Real 2.0 to 1.5 PSP Firmware Downgrader

Well, whaddya know? It's been done.
The seemingly innocuous 64K non-kernal mode buffer overflow exploit recently found in the picture viewer of the version 2.0 PSP firmware has been used to make a downgrade possible. The best we'd seen from this exploit until now was a rather weak version of Pong, but now 2.0 users can actually downgrade their PSP's firmware back to the homebrew-friendly 1.50 version.

There are several files required for the downgrade, including the official Sony 1.50 upgrade file. The process itself, while fairly straightforward, has a few hair-raising moments, such as when the 1.50 "upgrade" gets to 99% completion and then crashes with an error. After a reboot, it errors again, but finally after another restart, the PSP settles in as a fully functional 1.50 unit.

I'm not going into a lot of detail or providing any links, as there's considerable potential for irresponsible use (ie. mass piracy and the odd bricked PSP). Having said that, it's worth noting that ex-WAB team member Yoshihiro is one of the coders responsible. After the WAB team debarcle, Yoshihiro has silenced his critics with this release. No doubt Sony will release a plugged version 2.1 firmware upgrade very soon, and make it a mandatory upgrade for upcoming PSP titles, like GTA: Liberty City Stories. Until then, it seems PSP owners have the ability to upgrade and downgrade between versions 1.50 and 2.0 as they see fit.

TGS wraps up, PSP plugs in, 2.0 exploit's out.

So the Tokyo Game Show is over for another year. The Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer really knocked everyone's socks off and initially sparked debate over whether it was pre-rendered or actually running in real-time. After the Killzone 3 trailer shown at E3 in May turned out not to be truly real-time, people have become understandably sceptical. Hideo Kojima took the opportunity to nip the rumours in the bud, by demonstrating the MGS4 engine in a live presentation at TGS. He controlled the camera and altered many effects on the PS3 alpha kit as proof that MGS4, while still at least a year from release, is already running in real-time.




Konami also let attendees get hands-on with their new 3D PSP peripheral for Metal Gear Ac!d 2 on the show floor. The "TobidAc!d" is a lightweight add-on (reportedly made of cardboard) that folds around the PSP and produces a convincing 3D effect by splitting the widescreen into smaller displays for each eye. It has now been confirmed that the entire game can be played in 3D and that the title will sport USB connectivity features with MGS3:Subsistence on PS2. Cinematic sequences and photos taken from MGS3:S on PS2 will be viewable in true 3D on the PSP. The "TobidAc!d" was shown in both black and white variations to match the PSP's colours.




Nintendo put many gamers' minds at ease when they announced that an official cradle would be released allowing their radical new Revolution controller to slot into a more traditional Wavebird-style controller, allowing conventional controller input in addition to the new motion-sensing features. While many tech demos were playable, no actual Revolution games were shown.



Microsoft's TGS showing for XBox360 didn't cause much buzz. Racing games Project Gotham Racing 3, Ridge Racer 6 and Test Drive Unlimited were all on show, but failed to inspire and were widely regarded as "more of the same". Dead Or Alive 4 (above) and Gears Of War looked gorgeous, but less than innovative. The first wireless arcade stick for 360 was shown in a DOA4 theme (below).




Capcom had a very strong presence. Dead Rising looks set to be a launch title on 360 and is shaping up to be a dead-ringer for George Romero's Dawn of The Dead, while Resident Evil 5 (below, coming to 360 and PS3) looks stunning, even at this early stage. New additions to the Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe franchises also look promising.




Sega's Sonic Team unveiled a playable next-gen Sonic title (above, for PS3 and 360) that looked great and retained the classic gameplay style of the original Sonic games. A new PSP exclusive version of Namco's brilliantly quirky Katamari Damacy franchise was playable at their booth (below), though the lack of twin analog sticks means the d-pad and face buttons are used for control instead. Namco also staged a tournament for their soon to be released PS2-exclusive fighter, Soul Calibur III, which could be the deepest fighting game yet, featuring an unprecedented amount of extra modes and huge scope for creating and customizing characters.





Okay, enough TGS...moving on:

The first true exploit for the PSP's 2.0 firmware has been found. A method for triggering a buffer overflow and running a simple piece of homebrew code embedded in malformed PNG and TIFF images has been discovered and released. Whether this exploit can be reworked and used to launch more complex homebrew applications remains to be seen. This may finally draw attention away from the long awaited 1.5 downgrader from Yoshihiro, which has proven to be vaporware. It turns out Yoshihiro never had a working 1.52 to 1.50 downgrader and the WAB team accepted a whole lot of PayPal donations under false pretences. The other notable WAB team member, AloneTrio, seems to have kept most of the money. The saga ended with a customary team meltdown and undignified brew-ha-ha of lies, greed, insults and blame-shifting.

Meanwhile, Team Xecuter, famous for their XBox mod chips, are preparing an unofficial PSP AV-out adapter for commercial release. The solderless system, currently dubbed PSP2TV, has two parts: the first is a replacement faceplate with a connector for the second part, which clips onto the back of the PSP when needed (while still allowing the UMD door to open). The back part features standard stereo AV out RCA connections, plus a port to attach a PS2 controller! The aspect ratio is selectable between 16:9 or 4:3 output.

TGS 2005

The annual Tokyo Game Show began this morning and has already proven to be a big event. Nintendo's head honcho, Satoru Iwata, kicked it off with his keynote speech. Aside from announcing the forthcoming Nintendo wi-fi online service, he also revealed Nintendo's big secret: the controller for Revolution, their next generation console. No, that's not some new iPod he's holding (above), it's a wireless controller that strongly resembles a common remote control. We all knew Revolution's controller would be different, but this is really different.

The basic controller is held in one hand, like a remote, with the d-pad at your thumb, a large "A" button below it and a "B" button trigger on the underside for your index finger. The revolutionary part is that the whole unit is motion sensitive. The Revolution console can sense the position, alignment and motion of the controller in 3D space. You can tilt, turn, raise, lower, swing, point or otherwise move the controller as input. The controller also allows for additional control modules to be attached, such as the analog stick and twin trigger attachment shown today (below). With a cord between the two parts, the Revolution controller takes on a distinctive nunchaku appearance. I choose to call them "Ninchuks".




The last time we saw the Revolution (at E3 in May), the prototypes were mainly black. Apparently black is like so last generation. White is the new black. Nintendo's Revolution, Microsoft's XBox360, and even Sony's PSP and PS3 are now being seen in white varieties. Apple's iPod certainly has set a trend...but I digress. Nintendo showed off a wide range of basic tech demos using the Revolution's motion sensing capabilities. The potential uses for this controller, like flying a plane, fishing, aiming and shooting, sword fighting etc. are near limitless. One of the demos shown was a retrofitted version of the first level from their current Gamecube hit, Metroid Prime: Echoes. This was an effective demonstration of how the new control scheme can be put to use in conventional games. The analog stick and buttons were used as usual, but the motion sensing feature allowed users to look around freely and aim precisely just by moving their hand.

One of the oft-stated goals of Nintendo's strategy with Revolution was to broaden the audience, providing a method of control that is as simple and intuitive as possible, so that people who have never played videogames before can just pick up the controller and play, without having to worry about convoluted control schemes or complex button layouts. I'd say they've hit the mark with this controller, but whether Revolution will prove to be a success is still very much in doubt. Hopefully third party software developers will get behind the console and make the most of it's unique possibilities. When you're competing with world powers like Microsoft and Sony, being radically different is a big gamble. I hope for Nintendo's sake that it pays off.




Speaking of the competition, Microsoft chose their pre-TGS show yesterday to announce firm dates for the XBox360 launch. It's hitting retail on November 22nd 2005 in North America; just in time for the all-important holiday season. Europe will follow on December 2nd, and Japan a week later on the 10th of December. While Microsoft previously confirmed that the 360 would be available in two versions (the full version or a cheaper, cut-down "core" system) for the US and Europe, it's now clear that only the full version will be sold in Japan. It was announced that it would go on sale for 37,900 yen, making it slightly cheaper than the US full version's US$399 price.



In Sony's camp, Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear series has stolen the show so far. The showing of a new trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots running on PS3 hardware was a real eye-opener. Solid Snake has never looked so real...or old. Some years have passed since MGS2 and Snake (below) is no spring chicken.




Even Otacon (above) is showing his age. Fear not, tactical espionage fans, as Snake is still kickin' it in a battlezone somewhere and still enjoying a crafty cigarette when he can (though he's hacking his guts up a bit more than he used to). Kojima's quirky humour is evident in the trailer and the visuals are second to none. The MGS4 trailer really highlighted the power of PS3 to create richly detailed cinematic graphics. Hopefully a higher quality version of the trailer will be leaked to the net soon. The prospect of playing this game in true high-definition leaves me breathless. Forget Killzone. MGS4 is Playstation3's new killer app.




Returning to the current generation, Kojima is also readying "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence" for release on PS2. This is an expansion on MGS3, much like "Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance" was to MGS2. The biggest single addition to the game is an online componenent. The MGS series has never offered an online multiplayer experience before, and Subsistence looks set to deliver both quality and quantity on that front. The latest footage shown at TGS revealed more multiplayer maps and cameos from an unlikely source: Rumble Roses. Yes, the provocative lasses from Konami's all-female wrestling game (which is currently being remade for XBox360) are playable in MGS3:Subsistence. First it was the monkeys from Ape Escape, and now it's scantily-clad female wrestlers. No-one can say Kojima takes his games too seriously.





Finally, Kojima had another surprise in store for the next installment of the Metal Gear Ac!d series on PSP. Metal Gear Ac!d 2 will apparently support a new peripheral that transforms the PSP into something that looks more like a set of binoculars. This will allow players to see portions of the game in true stereoscopic 3D! Few details have been revealed at this stage. I somehow can't see too many people using this peripheral in public, but it's interesting nonetheless.

UMD Movie Madness

One day after the Australasian/European PSP launch and forums across the net are once again alive with new owners moaning about dead or stuck pixels on their screens. They're a vocal minority however. Most people apparently don't have any, and of those who do, few of them consider it to be an issue. Yoshihiro (see last post) bought himself a French v1.52 PSP yesterday and is said to be busy working on a PC application that will make up part of his yet-to-be-released firmware downgrader.

What has turned out to be interesting about the Australian launch is the UMD movies. Sony have been very clear that UMD movies would be region locked just like DVD movies. Indeed, the Hollywood studios insisted upon it. Up until now, that was taken as a given. Japanese UMD movies wouldn't work on US PSPs and vice versa.

When I walked into Sony Central today, they swore blind that this was still the case. I then pulled out my Japanese PSP and suggested they try it. They grabbed the nearest Australian UMD movie (Hellboy: Directors Cut), I popped it in my PSP and guess what? It worked. Despite the clearly marked "Region 4" logo on the case, it loaded straight up and played just fine on my (Region 2) PSP. Owners of US PSPs have also reported success in playing Australian UMD movies on their units.

So what is going on? Have Sony changed their mind? Have they slipped up? Were they just pretending there'd be region locks on Euro/Aus UMD movies to discourage importers? The real story isn't clear yet, but I'm leaning toward option 2. This feels like a mistake.

Sony were under some time pressure to meet the Sept 1 launch and perhaps they didn't double check everything. It seems apparent that some of the first batch of Australian UMD movies were pressed without a region code being set (ie. they're set to the region zero default, which will work on all PSPs). Sony also made a minor slip-up with their first Australian download pack for WipEout Pure. It comes up as "Corrupted Data" when viewed on the memory stick duo. It still works in-game though, so it's no big deal. (Memo to Sony: If you want to fix this, you may want to correct the typo in the directory name reference in the PARAM.SFO file.)

I guess we'll have to wait and see whether any of the second batch of Australian UMD movies work on imported PSPs to determine whether the lack of region coding was actually a mistake or not. I don't imagine the movie studios would be too impressed should their movies continue to be region-free. Another PSP retailer I spoke to today said all of his current UMD movie stock worked on his US PSP, though from my own tests I can confirm that some Australian UMD movies, such as "Be Cool" are correctly region-locked.

To those of you waiting for a significant PSP price-drop: don't hold your breath. Sony have Australian retailers under contract to sell all 1st-party PSP products at the current RRP until March next year: $399 for the PSP and $79 for 1st-party games. Should they breach this, the threat is that they'll be cut off from delivery. Major chains will likely drop the prices slightly anyway (as Sony wouldn't dare cut them off), but smaller games retailers will probably have to toe the line. Retail profit margins are slim anyway.

Enjoy your new PSPs everyone.
For lots more PSP coverage, check out my articles at Game Power Australia. More of my reviews will be online there shortly.