” sections it creates:

TH_ADDR_LIST, EV_ADDR_LIST, SEMA_ADDR_LIST, and GAME_FREEMEM_ADDR can be computed for you by the tool eLoader/tools/freemem.rb. For that you will need a memory dump and a file uidlist.txt which is the output of the uidlist command in psplink (uidlist > uidlist.txt ). It is important to note that the memory dump and the uidlist need to be from the same session, otherwise the addresses will be incorrect. If you’re on windows, also make sure that the uidlist.txt file is in the unix format (use your favorite editor to convert it if needed). For those interested, here are some technical details about those variables, but basically the tool should do it for you

TH_ADDR_LIST, is the list of threads you want to kill. Threads are defined by a SceUID, but since this value changes all the time, what we actually want is the addresses where they are defined. in psplink, while your game (or your hello world) is running, you can get a list of these thread by typing thlist. Then look for each thread’s uid in ram. The address (hopefully unique) where the thid is defined, is what you want to put in this list.
EV_ADDR_LIST is the list of events you want to kill. You get this list by typing evlist in psplink. The rest is similar to the construction of TH_ADDR_LIST
SEMA_ADDR_LIST is the list of semaphores you want to kill. You get this list by typing smlist in psplink. The rest is similar to the construction of TH_ADDR_LIST above
GAME_FREEMEM_ADDR this is the address in Ram where the game’s memory was allocated. Most game have this but for those that don’t have it (patapon2), this value can be commented out. To find this value, type uidlist” PSPLink and look under the SceSysMemMemoryBlock section. You’re looking for blocks that have a 0xFF (user) attribute (not 0×00!), and are not “stack”. In the golf exploit, this block was simply called “block” and was easy to find. Again, you’re interested in the entry address, not the uid.

UNLOAD_ADDITIONAL_MODULES : define this variable if possible. Comment it out only if you run into issues at the “free memory” stage of HBL
Other variables: The variables above are the basics of the config file. With those, HBL should basically work, or at least take you to a step where you can start debugging. But with time, HBL has grown and has been updated by several people. In order to maintain backwards compatibility and increase game coverage, the exploit_config file was added several config values. DISABLE_P5_STUBS is useful if you run into a crash/freeze even before hbl is loaded (just after firmware detection). SYSCALL_* are used for perfect syscall estimation on firmwares where this is available (TODO: explain syscalls estimation), etc… at this point you will probably need to dig in previous exploit_config.h files in order to find more on each macro you can possibly define.

Sony to announce new Vita games next week

In case you picked up a Vita when it launched locally last week, you may be a bit miffed at the its launch line-up. Sure Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the bomb but after that there really isn’t any game that may scream out to you. All that could change next Friday as Sony are all set to unveil a whole new bunch of Vita games via their "Welcome! PlayStation Vita Game Heaven" broadcast.

According to Adrianang, this broadcast will include information about new Vita games, services as well as "new information about in-release titles", whatever that means. For more on the broadcast, stay tuned to this site on the 9th of March 2012. In the meantime, do check out our rather extensive Vita coverage to determine if Sony’s latest handheld console is meant for you.

PlayStation Vita games wishlist

So you’ve bought the PlayStation Vita and completed Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Now you’re thinking of what to buy since Sony’s launch lineup for the Vita isn’t particularly strong besides Drake’s handheld adventure and a handful of other games. Keeping that in mind we’ve devised our very own wishlist of games/video game franchises we’d like to see on the Vita ASAP. 

God of War

Well it’s God of War so there’s reason number one. Also developer Ready at Dawn showed us you don’t really need powerful hardware to make a good God of War game on handheld consoles as both their God of War games were stunning on the PSP. However, with the power of the Vita at their fingertips, it would be interesting to see what kind of insane stuff they could come up with.

Burnout

So far I’m not overly impressed with the racing games on the Vita. They’re nice sure, but none of them have particularly grabbed my attention. All that could change in a heartbeat if Criterion made a Burnout game for the Vita. Hell even if they don’t make a new one, I’ll be real happy with a Burnout Revenge or a Takedown port.

Def Jam

I might be in a minority here but to me, Def Jam Fight for New York was by far one of the most entertaining fighting games ever made. Now if EA can move pass the disaster that was Def Jam Icon, they could hopefully commission someone capable to work on a new Def Jam game for the Vita.

Grand Theft Auto

If we can have a full-fledged Grand Theft Auto game on smartphones (GTA III), I don’t see why we can’t get one for the Vita. In fact one of my biggest gripes with Grand Theft Auto III on the iPhone, the highly inconvenient control scheme, would be addressed with the move to Vita.

Trine

Trine and its sequel are highly accessible and enjoyable 2D action games that appeal to both the hardcore as well as the casual crowd. The game relies heavily on physics-based puzzles and platforming and in our opinion, both gameplay aspects would feel right at home on the Vita.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss launch trailer

Sony have released a new trailer for Uncharted: Golden Abyss just in time for the PlayStation Vita launch. Check it out after the break.

PSP UMD’s not getting into your Vita

If you’re one of the ever shrinking crowd of proud legitimate owners of a library of PSP UMD’s, the Vita is mercilessly kicking you to the curb if you’re living in the US, as the UMD Passport Program that allows PSP owners in Japan get their UMD’s registered to their device and then purchasable as a download at a discounted price WON’T be making its way.

So if you want to play your old PSP games on the Vita, you’ll have to wait for them to his the Playstation Store before downloading them at full price. The discounts range from getting a game as low as 6$ all the way up to $30. Sounds like a money racket to me, but with Sony taking some major losses in the industry in recent times, it probably seems none other than natural to them.

Bottom line is, you may still want to cling onto that old PSP if you want to play those old greats without paying to download them all again.

PS Vita News: VitaTools v1.00

Developer Deroad has released an update to VitaTools for the soon to be released PlayStation Vita. This tool will unpack the PUP files of the Vita and is based on the PS3 tools released by fail 0verflow.

Gravity Daze PS Vita skins available in March

Dezaegg are releasing official Gravity Daze skins for the PlayStation Vita. Two skin styles will be available on March 1 and each will will cost ¥1,480 ($19.30 US).

New Vita Launch Bundle finally makes 3G model attractive

US retailer Amazon started a promotional offer for the Vita 3G model launch: for 299$, people who buy the Vita 3G get a 8GB Memory card, 250MB of 3G bandwidth, and a free PSN Game. Since a memory card is compulsory for most games, and 4GB is the lowest you can get (and, if you plan to really use the console, it will not be enough), and knowing that most games are about 50$, this looks like a great offer, making the 3G model basically cheaper than the Wifi model.

This is proof that the 3G model is not getting the love that Sony was expecting, but if it’s cheaper, why would you not buy it? My Wifi model with a 4GB card and a crappy game was more expensive than this bundle.
Update: The fine prints reveal that this is not as good a deal as I initially thought it was: the “free” 250MB of 3G bandwidth is activated after your first AT&T plan, which means you have to subscribe to the AT&T offer, which makes that part no so attractive in the end. The game itself is also redeemed only if you subscribe to AT&T. This is still a good deal if you were planning on getting the 3G model, but not so attractive anymore if you didn’t have any plan to subscribe to AT&T with your Vita. Thanks to NitsudR for point this out!

And because it’s Amazon, people who already preordered a 3G model will also be getting this promotion

Ragnarok Odyssey demo downloaded 100,000 times

GungHo has announced that the Ragnarok Odyssey demo, released for the PlayStation Vita on January 19, has been downloaded a total of 100,000 times. To commemorate the achievement, the official Ragnarok Odyssey has been  updated with a new wallpaper.