He even went so far as to match up the drive's LED indicator with the Game Boy's battery indicator. It's fooled a lot of people into thinking it still plays games with the drive shoved up it, but it doesn't. Either way, cool mod, nice conversation starter.

80 Gig Drive Inside a Game Boy [Hack a Day via Go Nintendo]

One of the neatest features of the Playstation 3, in my book, is that you can swap out the hard drive it comes with yourself using an off-the-shelf hard drive. Sure it may be pretty self-explanatory to some, but not everyone knows how to upgrade the hard drive on their Playstation 3. Fortunately, Seagate was kind enough to send me a little howto guide and kit. The guide walks you through the relatively painless process for upgrading your 40GB or 80GB hard drive to something roomier, like say a 160GB drive.

The upgrade allows you to swap out the built-in drive with a new one, without losing any of your content. Why is Seagate explaining how to upgrade a Playstation 3? Because they sell hard drives silly. Hit the jump for the even-Brian-can-do-it instructions.

What you need:
An external hard drive for the backup (Seagate suggests their Maxtor OneTouch Mini)
A new hard drive (Seagate suggests their Momentus 5400.3 160GB (~$120) or a Momentus 7200.2 160GB (~$160).)
Mini screwdriver

How to do it:
Plug in your external drive and reformat it so the PS3 will recognize it.
Copy current PS3 hard drive content to your external drive.
Remove the standard issue console drive, following the installation instructions in the PS3 manual.
Replace the console drive with a the new drive.
Format new drive.
Plug in external drive and transfer content to the new drive.
Play Uncharted.

Every game will work with every Xbox 360 system...But just like some games will require you to have a Memory Unit to save games, some games will require you to have a Hard Drive to experience them.

But that's alright, Microsoft. Let me fill you in on a little secret: I don't care about people who were suckered into the Core. I know...it's horrible of me. But that's how the rich (those with an extra Benjamin floating around) are. We don't give a shit about anyone else if it solves the issues with loading beautiful textures or any other massive content off of relatively slow DVD drives.

Just come out and say it: people who bought the Core will be screwed. Not a lot, but on a few games, they won't get the full experience (whether that's DLC as is true now, or it's something bigger affecting gameplay). And then apologize, drop the price on the hard drive, side step the fact that PS3 owners can install cheaper third party storage and we'll call it a day.

Microsoft: 'Every game will work with every 360 system' [via destructoid]

Confirmation back in April that Neo Geo games will begin being added to Wii's Virtual Console download service adds weight to the speculation, considering Neo Geo games are huge - some clocking in it at up to 330MB.

"Now you're playing with power!™" There is no way to tell for sure what the hardware will be, but I'm sure the one of the boys will clear up this rumor after they come back from E3. I'm going to stay here at the Tower and feed the cat. Kim Phu

Wii Hard Drive on the Way? [CVG]

The Xbox 360's lack of a guaranteed harddrive is creating limitations for the Rockstar team developing Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360, Rockstar Veep Dan Houser said in a recent interview with Official Playstation Magazine.

In the interview Houser was asked:

"On PS3 you've got a guarantee that every machine is going to have a hard-drive and, with Blu-ray, you've got plenty of storage, whereas on Xbox 360 there's no guarantee of a hard-drive and you're working with the DVD format. Does that create limitations?" To which he replied, "Yep."

He continued, "To be honest with you we haven't solved all those riddles yet." The difficulties aren't limited to working on Microsoft's box, as Houser explains that "both have enormous challenges" and that "both have their own particular pleasures and pains".

I sure hope this doesn't mean that Rockstar would handicap the 360 version of the game. Personally, I'd rather they just say the harddrive is required. Brian Crecente

Xbox 360 is limiting GTA IV, says Rockstar [CVG]

Seagate is doing this Gaming Tour across the country right now to promote how their hard drives "enrich gaming consoles capabilities."

This weekend the whistle stop tour hits the Park Meadows Mall in Littleton where they will have Playstation 3s (I think they might have the Xbox 360 as well) and Alienware PC gaming kiosks hooked up for some tournament play.

They've asked me to stop by and play an impromptu tournament with some of their guys. If I win they'll donate a hard drive to the charity of my choice.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday near the American Eagle. I'm hoping to get by there around 10 a.m. this morning to try and catch their experts before they get coffee in them and are in full whipping-Brian's-Ass mode. I spent all night playing Virtua Fighter 5 and the tournament is supposed to be Call of Duty related, I'm told. I'm going to get killed.

Sure, you can go out and buy that hard drive now, but for those of you leaning toward purchasing the oft-slighted "'tard pack" to get your Halo 3 fix, just don't do it.

Some brief clarification on just how this works was also given:

Basically, if you buy a specially marked copy of Crackdown for Xbox 360, in the US (details for other regions will be decided by those territories) then you will receive some kind of code allowing you to play in the Halo 3 Beta.

Got it! But why Crackdown? You'll have to head to Bungie for the answer. Michael McWhertor

Bungie Weekly Update

But, as the tag suggests, we're calling it rumor for now. As Giz said, with CES just around the corner, we wouldn't be surprised to see the PSP v2 shown off alongside a PSP price drop. Michael McWhertor

Samsung 60GB Disk Destined for Next Sony PSP? [Gizmodo]
Sony PSP Movie Downloads Coming [Kotaku]

It all seems relatively painless, only taking a few minutes and simply erasing game saves, so why not drop another hundred bucks on tricking out your PS3?

Go on, you know you want that beefy 160GB serial ATA hard drive. Treat yourself! You deserve it. Michael McWhertor

Playstation 3 HDD Replacement Mini-Guide [Gamers Reports]

I was unpacking the Playstation 3 tonight when I remembered that it had a plastic cover on its side that read HDD. Of course I immediately popped it off to see what was inside. It looks like a pretty standard hard drive that you can remove by unscrewing one blue screw and tugging on a little metal ring Sony was kind enough to install on the unit's side. Brian Crecente

Since I don't know if I'll be paying for any downloadable content from the PlayStation Network, nor if I'll have the means to use my 60GB of storage for clown porn, I wasn't sure what benefit I'd get from dropping the extra hundred bones on the big boy PlayStation 3. However, MTV's eagle-eyed Stephen Totilo spotted the menu option "INSTALL" during his hands-on time with Sony's Genji: Days of the Blade, which takes advantage of the standard, reliable hard drive on all units.

Sayeth Steve:

Also unexpected was a feature in "Genji" to install the game, committing 4GB of data from the game's Blu-Ray disc to the PS3's hard drive — a three-minute one-time-only procedure available from the game's start menu that a Sony rep said cuts down in-game load times from about 15 seconds to four seconds. That's something Sony can offer, given that both versions of its console include a hard drive — 20GB and 60GB, respectively.

Nice! Advantage Sony. Anything that lets me waste less of my life watching "Loading" screens, I'm all for it. Michael McWhertor

PlayStation 3 Preview: Gamers Get A Test Drive, Luda's Left Out [MTV.com (really really sucks)]

Sears made a little snafu over the weekend. They printed an ad offering the 360 hard drive for $14.99. And that means you should print out the above ad, walk into your local Sears and try to hold them to it.

Caveat: in all probability, you're not going to be able to get an Xbox 360 hard drive for $15 at your local Sears. But even if you can't, you might be able to get Best Buy or Wal-Mart or any other major store that does price matches to sell you one. Spoofee commenters are reporting success with the latter approach.

Either way, it's a good enough deal that it's worth a shot. Let us know if anyone has any success. Florian Eckhardt

Sears Weekly Ad — $15 360 Hard Drive [Sears]

UPI tracked down Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America, to "grill him" about the future of the PSP.

While the questions are well conceived and often very pointed, the answers leave much to be desired.

Essentially, Dille defends the lack of Hollywood support for the UMD, mostly lackluster titles for the PSP and weak music support by not really answering the questions.

An example:

Q. Will future firmware upgrades improve the PSP's music capabilities by including support for playing music in random/shuffle modes?

A. While we have nothing to announce today about additional music capabilities, Sony Computer Entertainment is committed to continuing to build on the functionality of the PSP system. To date, we've developed seven firmware upgrades that help users get more from the device, from expanding the types of music file formats supported to making TV programs recorded with a TiVo available for viewing on a PSP. We will continue to look at ways to enhance the consumer experience going forward via additional updates.

Just how long does Sony expect consumers to wait and see before they just give up and either sell their PSP or decide not to buy one in the first place? Come on Sony, I know you want to make some big, well-times splash, but get on with it. We want to know what's going on with the PSP. Brian Crecente

Tech File: Sony's Playstation Portable
[UPI]

A set of Playstation Portable rumors rumbled our way this week. Both of them sound very possible and, if true, could give PSP owners a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel.

Rumor #1: God of War developer and hellofaniceguy David Jaffe's secret Playstation Portable project will feature episodic content and require a hard drive to play. (Some put each episode at close to 700 Megs)

I ran this by some of my inside sources and true or not, the rumor is certainly making the rounds. Several developer pals have heard about this and the possibility of a fabled hard drive for the PSP, but Sony won't comment either way.

If Jaffe has his heart set on getting his PSP game to make people cry, I think episodic content could certainly be the way to go. Using smaller episodes instead to deliver a game could allow you to structure it more like a book and slowly build up a gamer's emotional connection with the characters. It would also allow you to react to gamers' reaction to your game and thus make it more evocative.

Of course, you really wouldn't need a hard drive to do any of that, just a sizeable memory stick.

Brian's Guess: Yes on episodic content, no on hard drive, at least not as an add-on.

Rumor #2: The Playstation 3 will allow you to stream music and video to your Playstation Portable via a WiFi connection.

This one comes via an insider. The story goes that Sony executives held secret behind closed door meetings with developers to tell them about all of the cool things that the Playstation Portable and PS3 will be able to do together.
In one of the meetings execs said that Playstation 3 would let you placeshift your video and music to your Playstation Portable anywhere you had a WiFi connection.

I asked around and while everyone seems to think that it makes sense, no one has heard official word. Sony declined to comment.

This one is weird. Back at last year's E3 Sony announced that the PS3 would be able to stream multimedia content. Then the PSP got a patch with LocationFree TV support. In December the PSM folks said they talked to developers who said that streaming to a PSP would be done through LocationFree TV. Makes all kinds of sense. But then E3 rolls around this year and despite having very little to announce at their press conference to make people happy, the execs don't say a word about free video and music streaming to your PSP. What gives?

I suspect that this is going to be the big news hitting sometime between now and the Tokyo Game Show.

Brian's Guess: Yes, eventually.

Here's the very interesting thing. If both sets of rumors are true, it could point to a new Playstation Portable. If Sony really were going to announce a hard drive for the PSP wouldn't they just put it in the new model and if a new model is coming out, why not just announce the video and music streaming then. Brian Crecente

Have any rumors you'd like to share anonymously? Send me a tip at editor@kotaku.com.

Despite listing a hard drive as a requirement for Ninety-Nine Nights on the official Xbox.com site, the game apparently doesn't require the core-pack add-on.

Microsoft blogger Cesar Menendez says you will be able to play the game with or without the harddrive. He says he spoke with the Xbox.com production team and found out they just screwed up when the created the listing. Brian Crecente

N3 Doesn't Require a Hard Drive [Gamerscore Blog]

I spent some time over the weekend trying to mock up a desktop that would let me use at least some of my current bits and pieces.

I'm not exactly thrilled with all of the components in the system, but staying at about $1,000, this seems to be the best I could do.

I leaned heavily, very heavily, on Ars Technica's Hot Rod specs for this system. (thanks, Dan) I also tried building systems with Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Voodoo PC and Hypersonic. I found that Alienware was the most reasonably priced (they came in at $2,120), but I wasn't happy with some of their options, including graphics card, so I think I'll build my own.

I think I'm going to go with an Abit KN8 Ultra motherboard. It isn't SLI-capable, but I don't think I will be using that anytime soon, and it's super affordable, coming in at under $90.

For the processor I decided to go with AMD's Athlon 64 X2 4600+. I'm still going back and forth on the processor speed. The 4200 runs $350, while the 4600 comes in at $530. I'm not sure if it's worth the extra money. I'm a little worried about the whole AMD over Intel. I know I probably shouldn't be, but I was one of those people who bought an AMD chip right when they were getting started and it wasn't a pleasant experience.

As you guys almost all suggested, I'll be going with two 1GB sticks of ram. I'm leaning toward the Kingston PC3200s (about $88 each), but if you have a better suggestion I'm all ears.

My graphics card selection was between Radeon's X1800XT or X1900 XT (both with 512) or Nvidia's GeForce 7900GT. The Radeons were considerably less expensive and since I opted for a non-SLI card, I think I'll go with either the 1800 or 1900. There's a $90 price difference between the two, so I'm still pondering which to choose.

I'm going to stick with my two Barracuda 7200 120GB harddrives. I'm also going to keep my SoundBlaster sound card and my three flat panel monitors.

Since my power supply is way too weak (250 watts), I'm going to go with an Antec SLK3800B case which comes with a built in 400W power supply. I'm a little worried that even 400W, won't be good future proofing, but upgrading that down the line shouldn't be a problem. My other option is to stick with my Gateway case and just buy a power supply like the 600W Coolermaster, which uns about $78.

This system rings up at about $1,000 to $1,200 (depending on my choices), which isn't that bad.

So here are my main concerns. Is it a bad idea to skip out on the SLI-enabled motherboard and go with ATI? And, do you think mixing AMD and ATI is a bad decision? Brian Crecente

Ars System Guide [Ars Technica]

According to the developers, a chunk of Warhawk loads onto the Playstation 3's harddrive the first time you go to play the game. This cuts down dramatically on the load times, they said. They said they weren't sure yet whether Sony would allow them to keep the content on the harddrive or if they would have to reload it everytime the system was rebooted.

This would explain the whole two to three second load times that Sony is claiming, but I don't think I'd want my 10 pound PS3 all loaded up with games I've played once a year ago, like some glorified Memory Card. —Brian Crecente

Update: GameDaily Biz Editor in Chief James Brightman that they had a quick chat with the folks at PSM about their story on the PS3's price. Apparently, the article was just quoting the oft cited cost of the PS3 and didn't offer any new insight. Back to worrying over the price.

New Playstation 3 Details Emerge [TeamXbox]

Best Buy has started taking pre-orders for Datel's 4GB hard drive attachment for the Nintendo DS. The Datel Max Media Player lets you store and play movies, MP3s and digital photos on your Nintendo DS.

The Media Player includes a Max Media Player cartridge that plugs into your Nintendo DS system just like a regular game cartridge. The included PC utility disc lets you convert movie files to a format that will be playable on your DS. And with the included USB 2.0 cable, you can connect your DS to a PC and transfer your music, movies, photos and more. Who says you need a fancy portable DVD player or MP3 player to enjoy movies and music on the run? Do all of that and play your favorite DS games right on your sleek Nintendo DS system.

Best Buy is selling the device for $150 and lists the estimated arrival date as between June 12 and June 19.

Datel Media Player for Nintendo DS with 4GB Hard Drive [Best Buy, thanks Benjamin]

How To: 20GB External Storage for PSP [The Furrygoat Experience]