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PS2 Action Replay Adds MP3, DivX, Genesis Emulation
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."
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.
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.
Buddha says, "Shut your karma hole."
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.
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 from! I lost every game save I had in progress - hundreds of hours of effort - amongst them: Jak II, GTA:VC, THUG, and, most hurtful, Midnight Club II at 100%!!!
I left multiple, very polite, voice messages with Datel customer service asking for help with this problem. They never returned a call. I eventually got through by contacting their main office number and asking to be transferred.
There was nothing they could do to help me - and here's what really PISSED me off: She said that they don't suggest moving multiple saves at once. Of course, this is a feature proudly touted in the documentation and presented in the interface. She essentially acknowledged that the software they supply is broken and will corrupt cards.
Datel customers beware. They ship shoddy software, and their customer service is non-responsive.
As an aside, this product has nearly destroyed my passion for playing games. As a guy with a full time job, a great wife, and two way cool little boys to raise, I simply do not have the time to replay these games. Just thinking about the loss of effort depresses me and has made me question gaming as a priority in my life. I hope I'll get over it...