Homebrew coder Mediumgauge has released a new version of PSP Filer, a handy file management application for the PSP. The latest update is another bug fix release to correct some issues from the previous release.


Download: PSP Filer 6.3

PSP homebrew game Kitten Cannon got a huge update over the weekend. Homebrew coder SG57 has added lots of features in the latest  release including a  cash tournament system where users can win real money by scoring high in the game.


Download: Kitten Cannon v1.0
Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development Forums

It's quite an emotional rollercoaster, this week really was. Straight off from the news that the King of Pop has died, we went on to have the usual string of gaming news that rocked our own worlds. With the usual news on lawsuits, layoffs, company shutdowns, convicted murderers over consoles, it was looking to be a sad state of affairs. Good thing we've got our own Neverland to brighten things up a bit. And now we've come to the Fourth of July weekend. Time to kick off those shoes, stretch out, unwind and celebrate. You know we all deserve it. Happy FOJ weekend, everyone!

As a way of giving back to the homebrew community, QJ.NET will be holding a massive Summer Homebrew Contest, inviting all talented PSP coders to try their hand at winning fame and prestige awards (as well as a generous monetary reward!). Find out the contest rules and what accolades await the winner in our full article after the jump.

Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development forum

The guys over at the iR Shell Forums have just updated some of the rules and prizes for the on-going iR Shell Skinning Contest. If you missed our last report, the said competition is challenging able developers to come up with their own unique custom skins for Ahman's original creation.

Prior to this update, only the first and second place winners will be receiving prizes of US$ 20 and US$ 10 respectively. The money will be sent via Paypal or in the form of a gift card. Also, the first prize winner will be getting one original PlayStation Portable title (GTA: Liberty City Stories or Dark Stalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower).

Forum administrator F34R mentioned that aside from this, the third placer will be getting an invite to join the iR Shell Beta Team together with the first and second place winners. For those who want to join, take a look at these categories that will be used in judging your works:

• Accuracy - How well does the skin integrate with iR Shell ? Does the color.def file fit? (this is a must!)
• Creativity - How unique is the theme?
• Details - How has the developer designed the fine details of the skin ? What defines the USB section, and differentiates itself from the WiFi section?
• Style - How well do the colors, icons, details, menus, etc. blend together in the theme of the skin?

The deadline for submission is on October 10. If you want to know more, click on our Read link below. It should take you to the forum thread dedicated to the competition.

Team M33 just came up with a new build to their custom firmware 3.51 M33. This should be the sixth development update ever since this particular custom firmware came out. We have to say that the additional notes included in this release are far more interesting than the changelog itself.

Anyway, we won't keep you waiting as we know you're dying to find out what's new with CFW 3.51 M33-6. Directly below is the complete changelog. What follows after that are the said additional notes:

CFW 3.51 M33-6 changelog:

• This update introduces a new no-UMD more: the famous Sony np9660
• The compatibility of this mode is not yet known, let's hope Sony codes well
• Remember to choose "Sony NP9660" in recovery to use this new mode

Additional Notes from Team M33 (taken word-for-word from Team M33's release page):

• We've known that on some English-talk forums, there is someone called "McDanny" telling that he is part of M33 Team. This note is to say that he is NOT from M33, and just a faker wanting some attention. Please don't believe him, as you won't see any mail, notice or anything outside our webpage (m-33.narod.ru) or pspx forum posts.
• To the attention of becus25 and Test30: Please do not do any of your releases based from our firmwares. You steal and change name but contribute a tiny 20-line plugin. You are a shame for PSP development!
• For not Russian users - especially website admins: For every sites, if you appreciate our releases and the visitors that they bring to you, we would appreciate if you could put our Paypal link in evidence as we need to purchase hardware materials. Thank you.

Download: CFW 3.51 M33-6
Donate: Team M33's Paypal page

Power7714, the brains behind The Unofficial PSP Demo Center, has just informed us that the site will be temporarily shut down due to "financial and employment circumstances". Site reconstruction for the Demo Center was supposed to be completed tomorrow.

Here's Power7714's message to the PSP community:

I will resolve this issue as soon as possible and get the site up and running soon. Everyone that had registered in the forums will still have the same login info. This site has been a joy of mine and a passion. I love the psp as much as my kids and am determined to bring demo's to everyone without hassle and stress!

Bare with me and keep your fingers crossed. If you would like to help feel free to make paypal donations at power7714@yahoo.com Every cent will help. I will pull my resources and see what I can do as well. And to all those that tried to access the site and were unable to, I apologize.

Here's hoping that this isn't the final curtain for this great PSP resource site.

Amidst the bad PR we gamers usually get, Child's Play trudges on to get the world to think otherwise. This year, it has raised around US$ 963,000 for sick children in hospitals around the world.

Child's Play is a Seattle-based charitable organization founded in 2003 by gamers Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, aka Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade. The organization donates games, DVDs, books, and other toys to sick kids around the globe, including hospitals in Canada, Britain, Egypt, and Australia. Gamers, or people who simply wish to help, can see the wish lists at Amazon.com or donate cash through PayPal.

This helps a lot of sick kids go through uncomfortable treatments and gives them some sort of relief that they would be able to play while in therapy. And some people think gamers are mindless zombies with cash to burn. Think about it, hitting the one million mark would be a great milestone for all of us.

Because of multiple lawsuits filed by Sony, Hong Kong gaming retailer Lik-Sang finally succumbed and bid the industry goodbye. As of today, Lik-Sang is no longer operational, following the ruling of the High Court of London regarding the retailer's sale of PSP consoles. According to the decision, Lik-Sang's act was unlawful as it infringed on Sony's trademarks, copyright, and registered design rights by engaging in gray importation.

The main stand of Sony, through a spokesperson's statement to Gamesindustry.biz recently, was that they ultimately had the customers' best interests at heart. They claim that it would be to the disadvantage of the consumer if they were sold hardware that fails to conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards.

Lik-Sang, however, vehemently disagrees with Sony's claims, citing that the PSP consoles that they ship contain genuine Sony 100V-240V AC Adapters, which carry CE and other safety marks, compatible worldwide. Furthermore, all the handhelds did actually conform with all EU and UK consumer safety regulations. Therefore, the necessity issue for consumer-protection raised by Sony was non-existent at best.

Lik-Sang also points out the irony that while Sony was berating them for supposedly infringing on their rights, they conveniently failed to disclose to the High Court of London that Sony Europe's very own top directors allegedly received their PSP hard or software imports from Lik-Sang, starting just two days after it officially came out in Japan, complete with accompanying free Lik-Sang merchandise, like mugs or badge holders.

SCEE Managing Director, Ray Maguire, UK Marketing Director Alan Duncan, Chris Sorrell, SCEE Creative Director, and Rob Parkin, SCEE Development Director, are just a few of the names who were found to have placed PSP-related Sony Europe orders. Nine months later, Lik-Sang found itself facing a lawsuit from the company of these former customers.

Former Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com, Pascal Clarysse, had some words to say about the issue. And you can expect it to be not pretty. Says he:

Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europe’s ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they don’t see fit. It’s the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it.

So what happens now to those existing placement orders?

Lik-Sang will be cancelling and refunding all existing orders. They are also now working closely with banks and PayPal to work out the refund of any store credits held by the company. Their customer support department is also working double time to cater to any open transactions, like pending RMAs or repairs and shipping related matters. They also would like to reassure their patrons that they will make sure nobody gets in the line of fire unnecessarily regarding this issue.

And like receiving news that a good friend just passed away, there's nothing more left to say.

We all love our emulators, now don't we? So what would happen if, say, PayPal forced ScummVM to stop asking for donations and to take them (PayPal) out of ScummVM's sight site. Yes. It's sad news in the emulating world, folks. For those of you who don't know, ScummVM is a multiplatform emulator (even available in DS and PSP) that allows you to play certain LucasArts adventure games (like the above Sam and Max).

So now, how could we support emulator developers if we can't even forward donations? It happened a few days ago, actually. PayPal is severing ties with ScummVM with a response that states:

You have developed a game modulator that allows games produced and developed by multiple companies to be played on their non-designated hardware platforms. This act in itself violates the PayPal [Acceptable Use Policy] and we request that you remove PayPal from [your website].

There are many arguments surrounding this issue, including the fact that ScummVM is actually supported and sometimes even actively assisted by original game developers and studios.

Well, we're sure both side have their own reactions to this matter. And surely PayPal has a good reason for not supporting ScummVM anymore. Besides, don't worry. It's not the end of the world. ScummVM is currently looking for other alternatives to seek donation, and we're sure to hear word from them again. So, drop a line, and tell us what you think!