More Cowbell!

PSP Minis

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced the imminent arrival of “minis”: a new section on PlayStation(R)Store that offers a range of all-new downloadable games for PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable). Available exclusively via digital distribution, “minis” will have a 100MB size limit, ensuring they are quick and easy to download to either the upcoming PSP(R)go or to the more than 52 million units of PSP that exist worldwide, offering innovative entertainment at your fingertips.

The new “minis” section will be available on PlayStation Store on 1st October in Europe/ PAL territories and in North America, to coincide with the launch of PSPgo, offering more choice, more ways to play and more innovative experiences to immerse yourself in wherever you are. Fifteen games will be available initially, across a wide variety of genres including arcade-style games, racers, parlor games - and a few that defy categorization! - with more than 50 games on offer by the end of the year in Europe and the PAL territories.

The “minis” development process has been designed to open the door to a broad range of developers to encourage new talent and creative ideas to PSP. “minis” are being developed by some of the most creative studios from across the globe from GameShastra, a medium-sized development team based in India, to HoneySlug a three-man team in Camden, London. Some developers, such as Creat, have already created content for PlayStation Network; others, such as Subatomic Studios are bringing their experience in the mobile phone market to PSP.

The minis initiative is also supported by traditional game publishers, with industry leader Electronic Arts Inc. developing a number of games for the programme including Tetris(R) and Sudoku, with other titles to follow before the end of the year.

“We are very excited to offer so much new content for PSP this year, particularly in this bite-sized form,” said Zeno Colaco, Vice President, Publisher and Developer Relations, SCEE. “In opening the door to developers everywhere, we are broadening the type of content available to PSP owners, and opening up a world of possibilities to enhance the PSP gaming experience.”

“‘minis’ is yet another part of our concerted effort to expand content options on PlayStation Store as the demand for digital content will increase with the launch of PSPgo,” said Eric Lempel, Director of PlayStation Network and Strategic Planning, SCEA. “minis will give developers the opportunity to create and share a variety of new and original content that in some cases, are only available on PSP.”

Arriving on 1st October, “minis” - along with the new PlayStation(R)Network video delivery service, Digital Comics, and features such as Skype, photos, music, movies and the best handheld games out there - are another reason to take PSP with you wherever you go.

source - http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/introducing-minis-for-pspr-playstationrportable,930502.shtml

PSP CFW 5.00M33-5 & 5.00M33-6

Its kinda late story and I havent touch my psp for a long time.

PSP CFW 5.00M33-5 Changes :

This update is a try to fix memory stick low speed since 3.80.

Instructions: Copy UPDATE folder /PSP/GAME/ and run.

If you come from a version prior to 5.00 M33, put sony update as 500.PBP in same folder, or let the program download it for you using a wifi connection.

Changes:

- A setting has been added to recovery, that, when enabled it may increase memory stick reading speed. (only on the psp, not in the pc).
By default it is disabled. If you installed 3.71 fatmsmod, do not use this setting, as its perfomance with 3.71 driver has not been tested. Instead, reinstall 5.00 m33-4 using dc8 and update to 5.00 m33-5


The included file fat_comparison.html contains a comparison of perfomance between the 5.00 fat driver, the 3.71 one, and the 5.00 one with the speed up hack during the read of an iso.
The test was done on the game Valkyrie Profile in cso format in march33 mode. Other games, modes and applications different than iso reading showed similar results.

Mirror: http://rapidshare.com/files/186500953/500m33_5.zip

PSP CFW 5.00M33-6 Changes :

This update is a try to fix memory stick low speed since 3.80.

Instructions: Copy UPDATE folder /PSP/GAME/ and run.

If you come from a version prior to 5.00 M33, put sony update as 500.PBP in same folder, or let the program download it for you using a wifi connection.

Changes in 5.00 M33-5:

- A setting has been added to recovery, that, when enabled it may increase memory stick reading speed. (only on the psp, not in the pc).
By default it is disabled. If you installed 3.71 fatmsmod, do not use this setting, as its perfomance with 3.71 driver has not been tested.
Instead, reinstall 5.00 m33-4 using dc8 and update to 5.00 m33-5

Changes in 5.00 M33-6:

- Fixed a bug that made unbootable psp without memory stick or with a bad one.

The included file fat_comparison.html contains a comparison of perfomance between the 5.00 fat driver, the 3.71 one, and the 5.00 one with the speed up hack during the read of an iso.
The test was done on the game Valkyrie Profile in cso format in march33 mode. Other games, modes and applications different than iso reading showed similar results.

Mirror: http://rapidshare.com/files/186553068/500m33_6.zip

PSP Custom Firmware 5.00M33-4 Released

Another released by the maestro Dark-Alex. Here are changes from the previous released.

Changes:

- Speed selected for umd/iso was not properly locked in some new games that used scePower_EBD177D6 instead of scePowerSetClockFrequency to change speed.
- UMD/ISO speed settings now apply to PSN games too.
- Fixed libupdown.prx connecting to dark-alex.org instead of sony when npsignin_plugin checks for a new version and m33 update is enabled.
- Iso file descriptor was not closed in driver deletion
- Added a shutdown command to vshmenu.

Here are the files -> http://rapidshare.com/files/170591048/500m33_4.zip

PSP Official Firmware 5.02 Released.

Just a short update. Sony just release the official update firmware for Sony PSP.

The PSP® system software version 5.02 (with 5.00 and 5.01) update includes the following:

PlayStation®Network

PlayStation®Store

(PlayStation®Store) is now available on the PSP® system.

Using a wireless network connection, you can now download (as a purchase or for free) products such as games, additional items for games, or video content for use on the PSP® system. > See details

• New for 5.01: When downloading content (as a purchase or for free) from PlayStation®Store using a PSP® system with an 8 GB or 16 GB Memory Stick Duo™ media inserted, you may see a message indicating that the media does not have enough free space, even when sufficient space exists. The version 5.01 update resolves this issue.*
  * Note that this issue does not occur when downloading content from PlayStation®Store using a PS3® system or a PC.

The feature for outputting video from PlayStation® format software to a TV has been improved.

• You can now output video from PlayStation® format software to a TV in full-screen size.
• You can now use video output cables that do not support video in progressive mode to output video from PlayStation® format software to a TV. > See details

Other new or revised features in 5.02 (with 5.00 and 5.01):

Settings

• [Title Display] has been added as an option under (Video Settings).
• [USB Auto Connect] has been added as an option under (System Settings).
• [Backlight Auto-Adjust] has been added as an option under (Power Save Settings).

Music

• (Sleep Timer) has been added as an option on the control panel > See details

Video

• The number of file types that can be played has been increased.

Other

• New for 5.02: System software stability during use of some features, including PlayStation®Store, has been improved.
• The background of the XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) screen has been redesigned.
• You can now use a full-size on-screen keyboard.

You can update your system software by any of the following methods:

• Update using a PC »
  Download the update data to a PC, and then save on Memory Stick Duo™ media. Start the saved update data on your PSP® system to perform the update. Select the link above for update instructions.
• Network Update »
  Use the PSP® system’s Network Update feature to perform the update. Select the link above for update instructions. Refer also to the instructions for the PSP® system.
• Update using a UMD™ »
  Use the update data included on a UMD™ to perform the update. Select the link above for update instructions.
  *As of November 20, 2008, this method is only available for updates up to version 5.01.

For customers using PSP® system software version 1.52 or earlier

When updating PSP® system software version 1.52 or earlier, you may not be able to perform a network update using the wireless LAN feature of the PSP® system.

In this case, use one of the following methods to update the system software.

• Update using a PC
• Update using a UMD™

Use a UMD™ containing version 2.00 (or later) update data to update the system, and then perform a Network Update to obtain the latest version of the system software.