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Engineer creates first custom motherboard for 1990s PlayStation console

12 June 2025 at 18:51

Last week, electronics engineer Lorentio Brodesco announced the completion of a mock-up for nsOne, reportedly the first custom PlayStation 1 motherboard created outside of Sony in the console's 30-year history. The fully functional board accepts original PlayStation 1 chips and fits directly into the original console case, marking a milestone in reverse-engineering for the classic console released in 1994.

Brodesco's motherboard isn't an emulator or FPGA-based re-creation—it's a genuine circuit board designed to work with authentic PlayStation 1 components, including the CPU, GPU, SPU, RAM, oscillators, and voltage regulators. The board represents over a year of reverse-engineering work that began in March 2024 when Brodesco discovered incomplete documentation while repairing a PlayStation 1.

"This isn't an emulator. It's not an FPGA. It's not a modern replica," Brodesco wrote in a Reddit post about the project. "It's a real motherboard, compatible with the original PS1 chips."

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Elden Ring Nightreign may be co-op, but I’m having a blast solo

30 May 2025 at 14:00
Screenshot from Elden Ring Nightreign featuring three Nightfarers facing off against a giant three-headed wolf creature in a wasteland of red.

Imagine playing Fortnite, but instead of fighting other players, all you want to do is break into houses to look for caches of slurp juice. Yes, the storm is closing in on you, and there's a bunch of enemies waiting to kill you, but all you want to do is take a walking tour of Tilted Towers. Then when the match is over, instead of queueing again, you start reading the in-game lore for Peely and Sabrina Carpenter. You can count your number of player kills on one hand meanwhile your number of deaths is in the hundreds. You've never achieved a victory royale, but you've never had more fun.

That's how I play Elden Ring Nightreign.

Nightreign is FromSoftware's first Elden Ring spinoff, and it's unlike any Souls game that the developer has done before. Nightreign has the conceit of so many battle royale games - multiplayer combat focused on acquiring resources across a large map that slowly shrinks over time - wrapped in the narrative, visual aesthetics, and combat of Elden Ring. Instead of the Tarnished, you are a Nightfarer. Instead of the expansive Lands Between, you are sent to Limveld, an island with an ever-shifting landscape. And instead of becoming the Elden Lord, your goal is …

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Why console makers can legally brick your game console

22 May 2025 at 22:09

Earlier this month, Nintendo received a lot of negative attention for an end-user license agreement (EULA) update granting the company the claimed right to render Switch consoles "permanently unusable in whole or in part" for violations such as suspected hacking or piracy. As it turns out, though, Nintendo isn't the only console manufacturer that threatens to remotely brick systems in response to rule violations. And attorneys tell Ars Technica that they're probably well within their legal rights to do so.

Sony's System Software License Agreement on the PS5, for instance, contains the following paragraph of "remedies" it can take for "violations" such as use of modified hardware or pirated software (emphasis added).

If SIE Inc determines that you have violated this Agreement's terms, SIE Inc may itself or may procure the taking of any action to protect its interests such as disabling access to or use of some or all System Software, disabling use of this PS5 system online or offline, termination of your access to PlayStation Network, denial of any warranty, repair or other services provided for your PS5 system, implementation of automatic or mandatory updates or devices intended to discontinue unauthorized use, or reliance on any other remedial efforts as reasonably necessary to prevent the use of modified or unpermitted use of System Software.

The same exact clause appears in the PlayStation 4 EULA as well. The PlayStation 3 EULA was missing the "disabling use... online or offline" clause, but it does still warn that Sony can take steps to "discontinue unauthorized use" or "prevent the use of a modified PS3 system, or any pirated material or equipment."

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Bungie’s slick-looking Marathon shooter arrives on September 23rd

12 April 2025 at 18:00

The creators of Halo and Destiny are finally ready to show off their next big project: Marathon. It’s a long-awaited title from Bungie and revives the classic Marathon IP in the form of a PvPvE extraction shooter. After a teaser nearly two years ago, the Sony-owned studio just spent an hour showing off Marathon gameplay and game mechanics and revealed the game will launch on September 23rd on PS5, Xbox Series S / X, and PC, with full cross-play and cross-save. There’s even an alpha test for fans to try out the game later this month, ahead of its full debut this year.

Marathon is set in a sci-fi universe in 2850, in the remains of Tau Ceti IV, which Bungie describes as a lost colony whose inhabitants disappeared without a trace. Rival factions have hired Runners to scavenge for what’s left behind, and anyone who signs up to be a Runner has given up their human form for a biosynthetic shell with unique abilities and stats.

As a Runner, you fight in a crew of up to three players across a variety of zones and points of interest. You can face rival runners in maps of up to 18 players, so up to six teams, in a bid to grab as much loot as possible and get out. While Marathon is designed to be played in crews, with contextual pings and shared objectives, you can also play solo instead of having to form a dedicated three-person team.

In Marathon runs, there will be what Bungie calls security forces, PvE enemies that roam the world. There are also creatures on these planets that are a threat when you’re navigating toward points on a map. You’ll have to choose whether it’s worth engaging with these enemies and risk revealing your location to rival teams or use a strategy of avoiding these threats in this PvPvE environment.

The maps are filled with bold and vibrant artwork and weapons, materials, and equipment that can be scavenged. Before a run, you build a loadout and select the Runner that fits your play style. In the alpha test, which starts on April 23rd, there will be four runners to choose from, including the stealthy Void character that can go invisible much like a Hunter from Destiny 2.

There’s also a Glitch runner that has fast-paced abilities and, like its name implies, can glitch out enemies. If you’re more of a run-and-gun type of player, Locus has a shield ability and looks similar to the slide and shotgun play of a Titan from Destiny 2. The final runner in the alpha test is Blackbird, designed for recon and scanning the area around you. While there are four runners in the alpha test, there will be six to choose from when Marathon launches in September.

During its livestream, Bungie published a nearly 20-minute video of highlights from 40 creators it says it recently invited to try the game.

If you die, you’ll drop your gear. But if you survive, your loot moves with you to future runs so you get more powerful gear and level up. Teammates can also revive you if you fail a mission.

Bungie isn’t putting a limit on team compositions, so that means everyone on a three-person team can select the same runner. There will be end-game challenges, ranked play, seasonal storytelling, community events, and more.

Bungie has even produced an original short cinematic that’s set in the Marathon universe. Written and directed by Alberto Mielgo (Love, Death, and Robots), this nearly nine-minute short will have Bungie fans poring over it for days to discover every little detail about the Marathon universe.

While Marathon is very slick-looking, there’s a lot riding on this game. It’s entering a crowded market of shooters and live-service games that have tried and failed to break through in recent years. Concord, also from a PlayStation studio, was the biggest example of a shooter that failed to take off recently, forcing Sony to take the game offline less than a month after launch and eventually shut down the studio behind it.

Spectre Divide, a Valorant-like free-to-play shooter, also shut down just months after its launch, with the developer behind the ambitious shooter shutting down, too. These high-profile failures add to the pressure that Marathon is already under on the back of Bungie’s success with Halo and Destiny and Sony’s ambitious live-service game effort that it has been scaling back recently.

The Marathon alpha test will be an opportunity for Bungie to show the world exactly how its latest game will stand out from the competition, and whether it does enough to tempt people away from hero shooters or Call of Duty and Fortnite into the extraction shooter genre that Escape from Tarkov has popularized.

The big question left for Bungie to answer is how much Marathon will cost. It’s not a free-to-play game, but the studio isn’t ready to talk about exact pricing just yet. Destiny 2 is technically free-to-play with an optional season pass, but a lot of additional content requires payment for access to raids, dungeons, and even some of the story content. It’s been a confusing model for new players over the years, so I’m hoping Bungie lands on a clear pricing structure for Marathon.

Marathon debuts on PS5, Xbox Series S / X, and PC on September 23rd. You can sign up for the Marathon closed alpha test on Bungie’s website or on Discord.

Blue Prince will steal your time just like Balatro

12 April 2025 at 13:00

I know, I know. It’s become a bit of a faux pas to describe one game using another and yet I am compelled. After a few hours with Blue Prince, I realized this game elicits the same feelings in me as Balatro. Not because it has anything to do with cards or passive-aggressive clowns named Jimbo, but because those hours I played passed as breezily by completely unnoticed as they did when I was knee deep in the poker roguelike. Blue Prince is a time-stealer and as with Balatro, you will be happy to be robbed.

Blue Prince is an architectural puzzle mystery game from developer Dogubomb. In it you play as a young man who inherits his uncle’s magical mansion. On your first day at the house you receive a note laying out the rules by which you will earn your inheritance. This house has 45 rooms. Find the secret 46th room that’s not displayed on any of the mansion’s blueprints (get it, Blue Prince / blueprints) and the house is yours. 

To find the 46th room you must create or “draft” rooms one after the other connecting them via their doors. You start each day with 50 steps and passing into a room takes one step (or more depending on the type of room). When you run out of steps y …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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