Figure 1 - Timing is key. I added the poisonous gas to remove the shortcut past these difficult jumps.

I had been sitting at 70% or so complete for trophies on LittleBigPlanet for PlayStation 3, with the only trophies left to achieve being those associated with creating a level.  I had put this off for awhile, picking up other games, figuring this would be a large undertaking consuming days of my time.  I also struggled with the dilemma of what my level should be about.  I didn’t want to just make a level, I wanted to make a good level.

I decided the best way to design a level was to draw it out on paper first.  I began making rough sketches of individual ideas and obstacles, both from my own mind and from my experiences playing the game, and a level began to take shape.  I had already completed all of the level creation tutorials, so I knew what I was getting into, but I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I was able to create and tweak different things in my level.  I had forgotten how intuitive the system is.  This basically put to rest my theory that this undertaking would take days.

Just over one day after starting, my first level, “Sackboy Skills Training” was published.  I went with a basic level concept with no distinct theme so as to get my feet wet.  Future endeavors in level creation might yield a more imaginative concept.  The level consists of standard grab and swing obstacles, jumping and timing hazards, a times two area, a disappearing bridge, an extremely hazardous cave section, a Paintinator section, and a zipline.  The disappearing bridge is available as a community object encapsulated in the only prize bubble in the level (though there are many score bubbles).

I think for a first level, this didn’t turn out too bad.  I think my next venture will be a survival mode level involving explosives.  After spending a decent amount of time creating something, I would not mind a break to blow some stuff up.

Video after the break.

Figure 1 - Time to bring down some servers!

About a week back I received an email from the PlayStation Network asking me to fill out a brief survey, thereby registering me for possible selection for the upcoming MAG private beta test. Here we are, a week later, and I’ve been selected as one of the lucky few (figure 1), beta code sitting in my inbox.  This will be my second beta test on the PlayStation 3, with the first being PlayStation Home.  Let’s hope MAG is a little more worth my time.

If you’re not familiar with MAG, it stands for “Massive Action Game”–major fail in the title department–and is an online shooter designed with a unique server architecture allowing it to support online battles of up to 256 players at once.  Shooters usually fall stale with me as they feel like the same thing over and over, but I am excited to see if MAG can accomplish this feat of scale that we haven’t yet seen in console gaming.  The game supposedly also divides players into 8-player squads, with four squads forming a platoon, and four platoons forming a company.  MAG is scheduled to be released in January 2010.

Click after the break for proof screenshots of the invite and ensuing download.

Figure 2 - Congratulations, you've been selected to have your ass handed to you.

Figure 3 - 4.75MB closer to annihilation

Figure 1 - This is why you keep your PSP in your pocket.

Where the hell was Gran Turismo PSP?

Gran Turismo has made a name for itself in every PlayStation generation, and today serves as what many consider to be the definitive racing simulator.  It seems like a perfect candidate for portable gaming as well, so what was the holdup? To all of you laughing, yes, to confirm, I just admitted to wondering why Polyphony Digital had been taking so long to develop something.

This is the same game studio that released a “prologue” versions of Gran Turismo 4 for PlayStation 2 and Gran Turismo 5 for PlayStation 3, both a year before the full version releases. After a long time coming, Gran Turismo is coming to the PSP this year.  The quality of the final Gran Turismo offerings usually make up for the grueling waits, and it seems as if Gran Turismo for PSP will be no different.

LittleBigPlanet joined the likes of Gran Turismo and Metal Gear Solid last year, making its case to be a face of the PlayStation brand with Sackboy’s debut on the PlayStation 3. While playing through the game, I thought that the platforming aspect of the game would make a fantastic transfer to the PSP. I’m not sure how the level creation and sharing that makes LittleBigPlanet so expansive would work, but as long as the gameplay and physics engine came over intact, I wouldn’t care all that much.  Apparently some people at Sony and Media Molecule agree with me, and LittleBigPlanet is coming to the PSP this year.

With both franchises making their way to Sony’s portable, one can only dream of what the final products will look like.  Well wake up, because the blog Fase Extra have gotten their hands on both games and have posted gameplay videos of them running on the forthcoming PSP Go.  Many kudos to these guys for sharing this with us, but all I can say about their blog is “gracias”, because it’s in Spanish.  Any Spanish speaking readers that notice anything worthy in their post of stating in the comments, by all means show off share your talent with the rest of the class.

Gran Turismo on the PSP, which, by the way, looks fucking amazing:

LittleBigPlanet, in all its cutesy, Sackboy goodness, on the PSP:

…sigh…

Figure 1 - My PSP, ready for its new motherboard from the dark side.

What was a warranty voider to do?  After some research, I had found out how to tell if a PSP is hackable. There is a great forum post over on pspmod.com containing a guide on how to determine the hackability of your PSP.  I confirmed that my PSP contained the thus far unhackable TA-88v3 motherboard. I decided the simplest route would be to purchase a PSP identified as hackable from eBay, and swap out the motherboard with mine.  Upon completion, I would sell the eBay purchased PSP back on eBay with the disclaimer that the motherboard had been replaced.  It was a flawless plan, except that the aforementioned guide required knowing a lot of information about the PSP before purchasing it. I was not looking forward to Q & A sessions with many sellers asking for serial numbers and box codes.

There was, however, a simpler solution.  The guide also mentioned confirmed motherboards in certain limited edition PSPs:

Daxter Limited Edition Pack (TA-85v2/3.80 OFW)(CONFIRMED)
God of War Limited Edition Pack (TA-88v2/3.95 OFW)(CONFIRMED)
Madden 09 Limited Edition Pack (TA-88v2/3.95 OFW & TA-88v3/4.01 OFW)(CONFIRMED)
Star Wars Darth Vader Edition Pack(TA-85v2)
*Note – OFW stands for “Official Firmware”

I decided to go with the TA-85v2 motherboard. Why?  No technical reason.  I just felt that my PSP could use a little dark side with the Star Wars Darth Vader Edition PSP.  I was victorious in my online auction and was ready to swap motherboards.

DISCLAIMER: Any action you take past this point is at your own risk.  This procedure will void your PSP’s warranty and with all such procedures, carries the risk that you might damage your PSP or render it inoperable.  By continuing, you agree that if your PSP is damaged in any way, I will not be held responsible.  2Lincolns in no way condones the illegal use of ROMs or pirated software.

I was ready to swap the motherboard, except for one thing: I had no idea how to do it.  I looked for tutorials and videos all over the internet and could find bits and pieces, but nothing very comprehensive, so I decided to tackle it myself and make this tutorial. The scope of this post is limited to the procedure to replace the motherboard in a PSP, so I will not be discussing loading custom firmware or using a Pandora battery here.  Perhaps I will go over these topics in a future post.  To swap out the PSP motherboard you’ll need the following:

• Small phillips head screwdriver
• Small flat head screwdriver
• Razor blade
• Tweezers
• Electrical tape
• Microfiber cloth (for removing dust from screen upon reassembly)
• Patience and mad skills

The first step is to remove the battery cover and identify the 7 screws you need to remove. Only six screws will be visible until you remove the warranty sticker, which, if you have read it, will void your warranty.  This may be confusing for some, but if you’re still with me, read on.  I would suggest removing the warranty sticker gently with a razor blade.  I found this to be the easiest way to remove it without damaging other components.  I’ve noted the location of screws in the 3 images below (Figures 2-4, click to enlarge).

Once you have the 7 screws removed, opening up the PSP is quite easy.  Flip the PSP over so the screen is facing up and using your hands, slowly work the top cover off. It should come off rather effortlessly, so if it doesn’t, check to ensure you’ve removed all 7 screws.  When you get the cover off, you’ll be presented with all the guts and glory that make up your PSP (Figure 5).

Figure 5 - PSP! Hide your shame!!!

Take some time at this point to examine where everything is and how the system is put together.  The more comfortable you are with it, the easier it will be.  The next step is to remove the home button bar and the LCD screen. Take note that when I say remove, I mean remove from their seated positions.  Both are still connected to the motherboard with ribbon cables and fully removing them at this point could damage them, the cables, or the motherboard.

As we take each of these two pieces from their seated positions, we will simply be rotating them downwards, like opening a centerfold book we want to read sideways for some reason.  Remember to only rotate them on this axis and to not move them away from the PSP.

To unseat the home button bar, take a small flat head screwdriver and use it to gently pry it up, starting on the left side. The best way to do this is to put the screwdriver in between the black tabs on the left side of the bar (Figure 6).  This will not take much force.  Repeat the process on the right side of the home button bar and rotate the bar down (Figure 7).

Now that the home button bar has been unseated and rotated downward, we can do the same to the LCD.  You should be able to unseat the LCD by using your hands and gently lifting it from the sides, though you may have to do a little prying with the small flat head screwdriver. The LCD was mostly being held in place by the home button bar, so it should lift pretty easily.  Rotate it downwards as you did the home button bar.  Be sure not to scratch the LCD’s surface, and do your best to ensure it remains protected from scratches, fingerprints, and salsa.  I do not recommend eating chips and salsa when performing this procedure. I am not speaking from experience…shut up.

Figure 8 - Click to enlarge. You're gonna need it.

Now comes the tricky part.  This is where the patience and mad skills come in. There are a number of things that need to be disconnected or removed prior to removing the motherboard (Figure 8).  Some of the components are connected with delicate ribbon cables that can be tricky to disconnect. Most of these have a small brown lever clasping them in that you can lift with tweezers or a razor blade and gently pull the cable out.  The UMD drive cable employs a different method, with two tabs on either side of the cable that need to be moved to release the cable.  The smallest of the 3 LCD cables is the trickiest one, and I have yet to figure out a good method of removing it, save being very, very careful.

The WLan cable can simply be pulled up gently with tweezers as it is just plugged into the motherboard.  The power cable can be removed by rocking it left to right with tweezers while pulling it out.  The right battery will also need to be removed to remove the motherboard, though take care so you don’t break off the plastic tab holding it in like I did.  If you do break the tab, that’s why I told you to have electrical tape handy.  Be sure to set the battery away from your screws as it is magnetic. Once you have everything disconnected, take out the two screws holding in the left and right triggers.  Take care to remember how they go back together.

Figure 9 - Pandora battery and Magic Memory Stick, ready to install CFW.

Believe it or not, there is only one screw holding the motherboard in, located down by the analog stick. Once you’ve removed this screw, you can gently lift the left controls up and left and out of your way.  Remember, they are still connected to the left trigger, so do not fully remove them. Once you have the controls out of the way, you can begin to remove the motherboard.  Take your time as it can be tricky to get out, but should not take much force.  The USB-B port at the top of the PSP is part of the motherboard, so you’re going to want to lift the motherboard out from the bottom left. Once you have lifted it up some, pull it back towards you and you should get it out with ease.

Before you put your new motherboard in, take note of anything underneath it that might get caught, cables that need to be reattached, and the general layout of things. Especially make sure the memory card door is able to open and close with ease at each stage of assembly as it can tend to get caught.  Seat the motherboard by getting the USB-B port back into the chasis first and going from there.  Reattach and reassemble everything in the reverse order and you’re all done!

Figure 10 - CFW 5.00 M33-6 installed.

As I said before, the scope of this post is limited to the motherboard replacement.  That does not, however, mean that I won’t show you what I did after having a fully hackable PSP!  Using a Pandora battery and magic memory stick (Figure 9), I installed Dark Alex’s custom firmware (CFW) version 5.00 M33-6 (Figure 10). This firmware allows you to install homebrew applications on your PSP and still access the PlayStation Store.  You can purchase a premade Magic Memory Stick and Pandora battery (using the link above), or you can make them yourself by finding one of the many tutorials online. Note that not all PSPs are cabable of creating Pandora batteries.  The PSP hackability guide I provided at the beginning of this post has more on that.

What is the first homebrew application I installed after hacking my PSP you ask?  Was there any question?  As you can see in Figure 11, I didn’t hesitate to get The Legend of Zelda up and running on the NesterJ NES Emulator version 1.11. Remember, law abiding internet gnomes, to legally download a ROM, you must own the game (as the picture shows I clearly do) or delete the ROM within 24 hours of download.  My already beloved PSP has now been taken to the next level.  You know, if the next level is playing a game released in 1987 on a video game system released in 2005.

Figure 11 - Hard work pays off. If you'll excuse me, I've got some Triforce pieces to collect. (The lines on the screen are from the camera)

Let me know what you think of this tutorial in the comments and feel free to link to it.

Happy modding!

Figure 1 - Yes, I lived here for almost two days to buy PlayStation 3.

On November 15, 2006, I set out with two friends to get in line for Sony’s newest gaming console, PlayStation 3. The system didn’t come out until November 17, but lines were already forming everywhere and word was that the largest shipment that any store would get would be twenty 60GB models and six 20GB models.  After calling around to what seemed to be every toy and electronics store in the region, we found three spots in line within the top twenty places at a Best Buy forty-five minutes from my apartment.

I’m not much of a camper. It’s not that I don’t like camping, in fact, I enjoy it.  I just don’t camp often enough to have accrued a wide array of camping supplies.  Consequently, I had to purchase a tent. I was already going to be spending $600 on a gaming console, so I didn’t want to break the bank on something I might use once or twice, so I bought a cheap two man tent (Figure 1) on eBay. If you’ve been paying attention, there was going to be three of us waiting in line.  It was also November, and I’m not much for cuddling with dudes for warmth–or for any other reason–so I also bought a small propane heater and we decided that we’d sleep in shifts.

We didn’t consider this to be the end of our preparations.  We also brought a power inverter and extension cord to draw power from my car in the parking lot, some video games, a laptop, books, and of course, a decent amount of snacks. It may have been cold and rainy, but the experience was a hell of a lot of fun.  The Best Buy staff was pretty hospitable, allowing us to leave the line once they had our names to use the restroom, go get food, and hell, they even bought us pizza at one point.  Despite all of this, the fact still remained that we were waiting in line for one and a half days in the cold…for a video game console.

Two and a half years have gone by since then, and I could not be happier with my purchase. Some might wonder how I can say this given that the PlayStation 3 is now readily available and $200 less.  The PlayStation 3 went through a process to get where it is today, and the victim of the war was the original models.

Figure 2 - I cheat on my girlfriend with my PlayStation 3.

Sony had to cut components from the PlayStation 3 along the way to meet demands for a decrease in price.  The 20GB and 60GB launch models are the only models to support full backwards compatibility with all PlayStation games, as the actual PlayStation 2 Emotion Engine CPU is built in to the system. Later models included limited software emulation, for PlayStation 2 games, and some cut it out altogether, leaving those consoles with backwards compatibility for only original PlayStation games.  The 60GB model also has 4 USB ports, a feature that was reduced to 2 on some later models.

The point is that the 60GB PlayStation 3 is no longer in production, so had I not waited in line, paid a small fortune on eBay, or fought the crowds upon restocking, I might not have gotten one. Yes, I could have waited until the launch frenzy was over and picked one up without much hassle then, but I was impatient in my youth.  Being able to play my entire library of PlayStation 1, 2, and 3 games on one console is one of my favorite features of the system, and one I’m not sure I could do without.

The added benefits of the 60GB model are clear, but what about the PlayStation 3 in general?  The best way to describe the PlayStation 3 is that it is the complete and total package, right out of the box. In the PlayStation 3, you get an extremely powerful video game console, a Blu-ray player, a media center, WiFi, and free access to the PlayStation Network all without having to buy any accessories or subscriptions.

Figure 3 - Metal Gear Solid 4

The system is still rated as one of the better Blu-ray players out there, and it does a pretty damn good job streaming media, too.  The PlayStation Network has a lot to offer, from online gaming, trophies, to the PlayStation Home virtual community, to movie and game downloads at the PlayStation store.  Okay, I’ll admit PlayStation Home is kind of lame thus far, but it does serve as a testament to the constant updates and improvements the system receives.

What is a gaming console without games though, other than a very expensive paperweight?  The PlayStation 3 boasts some of the best games of this generation including Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Figure 3), Killzone 2, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, LittleBigPlanet, and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, with the latter two being new IPs.  The PlayStation Store really surprised me with its offerings, with games like Pixeljunk Monsters and Flower.  The best seems yet to come, though, with Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III, MAG, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Heavy Rain, and the full version Gran Turismo 5 on the horizon. I’m glad Sony decided to use non-proprietary hard drives in the PlayStation 3, because I may need to upgrade very soon.

A Blu-ray player alone would’ve set you back over $600 in 2006, let alone all the PlayStation 3 offered.  Given all the PlayStation 3 offers, it was most certainly worth $600 and a cold wait two and a half years ago, and it is a flat out steal at $399 today.