Homebrew developer Hellcat dropped by our forums today to release an update to his Pandora installer for 3.X/4.X kernel based custom firmware, a handy application that allows users to easily create a base Pandora setup (service mode battery, magic memory stick) on their homebrew-capable PSP.

Expanding upon the robust feature set present in the initial release, revision 4b adds support for installing Despertar del Cementerio v7 in a one-click fashion, along with the ability to install ELF Menu v0.4 on your DC7 stick.

Release Thread

Despite being promised for a “nationwide” rollout last Spring, pre-paid PSN cards are still a scarce commodity. That is, unless you have a Meijer nearby. Truth be told, many of us don’t, so it is reassuring to hear that Sony will be expanding availability of the cards to Blockbuster, 7-Eleven and Riteaid stores across the continental United States later this September.

This is no doubt good news for those without access to a credit card or debit card account. We just can’t fathom why it took them this long though.

PLAYSTATION Network Card [Sony]

Homebrew developer Zx-81 has released a maintenance update to PSPWrite, a simple yet powerful text editor that allows users to edit any ASCII format plain-text file on the PSP. The application supports input through either a wireless IR keyboard or the built-in Danzeff virtual keyboard.

Version 1.1.1 includes additional fonts in varying sizes and resolves a word wrap issue with text from the ISO-8859-1 character set. As usual, the full changelog can be found after the jump.

PSPWrite: A Text Editor for PSP v1.1.1 [Zx-81]

Official Japanese PSP sales figures from Famitsu parent Enterbrain were released today, pegging the handheld at 10 million units sold since its debut in December 2004. In terms of software sales, Capcom’s Monster Hunter 2nd G - unsurprisingly - took top honors on the five best-selling games chart with 2,396,642 units sold. Previous installments in the series also managed to take second and fourth place on the chart. One thing is for sure… Japan can’t get enough of Monster Hunter.

Full software sales chart after the jump. more »

Homebrew developer Hellcat has released an update to Recovery Flasher, a custom firmware compatible utility that allow users to perform various maintenance tasks on their PSP, from restoring flash-based content (PS Store license data, theme files) to fully re-installing 3.71 or 4.01 M33 firmware without the need of Pandora.

The most notable addition is the ability to backup flash content, regardless of the firmware installed, and use it for restoration purposes on the same PSP, or another PSP as long as it is the same model (i.e. a flash backup from a PSP Slim cannot be used on a Phat unit). Hit the jump for the full changelog. more »

European folks: You know the deal, enduring the agonizing wait for a new game release to be localized in a dozen or so languages for PAL territories can be frustrating at times. Or so it seems. Outspoken Sony Computer Entertainment Europe head David Reeves believes the wait is a clear advantage for Europe at times:

People say, ‘Well, why do we always get things last? Why can’t we say things?’ Well, I’ve said this many times before: sometimes it’s an advantage to be last in Europe, you know, when everything’s ironed out.

“This time, we do have things to say in the European [market]. We have the music service, and we’re doing great things on SingStar and there’s more to come. These are global announcements.

“They recognize that the [Games Convention] in Europe, whether it’s in Leipzig, Cologne or London: we can do the announcements wherever. So they said to us in Tokyo, ‘Do you want to do it here?’ And we said, ‘Yeah, we’d love to do it here.

more »

Homebrew developer MDave has issued a hefty update to his Turok-inspired first-person shooter known as Kurok. Not one to skimp on details, the author himself has provided a extensive changelog outlining the full list of additions and gameplay tweaks made in this release. Numerous bugs have been addressed, along with the addition of an all-new single player map dubbed Escape and online-supported multiplayer maps Lobby, Crossfire and Area 52. more »

Developer ne0h dropped by our forums earlier this week to inform us of an update to Xplora, a feature packed all-in-one file management utility for the PSP.

Notably, version 1.6 includes several enhancements and additions, such as a built-in text-editor, PMF movie player, and the ability to playback music in the background while still providing access to file operations. Hit the jump for the full changelog. more »

Homebrew developer Ooblik has released an update to OoblikXMB, a customizable XMB shell replacement for PSP. Still in the beta phase, version 0.3 features a built-in file browser along with the ability to launch EBOOT files. Additionally, indicator icons for both USB activity and volume settings have been added. more »

Sony today announced that it has formed a partnership with the WiFi sharing network known as FON to allow PSP owners to freely access the internet across 44,000 FON hotspots in Japan.

In addition to free internet access, users will be able to download PSP content such as game demos, XMB themes and wallpaper images through the service. In celebration of the announcement, a theme for Square Enix’s PSP brawler Dissidia: Final Fantasy will be available to all FON-connected users.

There’s been no word on if Sony plans to extend the PSPxFON service over to the U.S. and Europe at a later date.