The DS proves it's Still Alive with Portal while PSP goes after MS Word

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The DS proves it's Still Alive with Portal while PSP goes after MS Word

It can only be our weekly homebrew round-up

Product: DS / PSP Homebrew

by David Douglas

Welcome to another fine crop of homebrew goodness. This week we have a bit of a PC theme – two little applications on the DS and PSP that we've all probably also recently been playing (and using) on our super-fast desktop machines. But although the games and applications simply zip along on Windows, there's no replacement for being able to work and play on the go.

First up, then, is a game called StillAliveDS. It's a great little puzzle game that takes its inspiration from Portal: The Flash Game, which in turn took its name from the massively acclaimed inclusion in the PC/console game package, The Orange Box. Portal: The Flash Game has built up quite a following through its excellent 2D version of Portal so a DS game along the same lines is most welcome.

If you've not already discovered it, Portal consists of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the character and other simple objects from room to room using a Portal Gun (which opens the necessary gateway to get through walls). Sounds simple, but the superb physics and level design made this many people's game of the year in 2007. StillAliveDS features various elements from the original game such as a portal gun, turrets, crates and energy balls to create an experience not too dissimilar to its great inspiration.

Once you have downloaded the file and copied the StillAliveDS_V1.1.NDS file to the root of your homebrew card, you're ready to go. Like the PC/console game, StillAliveDS tasks you with getting through each level. It even lets you create your own and share them on the game's website.

After the tomfoolery on DS it's again down to the PSP to bring some productivity to the table. Continuing our PC theme, this week we have a text editor application for Sony's handheld. PSPWrite provides a great interface for a basic text editor. Okay, it's not quite Microsoft Word, but easily good enough to write, edit and jot on the go.

Once you've downloaded the firmware 1.5 or 3.x version of the software, simply unzip the zip file, and copy the content of the fw3.x or fw1.5 folder to your psp/game directory.

The program provides a virtual onscreen keyboard that can be access via the Start button. Then simply use the analogue stick to choose one of the nine squares, and Triangle, Square, Cross and Circle to choose one of the four letters of the highlighted within. You can also use the D-Pad to move the cursor. If this sounds a bit clunky, PSPWrite has a killer feature up its sleeve – you can use a full size IR keyboard with it. Simply edit the pspirkeyb.ini file to specify the model of your IR keyboard, and tweak the layout key map as required. As easy as that your PSP is a fully fledged word processor. Well, almost!

So there we have our two PC inspired homebrews for the week. StillAliveDS should keep you entertained into the small hours, while PSPWrite can be used to finish your homework on the bus to school. Join us again next week for more themed homebrew offerings, won't you?