Well it's finaly 2008. Lets hope this year turns out fantastic.
Well my gf finaly returned on friday. Along with her return I got some new gifts/toys. One of the things I got was a JXD 301 mp4 player. My feeling about it are really mixed at the current time (i'll explain more later). My second new toy is a iQue Player. The N64 geek in me is foaming at the mouth to play this thing but sadly I can't at the moment. The included AC adapter is 220v input ONLY. As well the Output is 5v (I have an AC adapter that could fit but it's 9v output). I was looking online at thesourcecc (formerly radioshack canada) but adapters are a little steep. They do have 1 that might fit the bill (3v-7v, supports 5v, and outputs at 2200 mA which I need) but it's $50. So I think I will wait a few days/week to see if I can find something better.
Christmas break was not as productive as I had hoped. I got tons of DD hacking done but still stuck at a massive brick wall. I hope once I get that resolved then the flood gates will open and I will have tons of new material to work with (like sample read/write commands). I also spent some time over the holidays working on a small psp puzzle game for kicks but I never got to finishing it.
Work side, 2008 will hopefuly be my big year when I FINALY get a comercial PSP game out (due novemberish). So I look forward to discussing this further when it's near launch (as well as give a copy away). The first game I was working on was due in 07 but it got cancelled early on (technicaly I was on engine development and not game but meh).
Well thats it for now. I plan to post progress of DD stuff as it happens as well as my adventures into the JXD 301. Hopefuly once I get an adapter I will also get some shots/video up of my iQue.
Sad this site is nothing more then just spam now a days.
As for my progress, I still busy with work. Recently I got a spurt of free time atm since my gf is super busy with school and now has her own laptop, which means I now can hog the main pc at night. YAY!!
I've been doing a little coding on the side over the past few months. I've been building a nice little puzzle game that is sadly on hold since I lost two artist so far. Hopefuly I can find another because I would heavly like to see this game get published or atleast posted on PSN.
I've also on the side been trying to help a few coders out but I sadly have zero faith in it amounting to anything (I have low faith due to nothing amounting from my previous assistance twards people).
Well thats roughly it bar from a few things i'm keeping secret.
So whats everybody else doing (providing someone actualy still checks this site/forum).
Since the Iris compo went bust I have a brand new copy of Price of Persia: Rival swords for PSP still to give away. I am tempted to hold a puzzle competition but by the time i'm ready this game will be in the bargin bin.
Anyways here is the rules. Give a sudgestion, ill deside which one I like the most. Who ever makes the best sudgestion gets nada but atleast will get credited for the compo idea.
Anyways here are a few from me (feel free to voice up if you like someone's sudgested idea).
.) Design a Puzzle level for a friend's homebrew project (google Kurupoto DS)
.) Write a random picker and make my PSP pick from a list of all who enter
.) Guess something I think up of (example, I think a city and everybody guess till they get it).
Anyways I am looking to try getting this game out to someone by next week. So I will pick the best idea as soon as I see what I like, then I will start the give away and pick a winner by mid next week.
If you don't know by now, well you were never gonna know.
fatcat04912 is hosting an Iris competition and I though I would make this front page news since it keeps falling further and further in the main sections news post.
Also yes I am contributing a copy of Prince of Persia Rival Swords (new copy fyi, i'm not trying to pawn off my copy. I still am playing it).
Everybody feel free to continue discussion here as well. Anyways here is a link to the topic as well as the basic rules.
Have fun kids!!
(fyi, if this goes well I might try doing a compo of my own).
The contest is for New maps And or New Characters
Just remember no all ready posted material
No Ripped Material
You Will Be Judged On the Following
1. Quality of map or Character
2. The In game speed
3. Size of the map (weather to crowded or to open)
4. Playability
5. Not to many glitches
No more entry past 05.27.07 (todays 04.30.07)
PRIZES
1. Unpatched copy of Grand Theft Auto Liberty City
2. Psp Parts
3. Prince of Persia Donated by PsMonkey
4. Socom psp head phones
5. Umd Movies
6. Umd Games
Other numerous prizes
Now im just trying to get iris back on the map
Special Grand Prize
Rules for grand prize
Must make and iris "update"
Now really i just want new bullets and maybe a gui for the update.
They get a grand prize the grand prize is worth about 80 - 120 dollars So what are your waiting for get out and map model or program
If anybody lives near a place where they can pick up Papabubble or know of a distributer in canada, could you please help me obtain some of this candy!!!! I once saw something simular (or maybe the same thing) on the show "How it is made" which airs on discovery channel. Ever since then I have been trying to find out what it was (I cought the last half of it) and where I could get some. Now kotaku posted some stuff today and this is the exact same candy demonstrated (but not sure if it's the same maker).
Anyways if someone out there can get me some of this stuff I would gladly pay shipping and purhcasing cost!!!!
Yes the end is near. Next week will see the release of Final Fantasy I Anniversary Ed on the PSP in japan. S-E is milking this game yet again and I exspect it to be in the top 3 sales for that week's sale charts in japan.
I am actualy somewhat looking forward to this release. I've never really beat FF1 (i tried on the nes but gave up half way, i got the gba ver but never got the chance to play it before), I did try going back and playing the gba version in antisipation and realised the game is difficult because it does not do a great job telling you where to go. :P
Anyways the official date is April 19th but some import sites like play-asia are showing the asian/HK release showing up as early as the 17th. I personaly will be getting a copy and doing a side by side with the GBA to see how they stack up.
On another related note, Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core is said to be dated August 2nd for japan as well. That game is going to be wicked.
------
Now onto a different note, I picked up Prince of Persia Rival Swords today from work and gave it a go. It's not bad but has some bad visual issues. God why does someone let the enviroment keep detailed textures yet give the player the most god awful low res texture imaginable (and he is on screen at all times). Anyways I am going to post my opinion on the game later this weekend. So keep posted on the general chat for that.
Just a small note, this is just a simple thing I wrote up during my lunch break. Sorry if its not have proper grammar and depth. It’s just some things that have been floating in my head since yesterday.
As I sit here during my lunch break eating a salad and listen to some music, I start visualizing how I could make a game based entirely off the music I am listening to. It makes me think back to a discussion I had with a friend recently as well as other discussions with the sound engineer at my previous job. Sometimes people don’t take audio in video games seriously. They think of it as an after thought or like a movie where the music forms around the game and not the other way around. Yet in the case where a game is entirely made based on music (and I’m not talking DDR here people). Great games that push this point are Loco Roco and Lumines (for example); games that just are not the same with the audio on mute. Also one that might not be the case but where the music just fits so well that imagining a different song would change the entire game is the LittleBigPlanet demo from GDC (Which features the song “Get it Together” by “The Go! Team”).
So referring back to my friend, we had a small discussion regarding gaming built around pieces of music. We both checked deeper into music by “The Go! Team” and already could just visualize the blocks to an entire game by just using their music alone. We already could see the first world in our game using Bottle Rocket, A cheerful level full of color (on the level of the Green Hill Zone in Sonic games). We could see the Hot Chip Remix of Ladyflash making a wicked song during tutorials and information menus. Not mention many places we could fit songs like “Junior Kickstart” & “The Ice Storm”.
During our discussions we ran into one major roadblock, what type of game do we make from this? We easily could see something like sonic using music like this (See Sonic Rush to hear great music by Hideki Naganuma & Teruhiko Nakagawa). We also could see a puzzle game resulting from this. Ultimately we settled on the idea of trying to somehow combine the two. A 2D puzzle game yet that give you a sense of urgency and speed to fly though the puzzles continuously with no disconnect between puzzle boards yet also be a challenge like playing checkers (not going to BS and say deep though provoking chess here).
So what does this have a connection to homebrew? It does to some extent. See the thing is, PSP homebrew does not have a lot of creativity going around. It’s just game clones and half baked lua ideas. I am not trying to look down on homebrew coders but I would like to see more creative ideas come out of the scene. Homebrew is probably the most perfect place to see creative, original, & innovative ideas to come together in a small game. Remember that some of our favorite games came out of simple ideas that teams pushed together with no commercial intent. flOw was done as a concept in flash, Portals was originally an idea put together by digi-pen students, Katamari Damacy was a creative idea by a Japanese student before graduating, Every Extend Extra was based on a small pc homebrew game called Every Extend, as well as many others floating out there. So why are we not seeing more of this creativity in psp homebrew?
Sorry running out of time here so I will simply wrap this up for now.
What was the whole point of this write up? Well somewhat boredom, somewhat me wanting to rant about the lack of creativity in the homebrew scene, somewhat me wanting to shoot out ideas and see what others think. Will anything come of me and my friends’ discussion? Well that is up for him to decide and so far he wants to keep toying with the idea mentally for a little longer.
Anybody have their two cents they would like to add to this?
Great stuff. I recomend everybody going and checking out their music. Their song probably most well known on the internet is "Get It Together" which was featured in the LittleBigPlanet Ps3 demonstration back at GDC. I've actualy heard another one of their songs before that but never looked into the band back then.
Their music definantly should find its way into more games. It would just fits so well!!!
You can listen to the songs on the website above. Just click the play buttons next to a song's name.
- My Top 3 Pick -
1) Junior Kickstart
2) Get it Together
3) Bottle Rocket (I could so see this in a 2D sonic game)
Panther Dash is also great but somewhat like Junior Kickstart (so that is why i did not rank it in top 3, or it would have been 2nd)
Journey Into the Darkness With “Castlevania: Symphony of Night” on Xbox Live Arcade
Celebrate more than two decades of the Castlevania franchise by reliving (or experiencing for the first time) one of the series’ most highly regarded games. The legendary 2D side-scrolling action adventure game from Konami Digital Entertainment, “Castlevania: Symphony of Night,” will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 beginning Wednesday, March 21 at 0900 GMT (2 a.m. PDT).
The Castlevania franchise is well known for delivering exceptional quality in all elements that make a great game – story, music, level design, character development, gameplay and controls. In “Castlevania: Symphony of Night,” the 12th iteration of the series, gamers take on the role of Alucard, the half-vampire son of the blood-drinker Dracula, as he ventures into his infamous father’s foreboding castle. Along the way, Alucard must collect items, weapons and armor to defeat the powerful boss monsters that block access to key areas of the castle.
“Castlevania: Symphony of Night” is the first full console classic to appear on Xbox Live Arcade and offers dozens of hours of non-linear action RPG gameplay. “Castlevania: Symphony of Night” will be available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated T for Teen (Animated Blood and Violence).
Game Features
* Play the original version of the game or experience it in enhanced mode with improved graphics and modernized audio and sound effects
* New native widescreen and high-definition support
* Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points
Monday: God of War PSP made official by sony as well as some game details.
Tuesday: God of War 2 / 007: Casino Royal
Wednesday: TMNT Aracade on XBLA ($5, Wooo)
Thursday: Mortal Kombat II on PS3 (online play)
Friday: Hotshots Golf 5 Jpn Demo (Providing I can get to it).
Posible Bonus this week, Sold some stuff and have funds to buy a Virtua Stick High Grade (Sega VF5 Ps3 stick). If i'm lucky it will show up by friday.
Ok to the point. Today (march 9th) is my birthday. This monkey is now 24 (yes pretty damn young).
Now to spill a few beans about my self (was my intentent for my birthday).
I will not post my name (if you know it, keep it to your self). Anyways yes I did get a big job back in august. I now work for Ubisoft Montreal. I initialy started on the PSP pipeline for an FPS. Sadly the title was canceled a month ago . Luckly after that I was transfered and am working on an unanounced PSP/Wii title. I am quite happy with my job yet every weekend I miss my homebrew work. While I do work on psp stuff at home it's nothing like I use to do (maybe 1-4 hours every few weeks).
So now you guys know a little more about me (less misterious). Truthfuly tho a few people *cough sniper, wally, wragy* knew about this long ago.
-- P.S. --
If you hail from a news site, don't report it. No need to make a huge post outside my forum regarding this.
UPDATE
I've just ben fired... aw just kidding.
Actualy A big happy birthday to BrooksyX!! He to is celebrating today on march 9th. Good times all around.
Go check it out. I am friends with the author. If anybody is wondering, yes he is a comercial dever so don't exspect him to quit his day job for homebrew.
Got a ps3? Buy MotorStorm!! Quite a fun game (just picked it up today). Actualy it would be cool to play some people here in the online mode.
Also for canadians. Here are the places to purchase from...
1 - Futureshop ($59.99 for the next 2 weeks)
2 - Best Buys / Sony Store ($64.99)
3 - Everywhere else
I Went to futureshop first but they were sold out (and the game just arived today) so I took a guess and tried the montreal sony store and by luck they still had alot of copies in but shockingly, I was the 13th person who bought the game today. My friend end up picking up the last copy the local EBGames had. So moral of the story, Montreal people should hit the sony store for motorstorm.
WTF going on? Well quite simple. Wrag is helping me clean house at the moment. "PSmonkey Archive Forum" has been created and all my previous stuff is there for reference.
Mostly this new section is going to be for me to bitch and maon about the industry, homebrew scene, piracy and other topics.
As an added bonus march 9th is my birthday (no nothing is planned, just stating). Anyways exspect to hear more personal things about me in the future (for ***** and giggles).
The included AC adapter is 220v input ONLY. As well the Output is 5v (I have an AC adapter that could fit but it's 9v output). I was looking online at thesourcecc (formerly radioshack canada) but adapters are a little steep. They do have 1 that might fit the bill (3v-7v, supports 5v, and outputs at 2200 mA which I need) but it's $50. So I think I will wait a few days/week to see if I can find something better.
. Luckly after that I was transfered and am working on an unanounced PSP/Wii title. I am quite happy with my job yet every weekend I miss my homebrew work. While I do work on psp stuff at home it's nothing like I use to do (maybe 1-4 hours every few weeks). 
