As promised, cools and co. delivered the next version of their homebrew, PSP Monopoly. Welcome to Public Beta #2, with "2" standing for "2-player" (okay, "2" for "2nd Public Beta" works as well - all the good wit went out with the pretty wad of money I forked over for Boardwalk rentals).  While still immensely playable between two players via hot-swap PSP, there are a few features from the actual board game not implemented in this game (plus a couple of other missing, though not bugged, stuff):

1. Can't Auction
2. Can't buy deeds after being sent to it.
3. If you land a property that you own, it will say press start to end your turn. Press Square then Start. (Don't ask...)
4. Also, no 1P-vs.-AI. The last version had the AI but no two-player. This one got the 2-player but no AI.
5. Although cools did try to implement the MP3 player feature in this game, in the end, he had to let it go. It would have eaten up too much of the PSP's resources, he says.

Based on cools' own announcements, this may also be the last we'll see of PSP monopoly in quite a while. He did note, though, that if Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi were integrated into LuaPlayer, he would consider coding again to include the feature (speaking of LuaPlayer; don't worry. It's standalone, so you won't need a separate LuaPlayer to play this). So what are you waiting for? Roll seven, land on the Download Links below, and fork over M$ 0.00 (yep, M$ 0.00) for the Title Deed to PSP Monopoly!

(And for interested coders out there: Roll six, land on the last Download Link, and receive the Title Deed for the PSP Monopoly source code, free from XiGency, LiquiFire, & cools, through the General Public License (GPL). Which means do credit them appropriately for the original code if you're gonna do some tweaking. Much respect.)

Download: [PSP Monopoly Beta #2 1.00/2.XX]
Download: [PSP Monopoly Beta #2 1.5]
Download: [PSP Monopoly Beta #2 source]
Discuss: [Forum Discussion Thread]

Last time we mentioned Cools, we said that his game Drag Mini v.2 was his final release of the game. Guess we lied, then, which is a good thing!

With help from some other programmers, Cools has just come out with Drag Mini v.3 which he calls his "(probably) last version" of his racing game. Drag Mini is actually the engine for the game he's really trying to get out called Drag, but for a final test version, it's fun to play!

Oh, and did we mention that version .3 supports WiFi? Here's the changelog and the download for you, with both a standalone and non-standalone version for you to try out. If you're lucky, you may just see us online for a match. Enjoy!

From the changelog:

Features:
(+)Wifi, Go ahead! Play online!
(+)Tells you if you win or lose (or tie...)
(F)Blown Engine, so it is more accurate
(+)Menu
(F)No more constant Memory Stick light flashing during car select

Controls:
Start to quit
X to accelerate
Triangle to Brake
R to increase Gear
L to decrease Gear

Since this is using netLib you will either need the custom netlib luaplayer by me or youresam. Or you could use the standalone eboot.
Thanks to: youresam, xigency, PTPTaylor (name change?), and anyone else I forgot to mention for testing this. And also Major thanks to youresam for making netlib and helping me get all the bugs out!
If you find a bug or error, please send an email to coolsdev [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com
If the game crashes from line 1 - 129, it just means that you have not connected to netlib properly, just reset the wifi switch and try again.
If "Getting room data...done, value: empty" shows up on screen that means there is nobody online. Just wait a little for someone to get on.

Download: [Drag Mini v.3 (Standalone)]
Download: [Drag Mini v.3 (Non-Standalone)]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

XiGency has just released his demo for the FPS title that he has been developing, Quak Arena.

No, that isn't a typo.

Quak Arena is basically an FPS work-in-progress where your enemies consist of, well, ducks. It was originally intended to be a multiplayer game, but due to some bumps that the author has experienced along the way, only the single-player mode is available for now. The game features a 3D environment, realistic bobbing and shotgun recoil, as well as some simplistic physics. The author has expressed his intention to update the game soon.

To play the game, use the analog stick to move and turn and the shoulder buttons to strafe. Holding square and the analog stick allows you to look, and just press the X button to shoot down the evil duckies.

Download: [Quak Arena Demo]