The title doesn't strike you, does it? But if you're familiar with Streets of Rage and King of Fighters, then OpenBOR isn't something you should let pass. From the engine that allowed Beats of Rage (BOR) to debut on the PC comes the open source version for multiple platforms. Homebrew coder SamuraiX released OpenBOR version 2.1933 for the PSP the day before yesterday, along with Linux (PC, PS3), GamePark, GP2X, DreamCast, Xbox, and Windows versions as well. All you need to know is at the full story.


Download: OpenBOR v2.1933 (Linux on PC and PS3, PSP, GP2X, DreamCast, Xbox, and Windows)

OpenBoR (Beats of Rage) is back with the latest update and we can tell you there's a lot of new things in here. SamuraiX and Fugue continue their winning collaboration on this game and here is just a few of the spanking new things you'll find in v2.0049.

From SamuraiX:

• New variables are used in levels.txt

• completebg 1 Shows complete.gif for stage complete.
• pscore x,y,x,y,x,y This controls placement for players name, dash, score.
• p1namej x,y & p2namej x,y This controls placement for Select Hero, Name Text, continue, credits and gameover when joining in game.
• scomplete x,y,x,y,x,y This controls placement for Stage, #, Complete.
• cbonus x,y,x,y,x,y This controls placement for Clear Bonus, #, #.
• lbonus x,y,x,y,x,y This controls placement for Life Bonus, #, #.
• tscore x,y,x,y,x,y This controls placement for Total Score, #, #.

• Implemented Hardware Acceleration on the SDL Version for better and smoother appearance in full screen mode
• Removed times completed from settings.sav
• Various fixes from v48
• Implemented GPU support on the PSP. Mods now run at 150+ fp

From Fugue:

New Attack Types. There are three new attack types: attack2, attack3, and attack4. They work just like shock, burn, and attack. The only difference is that they don't change to the last frame of the normal FALL animation when their FALL animation is finished (shock and burn both do this). These also have custom PAIN, FALL, and DEATH animations, naturally (PAIN2, FALL2, DEATH2, PAIN3, FALL3, etc.).

Download: [OpenBoR (Beats of Rage) v2.0049]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]


More of Fugue's updates after the jump!

A new modification for the popular homebrew game Beats of Rage has been released by Kungpow at the official BOR forums. The modification titled "Sailor Moon Plus - Genesis Mix" is basically a clone of the original Sailor Moon Plus game for the SNES with added Anime, new cinematics, a brand new voice cast, new levels and throw in the "spice" of the Genesis game and soundtrack. Think of this and you have Sailor Moon Plus - Genesis Mix. Here's what Kungpow said:

"This game uses the full capabilities of the latest PSP features including widescreen cinematics, titles and widescreen gameplay. Thanks goes to Chibi Mars and the folks over at Sailor-Games.com for providing the hosting for the game release."

This modification look really good, as you can tell from the screenshots, however due to legal reasons we cannot host the file as it may contain copyrighted content. If you wish to download and use this mod, please visit the forum release thread over at the official BOR forums and use at your own risk.

 

SamuraiX has released a new version of his Beats of Rage homebrew port for the PSP in the form of BOR v1.2e Devbuild. As the name suggests, this is the version after Beats of Rage v1.2 but is currently still in development. Just like classic Arcade fighting titles such as Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter, Beats of Rage has an addictive quality that just makes you go back for more and more. This latest version has quite a long list of updates, including an update to the OpenBOR engine and many bug fixes. Here's the changelog:

New Features:

• OpenBOR engine has been updated to v2.0047
• New High Score file auto save and load

Updates:

• video.txt update now supports one more resolution mode
• video.txt support for controllable levelorder
  

Bug-Fixes:

• Fix for the user controlled (x)icon, (x)life & timeloc[x] placement
• High Score data corruption between games
• Fixed video mode bug introduced from version 1.2c
  

SamuraiX has also said that he will implement a feature to exit to the BOR filebrowser instead of the PSPs XMB. Be careful with this version if you have previous BOR savestates! This will overwrite all your old savestates and all previous progress will be lost!

Download: [Beats of Rage v1.2e Devbuild]

Here is the second part of my top 10 Summer Sizzlers, featuring homebrew applications that have been ranked as the top 5 boredom bashers for the summer period, whether it's fighting games your after some relaxing music, or a good movie to watch. If you missed the first part of this then I recommend you read it here before scrolling to the end of this one. You wouldn't want a spoiler now would you?

Before I start, I'd like to say a few things. In yesterdays top 10 many of you were dazzled at why great applications such as iR Shell had come low down in the ranking. This is simply because it is an organisational application and is not an actual 'game'. Sure it will enhance your PSP experience, but iR Shell alone isn't going to keep you from being bored. However, iR Shell bundled with all the rest of these games and applications will keep you entertained for hours! Lets get onto the homebrew.

#5

This is a homebrew application that relies on another game to run, and the UMD game itself has done a lot for the homebrew community. It is of course Edison Carters GTA Cheat Device and GTA: Liberty City Stories. This little device launches using the savegame facility on GTA, and opens up a whole world of opportunities for GTA. This nifty app has brought us not only cheats but the ability to mod the game, leading to things like the Liberty City Stunt Project and Cheatsync: Pimp My Garage. Although this is kind of a mod for an already released UMD game, it easily triples the gameplay time of GTA:LCS.

Download: [CheatDevice v1.0d US/Canada]
Download: [CheatDevice v1.0d UK/Europe]

#4

This massive FPS title has ruled the PC gaming scene for years, and then it was ported to the PSP with multiplayer support. Quake for PSP is the creme de la creme of PSP first person shooters, UMD and homebrew. If you like FPS titles, which I must say pretty much everyone does, try this one. You can spend hours on the single player missions and an unlimited amount of further hours using the multiplayer mode. Downloading and installing this game is easy. As for defeating the game on the hardest difficulty setting, I'll leave it for the pros.

Download:[Quake V2+GP]

#3

This is one of the latest homebrew applications to storm the PSP homebrew community, DevHook. This nifty little application basically allows 1.5 users to load up firmware 2.5 and use any of the features that this firmware version provides. Now this will give you hours of fun: being able to use the PSP web browser on firmware 1.5, using Sony's Locationfree technology to stream TV to your PSP, or even playing WMA music files from the PSPs XMB. It's your choice. Also, the DevHook team are working on getting it to reboot in firmware 2.71, so keep your eyes on QJ.net for the latest info!

Download: [Device Hook v0.41b]


So far we've had a pub game in the form of PSPool, homebrew 'hacks' such as DevHook, organisational tools like iR Shell and first person shooters such as Quake. Now lets move onto the big dogs, the top 2. I must admit that choosing top 5 has been really difficult, and really all of the applications in the top 5 are equally weighted. However, as the say the show must go on...

#2

At number 2 comes a homebrew game thats been updated recently, and is one of the most action-packed releases I have seen. It is of course, Beats of Rage. This game deserves its spot at number 2 out of sheer enjoyment. Just like those Arcade classics such as Street Fighter, Beats of Rage has an addictive quality that just makes you go back for more and more. It keeps being updated, and in the future we should be seeing multiplayer support!

It has those retro graphics that lure you into the game, has the ability to be modded and the gameplay is really intense - just what you want from a game in the summer when you're bored. Its like having your cake and eating it: It's too hot to physically go out and fight someone, and frankly it's against the law, so why not do it on your PSP?

Download: [Beats Of Rage v1.2]


#1 - The homebrew applciation(s) of the summer 2006 are...

Snes9xTYL and DGEN.

Of course I couldn't leave this list without an emulator in, and both Snes9xTYL and DGEN are the cream of the crop when it comes to emulators. I couldn't tear between them, and as everyone's favorite consoles are the SEGA Geneses/Megadrive and the Super Nintendo, or at least most peoples are. They both have a suitcase full of features, and emulate most ROMs to perfection. They beauty of them is that you can load as many ROMS as you want on them, it's like having your own video games arcade!

DGEN will emulate pretty much all ROMS and give great frames per second at the same time. It also features Wi-Fi play, allowing you to link up with another PSP using DGEN and play against each other! It has savestates, a user-friendly GUI and pretty much every conceivable option for modifying the way it runs ROMs to make it just about perfect. The latest version, 1.5 is the most stable Sega Megadrive/Genesis emulator for the PSP ever, and this bundled with WiFi support firmly places it on the QJ.net Homebrew Summer Sizzlers Top Spot.

Download: [DGEN for PSP v1.60 for fw 1.00]
Download: [DGEN for PSP v1.60 for fw 1.50]

SNES9xTYL also has amazing emulation qualities. It has played every single ROM that I have thrown at it, and again gives an amazing amount of frames per second, especially in 333Mhz mode. Snes9xTYL beat off the competition of earlier SNES emulators using its user-friendly system, savestate support and overall stability. It has never crashed on me, even when the PSP has been put into sleep mode and is up to the standard of a commercial emulator - I would pay for this! Again, SNES9xTYL has multiplayer support via 2-player Ad-Hoc mode so you can play against another PSP running the same ROM.

Download Link : [SnesPSP TYL V0.4.1 Standard Version (2.0+)]
Download Link : [SnesPSP TYL V0.4 with Media Engine (1.5)]


And thats a wrap people! There are many more influential and equally amazing homebrew applications that could have made it into this list, but there simply aren't enough spaces between 1 and 10! Specialist applications such as PSPKick are also great, but they are specialist, and therefore don't apply to everyone. I have tried to be representative of most people when compiling this list, but the great thing is if you think I'm wrong you could always sound off in our forums. Have a great summer!

Forum Discussion thread: [Top 10 Homebrew Summer Sizzlers]