There seems to be rumors of late pointing to an imminent release of the PSN and PSN Store for PSP. You can read more about the rumors in the Gamespot forums or sites such as Ars Technica. But Sony, today, just sent out an email update to notify all PSN users about changes to the terms of service agreement. Click the link included in the email to see the changes. All the words in red are the changes and additions. One thing of note is that PSP is mentioned a lot more including licensing to the PSP or content downloaded to the PSP.

Specifically: "..applies to services, software and content provided through or in connection with PSN, including via the PLAYSTATION®Store and virtual communities, whether delivered onto the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) system, a personal computer or otherwise." So is this another reason to support the rumor of the PSP store and network on the PSP? I don't know, you decide. Personally I think it would be a huge feature and selling point for the PSP to have some sort of structured network vs what is available now on PSP. It would also be awesome to be able to sign on via my PSP and download a PSP game or PS1 game directly to my PSP memory card. And if I could actually transfer it to a PS3 later, for play, even better and big kudos to Sony. I hope the rumors are true, as this would be awesome. It could be sooner then we think too, if the new terms are any clue, as they go into effect 10/30/07, a few weeks from now. What do you think?

Ok so I managed to pick up an Xbox360 a couple weeks ago. Then I saw that the elite was coming out and when Best Buy had them in stock, I returned my 360 Premium and upgraded to the Elite. I mean $80 difference is somewhat a no brainer for the extras you get. I will do a thorough review in a few days. I just wanted to share my first impressions. For those of you that don't keep updated on the latest 360 stuff, the Elite is a new model of the 360 with a few added items. According to Microsoft, and despite what the Best Buy rep said in the store, MS will not be replacing the 360 Premium with the Elite. Perhaps not now, but maybe eventually. The differences between the Elite and Premium are summed up here: Premium comes with a 20GB HD with 13GB free. The Elite includes a 120GB HD with 104GB Free (included demos can free up space) Premium comes with a Component connection with optional VGA. Elite comes with Component and a standard HDMI port for enhanced video. The Premium is White. The Elite is Black. Other things that are not apparent is that with the Elite you get the latest revision of the 360. This is always a good thing, considering the rep the 360 has for breaking down. So far I am very impressed! The box color is of course different from the other two, pictures to come soon, and once opened the layout of all the cables and accessories is pretty much the same. In the box you will find the following:

• Black 360 Console with 120GB HDD
• Black wireless controller
• Black Headset
• Component/Composite Video Cable with Analog 2 Channel and TOSlink Optical for digital sound
• HDMI Cable
• Audio adapter with Analog and TOSlink Optical for use with the HDMI when you want to output sound to a receiver, etc. in addition to the TV.
• AC power brick
• Ethernet Cable
• Manuals

The thing I found cool was the inclusion of an HDMI cable, the extra 100GB HD space, and the cool audio adapter just in case you want to hook up audio direct to your receiver. Some TVs don't have a digital out, so this could come in handy. Powering it up and you are greeted with the same console setup, and dashboard as the other 360's. It does seem to load things faster with the new HDD. I would speculate that this is because larger drives seem to have better access times as the tracks on the platters are more dense. It could also be that the 120GB drive has a bigger buffer or that the rotational speed is faster. Some smaller 2.5" drives use 4200 RPM, while newer drives use 5400 RPM. This is a big boost in performance. I don't know for sure as I don't have the specs of the two drives. At any rate I am most impressed with the 360 Elite and am glad I purchased it over the Premium package. People on the forums have been saying that $80 isn't worth it just for 100GB more space. Personally I always felt the skimpy 20GB HD, with 13GB free space was pathetic. Especially when you consider that many demos are 1GB each and now with the new Video Market Place, that 13GB is going to go fast... I don't think that the people, in the $80 is not worth it camp, are seeing the bigger picture. First of all you get HDMI standard, with a cable. HDMI cables are still $35+ each. The only way previous to get 1080p out of the 360 was with the VGA cable and a compatible monitor/HDTV. VGA ports are dropping off of HDTV's like flies these days. It is becoming tougher and tougher to find a 1080p HDTV with a VGA port. They are going bye bye. HDMI is the standard and it is on all the latest model HDTVs. So in essence you are future proofing your 360 with this, even if you don't use it right now. Also the console is black, and that is pretty cool, as black is the new white! ;-) All in all the 360 Elite is pretty Sweet (no rhyme intended) ;-) But how does it compare to the premium as far as performance, heat, etc.? Check out my full review later and I will answer these questions... UPDATE: My bad, the Component cable does support 1080p with some TVs, albeit analog. However, component cables do not support Content protection, which HDDVDs use, so you would need an HDMI in that case.

Ok Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are available in stores tomorrow, Sunday April 22nd, 2007. If you are at all active on the Nintendo DS forum here on GS you will no doubt see many threads relating to these two games and Pokemon in general. First, if you have never played a Pokemon game, know that it is an RPG game with 30- 40+ hours of gameplay to complete. I won't go into the details of the games here as you can get that info in the reviews section on GS. Let me start by saying that I have no problems with opinions on games, but a lot of the threads I mentioned are littered with people that rip on other people for playing Pokemon and saying it is a "kiddy" game. I don't feel like this is fair at all and further I am an "older" gamer in my 30's and I absolutely love RPGs and video games in general. I enjoy the Pokemon series and think they are good clean fun that most people in the family can play. They are light hearted, have many many quests to accomplish and are genuinely fun games.

The other thing that bugs me are the people that slam Pokemon games and have never played them. Ok, I used to think that they were kiddy games and laughed at the games. That was before I actually played one. Once I played one, I realized that hey these are fun games. So for all of you that are slamming people for playing Pokemon games and saying how kiddy they are, etc., How about trying them out yourself? You just might be surprised at how much fun they are, no matter your age, Stop with the stereotypes and try the games yourself.

Game on and be sure to try Pokemon if you haven't...

--NeoXPG

Sony released a new firmware today releasing some restrictions it had previously on video stored on mem sticks.  It is now possible to take advantage of the native resolution of the PSP, which was formerly only available to movies on UMD. Nice!

Here are some of the details from the sony page:

"The following types of files can now be played in the "VIDEO" folder.
MPEG-4/H.264 AVC Main Profile (AVC CABAC) video files of the following sizes:
720 X 480, 352 X 480, or 480 X 272"

 This really is a step in the right direction. However I don't really understand the 720 X 480 mode. I thought the resolution of the PSP was 480 X 272? So is it scaling or what? Anyone in the know, please comment.

Also Sony announced a partner ship that allows PSP owners to use T-Mobile hot spots. There is a new option in networking to use a hot spot. Also they are offering 6 months of complimentary hot spot usage at any local hotspot.  Now when you go to Borders or Starbucks, you can engage in some wi-fi gaming.  Excellent!

Now if only I could afford a PS3. Well I do have a PS3 fund, so if you are feeling in a generous mood and you want to help someone out that had a really bad year, send a small paypal donation to my paypal email: racerx at flashmail dot com.  I will update a blog entry showing the balance. You will be my new best friend, and (when they get some kid friendly games) my kids will love you too! :D

Until next time fellow Game Spotters, Game On!

FIrst things first: I dislike piracy in any form. If a game is worth having it is worth buying. That said I still think there are legitimate reasons for Sony to make the PSP open to homebrew and to unlock its full potential. For those of you that are unclear about this let me start with a little history. When the PSP first launched in Japan, it was discovered that you could run unsigned binaries from a memory card. Code signing is a way for developers to digitally "sign" their application so the end user or OS knows it is authentic and unaltered. The early PSP firmware versions allowed applications to run without requiring this checksum. Thus anyone could create an application, store it on a memory stick and launch it. This opened the door to emulators, homebrew games and much more fun things to do on your PSP. When the US version shipped the 1.50 firmware still had a flaw that allowed this. The latest firmware , as of this blog date, is 3.11 and it is not possible to run homebrew apps with this firmware. So big deal, I can't play homebrew games or apps, who cares right? I care because there are emulators that let you play everything from SNES to PSX games. Of course provided you legally own the games you are emulating on your PSP. For instance there is a PS1 emulator that can run your old PS1 games. You simply take your original PS1 cd, create an ISO of the disk and store it on a memory card for play on your PSP. Of course there are several steps you have to do to enable this but it is very possible and Sony sells PS1 games, via the PS3, for download to your PSP. So why not open this up to games we already own? Because then Sony couldn't sell it to you again. Another area that could be changed with a more open PSP is the limitations imposed on your own video files played through the PSP. The official method only allows UMD video disks to take advantage of the full widescreen resolution of the PSP. Videos that you download to a memory card and playback on your PSP are limited to 320 X 200 instead of the native 480 X 272 (approximate) meaning if you have a widescreen TV show you want to watch on your PSP you are limited and not allowed to take full advantage of the PSP's excellent display. Ok on the plus side their are third party firmwares that allow all of this, but they are not official Sony firmwares and who knows what they could do to your PSP if not updated correctly. There are plenty of stories of people "bricking" or making their PSP's unusable and as useful as a brick, using these. If Sony allowed these uses, I don't see how this would affect the platform and game sales in anyway but positive. Of course there are people that will use this to play pirated games but this is not the majority and people that want to do that are going to do that anyway regardless of Sony. Most people will simply love the flexibility that a more Open PSP enables. If I were able to take my collection of PS1 games on my PSP with me, that would be awesome. Same goes for Video at native resolutions, that too would be excellent. Think about it Sony.