Console World

Jeremy Dunham has announced that today (still tomorrow for some of you maybe?) a Patch for MAG will be released.
They will also perform some server maintenance during their usual window of 1am Pacific/ 4am Eastern/ 9am GMT and 3am Pacific/ 6am Eastern/ 11pm GMT, so you’ll probably experience a downtime today.

MAG Patch v1.01a

Graphics

• Resolved issue that caused banding and/or artifacts in the sky.

Server

• Server performance enhancements with a focus on reducing lag issues.
• Lowered chances of encountering 5:5 errors
• Added additional statistics-focused servers
• Added additional servers for Japan.
• Reduces the amount of time after a game finishes before stats post to account.

Release notes can be found here.

Source: MAG Blog

Following the release of the Sample PS3 Linux Isolated SPU Loader Code, GeoHot has released the exploit and explained how it works.

To quote GeoHot:

In the interest of openness, I’ve decided to release the exploit. Hopefully, this will ignite the PS3 scene, and you will organize and figure out how to use this to do practical things, like the iPhone when jailbreaks were first released. I have a life to get back to and can’t keep working on this all day and night.

Please document your findings on the psDevWiki. They have been a great resource so far, and with the power this exploit gives, opens tons of new stuff to document. I’d like to see the missing HV calls filled in, nice memory maps, the boot chain better documented, and progress on a 3D GPU driver. And of course, the search for a software exploit.

This is the coveted PS3 exploit, gives full memory space access and therefore ring 0 access from OtherOS. Enjoy your hypervisor dumps. This is known to work with version 2.4.2 only, but I imagine it works on all current versions. Maybe later I’ll write up how it works

This is a good article for what it means for the less technical.

Good luck!

In the readme, GeoHot says “The PS3 is hacked, its your job to figure out something useful to do with it.”, looks like StreetskaterFU was wrong (?).

This guy is a genius in my opinion, now let’s hope someone makes a great use of this exploit.

Download: PS3 Exploit
Source: GeoHot’s Blog

It seems that GeoHot, the one who first hacked the iPhone, has finally manage to hack the Playstation 3.

To quote his post:

I have read/write access to the entire system memory, and HV level access to the processor. In other words, I have hacked the PS3. The rest is just software. And reversing. I have a lot of reversing ahead of me, as I now have dumps of LV0 and LV1. I’ve also dumped the NAND without removing it or a modchip.

3 years, 2 months, 11 days…thats a pretty secure system

Took 5 weeks, 3 in Boston, 2 here, very simple hardware cleverly applied, and some not so simple software.

Shout out to George Kharrat from iPhoneMod Brasil for giving me this PS3 a year and a half ago to hack. Sorry it took me so long

As far as the exploit goes, I’m not revealing it yet. The theory isn’t really patchable, but they can make implementations much harder. Also, for obvious reasons I can’t post dumps. I’m hoping to find the decryption keys and post them, but they may be embedded in hardware. Hopefully keys are setup like the iPhone’s KBAG.

A lot more to come…follow @geohot on twitter

This guy is a genius in my opinion. Props to him!
Now let’s hope it doesn’t bring piracy to the Playstation 3.

Source: GeoHot’s Blog

Today, Jem Alexander, Social Media Manager, SCEE, has published a timelapse video of the setup process of the 256 structure.
To quote:

To tide you over until Friday, here’s a timelapse video of the setup process for the now legendary “256″ structure that housed our brave soldiers during the event. I think you’ll agree it’s a pretty impressive feat of engineering.

Here’s the video:

I liked the video but I guess I’ll love the game.
Stay tuned for more news!

Source: Playstation Blog

Sony announced today that its Motion Controller for the Playstation 3 won’t hit the stores this Spring, but will be available this Fall for all territories.

Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc:

We have decided to release the Motion Controller in fall 2010 when we will be able to offer an exciting and varied line-up of software titles that will deliver the new entertainment experience to PS3 users, ” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

…

We will continue to work to have a comprehensive portfolio of attractive and innovative games for the Motion Controller, not only from SCE Worldwide Studios but also from the third party developers and publishers, whom we have been working closely with. We look forward to soon unveiling the exciting software line-up that further expands and defines the PS3 platform as the ultimate entertainment system for the home.

Sony still has to confirm the name of the motion controller but recent comments by Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello hint that it is going to be called “Gem”.

To quote IGN:

At last year’s Tokyo Game Show, Sony also revealed a list of several titles that will incorporate the motion wand, including Resident Evil 5 (Gold Edition), LittleBigPlanet Motion, and Ape Escape PS3.

Resident Evil 5 (Gold Edition) is currently scheduled for release this March in Japan, but it may also be delayed now, too. We contacted Capcom for an update.

I wonder how “Gem” will work. Stay tuned for more updates!

Source: IGN

Last Friday, Jeremy Dunham has published the statistics for MAG Beta 5.0 on the MAG blog and for those who haven’t seen them, you read them now.

MAG Beta 5.0 Statistics:

• Before the end of the beta on January 10, there were well over a million downloads (860,000 in North America alone) of the MAG beta client worldwide.
• Of the 619,000+ people who gained at least one point of experience, 52,846 of them qualified for Squad Leader, 10,249 people qualified for Platoon Leader, 3,181 warriors made it all the way to OIC, and a mere 143 diehard soldiers made it to the level 60 experience cap.
• The breakdown of PMC preference ended up like this: Valor – 38.7%, Raven – 37.2%, SVER – 24.1%
• Who won the Beta 5.0 Shadow War? Despite their smaller numbers, SVER took the Sabotage war – barely edging out Raven. Meanwhile, Valor took the Domination title; narrowly escaping a loss to Raven’s flock.
• More than 225 years worth of battles were played out over the week — with an average of 3.2 hours played per person.
• For the third beta period in a row, of all PSN users who participated in our testing phase, chennault2424 was the most prolific – he earned nearly 110,000 XP; making his grand total for the last three testing periods in excess of 360,000 experience points.
• Though chennault was the top guy, the remaining Top 5 list of players included My_Digital_Enemy, gomi-bukuro (jp), basquasher (jp), and Behike (jp).

These statistics made me want it even more. Too bad I’ll need to wait until it hits the shelves on January 26.

Source: MAG Blog

Today Sony Associate Product Manager, Cristian Cardona, has published on the playstation blog the Heavy Rain US packfront.

Here’s what it looks like:

Continue reading

MAG – Massive Action Game PS3 Beta officially starts today!

You may have downloaded it already but in case you didn’t, you can still do it.

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During a short demo presentation of Gran Turismo 5 earlier this week, SCEA Associate Producer Chris Hinojosa-Miranda confirmed the March 2010 as the month of the PS3 GT5 release.

For those who don’t live in Japan, he revealed that Sony is vaguely pointing to a “Summer 2010″ release.

Interestingly, Hinojosa-Miranda had mentioned to me that he was traveling the U.S. in the coming week to photograph cars for Polyphony’s reference material. With nearly 1,000 cars in the game, it’s not that big of a stretch to think that they may still be working to flesh out the game’s roster. And while he wouldn’t confirm how far along they were towards completing Gran Turismo 5 development, he did say this work wasn’t necessarily for the current game.

“It’s not for Gran Turismo 5 or a DLC release,” he said, clarifying that it’s constantly building on its reference material archives. After years of development and multiple Gran Turismo titles, how else do you think it’s filling those garages but with non-stop research?

On the subject of DLC for the title, he said it was something it was considering, but had nothing to announce at this time.

When asked if there would be any difference between the Japanese version set for release in March and the North American version many months later, he was also non-committal, saying simply they hadn’t yet revealed the full feature list. Details, he told me, would be coming soon.

If you’re seeking to get your hands on it, you won’t need to wait until next year, the demo will be available on PSN next week.

Source: Destructoid

Sony has been quiet when it comes to talking about the upcoming PlayStation 3 Motion Controller. They haven’t mentioned it since its reveal at the past E3.
However, a conference held in New York this morning with Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello might have spoiled Sony’s surprise.

When talking about console pricing and innovation at the UBS 37th Annual Global Media Conference, Riccitiello mentioned the two upcoming Motion Controllers:

In the coming year, both Sony and Microsoft have announced new controllers. Motion sensor controls, Natal and Gem, these are likely to bring new consumers into the marketplace,

Is it an acronym? Did John misspoken its name? Was he referring to the glowing ball at the end of the controller?

When IGN asked Sony about Riccitiello’s comment, Sony told them:

No official name for the PlayStation motion controller has been announced.” Electronic Arts, meanwhile, said they were unable to confirm the accuracy of his remarks at this time.

The controller is set to be released in 2010 and maybe we’ll need to wait until then to find out its name.

Source: IGN