Modder turns RROD-stricken Xbox 360 into PS3 arcade controller, awesomeness

In the most recent of Xbox 360 hacks, a modder named Morris has crafted a PS3 controller out of none other than — as ironic as this may seem — a dead Xbox 360. That’s right, somewhere out there, a PlayStation 3 has slain its mortal enemy, mercilessly gutted the internals and now has a modded Xbox as its eternal slave. The case contains all of the buttons you need to partake in a classic beat-’em-up — a joystick, the four PlayStation buttons, R1 and R2. There’s plenty more to gander at in the source link and enough in the way of detail and instruction to get started on your own arcade stick too.

Modder turns RROD-stricken Xbox 360 into PS3 arcade controller, awesomeness originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Kotaku  |  sourceShoryuken  | Email this | Comments

PlayStation hackers reportedly able to unban selves, ban others, turn tables

PlayStation hackers reportedly able to unban selves, ban others, turn tables

Just last week Sony said that those found to have hacked their PlayStation 3 consoles would have their PlayStation Network access “terminated permanently.” Harsh words that, unsurprisingly, weren’t too warmly received by the hacking community. Destructoid is now reporting that not only have those tinkerers found a way to unban themselves, but that they can in turn ban any other console they want. There’s apparently a catch, though, with the hackers having to know the unique ID assigned to the other console that they’ll be banning, which makes this sound like perhaps the hack is simply swapping a “good” ID onto a “bad” console, but at this point we have no details on the supposed procedure here. Regardless, if some random girl with a cute avatar hits you up on IM and, after a few minutes of casual conversation, asks you for the serial number on your PS3, think twice before handing over those digits.

Update: We were a little leery about this given Destructoid‘s lack of a source, and thanks to a note from reader Omega we now have what looks to be the actual source — indeed this all is sounding rather theoretical.

PlayStation hackers reportedly able to unban selves, ban others, turn tables originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Geek.com  |  sourceDestructoid  | Email this | Comments

Sony releases statement on PS3 hacking, surprisingly comes out against it

In the wake of recent developments in Sony’s war on Geohot, the company has released an “Official Statement Regarding PS3 Circumvention Devices and Pirated Software,” which reads, in part:
Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently.

To avoid this, consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems.

In other words: get caught with custom firmware, find yourself banished from the PlayStation Network forever. Seems rather reasonable. More reasonable than, say, filing a motion in court for the usernames and IP addresses of everyone who posted comments on Geohot’s YouTube video. Read the entire statement at the source link.

Sony releases statement on PS3 hacking, surprisingly comes out against it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePlayStation Blog  | Email this | Comments

DoubleTwist for Android adds AirTwist, streams media to Xbox 360, PS3 and more

Building on its Airsync feature that lets users wirelessly keep their media (pictures, music, movies) library synced between computer and mobile device, DoubleTwist’s new AirTwist feature lets your Android powered phone stream them to any Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Assuming you’ve already paid for the $4.99 AirSync add-on, all users need to do is get the most recent version of the app from the Android market, join the same network as one of the consoles wirelessly and authorize it within the app. While PS3 and Xbox 360 are the only devices officially listed, we didn’t have any problem pulling in a few songs on a connected Google TV device since it’s built on DLNA and should work with any device using the standard. Of course, Skifta does pretty much the same thing (with the exception of streaming to the Xbox 360) and it’s free, so choose carefully.

Continue reading DoubleTwist for Android adds AirTwist, streams media to Xbox 360, PS3 and more

DoubleTwist for Android adds AirTwist, streams media to Xbox 360, PS3 and more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink DownloadSquad, TheNextWeb  |  sourceAndroid Market  | Email this | Comments

Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida drops some NGP knowledge: PSP sticking around, PS3 games easy to port

Details about Sony’s next-gen portable Playstation, the NGP, have been scarce since we spoke with SCEA President-CEO Jack Tretton about the new device. However, in an interview in the forthcoming issue of Edge, Shuhei Yoshida –who happens to be president of SCEA Worldwide Studios — revealed a few more tidbits about Sony’s NGP strategy (alas, still no official price). Apparently, the PSP will stick around even after NGP’s release because of high demand for the older handheld, not to mention a lower price. For those of you concerned about a dearth of titles upon the NGP’s debut — a la the PS3 — fear not, as Yoshida stated that porting PS3 games was a goal from the very beginning and the process will be simple (relatively speaking, of course). Combine that with a push to make the NGP’s development environment “as easy as possible,” and we’ll hopefully see plenty of available titles upon the device’s release. Oh yeah, Yoshida-san also said that NGP is just the console’s codename, and the real name will be announced later this year — PSP2 just rolls off the tongue, now doesn’t it?

Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida drops some NGP knowledge: PSP sticking around, PS3 games easy to port originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CVG (1), (2), Videogamer.com  |   | Email this | Comments

PS3 ‘jailbreak code’ retweeted by Sony’s Kevin Butler, no punchline needed

Oh, honey. Sony PlayStation’s (entirely fictional) Kevin Butler holds many (also fictional) positions within the company, but apparently none of them require him to keep up with (very real) news events. Travis La Marr (aka @exiva) tweeted the now-infamous PS3 METLDR root key towards Butler with the challenge to “Come at me.” What’s a spokeperson to do but confuse it for a Battleship reference and retweet the entire code? Obviously someone let him in on the joke, as the tweet’s since been removed (original URL can be found as More Coverage below). At least Sony won’t have to subpoena for his info here. Geohot, we hope you’re laughing.

Update: As Digital Foundry points out, this sequence actually refers to the USB dongle ID generator key, also used for PS3 security circumvention.

[Thanks, Scott M]

PS3 ‘jailbreak code’ retweeted by Sony’s Kevin Butler, no punchline needed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcetmblr.us, @exiva (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

LG files ITC complaint against Sony, goes blow for blow

Late last year, Sony smacked LG with claims of patent infringement, and now the Korean company is swinging back with complaints of its own. LG reportedly filed two claims with the ITC on February 4th, accusing Sony devices — including Bravia and PlayStation 3 — of stepping on eight separate LG patents. We knew something like this couldn’t be far behind Sony’s ITC filing and accompanying federal court case, and we’re equally unmoved to hear LG is firing back with its very own civil suit, recently filed in California. Last year we saw patent infringement suits spread like meningitis in a college dorm, and if this dispute is any sign, we can expect to see more of the same in 2011. Let the litigation begin!

LG files ITC complaint against Sony, goes blow for blow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 21:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBloomberg  | Email this | Comments

Sony v. Geohot litigation heats up, SCEA demands YouTube give up Hotz and Fail0verflow’s personal info

Now that Sony has started gathering the evidence it needs via discovery in the lawsuit over Hotz and friends’ PS3 jailbreak, the company has dropped a hammer by moving to reduce the amount of time the hackers have to get Sony the information it wants. Sony filed the motion — which will be heard by the court tomorrow — to better arm itself with information to oppose Geohot’s motion to dismiss, scheduled to be heard in early March. Casting its evidence-gathering net far and wide, SCEA has demanded that YouTube surrender not only information for Hotz’s account where his jailbreak video was posted, but also how many users accessed the video, the usernames of those with access to the video, and all usernames and IP addresses of everyone who posted or published comments to the vid. In addition to hitting up YouTube for dirt, Wired reports that Sony has demanded Twitter hand over the personal info of fail0verflow’s members — we’re waiting for Sony’s lawyers to don TSA gear as the next step in their search. Geohot’s attorney thinks the requests seem a bit much, but we think they make sense given Sony’s strategy of going after the entire fail0verflow team. While these goings-on make for fairly standard legal tactics, they won’t do much for Sony’s public image.

Sony v. Geohot litigation heats up, SCEA demands YouTube give up Hotz and Fail0verflow’s personal info originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWired  | Email this | Comments

Sony posts $887 million net profit, PlayStation has strong holiday quarter

Sony had quite a good holiday during its third quarter for fiscal year 2010, posting a ¥137.5 billion (approximately US $1.68b) operating income. Year-over-year, however, it’s actually six percent lower than Q3 FY09, with some blame attributable to a five percent stronger yen. Although sales were more or less the same in most divisions (with pictures and music seeing a more noticeable drop), operating income saw dramatic changes. Consumer, Professional and Devices dropped 47 percent to ¥26.8b ($327.3m), while Networked Products and Services (which includes the PlayStation brand) jumped a whopping 134 percent to ¥45.7b ($559.78).

Looking at unit sales, Bravia sets were way up (7.9m units versus 5.4m in Q3 FY09), and video cameras, compact digital cameras, and PCs all saw moderate gains. PSP hardware took a pretty big hit, going from 4.2m last holiday to 3.6m this past quarter (the now-profitable PlayStation 3 saw a slight decline, 6.5m to 6.3m). Software-wise, though, both gaming machines saw a bump — 57.6m (from 47.6m) for PS3 and 16.4m (from 15m) for PSP. The PlayStation 2, now almost 11 years old, actually had about the same 2.1m hardware unit sales YOY, though software took a pretty hard hit (from 11.2m to 5.3m). Sony’s golden years console isn’t going down without a fight — then again, it might’ve been a different story had the company managed to add backwards compatibility to the PS3.

Sony posts $887 million net profit, PlayStation has strong holiday quarter originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq, Kotaku, Business Week  |  sourceSony  | Email this | Comments

Luxury game controller is hand assembled in Paris, overkill everywhere else

Feeling ostentatious, are we? This luxury game controller (yes, you read that right) is hand assembled in a Parisian workshop and features a lacquered oak wood joystick, ostrich leather covering, and electronics courtesy of Sanwa. We have no idea how much this will cost (and we’re quite frankly afraid to ask) although we should know when this becomes available on the 18th of this month. Compatible with the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, it’s being brought to the world by a French company called Hoon. Hit the source link to start wasting money.

Luxury game controller is hand assembled in Paris, overkill everywhere else originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Highsnobiety  |  sourceHoon  | Email this | Comments