Time for another round of new goodies on the US PlayStation Store. For this week's batch, we've got the usual shower of Guitar Hero and Rock Band tracks, a new edition of PULSE, new demos and new downloadable games. Check out the complete list in the full article.

 

For every ground-breaking title out there, there exists an unsung hero. They – like soldiers and bad sitcoms of old – are the miserable underdogs who never receive the due credit they deserve for their work. We're not talking about the developers -  we're talking about specialists - the (fictional) guys who work behind the scenes to ensure that the elements in whatever genre you play will always remain in tip-top condition, whether its your resident androgynous antagonist 's script, or your unfriendly neighborhood mook's marksmanship scores.

These guys will be the topic of today's quick list - along with an explanation with that special thing they do just to make the game better for one special individual - you. On to the list!
 
1. Sephiroth's acting coach
Let's be honest - Sephiroth isn't that original. More than one anime, manga, and J-RPG can boast its own brew of silver-haired, bad-ass sword-wielding bishie hotness, with Sephie being just a part of this popular trend. What sets him apart, however, is execution (acting, not Aeris…).
 
Sephiroth's dark foreboding lines and steely glare will haunt many a gamer's dreams, and for this, we can thank the man's ever-capable acting coach. We're talking the drama-guru who made Sephiroth walk the walk, talk the talk - the dude who probably taught him captivatingly cheesy one-liners like "Shall I give you despair?"
 
I'm afraid you haven't, Mr. Sephiroth's Acting Coach. You did give plenty of fanboys/girls something to think about for their next few - err - dreams, though...
 
Special accreditation goes to Cloud's hairdresser.

The rest of the list is available in the Full Article

The architecture that Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is based upon allows peer-to-peer networking of PC units, networked appliances, and even some wireless devices. Sony's PlayStation 3 clearly fits into that list but it's kind of curious why people haven't tried it yet on the console.

Online site PS3mods has compiled a list of UPnP media servers for Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, and Python. They mentioned that among the ones listed below, they were only able to test Nero MediaHome. It was working alright but it wasn't a perfect fit.

Feel free to try the media servers below yourselves. If the PS3 is compatible with any of these, the media servers will appear on the XMB right away, doing away with accessing the web browser first.

• Allegro Media Server (Mac OSX, Windows - commercial)
• Cidero Internet Radio Server (Java - open source)
• Cyberlink Digital Home Enabler Kit (Windows - commercial)
• CyberMediaGate - (C++ - open source)
• EyeConnect - (Mac OSX - commercial)
• Fuppes (Windows, Linux, port to NAS has been reported - open source)
• Geexbox (Linux - open source)
• GMediaServer (Linux - open source)
• MediaTomb (Linux, port to NAS has been reported - open source)
• Musimatch Jukebox (Windows - commercial)
• MythTV (Linux - open source)
• Nero MediaHome (Windows - commercial)
• On2Share (Windows - commercial)
• PyMeds (Python - open source)
• Rhapsody (Mac, Windows - commercial)
• SimpleCenter (Java Based - commercial)
• TVersity (Windows - closed source, currently free)
• TwonkyVision (Linux, Windows, NAS - commercial)
• uShare (Linux, NAS - open source)
• Windows Media Connect (Windows - closed source, currently free)

This one comes from the Blog of Buffis. He has a PS3 running Yellow Dog Linux and Pygame. Py-huh? Wikipedia: Pygame is a cross-platform set of Python modules designed for writing games. It includes computer graphics and sound libraries designed to be used with the Python programming language. In short: game writing stuff. Buffis wanna see if Pygame will compile and work on YDL-PS3.

Answer: it worked. "Compiling all of the dependencies and the pygame made it possible for me to run stuff at decent speed. Its not exactly fast, but absolutely fast enough to develop graphical user interfaces and small games." He also notes that Pygame is limited to using one SPE, "but it works" (Picture to the right comes from Buffis.com). As for instructions...

If people want me to I can write a guide for compiling pygame for PS3, but it’s pretty much the same as compiling it for any other platform… Simply install all dependencies for SDL, then SDL and SDL_mixer, SDL_image and so on and top it all of with pygame.

On a subsequent blog post Buffis made another happy discovery. Acting on a tip from a SomethingAwful member, he found that Pygame is also very easy to install on Fedora Core 5 - easier than YDL, even. "Installing pygame there is apparently as simple as writing “yum install pygame” as root."

Fedora or YDL... that's still two for two for PS3 Linux.

Here's something to start off your New Year with a bang, four times over. We were scoping out eBay earlier, when we found somebody selling airsoft copies of our favorite Resident Evil hardware. Here's what's available:

• Resident Evil 0 Umbrella Magnum Revolver ($ 300)
• Resident Evil 0 Umbrella 8" Magnum Revolver ($ 399)
• Resident Evil Samurai Edge Standard, S.T.A.R.S ($ 250)
• Resident Evil 2 Leon's Desert Eagle ($ 650)
  

Further notes (for fellow gun afficionados)
1. The Samurai Edge was created by Joe Kendo, the brother of the gun shop owner that gets killed in RE2. It's a heavily modified Beretta M92F.
2. Leon's Desert Eagle is chambered for the .50 Action Express - the same calibre you'll find in Meryl's in Metal Gear Solid , the Desert Eagle in Counter Strike, and  Sharko's 8-inch Custom in the Gunsmith Cats manga.
3. For those wondering - no, the Umbrella revolver is not the same revolver Barry's packing. Barry carries a Colt Python revolver - the one on sale resembles a Smith and Wesson frame, with an integral muzzle brake.

All four airsofts were built by Tanaka Works, and are hosted on eBay by Ayumi_Showcase. For the guys with extra cash to burn, have a cosplay coming up, or need to do some serious zombie-blasting, this one's for you. Don't forget to get the matching energy drink for better effect.

e-Hernick is working on a "driver" for linux to use the Wiimote. Of course, it's "driver" in quotes, because it's not really a driver as it doesn't have any kernel-mode code. In fact, it is simply a python script. Here's what e-Hernick had to say about the python script he's so proud of:

OH YEAH! I am now controlling the XORG MOUSE with the WIIMOTE IR, with the use of my very own wiimotulator.py!

Requirements: Linux 2.6 with evdev and uinput, Xorg 7.0 with evdev BlueZ, PyBluez 0.9.1, a Wiimote, 2 IR emitters of some sort (even candles work apparently!)

Oh, and feel free to check out the read link that we have below. The people in the comments section there are eager to try this out on their PS3s, although they haven't come up with anything conclusive so far. Still, and nice bit of reading for you folks (unless you guys really don't like to read).

Download [the Wiimotulator.py]