The latest sales numbers are in, and Nintendo reported Wii sales of 171,851 units in Japan for the month of July. While the PSP continues to ride a wave of strong sales in Japan, the Wii-rival PS3 only sold 54,823 units last month, allowing the Nintendo Wii to outsell it by 3-to-1 according to game magazine Enterbrain. But all is not lost for Sony as the PSP remains the king of sales in Japan, hustling 256,765 units out the door compared to the Nintendo DS’s 217,639, certainly not too shabby in its own right and not very far behind. The PSP’s newfound usefulness as not just a gaming platform but also a handy media and mobile device as launched its sales over recent months as more and more gamers snap them up. Read more »

Update - TA-088 v3 MB’s are the only ones not hackable at this time (8/13/08)

As of this month, there have been reports of newer Slim models utilizing the TA-088 motherboards rendering Despertar del Cementerio (DC), Pandora, and Time Machine useless.

The new motherboard blocks Custom/unsigned IPLs from loading from the memory stick; that’s likely a result of the kernel 1.50 & 3.40 mix. With that said, we won’t see a new version of DC — Dark_AleX’s universal unbricker — until the revamped core and interface is finished. So in the meantime, be careful.

A post on the Dark AleX blog addressed the problems with running Despertar del Cementerio, Pandora, and Time Machine on certain PlayStation Portable Slim and Lite with TA-088 motherboards.

According to the announcement posted by webmaster Alek, the IPL used for the three applications doesn’t work. Now interestingly enough, IPLs can still be run from the Memory Stick, but are limited to those signed by Sony. This in turn “will probably block the actual way of running your cfw’s, as you couldn’t even load on this NANDs the custom IPLs with different signature.” He explained the problem further:

Even though, IPL is not the problem, but probably the mixed kernel of 1.50&&3.40, and it will be the best option to use a new kernel on Despertar del Cementerio future versions.

So what does this mean for homebrew users? Well, a “new Dc version will not be released till the new Core and interface is finished.” So does this mean that they’ll find a way to get around the problem? Most definitely. All they need is a little time.

DAX WILL BREAK IT!!!

Image from: Nemesis 14

Some may think the best use of the Sony PSP UMD drive is to play PSP games/movies, but I would actually argue that it isn’t. First off, let me start by saying, I think the UMD drive is a waste of space, and a piece of junk. UMDs are pretty big for what they are, and when you use them in your PSP, they not only waste batteries from spinning, they also make unnecessary noise. With a modified PSP, you don’t ever need to use the UMD drive again. Read more »

Ever wonder how to take screen shots of your PSP games in action or even how to take videos of your play? Well here is the solution, install Custom Firmware Extended 2.2 (CFE). CFE has been around for a while and is written by Dark_Alex. By the way, I over simplified by with the title, it does a lot more than just screen shots. (Works on both Slim (2000) and Fat (1000) psp’s)

Highlights of Custom Firmware Extender 2.2: Read more »

Sony has offically launched the 4.05 release. Not much has changed with this new version so getting a custom firmware version of it is next to none.

If you are interested in downloaded the latest update you can get it via the PSP network, or click below:

Official PSP 4.05 FW Update

Sony and Sky have announced that their handheld video-on-demand service Go! View has finally gone live today, in both the UK and Ireland.

Users of the service can download and transfer content from their PCs to the PSP after they have signed up for monthly subscription packages ranging between GBP 5 and GBP 10 per month.

“We are working with our content providers to secure a quality range of programming and ensure that PSP owners are getting the best possible service on-the-go and on-demand,” added Alison Turner, general manager, of Go! View Entertainment UK.

Known partners of the service include Disney-ABC-ESPN, BBC Worldwide, Sony Pictures Television, NBC Universal International, National Geopraphic and Sky Sports.

So if you just bought a PSP and want to get into custom firmware, this is the right place to be. If you already have custom firmware on your PSP and just want to upgrade to 4.01, skip below to the 4.01 section. Update: This works on the new blue Madden PSP as well!

Requirements:

1. Pandora’s Battery.
2. Memory Stick Pro Duo (64mb to 8gb TESTED so far - any will do).
3. psp-grader-v005-lite-setup
4. Official PSP 3.90 Firmware.

Steps:
1. Install PSP Grader on your computer. Read more »

What is Remote Play? Remote Play is a feature on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable which allows a PlayStation Portable user to interact with their PlayStation 3’s Xross Media Bar. Users can access music, videos, photos, games and various applications stored on the PlayStation 3’s HDD, or external flash drives and optical media attached to the PlayStation 3. Read more »

Forget v3.96 in Hot Shots Golf 2, the newest PSP system software update, v4.00, has been released as an official PSP update from Sony. The newest feature this update adds is integrating Google search directly to the XMB (XrossMediaBar) interface. It allows direct access to the search bar without having to go to www.google.com first and is able to store the last 20 search queries. Read more »

Gamers who picked up a copy of Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 for the Sony PSP were treated to a surprise as the newest 3.96 firmware was available for install on the game disc. If you must absolutely have the latest and greatest, well then you might want to pick up your copy today. That’ll earn you some bragging rights, at least until Sony makes it official by releasing some info on the update.