Wii Systemmenu hacks [DCEmu]

UPDATE - Crediar dropped us a line this morning to let us know the tool's gone live. Happy hunting.

Twilight Hack [WiiBrew via Maxconsole]

Celebrating the release of a big video game is starting to become a regular theme over there. If you recall, some pranksters dressed up John Harvard's statue to look like Master Chief when Halo 3 was released. The rather fuzzy pictures show a Mario hat, the Smash Bros. box, a Poke ball, a Smash ball, a banana peel. Not shown were some other power-ups hanging from the ceiling.

Ah MIT.

The process is far from simple as once you modify a save game it requires it be to signed with 3 keys. Here's some info from Bushing.

"Once the Wii decrypts the save game, it checks its signature. Every Wii has its own private key which is used to sign save games, and when you save a game, the Wii actually saves three bits of data:

* The encrypted save game
* The signature for the save game (using your console's private key)
* A copy of your console's public key, signed by Nintendo."

Of course, the end user wouldn't have to go through this process unless they were wanting to inject their own code into the save game, but that shouldn't be necessary...

Skyluss, a member of pro-gaming Team vBi, reported over the weekend that his Xbox Live account has been hacked... again. Apparently the hacker was a little envious of the Recon Armor Bungie had bestowed upon Skyluss and decided to take it for a spin him or herself.

The Halo 3 gamer writes in the vBi forums that he thinks this latest hack wasn't a product of social hacking (i.e. sweet-talking a password out of a stupid customer support person) but a genuine security flaw in Microsoft's Live service.

Skyluss says he's changed the passwords on his account three times in the past month so he's sure it's not an issue of someone having his password. Whether it is a security flaw in the system or an issue with customer support the bottom line is that there is a problem, one that I hope Microsoft is on top of.

I emailed XBL Director Larry Hryb to see if Skyluss high-profile account problems are being investigated, as the gamer was told after receiving a whole lot of run around and not a lot of answers. Hyrb told me that their security team has indeed launched an investigation and that he has been in touch with the gamer personally.

My Gift, My Curse [Team VBI, thanks Christopher]

The architect writes:

This table is excellent when I throw large parties. There's always someone who doesn't feel comfortable around large groups of people, and so sits at the table playing video games. But because I serve food and drink on the table, and there's always someone sitting down across the table, this person is forced into social situations which are lubricated slightly by the involvement of video games.

For anyone looking to recreate this arcade ready contraption, the BJURSTA table from IKEA will do the trick. Additional specs and photos are at the Flickr account linked below.

IKEA MAME Dinner Table [Flickr via Boing Boing]

Ed at Instructables was nice enough to tip us off to one of the site's latest hardware customizations, an LED filled Guitar Hero controller that adds some visual flair to stock rockin' out. The step-by-step instructions unfortunately gloss over a very important step—making your own translucent custom fret buttons—but an emoticon is offered in apology. That missing step is also promised at a later date. Who's going to make with the long exposure photography of a "Through The Fire And The Flames" attempt?

Guitar Hero LED Mod [Instructables]

Multiple edits were made to revise Manhunt 2 for its M-rated version. Hackers apparently have altered one of those edits to produce an illegally modified version of the game that can only be played on an unauthorized, modified PlayStation Portable handheld system...Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said, "I stand behind the game and the ESRB ratings process. It is unfortunately the case that no one in the entertainment software industry is immune from hacking...We would also like to emphasize that Manhunt 2 is intended for an audience aged 17 and above.

BREAKING: Rockstar Confirms Manhunt 2 PSP Hack [gamepolitics]

In the great tradition of decades of "hacks" (us, non-collegiate types call them pranks), the folks at MIT snuck into Harvard Yard on the day of the Halo 3 launch and dressed book-donor John Harvard up as the Master Chief, complete with a fancy Spartan Helmet and Battle rifle. What amazes me is how they manages to make the additions look like they were made of the same material as the statue.

Halo 3 John Harvard [Thanks Jeremy and everyone else who sent in tips]

This week has a nice choice of titles spread out over various systems (sans the PSP). I'm trying to get to Heavenly Sword tonight so I can see for myself what it's going to be like and I am anxious to check out Jam Sessions and Drawn to Life for the DS. I've avoided Oblivion for a while just because I'm afraid of getting sucked in, but the inclusion of all the expansions on one disc is intriguing. What to do, what to do?

Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Will Nariko and her moves rival Kratos?

Skate (X360)
Skate to your heart's content and see what life is like without Tony Hawk.

NHL 2K8 (PS3, X360, PS2)
All the fun of Hockey without the broken teeth.

NHL 08 (X360, PS3, PC, PS2)
Because we always need more hockey games.

Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power (PC)
Rule the planets in this sci-fi RTS.

.hack//G.U. vol. 3//Redemption (PS2)
The final game in the trilogy. The end of an era...

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition (X360, PC)
All of Oblivion including the two expansions in one tidy package.

Kengo: Legend of the 9 (X360)
You are a legendary samurai in feudal Japan doing the stuff a samurai does.

DiRT (PS3)
More racing action for your PS3.

Jam Sessions (DS)
Strum your blues away.

Drawn to Life (DS)
Draw your own character and put him through his paces.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (WII, PS2)
Still guilty after all these years.

Fatal Inertia (X360)
Race in supersonic planes and kick some ass.

Ship Simulator 2008 (PC)
Imagine the fun of piloting your own oil rig!

Loki Norse Demo - Playable Demo available now

93 Games, Ascaron and Cyanide Studio are equipping gamers for a fantastic adventure with the release of this single-player demo for Loki, the legendary hack 'n slash RPG for PC.

In this 991 MB demo, players will jump into the blood-soaked boots of the Norse Warrior, one of the four characters available in the full game. The Norse Warrior is the toughest and most brutal character in the game, and prefers to deal death with two-handed weapons - including his trademark battle axe. As part of the demo campaign, players will have to collect elements needed to defeat Fenrir the legendary giant wolf and will also be able to level their character up to a max of 20 - which means several hours of hack 'n slash fun for those who will want to explore the skill tree of the Scandinavian hero (200 is the maximum level you can reach in the game). In order to do this, players will face hundreds of enemies, wild beasts and other dangerous creatures that live in Myllkwoord forest, in the volcano and in the dungeons of the goblin city.

Loki will be released on August 24, 2007 on PC DVD-Rom.

The demo is available at the following mirrors:

GameSpot
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/loki/index.html

Worthplaying
http://www.worthdownloading.com/game.php?gid=2140

GamersHell
http://www.gamershell.com/download_20538.shtml

FileFront
http://files.filefront.com/Loki+Singleplayer+Demo/;8263133;/fileinfo.html

Metaboli
http://demos.focus-home.com/Loki_demo_Norse.rar

The only catch is that the mod only works with 3rd or 4th gen iPods. But that's all right. It was all downhill after generation three when build materials became cheaper, and buttons transformed into a "click wheel."

NES Controller iPod Remote [via playgadgets]

The PSP has an active homebrew community, and hackers are hoping to create the same for the PS3. So far, PS3 firmware 1.10 and 1.11 have been cracked, making it possible to boot illegal game copies. However, hackers haven't figured out how to get the booted games to run so they can be played. What's Sony doing to stop this? Spokesman Dave Karraker says:

Unfortunately, hackers will try to exploit any hardware system software. The best we can do as a company is to make our security that much stronger and aggressively pursue legal action against anyone caught trying to use an exploit in an illegal manner... Naturally, any use of an exploit on the system software does void the warranty on the PS3 system... Which could be a costly mistake to see if you can run an old SEGA CD game on it.

Making Threats [Eurogamer]

Dan Dormer and the guys over at 1Up figured out how you too can create your own custom matches in Halo 3 and get access to things like the pistol, the overhauled energy sword and vampirism.

Before we get into their how to, I'll warn you, it's going to make the sleep-inducing matchmaking and multiple loading screens of regular Halo 3 beta feel like, well a normal first-person shooter that doesn't inspire you to bring a good book with you to read between matches.

First, get six to eight other players in a game with you in the pre-matchmaking phase.

After you've assembled this group, have a separate player matchmaking by themselves send the party leader an invite.

The party leader needs to bring the party to the new game, but one person will get kicked.

The person who was booted will now send invites to those who weren't booted — it is possible you'll have to repeat these first couple of steps because you need two people in the custom game lobby.

Now you should have a party of two and a party of six in two separate lobbies — the party of six invites the party of two into their game.

Someone in the party of two should lag out into a custom game that actually works.

If you don't have the patience or the time to go through all of this, hit up 1Up for some of the neat things they discovered buried in those matches. Brian Crecente

Kiss Blu-ray HDCP good-bye? A product known as the the GameSwitch PS3-S201 lets folks run their PLAYSTATION 3 on DVI monitors without high-def copy protection. Typically, an HDCP-certified monitor is required to play back Blu-ray and PS3 content if you're using DVI. Otherwise it won't play Blu-ray. The GameSwitch lets players game on DVI monitors, but also hook it up to an input. Meaning? Meaning that you could record 1-to-1 copy! The bad part: Since DVI is video only, audio would have to be recorded separately. Bummer. Brian Ashcraft

GameSwitch [Akiba Blog]

Aided by a team of 10 student volunteers, he started developing the Koran software between classes in January.

It was launched earlier this month to a gathering of parents at a Muslim charity dinner who responded well, Ikhwan said, adding that he would later include Koranic recitations following requests. The software will be available for download for free after May 19 from his website.

Ikhwan hopes that this software will appeal to parents who sometimes distrust the internet and gaming. I would also think it would appeal to people who are bibliophobes. Kim Phu

Malaysian Student Creates Playstation Koran [Middle East Times via Topix]

Being left-handed in a right-handed world ain't easy! Take, the Guitar Hero controller, which is designed for righties only. Southpaws are shit outta luck. A shame considering that guitar heros like Jimi Hendrix and Dick Dale were left-handed. Not to be left out (bad pun, sorry), DIYer Kevin McArdle get his pliers and hacked the GH controller so that even lefties can rock out. Good for him. Brian Ashcraft

Left Handed GH [Kevin's Page via Joystiq]

Ah, to be console modder Ben Heckendorn (AKA Ben Heck). No, to be Ben Heck's buddy and get some of his amazing creations! The modder's recent project? Stuffing a PS3 SIXAXIS in an Xbox 360 controller, thereby giving birth to the PS360 controller. You don't just have to be BFF with Ben or pay him gobs of money for the PS360. Now Ben has put a how-to up, you can make it. So, if you know the difference between a Phillips screwdriver and a Small Torx screwdriver, they have a gander. Who knows, you might just be able to pull it off! That, or totally muck up controllers. Either way, good luck. Brian Ashcraft

Make A PS360 Controller [Engadget]

Anti-Valve site No-Steam claims to have hacked Valve, gaining access to internal web pages, customer credit card information, Valve financial and error logs and the company's Cafe directory.

No-Steam's owner MaddoxX claims to have also posted code which he allows will let people create their own cafe certificates. MaddoxX also posted what he claims are a series of files "to valve cafe, including a few CC numbers and some info's."

It's unclear whether this is an attention getting hoax or legitimate threat, but we've contacted Valve for comment. Brian Crecente

Better read this VALVe! *UPDATE* [No-Steam, thanks Ally]

Ben promises an upcoming how-to for making your own (sadly, with our distinguished competition) in the near future. Watch for it! Michael McWhertor

Xbox 360 Laptop The Second [BenHeck.com]

How-To genius and hacker Ben Heckendorn whipped up this cool little Playstation 3 design on spec.

Some (angry?) Playstation 3 gamer paid Heck to stuff the guts of two Playstation 3 Sixaxis controllers into two Xbox 360 controller cases. The end result, a mind-warping Sixaxis controller ala Microsoft. Brian Crecente

PS360 Controller [Ben Heck]

BBC is reporting that World of Warcraft gamers are being targeted by a group of hackers using the cursor hack that takes advantage of a flaw in the way Windows handles animated cursors.

The story says Warcraft players have become targets because there's so much money tied to the game's millions of accounts.

Research by security firm Symantec suggests that the raw value of a WoW account is now higher than a credit card and its associated verification data.

One card can be sold for up to $6 ( 3) suggests Symantec, but a WoW account will be worth at least $10. An account that has several high level characters associated with it could be worth far more as the gold and rare items can be sold for real cash.

In a bid to head off the growing threat from the animated cursor flaw, Microsoft took the unusual step of releasing a patch for the bug on 3 April.

Now get out there and download that patch. Brian Crecente

Cursor hackers target WoW players [BBC]

Microsoft sent their official response to this morning's story to me just a bit ago:

Recently, there have been reports of fraudulent activity and account theft taking place on the Xbox LIVE network. Security is a top priority for Xbox LIVE, and we are actively investigating all reports of fraudulent behavior and theft. Any customer with a question about the security of their Xbox LIVE account should contact 1-800-4-MY-Xbox, and
an Xbox Customer Service Representative will help them understand our security policies and procedures.

A Microsoft rep went on to tell me that while they are investigating the concerns, they have not found any security breach of Bungie.net or Xbox Live accounts. Brian Crecente

Xbox Live Hacked, Accounts Stolen [Kotaku]

I was waiting to hear back from Microsoft on this, but haven't so here's where things stand according to ZDnet.

According to a group of Xbox 360 gamers and Kevin Finisterre, a security researcher at Digital Munition, there are rumors that Bungie.Net was hacked and that a portion of Xbox Live was taken over. This hack allowed people to control gamer tags and either steal their points or purchase more points through the accounts.

Finisterre says that he called Microsoft Tech and they confirmed that "accounts are being stolen and that "Hackers have control of Xbox live and there is nothing we can do about it"

ZDNet's Ryan Naraine goes on to point out that a number of people are complaining about the thefts on the official Xbox Live forums and saying that Microsoft reps are doing nothing to help out.

I'll make sure to update this once I hear back from Microsoft. Brian Crecente

Xbox Live hacked, accounts stolen [ZDNet]

Japan's DS VJ (Daito Manabe) has figured out a new use for the Wii control, leaving us wondering: Is Wii-mote waving is the new scratching? Brian Ashcraft

Higher Quality Movie Here

Not only is it totally safe for work, but the guy gets sooooooooo into it! Brian Ashcraft

The thing about most mods is that they're pure show-off. Not this. It's not only neat, but functional as well. A guy (with dirty fingernails) over at Acid Mods apparently figured out how to dock his NES controller with an iPod so he can play Doom. If it's real, color us impressed! Brian Ashcraft

NES Controller iPod Hack [Hack A Day]

Chris Huges spend way too much time with his Roomba, but the end result of this unholy relationship is a snazzy and totally unnecessary way to control your robot vacuuming Roomba. Brian Crecente

Roomba [Spaz Out, via Engadget]

It's cracked. Sony's protection of its PSOne Emulator for the PSP has been busted open by hackers. While the emulator requires you to download games to the PS3 and then to your PSP, new customized firmware and a small converting tool (popstation) make it possible to play any PSX (PlayStation 1) game on the PSP at full speed using the official emulator. Currently, PAL titles might be glitchy, but they're working on a fix-it. Don't you just love PSP hackers? Brian Ashcraft

PSOne Emulator Cracked [PSP News, Thanks wraggy!]

Don't miss the spectacular making of and hilarious head-to-head against the Nintendo DS Lite which answers the question "Which portable outperforms against cavedwelling beasts?" Michael McWhertor

Technically, they call it the Super NinTiVo, but whatever you name this thing it's cool. Two guys managed to shove nearly all of a TiVo into an old Super Nintendo case. The thing looks cool and still works like a beaut, though its harddrive has to sorta sit next to the unit. Brian Crecente

SNES + TiVo = The Super NinTiVo [Gizmodo]

This clever little Mii edit was done by professional blogger and Wii enthusiast Jason Kottke. Nice work, Jason. Michael McWhertor

The Upside Mii [Flickr]

Here's an interesting Playstation 3 contest by way of Cnet's Daniel Terdiman. A gamer is challenging someone, anyone to hack into his PS3-run website, dig into the directories stored on the souped up console and use a photo found there to replace the one currently sitting on the PS3-run website's front page.

The owner of the PS3, Shimpinomori, has already hacked the PS3 to include a 160GB hard drive and run Fedora core 5 PPC + add-on Linux.

Cool idea. If you try this bit of hackery make sure to make sure to let us know how your efforts go. Brian Crecente

PS3 hack challenge [Cnet]

Let's face it, the Wii is just too pretty for its own good. The thing is actually smaller than the Xbox 360's HD-DVD appendage and it's quiet and it's cute. And that just won't do. Not when you can add this bag-ass honking antenna to the thing to make sure it can pick up WiFi signals from space.

While the Informit article about hacking an external WiFi antenna to you Wii is informative, it seems a bit pointless to me. The Wii already has an embedded wireless network card with two built in antennas. My Wii is down in the lounge, which is half underground, while my WiFi hub is up on the second floor and I have no problems at all. I suppose this could help if you go camping with your Wii. Oh, and did I mention, the big antenna, it doesn't really boost reception. Worst. Hack. EVER! Brian Crecente

Wii Hack [Informit]

As I predicted way back when Nintendo first announced the sensor bar for the WIi, people who front projection systems are sorta screwed. Actually, they are totally screwed unless their projector is mounted within a dozen feet or so of the surface they are projecting on.

One gamer, whose distance between projector and wall is 30-feet, decided to hack apart that super thin sensor wire and make his own extra-long connection.

Stuck without a way to make the console work as I needed a 30' sensor bar connection and not seeing anyone else take the plunge yet, I snipped my sensor bar wire in order to splice in an extension.

The wire is 2 conductor stranded and very thin. There's white fabric shielding around the wires and a couple strands of white shielding wrapped up with the wires. The 2 conductor wires are twisted. So, I stripped the lines back and separated to the two wires. Again, they are very fine, thin strands. One is red and one is orange.

I cut a short segment of 24 gauge, 2 conductor wire I bought at Radio Shack, and proceeded to solder it in for testing. I figured no sense using a huge wire length just to verify if this works. The sensor bar wire doesn't take to solder too well. It was resistant to sticking. Finally, though, I got the solder to stick and went to test.

Long story short, he redid the solder three times before it worked, which may have been because of a bad solder or because the hacker forgot to recycle his Wii during the testing phase. Brian Crecente

This does not, fortunately, fall under PlayStation 3 eBay douchebaggery. Instead, it's painfully clear what you're getting. (You might want to lay down some plastic before continuing, as this auction might just blow your mind.)

The math? PS1 + PS2 = PS3. Gran Turismo 1 + Gran Turismo 4 = Gran Turismo 5. What? You're not sold yet? I'm going to let the seller take over.

Imagine being able to play Gran Turismo 1 at the same time as you're playing Gran Turismo 4 (two TVs required but not included). None of those other non-custom Playstation 3s out there allow you to play two games at once.

Think about that! Simultaneous gameplay! In addition, this bundle trumps the standard PlayStation 3's 4D gaming experience touted by Sony's Ken Kutaragi by giving you two 3D consoles, making this a 6D experience. Play beyond, indeed. Michael McWhertor

Custom built Sony Playstation 3. PS1 + PS2 = PS3 (Thanks, Tyler!)

We never thought the PLAYSTATION 3 looked like a grill and still don't! We likened it to a Victorian waffle iron in disguise. (It is, yo.) The rest of the internet thought it more suited for cook-outs, thus giving birth to this odd and costly hack: The Real PS3 Grill. According to its website:

When the final case design of the Playstation 3 was released, it was widely criticized as looking exactly like a George Foreman Grill. A few months later, Photoshopped pictures started emerging on the internet of the Playstation 3 with a grill built into it. So, after seeing these pictures, we decided this would be a great project and challenge to actually build the Real PS3 Grill. After much support and advice from the X-S forums we decided to dedicate a site to update everyone about The Real PS3 Grill.

And apparently, they did. A Japanese PS3 was gutted and a working griddle was inserted under the hood. The modders have the cooked wieners and chicken to prove it! Yum. Brian Ashcraft

The PS3 Grill [Official Site, Thanks Alan!]

If you've got a Windows based PC, some time on your hands, and either $200 of spending money or an Xbox 360 HD-DVD player, you can watch your HD-DVD's on your PC.

You won't need much, just a handful of drivers and your HD-DVD software player of choice, both of which you should download at your own risk. Sorry, Mac users (hey, that's me!), but while OSX recognizes the drive easily, the kids over at Uneasy Silence couldn't point us to a software player yet.

Not a bad deal, considering current prices for HD-DVD players are hovering around $500 right now. Thanks for the tip, Joshua. Michael McWhertor

Hacking the XBox 360's HD-DVD for the PC