Yes, you’ve read it correctly! The PlayStation Store is finally up! This is the latest part of the PSN update that brings back the entire PlayStation Network. One thing many people were looking forward to was the customer appreciation package where, in America, you get your choice of 2 free PS3 games, 1 PSP game, a month of Qriocity and PSN+, a lot of free virtual stuff on PlayStation Home, and many, many more cool things. If you live somewhere else, your appreciation package will be slightly different, but rest assured, you will be getting a lot of nice goodies.
No word on when the customer appreciation package will be released, but it’s rumored to be very soon. (Within the next few days!)
If you live in Japan, you will still need to wait for he return of the PlayStation Network. Sorry about that!

What are you guys looking forward to in the appreciation package? Or are you just happen to be able to play games online? Do you think this is coming too late? Click here to tell us in our forums!

The 3DS has already received the spotlight for having some very interesting games being developed for it. One of those games is Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D. This will basically take your existing levels from Resident Evil 4 and 5 of their “Mercenaries” mini-game, revamp them, and have a whole game dedicated to destroying the supernatural. The game will launch at $39.99, or so sources lead me to believe, however, if you’re a big fan of the Resident Evil franchise, it might be worth your while to pick up the exclusive preorder from the Capcom website’s store. The preorder bonus content is pictured above. You get a nifty little folding outer-shell case to protect your 3DS. Keep in mind, this deal is only available through the Capcom Store online at the current time, so if you’re looking to get this, you’ll have to preorder through them. There’s a link below to continue on to the Capcom Store and pick up a preorder copy and case for yourself!

[Source: Capcom Store]

Discuss this on our forum!!

So the 3DS is out and we’ve seen flash carts already being run.  Already, four major flash carts are working on the 3DS after flashing an update to them. One of the carts from the CycloDS team works directly off the bat, not requiring an update. For this reason alone, the Nintendo 3DS is a beaming prospect in the eyes of homebrewers worldwide. Bringing the joys of homebrew and DS rom support to the 3DS has some people worried about Nintendo catching on to their actions, however. With the 3DS, Nintendo has incorporated a system in which to view the game history log, usage level i.e. which games you’re playing and how often. The problem? Nintendo might not appreciate people using homebrew or running game backups on their 3DS console. Rumors are running amok regarding the potential for Nintendo to use a software update or a wireless method in which to brick the systems of users who abuse their anti-piracy/ anti-third-party tools terms of use agreement.

Over at GBATemp, a member of their magazine staff, Rydian, has put together a list of things for people to consider when wondering about whether Nintendo would actually want to do such a thing. I’ve put a source link at the bottom of this article that you should jump to for the full version of his considerations. His list has six main reasons with which to help people better understand how Nintendo would view bricking consoles.

1. It is illegal in the US/ UK.
2. Other systems also warn against third-party modifications
3. The 3DS is [has been out] in Japan since Februrary and no such brickings have occurred.
4. Third-party modifications do not include just flash carts, and cannot be detected perfectly.
5. Nintendo does not profit in any way by killing your system.
6. Updates will not be done without your consent.

Rydian goes on to say, regarding point number one, that since US/ UK law recognizes the differences between goods and services, Nintendo cannot legally destroy your game system. They could, however, revoke your usage of their online services because they are exactly that, services. The good in which you purchased, the 3DS, cannot operate without the proper software updates, so if Nintendo maliciously bricked a system, it would be against the law. He also talks about how Nintendo has used “scare tactics” and “fear-mongering” in the past, recalling a recent Wii game, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, which flat-out tells you that if you have unauthorized third-party devices, an update may render your machine inoperable. No doubt some Wii consoles have mods, could possibly be detected, and haven’t been destroyed by Nintendo, clearly.

All-in-all, it doesn’t seem likely that Nintendo would be that hardcore in their pursuit against anti-piracy activities, but these are some good things to consider before you freak out and assume your 3DS is heading to paperweight status.

[Source]: GBATemp – Rydian’s thoughts on Nintendo bricking your 3DS

Alright, everyone. We are on day 6 of this PSN outage and many people are hating it while fanboys of other consoles are rubbing it into PS3 owner’s faces. Do you guys have a PS3? What have you been using it for during this near-week of PSN-less features? No Home, no PSN Store, no online play, no Netflix… etc. Have you guys picked up any games to take up your time?

On another note, Xbox Live is now unbanning consoles! On top of that, it is kinda suspicious that they offered a ‘free Live weekend’ during the weekend the PSN is down. Of course, the 360 was planned to have this for a while, but it makes you think, right?

Upcoming Games:
• Portal 2 (PC, PS3, 360)
• Mortal Kombat (PS3, 360)
• Socom 4 (PS3)
• Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection (PSP)
• Conduit 2 (Wii)
• Prince of Persia Classic Trilogy HD (PS3)
• Johnny Test (DS)
• Art of Murder: Deadly Secrets (PC)

Sony pushed out PSP firmware 6.38 just a bit ago and guess what! You can still run signed homebrew! Of course, no one know if using the downgrader will work from this new firmware or if the recently-released custom firmwares will install from this firmware, so take caution! All Sony says that they released in this update was a “Security patch to add stability.”
Of course, that’s code for, “We’re trying to combat homebrew!”
To download and install this firmware on your PSP, you just need to go to Network Update on your PSP’s XMB and install it from there.

Alright, the PS3 is quickly catching up to the sales of the 360 and PS3 is coming out with way more exclusives this year… Who do you think will do best over all this year and how important do you think that this year’s console sales will effect the total lifespan of this console generation?
What are your predictions? Head on over to the Brewology forums and discuss what you think!!

A while back, iOS came out for 4.3.1 and many people updated their phones to no find that they locked their devices again to no longer use homebrew. redsn0w 0.9.6rc9 is now out and allows you to unlock your iOS devices, with the unfortunate exclusion of the iPad 2.
Also, there is a warning that ultrasn0w users must not update their devices yet!

Discussion: Here
Source: Here
Download: Here (Official BitTorrent Download)
Download: Here (.DMG Download)