PSP 2.0 Update Finally Released

Joshua Keller writes "The v2.0 firmware update for the Sony PSP is finally out, ending the saga of one of the most-talked about firmware revisions I can remember. The update features a web browser for the PSP and support for AAC files, amongst other improvements."

Comments

In case site gets hammered...

[fizz]

The North American version of the PSP 2.0 firmware update is now available via the wireless Network Update feature on your PSP. As expected, the 16MB update is nearly identical to the Japanese version released last month.

The version 2.0 software brings a mobile web browser, new audio and video format support, photo sharing, custom wallpapers and more. Check out the complete release notes after the jump.

The download and install the update, use your PSP's Network Update feature (Settings > Network Update). Read our PSP Firmware Update Guide if you need further help.

Update: The PSP 2.0 update is now available for direct download.

From the official 2.0 update release notes:

Network
+ An internet browser has been added

Video
+ 4:3 screen mode has been added (for video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).
+ Go To feature has been added (for UMD Video and UMD Music).
+ A-B Repeat feature has been added (for UMD Video, UMD Music and video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).
+ Audio options have been added (for video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).
+ MP4 (AVC) has been added as a playable file format (for video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).

Music
+ The combination of SonicStage version 3.2 (or later) and PSP system software 2.0 (or later) has made it possible for music files in ATRAC3 plus format to be transferred to a Memory Stock PRO Duo.
+ MP4 (the audio codec for MP4 format audio files is MPEG-4 AAC) and WAV (Linear PCM) have been added as playable file formats (for music saved on Memory Stick Duo media).

Photo
+ Wallpaper feature has been added.
+ Image transfer feature has been added.
+ TIFF, GIF, PNG and BMP have been added as viewable file formats.

Settings
+ Korean has been added as a system language in [System Settings].
+ [Character Set] has been added in [System Settings].
+ [Theme Settings] has been added.
+ [Internet Browser Start Control] has been added as a security mode in [Security Settings].
+ WPA-PSK (TKIP) has been added as a security mode in [Network Settings].
+ Web address shortcut feature has been added as an input mode for the on-screen keyboard.

(Mirror) Download from here (Mirror)

Re:In case site gets hammered...

[sigloiv]

Wait, wait, wait, back that up. WPA-PSK?!?! Sweet! Everyone was talking about the browser and WPA support must have gotten overshadowed. While I might not have considered upgrading an easily customizable PSP 1.5, I am now seriously considering.

Why did this not get more publicity? This is the one feature I have been hoping and praying for for months.

Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't use firmware 2.0. It disables all ability for homebrew games, emulators, etc.

Re:Don't install it!

[stupid_is]

A chum of mine who gets his kicks from disassembling the code refuses to upgrade until it's been hacked to allow that sort of stuff. But then, he's an uber-geek, most punters won't be affected by the loss of these abilities and will instead be impressed by the additional functions available

Re:Don't install it!

[CerebusUS]

This assumes, of course, that you managed to buy a 1.50 PSP and then didn't bother to upgrade it to 1.51 or 1.52.

If you have anything other than a 1.00 (Japanese only) or 1.50 PSP, you already can't run homebrew games and apps.

Re:Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

I heard that if you put an unsigned program in update folder it can run it. Can anyone confirm this?

Re:Don't install it!

[NelsonM]

Another word of warning: It won't be easy to avoid this, because Sony is going to put the 2.0 firmware update in some of the newer games. As soon as you load the game, it'll auto-install the update and all your homebrew stuff will be disabled.

Re:Don't install it!

[radish]

Unless, of course, you have no interest in such homebrew stuff. Which would include me. I do however like using the web browser from the couch. Whatever floats your boat :)

Re:Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

yes the PSP homebrew site PSP News http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/ has warned not to use it because it will kill the ability to have homebrew on the PSP.

Re:Don't install it!

[PhotoBoy]

Exactly, I expect I'm going to have to make the choice between playing GTA:LCS or Mario, Zelda, Street Fighter 2, Chrono Trigger etc. It's going to be a tough one to decide...

Re:Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I'm busy driving my Ferrari and banging hot chicks so I won't be upgrading right away.

Re:Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting... Now that the PSP has the features I want I still won't buy it until V2.0 has been cracked. I want a console that can have open and free extensions added not a locked format.

Re:Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Your mastery of sarcasm gives me a tiny boner.

Re:Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Another word of warning: It won't be easy to avoid this, because Sony is going to put the 2.0 firmware update in some of the newer games. As soon as you load the game, it'll auto-install the update and all your homebrew stuff will be disabled.

Considering the rate at which they're releasing games now, I doubt that will have remotely as big an effect as you're forecasting.

Re:Don't install it!

[Mysticalfruit]

Hence why I'm not upgrading either.

NesterJ is currently the application that gets run the most on my PSP...

And yes, I only own ROMS for the Nintendo games I actally own...

Re:Don't install it!

[maxwell demon]

Of course you could just buy a new PSP for the newer games, and reserve the old one for old games. Of course, there's still the risk of accidentally inserting a disk in the wrong PSP (besides the fact that a second PSP costs money again, of course).

Re:Don't install it!

[PhotoBoy]

Maybe this is the excuse to buy a ceramic white PSP that I've been looking for... ;)

Re:Don't install it!

[rpdillon]

Not really. When you insert the game, it merely says you can't play until you upgrade, and the upgrade is located on the UMD. You still have to manually run the update program. This is good, because you can't get "stealth" upgraded...you have to actually tell the PSP to upgrade. If you have doubts, see "Coded Arms" for an example of how the system has been working (so far). Of course, this could change in future releases.

Re:Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope they do this on some big release game like GTA so we can finally stop hearing about this small group of people that can actually use homebrew aps on their PSP. All they are really doing is playing Nintendo games anyway. Look at some of the posts on here talking about how they don't want to upgrade because they want to play Nintendo games.

Do yourself a favor, upgrade your PSP and get all the nice new features, use it to watch movies, etc, and buy a GBASP and a flash cart for less than $150 and play GBA/NES/SNES*/SMS/TG16 games on it.

*yes, I know the GBA doesn't have enough buttons for SNES games but if you really want to you can buy a control adapter to allow an original SNES control to work on the GBA.

Re:Don't install it!

[Yakko]

You know what was worse for me? Back when no non-Sony-approved games worked with 1.50, I figured I was hosed, so upgraded to 1.51. So naturally, I've already upgraded to 2.0.

Then, as now, I figure the game of cat and mouse will still march on, and I'll be playing games from the memory stick soon enough. It's just a matter of time.

Re:Don't install it!

[lasmith05]

They have a web browser for 1.50. Its ripped from Tenchi No Mon and works pretty good.

Re:Don't install it!

[sigloiv]

How about a Passme, a flash cart, and a Nintendo DS. If you're going to spend the extra money on an adapter then you may as well buy a Passme and a Nintendo DS instead. Unfortunately, both options are too much cash for me, therefore I won't be homebrewing on either for awhile.

Re:Don't install it!

[KillShill]

which is another way of saying you don't want to own the hardware you paid good money for.

you do realize the cpu, graphics and sound processors are OWNED by you... but the manufacturer, which has long since stopped owning that particular unit, has deemed in its infinite wisdom that you shouldn't have the right to run code on processors that you paid for.

i'm just glad there are people who are willing to support their business model. otherwise we'd live in a slightly better society. phew.

thanks guys, we couldn't control the rights of customers without your generous financial donations - SONY, Microsoft, Nintendo, formerly Sega.

Re:Don't install it!

[akac]

Or maybe he does realize it and its just that he WANTS to use the processor, memory, LCD, etc... for web browsing and other features that come in 2.0 and does not care to use it for homebrew.

Just because one can, doesn't mean one has to.

Re:Don't install it!

[jlapier]

I do however like using the web browser from the couch.

...or from the John.

I think all technological improvments should be measured by their ability to aquire and present pornography - bonus points for requiring only single-handed usage.

Re:Don't install it!

[KDR_11k]

The hardware is locked down so they don't have to make a profit on the hardware itself. They'd have to increase the price to get a decent profit margin if they couldn't count on licenses bringing in the money. If you want to pay 350$* for a PSP just so it's unlocked that's your thing, I can assure you most people won't.

*=going by the rumor that Sony is losing 75$ per unit at the 200$ pricepoint and adding a profit margin on top. They'd probably sell only the bundle with a few cheap accessories thrown in that costs another 50$ more so 400$ without any software.

Re:Don't install it!

[KDR_11k]

I want a console that can have open and free extensions added not a locked format.

Look up "PDA". Or get one of the many niche systems with practically no lockout that cost twice as much and have weaker hardware.

Re:Don't install it!

[KillShill]

thei business model is of no one's business but theirs.

to prevent people using their own property, is illegal and immoral.

the law doesn't make it ok when lobbyists bribe congress to change them in favor of corporations. the law needs to be put back where it belongs.

there is no LOCKED property. that sony and other manufacturers refuse to let the owner have the key to their own property, is something that is insidious. i don't and no one else gives a damn what their "business model" is. when you buy something, that becomes YOUR property. that they don't give you the key to your property, means they are in breach of the contract (commerce). the price has NO bearing on this argument. i'm saying it's illegal to not give the owner the keys. which is just what is going on.

there is no single business model that is justifed in locking down property that does not belong to the manufacturer anymore(which is what happens when you buy something). the fact that this is hardware should be easier for non-techie folks to understand. somehow they're not getting the picture.

they can lock down all the pieces of hardware in their factories and warehouses but once money exchanges hands and the hardware is in my possession, by definition , the manufacturer no longer has a say in how the customer can use the product. sure they can deny warranty if you misuse it, etc but that's all. to prevent you from using it in any way, is breach of some law not to mention just plain dispacable and unethical. (no i'm not a lawyer but the world would be better off if people like me were).

Re:Don't install it!

[KDR_11k]

Sheesh, if you got the money to blow buy a PC. There is NO reason to go with a PSP if you want "full control over the hardware".

The house analogy fails because the contract states they have to hand you the keys (unless you were stupid enough to sign a contract saying you get the house but not the keys). The sales contract for the PSP says nowhere that you will receive full documentation for the system. But hey, my PC monitor didn't come with documentation detailling how to turn it into a TV so I clearly don't own the hardware, right?

And hey, Sony doesn't tell you what you can't do, they just built the system in a way that makes using it for something it's not meant for very difficult. They are not obliged to build it in any special way, they could have made it an empty shell. The PSP isn't a homebrew machine and just because it's built from similar parts as a homebrew machine doesn't mean Sony has to make it one.

But I guess you insist that "information wants to be free".

Re:Don't install it!

[jayhawk88]

Lol zealot, what part of "I don't care about running homebrew apps" didn't you understand?

Re:Don't install it!

[OMGtehRed]

Sure you do. ;-)

Re:Don't install it!

[KillShill]

you own it. that's the part of "because you can".

do you let ford/toyota tell you where and when you can drive? do you let panasonc tell you when and how you can watch tv/use the display device?

there is NO contract. they are locking you out of your own property and people don't even understand the situation.

fighting for your rights to use property how and when and where ... why do you find that offensive?

Re:Don't install it!

[KillShill]

what part of "property rights" didn't you comprehend?

you already own the device but are eager to let sony (ms, nintendo) tell you exactly what you may or may not do with your property.

if you cannot help yourself, let someone else try.

Re:Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe it's time for the homebrewers to get with the times and find a way to upgrade their stuff to 2.0. Stop being such lazy asses. There is a web browser now and people want to use it.

Re:Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh puh-lease.

I have a friend who drives an infinity and it comes with a navigation system that only runs their software. Why not go whine on an infinity related thread too?

While you're at it, I can't reprogram the computer in my Toyota, nor can I change the firmware of my cable box, cable modem, and so on.

I own the modem, can buy cable boxes, own my car (well, the bank still does), and all that good stuff.

What about my iPod?

Upgrade?

[bitfoo]

Of course if you do upgrade, you'll lose all the capabilities to utilize the neat homebrew applications that are out there; though this only applies to firmware 1.50. The browser looks really cool though, so it might be worth it.

Re:Upgrade?

[buffer-overflowed]

If you want homebrew+main device functionality(playing games), the PSP is not for you. At least not until Sony seriously changes their attitude towards it.

Seriously, get a gizmondo handheld which is BUILT solely for homebrew(and cheaper) or go Nintendo + Flash(also cheaper) and join the legions of GBA hackers who moved onto the DS. Or, ya know, go back to stop caring Johnny Come Lately.

Stop being silly with too much disposable income and just go ahead and upgrade the thing already. You know you're going to anyway when GTA comes out.

Re:Upgrade?

[Fredrik Leijon]

homebrew in it self isn't the problem (imho), but allowing homebrew means leaving the console wide open for piracy

Re:Upgrade?

[Abcd1234]

Not at all. The DS homebrewers have a solution which works nicely for hacking code, but makes it quite cumbersome to try and play pirated software (homebrew code is loaded from the GBA slot using this technique, and since DS games expect to load from the DS slot, they won't work unless they're heavily patched).

Re:Upgrade?

[Anonymous Coward]

Gizmondo is built solely for homebrew? Excuse me? How so? It uses WinCE so normal PDA dev tools should be able to target it but you can't run any nonsigned apps.

Re:Upgrade?

[Guppy06]

"If you want homebrew+main device functionality(playing games), the PSP is not for you."

"Seriously, get a gizmondo handheld which is BUILT solely for homebrew(and cheaper)"

Can you post in a thread about a handheld game system that doesn't involve mentiong the Gizmodo? Yes, we're all happy for you that you got your own, but spamming Slashdot about it isn't going to change the fact that none of the other kids on the playground have any idea what you're talking about. That's like asking for a Transformer for your birthday and getting a Go-Bot.

Besides, the Gizmodo doesn't have that "main device functionality" you mentioned, i. e. the ability to play games outside of homebrew.

"or go Nintendo + Flash(also cheaper) and join the legions of GBA hackers who moved onto the DS."

First and foremonst, I want to play SNES games. Assuming you can get a GBA-based emulator that can play such games full speed (I have yet to see much of anything on the DS), there's still the lack of an X and Y button to deal with.

Secondly, I already shelled out $$$ for my Super Wild Card so I can dump the SNES carts, why should I have to go through the hassle yet again of getting a similar device for the GBA so I can load these programs?

And how about a platform where the flash format isn't so... you know... proprietary?

There aren't "legions" of homebrew for the Nintendo platforms as you sugest. Programmers are about as likely as games to buy all that extra hardware to creat and run such code, while the PSP requires no more extra proprietary, gray market hardware beyond an industry-standard USB cable.

Re:Upgrade?

[pnice]

First and foremonst, I want to play SNES games Well buying a device made by Sony was the best way to do that. Why not just get a Super Nintendo. I don't think you understand how easy and how well the homebrew apps work for the GBA.

Re:Upgrade?

[buffer-overflowed]

Can you post in a thread about a handheld game system that doesn't involve mentiong the Gizmodo? Yes, we're all happy for you that you got your own, but spamming Slashdot about it isn't going to change the fact that none of the other kids on the playground have any idea what you're talking about. That's like asking for a Transformer for your birthday and getting a Go-Bot.

Besides, the Gizmodo doesn't have that "main device functionality" you mentioned, i. e. the ability to play games outside of homebrew.

Well seeing as how you CAN'T play the latest PSP games AND run homebrew, if homebrew is what you're after then the new Gizmondo handheld does it just as well for wayyy less money. No, it has no commercial main-dev house support, but it's built and catered for small companies and homebrew. Hell dev for the thing is SIMPLE and well documented. But you bought a PSP, you're faced with a choice, don't play any game that's not out already, thus making you an overspending fool, or cripple the ability to run home-developed stuff AND play the new stuff.

Sony never had any intention of people being able to run unsigned code on the platform, never even hinted at any such intention and in fact has all but said they will actively destroy any exploits that allow it via future firmware upgrades. You're NOT going to run the latest games AND run any unsigned code on the thing if Sony can do anything about it.

First and foremonst, I want to play SNES games. Assuming you can get a GBA-based emulator that can play such games full speed (I have yet to see much of anything on the DS), there's still the lack of an X and Y button to deal with.

SnesDS made by loopy, the guy who created pocketNES and pocketSNES(which is buggy due to the GBAs slow processor and doesn't have sound support).

YOU just don't know where to look because you must not have gotten into the scene with the GBA.

Secondly, I already shelled out $$$ for my Super Wild Card so I can dump the SNES carts, why should I have to go through the hassle yet again of getting a similar device for the GBA so I can load these programs?

Because it's still cheaper than buying a PSP? Because it also allows you to play GBA ROMs natively? Because it lets you back up GBA games?

And how about a platform where the flash format isn't so... you know... proprietary?

Like Memory Stick Duo? Or UMD? Flash carts are made by a range of manufacturers, they're LESS proprietary. You could even get carts that read standard SD at one point. The schematics for passthrough DS adapters are FREELY available.

There aren't "legions" of homebrew for the Nintendo platforms as you sugest. Programmers are about as likely as games to buy all that extra hardware to creat and run such code, while the PSP requires no more extra proprietary, gray market hardware beyond an industry-standard USB cable.

Yes, there are. There are TONS of GBA projects done by different people. Ebook readers, movie players, home rolled games, tech demos, libraries, emulators(everything pre-genesis, there's even a port of nethack). The GBA had(has) an enormously active and mature homebrew community, much larger than the PSPs. A lot of those people moved onto the DS if the GBA couldn't float their boat btw(already had the hardware, why not?), some went onto the PSP. It's about the CHALLENGE and the featureset.

You also need to have the 1.5 firmware, a sufficient capacity proprietary memory stick, and never run a game that updates that firmware. What a deal. You're faced with a choice you don't want to make but were a fool not to expect, play the PSP the way Sony allows you to, or not play the latest games.

Seriously, is every Sony fan perpetually late to the party or something?

Re:Upgrade?

[buffer-overflowed]

Sorry, thinking about the GamePark sequel to the GP32. For some reason I keep confusing it with the Gizmondo that MS supports.

Re:Upgrade?

[buffer-overflowed]

Correction: Was thinking of Game Park's GP32 sequel, the XGP not the gizmondo. Can't get the two straight in my head for some reason.

Start the timers...

[ChrisF79]

I can't wait to see how soon someone "cracks" this firmware so it runs emulators and what not. I don't have a PSP, and not much interest in getting one. However, I do think it is pretty interesting to watch these folks go to work and produce these hacks or what-not. I'm always amazed at how fast some of these protections that companies work so hard to implement are dismissed.

Re:Start the timers...

[imsabbel]

They didnt crack the last release, so i doubt they crack this one.

Re:Start the timers...

[ziggy the zagnut]

Yeah, it used be pretty cool to watch protection get broken,
but the PSP is part of a new generation of DRM. We're
seeing some rules get bent/broken. For example, having
access to the hardware no longer means you 0wn the machine.
Classic techniques like tracing through code from
the beginning of its execution are obsolete.

Another obstacle to opening the device is the (threat of the) law.
When the PSP first came out, the website ps2dev.org quickly
created space for discussion of opening it up. Once 1.5 opened
up though, ps2dev quickly began to squash all discussion of
opening attempts. They referred to "Grey Areas" in their
censorship, claiming their goal of homebrew capability has
been reached. Ps2dev admins prefer to keep it a small, elite community of
1.5 users, as opposed to the more idealistic and democratic
goal of enabling anyone who buys the hardware to be able to
develop and run homebrew.

The only alternative is the piracy underground, whose goals are
different, but whose technology overlaps with the homebrewers.
Because they're illegal, pirates don't have public information
bases and their information is more valuable. This means
any potential developers have to work their way into a
social network, again, reserving homebrew capability for
a dedicated elite.

Currently there are several commerical companies interesting
in opening the PSP to public development (mostly because
they want to sell modchips). They've given dozens of PSPs
to promising openers, but no dice so far. Any attempts
on the hardware, similar to Xbox, for example, would require
high-speed equipment. Observing the PCB of the PSP,
for example, shows signficant tromboning (a technique of inserting extra space into circuit board traces to meet
extremely tight timing requirements) on the PSPs combined
flash/DRAM chip. Also preventitive is the use of a MIPS
core: the pinout of the MIPS processor is unknown, as well
as what IPL code it boots with. It may even included its own
encryption. Several varities of encryption, from crackable to strong (AES128) encryption are used in nearly every part of the
PSP firmware.

The situation is so far from ideal, some promote the "Sony Leak Theory." The hypothesis is that Sony
left open leaks on purpose in older firmware and encouraged
the development of emulators in order to krush its kompetition,
the Nintendo Revolution. Under this theory, Sony is confident
that its DRM will prevent any future homebrew/piracy.

Perhaps the PSP experience will serve as a weathervane for
the future of DRM in consumer products.

Re:Start the timers...

[antifoidulus]

Dude, if you don't like, DON'T FUCKING BUY A PSP!! There are plenty of open PDAs and whatnot. Geez, where in any nations constitution does it guarentee you the right to consumer electronics?

Sony subsidises the PSP by selling game companies the license to develop for their system. If they left it wide open, then they could no longer sell the rights, and would thus be losing money on PSPs and would have to charge more for them. Last time I checked, Sony wasn't in the business of losing money just so you can have shiny toys. If you want an open environment, then you have to pony up the dough. If you want to save money, then buy a psp and live with it's limitations.
I find it ironic that you are going on and on about how since you own the machine you can do whatever you want with it, which is true, but by extension that also means that before you buy the machine, it's Sony's machine and they can do whatever they want to it. Don't like it? Don't buy it. Simple as that.

Re:Start the timers...

[Torgo's Pizza]

I'll take you up on that bet. Hackers have just decrypted the EBOOT.PBP today. Just a matter of time now it appears.

Re:Start the timers...

[ziggy the zagnut]

You make some good responses to what I wrote, so let me to respond to those. First, there, of course, is no explicit right to consumer electronics freedom in any constitution anywhere. However, you must realize that we confer these rights on ourselves! When the U.S. Const. was first written, they had a debate about what they wanted to put in there. Consider this, here, the continuation of that debate. If enough of us can push in this direction, we can establish this right for ourselves. There are numerous arguments for the freedom, from basic ideas about having a choice, to allowing corporations the use of certain public resources, to environmentalist arguments against prematurely obsolete hardware all the way back to enabling third parties to compete in the software market. All of these arguments speak against closed hardware, and that hardware openness should be government enforced. Second, about "don't buy it if you don't like it." This is a.k.a. "vote with your dollar." It's a good idea- in theory. I mean, theoretically, if there were a market for something like what we want, someone could start selling it. The only problem is, in reality, the vote with your dollar argument has been tried, and it doesn't work well. The reason is that it's not fast enough. it's kind of like patents. If nobody could "the computer" for 25 years, where would we buy? Still on the 2nd generation. The world simply changes too fast for market-based Darwinism to be effective. This is compounded by the massive amount diseducated consumers. Finally, if Sony were to offer us a "shiny toy" that lets me do what I want, I would buy it. In fact, they have a history of supporting homebrew (see Yaroze, and ps2linux). It's frustrating that they don't now. Although many people suspect they allowed the homebrewers access to early firmware on purpose to appease them. (The theory goes they couldn't do this explicity because it would infuriate the launch title publishers). Like I said, the reason the PSP is so interesting for Linux users is because the day may soon some when we can't run Linux due to DRM. We need to prepare and possibly act strategically.

Re:Start the timers...

[zaffir]

Link? Details? Anything?

Re:Start the timers...

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, if you don't like, DON'T FUCKING BUY A PSP!! There are plenty of open PDAs and whatnot. Geez, where in any nations constitution does it guarentee you the right to consumer electronics?

What? the right to own what I've bought? You're right that would be a silly idea...

Sony subsidises the PSP by selling game companies the license to develop for their system. If they left it wide open, then they could no longer sell the rights, and would thus be losing money on PSPs and would have to charge more for them. Last time I checked, Sony wasn't in the business of losing money just so you can have shiny toys. If you want an open environment, then you have to pony up the dough. If you want to save money, then buy a psp and live with it's limitations. I find it ironic that you are going on and on about how since you own the machine you can do whatever you want with it, which is true, but by extension that also means that before you buy the machine, it's Sony's machine and they can do whatever they want to it. Don't like it? Don't buy it. Simple as that.

Moo point(s). Even if the architecture is open^W not that closed, you can have licensing fees from game editors and make money. Previous consoles (XboX appart) were not that hard to hack, have you heard of many games sold without licence ? And no Sony can't do whatever they want with their hardware even if they 'make it', there are still some rules Dude...

Re:Start the timers...

[Anonymous Coward]

in order to krush its kompetition
What does this have to do with KDE?

Re:Start the timers...

[Torgo's Pizza]

As ripped from PSPHacks.net:

Some very interesting things going on in the PSP hacking world.

It would seem that someone has gotten the DATA.PSP files from the various update EBOOT.PBP files decrypted.

This is the next step in unlocking the secrets of the PSP's firmware. How to flash/re-flash, and modifying firmware files to suit individual hacker's needs, etc...

A small sample:

msgupdater_error_lowbattery
msgshare_error_conten t_corrupted_update
msgupdater_remove_umd
msgupda ter_versions
msgupdater_dot
msgupdater_%d_%02d
    updater_start_update
updater_license_ask
updater _function_list
updater_start_update
updater_lice nse_consent
msgupdater_accept_eula
updater_licen se_consent_text
updater_license_consent_version_t ext
mlist_updater_license_ask
msgupdater_start_u pdate_ms
msgupdater_start_update_umd
updater_sta rt_update_text
updater_start_update_version_text
  msgupdater_eula
updater_main
updater_updating
    updater_main
Ignoring extra png_read_update_info() call; row buffer not reallocated
update_plugin
msgshare_error_content _corrupted_update
msgshare_updateprompt_updateunn ecessary
msgupdater_list_add
msgupdater_updating _ms
msgupdater_updating_umd
msgupdater_updated
    msgupdater_cancel_update_ask

Makes for some very interesting times ahead I'm thinking.

Re:Start the timers...

[KillShill]

calling it "homebrew" does a grave disservice to the ideal of actually have access to products customers own.

you paid for the cpu inside the machine. you paid for the sound and graphics processors inside the plastic case (including the case). you paid for the tft lcd screen. you paid for the circuit board and the memory chips.

the gall it must take for hardware manufacturers to deny use of aforementioned items... and the utter stupidity and uninform-edness of customers who think this is a good thing or somehow benefits them...

wake up before it's too late!!!

you have EVERY RIGHT to use the processors to run any code you wish!! this has NOTHING to do with copyright infringement, so don't let the losers who bring that up get in your way.

this is outrageously illegal and immoral not to mention unethical. don't put up with this crap.

their business model is of NO CONCERN to customers. if they have to "rent" their machines under the guise of selling products, then their business licenses need to be revoked. they are not benefitting the public, the reason that businesses are !allowed! to exist in the first place.

but most people aren't even remotely aware of the sitation... so please pass on this and all information regarding customers' rights on to people you know.

HELP spread the word, please. the right to read and the right to own property are vital...

Re:Start the timers...

[KDR_11k]

Well, you DO own the hardware. Including all the DRM chips, patented hardware, etc. Feel free to do anything you want to the maximum extend permitted by law. And hey, you only need to sign your software properly and burn it to UMD! What, you don't know how? Hey, I don't know how to repair my TV but that doesn't mean I don't own it. Just because you don't know how to do something doesn't mean the hardware isn't yours.

Re:Start the timers...

[KDR_11k]

You own it. Yes. You can use it. With software that was written in a way that the device accepts it.

Re:Start the timers...

[KillShill]

in other words, you support the right of manufacturers to deny customers the ability to fully use what they buy.

glad to know which side some people are on.

Re:Start the timers...

[MacroRex]

It would seem that someone has gotten the DATA.PSP files from the various update EBOOT.PBP files decrypted.

If you can dump the original, encrypted file to your computer AND you have the decrypted contents, it becomes a very simple cryptanalysis task to find out the key, no?

Re:Start the timers...

[KDR_11k]

I support it that they can provide cheaper hardware by going with a different business model. For homebrew I have a PC and I don't see a reason why every single device in my household has to be capable of running Linux.

The PSP is meant for games and some secondary stuff. When you bought it you knew you couldn't run your own software on it. Why couldn't that homebrew stuff be done for a platform that is meant for running anyhing you can throw at it? The GP32/XGP, the PocketPC and Palm, the PC, the Mac,...

Re:Start the timers...

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope.

That's called a "known plaintext" attack, and it's still hard.

Re:That's great...

[slashflood]

..but does it run Linux?

Sure.

... via Bochs.

Major bugfix?

[mnemonic_]

Did they fix that one really significant bug? You know, where all the games fucking suck? If not, I hope they fix it soon.

Re:Major bugfix?

[cybrthng]

Amen Brotha

Re:Major bugfix?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's pretty easy to convert the files. There are a few programs that will do all of the work including copying it to memory stick.

Re:Major bugfix?

[thatguywhoiam]

Did they fix that one really significant bug? You know, where all the games fucking suck? If not, I hope they fix it soon.

Did you try Wipeout Pure? It doesn't suck at all.

Lumines doesn't suck at all.

But the rest mostly suck. Hand it to Sony to release their new handheld platform at the beginning of the slow summer season. Fall looks promising though (as usual).

Re:Major bugfix?

[apoc06]

not all the games suck. just do a little research before you plunk down your money. i recommend lumines and wipeout pure. two AAA quality titles. metal gear acid is good too, but was a lil too involved for me at the time, so i never got into it. its still in its infancy stage, so dont expect god of war on the psp just yet.

one thing i dont see ever praised about the psp is its ability to add content. i guess its always overshadowed by the homebrew explosion, but its something only pc and a few xbox games have taken advantage of. you can add your own music to games, and download expansion packs via internet or usb. a really revolutionary concept for a handheld, and something that needs to become standard in the console market. in theory, since you arent altering the content of the product, developers could release a devkit [for their game] and let users create their own mods [maps, skins, tracks, dungeons, etc...]

converting video on the psp is a breeze surprisingly. at first the tutorials make it seem like such a burden, but once you try it, its relatively simple. mainly you just need to make a folder and a subfolder in the root directory of your memory stick, download and install pspvideo9 http://www.pspvideo9.com/ and youre in business.

you just set it up to with your default video preferences [resolution/frame rate/ sound settings / etc] tell it where you want to store your movies, and the drive your psp connects as, and youre in business. it can queue jobs for you, so you can walk off while it does its business and have it process a whole slew of files for you.

when youre ready to go, you can just press sync, and it will transfer all [or some] of the files over for you. its all a breeze. it has a display for you so that you can see how the space on your memory stick is being used [how much is free, how much space is taken by game saves or music or video] it also has a size calculator so you can alter settings accordingly for a movie if you want a smaller filesize. its not perfect, but all around its a great program.

i wonder when they will rerelease it so that it can utilize some of the newer 2.0 mp4 formats?

Re:Major bugfix?

[Darth Maul]

With the DS price drop to $129, and the fact that it actually has a lot of *really* fun games, it looks like the PSP may just be a niche device. The super-1337 teenager may want a PSP for the wow factor, but the fact is the DS is more fun, cheaper, and selling better.

Oh, and Nintendogs just came out in the US. Look out. Sold 700,000 copies in Japan already.

Re:Major bugfix?

[jspectre]

i don't get it. isn't it just a dual screen tamagachi (and where are those today)? i've got a real dog that i can play with and have to take care of. can't imagine a DS one being all that thrilling. oh look, i gotta rub his tummy on the screen to make him happy. lol

remember, japan has a huge appetite for things cute and neat that flop BIG time here in the us.

Re:Major bugfix?

[WindFish]

remember, japan has a huge appetite for things cute and neat that flop BIG time here in the us.

You mean like Pokémon?

Re:Major bugfix?

[jspectre]

yea pokemon is one of the success stories, but how many have been flops? how many great electronic gadgets, pda's, etc. have tried to cross the ocean only to be ignored by the american public? how many of us use our cell phones for anything other than talking?

Re:Major bugfix?

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean compared to DS games?? ROTFL Uh yeah, go back to playing Nintendogs with the rest of the children.

Re:Major bugfix?

[PeelBoy]

I disagree. Wipeout does suck. I mean it looks great and plays ok, but its nothing new. I got bored of it pretty fast as did most everybody else I know.

Lumines doesn't suck that's for sure.

Re:Major bugfix?

[Kesh]

You mean a Tamagotchi. They're still around, but usually on little keychain toys. Mostly aimed at young girls, so you see Bratz and other vapid subjects instead of animals.

And you obviously didn't see the latest Penny Arcade. ;)

Re:Major bugfix?

[toddhunter]

With the DS price drop to $129, and the fact that it actually has a lot of *really* fun games, it looks like the PSP may just be a niche device. The super-1337 teenager may want a PSP for the wow factor, but the fact is the DS is more fun, cheaper, and selling better.

This sort of ignores how crap the DS was for a *long* time. Give the PSP the same amount of time and see which one has the better games. Thats exactly what I am waiting for, and if the price drops again all the better!

Re:Major bugfix?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, so anything that isn't new sucks?

What's your real name, Jade?

Copy Protection

[phase_9]

And once again nerfs current Homebrew / copy protection workarounds Forced firmware updates (which all new games will feature) are a very inteligent way of ensuring their copy protection remains in effect - are people considering such a system for the next Video Standard (HD-DVD / whatever is flavour of the week), everytime you buy / rent a movie it updates the firmware on your player? btw: my Import JAP PSP is still running 1.00 and is proud of the matter (RIN Rocks!)

Firmwares for game systems??

[bugbeak]

You know you've lost yourself in the console market when you need to get firmware updates for your console, even though you could automatically get it through games you buy. IMO, it just shows that the product will always be incomplete.

And this isn't just for Sony and the PSP.

Re:Firmwares for game systems??

[phase_9]

I disagree entireley!

The spread of high speed internet and wireless has allowed this to happen - the reason manufacturers haven't rolled out firmware like this before is because the infrastructure simply wasn't there.

Sony are adding features as much as they are fixing bugs!

Re:Firmwares for game systems??

[Evan Meakyl]

Yes, but before, all the interesting features where there when you bought the console!! (ie playing games... I agree now we can ask more)

More over, once you started this kind of circle (new features->new bugs->update firmware, which includes new features->new bugs->update...) it's not a good thing, for you customers(you need to update a lot, sometimes losing your data or your habits) and for the company: it shows that the software department isn't able to cope with what they are asked (functionnal and bugless products).

IMHO, the firmware should be as stable as rock.

Re:Firmwares for game systems??

[apoc06]

i actually prefer sonys method of firmware updating. whereas other console updates occur behind the scenes, not always with your knowledge and rarely add features. sony has at least given us the freedom [and a very compelling reason] to accept their security upgrades.

i disagree with you on your second comment. at least in the case of the psp, you dont lose any data during an upgrade. who says that the psp wasnt functional out of the box? i know a couple million customers that paid for a psp without much problem. can you be mad that sony decided to give its customers even more for their money? i dont understand.

piracy is an ongoing battle for any software company. the firmware updates are a way of rewarding those that wish to play by the rules. keep in mind, most software companies give [read: send] you security updates without any form of additional features.

would i have bought a psp if it didnt allow me to browse the internet directly? yes. would i have bought it if it didnt support the filetypes? yes. FW upgrades arent mandatory! many wont upgrade until a game they want comes out that requires the upgrade. many people talk of waiting for GTA:LCS before they upgrade.

everything you paid for still works, and you still have access to everything you own. your average game [halo2 for example] will disable functionality that you PAID for [paid for twice actually: live membership, and the multiplayer aspect of the dvd] until you upgrade.

the fact that we now have a bunch of additional features just means more power to the consumer. you have a choice, and thats a great thing

Tofu babies

[milktoastman]

Oh my days of console gaming are long gone. i shed a hard tear or four for those days. Back when I was a lighter spud (a kid, in the 'up down' speak), I saddly have some of my fondest memories from playing games back then. But I think the biggest reason I liked them was because of the cartoony surreality of the graphics back then. Now, with all the capabilities for photo-realistic graphics, it loses its charm. How many snakes, for instance, can smile within 10,000 pixels these days, but not we forget how the snakes from SM2 made us smile. Thank god humans don't bud, eh? What would console makers do for controllers the? But I digress....anyway, does anyone else shed the tears I described for the innocent days of game play?

Re:Tofu babies

[bombadillo]

but not we forget how the snakes from SM2 made us smile. Thank god humans don't bud, eh? What would console makers do for controllers the? But I digress....anyway, does anyone else shed the tears I described for the innocent days of game play?

Innocent? surely you must be forgeting the exploit in SM2 which was a forefather of the GTA Adult themed exlpoit. You know the one were you can make it appear as though Luigi is humping anything he is standing on including turtles by pressing up/down on the controller? Yeah, I miss those days too.

Re:Tofu babies

[milktoastman]

At least you just went with my (intentionally) crazy style and (inadvertant) typos, instead of huffing around about it, being and randroidical and linguistically utilitarian.

Re:Tofu babies

[milktoastman]

and look! another typo! how about '...being all randroidical...'

Re:Tofu babies

[KDR_11k]

Get a GBA, lots of 2d games to be found there. Or maybe a DS, that has its 2d games as well.

Re:Tofu babies

[Anonymous Coward]

Games haven't changed. There's more variety in games nowadays, but the same games you once longed for are still there. Your problem is that the industry has moved past your comfort zone, and you're to slow or unwilling to catch up.

Re:Tofu babies

[milktoastman]

Nah, I think what it is, my scrumptious crumb, is that I grew up and now have other concerns. They are just a childhood memory like any other. I play the occasional Stinkoman for kicks, but that hardly counts.

Re:Tofu babies

[TheoMurpse]

(a kid, in the 'up down' speak)

Is that anything like giving a woman the old in and out?

Yeah, but will it play DS games?

[dividedsky319]

Because otherwise...

Well...

The games still kinda suck on PSP... (besides Lumines)

Re:Yeah, but will it play DS games?

[Anonymous Coward]

There's also the excellent new Wipeout title, Metal Gear Acid (a mix of stealth play and Final Fantasy Tactics), the new Twisted Metal is the best since 2,Ridge Racer, Mercury was decent, the new Namco retro set looks very nice as well.

See, this is one of the biggest problems around here. People mistake their own personal opinions/perceptions for fact. If that were the case, the fact that the DS had the most lackluster launch titlewise in history, and until the past two months had little more than games that could easily have been done on the GBA would have killed it, but it didn't.

It's just like the DS. A good system that isn't for everyone, and anyone with half a brain in their head can easily see that it hasn't failed. It has massive 3rd party support, it's gotten more of a marketshare than any Nintendo opponent in the past, and though it has definitely hit a drought gamewise (something which Nintendo has only RECENTLY emerged from with their DS and still has problems with as far as the Gamecube) it will emerge from it just fine and most likely will do so around Christmas.

Re:Yeah, but will it play DS games?

[Anonymous Coward]

Mercury was decent? I've got a copy and I've got mixed feelings about it. Whilst it's an interesting idea it's really unpolished. It screams shareware game from the 90s which was made on a budget. It's also insanely difficult but thats just me.

Check psp-hacks.com for details

[alias420]

http://www.psp-hacks.com/ has all the details on what the v2.0 does.

AAC a sign of truce with Apple?

[bobtodd]

I read an article a little while back reporting on how wrangling between Sony and Apple over the price of tracks and Apples refusal to open the iPod to ATRAC was holding up ITMS.au. I'm hoping that this is a sign of Sony realising that users don't care about their music format, they just want the music. Dammit.

Re:AAC a sign of truce with Apple?

[Midnight Thunder]

AAC is not an Apple file format. It is owned by Dolby and is part of the MPEG4 spec. What is owned by Apple is the DRM, known as FairPlay, that is used by the AAC files from the iTunes store.

I think that if Sony is using AAC, it is because they are including support for MPEG video, so it is more of a side effect, rather than anything else. Now it would be nice to see Apple allowing Sony to use their DRM, but it is probably going to be a question of who is going to be more pig-headed.

It should also be noted that Sony Electronics and Sony Music often act as if they were two different companys doing things that conflict with the position of the other entity.

Re:AAC a sign of truce with Apple?

[TheRaven64]

I doubt it. The video component can now play MPEG-4 AVC (also known as H.264), so I would imagine that this is just adding more parts of the MPEG-p4 puzzle.

Re:AAC a sign of truce with Apple?

[bmeteor]

I thought aac stood for apple audio codec.

Re:AAC a sign of truce with Apple?

[Midnight Thunder]

I thought aac stood for apple audio codec.

Try: Advanced Audio Coding

Re:AAC a sign of truce with Apple?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, you didn't think, you assumed.

http://www.google.com/search?q=acronym+aac+codec

Re:AAC a sign of truce with Apple?

[bobtodd]

Oh well, thanks for setting me straight, I know next to nothing about the formats involved, since I can't buy AAC, and don't want a PSP. I actually bought a DS so I could play games I've never seen before, not ones my friends with PS2s bought. I was just excited I might get to actually use a modern music distribution method.

I think it's pretty clear that Apple are willing to be plenty pig headed about this, as they had basically every other major label in Australia signed up to the store until Sony took its ball and went home.

To make a vaguely on topic remark: L0L, Sony!!!1etc

Great news about the browser

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I can use my wifi to surf with somethig smaller than the old laptop I have. Found a good review focused on the movie and music capabilities of the PSP.

http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/5002/psp_review .html

Re:That's great...

[bowronch]

actually it works with 1.0 and 1.5.

Sony PSP 2.0 links

[anandpur]

Sony PSP 2.0 Firmware upgrade instructions http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP.aspx?id=software update
Sony PSP 2.0 Manuals
http://www.playstation.com/manual/psp/

No silly

[alfrin]

Thats expected to be worked on after Firmware 3.0 is released

Finally got that Web tablet

[ralphc]

I tried the browser some this morning. It's got a nice display and it generally a much better browser than what you find on PDA's.

The (current) games may suck on the PSP, but if nothing else this makes a great portable browser, good for surfing etc. while out instead of carrying around a laptop.

Even if you don't play games on it, you can get a good "web tablet" for $250 that hits the sweet spot between price, size, convenience and features.

Re:Finally got that Web tablet

[Anonymous Coward]

now if only it had a touch screen to make surfing easier. Too bad the DS doesn't have more onboard memory :(

Curiously...

[TheBrakShow]

The Japanese 2.0 firmware was also updated slightly. However, it still shares the same version number as the update released earlier.
More info here: PSP Updates

Oh, and if you updated to the Japanese 2.0 firmware already, you cannot update to the US version released today.

Ironically Day after Snes emulator at full speed

[marcybots]

This awesome firware update ironically comes out in america the day after the supernintendo emulator for the PSP is able to run Super metroid and 90% of all super nintendo games at 60 frames per second (full speed) with zero frame skip since it can take advantage of speed hacks. Even final final fantasy III can run at almost full speed (dips slightly when entering combat to 55 frames a second). Talk about bad timing.
      Its much better super nintendo emulation than any five month old system has any right having, I really wish that sony would wise up start issuing its formal stamp of approval to emulators so and certain other homebrew apps so there would be no other legitimate excuse for non-pirates not to upgrade their psp firmware, I would upgrade it in a minute if sony was selling a official genesis emulator made by sega that ran at full speed and cost like ten dollars.

Couch 2.0

[blueZhift]

w00t! Now I can sit on the couch and surf the web on my PSP with Sony's blessing. I must say that when I bought my PSP a few days ago, the 2.0 update was one of the main things I was waiting for. While I don't really care much for convergence devices, I was attracted by the prospect of doing things with the PSP that take advantage of its great video display other than games.

Re:Couch 2.0

[SomeOtherGuy]

w00t! Now I can sit on the couch and surf the web on my PSP with Sony's blessing. I must say that when I bought my PSP a few days ago, the 2.0 update was one of the main things I was waiting for. While I don't really care much for convergence devices, I was attracted by the prospect of doing things with the PSP that take advantage of its great video display other than games.

I think browsing the web on such a small screen is a cool thing in theory, but the novelty of "being able to do it" never quite is enough to support the practice of doing it. I have had the ability to use my PPC browser and wireless connection on many occasion, and none of them have many very memorable, especially considering that I had this "old fasioned" thing with a full sized keyboard and monitor that could do 1024X768 called a laptop that tends to make the experience much better.

Actual progress made on hacking 2.0 by WAB ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Posted over at DCEmu Forums http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t= 9716 The Wab team have uncovered an exploit for the new firmware?? How To : !!! HOW use it !!! Put your two folders on your games folders and run it .your game boot and freeze your psps on white screen .after your psps shutdown it's because your second eboot.pbp like on kxploit "From pspsdev team for psp 1.5" is corrupted juste find teh 02000800 and replace the 08 by 01 for test in the header of your elf it's easy but it's proof concept the psp 2.0 can read the elf but in another format . More at that link --> http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t= 9716

Re:Actual progress made on hacking 2.0 by WAB ?

[springbox]

juste find teh 02000800 and replace

I wish more people commited to the scientific process would get so excited that they started spewing thing out like "we just isolated teh carbon atomz in our mixture! ROX!" in press releases

Re:Actual progress made on hacking 2.0 by WAB ?

[Anonymous Coward]

What the hell does that say in english? I don't mean in non technical terms either. I mean actual english.

Re:Actual progress made on hacking 2.0 by WAB ?

[RealErmine]

replace the 08 by 01 for test in the header of your elf

I don't know what you're saying, but stay away from my elf!

Forced firmware updates

[Digital_Quartz]

Forced firmware updates on new games WOULD be an intelligent way to enforce copy protection, but first they'd have to come out with new games that aren't just ports of PS2 games, you know, that someone might actually buy.

PSP 2.0 and Airport Extreme WPA

[BMonger]

If you have an Airport Extreme base station and cannot get your PSP connected via WPA you need to install the 5.5.1 firmware on your Airport Extreme (possible a "downgrade").

Spent a good while troubleshooting then googling till I arrived at this.

Re:PSP 2.0 and Airport Extreme WPA

[dtfarmer]

And likewise, if you are using Airport Express, you need to downgrade from firmware 6.2 to the 6.1.1 firmware.

The reason for both of these upgrades was improved WPA2 support which apparently uses a different encryption (AEBS) than standard WPA Personal. The PSP apparently doesn't support the newer standard just the older one.

On emultaors and piracy

[Digital_Quartz]

I really wish that sony would wise up start issuing its formal stamp of approval to emulators so and certain other homebrew apps so there would be no other legitimate excuse for non-pirates not to upgrade their psp firmware

Because no one using an emulator is a pirate. All those roms, they ripped themselves from the cartridges.

Re:On emultaors and piracy

[smackjer]

Is it only legal if you ripped the ROM yourself? What if you own the cartridge, but download the ROM?

Re:On emultaors and piracy

[Rude Turnip]

"What if you own the cartridge, but download the ROM?"

The actual copyright violation occurs when someone uploads (ie distributes) the ROM. However, you're better off ripping your own ROMs in the event the uploader gets sued and his logs are subpoenaed. Anyway, most old NES carts going for $2-$3 at the game stores nowadays.

Re:On emultaors and piracy

[Guppy06]

"Anyway, most old NES carts going for $2-$3 at the game stores nowadays."

Yeah but you're not gonna dump those NES carts very easily any time soon.

Re:On emultaors and piracy

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, you're only allowed to have a copy for backup purposes if the backup is an identical copy. So your ROMs would have to stay as ROMs. (This applies only to computer programs as a specific exception of copying without permission).

The only time you can have a copy in a different format is if you can prove you're a developer working on a project needing it. Connectix used this as a defense during the Sony v. Connectix on the Virtual Game Station thing, and one of the complaints was that COnnectix had an illegal dump of the PSX BIOS on his hard drive.

Re:On emultaors and piracy

[Anonymous Coward]

Hogwash. So that means that MP3's are even more illegal, since you're completely modifying the original binary data and compressing it?

ROM images are binary-identical to the carts they came from. If you built a cart to replace a broken one, then it would work perfectly.

Try thinking of fair use. If I have a ROM image that is binary-identical to a cartridge I have sitting here, how are you going to prove that the ROM image did not come from that cartridge?

Also, the Library of Congress hashed out exemptions to the anti-circumvention provision of the DMCA, and one of those exemptions was for video game software for an obsolete system. Which means that I would safely say that anything prior to the PSX era would be legally dumpable.

In fact, I would even say it would be legal to offer a commercial ROM dumping service for such "obsolete" consoles. Charge someone $5 a pop for them to send you the cart, you dump it, and then send the physical cart back to them with the ROM image in the same box. As long as you don't distribute the ROMs to anyone else other than the legal owner of the cart, then you should be fully in the clear.

Re:On emultaors and piracy

[KillShill]

roms from 10-15 years ago.

copyright extends to infinity, hence the right of the public to take back what lawfully belongs to them. the laws that "lobbyists" bought and paid for are not for the benefit of the public and society, hence the laws are naturally offensive.

Re:On emultaors and piracy

[iibagod]

What? You're using Bittorrent? You dirty pirate, you MUST be downloading music and videos!

If I own the cartridge (many of which I do), then it's perfectly legal to own the ROM. Just because a percieved percentage of the population of emulator users are infringing copyright (not pirating, yar) doesn't mean emulators (the programs and the people using them) are inherently illegal.

But you should all know by now that companies rarely sanction anything they don't get their greedy little hands on. Why approve of homebrew apps, when they can simply sell their own at a low low price. It's the American Way, don'tyaknow.

Re:On emultaors and piracy

[miyako]

actually, dumping roms off of NES, SNES, N64, etc. carts is fairly trivial. It's not like ripping a DVD or something where you have to break encryption, rip, un-encode, re-encode, etc. Basically you buy a small piece of hardware that runs about $20. Plug it into your computer, plug the cart in and your good to go.

Re:On emultaors and piracy

[Guppy06]

"dumping roms off of NES, SNES, N64, etc. carts is fairly trivial."

No, dumping SNES and N64 games are trivial, dumping NES carts is a black art, practically requiring a unique solution for every cart (because the carts contain hardware of their own, which is how you could play Super Mario Bros. 3 on a system designed for Donkey Kong). There is no plug-and-play device that you can buy that will let you dump NES or Famicom carts into a PC-readable format.

"Basically you buy a small piece of hardware that runs about $20. "

And you left a zero off of your price tag.

Re:Will this work on the XBOX??

[Anonymous Coward]

that's funny! i have a friend that would be interested in seeing more pictures such as this. please tell me where to find them!

It's called the DS upgrade.

[Viewsonic]

In all seriousness, it is absolutely amazing to see so many companies who want to get into the handheld market fail so miserably. It is like a voodoo curse on anyone other than Nintendo that even thinks of trying to break into the market. Sony came out with this very fast, slick handheld, and.. then.. nothing! They release it all at different times all over the world basically forcing people to buy the competition. It's like Sony gave up at the last minute or something out of nowhere. Huge shortage of decent games to buy, and even the ones that are worth buying are priced right out of the handhedl market! Have you even seen how much the PSP movies cost?? You can go buy the DVD which is higher quality, tons of extras for around $10-15 at places, or you can buy the PSP version that is lower res, virtually no extras, and costs $30!! Did some marketing goon just show up on launch day and say "Hey, lets set prices for this stuff so no one buys it!!" and they all went "Okay!!"??

Seriously, where is all the sensible PSP marketing? I sometimes wonder if Nintendo plants people into other companies that have any sort of draw and have them derail their products on purpose. It is just UNREAL how bad everyone has failed trying to get into the handheld market.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[radish]

I'd agree with you except for the fact that UMD movies are selling amazingly well. No, I don't know why, and yes, they are a rip off, but hey.

As for failing miserably in general, I really don't think that's the case. As a new entrant into the market they have snapped up a pretty decent share of the market in both Japan and the US. I know my local EB Games has (and sells) more PSP stuff than DS. As for the games being good, I posted here previously that if you go to metacritic and compare DS to PSP you get a considerably higher number (and percentage) of games for the PSP rated highly. Whilst the PSP lineup is certainly not stellar right now (quiet summer season), there are some great games out there - Wipeout, Ridge Racers, Lumines & Mercury are all ones I really like. Others rave about MGA, Twisted Metal, etc. Looking at the currently available DS games, well, only a few really appeal to me at all. Sure there are supposed to be some good ones coming down the line, but they're not here yet.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[kin_korn_karn]

Maybe in today's world of 5-second attention spans, the LAST company to market wins.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[Anonymous Coward]

People really think it's failed? Wow... They've managed to pick up a nice share of the market for not only it being their first handheld out of the gate, but also being more expensive than the competition. They managed to have a launch with a wide selection of titles with some excellent titles released within the first two months. That's a failure? While the DS launched with little to no good new content, and up until only extremely recently had next to nothing titlewise that couldn't have been done on the GBA. If anything people are caught up more in names than quality and THAT is why the competition has failed. Sony hasn't though, and their share will only grow over Christmas and as the price drops and FINALLY Nintendo will have a reason to actually try in the handheld market again.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[cbreaker]

Could you repeat the end? I only got up to the comma before my mind drifted away.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[Jonny_eh]

Alright you asked for it!

Awesome DS games available now (and not on any other systems):
Meteos (better than Lumines!)
Kirby's Canvas Curse
Advance Wars Dual Strike
Nintendogs
Warioware touched
Yoshi Touch & Go

Awesome PSP games available now (and not on any other systems):
Lumines

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[badasscat]

I'd agree with you except for the fact that UMD movies are selling amazingly well.

They're not selling "amazingly well" - the top ones have sold around 100,000 copies worldwide. That's 1/10 what a popular game sells and about 1/100 what a popular DVD sells. Granted, it's with a fairly small installed base of systems, but I'd call that number "decent", not "amazing".

Even "decent" is pretty surprising, though.

As for failing miserably in general, I really don't think that's the case. As a new entrant into the market they have snapped up a pretty decent share of the market in both Japan and the US.

Yeah, but they have spent a TON more on marketing and R&D than Nintendo has, and the system itself costs them more to make. How long are they going to keep this up?

I mean there's really no secret to selling stuff. Put out a good product and price it right and people will buy it. That doesn't mean you'll make money on it, though. I could sell a plasma HDTV for ten bucks and I'm sure I'd sell millions of them and take a nice chunk of market share from the likes of Panasonic and Sony. But I'd be in the poorhouse when all was said and done, so would it be worth it?

All of Nintendo's competitors had mildly successful launches that were similar (in their times) to the PSP launch. But it was all downhill from there, and that's the same thing that's happening now. US hardware numbers are hard to find but we do know that in Japan, the DS is gaining steam while the PSP is fading. (Every week, the gap in hardware sales gets wider - at this point, the DS outsells the PSP by about 2:1.) With the release of Nintendogs here, I would expect a similar gap would open in the US. Sony's own published sales numbers worldwide have not been all that impressive in comparison with Nintendo's.

And that's with Sony trying really hard. Once they decide they don't have the stomach for this anymore - which everyone else has eventually, and Sony will too with the financials they've got at the moment - things will probably just get worse. I mean, Nintendo's practically on cruise control with the DS and they're already winning.

Sony could have done something with the PS3 to promote sales of the PSP, but they didn't. Stick a UMD drive in there, make the system compatible, heck, make it a UMD writer. No such luck, and that's an ace Sony had up their sleeve that they didn't take advantage of.

I wouldn't write off the PSP completely. Things can always turn around. But the parallels to past Game Boy competitors just can't be ignored at this point.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[jiushao]

It is of course different for different people, but I simply cannot take the loading times of Ridge Racer (haven't tried Wipeout so I don't know how the loading is). It is a slight annoyance on consoles, but to me it is a fatal flaw in a handheld. The most important use I get out of a handheld is the oops-15-minutes-of-random-free-time-playing. As such I need the game to be quick to get going or I wont bother playing.

I hope that the later generation PSP games shape up on the technical side, but also in the style. Porting older console games over does not really yield what I am after in many cases, often they require a longer time playing each time you start to get entertaining.

It would be a shame if Nintendo's monopoly in handheld gaming survived, some good competition would be nice. But I really have to favor Nintendo this time around. The PSP is beautiful and powerful, but the DS is cheap, more scratch-resistant, more innovative and the game library looks better.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[phxbadash]

In your opinion. In my opinion all those games look like ass.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[Anonymous Coward]

Look like ass? Maybe, but are they fun to play? Who cares about graphics. (Note: I'm a 3D Animator)

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[Billly Gates]

I see alot of young college folks around school and work with PSP's. They do not seem to be a flop.

  How many have been sold and how many games are there?

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[Burpmaster]

if you go to metacritic and compare DS to PSP you get a considerably higher number (and percentage) of games for the PSP rated highly.

Let's look at each list, sorted by score: DS and PSP. So, what's a good score? 85? Then the DS has 4 good games and the PSP has 3.

After subtracting two extra versions of Nintendogs from the DS's list:
80? DS: 8, PSP: 7
75? DS: 11, PSP: 11
70? DS: 20, PSP: 17
65? DS: 25, PSP: 21

You weren't comparing the averages scores between systems were you? That penalizes a system for games that you won't even be buying, operating under the assumption that you can't control which games you'll get. Even so, I've heard people talk like it's a valid criteria, so let's look at the results (again, after removing two duplicate Nintendogs scores of 84). The DS averages 69.03, and the PSP averages 70.13. Looks like the DS has mostly recovered by now from the early titles Ping Pals, Sprung, and Pokemon Dash.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[apoc06]

just to comment on the umd sales. 100k for a single umd is excellent considering how long it took dvd sales to reach that point. to compare the psp to current console sales and current dvd sales is difficult to do. compare the install base and the amount of sales, and you understand how major that is.

as more and more AAA titles start appearing on the horizon, i think the psp will fare better, but until we start to see something other than the squareenix and capcom and konamis first attempts on a then-untested system, we have no idea what the psp is capable of.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[PeelBoy]

I'll tell you why. Because there are only like 2 games worth buying for the PSP so if you want to enjoy your beautiful new $250 toy you have to watch UMD movies on it or surf the web with the new 2.0 upgrade. Otherwise it'll just sit there collecting dust like the one at my house.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[apoc06]

yeah, exactly... the ds has rebounded from its early poor scores. it kills me that now that the psp is in its post-launch rut/ absense of titles period, you guys are writing it off. the ds faltered after the launch window and are pushing out some titles now and through the holiday season. the psp looks like its going to push out titles during the autumn-holiday season. then we can compare again.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[FidelCatsro]

Your arse is shaped like a Green dinosaur ???

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[Anonymous Coward]

Awesome DS games available now (and not on any other systems):
Meteos (better than Lumines!)
Kirby's Canvas Curse
Advance Wars Dual Strike
Nintendogs
Warioware touched
Yoshi Touch & Go

To a 10 year old or a high school girl, no doubt they seem awesome. Get real. Where's the real games.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[PeelBoy]

And with the exception of Lumines those PSP games are all ports of games that are better on the PS2.

All 4 of the listed DS games are UNIQUE.

Also take a look at what is out in Japan and soon to be out in US and that'll add another few games in the DS favor and then on top of that look at the list of games coming out in the next year on the DS

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[superpulpsicle]

I agree with the AC. My 10 year old cousins would find that list childish. You can't possibly expect an adult to buy a DS based on that list.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[apoc06]

five million handhelds sold and it hasnt been launched in europe yet. compared with 6, almost 7 million DS unit sales worldwide.

psp software sales are around $11 million.

there are about 40 games available for the psp. i dont recall DS game numbers

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[buffer-overflowed]

Only deeply immature and insecure people care if something is childish. Oh and teenagers.

Grow up already.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[buffer-overflowed]

Try 2 million PSP sales to 6 million DS sales, with DS sales outpacing PSP sales by a factor of 2:1 in Japan since March. 1 million of those DS sales were in Europe, primarily the UK. Stats posted just under a month ago when last we got a peek at financials.

The DS outsold the PSP in ALL regions by a factor of 2:1 including the US. Worldwide it was 3:1. If the PSP manages to equal DS sales in Europe when it's released it will only narrow the lead down to 2:1. Titles on the PSP simply are not moving off shelves at any real pace. Swallow the pill already Sony fans.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[marsonist]

UMDs are actually the same resolution as DVDs, however the psp scales them down for it smaller screen.

"SCEI has yet to announce UMD support in products beyond the PSP, but it has talked about the possibility of making it a common format for a family of gadgets. Should this happen, the UMD movies may benefit from future players with larger screens. The movies are stored on the discs at a resolution of 720 pixels by 480 pixels, says Chatani. That's the same resolution as DVD." http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,1201 13,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp (SCEI = Sony Computer Entertainment... Chatani = Masa Chatani, corporate executive and chief technology officer of SCEI)

Sony intended from the get go on standalone players and recorded the movies accordingly. Some question the size or the quality of a 1.8GB UMD disc compared to the average 7 GB DVD. Most UMDs don't feature the same amount of extra footage, although most contain at least some... Most of the extra storage is gained through the use of Mpeg4 compression, as opposed to the much older and less efficient Mpeg2 that DVDs use.

They are costly, but so is any new format. They are currently selling like hotcakes, and prices should drop to 12-15$ within the next year for the average movie.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[apoc06]

lets take a look at your cited sources.

your sources:
http://www.the-magicbox.com/topten.htm
this shows that sales during the first week of august the DS outsold the psp. cool, but if you look at the total numbers for the year, the psp is only behind by 100,000 sales.

also, your link shows that there is a very close gap in the japanese market, but we all know how nintendogs "supposedly" boosted DS sales in that region, so why is the gap so close still?

http://psp.ign.com/articles/637/637526p1.html
the article doesnt cite any sources, or give a date for its figures. those could be figures from march for all we know. not your fault, you just didnt realize that is the mark of a bad reporter.

for example:
http://www.pspworld.com/sony-psp/psp/psp-by-the-nu mbers-001026.php

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[Anonymous Coward]

OK, I agree that the "childish" tag is pretty lame. But come on. Nintendogs? How many adults do you know that say "Gee, I really don't have enough responsibilities in my life. Let me get a virtual pet simulator" I'll put my money on that it's the same contingent that can't imagine life without Incredimail ("But look, 6,000 animated smilies in my email... set across a bald eagle background image... and typeset in Comic Sans.")

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[buffer-overflowed]

Quite a few engage in virtual simulations or take on responsibilities in virtual environments. Anyone in an MMORPG guild or anyone who agonized over their sims. Anyone who joins and actively participates in an online community. I mean, it's not unheard of.

Every game is to a certain extent a complete waste of time. It's a leisure pursuit.

People who live in cities and can't own a pet but want one might be interested in an excellent virtual pet simulator. If it's exceptionally good you have a perpetual virtual puppy, with ALL that entails.

Shrug, it doesn't appeal much to me because I happen not to like the genre it belongs to in general, not because it's childish, too cutesy, or anything. I still might change my mind if I ever get a crack at playing it, who knows?

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[DeadScreenSky]

Advance Wars and Warioware count as exclusive DS games but Wipeout Pure, the new Ridge Racer, Metal Gear Acid, etc., don't? Wow, fanboy alert!

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[buffer-overflowed]

First off, last year the DS sold over 1 million units in japan to the PsPs 250,000(rounded down from 254 or something like that). You have to have been following the sales numbers to see the trend reverse post-holiday season however. Prior to march the PSP played catch-up to the DS(selling 700,000 or so units in those 3 months when supply finally rehit while DS sales were low), when nintendogs hit the trend reversed and has remained that way more or less ever since. The DS catching back up and keeping it's 2xlead.

You can probably retrace this by trolling through old fanboy forum posts somewhere.

What you're doing is confusing shipped(sold to retailers or in the supply chain) with sold to customers. My numbers are the number that were sold to customers as of the end of last month(minus some retailers like wal-mart we just can't track). Read sony's statements carefully(that's the source for the psp.ign article as best as I can tell). You'll get it. Basically there are 5 million PSPs out there, but only just under half of them are in customer hands.

They use the same shipped statistic for games, which I have no corrolary for when it comes to actual retail sales.

At least that's my read. Nintendo otoh(and the Japanese figures seem to bear this out) is stating how many units retailers actually sold as opposed to how many they've sent out.

If you want the US market statistics from a retail standpoint you're gonna need to get an actual report. They're horrible to track down, so we generally end up looking at the figures given by the company who produces the product. Blame wal-mart.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[Doctor_Jest]

UMDs are "yet another format" to buy something in. Other than portability, which portable DVD players already offer, there is nothing compelling someone to go out and buy all their movies on UMD (after getting them on DVD) just to watch them on a train. At least not in the short term. Perhaps Sony can hold the public over a barrel and only release some movies on UMD... you never know... since they are a movie studio too.

UMD has little to do in comparison to how DVD sales went during the infancy of DVD. The DVD format was, at the start, being forked into DiVX and DVD... consumers took their time adopting it (after the Beta/VHS fun of the previous generation) until they could reasonably see that one was going to take off. At least that's what I did. Most people just bought a DiVX player (because it played DVDs too) and didn't buy DiVX movies because the format sucked balls. But looking back, I was in no hurry to buy movies for a format that was going to go the way of the Betamax. (in case people were dumb enough to swallow the "rent model" DiVX was peddling.)

UMD is just a small, proprietary format by Sony (like the Memory Stick *phooey!*), and is in a market that already has a portable solution for movies that doesn't require buying them on YET ANOTHER format that is incompatible with everything else. Portable DVDs have been affordable for quite a while... Portable DVD players can be had for $99 now... or less, I believe.)

IOW, there is no "niche" that UMD can settle in, and I think we'll see that in the long term sales numbers... (the PSP's only been out 6 months... not enough time for a "trend" ;) Sony's notorious for ignoring established formats in favor of their "own solutions" and the way they handle them sometimes (cost, licensing, better standard solutions and so forth) it's amazing they make any sales at all (Minidisc crippling anyone? :) heheh)

Even Sony admitted their portable music player needed to use a standard format, after first attempting to sell it and get everyone to adopt their own, proprietary format.

I despise Sony's efforts in this regard... we don't NEED yet another format.... They can keep their "Memory Stick MagicGate, Duo, Three-o, cheerio", whatever...

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[apoc06]

dvd vs divx? you mean vcd?

the only difference is that people are adopting UMD quicker because sony learned that once people have the player already, people will buy the movies. take the ps2 for example. it helped the dvd become adopted by the mainstream rather quickly, all things considered. even if the psp only sold games, its a good enough standard for that. not to mention that proprietary formats used to be a standard when it came to handhelds and consoles. i mean, when was the last time someone complained that they couldnt play their ds cartridges on their dvd player? the fact that the psp also plays movies is an afterthought, and to many people [not all] apparently a pretty smart idea. they have the sales, and the movie studios behind them to prove it. whether it works out in the long term is anyones guess, but so far it has turned out pretty well.

there is a niche for the psp. maybe not the same niche that portable consoles have usually aimed for, but theres a niche still. mainly travelers, young american males, and japanese businessmen, not necessarily commuter travelers.

i think of the story of how the walkman was created, and i imagine the psp was created in the same vein. some guy said, i love my playstation and the games, but i want to take it with me when i travel on business. i have a laptop already, but its huge, heavy and underpowered when it comes to triple A titles. he goes to the r&d dept and asks for them to whip up a playstation he can take with him, but he wants to stop carrying so many gadgets at once. so he gets them to add music to it so he doesnt have to always carry his ipod. he gets them to add the ability to play movies so he can copy the dvds he already owns to it so he can watch them on the go. and sometimes because he wants to watch something new in near dvd quality, he gets them to add the ability to play movies off the same discs that the games come on, since they are smaller and sturdier than his dvds. sure you can already do these things with some devices, but never all with one device out of the box.

no one needs yet another format, but if the psp was bought strictly for games, you wouldnt care; the games could only be played on the psp anyways, regardless of the format.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[MyDixieWrecked]

If UMD movies are selling so well, it's probably because kids who managed to get their parents to buy them a PSP for their birthday or whatever, probably got it instead of a DVD player, so now, UMD is their only option if they want to watch movies on their own hardware. (assuming they don't watch on their computer).

I dunno. I can't even watch UMD movies on mine. I've got a japanese unit. Although I made the mistake of upgrading to 1.50. At least I can pop video onto the memory stick and watch stuff on there.

Brak Show

[Anonymous Coward]

Will this result in a firmware upgrade for Thunderclese?

PSP: DOA.

[Mori Chu]

Call me a troll or flamebaiter, but can we just pronounce the PSP dead and move on? It's too expensive. It has way too few tolerable games. I was at Fry's the other day and all they really have for it are little crappy proprietary movies you're supposed to watch on a 2" screen, and cannot be watched on any other device. Ridiculous!

Why don't the fanboys who gobbled up this overpriced paperweight just concede that it's failing? The only neat thing to do with a PSP appears to be hacking it to make it into a console that actually *WAS* good, such as making it emulate a NES or SNES. But Sony of course disables that with each new firmware upgrade.

Re:PSP: DOA.

[Anonymous Coward]

What next old man, you gonna yell at us to get off your fsck'ing lawn?

Re:PSP: DOA.

[Galaxie]

Trolling, Trolling, Trolling, Keep that Baby Trolling...

Re:PSP: DOA.

[radish]

OK: you're a troll, and your message is flamebait.

It's also crap. According to metacritic:

DS has 13 "good" games out of 38 total (and 3 of those are the same game - Nintendogs).

PSP has 11 "good" games out of 30 total.

That's not a particularly big difference - there are plenty of good games for the PSP, maybe your local Frys had just sold out of them?

The screen is considerably larger than 2", movies look very good on it, although I obviously don't buy UMD movies. Ripping DVDs to flash memory is a lot more sensible.

If you don't want it, fine, but it is anything but a paperweight. That award would go to my GBA SP which is gathering dust.

Re:PSP: DOA.

[Anonymous Coward]

if you forget the fact that 90% of those psp games are sports games or ports of games that are BETTER on the ps2 and also don't take into consideration FUTURE games on both systems in which the DS has a ton of more interesting looking games coming out .

Re:PSP: DOA.

[Anonymous Coward]

The DS plays GBA games. How come you didn't metacritic the GBA's library for "good" games?....

Wab Exploit for V2.0 Already

[Busshy]

Just read over at http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/ that someone has posted news of a possible exploit of the new firmware, on the day sony release it in the USA.

Re:Wab Exploit for V2.0 Already

[Anonymous Coward]

If this is true it shows one thing: Crackers don't care about useful hacks, they just want to show off. If you really want a crack to be useful, you have to wait until large numbers of people have the product. At such an early stage, it will allow the company to patch it again - before many units are sold with the crackable version.

So where's a screenshot of the browser?

[blakespot]

The browser has been kicking around for a few weeks, right? I've not seen one photo or screenshot of it. Is it worth flashing my first gen (in the US) PSP and losing the ability to boot "homebrew" games to use this browser? What sort of keyboard metaphor does it have? Does it support JS? SSL? Flash?

Thanks.

blakespot

Re:So where's a screenshot of the browser?

[Loonacy]

While I don't really have a place to host a picture, I do have the 2.0 web browser. It's pretty nice, although I'm still not sure I like the keyboard. It's still the mobile-phone type interface, with .com, .net, .html, and other extensions added on.
If anyone has a place to host the pictures, I'd be glad to take a few and email them to you.

Re:So where's a screenshot of the browser?

[Loonacy]

By the way, I'm sure it supports JS and CSS, but i'm not sure about SSL or Flash.

Re:So where's a screenshot of the browser?

[radish]

It looks pretty nice, and is remarkably compatible with most sites. Navigation takes a bit of getting used to, as does text entry (it uses the same keypad as the rest of the PSP interface). Features:

JS: Yes
SSL: Yes
Flash: No
Java: No
ActiveX: No
CSS: Yes

Re:So where's a screenshot of the browser?

[blakespot]

Yes - email them to me at blake [at] blakespot[dot]com and I will post them and provide link. Thanks.

blakespot

Re:So where's a screenshot of the browser?

[dim5]

hmm... I'm still not sold. If I could watch homestar emails and possibly play flash games on it, it would fall into the fun part of the web that I think fits in with the other features of the PSP.

I know, this is Slashdot... I should get modded as a troll for not calling Flash the devil and posting a link to Adblock. All I'm saying is flash would be a big plus and maybe a selling point for me.

Re:So where's a screenshot of the browser?

[Zarel]

Just use imageshack.us.

It's really tragic ...

[Overneath42]

When the biggest news attached to your next-gen handheld is whether or not it's possible to play 10-year-old games on it.

Re:It's really tragic ...

[Anonymous Coward]

I think whats tragic is how sony keeps making it harder for me to buy a psp.

right now, i have a gameboy advance sp, and i love it, because i CAN get 10 year old games to play on it AS WELL as the newer games that are available for gba. when you got a next gen product that should be kicking the buttox of previous handhelds, but yet, it can't because of the restrictions put on it.. i think that's tragic.

on a side note.. i would fork out 300 bucks for hardware in a second if i had the option to run my favorite games that i currently can on my gba. but sony doesn't want me to have fun, just spend money on thier bullshit games that i'm sure "look" pretty, but are they fun?

Re:It's really tragic ...

[Anonymous Coward]

What's really tragic is that you somehow think your remark is novel. Or interesting. Or wanted.

Re:Ironically Day after Snes emulator at full spee

[buffer-overflowed]

I would think the reason to own a console would be that it had good games not that you could pirate games from a console that WAS good and at the same time dish out a financial blow to the company that MADE those consoles in the first place.

Great idea, let's support Sony! Not Gizmondo which is built solely for homebrew, or Nintendo who has not only taken a hands-off stance towards it but actually published or developed the games you intend to play.

Oh and the Sony option is also the most expensive? Really?

Wow. Can we just all admit the PSP is Gamegear 2.0 and move on already. I know some of you stupidly got burnt for $300+ but hey, a lot of us tried to warn you.

Europe is still waiting for v1.0

[dascandy]

If they'd just sell the stuff here... we might consider upgrading...

Re:Europe is still waiting for v1.0

[solive1]

When it does come out in Europe, you won't have a choice. All European PSPs will have firmware 2.0 loaded from the factory.

Re:Europe is still waiting for v1.0

[Anonymous Coward]

All European PSPs will have firmware 2.0 loaded from the factory

Ha, wishful thinker!

Re:Europe is still waiting for v1.0

[solive1]

Don't believe me? See for yourself.

Better Technology

[Anonymous Coward]

The thing is that since day one, every person who has tried to compete with Nintendo's handhelds has gone "That thing is a piece of crap. I can easily build something technologically superior to that." And then they go and build something that absolutely smashes the current Nintendo product in terms of horsepower. The Game Gear, the PSP, the Neo Geo Portable, the N-Gage, the Nomad; they're all designed around the assumption that like in the console space, people are dieing to get the next great leap forward and that horsepower sells games.

They're wrong

Handhelds are too small to appreciate horsepower past a certain degree; while there is a difference, is anyone going to notice a slightly crisper texture on a QVGA screen not wider than your index finger is long? And are customers going to care that you can play movies, when many of them only use these devices for 10-15 minutes at a time?

No.

These unreal failures are going to keep going and going until Nintendo competitors realize the same thing that Nintendo(and to a lesser extent, the cell phone providers) have: it's the games, stupid. All the features in the world won't move your product if customers don't have meaningful things to do on it, and TV tuners, movie players, calling capabilities, and web browsers are not meaningful things for a device that small. The meaningful thing to do on these devices is to game, and Sony & company are not going to capture Nintendo's market segment until they are ready to compete on Nintendo's home turf by providing reasonable devices(Game Gear need not apply) and great games.

The GBA series didn't sell 100 million units because they were chic, after all.

Re:Better Technology

[apoc06]

i agree with you to an extent.

where i see the psp succeeding where others failed is also in the name[s]. sony is now known as a competent console creator. before now, only sega and nintendo had that general name recognition. you can say playstation and non-gamers know what youre talking about. people trust the playstation name for games. they trust that sony games [overall] arent all crap. sega did well against the gameboy, but various mistakes on their part as a company doomed the fledgling system [well, all their systems for that matter].

also, i agree with you about games. many companies will obviously try the ol' "lets port this famous series to the portable" trick. [which is one of the psps' current failures], but for now at least the psp has many big time developers devoted to making their nickels and dimes off of the psp. all it takes is a few more A level games for the system to push the psp out of the same category as the gamegear. we are still really only looking at the launch titles, more will follow and they will use the hardware much more efficiently [re: loading time, game length, and production values]

i dont understand why people claim that the system is so doomed for failure. as of june, the psp had already sold 5 million units at least, and thats before its even released in europe. the gamegear on the other hand sold 8 million during its entire lifecycle. to put it in perspective. that matches:

a quarter of the worldwide xbox sales total.
a third of worldwide gamecube sales total.

http://forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid=84 98&page=2

keep in mind that those systems have been available for years now. the psp has only been available for four months in the us [at the time of the statistics] and isnt even available yet in europe! come on, its got a fight on its hands for sure, but dead? i dont foresee that... people said the same thing when sony announced the playstation.

The book's out on the DS, still, too

[ianscot]

Nintendo did just drop their price on the DS by twenty bucks, yes? Along with the delay on the new Zelda title, they wanted some more palatable news, partly. But that can't mean sales are all that amazing, can it?

Honestly, I think Nintendo is having trouble getting a range of the natural titles out for it, too. The stylus (for quick environment interactions), the extra screen (for stats and inventory), and the networking (for your party) would make this a killer handheld for RPGs -- it could be the platform for the most accessible, beloved MMORPGs around. I don't see those titles out there.

This was supposed to push their demographic older and broader. It seems like the really fun titles with some "buzz" on the DS are Nintendogs, the networked update to (the charming and underrated) Animal Crossing, and the Kirby thing that uses the stylus so well. Those are pitched squarely at the same audience they already had with the GBA series.

At best the DS is holding serve so far, I'm thinking. This from someone who bought one for his two 12-year-olds.

Re:The book's out on the DS, still, too

[fistfullast33l]

Well said. I personally think that the only people buying the DS right now are the groupies and parents for their children. The PSP guarantees that the DS will not penetrate the adult market very much. The minute you show your friend that you have a web browser, movie player, and video game console all in one, they're going to want one. Immediately. Add to it the possibility of sharing photos and listening to music and it instantly becomes a great deal for $250. The DS, on the other hand, was built exclusively for games. While many will argue the games for the DS are better right now, I'll point out that the games coming out for the PSP are targeted right to adults. I don't want to play some dumb Yoshi or Wario game. I want my shooters , my GTA, and my RPGs. You can have your puzzle games that use the "groundbreaking" mechanic of a stylus. I just want to blow shit up.

Re:The book's out on the DS, still, too

[shawngarringer]

But whats the average age of MMRPG games though? I think the majority of those people are definatly in the 20+ age range, and they're all into Zelda, and other Nintendo franchises. The PSP has a cool tech factor, but I don't want to "blow shit up" on a handheld. I want something that can keep me entertained, its too hard to kill 10 minutes "blowing shit up" when you can spend 10 minutes moving along further in a qwest... -Shawn

Re:The book's out on the DS, still, too

[Anonymous Coward]

The PSP guarantees that the DS will not penetrate the adult market very much.

It's pretty clear that by "adult" you mean the 15-25 demographic.

I'm loving it!

[stlthVector]

I'd like it more if it would let me run homebrew apps and emulators but this is a good update.

I haven't gotten to play with it much but they did improve the text entry system a little. Now you can see the characters each button can produce as you're cycling through them. I still wish they would have add a quarty keyboard option. Maybe 2.1:)

Also, the browser seems much faster than the WipeOut one. It also has page viewing modes like NetFront - best fit, smart fit, and normal. You can set the cache up to 2MB and it at least supports Java Script. Hit the triangle to slide the top and bottom menu options on and off the screen - very slick!

Re:Ironically Day after Snes emulator at full spee

[Anonymous Coward]

Total troll...

wake me up....

[cataclyst]

when you're done babbling...

Re:wake me up....

[milktoastman]

Oh well...they've gave me a pity point.

v2.0

[Anonymous Coward]

the v1.52 and v2.0 firmware fixes the exploit that was found in the eboot code, allowing people to run homebrew games as well as isos from the memory stick. Up here in canada the umd movies are 20$-30$ cdn considerably less then in the united states, I could goto walmart and then flip the movies on ebay for a profit. Right now I'm just rencoding my dvds to a lower format that I can fit on my 1gb stick, theres no good movies out anyway on umd. The nes/snes emulators are great. Whoever has a 1.5 and updates has to question themselves. Also there is a web browser in wipeout you can get to.

Most-talked about.

[LightningBolt!]

> one of the most-talked about firmware revisions I can remember

Ah, but that's only because you are too young to remember all the hype surrounding the great 3.0.4-beta2 Japanese Abacus firmware revision of 1672.

Browser User Agent

[zensmile]

Mozilla/4.0+(PSP+(PlayStation+Portable);+2.00)

Enjoy.

Paint Shop Pro?

[evilandi]

Surely Paint Shop Pro is beyond v2 by now?

More seriously, it is about time Sony found some original acronyms. We had enough trouble distinguishing PS2 (the Sony games console) from PS/2 (IBM's Personal System Two, a late 80's next-generation PC design, from which the well-known mouse and keyboard socket standards originated). Now the same bunch of elderly spods is going to have the same trouble with PSP, and this time there's no stroke/slash to assist.

(I wish I still had my Model 80 IBM PS/2 complete with its "Danger! Heavy! Two men required to lift!" sticker).

Re:Paint Shop Pro?

[makomk]

Agreed - the naming is confusing. For example, one Argos catalog referred to some of the mice it was selling as Playstation2 mice (when really they were PS/2!)

Note to USians: Argos is the name of a chain of large UK retailers. They have a thick (1000-page or so) catalog, which is updated twice-yearly and lists all their products.

Re:Paint Shop Pro?

[PeelBoy]

hahaha thats pretty funny

Re:Paint Shop Pro?

[Prophet of Nixon]

When I first saw 'PSP' I immediately thought of an old HK P7 pistol I used to have... the original one was called a 'PSP'.

Re:Paint Shop Pro?

[Anonymous Coward]

The best part is that nobody has ever posted this joke before.

HAR HAR HAR.

Re:Paint Shop Pro?

[fwitness]

Yeah knock off the Paint Shop jokes, they are old. However, your other list is good, but you forget the PSX. The PSX was the common name for the PS1 when then PS2 came out. A kind of retronym. Then Sony launched the PSX in Japan, a PS2 with more media features. In my memory anyway.

DRM has been around since the NES

[Billly Gates]

I read about nintendo doing strange things like having synchronizing timer chips in both the console and the cartridge to prevent other non-approved nes games from hitting the market.

Also the Xbox is notarious for its drm scheme by having a special pentiumIII processor that wont execute code unless its signed.

Nintendo even switched to a strange disc format and kept using cartridges instead of cd's because they were so paranoid about piracy and user freedom.

If you buy any so called *appliance* that has to do with media, it will contain drm. Its already here whether we like it or not and its coming to the pc as well.

Re:DRM has been around since the NES

[AnyoneEB]

I agree that the GameCube disc format was chosen to make piracy harder, but the N64 used cartridges because disc drives at that time were too slow. Nintendo thought gamers would prefer games without the long loading times that the orginal PlayStation had. (Obviously, they were wrong about that.)

Re:DRM has been around since the NES

[Billly Gates]

The playstation took over because it had better graphics. I am not talking about capabilities of the system which were lower than Nintendo's.

But rather because sony could fit all the images for the graphics on the cdrom while nintendo had tiny 70 meg cartridges. The speed argument was used by the marketing department to defend their action.

Many rumors stated that Nintendo was scared about piracy so they picked cartridges instead. It hurt them as most game makers found it difficult to develop for and chose the Playstation instead.

ff on psp

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll buy a PS when they start making good Final fantasy games for it

So why all the focus on hacking 2.0?

[James Lewis]

I don't understand why there is so much focus on trying to hack every new firmware release Sony has. Wouldn't it be easier to find a hack that would allow you to use earlier versions of the PSP firmware?

Re:So why all the focus on hacking 2.0?

[Winterblink]

Because there are newer games that require specific versions and up of the different firmwares. Coded Arms, for instance, requires a 1.5x or higher or it won't run.

Re:So why all the focus on hacking 2.0?

[James Lewis]

Yes but flashing the firmware doesn't take all that long. Seems like a good workaround would be a utility that would allow you to easily flash between versions. You could flash back to a later version to play those games.

Re:So why all the focus on hacking 2.0?

[Winterblink]

Actually downgrading doesn't work. There are some homebrew downgraders, but they have a habit of bricking your PSP.

Re:So why all the focus on hacking 2.0?

[James Lewis]

I know there aren't any right now. What I was asking about was why there hasn't been more focus on making it possible, and reliable.

Movies?! How 'bout some GAMES?

[Eddy Da KillaBee]

I'd agree with you except for the fact that UMD movies are selling amazingly well. No, I don't know why, and yes, they are a rip off, but hey.

I didn't buy a fucking PSP to watch movies on it, and I'm sure there are people out there that agree with me. When it launched, there was a promise that a good range of games would come out, so where the hell are they?

Honestly, it's a great system, but I just couldn't deal with the lack of games. My friend and I traded our PSPs in already because we've grown tired of waiting. :(

My usual rant about network-level encryption

[5n3ak3rp1mp]

I strongly believe in application-level security (SSL, SSH, SCP, SFTP, PGP) over network-level security (WPA, WEP, etc. etc.), mainly from a "i have a million less headaches than you do and almost as much security" standpoint (but also because I'm a network gamer and like as little latency as possible). I lock down my router by only allowing devices on by MAC address filtering, and stick to secure application-level protocols wherever possible (gmail via https, secure chat, secure file transfer, secure shell etc.)

I intend to buy a PSP and when that occurs I'll simply add its MAC address to the filter and voila.

Re:My usual rant about network-level encryption

[bogie]

Umm you do realize that MAC filtering does absolutely NOTHING for wireless security right? In fact after A) an open wireless point and B) 64bit wep c) MAC filtering is the least secure solution avaiable. Seriously, I hope you come back and see my post and then do your own research on the subject. There are much better methods.

Re:My usual rant about network-level encryption

[5n3ak3rp1mp]

dude how old are you and did you actually read my post, especially the parts about "application-level encryption"? This means that your DATA IS SECURE, except not at the network layer, at the application layer. So anyone managing to even get on your network is only going to sniff garbage. Which I could care less about. You do realize that all the acronyms I mentioned are secure by default, yes?

Re:My usual rant about network-level encryption

[neuroking]

In my neighborhood there are 5 unprotected networks that I can see from the basement. I someone is patrolling my neighborhood looking to "H@X0r j00r G1b50n", I could use friggin WEP to deter them.

I know "Blah blah blah, might think you have something good, blah", but seriously. ZERO effort versus some.

And if someone gets access to you PSP, who cares? Ooooo! My saved game is gone! Damn you hackers!

Re:My usual rant about network-level encryption

[BenjyD]

I think his point was that application-layer security does nothing to prevent people using your network. If you have an extremely fast (or no) internet connection, you might not mind other people using your network - if you have limited bandwidth or usage caps, someone leaching could be very annoying.

Re:My usual rant about network-level encryption

[5n3ak3rp1mp]

I guess what I'd like to know is, what part of "MAC Address Filtering" did you folks not understand? Sure, someone could spoof a MAC address with a nebulous wireless card either by trying billions and billions of combinations, or sniffing one that works, but that would knock a device off my LAN and I'm fairly sure I'd notice that in short order.

Re:My usual rant about network-level encryption

[MikeBabcock]

Your network is only open to D.o.S. attacks if you use all secure protocols on it. If you wanted to be paranoid, you'd use IPSec on each wireless device and not allow unauthenticated traffic, but that's what WPA attempts to do anyway, almost.

Re:Ironically Day after Snes emulator at full spee

[CodeBuster]

The problem with Sony officially supporting the emulator and homebrew application market is not a technical, but rather a legal and copyright problem. There would be the issue of licensing fees for content which Sony does not own, such as the Final Fantasy properties, when the cost and complexity of settling who gets paid for what and how have not been completely worked out. There is no way that Sony is going to willingly expose itself to copyright infringement litigation by supporting the homebrew emulator market, or at least not officially as some people might like. The homebrew emulator hackers have much less exposure financially to litigation than does a large corporation such as Sony, so while the garage hacker is not likely to be sued for ripping ROMs and hacking together emulators for various platforms Sony almost certainly would be. As much as Sony would like to increase their hardware sales they cannot do that by supporting and encouraging infringement of copyright.

What's new?

[Brutulf]

I don't understand...what's new here? Because I vividly recall my cousin demonstrating web-browsing and "warwalking" with his spain-imported PSP...Is the US just lagging behind?

Re:Ironically Day after Snes emulator at full spee

[mag46]

I agree that it would be a great move for Sony to release themselves, or at least approve of, a lot of these user-created games and programs. But how do you expect them to give their approval to software that directly violates their competitor's copyrights? They can't exactly give their customers permission to pirate Nintendo's games. Also, anyone else find it amusing that (at least some) people are buying PSPs to run Nintendo games? And this at a time when Nintendo are teh DOOMED!!1!!11

Re:OLD NEWS!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Paint Shop Pro 9 is already available! Geez...

I think I might be able to provide some insight as to exactly why nobody likes you, using this as an example.

Why is mine a -1 while "significant bug" post is 5

[dividedsky319]

I like how this has a -1 (Troll) and got my karma to bad while "Did they fix that one really significant bug? You know, where all the games fucking suck? If not, I hope they fix it soon." has a 5 (funny)

Ugh...

[jotaeleemeese]

Spill the beans, so many people rubish basic security measures and then, like snake oil sellers, keep the secret recipe to themselves.

Re:Ironically Day after Snes emulator at full spee

[sesshomaru]

Can we just all admit the PSP is Gamegear 2.0 and move on already.

Heh, that's a classic quote. Hopefully it will be the PSP's epitaph!

Re:Why is mine a -1 while "significant bug" post i

[KDR_11k]

It has:
+6 Funny
-1 Troll
-1 Flamebait

Since Funny doesn't count for your Karma, that's -2 for his Karma despite the 5, Funny rating.

Re:Ironically Day after Snes emulator at full spee

[josath]

I always find it funny, that the first thing people code after hacking the PSP, is an emulator to play NINTENDO games.

Who modded this a "Troll" ?

[Ray Alloc]

That's the question I was asking for myself, and the only one for which I opened the comments.

Still Sony Memorystick..

[mp3phish]

I won't be using any products which take sony memory stick any time soon. I doubt anybody has figured out a way to get a SD or CF card into one of those... Memory stick carries too high a royalty to manufacture. Why people don't boycott it is beyond me. Ditto for xD.

When they do switch to CF or SD dial my number and I'll get a PSP. 2.0 to me sounds like more proprietary BS from Sony.

Re:Still Sony Memorystick..

[Sinistar2k]

Why people don't boycott it is beyond me.

Because people generally don't give a shit about stuff like that? Just a guess.

As long as manufacturers are making money, they're happy. And as long as PSP owners are having fun, they're happy.

It's only the /.'ers who would think twice about mem card formats and their proprietary nature.

Re:Still Sony Memorystick..

[Zelea]

We are manufacturing just that: a CF to memory stick adaptor and you'll be able to buy them in a few weeks time

Why would Paint Shop Pro support audio?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't understand.

Re:Ironically Day after Snes emulator at full spee

[marcybots]

If you notice i said if sega made a genesis emulator, I know nintendo will NEVER authorize a SNES emulator, but sega could potentially create a good genesis and master system emulator. It would have to be created by the company that made the original system, and I dont mean some game pack with like ten games, I mean a actual emulator they sell that runs awesome for like 50 bucks that you never need to upgrade because the people who made the original system made the emulator. Turbo grafx would be a good one, lots of systems like that.