More info abound the latest upcoming title in the Need for Speed franchise, Need for Speed: ProStreet in this developer interview. Here, Matt Little sits down to talk about what's going into the game and what they've done to distinguish it from today's Forzas, Gran Turismos and Burnouts.

It seems that the developers, Matt Little specifically, wanted the raw feeling of drifting one's car at speeds of more than 90 miles per hour, instead of the usual 40-50 mph we see often. Drag racing is also built into the game, and Matt promises that it's going to be deeper and more involving than in the past game, as well as being more intense.

Three major draws for the game also came up in the interview - namely, the game skirting the edge between arcade and realistic driving, car damage and tire smoke. While the latter two are pretty much self-explanatory, the former is a little bit more complex. Matt explains that Need For Speed: ProStreet's driving style can't be quantified by saying it's closer to Gran Turismo or to Burnout, but another niche entirely. He elaborates by saying that it will have that realistic feel, but also have the arcade sensation by which it's accessible to almost anyone who picks up the controller to play it.

Need for Speed: ProStreet is definitely looking good. Enjoy the video.

Ever remember your first roller-coaster ride? The more squeamish among us will also remember it being our last (yes, I'm afraid of roller-coasters), either having to be carried off by paramedics from the ride, or finding ourselves running hand-on-mouth to the closest rest room. Whether we find them scary, exciting, or downright nauseous, you gotta respect the variety of roller-coasters out there.

We've got the old wooden classics, with their dull, jaw-chattering rumble just under your seats as you chug away. Then there's the next-gen of roller-coasters, with their highly scientific approach to twists, turns, and 90 mph downhills - all designed to simulate an F-22 on take-off (sans the barf bags). While we've been reporting about the other features of Thrillvillefor some time now, we never did quite put too much focus on the roller-coasters for this game, or how they handled.

Courtesy of TG Bus, we found these screenshots of some roller-coaster designs you can pull off in-game, and the controls related to building them. Feel free to look over these pics, and remember to buckle up when this game hits November 21. Enjoy.

The rest of the images await after the jump!

Our PSP "scene" has been lucky enough to have some real legendary characters. First, we had groups like PSP-Dev, later on, MPH. We can't forget Fanjita and Ditlew, and now, joining their ranks at a blistering pace is none other than Dark_Alex. It seems the guy jumps from one big bombshell to the next.

Dark_Alex has just announced that he was busy making a 2.71 XMB homebrew launcher. Now you guys might be wondering how this might be different from Noobz' eLoader. Well, this is another bombshell guys! Dark_Alex has succeeded in being able to launch homebrew from the Game Menu in the PSP's XMB, or the Main menu as some might call it. Big news, huh? Well, it doesn't stop there! If Dark_Alex has his way, this will probably pave the way for kernel mode homebrew launching from the XMB itself!

But for now, the method is limited and can't load "standard" homebrew as we know it (static ELF files) and in order to make use of this XMB Loader, games will have to be ported or created in PRX form:

"Current homebrews are not supported. Since current homebrews are in static elf format, they won't run (they are rejected by the 2.71 kernel). Homebrews for 2.71 have to be in prx format. As mentioned before, homebrew has to be in prx format, at least atm. Furthermore, the main prx, the one in the pbp, has to be an user prx. However this user prx can load unsigned kernel modules from the memory stick, allowing kernel mode apps."

The great thing from the programmers' perspective is the fact that you can load unsigned kernel modules from the Memory Stick. This means that they will get all the freedom which 1.5 has offered until now. For developers who are interested in creating or porting existing programs to be "PRX compatible", you can find information and details in the readme, so we hope to see a flurry of compatible homebrew in the next few days!

You should be warned, this program does write to flash, so as with any flash memory-related programs, be very careful and use at your own risk even if the chances of bricking is extremely remote.

"This program enables homebrew to be run in 2.71 through the XMB. It makes a patch that remains
permanent until hardware reset. Sleep mode won't remove the patch.

Note: this program writes some small files in the flash, ONLY the first time is executed.
IT does NOT rewrite any existing file in the system, it writes new files, so the probabilities of
bricking are practically null."

But, there is a ray of hope. Dark_Alex has said that in future versions, he may patch the kernel to accept static ELFs. That would mean that 2.71 will be able to run all the homebrew which 1.5 is known for! Let's just hope that in the near future, 2.71 can dethrone 1.5 as the "golden firmware". Hey! It doesn't sound all that improbable now. With the great work of people like Dark_Alex and his friends, Fanjita and crew, we're well on our way to making firmware 2.71 the primary homebrew firmware!

Here's the proof-of-concept, directly from Dark_Alex's site. Again, you should be careful before running this since it writes to the flash. Please check out the readme before doing anything else, there's a lot of important information in there. Oh, and the champagne? That's for Dark_Alex and his friends ;)

Download: [Dark_Alex's 2.71 XMB Homebrew Launcher Proof-of-Concept (Revision A)]

[Digg This!]

In 2004 Chris Marsh forged what could be the most impressive riding machine since the forces of evolution created the horse: Farboud Sports Carsin. Conceived by innovator Arash Farboud, this sports car conceals the muscle power of a true road warrior under a cloak of metallic grace. The Farboud GTS hosts a six speed manual transmission that clocks 0 – 60 in 3.6 seconds. Its supercharged V6 engine roars to a top speed of 200 mph.

The Farboud GTS is a true beast but it has its soft side. The luxurious leather interior and well-designed lines prove that simplicity is beauty. In Test Drive Unlimited (Xbox 360 and PSP) you can add this baby to your stable of supercars and take her out for riproaring spin around the island.

Art from our forums has released yet another monster version of his X-Flash homebrew flashing/firmware modification program for the PSP, updating it to version 14. It's hard to believe that an application that started out so simple was released so long ago; and now look what it has evolved into! The feature list for this version is massive - Art has been very busy on this one. Not only has he released X-Flash v14, but also opened some X-Flash forums on his own website. Well done Art!

Now lets get back to business. Here's a list of what you can and can't do in X-Flash v14 according to Art:

Things you Can't do:
- Detection of iR Shell.
  No possibility of launching X-Flash from within iR Shell.
  Sorry, this is required. You can currently (Kerrang Build 5)  
  play mp3s which access the memory stick all the time.
- Signature check on data section of the X-Flash program file
  to prevent replacing/tampering of the program's built in files.
- Slightly relaxed free RAM rule implemented in the last version.
  (detect free RAM function by MPH).

Things you can do:
- Centered "Hello Nickname" welcome screen for everybody.
  nickupto25characterslongifthepspsuppor (Yes it does).
- Added "Memory Stick" string to the XMB menu editor.
  This can now be changed to anything like the other labels.
- Added five new X-Flash menu colour themes.
- Added a few more ASCII GUI effects and fixes.
- Detection of stuck down HOME, SELECT, and START buttons
  at startup. For people who have broken front buttons on their
  PSP, those buttons will be disabled independently, for everyone
  else, their operation is faster than the current version.
- Fixed message that says "Apply Custom XMB Labels"
  when using Auto Restore. it now says "Restore Default Labels".

Art has also given us a sneak preview of what you can expect in X-Flash v14a, and it involves more XMB customization! The ability to save custom XMB label sets as a file, and read from the file into the XMB label editor as well as an encryption routine making it possible to share your custom label file while keeping the content secret until opened with X-Flash.

Download: [X-Flash v14]
Visit: [X-Flash Website]
View: [Forum release thread]

These days, with the functionality of the PSP blown wide open with all the downgraders and hacks, I'm sure a lot of you people have been wondering what MPH was up to. After some of his revolutionary releases like the 2.0 Downgrader and the GTA game loader, a lot of people would be expecting something big.

Well, MPH isn't one to disappoint. He has just successfully ported the LZMA archiving format to the PSP, or more popularly known as the 7-Zip format. Originally created by Igor Pavlov for multiple platforms, this archiving format has been gathering a lot of momentum, and second, only to the RAR format. I've used it a lot and the compression this format allows is simply great.

And Igor Pavlov would be pretty proud to know that another great programmer has just ported his compression format to the PSP. Although it currently only extracts a file called archive.7z in the root of the Memory Stick, it's pretty much guaranteed that in the coming weeks, this will be made into a proper full-fledged application. If not by MPH, then by someone else, because the source code has been released along with the proof-of-concept binary! Heck, I'd love to have it made into an IRShell plugin. Oh well, it depends on Ahman I guess.

Anyways, you can check out for yourself, the final results of what MPH has been busy with for a long time.

Download Link: [PSPLZMA - 7-Zip support for PSP]
Download Link: [PSPLZMA - Source Code]

Homebrew developer, Art, informed us through our forums that he has released the X-Flash Kerrang Build 4. If you have no idea what in the world X-Flash is, then let us give you a background of the the app. This app, when used with caution and enough knowledge, could alter and create a custom firmware for your PSP. Enough knowledge is always the key to using this one -- using it even if you have no idea what in the world you're doing could result to a bricked PSP. So use it at your own risk and remember: you've been warned.

So going back to the app, the X-Flash program has followed a logical progression, and, according to the dev himself, it now features some firmware tools that he did not consider when he started the program. " At the time of the V9f update, I decided to finish development of this program in favour of beginning work on another. A little over a month later, I updated this program soon after stumbling onto a forum thread discussing a firmware modification to remove the PSP logo from the gameboot screen. X-Flash V10 was the next major update since, and focus is still toward overall development for late releases."

X-Flash Kerrang build 4 (or X-Flash V13) is actually a special release for testing ASCII hand gesture animations. The developer has been focusing toward improving the XMB Menu Label Editor for this X-Flash Kerrang release. With those things stated, let's jump right on to the changelog.

Changelog:

Kerrang Build 4 (29/07/74):

Fixed in program sound effects to come out of both speakers instead of just the left speaker.
Program also displays Mikmod Sound Library version on startup.
Added support for analogue joystick in XMB Menu Editor, Document Reader, and Custom Firmware Configurator.
Improved XMB Label Editor with faster cursor movement, and changed text is highlighted.

Kerrang Build 3 (28/07/06):

Full XMB menu editor allows the user to change most XMB text labels to anything desired.
Input is through video game hi score style text entry method. It also has Read, Reset, and Save features.
Various minor enhancements.

Kerrang Build 2 (23/07/06):

New Easter Egg is a hidden hand gesture.
The Easter egg is not unlocked by performing flash write operations.
Implemented ASCII graphic sliding delay bar for Auto Restore, and
Program Exit functions. This is to prevent accidental use of those two functions.
The file PSP/SYSTEM/config.txt file can be deleted from the configurator screen by
pressing the square button.
Various fixes to ASCII graphic animations.

Kerrang (22/07/06):

New Hand Gesture aSCII animations used for indication.
Test for new interface style.

A little note from Art: "the original Dark_AleX Custom Firmware modification does not work under MPH firmware launcher." And as always, you're constructive criticisms, opinions and other what-nots would be welcome in the comments...so people, think out loud and share 'em to the gaming community!

Download: [X-Flash Kerrang Build 4]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

While there is quite a bit of information out there regarding some of the more popular PSP Homebrew software and games, a few in specific have eluded us during our quest for PSP Homebrew. Many a night have we sat mulling over old texts and documentations, searching high and low for these unusual softwares of untold entertainment. At the end of the day we drag our weary selves back into our cabins, and type away through the blurry vision and lag spikes, taking all our notes and presenting you with the skinny. What's the real deal with these apparently remarkable yet perplexing homebrew which end up having little or no substance?

Back in July of 2005 "it all started". However one could trace things back possibly much longer that that (maybe even to the beginning of time). We were not around that far back so we will just take your word for it. Around this time we started seeing a number of fake downgraders which all promised to rescue you from the boredom of version 1.50 since at the time homebrew was not supported on any PSP besides 1.00. We all know that during this time Sony's PSP was also struggling somewhat due to a lack of games. These forces no doubt had a direct relationship with PSP Gamers attempting to explore homebrew. Not implying that homebrew is "less than" retail games in any way, they are undoubtedly "cheaper" aka free (most of the time) and quite entertaining. A select few of us at QJ have bought our PSP's just for great homebrew experience alone.

Soon to jump on the bandwagon was the 2.0 Downgrader. I imagine many of you will remember this as the 2.00 PSP's had started becoming more widely available at this time. Many 2.0 gamers now realized they were to be suck in the same situation that 1.50 owners had previously experienced where their love for their new found system was diminishing after realizing they would be unable to play homebrew. Yoshihiro had worked on finding an exploit but a mass genocide of PSP's resulting in keeping many of those who would attempt "random downgraders online" away from any such nonsense. The entire "fake" 2.0 downgrader issue was one of the most dramatic scenes the PSP has gone through. Soon after this had started to calm down, and some thought all hope was lost, the MPH Downgrader was released and gave PSP Gamers with newer firmware the chance at full access to their PSP once again.

Two weeks later an unknown PSP Patcher was released on the net. Sadly PSP Team's featured "Patcher" was in fact a PSP Bricker as discovered by Skylark. Soon after this, a supposed "UnBricker" which was said to "unbrick the accidentally bricked PSP, no matter what the reason and version it was." We know, of course, that this is not in fact reality. Homebrew hits on 2.0 and now the updating drama begins. Three firmwares later we sit at 2.6 with a new "2.6 Crack Update" which is supposed to allow you to have full features of 2.6 just by updating to the new "custom" firmware. After a few quick checks this too is found to have no substance. Downgrading your PSP from a older firmware which provides more support is mighty popular, why wouldn't it be? So members at eBay had their round at selling another "Downgrader" which was found to be a bricker as well. I think some negative feedback is in order. Then to round it all off someone posted another fake downgrader, but this time masquerading under the name of respected developer Fanjita. Obviously a low blow, tricking users by giving them a false sense of security by manipulating the authors name. Fanjita posted the news on his website that this was indeed fake and he was not involved in the production of the bricker.

A PSOne Emulator is an idea that isn't quite new for the PSP, however from time to time we get new screens of the supposed PSOne Emulator Interface from places on the web. Then as time progressed, more information surfaced about the PSOne Emulator for the PSP (official and unofficial) as well as a number of homebrew PSOne Emulators. Lets not forget the attractive but make believe PSP to Xbox 360 interface. While I like to dream big, I dont think that production was based in the plane of reality. Then, most recently, there was rumors of "PSxxx," a  supposedly hard coded PS1 emulator that was capable of running FFVII... even WE had the sense not to post about that one! But even the most brilliant minds at QJ get fooled sometimes, which brings us to...

Now to conclude our mental trip back into the land of make believe, we end with the Full Speed Nintendo 64 Emulator. D'oh! I knew you were waiting for this one. After many weeks of unreliable and incoherent communications between the developer ZoMbi146 I will have to call shenanigans on his port of UltraHLE. The project itself could no doubt be accomplished by a determined developer however ZoMbi146 continually delay "without a doubt" evidence to support his emulator existed.  Eventually the "updates" turned into excuses then finally the emails just stopped. Bad Zombi and bad QJ! We've got our fire retardant suits on, so break out the flame torches! Our sincerest apologies for any destroyed hopes and dreams, please keep the rioting and property damage to a minimum. And be careful with those torches and pitchforks - it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye!

So there you have it a somewhat comprehensive background on the realities and the delusions, the good the bad and the ugly. and just for future reference, new rumored programs will not be reported on unless there is substantial evidence of its existence.

A physical manifestation of a cumulative angst of every homebrew maker towards their biggest arch nemesis, Sony, has been very well directed in this game. When Hackers vs Sony, first came into the limelight a few days ago, not a few were as amused as I was when they tried the game. Still, some just dismiss it as just another one of those games.

If you take the carefree nature of the storyline in stride, you'd find the whole thing quite comical. I mean come on, with weapons like the Sonylight, mph 2.0 downgrader and dark_alex 2.5 and 2.6 downgrader, taking the story seriously would only cause you wrinkles. Creator DreaDNoughT wrote:

"well i didn't plan with this, but in about an hour i'm going out of town, where there is no eletricity so i'm releasing yet another little update on hackers vs sony.

no you can actually win... but only if you kill enough (20) enemies before the time runs out... and i have also rewritten the storyline, so it looks a bit nicer, and i have changed the loosing text looks cooler now..."

Old Storyline	New Storyline

Now that we've come passed that, here are my suggestions. I like the glowing effect on the characters and all, but I'd keep that to a minimum, most especially for the hero. I'd also up the color a bit, just for the hero to pop out of the screen.

The biggest news about this homebrew is that- drum roll- you can actually win now. As mentioned on his letter, all you have to do to go deeper within the Sony HQ is to finish off 20 enemies in a given amount of time. Just take note on the health bar. you can take some hits, but not all of them. And you wouldn't want to get flashed. Trust me.

Go get those Sony glowsticks boys!

Download: [Hackers vs Sony (Homebrew Game)]

A very interesting homebrew game came our way recently. DreaDNoughT wrote to us (thanks for that!) about this game that he has worked on called "Hackers Vs Sony". The good developer together with virons (who was responsible for the gfx) slaved on this one for a week and the game is well, you guessed it - hackers going up against the Sony people.

The story revolves around how Sony, who was once considered as an ally of the gaming community, betrayed the very people who supported them. When the PSPs came out, everybody wanted them because of its beautiful features and the fact that you can hack them. And here's where the betrayal started: Sony released the 'demonic' firmware -- fw 2.0, which forced gamers to leave their PSPs for the DS...until they were saved by the devs -- such as Dark Alex, MPH, and Yoshihiro to name a few.

This one is a megaman style game and you must fight the evil Sony minions so as you can go deeper and deeper within the recesses of the Sony HQ and destroy the ultimate boss that blocks beloved homebrews. The Sony coders take the form of bluish, alien like creatures heavily armed with their weapon -- the Sonylight. You, as the hacker, take the form of a bird and you must defeat them with your own weapon -- the butterball.

And speaking of weapons, the developers mentioned to us that when they update the game to another version, he plans on enabling the 'hackers' upgrade their weapons to weapons such as "mph 2.0 downgrader" and "the dark_alex 2.5 and 2.6 downgrader". Now, if only this applies to real life...

  

UPDATE: DreaDNoughT just wrote to us (thanks again!) about some important details. Aside from the fact that he and homebrew developer, virons, concocted this game, he would also like to say that "he has made an update where the gunfire is a bit faster and the ability to take screenshots by holding the left trigger down in-game, I (he) also included an in-game screenshot" That's was fast! So go ahead and download the slightly-updated Hackers Vs. Sony!

Download: [Hackers Vs Sony]

Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]