backwards compatible
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Sony NGP confirmed to be backwards compatible with downloaded PSP games
There was a bit of confusion over what sort of backwards compatibility the Sony NGP would have when it was announced earlier this year, but it looks like that particular mystery's now been cleared up. Eurogamer reports that the NGP (or whatever it's eventually called) will be indeed compatible with existing PSP games -- of the downloadable variety only, of course. What's more, the site says that it has actually seen Resistance: Retribution demonstrated on the handheld, and that all PSP games are run via a software emulator that will let you turn upscaling on or off to suit your preference -- games will also be able to take advantage of the NGP's dual analog sticks (to control your character's view in Resistance, for instance). As Eurogamer notes, that sounds similar to Sony's remastering effort for PSP titles on the PS3, which also promises to add cross-device playability. Might the NGP also get in on that act? We should know more at E3 next week.
Wii HD rearing long-rumored head at E3 2011?
Another year, another chance for Nintendo to deliver what it's alternately denied and teased since day one -- a successor to the Nintendo Wii capable of displaying games in high resolution. Will Nintendo finally make it happen? Multiple totally anonymous sources say yes: they told Game Informer, IGN and Kotaku that just such a system will debut at E3 2011 in June, possibly with a teaser of some sort next month. While the ninja moles didn't provide many hard details -- mostly just the typical iffy claim that the system will wipe the floor with competitors in terms of speeds and feeds -- they told IGN that it will support 1080p resolutions and be backwards-compatible with games for the Wii. Naturally, we'll believe it when we see it... so here's hoping we see it fairly quickly. Update: Rumors are bursting out of the woodwork at this point, and we're going to refrain from posting them all here, but anonymous sources tell IGN and CVG that the new console might have controllers which double as the console's display -- each sporting a sizable screen.
Buffalo outs USB 3.0 ExpressCard adapter, we see a trend coming
After our adventure in figuring out the particular ExpressCard version of the StarTech USB 3.0 adapter, here's Buffalo joining the fray and, naturally, there's zero indication about whether this is an ExpressCard 1.0 or 2.0 device. The difference is that with the latter you can get all the way up to 5Gbps theoretical throughput, which is just above the USB 3.0 max rating of 4.8Gbps (typically advertised as 5Gbps), whereas the former hardware will get you only up to 2.5Gbps. Considering there's a pair of USB SuperSpeed ports on there, you'll want to make doubly sure you're getting what you think you are. Or, given that early bird UK e-tailers are listing it for £35 ($57; no stock yet), you could just order one up and pray to Cthulhu that you get the maximally awesome stuff.
GE shows off 1TB holographic discs but Wolf Blitzer remains skeptical
We're confused as to how technology that was supposed to be available in 2006 can still be featured at an Emerging Tech conference in 2009, but so it is for General Electric's attempt at holographic storage. Predicting drives for archival purposes in two or three years with consumer products around two years after that, manager Peter Lorraine claims Blu-ray has "two to four years of life to go" and expects licensees to clean up with speedy 3ms access time, 1TB+ storing (up from a mere 200GB), backwards compatible hardware. The latter portion, plus other breakthroughs in cost and reliability are listed as reasons to believe the market will catch HVD anytime soon, but right now it's about as likely returning to a matching 2006-era MySpace page or believing Wolf was staring at anything other than a mark on the floor on Election Night. [Via Physorg]
USB 3.0 gets seriously detailed
Just last week, Intel gave AMD, NVIDIA and a whole host of friends what they had been clamoring for: 90% complete USB 3.0 controller specifications. Now, the cool cats over at MaximumPC have churned out an encyclopedic writeup that details USB SuperSpeed remarkably well. The highlights include assurance that USB 3.0 will be backwards-compatible with USB 2.0 and that it'll provide transfer rates up to ten times more than USB 2.0's 480Mbps limit (that's 4.8Gbps). Furthermore, we're told that uploads and downloads are kept on separate lanes, the cables are thicker, it will charge more devices more quickly, and it will be much more mindful of energy waste. Go on and get yourself completely schooled in the read link below.
Kaz Hirai: PS3 could be profitable next fiscal year
Sony bigwig Kaz Hirai is hoping that this next fiscal year, which begins in April, will mark a point where the PlayStation 3 loses its money sink status and becomes profitable. Said the president of SCE at the Consumer Electronics Show (via Reuters), "We want to get to the positive side of the equation as quickly as possible," later adding that the company is "going through the budgets right now. That (profitability) is not a definite commitment, but that is what I would like to try to shoot for."Hirai cites the dropping costs of components used to make the PS3, as well as the removal of chips related to backwards compatibility, as examples of how the console is becoming cheaper to produce (and therefore less of a detriment to the company's bottom line). Hirai noted that the declining cost is "in line with what the company had expected." Not explicitly stated but certainly important are the titles expected next fiscal year: LittleBigPlanet, Home, Final Fantasy XIII, and the still-exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4. Previously, Sony stated that it had sold 1.2 million PS3s since Black Friday -- NPD figures for December should reveal how that measures up to competitors. Microsoft recently stated its belief that the Xbox 360 is "on track to register the biggest year in video game history," while the Consumer Entertainment Association predicted industry growth to continue, albeit at a slower pace than last year.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite gets unboxed and uncased
What once was special has apparently lost its exclusivity, as not only did Target completely ignore the April 29th street date set for the Xbox 360 Elite, but now we're seeing that a Wally World in Minneapolis (among others) has followed suit. As these things always go, an avid gamer with a hand at photography has done the honors of unboxing and uncasing the new updated console, but we've got to give props for going the extra mile and offering up a comparison shot between the new and old motherboards. Additionally, he pointed out that a Hitachi GDR-3120L FK78 DVD drive and Fujitsu MHW2120BH 120GB HDD were the new weapons of choice, and while he couldn't quite determine if Microsoft had snuck a 65-nanometer CPU core in there, we do know that Microsoft has updated the legacy compatibility list for the first time since December, giving you dozens of new titles to drown your sorrows in. Go ahead, indulge yourself.[Thanks, l3ftonm3]
European PS3 not so backwards compatible
After nations with the PS3 solved their case of jaggy backwards compatibility issues, it seemed the whole kerfuffle about PS2 games playing on the PS3 were over. Now comes word from Europe that the PlayStation 3 launching March 23 will not be fully backwards compatible."The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models," said a Sony spokesperson. According to Sony, the European PS3 is designed differently from the Japan and North America models. Software will take over the backwards compatibility issues now instead of dedicated chips. Sony also says 98 percent of PS2 games are playable on PS3 in the U.S. and Japan, no percentage was given for Europe. Alex Kwiatowski, of British market research group Vertical Market Technologies (who sounds more like a Sony flack), said, "I'm as disappointed as the next game player about the reduced backward compatibility, but even the most nostalgic, misty-eyed gamers will have their steely hearts impressed by the new features that PS3 games provide." If God of War II, a PS2 game, doesn't work out of the box -- there will be Hades to pay.
Japanese PS3 back compat problems? [update 1]
Reuters has just posted an article saying the Japanese PS3 has problems running roughly 200 games from the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 catalogs. Their source is the Japanese Sankei Shimbun newspaper, and a bad Google translation of the original article does indeed say a "portion of the game software of PS and PS2 of the expectation which is compatibility not to operate just."The short, translated article doesn't detail which of the thousands of PS and PS2 games aren't working or how many were tested, but it does quote someone from Sony as saying ""when system renewal of the substance and you improve with the software individual correction software, there is," which we can only assume means that future system updates will fix this problem (we've signed up for Japanese classes).For reference, our backward compatibility tests with various PlayStation and PlayStation 2 software on the U.S. retail console turned up no problems. Then again, we only tested a handful of discs as we don't have the time or resources to test every PlayStation game ever made. If we hear about any similar problems with the American version of the system, you'll be the first to know.[Update: fixed link to the Japanese translation.]
Psychonauts still not guaranteed to be Xbox 360-compatible
Despite yesterday's promising development, Psychonauts is still not guaranteed to make Xbox 360's backwards compatibility list. Microsoft's Emulation Ninjas are indeed working on the next batch of BC titles, which includes Psychonauts, but Emulation Ninja Alan Stuart warns: "Even though we are working on Psychonauts, there is no guarantee we will ever be able to make the game backward compatible. We may run into technical limitations that will prevent us from ever shipping the game; we don't know yet."Ominous words from an official Ninja. But hope lives on ...
360 BC update "in the next few weeks"
Thanks to the folks at the Gamerscore Blog, we've learned that the next Xbox back compat update "should be out in the next few weeks." In his earlier blast against BC, Peter Moore proclaimed that nobody is concerned about it anymore, but thankfully the gentler Gamerscore peeps have set the record straight, stating: "We know for a fact that there are lots of people who continue to care about backwards compatibility, including the 'Emulation Ninjas' who are working full time on the updates. And those of us posting on this blog. And, of course, many of you." We suppose quarterly updates to the BC list aren't TOO bad (hey, they sure beat semiannual dashboard updates), but getting more than a dozen titles to work each time would definitely help a lot more for those with original Xbox favorites they'd prefer to play on their new machines. Personally, this blogger would like to see the following titles added to the list: Dead or Alive Ultimate, Doom 3, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Project Gotham Racing 2, LEGO Star Wars, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, Soul Calibur II, and Capcom Classics Collection. It may not be realistic to expect Street Fighter support when Hyper Fighting is set to hit Live Arcade sometime in the near future, but one can (vainly) hope. [Via Major Nelson's blog] See also: Xbox BC not a priority, says Moore No Black on 360 till MS makes it so... or a sequel comes out US 360 backward-compatibility list shrinks A video tour of the Xbox Live Spring update SFII on Xbox Live: what's taking so long?
