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Posts with tag homebrew

Pandora project demoed on video, shows off hardware, Linux, and Quake 2

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Aug 20th 2008 at 4:14AM


It looks like the Pandora project is really coming together nicely. EvilDragon has just posted this video on the GP32x boards of a development model up and running. It's pretty exciting stuff if you're a homebrew fan (and we know you are), featuring demos of the device smoothly running emulators like PicoDrive, PSNES, booting up a build of Linux, and even getting its Quake 2 on (at high frame rates and looking crystal clear). It's still going to be awhile before we've actually got our grubby mitts on one of these, but this is certainly doing a good job of whetting our appetites. Watch the video after the break and see for yourself.

[Thanks, Chris]

Continue reading Pandora project demoed on video, shows off hardware, Linux, and Quake 2

WiiBrew's Wii Pack Generator takes the "messy" out of homebrew

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 28th 2008 at 8:17AM


Not that getting some hand-crafted 'brew on the Wii was any great feat to begin with, but the kindhearted individuals over at WiiBrew have decided to make things even easier. The newly released Wii Pack Generator is, in its own words, a "web-based utility that allows you to select from the most recent, up to date, and high quality homebrew for your Nintendo Wii and create a custom pack." Everything you select will be beautifully organized into a .zip or .exe file with the correct structure for easy extraction onto your SD card. Any remaining doubts you had about giving this a go just flew out the window (really, we saw it go down), so check the read link to conquer your fears and start really living.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PS3 homebrew capabilities inevitably leads to Pong

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 27th 2008 at 1:51PM


If you'll recall, the evolution of homebrew on the Wii started out quite similar to this. First comes the Hello World proof of concept, then comes Pong. It would just be wrong to unfold otherwise, right? Dragula96, the same guru who whipped up the original homebrew hack, has now introduced 2 Player Pong 1.0 -- the first notable game to take advantage of the Java devkit (at least, that's how it looks from here). Currently, the collisions are "very basic" and further tweaks are necessary before it's perfect, but it should be stable enough to take you to some sort of blissful state for now.

Java homebrew devkit for the PS3 emerges, nobody cares

by Paul Miller, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 10:31AM

PSP hacker "FreePlay" has turned his gaze to the PS3, and come up with a method for the first PS3 homebrew outside of Linux and that little "hello world" proof of concept a few months back. The minimal devkit doesn't seem built to take advantage of the PS3's wiles, however, and is instead working with the Java prowess built into the Blu-ray playback end of the PS3. Who knows how much power that'll lend to homebrew developers, but it's Java, so we're not expecting great things either way. Wake us when we can play PS2 games, would you?

WiiHD's homebrew guide: hacking doesn't get much easier than this

by Paul Miller, posted Jun 24th 2008 at 2:30PM


The folks of WiiHD, in honor of the recent Quake release for Wii homebrew, have put together an easy-to-follow guide for getting the Wii homebrew channel up and running on your little white console -- plus a pre-packaged zip file with some ready-to-go 'brew if that's the way you like it. You've really got zero excuse to hold off on homebrew with as purtiful and straightforward all these fine hackers have made the process, but if you're still unconvinced, check out the Quake video after the break.

Continue reading WiiHD's homebrew guide: hacking doesn't get much easier than this

Twilight Hack returns to knock out Wii Menu 3.3

by Paul Miller, posted Jun 21st 2008 at 8:18PM


Nintendo talks a big talk, but has never invested heavily in actually protecting its systems from those nefarious homebrew junkies. While the Wii Menu 3.3 did slightly break the Twilight Hack, it didn't even bust up folks who already had the homebrew channel installed, and its protections against further hacks were minimal. Now the HackMii folks are back with Twilight Hack v0.1beta1, which bests Wii Menu 3.3, along with some other improvements for homebrew usage. We can't tell if this is incompetence or benevolence on Nintendo's part, or perhaps these hackers are just that good, but either way we're lovin' it JT-style.

Wii Menu 3.3 already hacked, patch forthcoming

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 19th 2008 at 6:53PM


Although the Wii Menu 3.3 update didn't undo the Twilight Hack for those who had already installed it, it did prevent new would-be homebrewers from getting their game on -- but like all attempts to outfox the hackers, it's fallen short, and in record time. According to hackmii, which figured out the workaround, the 3.3 update isn't exactly subtle in what it does to disable the hack -- quote the team, "We Are Not Impressed." No publicly-available patch is out yet, but give 'em time, they say they're working on it.

[Via Hack A Day]

Wii Menu 3.3 update disables Twilight Hack for those who haven't already taken the plunge

by Paul Miller, posted Jun 17th 2008 at 12:20PM


Here's an odd one. We assumed Nintendo would be actively building software updates to kill off the Virtual Console-threatening homebrew that has been rapidly spreading to Wiis worldwide, but the Wii Menu 3.3's effect on hackers seems accidental at worst. The word on the street is that if you've already installed the homebrew channel onto your Wii, the 3.3 update will pose zero threat, but it patches up the Twilight Hack hole, meaning virgin consoles will have little hope for homebrew once they've updated to 3.3 -- until someone cracks it, of course. The update also lets you pull Miis from the Mii Plaza to the Mii Parade directly, a time for rejoicing, indeed.

[Thanks, Sean]

Prototype iControlPad proves itself on video

by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 3:11PM


Hah, did you really have the nerve to doubt CraigIX? The iPhone gamepad add-on that we heard about just last week is already inching closer to reality, and there's a video to prove it. In the somewhat unexciting clip posted up after the jump, you'll see a PCB mockup of the device doing its thang, though it's quite inelegant in its current form. If you just needed one more something to boost your interest / confidence that this critter was real, you know where to head.

[Via zodttd]

Continue reading Prototype iControlPad proves itself on video

Wii homebrew channel video released

by Donald Melanson, posted May 5th 2008 at 7:27PM

We've already seen some rudimentary Wii homebrew channel support, but this latest video released by homebrew developer Bushing steps things up considerably, with it turning what was once a curiosity into something that quite a few non-homebrew dabbling folks will likely be eager to get their hands on. As you can see after the break, the channel looks to be about as straightforward as can be, and it apparently includes built-in support for loading ELF and DOL homebrew executables via USBGecko and TCP/IP, in addition to support for loading 'em off SD cards. Sadly, there's no word on a release just yet, but we can't imagine it being kept under wraps for too much longer.

[Via DCEmu, thanks Craig]

Continue reading Wii homebrew channel video released

New Wii homebrew hack unlocks region-free gaming

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 16th 2008 at 10:27AM


Homebrew coders over at TehSkeen have manged the near-ultimate hacker achievement of enabling region-free gaming on the Wii via a software hack -- no mod chips or Freeloader disc required. Implementation of Gecko Region Free couldn't be simpler: you just load boot.elf from the chain loader, stick in your Wii game and hit reset. The hack claims to have borrowed zero code from Nintendo or Datel, making this pure homebrew. You'll still need to use that Twilight Princess hack to get thing started, and Nintendo could always rain on this parade, but for the time being the world (of foreign-released games) is your oyster.

[Via Wii Fanboy]

Wii's Virtual Console hacked on video

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 9th 2008 at 8:06PM


We'll be straight with you -- it's a bit of a mystery what exactly is going on here, but famed Wii hacker Waninkoko has apparently figured out a way to take Virtual Console titles and play them on another Wii. The good news? There's a video -- which many aren't hesitating to blast with "fake!" -- of the trick posted after the jump. The bad? There's no how-to in sight.

[Thanks, Craig]

Continue reading Wii's Virtual Console hacked on video

DIY picture frame does IM, Skype notifications

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 8th 2008 at 1:45PM

There's certainly plenty of readymade devices out there that'll give you information at a glance, but if you're more the DIY-type you may want to follow the lead of David Bue Pedersen from Volunteer Lab Rat, who put together this spiffy little picture frame that notifies him when his friends are online. There's no fancy LCDs here, however, just some plain old pictures housed in clear frames with an LED placed on top of each, which light up whenever the person is on IM or Skype. Needless to say, there's quite a bit of coding and some slightly daunting hardware hackery involved to get all that to work, but Pedersen has at least provided the necessary schematics and board layout if you want to give it a go -- you can even push things all the way up to 22 LEDs if five isn't enough for you.

[Via Hacked Gadgets]

PS3 homebrew hack found, Hello World!

by Paul Miller, posted Mar 31st 2008 at 11:06AM Breaking News


We haven't heard much out of the PS3 homebrew scene so far, which could be due to the console's delayed popularity, or perhaps because Sony did users a solid out of the gate and included Linux. That said, there's no stopping these hardcore homebrew types when they put their minds to something, and now Dragula96, a well known PSP hacker, has supposedly found an exploit on the PS3 that let him get a little Hello World proof of concept up and running. At the moment he's not saying how he did it, but he does say the hack is working on 60GB and 40GB PS3s, running the current 2.20 firmware. Next on the agenda? Pong. Video is after the break.

[Thanks, Craig]

Continue reading PS3 homebrew hack found, Hello World!

Wii homebrew inches along, now has rudimentary channel support

by Ryan Block, posted Mar 16th 2008 at 4:43PM


Today's Wii homebrew hotness comes by way of Team Twiizers, whose new hack takes last week's GameCube-free loader and enables custom channel icons that load hacked apps just like that. Getting from point A to point B still isn't a cakewalk yet, though; you still have to load the Zelda / Twilight hack and use it to reboot your Wii to get that app into the channel space. Video after the break, which quickly demonstrates getting a custom app-launching channel (which in this example happens to use the Mii channel icon).

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, via Wii News]

Continue reading Wii homebrew inches along, now has rudimentary channel support

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