After days of thinking whether or not to make a game review, I finally decided to create my first one. Thanks to StyleMo for encouraging me and giving an ample space from his site. And so I thought it would be nice to start this with a great game title in mind – Transformers: The Game.

The moment I started to play, I found myself meeting with disappointment for the first time on a PSP game. Transformers: The Game for the PSP is actually worse than the Nintendo DS version notably. The entire game is dumbed down, plays far worse, and is more linear than the console versions. Transformers makes a poor first impression on you as soon as you start playing it. Visually, it seems to be stuck somewhere in between a Tetris and PlayStation game running in a slightly better resolution. This is most certainly not what I expected of the game.

Awful geometry, repetitive textures, and some of the worst animation issues I’ve seen make Transformers one of the worst looking PSP games to date. And when you have graphics as bad as this, it’s not something you’re going to really care too much about. The textures are so poor and flat that it’s almost comical. Not even the framerate was decent, seeing as how it stuttered frequently. Feels like they’re almost “transforming” everytime they walk.

Another thing is, you’re unable to switch between playing as an Autobot or Decepticon, unlike with other versions which you can do. Instead, you’ll play a few missions with the Autobots, and then a few as a Decepticon and that makes the game a lot more linear. The PSP version basically takes whatever doze of fun the console version has, and downsizes it some more, leaving you with a dried-up PSP game.

Regarding the sound effects of the game, Transformers is basically crap. Despite the pandemonium you cause on buildings and things you blow up, the explosions are barely audible, which diminishes the scale of the game greatly. Everything beyond the explosions is totally common. By the way, the movie characters lend their voices on the game but it didn’t really booze up the sound in terms of quality. Voice acting is decent, but nothing impressive.

The game will take about half a day to complete, basing from the owner-of-the-UMD’s gameplay - that is assuming you’ll be able to put up with the game for more than you could think of. And forget about the multiplayer option, it’s limited to ad-hoc and why bother playing with others when you can’t even withstand the poor gameplay yourself.

This is a game that was quickly thrown together with the most basic and juvenile concepts videogaming has. Talking about striking while the iron is hot. There is really nothing worth your time in Transformers:The Game, you might as well play Sudoku. As soon as you boot the game up and notice those rough visuals, together with the badly compressed cut-scenes, you know what you’re in for.

Oh I forgot one good thing about the game, you get to play as a number of different Transformers more than the console version. That’s all I could think of.

darwin v. is a guest writer and will be a regular contributor for Stylemo in the future. He is a PSP gamer, a DS maniac and loves the iPod Touch. You too can be a guest writer. Just email fatfingur [at] gmail [dot] com for details.

I’ve been very busy the past few weeks I wasn’t able to post any updates. So I think you’ve heard a bit of the news already that Dark Alex has release the 2nd update of 3.90 M33. Haven’t upgraded mine yet since I don’t have my PSP with me. But I’m guessing you could update your PSP thru the native Network Update. Just go to settings and choose Network Update. The update will be automatically updated and you will be asked to install. Not only that, the second version of the 1.50 Kernel for 3.90 M33 is also out. I’m guessing that the installation will be much the same as installing the first version. But for newbies out there, I suggest you wait till I find time to write on a tutorial.

Anyhow, this site has been down for a day. I contacted the hosting provider and they didn’t tell me what the problem was. The important thing is this site is up again. Officially today, I’m already a fulltime freelance Web Designer slash developer. So if any of you guys out there need a special advice on Web Design, I’m here to help ya all out.

Now that my time is really mine, which means I’m in control of it, I’ll have time to update this site’s look and functionality. I hope you guys are still rocking out there with your PSPs. Dark Alex has been cooking a lot of things for your PSP.

A Custom Firmware without the 1.50 Kernel add-on is only half a Custom Firmware. Without the 1.50 Kernel on your PSP, the whole purpose of the custom firmware is defeated. 1.50 Kernel is all about the homebrew apps. I have already installed the 1.50 kernel add-on on my PSP and it’s awesome. I could still use the remote control, the WiFi sniffer and a lot more homebrew applications. So how do you install it? It’s quite easy.

The Requirements

• A Phat PSP with 3.90 M33 custom Firmware installed. This one does not work on a PSP slim but don’t fret, because there is one coming.
• A USB Cable. This is used as a connectivity tool between the PSP and the computer.

The Installation Guide

1. Download the 3.90 M33 Addon from Dark Alex’s website.
2. Unzip and you will find the 150k_addon folder. Copy the 150k_addon folder from your PC to PSP in this directory: PSP/GAME/
3. Download the 1.50 Firmware and place it into the root directory of your PSP.
4. Disconnect your USB cable and then on the XMB, go to GAME>Memory Stick then run the 1.50 Kernel Add on update.
5. Follow the onscreen instructions and wait. The PSP will restart automatically after the update has been installed.
6. Congratulations. Go and get your homebrew applicatons now.

So I have updated my PSP to 3.90 M33 already. It works kinda faster now. The installation process just only took me less than 5 minutes. So how did I do it? Well here you go. Another great tutorial for all PSP lovers out there.

The Requirements

Everybody must read this. This is very important. I don’t want any of you to brick your PSPs so please read this. Thank you.

1. A PSP (Phat or Slim) with installed custom firmware 3.52 M33-4 or higher. My PSP had 3.80 M33-5 custom firmware.
2. A USB Cable to connect your PSP to your computer
3. 100% fully charged battery. This is just to be sure your PSP won’t turn off in the middle of the update. It’s also good if you have your PSP plugged into your AC Adaptor.

The Installation Guide

1. Grab the 3.90 M33 installer pack and unzip it anywhere on your computer.
2. Using the USB Cable, connect the PSP to your Computer then copy the UPDATE folder from your computer to your PSP in this directory: ms0:\PSP\GAME
3. Disconnect your PSP from your computer then on your PSP XMB, go to GAME>Memory Stick then run the 3.90 M33 update. The update will verify your 3.90 eboot file and after verification you will be asked to execute the update. Execute it.
4. Follow the instructions on the SCE updater. After the update, press X or O to manually reboot.
5. Congratulations. You now have a 3.90 M33 Powered PSP.

Sony has just released a few days ago, the latest official firmware for the PSP. It’s 3.90 and I think it mostly benefits the PSP Slim users. Phat PSP users like me won’t really benefit anything from it. The new firmware has the Skype application now. Skype enables you to call using your computer to any phone around the world. Now you can call your friends from PSP to computer or PSP to PSP or PSP to phone via Skype. But you would need to buy the PSP mic and headset though. But that’s not great news. The great news is Dark Alex has done it again. You can go to his website now and download the new 3.90 M33 custom firmware and install it on your PSP.

But wait, there’s more! Dark Alex has also released the 1.50 Kernel for the 3.90 M33. You can grab it from his website too. If you have problems installing the latest custom firmware, do not worry because I will write a guide as soon as i have installed the latest update on my PSP.

I also heard that you can install 1.50 kernel on the slim now. Don’t get too excited because I’ll be writing a guide on that too.