Mega Man 9

Release Dates: Wiiware: Sept 22, 2008, PSN: Sept 25, 2008, XBLA: Oct 1, 2008

The first original series Mega Man title in eleven years was released yesterday via download on Nintendo’s Wiiware channel. PSN and XBLA versions are to follow later this week and next week. 

A friend of mine downloaded this as I knew he would. We’re both diehard fans of Capcom games, Mega Man and Street Fighter series. I walked in to find him playing something that looked straight out of an old NES game. The newest game in the series stays true to its roots by going back to using the NES sprites. This look was featured on entries 1-6 and though the series graphics improved, it’s difficult to tell one game apart from another.
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Yeah, my Playstation 3 has the same blinking screen problem that others are experiencing. According to Sony, the problem is the fault of the TV, not the PS3, and results from a failed HDCP handshake. That is little consolation to me. The temporary workaround is to disconnect and reconnect the HDMI cable when the “blink” is occurring. As for a more permanent solution, I think I will just have resort to a component connection to the television instead of HDMI.

I switched from Ubuntu Linux on my PS3 to Yellow Dog Linux (YDL). You may wonder why? I don’t have any good reasons. It was basically just a matter of taking YDL for a test drive.

Saturday I downloaded the 3.7GB ISO of YDL 6.0. The YDL installation was a bit simpler than the Ubuntu installation, although neither were difficult. One difference that I notice right off hand is that YDL cannot read NTFS-formatted disks by default, whereas Ubuntu can. However, YDL can read HFS+formatted disks.

I may still give Ubuntu another try at some point.

One important note if you are interested in reading Blu-ray media, Blu-ray disks do not mount in either Ubuntu or YDL. I was able in YDL to use dd to create an ISO image of a Blu-ray disk. Example:

dd if=/dev/scd0 of=/media/USB_drive/disc.iso

The Playstation 3 Blu-ray remote that I ordered arrived today. Now, I can watch movies on the PS3 without having to fumble around with the SIXAXIS controller. I started a movie over the other day while I was trying to rewind. Aggravating!

The cool thing about this remote compared to most home media remotes is that it is Bluetooth instead of infrared, which means that the PS3 can be out of sight (under the desk) and still controlled.

Buy the Sony PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Disc Remote at:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

I installed Ubuntu 7.10 on my PS3 using these instructions:
http://psubuntu.com/installation-instructions/

The installation was simple enough. I simply followed the on-screen instructions. There were a few problems though. My PS3’s internal wireless connection does not seem to be recognized. When I go to setup the network with a Manual Configuration, the only options are Wired and Modem. Wireless is not listed.

Setting the screen resolution was a bit tricky, and is still not perfect. I set the resolution to 720p using the command ps3videomode -v 3 -f . This resulted in a great looking display, but with the upper and lower menu bars almost completely hidden by my television’s overscan. I did try setting the video mode without the -f (which is for fullscreen mode), but that resulted in quite a large black border on the screen in conjunction with a much lower resolution. I’m not sure why this is happening or what I’m doing wrong. (instructions)

My main purpose in installing Linux on my PS3 is to have access to a computer with a Blu-ray drive.

By the way, the keyboard and Mighty Mouse from my wife’s iMac worked perfectly with the PS3. Even the mouse’s scroll ball worked.

My wonderful wife gave me an early birthday present — a Playstation 3. Looks like I will be playing with that this weekend. I would like to try to setup my Mac to stream video and audio to the PS3. Any suggestions? I have only heard of MediaLink and Mediatomb.

#1: Playstation 3 80GB — 1 min ago

Playstation 3 80GB
by Sony
Platform:   PLAYSTATION 3
Average Customer Review:

Buy new: $399.99
43 used & new from $298.00

(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in PlayStation 3 > Hardware > Consoles list for authoritative information on this product’s current rank.)

According to Eurogamer, the Playstation 3 DVR device (PlayTV) will record television in standard MPEG-2 format with no annoying DRM. The recorded videos will be allowed to be moved to other devices without restrictions.

#1: Playstation 3 80GB — 1 min ago

Playstation 3 80GB
by Sony
Platform:   PLAYSTATION 3
Average Customer Review:

Buy new: $399.99
43 used & new from $298.00

(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in PlayStation 3 > Hardware > Consoles list for authoritative information on this product’s current rank.)

In other words, there is only one player currently on the market that will be 2.0 compatible: the PlayStation 3, which, with its upgradeable hard drive, Ethernet port, and powerful graphics capabilities, will be able to adapt to any and all future updates. This is quite the slap in the face to consumers who paid several hundred dollars for players that won’t able to be updated to take advantage of the 1.1 profile, much less the upcoming 2.0.(#)

#1: Playstation 3 80GB — 1 min ago

Playstation 3 80GB
by Sony
Platform:   PLAYSTATION 3
Average Customer Review:

Buy new: $399.99
43 used & new from $298.00

(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in PlayStation 3 > Hardware > Consoles list for authoritative information on this product’s current rank.)