Ubidays Home

PS3 Home BETA testers are experiencing all the sights, sounds and action of Ubidays '08 through PlayStation Home's new Media & Events Space.

Sony announced the space yesterday, and said that it that will serve as the live entertainment hub of the thriving PS3 online community, hosting everything from new game unveilings to sports events to fashion shows.

Ubidays Home video below from DarkoD via YouTube- enjoy!

PS3 Flash

First of all, readers of our Forums know (with the assistance of our Members) we have recently been doing research into the PS3 RCO file format.

Note that it is different than that on a PSP, however, contains similarities as well. We have received a few questions as to "why" we want to examine the files... it's for a few reasons. First off- We are all curious! Secondly, the RCO files, in support with other files, enable/disable "links" to PS3 XMB options.

In related news, we have now accessed the PS3 Flash's FileSystem, and among other things (to be posted in Part 2 or 3 of this article) it contains a folder called "ps1emu".

What is it for? We found out! Inside the ps1emu folder, upon the insertion of a PS2 disc, a file is copied there by the name of "ps1_rom.bin". Oddly enough, it is actually the custom made PS2's BIOS for the PS3! Why it's in the PS1 folder is unknown to us just yet, however, we can confirm it is the PS2 BIOS. An excerpt from ps1_rom.bin is attached below in the screenshot.

Finally, in regards to our PS3 Flash work thus far: Successful changes have been made to some areas, however, they are not useful just yet. Before we can change large areas of code we need to recalculate the PS3 Flash's ECC. Work is ongoing on that, with more to come, including more goodies from the flash!

Home Beta

So, why was PlayStation Home delayed? Sure, we know Sony desperately needed more time to improve the service, but that’s a rather vague reason.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss David Reeves has elaborated on why they chose to delay Home, revealing that the decision was made due to a lack of focus towards gamers, and more of a focus towards advertisers and sponsors.

We’ve realized that maybe we were too ambitious with the non-gaming applications within Home, getting sponsors and stuff like that.

In that sense we were deserting gamers. So, we’re concentrating on the gaming by launching games in Home, and attracting people who are into gaming in first - instead of the Nike people, or Adidas people who are into fashion and not necessarily into gaming.

Barring any last minute delays, the Home open BETA is set to launch this fall.

Rockstar working around the clock to fix GTA IV freezing

Rockstar customer service representative has issued the following statement regarding the freezing issues PS3 owners of GTA IV have experienced:

"A patch is being worked on around the clock to address the issues. It's bound to be. That's how they address this sort of thing. It is being worked on. We're looking into it. You will hear from us if a patch is released. A patch is usually the way it's been done."

The rep also said that they have not been told what is causing the game to freeze and that they are "devoid of information at the moment".

To quote: We were also given some tips on how to combat the freezing experienced on the PS3 version of the game, including:

Completely remove the game from the system but leave saves behind.

Turn the console off for 15 minutes without any cables plugged in, then turn it on and try again.

Play without access to the Internet.

Turn off the auto save function and the controller vibration setting.