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November will see the release of two new console titles from the Lego stable.

First off is the follow-up the Indiana Jones adventures in Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues. In this title, players will once again get to re-create adventures from all the movies, including the latest including the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Jones will visit South American jungles, Peruvian Ruins and many other places.

The second release I’m quite keen to get hold of is the Lego Rock Band game, bringing the fun of multi-user band members and the Lego universe together.

Until these titles are available locally in the next two or so weeks, why not build something related to Lego Rock Band? A tour bus might be a great idea…

Get the building instructions here (direct PDF link).

It’s quite unbelievable, really. I bought my PSP in October 2005, preparing for the huge event that was to be Gran Turismo on a compact gaming device. Needless to say, I was let down, as were many, many other avid fans of the genre. Most people are fooled just once. Not me. I bought the PS3 special package that included GT5 Prologue, once again with the implicit understanding that a full version of the game would be released in a very short timeframe following that purchase. That was about two years ago.

There’s good news for those who still care to be excited about the Gran Turismo franchise. A preview of the final game for the PS3 was shown in August and a release date set for early 2010.  And today, after four years of waiting, Gran Turismo for the PSP has finally been announced!

Amazingly, the game will be available on a UMD, making it available to owners of older PSP models. Here’s the blurb from the official website:

Massive content including over 800 cars and 35 tracks with 70 layout variations, can now be enjoyed on the PSP “Playstation Portable” anytime, anywhere. That’s what Gran Turismo for PSP is all about.

Led by cars like the ’74 Lamborghini Countach LP400, there are many models making their first appearance in the series. As for the tracks, there is the popular Nürburgring, and a dirt track that can be driven by 4 players simultaneously.

There are many new innovations such as the single races where the player can nurture their personal AI driver, head to head racing using the Adhoc mode of the PSP, and trading and sharing of cars. The popular drift trials are also included in the game.

GT on the PS3 is absolutely awesome and one of my favourite titles on that platform. From the screenshots and the preview movie, the portable version looks just as good. I just hope that I can still find my dusty PSP in the cupboard somewhere…

and then, I hope it still boots up…

Sony has made a new version of the firmware available for the PS3. Firmware 3.0 features a number of improvements, specifically with respect to the user interface of the XrossMediaBar

and a new screen detailing a more attractive overview of the online store.

Most, if not all, of the improvements listed on the official site are less than earth-shattering. Copy and paste is supported when using the on-screen keyboard, additional folders containing media files are now recognized on external storage devices, multi-output audio is supported and the ability to save screenshots has been added.

I couldn’t find the item I would most like to see in the new firmware, namely the ability of the system to be able to resume downloads instead of discarding interrupted ones and restarting from the beginning. To counter that, I normally download the update file using a download manager on a computer, then perform a manual update.

The official download site may be found here, together with a description of what the update contains. The update is approximately 150MB in size.

The Ridge Racer 2 website still lists this title as coming soon…

It’s available

A few more cars, some new tracks, some additional racing modes in addition to the usual tours and time attack.

Namco are busy preparing a follow-up to the original Ridge Racer for the PSP. Ridge Racer 2 is just months away from a release in Japan. Featuring more cars, tracks, modes and vehicle classes this a treat for fans of the genre.

Get more detail at IGN and additional screenshots here.

Below, a screenshot of a new Angelus:

This is one to look forward to!

Sony released a new PSP firmware update in the last week of April. Firmware 2.7 for the PSP includes a few new features and undoubtedly some additional coding to prevent hacks and homebrew applications from functioning.

Nothing tremendously exciting:

• Flash support for the Internet browser
• the ability to save podcasts to a memory stick
• AAC support for the music player

The update is available here, together with some instructions on how to proceed with the installation.

I use the PSP for gaming, not watching movies. It’s sad to see the UMD format heading for the toilet, though. Few titles have made it to UMD and even attempts to bundle DVD’s together with UMD’s have not helped sales. Now, major entertainment studios have stopped pushing the format and will no longer release titles on UMD.

This is another in a line of failure’s on Sony’s part to attempt to corner marketshare by introducing proprietary media formats. Betamax, MiniDisc, Memory Stick and now the UMD, Sony just doesn’t learn!

Thankfully I have my copy of Ridge Racer on UMD already – it’s likely it’ll become a museum piece…

via Slashdot

Once again hackers have managed to compromise Sony’s PSP to enable homebrew applications to be played. The new vulnerability has been enabled through a feature in Grand Theft Auto. Effectively, a backdoor permits a file to be loaded that, in turn, provides execution for homebrew applications. In addition to the actual game, you’ll need

1. eLoader software
2. a PSP with at least 2.0 firmware
3. a memory stick containing a saved game
4. USB cable
5. some homebrew applications

The amount of effort this requires is quite substantial – not enough to justify playing emulators, in my opinion! Can Sony ever really lock the PSP down?

More information here.