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Emulation (Games) Classic Games (Games) PlayStation (Games) Entertainment Games

PS2 Action Replay Adds MP3, DivX, Genesis Emulation 41

Posted by simoniker from the oh-so-much-goodness dept.
Thanks to 1UP for its article discussing the forthcoming, impressively feature-rich Action Replay Max for PlayStation 2. This Sony-unapproved third-party USB drive/CD combo includes the ability to "burn a CD of MP3 music, DivX video, or Genesis/Mega Drive ROMs [on your PC], which will then play back on an Action Replay-equipped PS2", and, similar to previous versions, "...will circumvent the PS2's DVD region lockout, and also stream MP3 music or DivX video from a PC connected to the PS2 by way of its Network Adaptor." In addition, the device can "download new cheat codes through a broadband Internet connection, or accept new codes loaded on a CD-R or Datel's own USB flash drive", and finally, Datel "has also added its PS2 online chat and instant messaging client to the Action Replay package."
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PS2 Action Replay Adds MP3, DivX, Genesis Emulation More

PS2 Action Replay Adds MP3, DivX, Genesis Emulation

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  • How did they get all that running without a developer liscense? Reverse engineering??
    • To a certain extent I'm sure they reverse engineered it.
      On the other hand, I'd bet that the PS2 Linux kit didn't hurt either.

      Back in the NES days, a couple of companies got the pertinent info for programing/hacking the NES by going to the patent office.
      Very interesting story about it in the book "Game Over."
      What I'd like to see is a PS2 add on the supports my USB Iomega Zip drive...

      That'd be cool.

      • Re:I've always wondered... (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Back before gamecube came out there were rumors Nintendo was working on an official accecessory to use CompactFlash cards as very large memory cards.. I've always wondered if there was any truth to that and what's become of the project if there was.

        • Re:I've always wondered... (Score:4, Informative)

          by SynapseLapse ( 644398 ) on Saturday May 22, 2004 @03:22AM (#9223638)
          Actually, it wasn't CompactFlash it was actually Secure Digital [SD] cards they were going to use. Prototypes were produced and sent to various game review companies [magazines/websites]. The problem with the device was it was only compatible with games specifically programmed for it and the GC's memory management screen couldn't read it [from what I've read]. That, and there was a limit to the number of files you could store. I think it was something around 500 maybe? Suffice to say, I do recall that a 32mb was the largest amount of space you could use. One of the proposed ideas was that games similar to Pokemon Snap could have high resolution Screen shots saved to the SD card where you could take it in to a photo processor and get pictures printed out. So due to very limited game support, the project was canned. Too bad to, I would to be able to pop my SD card in a USB reader and start hex-editing the heck out of my save games.
      • The Linux kit supports Zip drives. :-)

  • Any idea if it fixes the HDD problem? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by KyolFrilander ( 730272 ) on Saturday May 22, 2004 @02:24AM (#9223505)
    When Sony released the HDD, one of the updates is a service patch that makes unofficial discs like everything that Datel uses take about six times longer to launch.

    Legitimate games take 20 seconds. The AR MAX takes 120. Take out the drive, and the AR MAX takes around 20 again.

    But if you ask Datel about this, they say "oh no, there's no problem, it works fine, you're obviously imagining things."

    I wonder if this update does anything for that. Lord knows you can't conveniently remove the HDD every time you don't want to use it, and a 2 minute boot is obscene, especially since the codes are kinda still crashy. Bleah. Hopefully there's an update program. :)

  • Slashdot might like to know... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 22, 2004 @03:33AM (#9223668)
    Something people here at slashdot may find interesting...

    The Sega Genesis emulator built into this new version of Action Replay is based on the source code for Generator, a Sega Genesis Emulator that was released under the GPL.

    Go ahead, look at the website for the new Action Replay, and look at what comes in the box, I'll wait... Didn't find any thing about source code or the GPL? Me neither.

  • I'm always interested in the media players and what files work. Obviously there will never exist a single one that plays it all, but when they say Divx, do they just mean 5.1.1? Or does it include 3 and 4? Although Divx 5 can playback 3 and 4, there's some files that are "corrupt" if Divx 3 doesn't handle them.
    • I wonder if it will play XviD files as well. It would seem to be the most useful format around at the moment.
    • Good point. I'm wondering if it uses something similar to the ffdshow filter that plays damn near everything (and for the most part better than the official codecs). From the sounds of things it's going to be limited to Divx only. It's a shame too as Xvid is becoming the premiere codec, another example of OSS triumph!
  • Now I'm going to get a virus on my PS2 you insensitive clod!

    Seriously though, this sounds like an amazing device. Mod me laterally.
  • To a certain extent Linux Kit users can roll out their own. Using PS2 Reality Media Player [google.com] (Its possible to run it from the memory card formatted with the RTE.

    Only drawback being not as many file-formats supported as the Datel offiering, and unless you have a modded PS2 (I dont) then you cant read CD-R's. Network play of films is quite good but some of the higher resolution ones can make the PS2 struggle a bit. I'd suspect that playing movies from a CD, and having an actual cartridge developed to do this s
  • From a quick check of Divx Networks' web site, it doesn't seem like Datel is an official licensee. If this is the case, I'm certain Datel will get a cease and desist from them for using their registered trademark. And the Genesis emulation is an even worse situation. About the only way that's gonna work is via copyright infringement. Since Sega is still making money off of things like the Sonic Mega Collection for the Gamecube, I can't see them taking this one lightly.
    • The emulation is legal, that part has already been proven in court.

      And since the user, and not Datel, must supply the ROMs, I think they'll be fine. They've probably got more to worry about with that whole Divx thing you mentioned.

  • Datel warning... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by PongStroid ( 178315 )
    As a very pissed off owner of a "Datel Max Memory" card, I'd suggest everyone be wary of this company's "unapproved" products.

    I went a few months using their required software to copy games from my card to their 16MB card and had no problems. Then I made a mistake, instead of using the software's "copy" function, I used the "move" function to transfer multiple saves instead. Well, "move" actually worked - it moved the saves I selected to their card. But it also completely corrupted the card I was moving

    • Re:Datel warning... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by TxdoHawk ( 470947 )
      Dude, 3rd party memory cards? Come on. "Thou shalt not buy 3rd Party memory cards unless thou is asking for trouble" is practically the 11th commandment by now. Controllers and other things you can sometimes get away with, but never, ever buy 3rd party memory cards, unless you're completely willing to lose all your data. It's been this way since the PSX, and I don't see the trend stopping any time soon.
      • Come on? You are making some assumptions: 1) I've never had a PSX so never had a reason to learn/read about the "commandment". 2) I haven't hung around usenet (or game forums) for years now - which is where, presumably, this commandment would have become solidified. 3) When you're 35+, married, with kids, one typically doesn't have a lot of hard-core gaming friends who would share this information with you. 4) I did due-diligence and searched for information on usenet and the web via Google - and didn't

        • Re:Datel warning... (Score:2, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Just to add this tidbit, third-party memory cards that have the MagicGate logo on them have been approved by Sony. Those without the logo are just bad news. BTW, the approval process was established so that Sony could make money on technology licensing fees for third-party memory cards, and customers could buy them knowing that they should work without problems. If the card you bought has the logo, call the manufacturer and tell them you'll call Sony next, then call Sony if nothing is done (although I do
    • Official memory cards can stop functioning too fairly easily, ignoring any one warning (there are probably about 50 for autosave titles) for a PS2 save, and if any file has an error the entire memory card will usually have to be reformatted to be used again, so if you are concerned about your save games you should definitely keep a spare card that you backup your saves to regularly. I have no idea why they can't make use of a more secure file format with some sort of recovery feature.
  • I run the Game Shark Media Player. It does a decent job playing mp3, divx, and xvid from my pc. The only problem I run into is if the video is encoded poorly. My pc can fight through it and continue to play, the media player just dies. The other problem I have is the load time on the disk. Sometimes it reads, sometimes it doesn't. Loading takes about 4-5 minutes. Hopefully, the Action Replay will fare better. With the USB connection, it will load faster and more reliably than the Game Shark.
  • With a modded XBOX you can already do all that (minus burning CDs) and so much more... emulation from mame to atari 2600, and all consoles in between (even N64), and let's not forget Xbox Media Center, which will without doubt blow whatever Action Replay has to offer.

    /ravenous zealot fanboy mode off

  • A couple of points... (Score:3, Informative)

    by az_bont ( 782058 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @04:58AM (#9228669)
    Contrary to what a lot of people have stated, the Action Replay cheat devices for the PS2 can play backups and imports... well, the older ones can at least.

    Aside from a few early versions that didn't circulate far, every Gameshark and Action Replay up to the V2 is capable of booting backups and imports, through use of a slide card or similar device. This involves swapping the AR with a CD-R without the PS2 knowing it. Newer versions of the Action Replay will auto-eject, making the swap impossible.

    It was also at this time that the Gameshark stopped being a re-badged Action Replay, and became a re-badged Xploder, a very different cheat device from Blaze. It's clearly obvious that they aren't as advances as Datel - all of their discs are created by cutting part of another legitimate PS2 disc and gluing it to another part containing their code. I've seen Datel's DVD Region X used, and more recently Crazy Taxi. These do not boot backups, although its parent company, "Success", make a Swap Magic boot disc that does - its pretty damn spiffy, too.

    My suspisions are that this product is taking advantage of the homebrew software PGen, a Genesis emulator, and the PS2Reality Player, which plays DivX, MP3 and the like.

    Both of these can take advantage of a new disc format recently discovered, known as UMCDR. It manages to trick the PS2 into allowing you to insert a CD-R without use of a swap trick, and access its contents in any program that been specifically programmed to accept them. Developemtn was ceased a few days after tools and information were released, after the author found out that people were attempting to use it for warez. It didn't work, whatever they were doing, but he stopped work on it nonetheless. The warez guys, on the other hand, still continue to try and exploit it for backup booting.

    What fuels my suspisions is that the author of the UMCDR format stated that a version of PGen (the Genesis emulator) with UMCDR support has been created and should appear on the PGen's website soon. It's been over a month with no mention of it. Not a newspost or anything. The version of PS2Reality Player with support, though, has been released.

    The only bugger about it is that it creates a disc with one audio and one data track, leaving you around 670MB on an 80 minute CD-R for DivX movies, which is 30MB shy of the usual filesizes. Thankfully the PS2 is fully compatible with up to 100-minute CD-Rs. It's just a question of whether this software is.

    The only thing that you currently cannot do without some form of boot disc or modchip is launch homebrew code on the PS2. It's all very well being able to insert CD-Rs of DivXs and Genesis ROMs, but you need to have the software to do something with it. About the closest thing is the PS2 Independance Exploit, which allows booting of PS2 programs from the memory card via insertion of a pre-determined PSone game, but that requires a great deal of work to get the code onto the disc - an exploit installed CD and a friend with a modded PS2 is about the only way to go.

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