A bit of deja vu - Final Fantasy Tech Demos history

Okay, so some time in 2005 people got really hyped up because of a certain PS3 Tech Demo that suggested the possibility of Final Fantasy VII remake. If this video doesn't cause a surge of warm, fuzzy memories in you, let me explain - it is hardware rendered version of pre-rendered cinematic from PS1 game, which you can see here or here (the second one is longer, but contains a bit of gameplay showing Cloud jumping off the train).

PS vs PS3 comparison

Collective imagination of gamers population was further teased by speculations in different media, such as this IGN article, or Square-Enix folks hinting at potential remake. Honestly, I can't blame people, as for me Final Fantasy VII is one of the most influential and unique stories of videogame world (together with Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy VI, Dark Earth, Deus Ex, Morrowind and others)

So recently all the hype re-emerged due to the hidden (not sure about that, as I haven't played the game yet) ending of Final Fantasy Crisis Core, a game that is technically a Final Fantasy VII prequel. Both PS3 Tech Demo and Crisis Core ending share the same renewed look of characters, just like in Final Fantasy Advent Children, which in turn is a sequel (movie sequel to a game... no comments).

Final FantasyCrisis Core ending

Okay, so if you're a gamer, then you probably already know all that, and if you're not, you really don't give a damn anyways.

Still, I wanted to make a point here

Did you know that this kind of tech demo, teasing gamers with the vision of remake, using hardware to render in real time animation that would not be feasible on the earlier generation of consoles - did you know that it has happened before?

A-ha!

Watch this movie showing dance scene (Dance with the Balamb Fish, a beautiful moment by the way) and then this movie that recreates it - the difference being that the first one is a pre-rendered sequence from PS1, while the second one is a PS2 tech demo, rendering the same scene in real time. Sounds familiar?

Both renditions head-to-head comparison for your viewing pleasure.

But that's not all! I have also found two other interesting things. One of them would be tech demo of Final Fantasy VI (considered the best part of the series by many, at least story-wise) on ... Nintendo 64.

Nintendo 64 tech demo

Yes, it is incredible. Looks like Square actually considered what would it be to take a plunge into 3D long before they decided to make Final Fantasy VII for Playstation. One can't help but to wonder about some alternative reality where Final Fantasy series is a Nintendo exclusive... Do you think it would influence the outcome of console wars?

Final Fantasy VII Beta

And speaking of Final Fantasy VII and Square's first ventures into 3D world - have a look at the above movie and see how Final Fantasy VII Beta was different from the actual game that came later on. Observe especially the proportions of protagonists' models and their 2D images in menu...

So you see, it is not the first time we, gamers, are being teased with unfulfilled promises of recreation of our favourite adventures in all-new graphical galore. And that's essentially the point I wanted to make. Share your comments below!

Final Fantasy VII - Introduction

As I have mentioned before, I am planning to write (actually, I am already writing it down, only it takes longer than I expected) about Final Fantasy VII Tech Demo and convoluted history of those. But I have come to realize that there are quite a few folks out there who might not know much about the game.

For them, I allow myself to post a little introduction here. A wonderful series by GameTrailers called Final Fantasy Retrospective breaks down each game in detail and the above episode is all about Final Fantasy VII. If you would like to learn what this whole phenomenon is all about, it should prepare you for the incoming post or at least explain why so many people still have vivid memories about this game.


For me the unconventional story, wonderful graphics (at that time - '96 when I got it for my PC), eclectic mix of fantasy and sci-fi, lots of cultural references - it all made it an experience I wouldn't ever forget. The trouble-minded main protagonist, Cloud Strife, with blue eyes shining of Mako energy (resembling Dune characters in this regard), suffering from amnesia (a bit like prince Corwin from Amber cycle) was not a stereotypical cliché macho hero. Same applied to all the rest of game characters - the cast was as memorable as the story and the images that picture them in different (you can find them on the internet) still strike a chord with me.

There, I said it - it is one of the stories that had influenced me the most, not only in the game realm, but also among all the other media. If you haven't heard this tale, you are missing something.

Gaming on iPhone

Yes, we all know that iPhone is cool and all, but the very first question every true gamer should ask is "Are there any games on it?". (I admit that my first thought I've had when I first heard about running unofficial code on it was "I wonder if I there will be ZX Spectrum emulator for iPhone?", but we all know I'm a freak.)

I didn't check gaming prospects right after buying the damn gadget, because I was too busy with jailbreaking and hacking SIM (umm, yes, there were problems). Also, my non-digital life was pretty busy, so the guilty pleasure of gaming unfortunately had to wait.

Finally, I have now investigated the subject and I am pleased to announce that the situation is better then I expected, even though there is no ZX Spectrum... ahem. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, the situation is as follows :

• we have a port of Doom that is supposedly nearly playable in widescreen, if you trust YouTube video that is
• we have a NES emulator that I don't really give a damn about since Contra is unplayable on touchscreen (but hey, for showing off it is good enough)
• we have a SCUMMVM port that might allow me to finally finish Day of the Tentacle
• we have a PSX emulator that is molasses slow and probably will never reach playable speed (but if I'm wrong, I will be very happy)
• we have some wicked physics game that looks intriguing (in fact it is just a port of Crayon Physics)
• and, last but not least, we have a quite good Gameboy Advance emulator!

Final Fantasy Tactics

The last one is my grand favourite so far. There are still glitches, speed needs improvement, some games are not emulated - but heck, being able to play Final Fantasy Tactics on my damn cellphone makes up for all of it.

Arcade games won't ever be the same experience, because touchscreen makes it impossible to have the same reactivity level as on the regular pad and buttons combo. This is what makes NES emulator so crappy (though I appreciate the effort). Gameboy Advance, however, has a large library of premium RPG and strategy games that don't require that fast reaction time and allow for accidental pressing of wrong direction button. Advance Wars, Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy IV, V, VI... It's a pity that Golden Sun doesn't work yet, but hey, it's just the beginning.

Advance Wars

Although there is still room for improvement, I am fairly certain that the successive updates will bring this emulator into near-perfection. After all, when GBA emulation begun on PSP, it was much worse in the beginning, but then became full-fledged emulator. And iPhone has more processing power onboard, even if it doesn't have dedicated graphics unit, so the chances are we will be seeing solid improvements relatively soon.

Now, about that ZX Spectrum emulator port?...

Absolute PSP freedom

Sometimes things get so good you can hardly believe they could be any better. I will write the news about newest breakthrough in capital letters, so that everyone gets the message :

YOU CAN ENJOY HOMEBREW AND PLAYSTATION EMULATION
ON YOUR PSP
NO MATTER WHAT FIRMWARE AND MOTHERBOARD TYPE YOU HAVE

Phew... Now that you got it, here's the details.

Team Noobz (Fanjita and Ditlew) have released a universal downgrader from firmware 3.03. What it basically means is that you can downgrade your PSP going from official Sony 3.03 firmware to 1.50, thus enabling your PSP to run programs written by unlicensed developers (so-called homebrew).

Where you go from there is up to you, but the most comfortable way would be to upgrade to custom firmware 3.03OE-C by Dark_Alex (just released), which will allow you to have everything you used to have on your official firmware plus the ability to run homebrew plus the Playstation 1 (PSX) emulator for which you can convert your own PS1 games (something that the users of official Sony firmware cannot do).

PSP running Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter - a PSX game via emulator.

If you're curious what kind of programs you can have on your PSP, then read about some of them in the previous posts on my blog (click on the PSP tag on the right side) or go to PSP Updates and start looking. There is a ton of different utilities, little Indie games, emulators and others.

Homebrew R-Type remake for the PSP.

If, on the other hand you are not convinced and do not want to take any risks, you can try HEN - homebrew enabler. It will allow you to get a taste of homebrew games without touching the precious firmware of your PSP (note that when you turn the console off, it won't work until you run it again).

If you are running lower firmware version than 3.03, simply upgrade to 3.03 and then use the downgrader.

At PSP Vault there is a very good page with a lot of basic concepts explained in plain English - you can consult it before venturing into the whole affair, just remember that it is not up to date as to what firmware can be downgraded (since the new downgrader has just hit the web).

If you have any questions, such as how to start with the process et ceatera, ask them in the comments (you don't have to log in to do that), and I'll try to answer them for you.

Welcome to the ever-growing PSP homebrew community!

General Tacticus' Final Fantasy

Some time ago I was getting excited over the incoming PSP version of Final Fantasy Tactics. I assumed that it would be an entirely new game or at least very refurbished version of old hit.

Recently a batch of new screens has hit the web and in the meantime I have managed to play the original (via Pops emulator on my PSP, of course). And now I am having ambivalent feelings...

Incoming PSP version

Original PSX version

While I still am happy about the new game for PSP, I am beginning to have doubts about it being a new thing. Also, I know it is a version in progress, but Square, please, do something with that textures and lightning, will you? Otherwise I'll have to stick with this iteration.

Say hi to 3.02OE-B

As promised in the previous post, I spent this day upgrading my PSP's firmware to the newest and coolest one by Dark_Alex - namely 3.02OE-B - and playing with PSX (or PS1) emulation.

It took me some time, because first of all I needed to find all the appropriate files (no brickers, please), read HowTos and testimonials on forums to know what I'm doing, then I continued with converting my Final Fantasy VII isos to PBP format readable by Pops (the PSX emulator found in the 3.02 firmware), only to spend another hours struggling with YouTube and my camera (the result can be seen below).

There were a couple of hiccups here and there - for example I have learnt the difference between PAL and NTSC (resulting in corrupted display of my PAL FF7). Fortunately I managed to correct it with a program called Zapper (you can find it here), but it took some more time. As for YouTube and recording video from PSP - don't even get me started.

But the efforts were well worth it. The PSX emulator runs smoothly and does its job very well in case of most games. The custom firmware is great, eliminating the need to use DevHook both for UMDs requiring higher firmware than 1.50 (meaning most of them) and for ISO emulation (done on the flight, user can run ISOs straight from game menu). Homebrew programs can be run both in kxploit versions (for 1.50) and normal ones (for 1.00). All the goodies from 3.02 firmware are there (visualisations, RSS and so on).

All in all, I am very pleased with my new firmware and the new possibilities it opens. This is truly a great Christmas present for the PSP community.

I promise to post more details anytime soon (such as which HowTos are good, what tricks there are and so on), but I thought I'd share the impressions together with a movie to show you how great it is.

End of off-line coma

Welcome back in 2007!

I'm trying to catch up with everything that's been happening during last two weeks, including non-gaming matters, but I wanted to let you know that I am working on a couple of new things that you will be able to read about soon.

Absolutely the greatest news recently was breaking of PSP's PS1 emulator code by Dark_Alex. What it basically means is that you can play your own (legally owned, mind you) PS1 games on your PSP without having to wait for Sony to release them and essentially paying twice for them. Just make ISO image, convert it using popstation and voila!

Final Fantasy VIII on your PSP!

Although I usually am rather reluctant about using work-in-progress versions of software and flashing my PSP firmware too often, I promise I will investigate it anytime soon to bring you first-hand news on how it works in practice and some more information. Maybe even a YouTube movie too.

In the meantime, here's a couple of interesting links to keep you busy:
- a bunch of new Final Fantasy Tactics screens
- Final Fantasy trailer (nice version of the webcam one I brought you earlier)
- ten games every PSP owner should play (not that I am agreeing on all of them, but still)
- five reasons to own a PSP (definitely worth reading - I was planning to write exactly the same thing, but they were faster)
- best of 2006 casual games

And remember to check back soon!

Christmas comes early this year!

I will break my offline mode to give you some really great news: Dark_Alex, the PSP cracking mastermind, has just released Custom Firmware 3.02 OE-A (read the official release thread here)!

For all those who might not understand what this is all about, here's the breakdown of what's there:
- you can enjoy all the goodies of 3.02 firmware together with homebrew capacity of firmware 1.50 without resorting to DevHook (straight after turning your PSP on);
- this means Flash, WMA support, neat music visualisations and so on;
- UMD video region lock is lifted;
- the most important aspect of it is Pops (PSONE emulator) with DRM protection hacked, meaning PS1 emulation working without worrying about the licence (you can share your game with your friend without having to pay for it twice). Finally you can take PS3 out of the equation if you want to play PS1 games on your PSP!

This is truly ground-breaking news!

Image of PS1 Syphon Filter on PSP taken from NeoGAF.

I have to admit I feel a bit sorry for Sony R&D engineers. They were working for so long to make this solution as crack-proof as possible (developing DRM system was the main reason for postponing 3.00 firmware) and now this...

I won't be flashing my PSP now, because the solution is very fresh at the moment and I don't have net access to consult forums and IRC channels should anything go wrong. After Christmas break it should be mature enough and there should be lots of instructions and user comments on forums, so expect me to welcome new year with some flashing.

Holy shoot! PS1 emulation is here!

It was just a couple of days before that I ranted about how Sony's release of new PSP firmware 3.0 that everyone awaited due to included PS1 emulator managed to turn out to complete crap. The comments indicated that I am perhaps just a malcontent.

Still, I said then that there is someone working on homebrew PS1 emulator. Well, I was wrong. There is more then one PS1 emulator in the works and a new version has just surfaced (read this news on DC-Emu and this forum release thread)!

The great news is that it is very promising. See the movie below (unfortunately it's a little blurry) :

I tested Final Fantasy myself today and I have to say that for an alpha build speed is very good. The game looks just gorgeous on PSP screen, with additional blurring provided by scaling the image. Of course, as it can be observed at the beginning of the above movie, the battles are still quite choppy, but fast forward to around 3:12 and see how smooth the gameplay is while navigating through maps. And there's more to come - as I mentioned, it's just an alpha build. No sound either, but I really can't wait to see another build.

I promise to make a better movie myself, but my digital camera is in repair, so it will have to wait 'till the weekend. Still, I thought I'd share the news, because it is really something.