Ben Heck’s Nintendo PlayStation prototype teardown, part 1
It was originally thought to be a rumor: a games console that combined Sony and Nintendo hardware. Now Ben Heck proves it does exist. Thanks to Terry and Dan Diebold, who approached The Ben Heck Show team with the console, Ben was able to give you an exclusive teardown of the elusive Super Nintendo / Famicom and Sony PlayStation hybrid console. While taking apart the device, called the SFX-100, Ben guides us through the post-production alterations made to fix the prototype and gives us a tour of all the components on the board, including a custom audio chip and standard Sony integrated circuits. We also compare the system to similar consoles at the time, such as the PC Engine / TurboGRAFX-16 and the Sega MegaCD. The real question is, can we get it working? Let us know what you think of the teardown over at the element14 Community, where you can also interact with The Ben Heck Show team and learn more about Nintendo and Sony’s history.
Ben Heck powers on the Nintendo PlayStation’s CD drive
When we got our hands on the legendary “Nintendo PlayStation” prototype last November, the device worked fine as a Sony-branded SNES console sans audio, whereas its CD drive — the part that eventually led to the birth of the PlayStation — failed to be recognized by the system. The device has since been handed over to hacking maestro Ben Heck, who has just revealed that he finally got the CD drive to power up. First of all, Ben cleaned the contact pins on the Super Disc driver cartridge to get its 256KB of extension RAM talking to the console, then he removed one of the mod wires on the logic board, which got the CD drive to make a ticking noise and even pulling its tray back in.
It was a nice “wow” moment for everyone, but the ticking noise suggested that the CD drive was struggling to move its optical head, plus the screen was flickering. Ben figured this was to do with a power glitch caused by three leaky electrolytic capacitors on the logic board, so he replaced those with modern ones, and boom! The CD drive is alive! The diagnostic software gave all the green ticks, and the CD player’s control panel appears to be working. As a bonus, the audio function has also been restored since that’s part of the CD drive’s decoder, so we can now fully enjoy SNES games on this super rare device as well.
What’s left to do now is to find some compatible disc games and see if they’ll run on the Nintendo PlayStation — prototype owner Terry Diebold believes he may have one in the boxes he bought from that fateful auction. We also came across a homebrew game called Super Boss Gaiden based on the Super Disc cartridge’s software dump, so here’s hoping they can get that to work on the device.
Source: The Ben Heck Show (YouTube)
‘Project Sonic’ is coming to Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo NX
While Sonic fans will celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary with a 2D throwback game in Sonic Mania, the official Sonic Team is working on something new. Tonight Sega dropped this teaser trailer for “Project Sonic,” which is due for the 2017 holiday season on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo’s NX. Everything in the trailer is CG, but it does indicate that we can expect both a “Modern” and “Classic” Sonic to make an appearance.
Source: Sonic the Hedgehog (YouTube)
‘Overwatch’ was June’s best-selling game, even with a handicap
In case you haven’t noticed, Overwatch is really, really popular. Popular enough to support millions of active players, host high-stakes professional competitive gaming drama and even inspire a graphic novel adaptation. All this, and the game’s barely three months old. Still not convinced? Okay, we’ve got one more thing: Overwatch sold better than any other game in June — and according to NPD Group, it won that top spot with a handicap.
Having a new game from a major publisher take the top spot in NPD Group’s sales report is nothing new — but this month’s sales data is sort of unique. June marks the first time the company has been able to include digital sales numbers. The twist? Overwatch’s digital PC sales aren’t part of the total.
Confused? Don’t be. Traditionally, NPD Goup only publishes numbers tracking physical game sales, but recently it struck a deal with a handful of publishers to self-report digital sales data. Unfortunately, this means the group can only publish digital sales numbers from companies that offer them willingly, and neither Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo are willing to share that data with the public. This means that titles like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Doom appear on NPD reports with an asterisk — “No digital sales included in ranking.”
Activision Blizzard, Overwatch’s publisher, actually does report console’s sales to NPD Group — but for some reason, its PC Battle.net sales weren’t included in this month’s report. It made the top spot anyway, beating out Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst and more. That’s impressive! Still, it would be more impressive if the chart reflected the full digital sales for every game on every platform. We won’t really know who’s winning the so-called “console wars” until the industry opens up and makes that data available.
PSVR’s ‘cinematic mode’ boasts a virtual 226-inch screen
No matter how big your TV might be, a movie theater screen will likely always be bigger. But with PlayStation VR you can simulate up to a 226-inch display using the headset’s Cinematic Mode. Cinematic Mode, of course, is the feature that’ll allow you to play traditional PlayStation 4 games without taking the helmet off. It’s a bit like the virtual desktop apps we’ve seen with Oculus and Vive. A post on the Japanese PlayStation Blog outlines how it all works.
There are a trio of (simulated) viewing sizes: 117 inches, 163 inches and 226 inches. The translated post says that the default 163-inch size will encompass your entire field of view, while the gargantuan one will require you to move your head from side to side if you want to see everything at once. So, kind of like sitting in the front row of a movie theater. At the other end of the spectrum, the smallest size reorients the screen to your head movement. If you get tired while wearing the PSVR you can apparently lay down while wearing it and the display will match your horizontal perspective.
As UploadVR points out, however, there is a caveat to all this that might keep you from using the headset for any sort of critical movie viewing. That’d be the “screen-door effect” — seeing the gaps between a display’s pixels — inherent with current VR tech. However, if there isn’t a free TV in the house, this could sub in as a pinch-hitter display.
There’s no word of an actual movie theater setting like what’s available for movie watching apps on other VR platforms, but hopefully one of those will happen too. And if that doesn’t happen and you’re looking for a more immersive experience, well, hey, you can always use the helmet to check out 360-degree photos and videos.
Via: UploadVR
Source: PlayStation Blog (Japanese)
Take a look at how ‘No Man’s Sky’ handles combat
In the almost three years since we first saw No Man’s Sky, gameplay videos and previews have focused mostly on its exploration and survival aspects. Now, mere weeks ahead of its PlayStation 4 launch, we’re getting a better look at how the game earns its “fantasy violence” descriptor from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. The clip embedded above focuses on combat not only in outer space against armadas of ships, but also the various procedurally generated (and dangerous) creatures on the planets you’ll galavant around.
It’s the second in a four-part series, with clips for the game’s trading and survival aspects coming next week and the following. Keeping the videos on repeat is certainly one way to make the wait for August 9th feel a little shorter, but I can’t say that I recommend doing so.
Source: PlayStation (YouTube)
Sony’s high-end 4K HDR LCD TVs start at $7,000
If you thought Sony was done announcing new TVs for the year at CES 2016, you were mistaken. Today, Sony unveiled the Z series, a new line of LCD televisions that it says is its best and brightest yet. It runs on Android TV just like the rest of Sony’s stable, but the big deal with this new flagship line of 4K HDR Ultra HD TVs is its Backlight Master Drive technology. This tech, which we saw in prototype form at CES, aims to bring a brightness and contrast that’ll rival the richness of OLED sets.
Backlight Master Drive is essentially a precision backlight technology that aims to provide the best lighting possible. There’s a dense LCD layer atop the TV that is coupled with a unique lighting algorithm to do the job. Discrete LED controls plus a calibrated beam LED design prompts the TV to dim and boost each LED individually instead of lighting up entire zones. This, Sony says, offers “unparalleled contrast and realism,” leading to a deeper blacks and brighter images.
On top of all this, the Z series packs in the new 4K HDR Processor X1TM Extreme, which when combined with the Backlight Master Drive tech, should result in better color and contrast. Sony says it has 40 percent more real-time image processing power than the previous 4K Processor X1TM. It packs in features such as object-based HDR remastering, dual database processing and Super Bit Mapping 4K HDR, all of which combine to create better HD upscaling, improved noise reduction and just a smoother picture overall.
The 65-inch and 75-inch models are available for pre-sale today for $6,999 and $9,999 MSRP respectively, while a 100-inch version will be available later in the year for a yet to be determined price.
‘Don’t Starve: Shipwrecked’ gets a PS4 release date
If you own a PlayStation 4 and have been patiently waiting to play Don’t Starve: Shipwrecked, then you’re in luck. The nautical-themed expansion will be released on August 2nd on the PSN store, with a 10 percent launch discount to boot. Though that August 2nd date is only a few weeks away, this marks a several month delay for the expansion. Shipwrecked was originally supposed to launch on Sony’s console sometime this spring.
The add-on has been available for PC since April, and was even on sale for $4.50 on Steam during its launch period. Shipwrecked features news characters, biomes to explore, food to cook, and sea monsters to fend off. The octopus-like Quacken seems quite deadly. You’ll also be going up against an active volcano and even mutinies. The emphasis here is on adapting Don’t Starve’s survival gameplay to a brighter, more colorful world filled with tropical islands.
Source: PS Blog
‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’ comes to the PS4 on October 11th
Rise of the Tomb Raider has spent much of the last year as one of the best Xbox One exclusives out there, but soon PlayStation 4 owners will get in on the fun. As part of a 20-year Tomb Raider celebration, it was just announced that Lara Croft’s latest adventure will come to Sony’s console on October 11th. As is often the case with delayed releases like this, the game will feature a bunch of extra content to help make up for the wait.
Most significant among the new stuff here is the inclusion of a virtual reality mode. A new DLC story chapter called “Blood Ties” will work with the PS VR system; it’ll also work as a standalone chapter without the VR headset. There’s also a second new story mission called “Lara’s Nightmare” and a co-op addition to the game’s “endurance” mode. That co-op mode lets two players team up and try to survive as long as possible to get onto the game’s leaderboards.
Another new addition to the game is an even harder difficulty level for the single-player campaign known as “extreme survivor.” All of the game’s checkpoints have been removed, so the only way to survive is to find enough resources to light campfires where you can save your game.
There are a few other extras included, mostly just new visual outfits to pay homage to the way Lara Croft has evolved over the years. Somewhat hilariously, you can replay the main story with five different low-fi polygon-based character models, which will surely look goofy as hell next to the more realistic, high-resolution characters and environments.
Naturally, all of the game’s previous DLC is included, as well — that includes another three-hour story mode expansion, and a bunch of custom outfits and weapons. And if you bought the season pass for Rise of the Tomb Raider on the Xbox One or PC, you’ll get all of this new content for free, as well.
Source: PlayStation Blog, Xbox Wire, Tomb Raider Blog
‘Gravity Rush 2’ hits PlayStation 4 this December
Gravity Rush 2 is coming to the US and Europe this year. The sequel to the physics-defying hit will launch on December 2nd in the US and UK, and November 30th in Europe.
The original Gravity Rush launched on PlayStation Vita in 2012, and was recently remastered for PlayStation 4. The new title features the same core mechanic — the ability to manipulate gravity to traverse stages and defeat enemies — with a few twists. You’ll now be able to pick between different “gravity styles,” which alter the physics to make the pull of gravity weaker and stronger.
It’s also on a far grander scale than the original. That’s in part thanks to the switch from targeting a handheld to a full-fledged console: Gravity Rush 2 is a PS4 exclusive. Sony says the new game is more than twice as large as its predecessor, has three times the missions and will run between 20 and 40 hours.
Source: Sony (US), (EU)
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