While many argue that the homebrew community offers PSP owners a wealth of content that doesn't hurt games developers, Sony would disagree. The staggering amount of piracy on the system has created a situation where even cheap, high-profile games like Patapon are downloaded illegally far more than actually purchased. In spite of terrific hardware sales, software simply hasn't performed well, especially outside of Japan. With developers and publishers reluctant to create new content on a system that never breaks NPD's software top 10 charts, Sony had to change something ... and fast.
Kris Erickson of PSP World postulates that the speed in which Sony has upgraded its PSP hardware from the popular PSP-2000 series may be indicative of a new plan to combat piracy and homebrew. While the brighter screen is appreciated, it seems like too little to warrant yet another reboot of the hardware -- that is, unless something internal has changed. The new PSP-Brite system may have better hardware measures against piracy -- a direction foretold by SCEE boss David Reeves not too long ago.
However, the incredibly dedicated homebrew community -- whether or not they understand their responsibility in creating the current drought of PSP games -- will undeniably continue to hack the new PSP to find new exploits. Unfortunately for Sony, backwards compatability with old PSP firmware and software will continue to work as a Trojan horse against the company.
The PSP homebrew scene continues to expand to new, uncharted territories. This time, it appears drkIIRaziel of DCEmu has created a Dreamcast emulator for the PSP. Considering how powerful the hardware is, this seems like a rather futile effort, as evidenced by the first footage (seen above). While it will unlikely prove to be fruitful, this exercise shows the incredible skill and talent found in the community.
The popular homebrew title No Gravity is finally getting revamped for official release. No Gravity: The Plague of Mind will release on the PLAYSTATION Store for PSP. Hopefully, this will actually start a new trend of developers moving from the homebrew scene to the official one -- it gives them the opportunity to support the platform, and it gives them to really make a name for themselves as developers.
Do you use homebrew? If so, do you feel like a rebel? Does it impress your friends? Or do you do it just to see if you can "get away with it"? These are questions Sony recently posed in a survey it sent to various PSP owners. It asks in a very straightforward manner why people hack their PSP systems.
Earlier, we reported some distressing figures on the state of PSP piracy, and we're hoping that Sony attempts to correct the problem in some way. We're assuming the results of this survey will influence some key decisions in the future regarding system security.
The PSP homebrew scene can be quite scary at times. Technical jargon, confusing instructions, shady websites -- they all seem to be part of a world that many casual PSP users just don't want to be a part of. Thankfully, our friends at Download Squad have written up a simple, easy to follow introduction to the scene. It chronicles the interesting history of the homebrew scene, and how it's developed to this day.
In one of the most interesting developments in the homebrew scene, pegasus2000 has crafted a new proof of concept program called "Nanodesktop Blind Assistant." According to the developer: "It is a program that uses PSP for help blind children or blind men. This program is able to recognizes the name of the people that are present in that moment in the room." Fascinating! Of course, the ambition doesn't stop there. "In the future, we'll release more complex version of the program, with a better speed of recognition and with network support, and support for GPS and collision avoidance." Certainly, if the program can deliver on even just half of what it promises, it will be incredibly helpful for those with the disability.
If there's one thing that makes anything cooler, it's lasers. califrag from QJ has developed a proof of concept (seen above) that allows you to point a laser at the PSP screen and have the on-screen cursor follow your movement. Although it requires extra hardware, such as the PSP camera, the potential is really exciting: imagine a light gun game for your PSP, a painting application, or some DS-styled "pointing games." Once again, the homebrew community has thought up something truly innovative and surprising.
Remember when Dark_Alex said he was going to quit the homebrew scene forever? And then immediately afterwards, Russian hacking group M33 appeared mysteriously out of the blue? Well, could it be that the two are actually one in the same? Could this post also have something other than a question as a sentence? Hmm ...
With the release of 3.71 M33, the team continues to provide homebrew users with all the features of Sony's recently released official firmwares. According to the Dark_Alex website, though, the main coder for the project is none other than the supposedly "retired" hacker.
Regardless of the drama surrounding the team, it appears that they've been consistently able to provide releases that match Sony's quite rapid schedule.
You've seen the PSP controlled by an Xbox 360 controller. You might have even seen the PSP controlled by a DualShock. Now see the PSP controlled by a Wii remote instead! It's as simple as connecting your homebrew enabled PSP to your PC wirelessly, then your Wii remote to the PC via Bluetooth, and finally having the PC translate the Wii remote information into PSP controls somehow. That is to say, it's not very simple and rather cumbersome. But at least it's possible, and that's the important part.
After months (nay, years) of homebrew chatter on Sony's very own PlayStation Forums, it appears that Sony is finally cracking down. With the launch of the PSP-2000 at hand, it appears that Sony wants people to become oblivious to the world of homebrew, due to system security and piracy concerns. "Homebrew applications void the warranty of the PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) system, and an official area to discuss such activities cannot be provided by SCEA. Any postings that are clearly homebrew-related, such as those providing instructions on downgrading firmware updates, will be removed from this board ... Any posting found to be in violation of this policy is subject to an immediate deletion. Members who continue to violate this policy may be subject to an immediate ban from this community, or other disciplinary actions as determined by the community Administrators."
It looks as though Sony is serious about wiping out homebrew, at least on its own turf. Boo! We were going to start a homebrew column here on PSP Fanboy. Does that mean we'll get in trouble from Sony?
Imagine a gaming utopia, where Sony and Microsoft are friends. Gamers will be able to buy just one piece of hardware, and get all the best games on one machine. You'll be able to plug in whatever controller you like and it'll work. Unfortunately, that utopia will never emerge as reality. Until then, we're going to have to amuse ourselves with clever (and cute) pieces of homebrew like this. Maxconsole's Jay has made it possible to use a 360 controller on a PSP. It's certainly not the most useful thing to do -- but an impressive feat of engineering nonetheless!
Just like Dark_Alex, famed PSP coder Fanjita is quitting the homebrew scene. Apparently, when Pandora was leaked early to the profit of others, Fanjita felt betrayed. On his blog, he notes "the betrayal of trust that preceded the Pandora release was extremely hurtful, and has left me unable to fully trust the people I'd previously enjoyed working so hard with. And so, I have had to decide to stop working on projects that require that level of trust."
The scene continues to lose the input of valuable coders, and it goes to show that even those in the homebrew scene don't want their work to be stolen. Even with the loss of Fanjita, it's clear that PSP exploits will continue to be researched: "I expect that Team C+D and Noobz will continue to release stuff without me."
Russian hacking team M33 quickly and easily grabbed the attention of the PSP homebrew community for continuing work on custom firmware after Dark_Alex suddenly quit the scene. The team of five have met their fair share of complaints and praise over the past weeks, many complimenting their quick work, but lamenting the numerous patches made to tackle a persistent list of bugs.
Interestingly, in the team's first public interview, they revealed that they believe Sony will ultimately make the "ideal firmware." They believe that consumers just want the ability to do more with their system, and Sony will learn from the homebrew community: "When Sony understands the useless of their attempts to fight against CFW, they WILL release the firmware that will allow to run homebrew."
The battle against homebrew shouldn't be equated with the battle against piracy, they note. "Sony should allow homebrew development, as on PS2 in RTE (Runtime Environment) on which you can program homebrew, but can't run ISO." Certainly, we applaud the hard work of many homebrew developers out there -- if they could be recognized without piracy running rampant, all PSP owners would benefit. Read - Translated version Read - Original version
Nearly a month after Joystiq spotted it, we finally had a chance to sit down and play the excellent PSP version of Cave Story. The PSP version of this freeware game has the loving approval of Studio Pixel, the game's original creators, and is "based entirely on Pixel's original code."
The game is absolutely massive, offering just as much (if not more) gameplay as many retail games. We were really impressed by the fluidity of the port. A homebrew-enabled PSP will be required to play this incredibly well-crafted platformer/shooter -- check it out here.
IGN PSP had their latest mailbag questions actually answered by Sony reps. The results were fairly interesting, especially when the issue of homebrew came up. IGN user carterman asked "Why not have some homebrew game support?" To which Jack Tretton replied, "I think that is something that is in the works. We certainly see some of the stuff that has been done via homebrew, and it's incredibly creative. And I think we'd like to try and tap into that a little bit more." Dave Karraker added to Jack's answer by stating that Sony is trying to figure out how to support homebrew without putting the PSP in danger. Does this mean that Sony is working on their own PSP answer to XNA? Sounds like it could be.
IGN PSP
