Category: Gadgets, Gizmos, Real Steel, Etc

 

 

Continue reading “LocationFree TV and the PSP”

10/2005

PSP CAR MOUNT!!!

Well they came out and I scored them for 2 of my cars!

Simple design easy install adn they just work!

Add car adapter and rememebr to take you PS with you when you park, and you're ready to go!

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03/2005 

Well now that the US version of the PSP has been released, I can confirm a few things:

• PSP UMD Games are Region Free
• UMD Movies and Music Discs are Region Encoded.
• 802.11b WEP 128 Bit Encryption works.
• 1.50 Firmware update released (US units shoudl have preloaded)

I'm a little disappointed about the Region Encoding on commercial UMD movies, but since i was able to convert DVD movies to Memory Stick early on, it's not that bad.

Next project… Getting the PSP to see a USB Hard Drive. Stay Tuned…

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02/2005

GAMES ARE HERE!!!!

It was kinda funny having a PSP so soon after the Japan release and no games. But it was cool figuring out how to flatten DVD's to the Memory Stick and playing around with the 802.11 wireless.

PSP GAMES!!! Minna No Golf and Metal Gear Ac!d

Today I scored a few games for the PSP. I'll write a few mini reviews of the games I get, but eventually I write proper ones as time permits.

Now that I've had a chance to play these games here's some other cool features I discovered for UMD Gameplay:

• Game Resume (Saves the place you were at in game if you turn the system off)
• UMD Disk Read Speed is relatively fast. But some games like MGA do not have loading screens. You have to listen for the disc spinning. Will document some load times later.
• Amazing 3D rendering engine! 3D is VERY clean and realtime. I thought i was watching "cut scenes" but in the cases of these 2 games there mostly "game engine" renders.

Minna No Golf "Golf with Friends"

OK it's a cutesy golf game but it does support multiple players over wireless which was the main reason decided to get it (cept I dunno anyone else with a PSP locally yet ). But suprisingly it's a hella fun golf game!!!

All the 3D and physics you'd expect from a console or pc version golf game in the tiny PSP.

Still figuring out alot that the game has to offer, but so far it was an easy one to pick up playing. Will post more later.

Metal Gear Ac!d

Yup! This is part of the famous Metal Gear franchise. BUT this isn;t your normal MG title.

It's Metal Gear meets Turn Based Card Gaming (i.e. Magic, Pokemon, etc). This MG version is a card-based simulation that progresses as a series of missions. Gameplay is somewhat like a 3D board game or RTS, in that players have a set number of moves and actions to take in a given turn sequence — play out your Weapon card to take down an enemy, play the box Item card to duck into hiding when foes are on patrol, and play the Ninja or Roy Campbell Character card to call in some heavy-duty support from your allies in the field.

BUT!!! Don't even think of getting this game if you don't read Japanese. Most of the game is story based (at least in story mode). You'll enjoy it more in your native language.

Will post more later.

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01/2005 

PSP in the OC!!!

Man what can I say… It's friggin beautiful!!!!

PSP!!! Speechless…

I'm very fortunate to be married to wonderful woman who happened to be in Japan during the PSP release and she picked 1 up for me.

When she picked up the PSP there were no games available from the specifc store, so I own a PSP with no games for now LOL.

BUT! I've already compressed 2 DVD's to play off the PSP. They run at 320×240 resolution using a Quicktime MPEG4 format. I scored a 512MB Memory Stick Pro Duo (The short memory type sticks) and it wil hold 2 2+ hour movies plus some MP3's and Jpgs.

PSP Playing Appleseed 2004. Origin – DVD.

Connectivity:

Ths PSP has an impressive array of connectivity options:

802.11 Wireless. Detected all my 802.11 wireless networks at home and at work. Doesn't seem to like 128bit WEP encryption though. Stil trying to figure out…

USB 2.0. Using the smaller USB type connector, the PSP is auto detected as a mass storage device when hooked to an XP system. Simply copy paste files to the PSP. Files will be stored on Memory Stick.

Memory Stick Pro Duo. This type of memory stick can be read in most memory stick readers using the full size memory stick adapter.

More more more. No time to write for now, will post more later.

PSP Movie Maker Instructions

This is a result of the new process/company I started last year. Full Metal Imaging. Basically I can vaporize images directly onto powder coated metal or any materials that can be heated to 400 degrees. So this was something I was goofing around with.

Camo Pattern and Artwork by one of my favorite artists, embedded into the coating on the metal case

This process is a bit too expensive to start doing any mass computer case imaging though.

Not sure why "pack-rat-itis" strikes some of us harder then others, but it does… My classic computing offerings:

Compaq Portable III

Non functioning though

Still kinda cool looking

I've been thinking about gutting this and putting a flex-itx setup in it… Oh well just another project for now…

IBM PCs and AT

Non functioning though

I dunno why I keep these anchors. Everytime I try and toss them I stop for some reason. There are 2 authentic IBM PC 8086 and 1 IBM PC AT in this pic. Too bad they are too heavy to easily take them out for better pics for now. Just hollar if you want to see this in more detail

Timex Sinclar

No pic yet… Gotta find it. It's so tiny it's easy to loose…

Apple II Clones

No pic yet… I got at least 2 of these still around at my parent's house. 1 is still functioning and has a working copy (as of 1998) of the original Castle Wolfenstein on 5.25" floppy!