The homebrew scene has suffered quite possibly its greatest loss ever: Dark_Alex is quitting development of his popular "open edition" firmware. While others may continue his work, it appears that the famed developer is moving on to other things. On his website, he notes various reasons for his departure: "One of them is the time it consumes, which i'm losing from other things. The other is related to my security. I didn't like Sony menaces to PS3 hackers. I think it is better to leave now rather than end paying the consequences."
Certainly, this is an unexpected twist in PSP development. How will the homebrew scene be affected by this loss?
[Thanks, Sergio and everyone else that sent this in!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
7-02-2007 @ 4:42PM
Drdre74 said...
this is a very sad day indeed. A very sad day.
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7-02-2007 @ 4:43PM
Michael said...
Well - it was fun while it lasted. Just about every release of his OE firmware was better than the 'real thing.' His work will be missed...
Michael
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7-02-2007 @ 4:43PM
RadioScott said...
Nnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
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7-02-2007 @ 4:48PM
Derftron said...
lol. I had a feeling this would happen some day!
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7-02-2007 @ 4:49PM
TheGuy said...
"Dark_Alex wakes up in the morning to find the head of a dead in bed with him with a note saying:
You've been warned.
Sony"
Seriously though, this is a sad lose to the homebrew scene. I can't say that I blame him, especially considering he's a university student. Oh well, his legacy will live on.
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7-02-2007 @ 4:51PM
TheGuy said...
"Dark_Alex wakes up in the morning to find the head of a dead horse in bed with him with a note saying:
You've been warned.
Sony"
Seriously though, this is a sad lose to the homebrew scene. I can't say that I blame him, especially considering he's a university student. Oh well, his legacy will live on.
*Fixed the typo about the head of a dead horse, but I think it already ruined the joke :S
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7-02-2007 @ 4:55PM
Shinogu said...
Who wants to bet he's been hired by Sony?
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7-02-2007 @ 5:02PM
Ratchet the Lombax said...
oh well maybe now people will actually BUY PSP games and not pirate them all the time.
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7-02-2007 @ 5:05PM
DBoy1993 said...
sigh. now i have to buy another psp. an official one, so i could be on (sad to say it) sony's side once again 3'-(
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7-02-2007 @ 5:07PM
Derrick N. said...
sigh
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7-02-2007 @ 5:09PM
kingofwale said...
I agree with the person a few post above me. Sounds like he got hired by Sony.
or ubisoft, Funny how it happened JUST when a rumour circulated about an Ubisoft's game is capable of hacking FW. ;)
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7-02-2007 @ 5:15PM
PSP-Retro said...
Tis is a sad day for homebrew indeed! Sure Dark Alex reigned supreme, but I would bet 10 others will take up this title. Pirating is an issue on the PSP as with ALL OTHER VIDEO GAME SYSTEMS but pirating games is by far not the only use for homebrew. It does make sense to play games you already OWN off of a memory stick. The game loads faster the battery lasts longer and you can keep your original safe and sound. Dark Alex was working on the the embedded firmware code put out by Sony themseleves that allows for playing games from ISO's. I would not be surprised if he is now in the employ of Sony.
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7-02-2007 @ 5:22PM
cbroz91 said...
I was just about to downgrade my psp and install OE firmware but now this makes me nervious. I acutally use my psp for the games...and I worry that i may end up going OE just to have to go back to official in a few months because no1 has updated the OE firmware to be compatible with the newest release. And now i wonder is there any way to take an OE psp and make it official again?
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7-02-2007 @ 5:32PM
Ken Edwards said...
* The _PSP_ homebrew scene has suffered quite possibly its greatest loss ever (maybe)
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7-02-2007 @ 5:32PM
kingofwale said...
>I worry that i may end up going OE just to have to go back to official in a few months because no1 has updated the OE firmware to be compatible with the newest release
basic economics 101. when a corp goes down, when an market opportunity comes up, there will always be someone there to fill it. Of course, I'm not saying this person (or people) will be as good as Dark Alex right away, but don't think they won't be.
Heck, a PSP without OE is a PSP with potential untapped.
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7-02-2007 @ 5:36PM
[.sm0ke.] said...
A programmer by the name of becus has been working on custom firmwares as well, so he may pick up where Dark_AleX left off.
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7-02-2007 @ 5:45PM
Drdre74 said...
Would have been nice to at least get the new version he was working on as a good bye present. lol! Some of the new game demos ask for 3.50. I'm gonna be mad if the GOW demo ask for 3.50 and there isnt a OE out to play it.
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7-02-2007 @ 5:48PM
[.sm0ke.] said...
Supposedly there was a line of code somewhere in 3.51 that was no more than a threat to him. Something tells me it was in the ISO loader prx.
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7-02-2007 @ 6:03PM
chris said...
Haha, this doesn't mean people will start buying anything. DAX left us enough tools to be able to rip UMDS, build ISOS, and hex edit demos. If he's big enough to get noticed on PSP Fanboy multiple times, then he's done enough already. Thanks, DAX.
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7-02-2007 @ 6:06PM
Saigon said...
"The other is related to my security. I didn't like Sony menaces to PS3 hackers. I think it is better to leave now rather than end paying the consequences."
Sounds to me like Sony had enough.
Or maybe he was unable to crack 3.51??
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