If there is something that we have been talking about here at ESG it is that Sony needs to start making its advantages over the DS more apparent. One thing that they could do this with is full download games. The PSP, unlike the DS, does have the nice ability to use lots of memory if one desired to do so.
The recent firmware 3.50, as well as the newest patch 3.51, have a file within them that allows the playback of games from the memory stick. It is an official ISO loader.
Does this confirm that the Playstation Store really is coming? And, if it does, does this ISO loader, which can play full PSP software as well as PS1 games, say that Sony will start releasing games via UMD and download? Good things could be coming our way very, very soon.

Chufmoney

[via joystiq, via PSPfanboy]

Sony recently released the 3.50 firmware for the PSP. This was the firmware update that unlocked the full power of the PSP for developers. However, it also left open a nice little method for homebrewers to take advantage of the new update.
To run homebrew with firmware 3.50 all you need is a copy of Lumines and a little determination. While I won’t go into detail here about how to specifically bypass the firmware and run homebrew applications (there are plenty of places where you can read that), I will just say that the exploit comes through the menu system of Lumines.

As a result of the firmware update and its inherent homebrew hack via Lumines, Gamasutra reports that the sales of the game on Amazon have gone up by 5,900%! This places Lumines at the top of Amazon’s PSP sales chart.

Sony has not taken this situation lightly though. They just released their 3.51 firmware update, which, unlike the previous update, does nothing to help out the performance of the system. This update merely changes it so that the Lumines exploit is no longer accessible.

Chufmoney

The PSP has, up until the most recent patch, only been capable of running at 222 mhz.  However, with the 3.5o firmware update the PSP’s full 333 mhz has been unlocked for future software releases.  That’s right, if you want to play your old PSP games at the 333 mhz speed you’ll have to find homebrew firmware.  The official 3.50 update unlocks the ability, but does not make the system run natively at that speed.

Before you go getting really upset that you won’t have access to the speed upgrade all the time you should keep in mind that the higher speed is more taxing on the battery life.  The speed increase that is accomplished in homebrew firmware has been said to increase frame rates and load times but at the cost of battery life and supposedly some infrastructure problems.

If you don’t want to use unofficial software, the 3.50 firmware is good news for the future of your PSP gaming experience.  Future PSP games can now program to take advantage of the full power of the system, which will hopefully result in better looking games.  My bet is that this is the precursor to the God of War PSP release.  The way that game looks it probably needs the extra power.  1up.com sees it as evidence that the PSP redesign is in the works.  Guess the rest of us with the regular ol’ battery are fucked.

[from shacknews via 1up.com]

Chufmoney

Warhammer 40K, the much praised table top battle game from GamesWorkshop, became famous in the world of video games when THQ released their epic RTS titles.  While these games were indeed great, it always felt like such a tragedy that the 40k universe had only been done well on the PC.

Well friends, that has now changed.

THQ has officially announced a new title for both the DS and PSP called Warhammer 40,000:  Squad Command.  While almost no details appear to be available for the DS version, Gamasutra did have a few tid bits to reveal about the PSP version.  The PSP version will have a 13 missoin single player campaign, destructible 3D battlefields, online and offline multiplayer, and can support up to 8 players.  The game also will be turn based, alleviating some of the worries I had about having to manage an RTS with an extremely limited interface.

The title is scheduled to release this Fall for both hand held platforms.

Chufmoney