Well, well. Here’s a surprising turn of events for you! Following a recent set of videos posted by a modchip website, it would appear that a Chinese company have developed the world’s first PlayStation 3 “modchip” in the form of a USB key which allows the backup and booting of original PlayStation 3 titles in the latest firmware, Version 3.41.
Currently, said modchip website are offering pre-orders for the USB key for the ridiculous price of $170. Figures from the PlayStation hacking scene have come forward, commenting that if it is indeed real, it will be utilizing large portions of Sony SDK code, making it even more illegal than it already is.
We’ll cover this topic in greater detail when more is known.
Nick Burton, senior programmer at avatar creators Rare, has today brought news of what is essentially “Avatar 2.0″ for the Microsoft Xbox 360, The newer avatars will sport more realistic appearances and dimensions to better match the input from Kinect.
The proportions will be made more realistic because hand-eye co-ordination broke when using the old cartoony proportions – not in terms of hardware but rather, player perception.
No exact date has been given, but seeing as though Kinect is set for launch this November you can rest assured this update will occur by then along with the next major dashboard update.
The course count for Polyphony Digital’s real driving simulator Gran Turismo 5 is now approaching infinity, thanks to the game’s just revealed Course Maker, shown off today at Gamescom in Germany.
Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi demoed the Course Maker feature today, showing that it’s not the type of tool that will let players build a custom course from scratch, but something different. A fully featured track editor, Yamauchi says, “really requires a complete CG tool, which would limit the number of users who could use it.”
Instead, Gran Turismo 5′s Course Maker lets you build a custom racetrack based on a set of parameters. Players can select a theme, choose the number of sections and course type (one way or loop), weather, time of day and length. Two of the themes shown off were Toscany and the Belgian High Fens.
The Course Maker lets you edit that track section-by-section, choosing the frequency of curves, course width, sharpness of corners, degree of topography tracing, and bank angles. Those choices are set by sliders or drop down lists. Yamauchi created a pair of custom tracks, both with the same theme but with different parameters. He quickly took each for a test drive, illustrating how quickly a player could create two very different courses.
Yamauchi also offered a look at Gran Turismo 5′s newest vehicle, karts. The Polyphony Digital head honcho said that it was planned to be a feature for the next game in the series, but after the feature was apparently “leaked,” the team decided to include it earlier.
The highest rated game of the year has been officially announced for the PS3, at GamesCom 2010.
The Mass Effect franchise is an epic science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous aliens and mysterious, uncharted planets. In Mass Effect 2, PlayStation 3 players will step into the role of Commander Shepard for the very first time, leading a crew of the most dangerous special operatives from across the galaxy on a mission to save mankind. Featuring intense shooter action, a rich storyline, space exploration and emotionally engaging character interaction, Mass Effect 2 delivers an unparalleled gameplay experience.
Available starting January 2011 on Blu-ray, Mass Effect 2 for PS3 will contain hours of bonus content. Keep your eyes and ears open!
If you’re a regular over here at Nyleveia, you’re probably already know about the release of Aniom Koira and Aniom Koira Evolution at the start of the month. Either way, did you know that at the same time, both Aniom and Aniom Taiga also received updates to bring them in line with PS3 Firmware 3.41?
If you didn’t, now you do! You can grab them by heading to the Aniom minisite.
If you haven’t heard of the other two themes yet, previews are right here after the jump!
You can also find a special section for our theme designs over on our Flickr page.
With the recent controversy over the Gran Turismo 5 video that was originally showing a horrible load time (which we debunked), we decided it would useful to follow-up by examining loading times for the Nürburgring track on various games and across various platforms.
The results were fairly interesting! Originally we had planned to test Forza Motorsport 2, Forza Motorsport 3, Project Gotham Racing 4, Gran Turismo 4, a video of Gran Turismo 5 from online, and GRID. However, we couldn’t confirm if GRID actually had the full Nordschleife track available, so we cut GRID out.
We began each game afresh, and played until the track was accessible. We then recorded the track loading, starting from the point at which we pressed the appropriate button to begin the race. All 5 videos have been combined so that you can see them side by side. The load times have been documented, but first, check out the video.
