PSP Dramas: Accessing the Playstation Store Overseas, Buying from Hong Kong, the Morals of Hacking and the Problems with Usability

October 18th, 2009

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With the PSPgo almost killing off its potential prospects for a purchase from the get-go*, I’ve finally decided to consider purchasing a PSP of my own, rather than cribbing my brother’s console. Sure enough, I could probably keep pinching his and would likely never need my own, but it’s only fair that I own one myself considering my regular defence of the console.

Besides the reasoning stirred up by the PSPgo, I also think that right now would be the time to invest since before I know it I’ll be living in Shanghai again and in need of something to play. I’ve been up in arms though, unsure whether to buy an older model and hack it so that I can run backups of my UMD games or to buy a regular model and rely on the Playstation Store. Trouble is, will I be able to access the Playstation Store in China?

I forwarded my question to Sony Australia who responded as follows:

Dear Daniel,

Thank you for your recent email.

This can be quite difficult to determine as different countries utilise different Internet providers and setups.

In saying this, you may or may not be able to access the store, depending on what China restricts regarding IP address access.

If China doesn’t restrict access, then you should be able to use and access the Australian PlayStation Network Store.

Hopefully they above helps.

Regards,

So technically yes, but, of course, it depends on China’s IP filter. Hmmm…considering that this site has just recently been blocked from the mainland (happy 60^th by the way), it’s difficult to be certain. Still, if you need it (I found Google and foruming to be of little help on this matter) then there is your answer.

As for my decision? I’ve imported a new PSP 2000 from Hong Kong which arrived, as of editing, yesterday. Kinda ironic, huh? Pretty risky too, right? Well let me explain a little.

Importing from Hong Kong

Firstly, as by my research, all PSPs, bar those of Japanese origin, are manufactured in China so hardware-wise an Australian PSP is effectively the same as a Hong Kong PSP. Secondly, PSP games and media (bar UMD movies) are region free with the one concession being that firmware updates and add-on content are region based. This presents a paradox. If I’m looking to hack the console then this wouldn’t matter anyways since additional content must be downloaded from the Playstation Store and access to the Playstation Store requires a firmware update which in turn patches the system and won’t allow hacking. Considering the little amount of add-on content for PSP games, it’s hardly a problem. Plus, I always have my brother’s console. Thirdly, Cantonese language isn’t an issue; don’t forget English is also an official language of Hong Kong, they were originally an English colony. Fourthly, the power supply as by pictures appears to use the 2-prong Chinese plugs. If I’ll be living in China this is fine, but anyways, with the deal I nabbed my PSP comes with a separate USB cable which also doubles as a charger. And finally, common sense. Yes, we westerners like to assume that everything Asian is shady, fake, brain-washed, of poor quality…bah! I say. Whether or not this is true is of no importance though—the truth is if you buy smart then you’ll buy well.

psp playstation portable console

I bought my PSP from eBay from a professional seller which openly sold consoles and games from the region. Their page provided sufficient photos of the box, but most importantly of all they had 15,000+ sales to their name with an almost 100% positive reputation. On checking the feedback page many of these buyers had bough consoles too and were perfectly content. Did I mention that I also got it $AUD90 cheaper than the overpriced Australian RRP (including shipping)?

The Ethics of Hacking

This is simple enough. I have two intentions for hacking my PSP. The first is so I don’t have to carry a stack of UMDs with me to China. This saves me the inconvenience, danger (theft) and possibly cost (travel insurance) of taking my UMDs over. The second is to emulate a handful of NES games which no longer work (or work long enough to play) in their cartridge form. I’m also considering using the device to emulate games which are outside of general purchase. That is, they never were released over here, cost too much or no longer work.

Piracy is against my moral code, I simply wish to access the content I have already purchased which, as we know, Sony can’t offer a decent solution for. Sony have completely cocked up with the usability of this device and to a lesser extent the PS3. They haven’t set up the infrastructure for owners of physical copies to have a digital equivalent of their content (even if they have to pay a concession for it).

They’ve made transferring media a lesson in failed proprietary software. Installing Mediago (their PSP media management software) on my computer required Quicktime and various additional components. Overall it took an hour to install everything! Even once I had the software installed it still couldn’t connect to the Playstation Store through the PC.

User accounts are the same, I recently bought Rock Band Unplugged and downloaded it to my brother’s PSP. My brother then went to download Still Alive, the free track from Portal, and was locked out of the game as the PSN accounts didn’t match. Umm…thanks for that.

Then there’s the fact that the PSP RSS feeder doesn’t update, the browser is slow and loads broken pages, the system tells you to update your firmware but doesn’t provide a prompt and lastly, the system allows you to download firmware and then once it’s downloaded alerts you that you don’t have the space to install it, so you must clear space and download again!!

As far as I see it, I’m simply taking matters into my own hands. I’ll let you know how my experience fairs in a future post.

*That was no a subliminal marketing ploy.

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Tags: psp, pspgo, umd

Level by Level: Logan’s Shadow Episode #1

March 6th, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkjekoxHX4Y

“The Underseige of Video Games” – Daniel Johnson

Syphon Filter:Logan’s Shadow is a typical video game sequel, sourcing heavily from the original while tightening the screws of an already solid base. It’s for this reason that there isn’t particularly much that I have to say about this game which you probably don’t already know from my previous articles. Still, I want to talk about it – after all I’m a series fan. Although some of my writings in the past may have lent more closely to reviews than so called critique, I don’t (intentionally) do game reviews here, which is why I want to be a little more progressive and actually review this game in the same way music is reviewed; song by song. In this case, I’ll be discussing Syphon Filter:Logan’s Shadow as a series of interlocking missions, rather than a complete package. Such a style, where the basics come assumed, perhaps might make the review more favourable towards people that are familiar with the original title – or so I hope. Let’s see how it goes.

Pirates of Somalia

Logan’s Shadow surprisingly begins with a fixed positioned, gun turret scene preluding Gabe’s helicopter descent on board the U.S.S. Mt. St. Helens. As the title suggests, the navy ship has been over run by Somalian pirates after the mysterious contents in hold 5. The introduction movie is sure to set the scene for another typically uninteresting action movie script, this time the emphasis is on the history and partnership of Lian Xing as well as a “pencil neck” politician Cordell – he must have no first name. The narrative ensues in cliched fashion, there’s a few kickers but even for fans like me it isn’t much, that’s all I’ll say about the narrative for now.

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Quick time events are subtly introduced as a first for the series. They operate when prompted to open tight doors and other such tasks that can’t be done with the standard skill set, as such the context you’re given for using them justifies their inclusion, rather than seeming like a faddish addition sporadically sprung on you at the worst of times.

Otherwise, the ship is a typical climb-to-the-top mission. The barrels in the game also seem to have been blessed with the gift of euphoria physics.

Going Under

You start off in the ship’s hull (some nice colours and lighting inside) and then move outside to the central part of the ship to catch a crane ride across to the other side. The music really starts to kick in once the fire fight gets under way, similar to the other titles, it’s very appropriate espionage music with beautiful undertones and exciting high points.

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Teresa messaged me a second time to alert me of what I was suppose to be doing after spending too long surveying the environment. Seems like a nice way to keep players on the right track. There was a cart pushing sequence mid-way during the mission which didn’t make a lot of sense considering Gabe could easily climb over the trolley.

Unsurprisingly the female chopper pilot introduced in the first mission dies. More reason for Logan to get angry at his enemies I suppose.

Ocean’s Five

You’re in the water this time by the side of the ship, ready to test out Logan’s Shadow‘s new swimming and diving mechanics. Wisely, this mission relies only on your treading water for the most part with one exception there is no need to dive underwater at all.

Being surrounded by water, the game begins to show off some of the new effects. The water for one looks fantastically liquidy and only continues to impress you move back inside the now damaged ship, pushing bloom, filters and a culmination of other effects in your face. Looking out from underneath the water the game binds blurred visuals with filtered sound and spread of bullets darting the water to create a convincing water environment. The water itself almost looks like full motion video, rendered in game.

Bullets stir up the water surface, terrorists can actually move into the water, swim towards you and shoot from underneath the surface. Their diversity is balanced nicely with your own electrical darts pulsate outwards when activated in water, covering significant surface area. The medium of water has extended the darts prior use, it’s a logical and clever way to add on layers to pre-existing mechanics by tying it together with the natural environment.

Besides that, this mission is fairly short. You just need to blow up a few small boats anchored around the navy ship and then make your way back inside the hull.

Sea of Darkness

This level is one of the significantly larger stages in Logan’s Shadow – includes a boss battle at the end too. You begin in the cargo holds, this time Gabe can jump into a button mashing sequence to open cargo doors, the level design of the first floor lacks direction, it fails to lead you in the right direction making it easy to get lost. Furthermore the cargo holds are tangled with trolleys and doors which can be lifted and pushed. Plenty of hidden evidence tuck away in the rummage though.

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The environments have a great blend of vibrant yellows and greens, giving the whole first area a very atmospheric sort of feel This is rammed up when you transit into the lower claustrophobic corridors where water is flooding in as high as your knees, steam pipes exploding and gun shots everywhere. Again, it’s a snow dome of visual effects, that in turn the environment into a hazardous playground.

By now it’s kicked in how the use of water has diversified the gameplay from the Dark Mirror formula. There’s also a greater inclusion of environmental variables, gas tanks which send fire raging before they explode, even the subtle environmental kills like banging someone’s head against a crate. So far it looks like there is a good deal of variation to distinguish Logan’s Shadow from its former.

Conclusion

Wow, still have five more episodes to go. I never intended to drone on so much about these two games. Oh well, there’s hardly enough video games coverage that looks at a single game for more than an article or two, so I guess my super analysis is quite distinguished then, is it not? I like writing like this anyways, allows me to get into all the undisscussed nooks and crannies.

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Tags: psp, Syphon Filter

Syphon Filter:Dark Mirror Design Notes

February 18th, 2009

This is the third and likely final post that I wanted to make regarding Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. Unlike the other two, this time I want to just jot down a few responses to some of the game’s more prominent design choices.

Syphon Filter: Dark Socom

The biggest difference between the PSP and PSone Syphon Filter titles is the reimagining of the control scheme and supportive mechanics built around it. The featured new addition is the ability to cling to walls for cover fire. You’ll need to constantly rely on sturdy cover to shoot your way out of most firefights. With movement fixed on the analog nub, aiming is mapped to the face buttons and can certainly become a slow process when co-ordinating between both axes to line up a shot. It’s an unavoidable hassle that comes with the lack of dual sticks, but minimized to great effect.

These new mechanics cullminate in a much slower, methodical game that rewards smart decision making teamed with solid shooting skills. It feels a bit like a hybrid of Syphon Filter meets the Socom games. The PSone games featured a generous lock on system which turned our secret agent into a highly effective one man army. The system is still present from the originals, but it’s effectiveness is toned down in favour of the duck-and-cover approach. Gabe also seems less able to absorb bullets which supports this grounding. There are rarely ever any situations where you can freely run into an area and win by pure bullet spaming. It’s all slow and methodical. On the flipside to this new upclose combat moves have been included and feel satisfying to kick people in the ass.

Neat Effects

Sony Bend must pride themselves greatly on their use of special effects on the PSP because Dark Mirror will take any excuse to exercise them. This includes explosions, fog, weather affects, smoke, water and so forth. The game constantly turns every moment into a display of technical muscle for the system. It looks great, sometimes feels superfluous but actually becomes a dynamic catalyst for mixing up the gameplay scenarios.

Goggles

The effects aren’t just the only way in which Sony Bend seem keen on showcasing graphical eye candy. Dark Mirror also places a heavy weight on using the 3 goggles and torch functions. EDSU goggles are used to clue you in on where to go next (alerting you of sensative spots) or can be used just to check for trip wire explosives and other nasties. Nightvision explains itself and is used ocassionally, sometimes in vents. Infrared goggles are used to see heat sources through walls and can become a good safe guard when trying to spot out hard to see targets. There is a torch which is also handy sometimes.

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All four of these items are well integrated into standard play – particularly problem solving.. They are mapped to the left button on the directional pad and hide/cycle nicely just like the weapons.

Super Agent Man

You may remember that it wasn’t too long ago (I guess in the N64/PSone era) when many players started questioning the copious amounts of weapons and ammunition attainable in a typical action game. The argument was that it is physically wasn’t possible for protagonists to carry an armory of weapons, often including larger artilary (eg. Roket launchers). This defied the laws of realism and eventually designers looked at this and discovered a work around; limit the player to two weapons – thanks Halo.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror manages to work around this fangled trick while at the same time pouncing on a neat graphical opportunity. All of the items that protagonist Gabe Logan carries are attached to his suit. Small items like a taser and knife as well as ammunition are kept in pockets. Larger items like rifles are mounted at either the upper or lower half of the back of Gabe’s body suit. As you cycle through weapons Gabe will slot them back and forth between the various positions on his suit. When he collects ammo, an animation plays of him storing it in his pockets and so forth.

Since Gabe is never really (once, for a few minutes) given large artilery weapons like rocket launchers he doesn’t have to worry about those weighing him down. The effect of this design decision not only conqueres the realism barrier but it also makes Gabe more visually variant.

The New People

Just as a fan of the series, I figured it was worth mentioning some of the changes in voice acting casts between the PSone and PSP titles. I won’t go into specifics/don’t know the specifics, but the cast is basically completely new. Gabe sounds more or less the same with some slight tonal differences. Lian Xing sounds less American-Chinese and much younger and adolescent. Teressa Lepan and Lawrence Mujari are similar approximations to their original self. Infact the former two don’t feature too frequently in Dark Mirror.

Canisters, Keys and More Rewards

In my last article about Dark Mirror I talked about the rewards system but I actually forgot a few integral examples to back up what I was saying. I’m nearing the end now of my second play through so a few of these have sprung back to mind when I’ve run into them. The first one being in one of the later episodes (group of missions) where weapons can be unlocked by destroying a series of canisters located in the levels. The hint area under the pause menu identifies what can be unlocked and the mechanic overlays ontop of the hidden evidence scavage.

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In addition to this, some levels contain hidden objectives which open up more hidden objectives to new areas and weapons which string off the main mission. Think of it like Perfect Dark where more objectives are added with each difficulty setting, except in this case those objectives aren’t compulsory. Lastly is the use of night visioned secret messages to hide the codes to doors which contain additional bonuses.

Small Details etc.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror is seemingly packed with cool little touches that you probably wouldn’t notice hadn’t it come to you. I just wanted to briefly mention two of them. The first is that you can use your own medkits to heal partners who accompany you in the game. The second is that when you kick a door down (Dark Mirror employs the Resident Evil 4 open door mechanic) with a man on the other side, they will be stunned on the kick back.

Conclusion (yes, I’m done!)

I think I’m fresh out of ideas on Dark Mirror, which is probably a good thing. ^_^ I reckon that I’m slowly moving into deeper territory with every key game that I’m playing. I mean, I managed to draw three solid posts on this game alone and have a similar slew in the pipeline for the next game want to look at. I think I’ve exhausted almost everything worth mentioning about this game without formalizing it in a review manner. And it goes without saying that I’d recommend this title.

Posted in Game Discussion | Comments (1)
Tags: psp, Syphon Filter

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