Following the recently released Legends & Killers pack, Rockstar Games have announced another DLC for Red Dead Redemption. The Liars & Cheats pack will be available on September 21st via PSN for $9.99 or £7.99, and via Xbox Live for 800 Microsoft points.
The brand new pack combines an expansion of the free roam multiplayer experience with a new competitive mode and a devastating new weapon – the Explosive Rifle.
Chinese PC maker Lenovo will go head-to-head with the big boys in the video game console market, looking to snatch away market share from the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.
On Aug 9, a team of some 40 Lenovo software engineers was spun off from the Lenovo Group to develop and market the “eBox”, a platform similar to Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360. The Kinect enables users to control and interact with the device without the need for a game controller. The device leverages a user interface and reads user gestures with a webcam.
The spin-off firm, called Beijing eedoo Technology Ltd, was formed to rival well established brands including Microsoft’s Xbox, Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation. Lenovo Group, Legend Holdings and Legend Capital co-invested in the newly launched company. Officials refused to disclose investment figures.
Design concepts of Beijing eedoo’s eBox that were provided to China Daily
“We are the world’s second company to produce a controller-free game console, behind only Microsoft,” said Jack Luo, a former department chief with Lenovo, and now president of Beijing eedoo Technology. EBox uses a camera to track player movement, but unlike Nintendo’s Wii or Sony’s Move system, eBox can plot movements and translate them into onscreen action without the need for a controller.
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Today, Australian retailers including OzModchips have had to send those that ordered PSJailbreak some unsettling news. The news is that Sony Europe has imposed an injunction on any person selling the PSJailbreak and therefore they have no option but to issue a refund on PSJailbreak. It will take a very brave company to take on Sony! Sony has acted very quickly on the matter and a court hearing between Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and OzModchips is due on August 31st. E-mail revealed inside.
Here’s a content of one of these emails:
We regret to inform you that today Sony Australia imposed an injunction against any company / person’s selling the PS Jailbreak devices, so it is with great regret that we have to inform you that we will not be buying or selling any PS Jailbreak devices. We have just issued a full refund to your card for the pre-order made.
We wish to apologize immensely for any inconvenience this may have caused, and hope that you can understand our position on this matter. Please note the refund we have issued can take approx 5-working days to show on your card.
Best Regards,
For those wondering, SCE Europe covers the EMEA region which includes Europe and Australia, hence why they are taking action against an Australian retailer. Within the case, there are multiple parties involved including:
SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE LIMITED
First Applicant
SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Second Applicant
OZMODCHIPS PTY LTD
First Respondent
RYAN EMMANUEL CARUANA
Second Respondent
GLOBAL SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD T/A QUANTRONICS
Third Respondent
KEN TOLCHER PTY LTD T/A MOD SUPPLIER
Fourth Respondent
[Source]
Minor chaos erupted this morning when marketing manager for XBox Live EMEA, Robin Burrowes, said at Gamescom that Kinect voice control was something that would be “turned on in due course.” The chat software, Video Kinect, was also placed in the same boat.
Since then, Microsoft have corrected themselves.
“Voice control is an exciting part of the Kinect for Xbox 360 controller-free experience and we can confirm that it will be available at launch in November 2010. Only on Xbox 360 will you be able to navigate the Kinect Hub using your voice to control your movies, TV Shows and music. We do not have additional details to share about local voice availability at this time.”
Demonstrations and trailers have shown users selecting functions and media on the Xbox 360 by telling the console what they want it to do, with the Kinect also having the ability to identify voices of individual users.
Will the Kinect have English-only voice controls at launch while other language speakers will just have to sit tight? What’s happening with the live chat and voice ID? We sure hope Microsoft sorts out these integral features before Kinect’s launch in early November!
[Source]
With the internet awash with news coverage for PSJailbreak, sites are popping up all over with fakes, scams, and all sorts of schemes designed to benefit from the rush of interest in PlayStation 3 hacking. Widely reported across the internet is the “world’s first PSJ clone”, the x3Jailbreak.
Their website presently shows a selection of images claimed to be product shots of their yet-to-be-released device. However, this most likely isn’t true.
There’s a high probability that either the device will never exist, or that the team are simply generating hype to establish a following of users for when they do get their hands on the real deal to create their own clone. One thing is certain: the x3Jailbreak PCB they are currently showing is a fake.
As you can see from the above image, both devices follow a similar layout with a bank of SMT’s leading to a crystal oscillator then a flash controller and lastly the SMD (Activity light). On the lower device, the flash memory itself is located on the underside of the PCB, as the many vias present in the PCB around the flash controller indicate. A similar arrangement of vias are present on the purported x3Jailbreak, leading me to believe that there is actually a flash chip present on the rear of “their PCB” too.
Upon further inspection of the original PSJailbreak, it’s obvious that its functionality is completely different from that of a normal USB drive, with ground and data being used as what I assume is a serial connection to the host. Data+ and data- of x3Jailbreaks’ PCB, however, shows me without question that the PCB they are showing off is nothing but the internals for a generic or branded-clone USB flash drive, which is further supported by x3Jailbreaks’ act of masking the flash controller’s printed ID. This chip is most likely an Alcor AU6984 flash storage controller.
There you have it. For the time being at the very least, the x3Jailbreak is fake.
[Update]
The owners of the x3Jailbreak site have now, crudely, added the following messsage:
The haters have started accusing us of being fake but video speaks louder then words. We are looking for a web site with high visibility to send them a sample so they could test and post a video demo of the solution as proof of evidence
Not to be a stick in the mud, but given that the updated image they are using has an Iphone with a youtube logo, wouldn’t the logical thing to do suggest they make the video themselves and upload that to youtube?
I suspect stall tactics, that they are waiting for their order of an actual x3Jailbreak to arrive to post videos and claim they were done using their device.
I’m no modchip maker, but it seems obvious to me that if you truly were in their position with a real USB mod, you would send it to one of the sites that received the PSJailbreak given their current exposure.
Further, given that the USB device pictures is just a USB memory stick, were they simply using a generic USB stick as a placeholder, you’d think they would have removed it when updating the page.
[Update 2]
Today logic-sunrise have posted new images of the x3Jailbreak, which I initially covered in the above post, i concluded that the original image they used on their website pictured a standard USB flash drive with the following opinion:
One thing is certain: the x3Jailbreak PCB they are currently showing is a fake.
And true to form, the PCB they are now showing is not the same at all.
As you can plainly see, the layout of this PCB is completely different and contains far fewer vias, retaining roughly the same number as given to the original PSJailbreak.
While they may brush off the original image as a placeholder, or claim it was an early prototype, the fact remains it was a standard USB storage device, and were they simply using the image as a placeholder it would have saved them a lot of trouble to simply state this.
I’ll be contacting them shortly to request a sample, as we were the ones to break the news that their displayed PCB wasn’t the real deal, it’s only right that we’re the ones to correct this should they have a working copy in hand.
Oh yes. As promised, the ban hammer is a’coming.
Starting on Tuesday, August 24th – we will be swiftly and indefinitely banishing from the world of Red Dead Redemption multiplayer all Gamertags and PSN IDs we’ve detected with hacked game saves. Such cheating is a clear violation of our code of conduct, and punishable at our sole discretion.
If you are one of these people, we are giving you this last chance for REDEMPTION to restore your HONOR: you have one week from today to delete your hacked game save to be spared the hammer’s swift justice on the 24th.
Some notes to be aware of:
1. Players would keep any Achievements/Trophies they had already earned.
2. All preorder items tied to their accounts would be unlocked for them upon signing in and creating a new save while connected to Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Network
3. Any cheats earned through Social Club would be unlocked for them upon signing in and creating a new save while connected to Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Network
Much of the buzz this past weekend has been about people attempting to reverse engineer the hardware behind the latest, and to date the most successful, PS3 “hack”.
Forums, blogs, and even Twitter have been awash with activity as coders, hackers and modders exchange brief messages and ideas about how the device functions and whether or not it can be cloned. The answer seems to be a resounding yes, given that several websites are now claiming to know the exact model of the microchip used in the USB hardware, despite the maker’s best attempts to conceal the information printed on the chip itself.
While some believe the microchip to be a Parallax P8X32A-Q44, given the characteristics and design of the chip in the photos of the device’s internals, I am more inclined to say the chip (as many others are saying) is actually a 44-Pin TQFP PIC18F4550.
A problem many are facing currently is that there are no pictures of the PCB with the microchip removed. Possessing such images would provide greater detail with regard to which pins are being used and where those pins are traced to, but for now further identification attempts are hindered until the product has been released to the public.
To the left is the pin configuration for the microchip that is most likely being used, credit goes to planetadejuego for the original picture of the hardware.
The guys over at logic-sunrise then took this a step further by attempting to figure out the PCB layout from pictures alone.
The general consensus at this time would appear to be that the USB device could be cloned readily and reproduced at a very low cost.
One thing through all of this remains clear, however. Even before the product is released, this is something Sony can definitely detect should users venture online with their modded console, and will likely be patch with future firmwares – this provides a reasonable explanation for the ridiculously high price of the USB device: the creators are in effect taking snatch-and-grab approach before the device gets blocked and rendered useless.
Some so-called-hacker has claimed: “The stick is used to boot a special firmware from itself before the original PS3 firmware starts.” Given the relatively tiny storage size within the chips being used in this device, 32KB, it is fair to say that the above is obviously and completely wrong. What is more likely is that the USB device carries a specific device ID, and when triggered, the USB device then answers challenge responses sent to it. Other than that, I seriously doubt there is any actual file transfer occuring.
[Update]
The guys over at Gamefreax.de have done a full trace of the usb device and concluded that the chip is infact an Atmega, possibly an Atmega16, that emulates a 6 port hub.
Head on over there for a full report!
Microsoft recently uploaded the entirety of Halo: Reach onto Xbox Live Marketplace strictly for game reviewers to download but a group of modders found out and have been able to attain the game for themselves. The group claims they broke through Microsoft’s security and were able to download the game and play it, though they say they will not give away exactly how they were able to obtain the game and that they will not release the game for others to download, those selfish modders.
“So after alot of .xex cracking etc.. Me and my team finally did it, we got Halo: Reach!,” the modders claimed. “This is not released for public, and we are not really planning on releasing either.”
Bungie is apparently aware of the leak and is pleading with it’s forum users to try to avoid posting spoilers to those that have been able to get the game early and to stay clear of internet message boards for those that don’t want the experience ruined before Reach’s official release on September 14th.
“Posting to Discuss, Request, or Link To information or campaign spoilers from illegitimately obtained sources — including illegitimately obtained copies of Halo: Reach — before the game is officially released will be considered a leak and will be treated as such,” Bungie warned.
“The moderation team is doing their best, but if you want to stay 100% spoiler free, our best advice is to ‘go dark’ by staying off all internet gaming forums until you have played through the game!”
