Super cancels, guard cancels, and roll cancels - what makes these different combat cancel systems tick? Eric Williams talks about the mechanics behind these different cancel systems and relates them to his own work designing the combat system for God of War. Get technical with God of Wars lead combat designer in the full article after the jump.

Recently PSP Developer Dark Alex announced he was leaving the homebrew scene to pursue other endeavors, noting conflicting differences between Sony and developers who decide to expand their console to its full potential via homebrew in their spare time. This left many PSP gamers wondering what would happen with the OE aka Open Edition, the PSP custom firmware which he worked on. As it stood the Open Edition firmware source code had never been made public, which means that no further work could continue and no future custom firmware revisions in the Open Edition line would be released.

However, in an unusual turn of events Team Wildcard, who had been working on reverse engineering 3.10 and 3.40 OE firmware, in addition a new custom firmware has decided to release the source code to their work thus far.

"We had to release our work because of a leak done by a lame website which we wont name in order not to bring visitors there. This work was a full 3.10 and 3.40OE reverse done by us as well as new features for a future custom firmware which was meant to be closed source."

The perpetrator (who will remain unmentioned) used a exploit in another PSP website database to hijack one of the Team's accounts and gain access to the teams work, which then was posted on the perpetrator's website without the developers permission. Thus prompting Team Wildcard to make an official release of their work in progress for the rest of the PSP community to benefit from.

Shady PSP websites and drama aside, Team Wildcard's now official release contains source code which is sure to be of particular interest to anyone who dabbles in custom PSP firmware development or modification. In addition to the reversed 3.10 and 3.40 OE firmware, they have also released work on features which were to be built into a new custom firmware.

Team Wildcard's source code, which mathieulh informs us "The code is legit. It is a complete reverse of the OE and other stuffs." could possibly be used by PSP developers to further the Open Edition PSP custom firmware development unofficially or to create a new custom firmware using contributed code. Well folks, It looks like new custom editions (and additions) to the OE firmware might be back on the menu.

Note: Even if you know the website that was involved in leaking Team Wildcard's custom firmware development work DO NOT mention it in the comments and keep it to yourself. Not doing so may result in loss of commenting privileges and is also going against the developers wishes.

PSP Development Thread: Team Wildcard release
Download Source: Team Wildcard OE Reverse Source Code

Fanjita came up with a list of reminders over at Noobz Team's official site regarding their FW 3.50 downgrader that involves puzzle video game Lumines. It should be remembered that when Sony learned about this, the title was patched immediately for it to be compatible with FW 3.51.

Anyway, we'd like to give you Fanjita's words, verbatim, and we'll let you read the interesting developments yourselves. Enjoy!

• We've got a Korean Lumines UMD now, and are actively working on creating a Korean downgrader. We can't give a release date, but it will be soon.
• We won't be creating a v3.51 downgrader, not for a long time. If you upgraded to v3.51 you're either stupid or unlucky. Sorry for that.
• You can't run the downgrader from a downloaded copy of Lumines.  If you read the documentation, you'd know that.  If you didn't read the documentation, just how did you think that would work?
• We won't be creating a downgrader for another game, not for a long time.  It's just not that easy.  If getting hold of Lumines in your country is expensive, blame the profiteering pricks that are hoarding their copies and selling them at inflated prices. When the exploit was first released, you could get Lumines for less than $20 in most places.
• It looks like Sony are introducing patched copies of Lumines into the market.  We advise you to buy either an old version (i.e. not Greatest Hits, Platinum or The Best), or check very carefully before buying a new copy. If you buy via Amazon, it may be better to buy from the 3rd party sellers, even though they are more expensive.
• We are working on the solution to enable you to go back to official firmwares if you need to - this includes helping people stuck on v3.30 or v3.40 v3.10 or v3.11 firmware.  It will take some time though, and we're all very busy right now.
• We're also still working on eLoader for HEN, and a flash management solution for people with semi-bricked v1.50 PSPs.  Those will also still take some time.
• The downgrader only works on Lumines, also known as Lumines Puzzle Fusion.  It doesn't work for Lumines Plus, or Lumines 2.  We've said that before, but for some reason people didn't read it.

The entire PSP community was really excited about the Lumines exploit that was found recently. It was because of this exploit that the 3.50 downgrader was developed. Word has been circulating on the net that the newer Japanese copies of the game are requiring firmware 3.51, thus effectively eliminating the exploit. Tr. on the Noobz forums gave a link to a screenshot which allegedly comes from the Japan release of Lumines.

 

What is surprising is how quickly this exploit was fixed. If most would care to remember the exploit in GTA: Liberty City Stories, it was only fixed after something like six months. Hmmmm, it looks like Sony and Q Entertainment / Bandai / Ubisoft moved quickly on this one.

There have been no reports of any UK or US copies that have already been patched so far.

Regardless, Fanjita has given word that people who are looking to buy a copy of Lumines for the exploit should be careful. So the question we should be asking right now is how long before we start seeing these patched versions on our shores? If you're interested in taking advantage of this exploit, you're probably going to want to pick up a copy now before the newer version arrives.

In the wake of the recent Illuminati exploit from Noobz, the team has posted a quick update on their site yesterday. No, they haven't come up with a downgrader. (Yet.) But they gave a suggestion for PSP users exploiting with a European Lumines:

It seems that the Illuminati exploit doesn't work properly if your PSP is set to non-English settings. At a guess, it's something to do with unicode when displaying the profile name. // Anyway, if you are having problems, especially with the European Lumines, then try switching your PSP to 'English' settings.

Well, a lot of our commenters have asked, really, which version Illuminati would work on. Good thing Noobz was finally able to clear it up.

Now speaking of Lumines, Noobz pointed out that, over at Amazon, sales for Q Entertainment's rhythm-puzzle game went skyrocket. As of June 24, Lumines sales went up 14,000%. Surprised?

We checked for ourselves how the game is currently doing. Under the Video Games category of the online store, it pushed way past the currently released games for the Wii, DS, and PS3, and is now comfortably sitting on spot #2 (right under the Wii console itself). Sales ranking though currently notch it up with an increase of 350%.

Moving on, for those who have been waiting for the grand daddy itself (i.e. HEN and a downgrader), we're still promising to give you guys an update. If you remember the last time, January 25 saw the previous Hello World exploit. Then, just two days later, a homebrew enabler and downgrader finally hit FW 3.03.

It's been two days since the Illuminati "Hello World" exploit. It's going to be any day now... (or maybe that's just some of us hoping) As of now though, let's make Tetsuya Mizuguchi proud of how his creation is currently helping the homebrew community.

If this isn't one of the biggest updates in awhile for PSP gamers then I don't know what you're waiting for - go get a DS. However on a serious note, some PSP gamers love their PSP and all the "great features Sony has to offer", so much that they update their precious system firmware as to not miss a beat. Updating your PSP's firmware to the latest firmware has come at a cost, as some are left stuck without the glory of homebrew. All thats about to change, as Archaemic and Noobz have made some major progress on bringing homebrew to the newer firmware PSP's.

Homebrew working on all PSP firmware (even 3.50) with a Lumines UMD and Illuminati exploit!

I couldn't believe it either. Many of us are sitting next to our favorite puzzle game Lumines right now. With this new PSP exploit, the blissfully sweet puzzle game can now be forged like a double edge sword. Giving PSP owners, on ANY firmware the ability to play homebrew applications, games and emulators till our hearts content or till we explode from nostalgia. So without further ado check out the simple steps for running the Noobz 'Hello World' app, which in the future will transform into HEN (Homebrew Enabler) and a downgrader. Amazing!

Noobz Guide for running the Illuminati Exploit:

• Check that you have an EU or US version of Lumines (ULES00043 or ULUS10002). Currently we don't have a version for the Japanese version, but we're working on it, as soon as we get hold of a Japanese UMD.
• Extract the contents of the 'MS_ROOT' folder from the ZIP file into the top-level of your memory stick. (HINT: If you wind up with an 'MS_ROOT' folder on the stick, you've done it wrong).
• Start the game, and as soon as it gets to the 'Press START' screen, press START. If you wait until the demo has started, the exploit may not work.
• The screen should go blank, and the exploit will start after a few moments. It doesn't do anything except look pretty at this stage - but feel free to enjoy the first homebrew on your v3.10 - v3.50 PSP
  

Download: Illuminati 'Hello World' Exploit for Lumines

Update: The Lumines based Downgrader for 3.50 PSP firmware has been released. Congrats to all that helped accomplish this amazing feat! Head on over to read all the details.

A couple of days ago, QJ tipster bruce33 sent us a note regarding a homebrew application named Recovery mode 3.40 from Playstation Portable (PSP) online site TeknoPSP. Now he's buzzing the QJ doorbell again informing us about another application from the same site (Thanks bruce33!) - Reboot for CIntro.

Before we proceed though, we have to tell you that although we managed to get the application, the program was curiously removed from the above mentioned site so we couldn't pinpoint the author if this application. We also don't have any idea why it was removed so take a little care when you try this one.

Basically, Reboot for CIntro is for those who are using 3.40 and fond of Crack Intro (CIntro). As you know, this is a small introduction sequence added to the cracked software to inform everyone the people responsible behind the exploit.

The developer of this program that added animation has been added in the Eboot because he has gone quite tired of using MS Paint/Photoshop-created backgrounds. Also, music has been added in the Eboot to make the reboot process more interesting.

Reboot for CIntro has an accompanying Readme file that contains other useful information and an installation guide.

Download: Reboot for CIntro

Yes guys, I'm not kidding! Remember when I said that the newest firmware required some magic on the part of Team C+D? Well, I guess it didn't take them very long to finish their work. And in this case, it was another fine piece of work- You can call it the Firmware 3.10 decrypter by the way!

So now that we have the firmware decrypted, on Day 0 no less(!), the main focus now shifts to guys like Dark_AleX, Mathieulh, Booster and the Noobz team who will be responsible for turning this firmware on its head in a few days. Great things are coming, you just wait! Anyways, here's their info in its full glory:

With that out of the way, we can now patiently wait for things like Devhook, a new custom firmware by Dark_AleX and if someone can find and exploit in the firmware, even a downgrader! OK, so the downgrader part is speculation, but I don't think you guys will have to wait long for a new version of Devhook or DAX's CFW.

Anyway, I'll stop talking now. The file has been uploaded and it also contains the source. Start decrypting your firmwares and get ready!

Download link: [ 3.10 Firmware Decrypter by Team C+D ]
View: [ Forum Release Thread ]

Writing about homebrew for the past few months have taught me a lot of things, one of them is this - "When Fanjita talks, you should listen". Recently, the legendary homebrew developer answered this question "What should I do with my non-homebrew PSP?". He mentions that they had been getting a lot of questions that goes like these:

• When will there be a 2.81 downgrader?
• Should I sell my 3.03 PSP and buy a 1.5?
• Should I upgrade my 2.81 to 3.03?

Now, Fanjita mentions that he hopes that his article would be able to answer those questions. A good way of reaching an answer is setting the facts straight. So with that, he mentioned the facts in this particular scenario. Again, here is Fanjita's word-per-word statements:

• It looks like the Team C+D kernel mode exploit will work all the way up to v3.03 - the relevant code seems to be unchanged.
• It's very likely that Sony will patch that exploit in the next firmware.
• As soon as a user-mode exploit is found for 2.81-3.03, it should be possible to get homebrew running on those firmwares.
• It looks like the current 2.80 downgrader will probably work on v3.03, once we can run homebrew on that firmware.
• Dark_AleX's OE firmwares are the best platform for homebrew users, and it seems likely that it will be possible to keep updating OE for the latest firmwares shortly after they are released.
• It has historically always been easier to downgrade lower firmwares.

Now that he straightened out the facts, What could these mean for those people who are stuck with their 2.81-3.03 FW PSP? Fanjita says that things are more hopeful for them now and that he and his team are only one step away from being able to downgrade your PSP so as you could use the OE firmwares. A downgrader will come, he continues, but no one (not even Fanjita himself) could accurately predict when that might be.

He also mentions that upgrading to the next Sony PSP firmware release would be homebrew suicide, so if you wanna join in all those homebrew fun that we're enjoying, better ignore the next firmware update. And finally, upgrading your firmware from FW 2.81 to FW3.00 isn't a great move as you might delay your choice to downgrade when a downgrader finally comes.

Lastly, he mentions that if you have some spare cash but your patience is running out, then it would be best to buy a downgradeable PSP. Price difference isn't very large these days so it might be worth it.

But at the end of the day, hope is not lost for people stuck with higher firmwares. You could always have some fun with some PSP flash games, portals, TIFF games and apps and even game demos. For now, just be patient. Fanjita and the Noobz development team are working very hard for you guys to experience some homebrew fun.

Team C+D just came out of the blue today and posted about kernel access on 2.80 (which only previously had user-mode access from the Tiff exploit). The second I read about this release, I grabbed my sweet laptop, ran in front of my Wii-boxing father, past my dusted PSP, over my NDS and into my sweet computer chair!

Just a few moments ago, the C+D team announced that they have achieved kernel access on firmware 2.80, something of which had several people stirring and furiously to test if this was indeed true. Mathieulh, a respected member of the scene, took it upon himself to confirm the validity of this statement, and he comes out of it with a positive response - it works!

This is just a "proof of concept" download, meaning that there is no downgarder yet and no kernel applications will work. However, with the scene demons pouncing on this already, it is only a matter of time before this is usable by the end-user. It currently runs through eLoader (after having compiled the eboot), so only 2.80 is supported (nothing greater). However, many have deducted from the initial testing that this may not be patched in the most recent update, 3.03 from Sony! However, as many of you know we can't run homebrew on 2.81 and beyond, so the concept and method is there, we just don't have the method of launching it!

PS: Thanks for Moca for compiling the makefile into a usable eboot for our members who have a curious mind!

Download: [2.80 Kernel Access Proof-of-Concept]
Discuss: [Forums]