The latest issues of Dengeki PlayStation and Famitsu suggest that a playable demo of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII will be available in time for the Square Enix Party, taking place from May 12th to May 13th at Makuhari Messe near Tokyo. The game is already about 70% complete which means we could very well be playing a demo version soon!

If you happen to be in Tokyo at around the time of the Square Enix Party, you might want to swing by the event and be among the first to sample this amazing looking game.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) has announced the unveiling of a first-of-its-kind 3D online user community service for the PLAYSTATION 3. The service, known as “Home”, will enable users to create their own avatar and explore a real-time virtual community, as if they are playing a detailed 3D game for PS3. The service will become available globally beginning in fall 2007.

Home is to be demonstrated at the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, California as a key element of SCEI Worldwide Studios’ President Phil Harrison’s keynote presentation titled “Game 3.0: Developing and Creating for the 3rd Age of Videogames.”

Home is a real-time online 3D, networked community available on the PLAYSTATION Network. It allows PS3 users to interact, communicate, join online games, shop, share private content and even build and show off their own personal spaces to others in real time. Home will be available as a free download from the PLAYSTATION Store and will launch directly from XMB on PS3.

With an avatar uniquely customized according to each user’s preference, users can explore the 3D community that is Home – a sleek, modern environment featuring spacious common areas; custom spaces dedicated to specific games; and personal apartments. Each user is assigned an apartment in Home where they can invite others to join them as they show off their own style in an area they can personalize themselves with furniture, art and other items – even a different view from their windows. They can also show their personal video, pictures and other digital media content found on their PS3 hard drives in their apartments. Very rich interactive communication with others is achieved through built in text, audio and video chat, along with sophisticated emotional animations for each character.

Sharing continues in the “Hall of Fame”, where users can display new 3D trophies that will be unlocked through in-game milestones for the games they own as well viewing the trophies of other users across the PLAYSTATION Network and for other games they’ve yet to purchase.

[Via: SCEE Press]

Once again, the XTREME PSP Magazine is available to download. Our latest issue, was released little over two days ago and contains over 100 pages of content. Issue 21 has previews of Full Auto 2, Hard Rock Casino and more, plus reviews of World Snooker Challenge, Sid Meier’s Pirates and more. Also included are our usual monthly features such as new stories from last month, a new competition, tips and cheats, emails from our readers and more.

Here is a summary of the issue:

Previews

• UEFA Champions League
• Asphault 2: Urban GT
• Full Auto 2: Battlelines
• Hard Rock Casino
• The Hustle: Detroit Streets

Reviews

• Sid Meier’s Pirates
• Rocky Balboa
• World Snooker Challenge
• Battlezone

Homebrew

• HEN for Firmware 3.03
• VSH Analogue Mod
• tgaWave Creative Studio

[Download]

In a recent Press Release, Sony has confirmed the software prices for first-party launch titles. The PlayStation 3 will be released on March 23rd for £425, along side the release several titles will also be released including Motorstorm and Resistance: Fall of Man. It was previously thought that these titles will cost GBP 50 but Sony has confirmed that the games will cost GBP 39.99 (EUR 59.99, AUD 99.95, NZ 109.95). In addition to the launch titles, downloadable titles will also be available from the PlayStation Network retailing between EUR 2.99 to EUR 9.99, with titles like BlastFactor, flOw and Super Rub a Dub, and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection available on launch day.

Additional content can also be downloaded from the PlayStation network such as trailers, bonus game content and various other items all starting from just EUR 0.99. The items available range from a new SingStar track to a premium pack for MotorStorm, which would include a new track, additional vehicles, liveries and multiplayer modes.

March 23rd will see the PlayStation 3 launched in 44 new countries with the PlayStation Network being available to only 23 of them.

[Via: SCEE Press]

We apologize for the recent downtime of our web site. One of the hard disks on the server became corrupted which meant the other hard disks needed to be transferred to another server to bring the site back online. The engineers seem to have resolved the problem and we should be running as normal. Hopefully the issue has been resolved so we do not encounter any further downtime.

We should not have encountered any data loss to everything on the site should still be in place. If you do find anything missing or out of place, please contact us using the contact form.

UPDATE:

Some more downtime was experienced today (February 26th) for several hours between 12:00 PM and 5:00 PM GMT. Hopefully the issue has now been resolved.

Dark_AleX has released a Custom Firmware Update for Undiluted Platinum users. The new firmware update fixes some of the fustrations when using the modchip, such as booting into the onboard NAND and playing PSX games. The OE update allows UP users to have both the 3.03 OE and 3.10 OE firmwares. Dark_AleX has mentioned that holding the L button to boot into the onboard firmware is no longer needed and the firmware will auto-switch between the onboard and UP NANDs as required.

Installation Instructions

1. On the PSP original NAND, install 3.10 OE-A (or A’, doesn’t mattter because the patches of A’ will be applied)
2. On the UP NAND, install 3.03 OE-C
3. Copy 303_10 mix to GAME150, and run it from the UP nand.
4. Done.

Features

• 3.03 VSH, which you can customize.
• When you execute a PSP or PSX game, or a homebrew, OE will switch the NAND to the psp one (containing 3.10 OE) automatically
  so you will be able to play PSX and PSP games in the higher firmware, and since it will run on the PSP NAND, you
  won’t have problems with PSP games or with at 333 Mhz.
• When you recover from sleep mode, OE will also be back to the NAND you were, so you don’t need to press L
  (in fact, you must not press it :p)
• You can access both flashes via USB in the recovery

[Download]

SCEE announced that the first 500,000 purchasers of PlayStation 3 who registered on the PlayStation Network will each receive a Blu-ray disc movie of Casino Royale, starring James Bond newcomer Daniel Craig. Casino Royale will debut on a 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray disc encoded in MPEG-4 AVC. With a ground breaking collection of added-value features in 1080P High Definition visual quality, and with uncompressed audio features for the best possible audio experience, making it the perfect starter for the PS3.

Darren Carter, VP Brand and Consumer Marketing said,

“The PLAYSTATION Network unlocks the broad range of interactive entertainment features of PLAYSTATION 3. It’s easy to set up, offers free online gaming, has great tools for staying in touch with friends and family, and includes a wide variety of content for download through the PLAYSTATION Store.

All this, and more, will enable users to experience a whole new world of interactive entertainment, and that is why we are offering the phenomenal incentive of Casino Royale, on Blu-ray disc, to PS3 owners who register on the PLAYSTATION Network. Casino Royale not only makes the most of the features and capabilities of the Blu-ray format, but is one of the most exciting and entertaining movies to debut on Blu-ray this year.”

Those who remember the PSP launch in September 2005 will remember that Sony done a similar promotion and gave away 1 million copies of Spiderman 2 on UMD. If you are lucky to get your hands on a console come March 23rd, don’t forget to register!

[Via: SCEE]

As promised, Dark_AleX has released the Firmware 3.11 POPS PRX to be used in Firmware 3.10 OE. Dark_AleX previously mentioned that he will not be creating Firmware 3.11 OE since the only change between 3.10 and 3.11 was the POPS PRX. So, thanks to DAX, you can now use the Firmware 3.11 POPS PRX in Firmware 3.10 OE so you can enjoy better PlayStation 1 compatibility. This plugin allows you to run all PSX game from firmware 3.00 to 3.11. This PRX does not need flashing and instead runs as a plugin so it can be enabled/disabled as required. See the readme file for instructions.

[Download]

Its been over a month since the last issue and we know many people have been eagerly waiting for this issue so here it is. Issue 9 of PSP M4M: Magazine 4 Men is finally out with over 110 pages of great content dedicated to Valentines Day, while including other topics. DK Jr. says this issue contains articles on ideas for dates, some unusual news articles and a few crucial health topics.

Here is a summary of the content:

• History behind Valentines Day
• Looking Your Best
• Unusual News
• What Kind of Date?
• Excessive Masturbation
• How Much is Too Much
• Does Size Really Matter?

A note from DK Jr.

"I hope everyone likes this issue. We apologize for the delay in releasing this issue, but we were short in staff. We would like people to tell us what the like about the Magazine and what they would like to see. We are trying to establish a regular set of features for each issue rather than releasing lots of special issues. You will find the contact email in the magazine."

[Download]