PSP Firmware Downgrader Released

roka writes "SonyxTeam has just released a downgrader for the PSP using the toc2rta 2.0 overflow in libtiff. This has been tested and found working by PSP news sites. This is basically opening all sold models of the PSP to homebrew applications and will boost homebrew software development for Sony's handheld."

Comments

Arrr!!

[lasmith05]

I smell pirating goodness for all. :) I think its amazing how fast this downgrader came out after the buffer overflow was discovered in the photo section. Simply Amazing.

Re:Arrr!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I think its amazing how fast this downgrader came out after the buffer overflow was discovered in the photo section. Simply Amazing.

Offtopic, but this makes me think of that GDI+ security hole in Windows/Office with JPEGs in a whole new light.

Re:Arrr!!

[Ravag3]

I'd say Yarrr!! Monkey Island for PSP here we come!

Re:Arrr!!

[lasmith05]

Good idea! Yarrr me matey.

Re:Arrr!!

[fwitness]

We 1.5 owners have been here on Monkey island for awhile. Welcome, friends, and may I interest you in a "A Found the Secret of Monkey Island and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt" shirt?

Go on admit it.

[reality-bytes]

Admit it.

Now we're all just waiting for Sony to thow it's Intellectual Property Toys out of the pram and let the attack dogs (lawyers) loose.

A sorry state of affairs.

Re:Go on admit it.

[Pig Hogger]

Now we're all just waiting for Sony to thow it's Intellectual Property Toys out of the pram and let the attack dogs (lawyers) loose.

No need for that, thanks to the slashdot effect.

Re:Go on admit it.

[gl4ss]

pretty accepting to modders? what crack are you on? seriously? because they haven't seem that accepting(if they were we wouldn't need these hacks now would we??).

they will sue if they have someone to sue and basis for it.

(and "Look at the linux kit they released after a few people developed a distro for the PS2" isn't exactly accurately put, they wanted ps2 to go as a computer for their own reasons, and with 'some people' I guess you really mean sony - because there wasn't a linux distro for it before their kit, iirc there weren't even modchips back then for ps2)

Re:Go on admit it.

[InvalidError]

It is only an overflow bug in a library, Sony will certainly patch it in the near future and the PSP will become increasingly tougher to crack open.

AFAIK, the PSP is the first major proprietary system with user-uppgradable firmware. In any case, the 1.00-2.00 trend indicates that Sony does not intend to let the PSP remain crackable indefinitely if it can do something about it... and fixing the exploit sounds like minimal effort.

I am betting that the PSP firmware and/or SDK has provisions for triggering automatic firmware upgrades when a disc containing a newer valid firmware is first loaded. Throw in firmware signature checks in new games and this either makes PSP hobbyists lives increasingly less convenient or forces them to choose between hobby and running Y2K6+ games.

Sony is in the business for profits... and profits come from title licenses for commercial PSP media. To get media endorsement for the PSP, Sony has to demonstrate that the media and platform are a perfect lock-in solution. Exploits like these un-upgrade hacks put a dent in Sony's PSP lock-in desires so they need to be ironed out to make content providers happy and keep the license money flowing in.

Does it suck? Yes. But that is how this particular business model works.

Re:Go on admit it.

[Max Threshold]

Just because their business model is broken doesn't mean they can tell me what I can or cannot do with MY hardware.

Re:Go on admit it.

[sabernet]

Need to correct you on something:

  The PSP games will never update the firmware automatically or their warranty offices will get a shitload of bricked units. Firmwares require AC power to be connected for a reason, you don't want your battery going out during flashing.

However, many newer games require a certain version of firmware to run. Currently, you can trick these by using software that modifies the flash to show a different version number. However, eventually, games will start looking for unique encrypted firmware features. There are teams already working on making newer firmwares run over the current ones to allow access to features not available on your flash. There is already a firmware emulator that allows someone to load up 1.0, 1.51 or 1.52 firmwares on a 1.5 PSP

However, I'm optimistic that an exploit will eventually be found that will use something the PSP requires to keep older games functional.

Never piss off the hackers, they always win:)

Re:Go on admit it.

[KDR_11k]

You can do what you want with it. It's not Sony's problem if you don't know how. My microwave didn't come with instructions on how to convert it into a raygun, should I complain that I can't make a raygun out of my own hardware?

Re:Go on admit it.

[EiZei]

True, but the manufacturer should not sue the people who give out instructions to turn the oven into a raygun. (not that Sony has done that yet but..)

Re:Go on admit it.

[DrJAKing]

Software crackers are old hands at tearing out protection. I doubt it'll be long before we're seeing pirated games running on the PSP. And if there were a mechanism for forcing a firmware upgrade, they'll just tear that out too. The only way to deter an army of highly motivated young enthusiasts would be to drop the price way low, but even then, they're doing it for the props.

Re:Go on admit it.

[SkyWalk423]

I doubt it'll be long before we're seeing pirated games running on the PSP.

The PSP has been running pirated games for weeks now (more specifically, 1.5-or-earlier PSPs). The only difference now is that everyone can do it if they are so inclined.

Until Sony releases the next firmware iteration, anyway.

Re:Go on admit it.

[Khaotix]

mod parent up :p

The PSP is a computer. If I can figure out a way to run other applications/install other OSes/etc on it ... why shouldn't I be able to? I own the hardware. I didn't sign some special agreement saying "Yes, I'll be sure to buy PSP games/movies so you can recover costs via liscencing fees".

Re:Go on admit it.

[aminorex]

1) Sony is in the business for profits
TRUE

2)profits come from title licenses for commercial PSP media
TRUE

3) To get media endorsement for the PSP, Sony has to demonstrate that the media and platform are a perfect lock-in solution.
FALSE

Re:Go on admit it.

[Pope]

Well, if *your* business model is so great, why aren't you out there with your own competing games unit?

Re:Go on admit it.

[InvalidError]

3) To get media endorsement for the PSP, Sony has to demonstrate that the media and platform are a perfect lock-in solution.
FALSE

Ok, maybe not 'perfect' lock-in (should have said 'secure' instead of 'lock-in') but it is much easier to sign deals with movie/record studios and game publishers if you have a reasonably hack-proof device and some means to upgrade the security model after it has been compromised.

Game publishers go with consoles because of:
1- reduced development and support costs (standard hardware and software environment)
2- reduced copyright violations (mod-chip or other non-obvious work-around required)
3- better accessibility to the general public (PC gamers are a large minority)

In today's DRM-obsessed world, I am betting that locking down consoles as best as possible is a priority... I would not be surprised if the major publishers' contracts included a compensation clause for software hacks that may work around or disable content protection.

Sony should be happy

[RUFFyamahaRYDER]

Because of this I'm sure they will sell more PSP's... Don't they know that...?

Re:Sony should be happy

[PhoenixFlare]

How many people are really using this stuff, vs. the total user base?

The mainstream market isn't even aware hacks like this exist (much less where to find or how to use them), for the most part.

Re:Sony should be happy

[thegamerformelyknown]

But won't this make it easier to pirate games?

Re:Sony should be happy

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course, but who says that piracy is a bad thing in the big picture? Piracy makes the whole market a lot larger (in some cases it is even the foundation of the market) and also increases the sales of legimate software.

Re:Sony should be happy

[lasmith05]

This is very true. A few months ago I started seeing a lot of used psps being sold on sites like craigslist.com. The ones I contacted about why they were selling their psps basically said that games/movies were pretty expensive.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Pantero Blanco]

Yeah, but are any people NOT going to buy a PSP because of homebrewing? The benefit isn't great, but I don't see any damage.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Aspasia13]

But Sony probably loses money on PSP base hardware sales. Their profit is in the sale of games and licenced accessories. The PSP (or GBA, or any of the consoles out there) don't make money for the company that makes them. They make their money from game sales. They charge a royalty on each game sold. So anything distributed outside that business model doesn't benefit them (homebrew apps) or is a penalty to them (pirated software).

So if someone bought the PSP just to use homebrew apps then Sony actually either makes no money or possibly even loses money, depending on if the price of the hardware is equal to or greater than the cost to manufacture and distribute. Its the whole "sell them the razor cheap, but keep them buying expensive razor blades" business model.

One might make the argument that a typical person who wants to use homebrew apps on it will also buy official games to play on it, but to Sony that's not worth the risk. Anything that opens the potential for a widespread pirate game (or movie) market for the PSP means lost revenue, which I'm sure the beancounters have compared to potential sales to people who want homebrew apps. And the resultant product shows which business model seems more profitable for them.

Re:Sony should be happy

[poot_rootbeer]

It may make it easier to emulate a GameBoy Color and play pirated ROMs from ten years ago on your PSP, but I don't think Sony really has much to worry about from that.

Pirating PSP games isn't going to be feasible unless you own a UMD fabrication plant, or have a large supply of 1GB Memory Sticks.

Re:Sony should be happy

[supabeast!]

"The mainstream market isn't even aware hacks like this exist (much less where to find or how to use them), for the most part."

They aren't aware YET, and Sony doesn't want them to be aware ever. Unlike Nintendo's cartridge-based portable systems, on which loading homebrewed and pirated games requires special equipment that is being banned in the US and Western Europe as fast as it is created, once the details are worked out people will have little to no trouble burning PSP discs or booting games and watching movies stored on cheap Lexmark memory sticks. That would be the kiss of death for the PSP, a system that appears to many to be floundering now that the initial wave of publicity has faded out of most memories.

One of the biggest nails in the Dreamcast's coffin was widespread distribution of the tools and knowledge required to burn Dreamcast games that booted with no modifications to the disc. Sony was paying a lot of attention to that, and will fight tooth-nail-to stop it from happening on the PSP. They'll fail, of course, but they'll fight.

Re:Sony should be happy

[PhoenixFlare]

The benefit isn't great, but I don't see any damage.

If people are hacking the hardware and using free/semi-free/illegal homebrew software, they're not buying the "real" games. If you can explain how that would not lead to lower profits for Sony, i'd love to hear it.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Anonymous Coward]

Because selling at a loss is so much worse than not selling the unit at all. Because we all know a loss of $cost_to_make - $sale_price is worse than a loss of the entire $cost_to_make.

*sigh*

Now stop making that idiotic argument, people.

Re:Sony should be happy

[RUFFyamahaRYDER]

I look at these hacks as extra features. My friends who own PSP's bought it BECAUSE they could hack it, but guess what... they still buy the games too!

Re:Sony should be happy

[Tony Hoyle]

They *are*.

The movies are a joke (same price as the DVD!!!), and there are no decent games (and I'm not paying that kind of money to find out.. I'll stick with the three I bought on the launch day until they start selling them in the bargain bucket section).

The only reason I haven't sold mine is I can't be arsed with ebay. This hack might allow me to give the thing some more life (woo homemade games probably even worse than the commercial crap. Can't wait).

I might sound bitter. I am.. that thing was expensive.

Re:Sony should be happy

[RaboKrabekian]

Pirating PSP games isn't going to be feasible unless you own a UMD fabrication plant, or have a large supply of 1GB Memory Sticks.

Oh? You could always just store the isos to PSP games on your PC and upload them to your 1G stick as necessary.

Not that I would know.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Mercano]

Anything that opens the potential for a widespread pirate game (or movie) market for the PSP means lost revenue,

Well, they allready gave you the tools for pegleg movies. No need for homebrew, just a big memory stick and some desktop CPU time to re-encode the videos you aquired from whatever your legal or not so legal avenue of choice. I've even seen a few PSP-specific videos on one torrent site or another (while I was looking for legitimate public domain content, of course).

Re:Sony should be happy

[Anonymous Coward]

Sony does not make their money on PSP sales. Quite the contrary, they lose money with every unit sold. The real money is in the software sales. So if you keep buying PSP's without buying any software, it's a double dose of hurt for sony.

Re:Sony should be happy

[NeoOokami]

The console world works a lot differently than the OS world my friend. Sony for the most part loses money with each system they sell. It's in the games and licensing that they make their profit. However home-brewers and pirates are more than likely going to be just buying the system instead of buying the commercial games and UMDs. This leads to Sony getting hurt far more than helped.

Re:Sony should be happy

[RUFFyamahaRYDER]

Replying to my own post since people don't get what I'm trying to say...

1)More people buy PSP's due to it's "hackability".
2)I'd be willing to bet most people who buy these PSP's for it's "hackability" ALSO will buy a few games.

The reason for this is because the emulators and other things you can put on a PSP are of older games not the newer games that are made for the PSP. The hackability is a COMPLIMENT to the PSP...

Re:Sony should be happy

[Have Blue]

The fact that you're posting on Slashdot means you're not in the mainstream market.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Anonymous Coward]

They want to sell more software, not more hardware. They lose money on every PSP.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Pantero Blanco]

If they're installing homebrew software, they probably weren't interested in the "real" games to begin with. I very much doubt they'd start playing real games if Sony managed to kill homebrewing, out of spite for Sony if nothing else. This is what it would be like if Apple started complaining about PPC Linux taking marketshare away from OS X.

Re:Sony should be happy

[SunPin]

Sell it at arcadecontrols.com. You'll get your price and no higher authority will "arse" you.

Re:Sony should be happy

[NanoGator]

"Because of this I'm sure they will sell more PSP's... Don't they know that...?"

Sony isn't making money on the units. They're making money on the games and UMDs. (I still can't believe it, but I read somewhere fairly credible that they make more on UMDs than games...) Sony doesn't want you buying it to do this homebrew stuff, they want you to buy it and continue handing them money for stuff that's profitable. Even though I'm a Nintendo fan boy, I could see them doing the same thing. (I'm reasonably sure they have...)

Big business sucks, but at the end of the day, they only spend the money on gear like this so they can make money from it.

Re:Sony should be happy

[rdoger6424]

Thank you for reiterating that point. 5 posts saying the exact same thing was not enough. 6 got the job done

Re:Sony should be happy

[crasher35]

Not true. I've had a Dreamcast since it launched, I've been downloading and burning homebrews for it since I've discovered them, yet I still loved and played the "real" games (when they were making them). The homebrews just gave more funciton to my Dreamcast, but it didn't replace the games.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Canadian_Daemon]

Its not the PSP sold at increadibly low markups that Sony makes money on, but most of their revenue is from their very highly marked up software, the same software that could now be pirated...

Re:Sony should be happy

[timothykaine]

PDAs, cell phones, gaming consoles... These are all items that the manufacturer actually LOSES money when they sell. The money is in the accessories, software, games, etc. They dont care about selling units if the user isnt buying software. More homebrew apps means more modding, meaning more copied media and more lost money.

Re:Sony should be happy

[vakerorokero]

mmmmm, interesting point... most people bought the PSP becuase they never seen commercials but use the internet which I believe is a mainstream media, and read about the PSP on 3 newspapers all over the world... this hack is as mainstream as you can get, the only problem it may have is little ids afraid of burning their expensive game, and the fact that most of them won't be able to find game roms is also a problem. "How many people are really using this stuff, vs. the total user base?" Most of the people who have a PSP now their way around the internet, I believe about 10% of all PSP are little kids and regular old joes. Most are a bunch of hardcore gamers. That's the advantage Nintendo has, most of the market is little kids and Nintendo fanboys, and even if they can find roms, they wish Nintendo could bring back past systems i collections or something, (revolution anyone?) Now, from my experience, a lot of sale clerks are pushing emulation on PSP as a selling point against the DS, Lumines and the upcoming GTA. so I believe about a 80% actually now about homebrew and about 40% actually use it. Now remember this things are pretty easy to do, no soldering required like consoles, which from I remember had some problems of getting hacked by everyone.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Joe Random]

If they're installing homebrew software, they probably weren't interested in the "real" games to begin with.

Which is bad news for Sony. They're selling the PSP at a loss and hoping to recoup the money by selling (and licensing) games. If people start buying the PSP with no intention of playing actual PSP games on it, Sony's going to lose money.

Re:Sony should be happy

[squidsoup]

erm, yeah, 'cause /. is so underground :)

Re:Sony should be happy

[centipetalforce]

No decent games? I just bought Burnout and it's incredible. Also try wipeout, lumines, FIFA. But yeah it is expensive.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Grym]

If people are hacking the hardware and using free/semi-free/illegal homebrew software, they're not buying the "real" games. If you can explain how that would not lead to lower profits for Sony, i'd love to hear it.

Easy. Make it marginally difficult to mod so that only those interested pursue it.

Now, what happens? A minority of people dedicated to doing so hack the PSP (don't fool yourself, this was going to happen anyway). The less you harass them, the more these people rant and rave on every G3 Attack of the Show! episode and slashdot article about how cool the PSP is and how much it can do. This becomes, in effect, free advertising. Moreover, when every geek has a PSP, you achieve something far more special--a trend.

But being marginally difficult to mod, MOST people do not. Instead, you get those people to buy the PSP b/c of the coolness factor and then hook them on your games and movies that are offered at a reasonable price. Profit.

It's really not a hard concept. The majority of people are not hackers, nor will they ever be. Put bluntly, the majority of consumers are lazy. They will follow the path of least resistance, which you should provide them at every opportunity--for a reasonable price, of course. Why do you think Alienware is still in business when you can build your own top-notch computer for much cheaper? Why do most people pay for an oil change in their cars? Why do people buy music off of iTunes, when they can get songs free via P2P software?

The problem is that Sony doesn't get it. Instead, they harass the mod community with updates that block patching and so forth. They don't offer a good selection of games, and the movies they offer are obviously overpriced and incorrectly packaged. (Why the hell aren't those movie UMDs included w/ the movie DVDs for like $5/10 dollars more?--PEOPLE WOULD BUY THOSE). They don't offer floor models, so most people will never even see one, apart from pictures.

It's as if Sony thought they could design a badass handheld system and then do no nothing to promote or maintain it and still succeed. It's ridiculous. And it's no wonder analysts are starting to criticize them--the gaming community has for months.

-Grym

Re:Sony should be happy

[Trejkaz]

Lower profits, sure, but every extra PSP user is one more towards Sony's statistics, and we all know that they need these statistics to battle the evil reign of the Nintendo DS. ;-)

Re:Sony should be happy

[wheany]

It is.

Re:Sony should be happy

[KDR_11k]

They don't offer floor models, so most people will never even see one, apart from pictures.

That's not entirely true, here in Europe (or at least in Germany) there are demo PSP stands in stores.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Anonymous Coward]

What would you define a decent game?

Here is what I have so far.
- Burn out Legends. Same as the PS2. Absolutly fantastic. Only thing I don't like about it so far is that my friend has nicked 3 of my cars (multiplayer you can play for pink slips).

- Ridge Racer. Meh. Stunning graphics but gameplay gets tedious.

- Untold Legends. It is basically Diablo with Neverwinter nights type graphics. If your a diablo fan you will love it.

- Metal Gear Acid. Graphics are astounding (Best to date). However is a kind of yu-gi-oh type card game to move/attack. Not sure if the other MG games were like this.

- Everybodys Golf. TBH I don't like sports games, but found this very addictive. Probably due to the RPG features (eg. upgrade players).

- Lumines. Game is ok. For some reason it is like crack to others. Brother can't stop playing it.

What three games did you get? Btw, Sony are working on upgrading extras to the Firmware. For example streaming media for micropayments over wifi (Cheaper then a DVD), Internet play (including MMORPGs) and online games downloads.

Your right about the movies not being worth to buy. My local video store rents them.

Re:Sony should be happy

[KDR_11k]

If the unit isn't sold to a homebrewer it's most likely sold to a profitable customer. Since the PSP is rather successful the chance that a unit won't be sold to anyone is very low. A unit that is sold causes another unit to be made. Without unprofitable customers no additional PSPs would need to be made to replace the PSPs they bought and satisfy the demand of profitable customers. Means less PSPs made, means less loss incurred.

Re:Sony should be happy

[KDR_11k]

It competes with their licensees, that's enough trouble. A publisher that considers developing for the PSP will ask questions like "So, this thing is really unhackable?", "Noone can pirate our games on this, right?" and "If there are those homebrewers, how many of your customers actually buy games?". If a potential licensee thinks that homebrew lowers his sales that can mean one licensee less for Sony. That means lost profit. If that licensee was a big company like EA Sony would be in really deep shit.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Anonymous Coward]

So if someone bought the PSP just to use homebrew apps then Sony actually either makes no money or possibly even loses money

I know a guy who's bought three PSPs. No kidding. One at 1.5, a spare at 1.5 just in case something happens to that one, and one for 2.0. I'm sure he's kicking himself now that there'll be hacks for 2.0, but he's bought a few games and few UMDs too, so Sony shoulnd't be too sad.

If they could bring themselves to set up a revenue model where they could benefit from homebrew stuff - e.g. a way for the user to buy the right to run an arbitrary app on the PSP - they might be better off.

Re:Sony should be happy

[pnice]

Now, from my experience, a lot of sale clerks are pushing emulation on PSP as a selling point against the DS, Lumines and the upcoming GTA.

Are you saying that sale clerks were telling customers how great emulation was on the PSP even though no one who bought a PSP with the version 2.0 firmware were able to play emulators up until yesterday? What were they telling them...that someday in the future they might be able to play emulators on their PSP but at the current time they could not? I doubt that. Who would want to buy a product that "might" be able to do something at a later date?

Or were you saying that since yesterday, when this was released, sales clerks have been talking about how the PSP can be used for emulators?

I'm obviously confused.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Phisbut]

The PSP (or GBA, or any of the consoles out there) don't make money for the company that makes them.

I really don't think Nintendo sells their consoles (be it NGC, or any model of GBA/DS) at a loss. Although it's common knowledge that Sony sells the PS2 and PSP at a loss, and that Microsoft has done the same with the Xbox (and probably with the Xbox360 too), I have never seen anything that could even hint that Nintendo isn't making money on the hardware.

Re:Sony should be happy

[pnice]

Yeah, I think the new issue of Game Informer (is that the mag you get for signing up at Gamestop?) has a handheld wars section and they say that a developer for both systems told them they make more on UMDs for the PSP than they have on any DS game they've sold (or something to that effect).

Re:Sony should be happy

[Anonymous Coward]

so underground I don't know why I bother coming down here

Re:Sony should be happy

[TheMMaster]

FYI, nintendo has never sold loss leaders (that is what selling a console below manufacturing costs is called) they have taken a small (think $10/unit) hit on the gamecube for about 3 weeks with the last pricewar, but manufacturing costs went down.

This is also why nintendo games are generally cheaper than xbox or PS2 games (especially for gamecube)

Re:Sony should be happy

[Eddy Da KillaBee]

Yup, and I returned mine months ago. Too little, too late. Would've been nice to have some emulators with games though! Oh well... =(

Re:Sony should be happy

[Anonymous Coward]

In the UK at least Burnout: Legends is selling for the same price as Burnout: Revenge. Is it really as good?

Re:Sony should be happy

[iamhassi]

"The movies are a joke (same price as the DVD!!!), and there are no decent games (and I'm not paying that kind of money to find out.. I'll stick with the three I bought on the launch day until they start selling them in the bargain bucket section)."

all the lanch titles really sucked so if you're still playing them no wonder you're pissed.

Try Midnight Club 3 or Burnout Legends, both great games. The also have battlefield 2 this fall and a final fantasy game for it next spring. It will get better.

The NES emulator is pretty cool, and this is the first portable system to have a emulator without any special hardware.

What really surprises me is we dont see companies offering little mini-games supporting their product for the PSP. This is the first major game system you can easily connect to any PC and download games onto. I'd love to play a Axe body spray get-the-girl type game on PSP.

Re:Sony should be happy

[b1t r0t]

Easy. Make it marginally difficult to mod so that only those interested pursue it.

This is a lesson that Sony has had plenty of time to learn. Set the wayback machine to eleven or so years ago to original Playstation. They had actually designed the thing so that it was easier to crack the copied-games lockout than to crack the region protection! So what happens? Mod chips everywhere... you had to get a mod chip that would let you play copied games even if all you wanted was to play imports.

Compare this with the region mods for its competitors at the time, the Saturn (very tedious but straightforward switch mod) and the N64 (open it up and remove or cut away parts of a piece of plastic). As for later systems, Dreamcast needed a boot disc (there was a 3rd party available, but there were also homebrew loaders once the CD boot hole was discovered), and GC also needed a boot disc. No Gameboy has had a region lockout, and I doubt the DS has one either.

Re:Sony should be happy

[Pope]

Yeah, as we all know, eBay is the ONLY place in the world to sell things.

You knew the price of the system going in, and the game price was very well known before launch, stop complaining so much.

Hmm the next thing to do will be

[Solr_Flare]

Create a program that does all the downgrading and re-upgrading behind the scenes to allow full homebrew use but keep it all transparant to the user.

Re:Hmm the next thing to do will be

[blackomegax]

make a multiboot (.bin based?) application for it?

Finally!

[Spy der Mann]

This is the first time a buffer overflow is used for non-evil purposes.

*SIGH* Wish all the hackers out there were like this guy.

Re:Finally!

[Fjornir]

Er. I guess you missed the xbox buffer overflows used for the same purpose?

Re:Finally!

[Anonymous Coward]

No, he sees every news story ever published every day ever since he was born and hence knew about the X-Box overrun exploit -- he was just making sure YOU knew.

Re:Finally!

[EggyToast]

Well, if by non-evil purposes you mean "Allow people to play bootleg ROMs of games they downloaded off the internet on their PSP."

I don't think people are excited over the ability to play various asteroids clones on their PSP. Oh, maybe they're holding out for that killer homebrew Blackjack game, or they're really hoping they can downgrade their version to play Pong with their $250 device.

No, I think pretty much everyone just wants to run emulators of NES, SNES, and Genesis games for free.

Re:Finally!

[EggyToast]

I don't see how that's flamebait. I visit video game forums all the time, and never once have I met someone who actually wants to play homebrew games on the PSP -- they're talking about homebrew for emulators. A visit to any PSP development site pretty much confirms that the development exists for emulation, not actual new content, as the emulation sections are huge, with constant updates, while the "games" sections usually consist of a basic line game that serves little more than a proof of concept.

Re:Finally!

[alan_dershowitz]

Actually, it's not the first time. When Texas Instruments released the TI-92, it only came programmable with a crappy version of BASIC. Then, some hackers figured out that if you used an overly large firmware image with their system restore tool, you could insert instructions into the calculator that let you execute arbitrary code on it. Someone built a hook that let you upload your own assembler instructions, and TI-92 homebrew took off.

The hack was so popular that Texas Instruments ended up releasing an assembler application so that people didn't have to hack their calculators to run their own custom code.

Re:Finally!

[Viper168]

Right, because we know no one actually owns a copy of the games they want to emulate.

Apparently, I just imagined that there was a VNC client, ScummVM port, PDF reader, file manager, Doom port, Heretic, Hexen, a port of Quake in progess, etc... in addition to some pretty decent homebrewn games...

I would be lying if I were to say I don't enjoy playing my old genesis favourites on the psp, but even those I own.

Most of which, and many more can be found here: http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/

Re:Finally!

[The Grey Clone]

I'm half way through reading Phantom of the Opera on my PSP using a homebrew app. I've got something close to 40 out-of-copyright books that I've been reading via PSPReader, ranging from War of the Worlds to a rather large collection of Shakespeare plays, all that fit just fine on the PSPs screen.

Now, the PSP isn't the best thing to read on, but as long as the room is rather well lit, I avoid headaches/eyestrain and it's not that much different than reading from an actual book.

There is some benefit to the Homebrew, though, I could certainly read the book via the web broswer on the 2.0 firmware, it's less convienient and doesn't have as many features.

Re:Finally!

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone wrote PONG for the PSP YES Finally a Real Game! *cries happily and downloads pong, and PSP patch*

keep in mind 'public domain' includes some commercial software from small developers who simply went out of business (but didn't go bankrupt), and the rights to the software were never aquired by anyone.. probably because they weren't worth the fee associated with aquiring the rights, but there are some games that fall under that category. Especially when you go all the way back to the Z80 era of consoles. there are games that were produced then that simply nobody cares about. (because frankly who would buy them) atari and namco have a hard enough time convincing people to pay money for 20+ 'classic game bundles' so there isn't that much percieved financial benefit in aquiring rights to games like 'wing wars*'. which is IMO the dumbest game ever you fly a fire breathing dragon through a maze, and collect egss and gems, and try not to die you can't slow down and navigation is painfully hard (since that's the only challenge in the game)

*= someone probably owns the rights to this game, it was just the dumbest game i remember playing as a kid.

Re:Finally!

[slapout]

Don't forget that games whose source have been released (like Quake) can also be ported too. These people wrote a commerical game for the Dreamcast using homebrew tools. (See Question #10 of their faq for more details.)

Re:Finally!

[Guppy06]

Actually, IIRC, the buffer overflow on the Xbox was only done by purists who neither wanted to chip their Xboxes and/or use software written with an illegal copy of the Xbox dev kit. Because the other two options were easier, the overflow wasn't the preferred method.

Re:Finally!

[Guppy06]

Parent was flamebait for assuming the ROMs played were downloaded off of the internet. Many devices are available for dumping SNES and Genesis carts (among others) on your own, and while I admit I've only used my PSP for emulation, I have never done anything that would violate copyright laws in the United States.

Re:Finally!

[Alsee]

No, he said non-evil.

Anything that encourages people to buy Microsoft products is inherently evil. Chuckle.

-

Re:Finally!

[KDR_11k]

It's not flamebait because he's talking about the majority of users. How many people really have those ROM dumpers vs. how many people are using emulators on their PSPs?

Re:Finally!

[zonker]

yes because supporting sony is that much better... chuckle?

PSP reign supreme?

[Eric(b0mb)Dennis]

Will this seal the PSP as THE homebrew enthusiasts handheld platform?

Re:PSP reign supreme?

[Anonymous Coward]

GP32/GP2X, man.
http://www.gp2x.co.uk/

Re:PSP reign supreme?

[pl1ght]

Whats that???

(get my drift?)

Re:PSP reign supreme?

[Anonymous Coward]

True. But compare the number of people interested in the GP* to the people interested in the PSP as a homebrew-hacking system... or alternately, the number of people into PSP hacking vs. the number of people with a PSP that use it "legitamately".

"homebrew software development " ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is "homebrew software development" the new euphemism for "piracy"? You know, how 99.99% of everyone who got mod chips for their ps2 and xbox was just so they could "run linux" ?

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Elite Xizer]

Yes, because no one wanted to take advantage of the Xbox's PC-like capabilities and browse the web, stream video, pictures and music across their network and play it on their Xbox or play games with trainers to help them out like you can with PC games...considering the fact that there is no actual cheat device for the Xbox. There are so many more uses for the Xbox besides piracy. This is great news for the PSP scene, opens up many more possibilities than having a locked-down, DRM heavy $250 piece of equipment that Sony controls.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[planetoid]

Care to cite a credible source or study to back up that 99.99% figure you claimed?

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[bonk]

The 'homebrew software development' that people seem most intersted in are emulators.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Strictly speaking, an emulator isn't a pirate application. People are still unable, as far as I know, to pirate actual PSP games.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[PhoenixFlare]

It's not a study or even a very credible source, but out of the probably 50 people I knew of with modded XBoxes while I was still in school a couple years ago, not a single one was used for anything but emulators and illegal copies of games.

It might make you feel better to think otherwise, but outside of Slashdot and some other hard-core Linux/OSS communities, I really don't think much of anyone gives a damn about the non-illegal uses of hacking consoles.

Just my opinion, though.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does he really need one? I mean, come on, do you seriously think that anyone actually modded their Xbox just to run Linux on it?

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Fastloader .7; PSP games have been pirated, but there is so much potential for homebrew. As a homebrew developer (PSP-ick, Snakman, Tutorials, etc), I deplore the piracy "scene." It gives homebrew a bad name. Unlike most other consoles, there are many many people interested in homebrew for the sake of homebrew and not homebrew for the sake of piracy.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[EggyToast]

No, that's pretty much anyone uses it for. Be afraid, though -- stating the obvious when it comes to "homebrew development" can attract the ire of angry fanboys.

I was looking into it quite a bit when I bought a dreamcast, thinking "Hey, this has been out for a while, there might be some cool games that people coded in their spare time!" Nope. All just emulators to play NES or SNES games, or hacks to play CD-R copies of dreamcast games. When I got my Xbox, some people said "Awesome, you can turn that into a media box! I know a guy who has like every arcade game on his, and he downloads Xbox games and plays them and has like 100 movies on it!"

I would really support it if people were getting into the guts so they could code their own games, as indie games can often be a lot of fun. I think a lot of people would like to have an old-school FF-style RPG. But outside of Asteroids and Pong clones, it's just emulators.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[StonedRat]

If you could burn your own UMDs, or 1gig memsticks drop below the cost of a game, i think piracy would be pretty high, but running them off a memstick at the moment doesn't seem all that practical to me, having to go to the effort of scrubbing one game, copying another every time they want to change a game. This at best allows someone to demo a game before purchase.

BTW I'm trying some homebrew coding on the psp, it's a nice bit of kit, and the open source pspsdk is pretty simple to install and use.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Dwonis]

Y e a h.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Dachannien]

Is "homebrew software development" the new euphemism for "piracy"? You know, how 99.99% of everyone who got mod chips for their ps2 and xbox was just so they could "run linux" ?

"Homebrew software development" is about making legal use of the technology we pay for. Piracy is just along for the ride.

It's sort of like how you can kill someone with a hammer. Murder-by-hammer is already illegal, but that doesn't mean that hammers should be encumbered by use management technology that both prevents homicides and blocks you from using nails made by someone other than the hammer manufacturer.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[way2trivial]

It might make you feel better to think otherwise, but I don't think microsoft or sony would consider modding game decks to run linux a 'non-illegal' use of a console..

Just my opinion, though.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[millennial]

I currently have 6 full-size games on my 512MB stick.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, right here:

----A hyperbole, largely synonymous with exaggeration and overstatement, is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated or extravagant. It may be used due to strong feelings or is used to create a strong impression and is not meant to be taken literally. It gives greater emphasis. It is often used in poetry and is a literary device.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[tolan-b]

Actually most people I know with chipped xboxes now mostly use them to run XBMC to stream media from a separate PC. Suprisingly like the media extender capability MS is building into the 360. Except of course you'll have to be running Windows to stream to that...

I've got a few cracked games on mine, but I hardly ever play games on it any more.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[tolan-b]

The Dreamcast doesn't need modding to play copied games...

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[supabeast!]

While I think that piracy is often just as much behind these things as homebrew software, at least homebrew software for consoles does exist, unlike the old "I use my modchip to play backups..." excuse.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[gauauu]

Check out the GBA dev scene. All sorts of stuff being made recently. Of course, some of it better than others. (yeah, there's a whole lot of tetris clones, but there's a few real gems in there too).

Maybe some people want to pirate games, but some of us just get a big kick out of seeing our games run on actual console hardware.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Anonymous Coward]

"It's sort of like how you can kill someone with a hammer. Murder-by-hammer is already illegal, but that doesn't mean that hammers should be encumbered by use management technology that both prevents homicides and blocks you from using nails made by someone other than the hammer manufacturer."

Except that in this case, the hammer is more of an assult rifle. Sure you can beat nails into a board with it, but everyone knows it's for killing t3h terrrarists.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you got it backwards, piracy is what drives this. Any other use is simply "along for the ride."

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[dmaxwell]

Is "homebrew software development" the new euphemism for "piracy"?

Check out www.atariage.com. The homebrew scene around the A2600 is quite healthy. The other Atari consoles also have homebrew scenes although A2600 development is the most active. There have also been some nifty ColecoVision homebrews out lately as well. AtariAge sells many of these.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[iamplasma]

Actually most people I know with chipped xboxes now mostly use them to run XBMC to stream media from a separate PC.
Yeah, I actually do that with mine too, it's bloody fantastic. Though at the same time, to be perfectly honest, what "media" is probably being streamed? My money is *very* solidly on "pirated music/tv/movies". I think that's getting so indirect it's certainly no longer the "blame" of the mod designers, but still a point to remember, even the "legal" use for the xbox is half the time still illegal in the end.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[rdewalt]

I'm not going to lie that there aren't pirated psp games out there. But I look at my psp. VNC Client, a text reader, sudoku, pspCalendar

I've even dabbled in coding for it myself.

I would gladly pay a reasonable amount of money, for a "Homebrew Compiler".

Look at bittorrent. Same arguments. "Look at all the piracy it supports!!!!*fap*" meanwhile, its legitimatized.

People will -always- pirate software. This isn't something that can be solved. I paid for my PSP with my honestly earned money. If I want to keep ebooks on it to read, or utilize it to its greater potential above and beyond a game machine, I -will-.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[DECS]

Well if you crawl from under your rock, there is some debate about encumbering guns to try to prevent accidental deaths, both through physical means (safety locks) and legal ones (waiting periods, background checks). We also do similar things to prevent death, injury and property damage involving:

cars
machinery
tools

The thing is, society spends resources in proportion to risk/loss/damage, and since hammers are not causing lots of death, we aren't working on encumbering them very hard. We do try to make airgun nailers safe, however.

How about a less apt comparison, to make your point that theft is warranted when a purchase is also involved somewhere along the line:

"we don't have safety devices encumbering bananas, to prevent people from stabbing themselves in the eye!"

with that handled, how about looking at your point critically:

If you buy a CD, do you have the right upload it to a torrent and obliterate the music marketplace?
If you buy a student copy of Office, do you have the right to install it on all the PCs in your company?
If you buy a GPS device, do you have the right to hack it to use military grade accuracy?
If you buy an iPod, and you hack the ability to play WMA, do you have the right to use it for that? how about distributing your hack? how about cracking Fairplay AAC? How about WMA encryption?

Your answers will depend a lot on what companies you fancy, which you hate, how much money you make, and if you make your money from licensing fees, royalties, and software development or flipping burgers and washing cars.

In any event, simply believing something doesn't make it "the case" or factual or right.

Now back to what you were doing.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[quinxy]

Woah, that's not an accurate analogy. Because hammers are generally used for the purposes of construction rather than for illegal purposes. And that's an important point, at least practically speaking, and as the laws appear to often be applied. The right analogy would be about bongs/water pipes. Many states outlaw them outright because they are considered drug paraphernalia, because while they "can" be used for smoking tobacco, they rarely are. Other states allow their sale and the stores which sell them claim they are intended for tobacco use only, but of course, they know they will not be used that way. Anyway... not saying which is right. Just saying that is at least the right analogy, IMHO.

Quincy

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's sort of like how you can kill someone with a hammer. Murder-by-hammer is already illegal

That's the dumbest analogy ever. What if 99.99% of people buying hammers used them to kill people? What if your profession made you the target of these hammer-wielding killers. Imagine your back to the wall of a dimly-lit alley, drueling zombie hammer thugs lumbering toward you... how does your sheepish argument feel now? It doesn't really matter because your brains are splattered all over the pavement, and the thugs move on.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Dachannien]

The point is that safety devices can be removed or disabled, and they otherwise don't prevent you from making legal use of the tools to which they are attached. Not so in the electronic world, evidently, as these "safety devices" have the added bonus function of permanently restricting the legitimate uses of the tool.

If you buy a CD, do you have the right upload it to a torrent and obliterate the music marketplace?

No, of course not. And such activity is already illegal - there is no need for an additional measure to prevent me from doing that, if said measure also prevents me from accessing the music on the CD in every possible legal way.

If you buy a student copy of Office, do you have the right to install it on all the PCs in your company?

No. But see my answer to the previous question.

If you buy a GPS device, do you have the right to hack it to use military grade accuracy?

I'm not sure what the law is on this, but if it is illegal, then I'd say no (the government gets a special break because we're talking about national security).

If you buy an iPod, and you hack the ability to play WMA, do you have the right to use it for that? how about distributing your hack? how about cracking Fairplay AAC? How about WMA encryption?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes, as long as you don't then use the hack/crack to make infringing uses of copyrighted works (which is already, of course, illegal). It's unfortunate that the law conflicts with our rights in this case, though there has been legislation introduced to fix that problem.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Alsee]

to make your point that theft is warranted when a purchase is also involved somewhere along the line

Ahhhh... yeah... that goes right along with your point that rape is warranted as long as preventing copyright infringment is also involved somewhere along the line.

Oh wait... you were lying or delusional when you claimed he said theft was warranted.

If you buy a CD, do you have the right upload it to a torrent and obliterate the music marketplace?

You mean copyright infringment? Who was defending copyright infringment?

However if the CD has some dumbass DRM scheme, yeah, you damn well should strip off the DRM to make noninfringing use, and yeah, the instructions/software/knowledge on how to do that damn well should be handed out to the public.

If you buy a student copy of Office, do you have the right to install it on all the PCs in your company?

No, but you damn well should decline the offered EULA and disable any "Product Activation" system and install and run it on your PC entirely, which is explicitly NOT copyright infringment under US law Title 16 Section 117.

If you buy a GPS device, do you have the right to hack it to use military grade accuracy?

Well it certainly wouldn't be copyright infringment, chuckle.

If you buy an iPod, and you hack the ability to play WMA, do you have the right to use it for that? how about distributing your hack? how about cracking Fairplay AAC? How about WMA encryption?

Of course. Of course. Of course. Of course. None of those things are copyright infringment.

Your answers will depend a lot on what companies you fancy, which you hate, how much money you make, and if you make your money from licensing fees, royalties, and software development or flipping burgers and washing cars.

Bullshit. My answer is based on the fact that I do not believe INNOCENT NONINFRINGING PEOPLE should be imprisoned or sued.

If you dissagree, ok, please explain why innocent noninfringing people SHOULD be imprisoned or sued for doing any of the things I defended above.

I merely want the DMCRA passed. The DMCRA simply says that NONINFRINGING people are not criminals under the DMCA. If you oppose the DMCRA, please please please explain to me how and why you defend the position that NONINFRINGING people *should* be imprisoned under the DMCA.

The DMCRA would completely rip the rug out from under DRM schemes, yet not one DRM advovate has ever been able to answer why the DMCRA should not be passed, to answer why NONINFRINGING people should continue to face prison.

-

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[KDR_11k]

Hm... That gives me an idea. Would DRM be suitable for preventing classified documents from being leaked? Could be defined as national security, then...

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[tolan-b]

I absolutely agree, though as you say it's not really relevant to this particular discussion.

On that note though, I download and watch DivX for three main reasons:

1. The ease of getting them.
2. The simplicity of storage, management and retrieval.
3. I'm not willing to pay £15 for a permenant copy of a film that I might watch a couple of times at most. Rental could be a solution here, but Blockbuster have made it nearly impossible for smaller shops that have more than just the top 20 recent releases (slight exaggeration I know). My local video store just doesn't have enough films that I want to watch.

If there were a services where I could download movies for say £3-5 (~$5-9 afaik) and be allowed to play them on any player without having to authenticate with a server, then I would do so happily.

Incidentally, probably the majority of what I download now is TV series, for example I just got round to watching the end of Battlestar Galactica Season 1. Now the rips I'm watching are from Sky, which I had a subscription to while they were being aired...

On a side note, from what I've read, it's arguable whether downloading content is actually illegal. You'll notice that no-one's been arrested for downloading, just for uploading.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[SilentChris]

"It's sort of like how you can kill someone with a hammer. Murder-by-hammer is already illegal, but that doesn't mean that hammers should be encumbered by use management technology that both prevents homicides and blocks you from using nails made by someone other than the hammer manufacturer."

Actually, it's more like Murder-by-tank. If you have a tank there's few legitimate reasons to fire it unless you intend to kill someone.

Let's face facts -- 99% of the people who do use it to run emulated games. Some purchased them some didn't. Some purchased only a few and now want to "flesh out their NES library". No matter what way you slice it, the vast majority of people use this to run illegal software.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because hammers are generally used for the purposes of construction rather than for illegal purposes.

You know, that is the same exact thing I told the officer when they found a bloody hammer with my finger prints on it.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[pnice]

I'm looking at a particular torrent site right now and a quick search for psp returns 391 torrents. The first 21 torrents (most popular) under PSP are PSP ISOs and the largest is 370Megs. Hell, Metal Gear Acid is only 74Megs, Lumines is only 135, Wipeout Pure is 197...etc, etc. I think you can fit all of the most popular games on one 1gig memory stick.

I'm guessing people are already pirating games and playing them on the PSP? Not many people talk about it but it sure seems like they are already doing it.

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[DECS]

you make a valid point, but then say:

"such activity is already illegal - there is no need for an additional measure to prevent me from doing that", which sidesteps the rather obvious problem of how to create fair way to sell intellectual property. Rights holders clearly do see the need to prevent people from ripping their stuff. A looter might say "theft is already illegal, nobody needs bars and alarms to prevent it," but that's because they see things from a different perspective than the people they are ripping off.

Being illegal doesn't stop anything, that's why we have cops and car alarms. Without enforcement and/or protection, having a law is effectively pointless.

I'm certainly in favor of the DMCRA and explicit fair use rights, but I just think its disingenuous to act like (in typical Slashdot fashion) everything is cool as long as we can break and exploit everyone else's IP and do what we like with other's content, simply because 1) we've made a purchase at some point (confusing a license with a royalty free distribution agreement) or 2) because we can.

I'm playing a devils advocate because so few people get it unless they are actually losing money to IP theft (which, btw, I'm not).

Re:"homebrew software development " ?

[Dachannien]

A looter might say "theft is already illegal, nobody needs bars and alarms to prevent it," but that's because they see things from a different perspective than the people they are ripping off.

But looters don't have any right to use your house in any way. There is no such thing as noninfringing use of your house, unless you invite someone to come in, and once you do that, the bars and alarms no longer restrict their access.

everything is cool as long as we can break and exploit everyone else's IP and do what we like with other's content, simply because 1) we've made a purchase at some point (confusing a license with a royalty free distribution agreement) or 2) because we can.

I'm not defending the infringing uses (distribution, public performance, etc., without permission). I'm only defending noninfringing uses. It just so happens that the entertainment industry is trying to kill two birds with one DRM stone - preventing unlicensed distribution as well as limiting the end user's ability to make noninfringing use of a product. Breaking DRM is thus necessary to protect the rights of the end user, even if that also enables others to abuse the broken DRM and make infringing use of the product.

The ??AA, FBI, etc., have already indicated their willingness to combat piracy through litigation under basic copyright law. It is widely expected that DRM will be no more effective at piracy prevention than lawsuits have been, since it only takes one person to crack the DRM and distribute the media to the world.

However, what DRM will be effective at doing is preventing Joe Sixpack from consuming the media/electronics he pays for (or that is broadcast over the air to him at the pleasure of the federal government) in a noninfringing way, whether that be skipping the unskippable ads at the beginning of a DVD, installing Linux on his locked game device, making backup copies of his copy-protected CDs, or recording and archiving broadcast-flagged TV shows for his personal use. Those noninfringing uses are what the entertainment industry wants to prevent, but they use piracy as a scapegoat to get politicians (and, they hope, the general public) to see things their way, even though the law already has harsh penalties for it.

IT MUST BE STOPPED

[s388]

consumers increasing the value of the products they've purchased? tailoring them to their own sinister ends? i predict massive retaliation.

and the best kind of retaliation! fruitless retaliation.

gg.

Re:IT MUST BE STOPPED

[mertner]

Actually, it's more likely to result in retail-iation as people flock to buy even more devices :) However, I don't think the hardware is where Sony makes its money - it's in the games and the yet-again-released $30 movies.

I have a collection of 3-400 DVDs, and I don't want to pay again for the same content in a different format at a lower resolution. It's bad enough I will probably do so when the High-Def battle has been won by someone..

Re:IT MUST BE STOPPED

[Mr2cents]

fruitless retaliation.

Like.. with vegetables?

Re:IT MUST BE STOPPED

[interiot]

Like.. with vegetables?

No, far far more sinister. Retaliation... with meat!

Re:IT MUST BE STOPPED

[cant_get_a_good_nick]

and me with no mod points.....

PSP Homebrew apps

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm more interested in getting a PSP for wireless web access... what kind of homebrew apps exist that would convince me to get one?

Re:PSP Homebrew apps

[lasmith05]

I dunno, imho web browsers on the psp suck. Definetly not a reason to get a psp. PSP web browsers (im referring to the 2.0 and tenchi no mon browsers) are slow, and run out of memory often when downloading large web pages. :P These browsers are serviceable at best.

nice statement...

[Anonymous Coward]

"...and will boost homebrew software development for Sony's handheld."

Proof by accusation, Q.E.D.

Time to find more questions for beggin'

People Pay for Content!

[michaelzhao]

Once again. This is an over example of Sony trying to control their customers. I am a firm believer of paying for content. If I buy a PSP, why should the company control if I happily void my warranty and install homebrewed software? They shouldn't. Its stupid. This type of control only hurts legitimate customers because all of the devious customers will easily find ways around this. A prime example is EA's system of not playing their games if they find any virtual drives. Well guess what? The legitimate customers all had to unmount whatever data they had on their virtual drives, or they had to download a crack that allowed the bypass. This much control over any system is not good. Maybe one company will wake up and smell the silicon, until then, keep hacking those systems for more functionality!

Re:People Pay for Content!

[xwizbt]

What if they release hardware at a loss, hoping you'll pay for other software?

Weird business model, granted, but it's worked in the past...

Re:People Pay for Content!

[michaelzhao]

The XBOX is a prime example of that business model. They release hardware at a loss, but get it all back in licenscing and software costs. However, if you buy an XBOX, shouldn't you have to right to happily open it up and install Linux? Thats basic consumer rights. If I buy something, I should be able to do whatever I want with it.

Re:People Pay for Content!

[AuMatar]

THats their choice. Its a gamble, they're betting I'll buy enough games to make it worth their while. I'm still paying for the hardware, and should still have the right to do with it as I wish. If they don't like it, too bad, its mine. Don't complain about losing money, it was your choice to sell it that low.

And I'm not sure the PSP is losing money, given its high price point.

Re:People Pay for Content!

[xigxag]

What if they release hardware at a loss, hoping you'll pay for other software?

I've got a crappy business model too. My plan is to quit my job and sit at home playing my PSP all day, hoping to guilt-trip Sony into sending me a paycheck every week. I'll even buy some of their games with the money. It's win-win all around.

Re:People Pay for Content!

[CylanR77]

Does Sony force you to upgrade firmware in the first place? If not, you have nothing to complain about.

Re:People Pay for Content!

[Mr2001]

Yes, newer games force you to upgrade.

Re:People Pay for Content!

[tepples]

What if they release hardware at a loss, hoping you'll pay for other software?

I'd rather pay for the hardware at a loss and then pay for the Linux kit at a profit. That model seemed to work at some time on the PS2 (but unfortunately not the slim PS2 nor for newcomers now that the Linux kit is sold out).

Re:People Pay for Content!

[michaelzhao]

Yes they do force you to upgrade firmware. Certian games that Sony released have a mandatory firmware update within them. Thus, if you want to play the game, the game will force you to update firmware. I won't be surprised if they later make UMD movies that also make you update firmware.

Re:People Pay for Content!

[tepples]

newer games force you to upgrade.

But does Sony force you to rent/buy newer UMD games and movies?

Re:People Pay for Content!

[Mr2001]

But does Sony force you to rent/buy newer UMD games and movies?

No, I suppose not. You're right, if everyone just used their PSP as a paperweight, a doorstop, or an MP3 player/photo viewer, this wouldn't be an issue. But there are much cheaper alternatives to the PSP if you don't care about playing new games: a Game Boy Color can keep your papers from flying away just as well, and it plays all your favorite old games.

Re:People Pay for Content!

[BlueLightning]

My plan is to quit my job and sit at home playing my PSP all day, hoping to guilt-trip Sony into sending me a paycheck every week.

Work for a game review website, by any chance?

How long till they patch

[Brianech]

It didn't take long until they patched 1.50. This has been an ongoing process. They will patch the overflow, make the next gen of game require the patched update (Although there is a loader that fakes the psp's firmware). All this means is that everyone who buys a PSP up until the next firmware starts hitting the market will be able to run homebrew, and we will hear whining from all the 2.X people about being locked out of the homebrew scene. But its good news for a little while!

Re:How long till they patch

[Lothsahn]

Yeah, but if you can downgrade the firmware, I see no reason why you can't make your PSP pretend like it's running the 2.1 version. Sure, there might be functions in the newer API that certain games require, but 99% of the games will PROBABLY run fine on earlier firmware.

Re:How long till they patch

[ivan256]

Sure, there might be functions in the newer API that certain games require

That function that returns a higher version number than the last release seems really popular.

Really, though. Games that are coming out now were started years ago. They'd probably run just fine on the API from some old beta firmware. The only thing changing now is bug fixes (if you're lucky), incrementally higher version numbers, and more "copy" protection.

Re:How long till they patch

[Guppy06]

"It didn't take long until they patched 1.50."

Ah, but 2.0 was the first firmware that had other reasons to upgrade beyond "Because Sony wants you to." How many more times can Sony come out with a "killer firmware app" before they run out of flash space?

Re:How long till they patch

[Dimensio]

That function that returns a higher version number than the last release seems really popular.

That one's been bypassable through a third-party app for awhile.

Angst

[Wizarth]

Fair bit of angst over there in the PSP scene it seems.

That said, I hope this works out to encourage homebrew development, although will Sony release an update that fixes this buffer overflow along with, oh, something that people -need-, like maybe updated online verification code or something.

Long awaited

[Sv-Manowar]

At last, a second chance for those who upgraded their original 1.0 firmware and instantly regretted doing it once the homebrew hacks were discovered. This hack comes at a much better time for enthusiasts to benefit and make use of the hack, if they desire, before Sony patch the hole (not to mention leaving a large number of PSP's out there on the available market running a hackable firmware..). Of course all this would be moot if Sony would just embrace the developer community surrounding the PSP and support it appropriately, instead of them having to go to these lengths.

Re:Long awaited

[Brianech]

I use to feel that way about homebrew, BUT now that there are decent working ISO loaders out there, and memory sticks large enough to handle full games, or atleast decent rips, it is very understandable why Sony wants to stomp out these problems. If they found a way to somehow prevent images from working, then there would be no reason to fear hoembrew. Problem is, if you can run pong, you can run a loader...

Re:Long awaited

[tepples]

Problem is, if you can run pong, you can run a loader...

Unless you can only run code in a process that has no capabilities to read the Memory Stick.

y0y0yoy0 y0yyoy0 y0y00y0

[griasr]

mega cool let see what the guys over at http://wab.dr.ag/ say about this

The best part of the article is the credits...

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

"Who we would like to give greetings: Every people devlopping on psp or making the psp scene going further, psp-spot for at least releasing the true side of alonetrio's story, maxconsole.com for their reliable news, killerx for his kxploit, the real founder of the 2.0 overflow (that isn't toc2rta)...

Who we say Fuck to: Alonetrio and what remains of the WAB team, Artik from SPAXXX, Toc2rta lamerz and especially Niacin (as they stole the 2.0 overflow discovery from a pspupdate's forum member) and released crappy code like a useless kernel dumper), Cpasjuste who said Yoshi is a liar but whose main hobby his to steal code form others. Any people who joined toc2rta, People who said shit about Yoshihiro or blamed him, people claiming we had to release the downgrader to them as they owned that priviledge, and people who forgot that devs have a life.

now you have the proof Yoshihiro knows to code and doesn't code shit !

The next one who will say shot about him or any respectable devlopper will get my kick on his ass.

Re:The best part of the article is the credits...

[Anonymous Coward]

Which is rather funny as the exploit was indeed coded at toc2rta.com :)

Re:The best part of the article is the credits...

[millennial]

I love how the bastard who steals everyone's code says that toc2rta stole the exploit code from the site he tells people NOT to visit ;D

Re:The best part of the article is the credits...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yea, the real truth is that SonyxTeam and Yoshi doesn't help or part of this downgrader release, if people even check out the PSP scene, then they will know the real truth, MPH and only MPH alone release this downgrader. He may not be the first to discover the buffer overflow bug in the 2.0 firmware, but he is the first who make the writing to flash0 possible, and he is also the first and only one as of now that make this downgrader. How lame of you, Yoshi, stealing other people work and credits.

Re:The best part of the article is the credits...

[darkmeridian]

This post is supposed to be funny. Everyone knows that this guy, Yoshihiro, who is taking credit for the hack here is actually some dude who steals other people's code on the Playstation scene. In fact, read the first subject on this webpage.

http://www.wab.com/

Heehee. Fakers. Will he take credit when the SIAA (Sony Industry....) comes a-knocking?

Re:The best part of the article is the credits...

[darkmeridian]

This post is supposed to be funny. Everyone knows that this guy, Yoshihiro, who is taking credit for the hack here is actually some dude who steals other people's code on the Playstation scene. In fact, read the first subject on this webpage.

http://www.wab.com/

Heehee. Fakers. Will he take credit when the SIAA (Sony Industry....) comes a-knocking?

To Those PSP V2.0 Owners who have Downgraded

[Anonymous Coward]

Welcome to the world of Homebrew and Emulation on the PSP, theres emulators for most of the popular systems and nearly 150 games, demos, multimedia and apps for the PSP Emulation and Homebrew scenes, the 2 sites to visit to get all of these are http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/ & http://psp-archive.de/ Be sure to pay em a visit One quick comment i hope Sony havent noticed that a certain PSP site (pspupdates) are hosting the firmware file which im sure is illegal, oh well its up to them i supose. Thanks to Yoshihiro and JohnMPH for this great release :)

Re:To Those PSP V2.0 Owners who have Downgraded

[KylePflug]

He managed to spam and rat out a website in the same post, and he gets Informative.

What am I doing wrong?

P.S. visit my blog. And the terrorists did it.

Re:To Those PSP V2.0 Owners who have Downgraded

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not illegal, because Sony made those files publicly available.

Re:To Those PSP V2.0 Owners who have Downgraded

[APE992]

*@dcemu.co.uk is trash and should be avoided. Wraggster can't post under his name because he's too afraid to let the world know the kind of fool he is.

That was fast..

[themepsp]

Woah, they sure did get this one out fast. I wonder what type of homebrew code we will see come out of this.. Also, a flaw was dropped for the PSP 2.0 firmware. That should get things started also im sure.

Maybe I should be more assertive...

[Brandon K]

Perhaps including a disclaimer like this with all my programs would help reduce the criticism:

The next one who will say shot about him or any respectable devlopper will get my kick on his ass.

I like it!

Re:Maybe I should be more assertive...

[Anonymous Coward]

Except in this case it's false. I've seen the toc2rta overflow written there, and most definitely not taken from somewhere else :]

Did you notice that MPH doesn't say he's with SonyXTeam, it's SonyXTeam saying MPH is with them?

s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[roka]

I learned from Skylark who was part of the downgrade developing group that SonyxTeam was NOT involved in the creation of this downgrade AT ALL. Instead MPH did released it.

Sorry for messing up, please update the story for I don't think SonyxTeam's name deserves to be mentioned in the news :(

Re:s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[Elite Xizer]

SonyxTeam/Yoshihiro are liars, and they have been trying to steal credit from MPH. The real story can be found here, Slashdot needs to update this news post immediately so it doesn't spread around that SonyxTeam is responsible for this.

Re:s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[Anonymous Coward]

Skylark didn't develop the downgrader! He never said this! He just helps people around the MIPS assembly at toc2rta, and saw the buffer overflow made there.

And about angst. Well that's what you get if you can't post your stuff under your real name with "Copyright 2005" and all that. So people are stealing each other's stuff all the time, and Yoshihiro was often associated with this action. Nobody knows if it was him or not of course - since there're no real names and legal release dates.

Re:s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually you need to be checked: the REAL release is here: http://www.psphacks.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=696 3 PSPUpdates has never broken a story or contributed anything except hype to Yoshihiro's previous "downgrader" news. Educate yourself about the sites.

Re:s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[Tony Hoyle]

They say on their web page the exact opposite.

Who are we to believe?

Not my problem, or slashdot's.

Re:s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[Anonymous Coward]

This just in: 99% of Slashdot readers don't give a shit who released it, and would rather let the dick size comparisons remain entirely within "the scene".

Re:s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[tolan-b]

no YOUR mother!

xD

Re:s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[FryingLizard]

Indeed,
The hilarious kiddie-ness of it all don't detract from the 1337ness of their h4x0r one iota.
I hear development on the PSP hacking scene may slow a little early next week as SonyxTeam is in detention for pulling a girl's hair and MPH can't upload the PSP kernel sploit code until he's cleaned his soccer boots properly.

Re:s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[Skowronek]

Mod parent funny :)

Re:s/SonyxTeam/MPH/

[brakken]

SlashDot should do a little investigating before posting incorrect news. A little digging and you can find yoshi is a thief and scammer and hasn't contributed anything to the scene other then taking other peoples code releasing as his own and ripping a bunch of people off through paypal.

It downgraded my PSP to NFL Electronic Football!

[Orrin Bloquy]

The guy next to me, it downgraded his PSP to a Merlin!

Already downgraded mine

[Anonymous Coward]

And now I am no longer limited to running it on the newer versions of Windows. I can happily run Paint Shop Pro on Windows 3.1 now. Thanks, /. !

Forgive my ignorance...

[Asprin]

Forgive my ignorance, but exactly was this released again?

/not familiar with PSP, don't know anything about the history of it
//no, seriously
///reads too much Fark.

Re:Forgive my ignorance...

[Anonymous Coward]

Go back to Fark. You fucking stillbirth.

Re:Forgive my ignorance...

[glitch0]

It works like this: If you have a certain firmware version (1.5 IIRC) than you can run homebrew apps (emulators, organizer apps, etc). If you have any other version like 2.0, then you can't. There was no way to downgrade until now, so if you upgraded or bought a PSP recently then you were screwed.

Re: NDS homebrew...

[Cryptnotic]

...is inconvenient. Requires a flash rom cart and a pass-thru card for the NDS slot. PSP is a software-only hack.

Re:I hate to mention this, but

[Anonymous Coward]

Well it's not promoteing piracy, just like you said "mean, other than "allowing to run homebrew pong"

good job.

I found the French funnier

[twilight30]

The translation of the 'who we say Fuck to [sic]' :

Ceux qu'on emmerde profond:

Which, back in literal English, is 'Who is in deep shit' . I get the impression 'deep shit' means something slightly different to what we're used to in English ....

Re:I found the French funnier

[A.K.A_Magnet]

To quote Princess Bride, I think it doesn't mean what you think it means.

Emmerder quelqu'un means "bothering someone" in a vulgar way. A literal translation would be "those we throw shit at" (when doing so, French people usually wear gloves) :).

Profond here is used as an adverb ("beaucoup"), ie "much".

Anyway "ceux qu'on emmerde" is rather soft compared to "those we say fuck to".

Re:I hate to mention this, but

[lasmith05]

Even if this news may lead to more piracy, its still very cool geeky news imho. Hacking a cool device like a psp to do what it was never meant to do. Can you run linux on it? I think that still follows the SD spirit.

Bad idea

[StonedRat]

Losing power while down/upgrading will brick the psp, making it transparent to the user would be a bad idea.

Re:Bad idea

[tepples]

warning: Slashdot does not support Greek. Automatic transliteration engaged.

Losing power while down/upgrading will brick the psp, making it transparent to the user would be a bad idea.

"Please connect the AC adapter to continue, or press D to cancel."

Re:I hate to mention this, but

[Skowronek]

Should be possible, yes, to run Linux on the PSP. Although probably a MMUless version, and with some serious reverse engineering to go. -- Skylark (and I did NOT write the downgrader. MPH did, in case anybody wonders)

Awesomeness!!!

[pakkman781]

It's great to see this finally come out! We pay shitloads for a PSP, and we deserve to run whatever we want on it(within legal limits)! Screw the greedy bastards at Sony! The homebrew community is great, and has come up with some excellent stuff. I hope it continues to thrive. Next item on the agenda: Crack 2.0 to run unisigned code, beyond the current overflow trick...

Waiting for the GP2X.

[OpenGLFan]

Yes, I know it's less powerful and less sexy, but I'm still waiting for a GP2X. Should be cheaper and DESIGNED to run my own programs. I write silly little games for my laptop (not worthy to be sourceforged, mostly about the level of addictive flash games), and I want to write silly little games to play on the shuttle bus to campus. And I want to run other people's silly little games and Yar's Revenge, which I bought Back in the Day and feel no urge to buy again.

Re:Waiting for the GP2X.

[Hellken242]

Thats a sweet looking system. Id probably have more fun playing old school NES games than the new stuff anyway. Plus mp3/ogg and DIVX? I just wish it had a little more memory on board. Tough system to beat, though!

ALL LIES

[millennial]

According to PSPUpdates, SonyXTeam has NOTHING to do with this. It is the sole creation of Team MPH.
SonyXTeam is comprised of former members of Team WAB, a group that conned hundreds of people out of their money.
WAB said that they would be releasing a downgrader on September 1, and opened up a Paypal account for donations.
Then members of WAB claimed to have been arrested, and they claimed that their hard drive crashed. If anyone came on their IRC server and asked about the downgrader, they were kicked off. Then the team split up, and the "main coder" of the supposed downgrader went over to SonyXTeam.
This coder, Yoshihiro, is well known throughout the XBox scene as a fake who stole the code of others and claimed it as his own. He is doing the same thing here with the real downgrader.

Re:I hate to mention this, but

[bitkari]

as far as piracy of UMD games goes, well that is one of the more boring uses of an 'unlocked' PSP.

the PSP is a rather nice piece of hardware, and you'd be amazed at the stuff that people have got running on it - much more than just 'homebrew pong'.

there are of course the multitude of emulators, so you can have your favourite 8-bit microcomputer, or home console with you on the bus. there is already a good implementation of the SCUMM Virtual Machine, so you can play all (well, most) of your favourite Lucasarts graphic adventures, there's a passable Doom engine running on it, a really promising LUA implementation, DOSBOX, and a zillion other things that are under development right this minute.

slashdot is not condoning piracy with this post, they are simply highlighting the truly creative use of computing hardware - a concept that warms the cockles of many slashdotters!

SonyXteam Didn't Create Jacksh*t

[brakken]

The owner is SonyXteam is scammer and liar. He didn't create anything. Check out http://www.psp-updates.com/ and http://www.psp-spot.com/ for the REAL DEAL. Yoshi, the owner of SonyXteam is a know thief who recently ran off with a bunch of donation money for a promised PSP downgrader, got kicked out of his coding group and now is trying to take credit for something he had nothing to do with.

Re:SonyXteam Didn't Create Jacksh*t

[Tony Hoyle]

Well the first link is a spam site and the second link doesn't exist.

Gotta do better than that... there are two sides to the breakup, and they say the opposite.

Next up

[Mercano]

I guess the next big PSP release is when someone replaces the firmware with something that includes the goodies of 2.0 like the browser but allows you to easily run homebrew al la 1.5.

Re:I hate to mention this, but

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone already ported Bochs to the PSP, so, yeah, it already does run linux.

and the PS2 and the Gamecube

[Anonymous Coward]

Many people use a buffer overflow in the PS2 PS1 emulation code to run homebrew code. And on the Gamecube, buffer overflows in Phantasy Star Online provided the ability to run homebrew code long before chips appeared.

Re:and the PS2 and the Gamecube

[Mr2001]

Many people use a buffer overflow in the PS2 PS1 emulation code to run homebrew code.

Please explain.. I couldn't find anything about this on Google.

Re:and the PS2 and the Gamecube

[arodland]

When booting a PSX disc, the PS2 reads a file from the memory card for some silly purpose like providing icons for memory card files. As it turns out, the code that reads that file is vulnerable to a buffer overflow, and if exploited properly it allows one to execute any arbitrary ELF code stored on the memory card, the effect of which you can easily imagine.

Re:and the PS2 and the Gamecube

[Mr2001]

Interesting. How do you get that code onto the card?

Re:and the PS2 and the Gamecube

[arodland]

You can use one of those doodads that lets you read and write memory cards on a PC, or you can run an app on an already-modded PS2 that writes the file to the card. Admittedly, it's not dead-easy, but at least you only need to do it once :)

That's great - were's some info on making content?

[willdenniss]

Who's got some links to tools or info about creating homebrew PSP content?

Will.

Hooray!!

[Diablo1399]

I blogged about the previous downgrader hoax and am now looking forward to running sweet, sweet, forbidden code.

Three cheers for the real hackers!! :D

Gameboy icon got me

[Cerdic]

When I saw the headline about the PSP Firmware being downgraded and looked at the picture of the original Gameboy, for a split second I thought, "Damn, that's quite a downgrade!"

That would have been quite a downgrade put out by SonyxTeam.

Re:Gameboy icon got me

[Cerdic]

Someone please tell me what part of this is flamebait.

Re:Gameboy icon got me

[Anonymous Coward]

The mod was probably a Nintendo fanboy who's little mind went:

PSP>Old Gameboy = Sony product>Nintendo Product = PSP>DS!!!!!
OMG FLAMEBAIT!?!?!?!?!

Re:Gameboy icon got me

[Anonymous Coward]

That's probably the case.

As an example of what I meant, I think that the NES was a better console in terms of games than the Super NES. But if the SNES hardware was gimped, it could be "downgraded" to NES type hardware.

Re:Gameboy icon got me

[glitch0]

Well if it makes you feel better, I thought it was funny.

okie doke

[Tumbleweed]

Off to the store! (okay, in another paycheck or two)

Re:okie doke

[goodenoughnickname]

(or three)

SonyXteam Confirmed to be Liars

[brakken]

Yoshi, the ex-member of WAB who recently got kicked out for mischievous activities including stealing money in a PayPal SCAM and ripping off code from other authors now states on his new page that he created the PSP v2.0 Downgrader with MPH and that MPH simply "forgot" to include that in the readme. With his past history and apparent lack of ability to spell correctly I highly doubt that he had anything to do with this downgrader, but until MPH responds or if they don't respond we'll know who is telling the truth or not. UPDATE: MPH has just spent some time online and didn't mention a single word about Yoshi's involvement. Guess Yoshi is trying to take credit for something he had no part in afterall. UPDATE: www.wab.com the group Yoshi was kicked out of has an information article about Yoshi and the fact that he didn't have anything to do with the downgrader.

Re:SonyXteam Confirmed to be Liars

[Pneuma ROCKS]

This is a clear rupture of the pirate code.

I call parley.

Re:That's great - were's some info on making conte

[Rezonant]

www.pspdev.org

forums.ps2dev.org

This is the headquarter.

YOSHIHIRO did NOT make this downgrader!!!!!!!!!

[xorez]

FIX YOUR STORY SLASHDOT, DO SOME RESEARCH!!!!!!!!

MPH released this downgrader on the psphacks.net message board where he did NOT credit Yoshihiro. Yoshihiro and his band of crooks saw this and they put up FALSE information on their website trying to take credit. MPH has NOT credited Yoshihiro or any pspxteam member with ANYTHING. MPH did this on his OWN!!!!! CREDIT all belongs to MPH and it's sad to see this fake crap floating around thanks to people like the guy that posted this news that doesn't do any research.

Re:YOSHIHIRO did NOT make this downgrader!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Surely the way to get their attention and to be taken seriously is to use LOTS OF CAPS and exclamation points!!!!!

Re:YOSHIHIRO did NOT make this downgrader!!!!!!!!!

[IpalindromeI]

Admit it, you created a Slashdot account just to post this. All that effort, and no one here cares.

Re: NDS homebrew...

[kerrle]

DS can also be flashed with a new firmware, so that it checks the GBA slot for DS homebrew on boot.

Alternatively, you can use Wifi to tell it to look at the GBA slot for homebrew, if you have an RALink card.

Personally, I think the DS is better in the long run, because it's not possible for Games to update the firmware - therefore, you only have to make a change once. With the PSP, any new game might come with updated firmware, and it may become more difficult to both play new games and use homebrew.

Downgrading is cool!

[macdaddy357]

I need a downgrader to Windows 95. That will protect me from all the hackers targeting XP!

FlashMe

[tepples]

Requires a flash rom cart and a pass-thru card for the NDS slot.

Doesn't make it inconvenient in practice. Once you use the passthrough card once to flash your DS's firmware (a process similar to downgrading a PSP), you just need the flash cart, which adds 0mm to the size of the machine.

DMCA?

[J_Omega]

Sorry if I speak of the evil.

However, is this something that Sony could use the DMCA to fight in the U.S.?

(to, you know, alienate current users and cause potentially new customers from purchasing the thing.)

Re:DMCA?

[Vo0k]

You're using the software to upload LEGAL (if obsolete) software WRITTEN BY SONY to SONY hardware designated specifically for this very software. They may argue that you don't own license to the old versions of the firmware, but that's a weak point. In this point a skilled lawyer can twist the lawsuit in such a way that SONY will have to pay fines because it's THEIR software (the old firmware) that allows for circumventing the protection :)
By DMCA you don't violate law by action of downgrading the firmware: You use 3rd party software, yes, to circumvent protection, but only with intent to install software that is perfectly legal for this specific version of hardware. The downgrader performs a legal action of changing one legal version of firmware with other... uh... semi-legal version of software.
Now the DMCA tries to strike and opens a can of worms. Because you install the old firmware with strict intent to bypass copyright protection on OTHER software - say, Nintendo games. So, well, by extension you -COULD- say that downgrader is a software with intent of copyright violation but ONLY if you prove beyond all doubt that old SONY firmware is such as well. And the downgrader is only a small helper, the main guilty is the old firmware. By using the old firmware to play unlicensed/pirated games you doubtlessly violate DMCA, but on that basis, you're a small, single user. The Big Fish criminal is SONY, who's responsible for writing and distributing the DMCA-violating piece of software. So no matter which way you approach this case, always SONY is more guilty than any other involved party. So either they say it's legal to downgrade to legal firmware, or say it's illegal because the firmware they wrote is illegal...
Nice.

Re: NDS homebrew...

[DevilJeff]

Not possible for the games to update the firmware? I think not, it's just that they haven't and there hasn't been much of a reason to make them do so.

From TFA

[bensafrickingenius]

"The next one who will say shot about him or any respectable devlopper will get my kick on his ass."

True, true.

Working link.

[StonedRat]

It's http://pspupdates.com/, no dash. and psp-spot.com is having server issues due to the demand for the 2.0 downgrader.

Yoshi has been accused of stealing code in the past, aswell as stealing the donation money. But who knows what's true. From what i saw of him on irc, he's an arsehole.

I've tried it - it works

[Dark Paladin]

I tried it about an hour ago, and it works. Scary procedure, as I:

1. Upgraded to 2.0 firmware from 1.5.
2. Installed the downloader.
3. Ran the downloader - the PSP had a weird screen. It wouldn't shut down, and just showed a screen of garbled text. I wound up having to take out the battery.
4. Put the battery back in, and turned it on. From here, I could run the 1.5 firmware installer. It went to 99% and failed. I had to take out the battery out again to reboot, and it came up fine.

So, a success. Now, there are only 3 PSP games I want to play, and one comes out next month, the other two over six months - and odds are, 2 out of 3 of those games will be made for a 2.01 firmware that removed this exploit. (Which is why the DS has 6 games coming out, two in this week alone, that I want to play, so there's a trade off.)

Re:I've tried it - it works

[drvelocity]

Now, there are only 3 PSP games I want to play, and one comes out next month, the other two over six months - and odds are, 2 out of 3 of those games will be made for a 2.01 firmware that removed this exploit.

The good news on that front is that there are already UMD loaders which will allow you to load your purchased games while bypassing the firmware check.

IMO what is really needed is a port of the 2.0 firmware which allows homebrew launches. Now that somebody's figured out how to safely update the firmware, hopefully they or another group will start work on a hybrid firmware which includes the Web browser in a 1.5-esque homebrew environment.

Re:I've tried it - it works

[ILKO_deresolution]

You are still able to use your usb connection?
Mine stopped working...

Far from it

[joeflies]

The preferred device for handheld emulation will be GPX2. GPX2 is the sequel to the former gamepark device.

One thing missing...

[wurp]

The GP2X doesn't have wireless! I want wireless (I would actually be perfectly content with 802.11b), then I'm there.

Re:One thing missing...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not built in, but you can get an SDIO card to do that. Since the GP2X runs Linux, it should be a relatively simple matter to get a driver for it.

PSP Firmware 2.0 Warnings

[Orion Blastar]

Here is a list of PSP 2.0 Firmware features so really who wants to downgrade to 1.5 of the Firmware anyway? Sure there are a few warnings, so what? The PSP 2.0 Firmware upgrade works good enough for most people's needs. After all, you bought a PSP not a Nintendo DS, because of the Sony Quality and the Sony good name and image, right?

Re:PSP Firmware 2.0 Warnings

[LiNKz]

But staying with 1.5 you can do so much more then the 2.0. I agree, I would rather use 2.0, but I want to keep my benefits I get with 1.5:

Run UMD images instead of disks, saves battery and lets me carry three games without the disks. I have three games on my memory stick right now, and a forth in the UMD drive. Four games (which I ripped from my UMD's).. Thats nice.

Run my emulators, which give me handheld ability to play games that I have been playing for years on my computer.

I was running 2.0, and missing out. I'm glad they did this, but worried it will slow down the hacking on 2.0 for homebrew to work.

Re:PSP Firmware 2.0 Warnings

[Winterblink]

I was reading an article the other day (can't find the URL right now though) about how one group out there has been working on integrating various notable 2.0 features into a 1.5 firmware. The idea behind it is that people can have their homebrew apps and still take advantage of the features of more advanced firmwares. Should be interesting to see if it works out.

Re:I hate to mention this, but

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot supporting piracy now?
You must be new here... *looks at UID#*... Oh wait, you are not.

Seriously, all the comments I saw on various portals when the "OSS exploit" was announced was people wanting to run ISOs, and emulators with their ROMz filled memory sticks. Wouldn't surprise me if those so out spoken about the homebrew stuff really are most intersted in warzing then the real homebrew stuff.

Sony is in deep trouble...

[Bodhammer]

From the Wall Street Journal this morning:

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112776717132552 400,00.html?mod=asia_technology_primary_hs

"A WALL STREET JOURNAL NEWS ROUNDUP
September 27, 2005; Page C5

TOKYO -- Moody's Investors Service put Sony Corp. on review for a possible ratings downgrade, citing doubts about the electronics company's revival plan as its shares fell 3.1% to a three-week low yesterday.

The review reflects concern that Sony will be unable "to regain the strong profit and cash flow generation patterns seen in its past," Moody's said in a statement, adding that the survey could lead to a downgrade of the single-A1 ratings of Sony and its subsidiaries. That is four rungs below the top rating, triple-A.
.
.
.
Analysts generally weren't impressed by the plan, saying it lacked vision and creativity. Instead of deciding on spinoffs or outlining a clearer way to piggyback its electronics units with its entertainment arm, Sony unveiled a proposal that sounded much like other plans to streamline corporate structure, analysts said.
.
.
.
Moody's said prices for consumer-electronics products have been declining so fast that the Sony electronics business has recorded operating losses in the past two years despite earlier attempts to bolster business by shutting factories and cutting jobs.

Aside from the cost cuts, Sony said it would focus on so-called champion products, including PlayStation 3 next-generation video-game consoles, Bravia liquid-crystal-display televisions and Walkman MP3 music players, which so far have been dominated by Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod."
*** *** ***

I have not bought a PSP because of Sony's DRM policies. I may finaly buy one because of this hack. I want a device that I can surf the web with, play new state of the art games with, play Mame games with, use as a remote terminal for my email, use VNC, play MP3s, and watch Tivo/Myth/DVD content that I own.

What I really want (check my other posts) is a upgraded Apple Newton to do the above but for $225 a PSP will do about 80%. All the PSP needs now is a decent portable keyboard and I can go with it. I hope they consider a touch screen version soon.

Maybe Apple is just waiting for the death rattle and they will buy Sony up. It could be a great merger if they focus on the technology, the user, and not cave to the Hollywood assholes. I believe in free enterprise, free speech, and fair use. There does need to be a model and balance of technology where the creators, owners, and producers of both content and hardware get paid. I'm also willing to pay for cool hardware, subscription fees, and for disks/whatnot. I just don't want to pay multiple times for multiple views.

Re:Sony is in deep trouble...

[planetoid]

I was rather optimistic that, considering Sony's previous engagement into reaching a geekdom fanbase, they would be a little more embracing and supportive of the PSP tinkering scene. Somehow I think Sony's going to start acting like babies and toss around the DMCA if this gets too fun, if you know what I mean.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony has some kind of internal feuds of freedom-vs-DRM ideologies between its development team department and its department full of ponytailed marketing guys regarding this issue.

Re:Sony is in deep trouble...

[MooseTick]

"Maybe Apple is just waiting for the death rattle and they will buy Sony up"

That could prove difficult since Sony's market cap is 75% of Apple. They may merge, but Sony isn't exactly a small company compared to Apple.

Giving the other handheld platform equal time

[tepples]

Just so Slashdot users don't get the impression that PSP homebrew users have all the fun:

there are of course the multitude of emulators, so you can have your favourite 8-bit microcomputer, or home console with you on the bus.

The GBA too has quite a few decent emulators, and more are being worked on for the Nintendo DS. In fact, many new microcomputer emulators that run on the DS put a keyboard on the DS's touch screen, making text entry a doddle, unlike on the PSP.

there is already a good implementation of the SCUMM Virtual Machine, so you can play all (well, most) of your favourite Lucasarts graphic adventures

ScummVM is also ported to the Nintendo DS, which many people find easier to use because you can actually click on things using the touch screen.

there's a passable Doom engine running on it

Doom and Doom II run natively on the GBA, and Heretic and Hexen ports to the Nintendo DS are in the works. Granted, first-person shooters will potentially have better graphics on the PSP, but they'll likely have better control on the DS because the D-pad and touch screen imitate a keyboard and mouse more closely than an analog stick ever could.

and a zillion other things that are under development right this minute.

Same for the DS and its predecessor.

To sum up: PSP for graphics, or DS for control. Now that 2.0 has become 1.50, I have regained more respect for Sony's product, but I still maintain that it's not right for everyone.

Re:Giving the other handheld platform equal time

[Anonymous Coward]

Souds to me like somebody has a DS and can't afford a PSP.

Re:Giving the other handheld platform equal time

[ivan256]

Giving the other handheld platform equal time

Why? To fill your fanboy needs for platform attention?

This isn't an advertisement site, or a political platform. If something technically interesting (I.E. newsworthy) happens on the DS, it'll get posted. What do you want them to do say "PSP firmware hacked! (Oh yeah, and the DS is kinda neat too.)"?

Why are you hearing about emulation on the PSP, and not on the DS? As far as unofficial software goes, the PSP is far more more interesting, since you don't need any special equipment to do it. Everything you need comes in the box with the machine. Plus, by and large, the hacks for the DS are the same as the hacks for the GBA, just slightly updated. They're old news. People who care know about them already... This PSP stuff is new.

Re:Giving the other handheld platform equal time

[tepples]

Souds to me like somebody has a DS and can't afford a PSP.

Sounds to me like somebody has rich parents.

Re:Giving the other handheld platform equal time

[Anonymous Coward]

You'd be able to buy a PSP too if you weren't too busy buying every PSP owner a Wal-Mart Portable DVD player, a binder to store several DVDs in, a DVD-burner, and a box of pamphlets on "why you should buy a Nintendo DS to play games."

PSP SDK

[StonedRat]

You can download the toolchain script from here which will install everything you need to get started. I've used it in cygwin in windows and on ubuntu.:

http://www.oopo.net/consoledev/

For running stuff on the 1.5 psp you need to use kxploit to patch the executable (eboot.pbp) this can be found here:

http://www.psp-hacks.com/2005/06/22/kxploit-direct -loader-v150-released/

480x272 xvid

[Rickler]

Me hopes.

Re: NDS homebrew...

[tepples]

Not possible for the [Nintendo DS] games to update the firmware?

You're right, not possible. Upgrading or downgrading firmware on a Nintendo DS requires the user to insert a small metal object into a hole next to the battery slot to bridge a pair of solder pads in order to write-enable most of the firmware.

i'm glad

[akhomerun]

i'm glad that someone has made this hack for the PSP

however, sometimes i wish (especially for portable consoles) that consoles would support homebrew code by the first party providing a free - $200 development kit so that you could make homebrew code. I think it would be way more fun to be able to do things from a computer science class on consoles and play around with the unique aspects of consoles.

i also find it sad that in order to unlock the full potential of the PSP's capability the software actually has to be "downgraded" - essentially sony's PSP firmware releases have scarce features with tons of lockdown features.

homebrew.....

[KillShill]

homebrew != arbitrary code execution.

and remember, each purchased unit belongs wholly and solely to you. you own the chips inside the machine, you own the lcd screen, you own the interconnects, you own the speakers, you own the right to fully access each of them.

calling it "homebrew" does a disservice to the property rights "movement". it makes it sound like you have no business using and programming the chips you paid good money for.

Arbitrary Code Execution, ACE.

using technical means to prevent you using your own property is a crime in my book.

and no, "business model" is no excuse in removing your lawful rights in using your own property any way you wish. sell it for 3 times as much but leave my access alone. i want it to make it illegal to rent products but call it buying. if you want people to have limited access, call it renting and then set prices accordingly. if you want to sell items outright, then behave accordingly. the problem is, they want the benefits of selling with the benefits of renting. that's a commerce no no not to mention unethical and immoral.

please don't use the word "homebrew" or if you feel you must, at least give it some thought each time you do.... see if it matches up with the world you want to live in. words have a lot of power... use it wisely.

Re:homebrew.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Easily the most insightful post I read here. It's not about stealing, it's about getting value for money. I can't believe we're conned into thinking using our purchased and owned items in a way that we want is somehow wrong and evil. Not about getting something for nothing, or piracy (whatever), we've already been (and are being) ripped off. CDs - "perfect sound forever", don't get me started...

It's a sign of the times how many posts on slashdot turn to the same issues of content management and ownership

Re:homebrew.....

[IpalindromeI]

Sony doesn't care if you want to run your own code. Why should they? There's no legal or financial reason that they should let you. They made the machine, they can make it function however they like. It's your choice to buy one, after investigating its strengths and weaknesses.

I agree that people should be able to do what they want with their own property. Sony hasn't taken anyone to court over hacking their PSP, so I think they realize that legally they can't stop you. But they can make it harder to function in ways that doesn't bring them money. They are trying to run a business, after all.

No one is forcing you to buy a PSP. If you don't like the way Sony does business, take your business to someone you do like.

Original Post

[Anonymous Coward]

The original forum post where MPH released this is at http://www.psphacks.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=696 3

Why does nobody ever mention the original sites in these articles anymore? All the testing and development was going on over there for the last week or so...

NetHack Port???

[doublem]

Look on the bright side. We're likely to see a Nethack port as a result of this.

That would be cool.

Re:NetHack Port???

[tolendante]

There is already a Nethack port...been around for months.

http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/nethackpsp.shtml

Pixel Fixel?

[Anonymous Coward]

Will it fix my dead pixels?!!

Different market, different situration

[MMaestro]

Texas Instruments sells their TI- calculators at a profit with little intention of making a profit on the accessories (the only thing you ever need to buy in its lifetime are batteries).

Sony sells the PSP at a huge loss (the fancy screen and marketing blitz couldn't have been cheap) and is designed to make up losses with PSP movie sales and PSP game sales. Neither of which have amounted to anything (yet).

Unless Texas Instruments launches their own 'Virtual Boy', they're pretty much the Nintendo of professional, high quality calculators. Don't expect double digit percentage growth, but constant and consistant growth. Sony on the other hand is already in the ditch. Yes they've made some headway into the market, but so did the Game Gear (arguably the Gameboy's strongest competitor) as did the Neo Geo Pocket/Color and they both lost, horribly for the latter.

The PSP isn't going to go anywhere if it just pushes itself with homebrewed software. It needs games. Badly. Movies are nice, but the DVD versions blow PSP versions out of the water. Sony needs to stop bashing Nintendo and give Sony fanboys something substancial to bash Nintendo.

Re:Different market, different situration

[Anonymous Coward]

Er, actually the UMD movies use a different, more efficient codec to DVD's, and so still contain a full resolution (for standard TV's), full frame movie. I dont see stand alone UMD players for your TV being too far off. So in theory you wouldn't notice the difference between a DVD and a UMD on a normal tv.

screw the hacks, release the damn sdk sony!

[evil_marty]

Downgrades, exploits, patches etc to allow running homebrew games do mean that the vast majority of people will use it for piracy (no surprise). I can see how sony are against piracy but the people who make these hacks do it in the pure interests of homebrew apps and extending the device (well the majority). Why doesnt sony just release a special SDK for the community where those people can make games and apps for the psp. The sdk could be specially altered one and be for personal use only but that would boost the psp base by 10 fold if not more. I mean if someone made a chat client for the psp to chat to other people who have psps or you could make your own game for a console wouldnt you buy a psp? It would make your psp worth the hefty price tag. I think thats why people who got a ps2 or xbox to install linux wanted to do that. Its the extensibility to the console that it brings. I do hope someone at sony takes this idea literally and into reality. It would benefit all.

Re:screw the hacks, release the damn sdk sony!

[Skowronek]

Yeah, that would really rock. However it would mean the system would have to be written very well to isolate the restricted area from the non-restricted one. And with overall Sony coding it's unlikely, and it'd be just another piracy gateway. Still, it sounds like a beautiful dream to me :)

exactly!

[Anonymous Coward]

And when you see somebody decode a format like (De)CSS, or iTunes DRM, don't say they "hacked" it. Say they "decoded" it, or "documented" it, or something. It's just a file on your hard drive, and you have the key in your iPod or DVD player or whatever. That's not "hacking" or "cracking", it's just figuring out the format, much like a JPEG or something else.

Just because 99.999% of the population is incapable of comprehending doesn't mean we should let the big corps color the discussion with their own buzzwords.

Atari Programmer/ Producer Dead at age 43

[Anonymous Coward]

I just heard the terrible news, that Kelly Turner has passed away. Kelly had been an invaluable source of information for the website, for many years. Kelly had provided me with invaluable video tapes, documentation and information in my research on Atari Games. Kelly was also featured in the Atari Panel discussions at California Extreme 2003 and 2004. He was always willing to help out, and he had some great stories to tell. He will be missed....

Kelly started programming computer games in 1976. His first job in the game industry came in 1984 when he joined Atari Coin-op. Kelly spent 10 years at Atari and was involved in programming , game design , and producing. Some of his coin-op achievements include : Super Sprint , Championship Sprint , Vindicators , Tetris , Batman , Badlands , and Off the Wall.

After Atari , Kelly spent a year at P.F. Magic and another two at Virgin. Along the way he picked up some experience in the Special FX field of the film industry and at an L.A. based company , Rhythm & Hues. Kelly also worked at 3DO and was known for the Army Men series of games.

Kelly Turner passed away today after a brief and completely unexpected illness. He was rushed to Irvine Medical Center on September 5th with an extremely high temperature, extremely low blood pressure, and possible organ damage. He remained in Intensive Care for several days while doctors attempted to stabilize him and figure out what had happened. Despite their best efforts, including dialysis to take the load off his organs, he fell into a persistent vegetative state on September 13th, with no brain activity. He had a Living Will and left explicit instructions that extraordinary measures should not be taken to preserve his life, so life support was withdrawn yesterday afternoon, in the presence of his family, in accordance with his wishes. He passed peacefully in his sleep this morning in the arms of his life partner.

Videogame producer Kelly Turner died of multi-systemic organ failure Sept. 18 in Irvine, Calif. He was 43. A memorial service will be held Sunday, Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 Carroll Canyon Rd., San Diego.

Turner started in the game industry as a programmer at the coin-op division of Atari in 1984. Over the last 20 years, he worked in virtually every aspect of development and production at companies that included, in addition to Atari, P.F. Magic, Virgin Interactive, Rhythm& HuesRhythm & Hues, The 3DO Company and Eidos. He most recently joined videogame maker Point of View in Irvine, Calif.

Turner had been involved with the Producers Guild of America New Media Council for two years, most recently as Vice Chair.

He is survived by his partner, Tom Grissinger; his mother, a sister and a brother.

Donations may be made to the Producers Guild of America, Kelly Turner Memorial Fund.

(this article has been compiled from various sources on the internet)

More Information

[brakken]

I've been following the entire situation as I maintain TehSkeen.net and have first hand experience of what went down. Yoshi did rippoff a bunch of people using PayPal and stole code. http://www.tehskeen.net/ http://www.pspupdates.com/ http://www.psp-spot.com/ http://www.wab.com/ All of these have all of the resources you need to verify my claims including information on contacting the author of the downgrader and the people who assisted him with it.

I Still Prefer the GP2X to the PSP

[Anonymous Coward]

This is great news for PSP owners but i still am waiting for the killer homebrew and emulation console that the GP2X is going to be, even today 1 week before its released the homebrew community already has Screenshots of Quake runnin on the machine. So im happy for PSP owners but im going for a machine that they wont be releasing new firmware for :)

Excellent analogy!

[Otto]

To take it further, DRM is just like the "War on Drugs". It's about people taking away rights from others using methods that should be illegal, and which are totally ineffective!

My god, man! A perfect analogy on slashdot?!? The world is coming to an end!

Re:I hate to mention this, but

[EiZei]

Not to mention it's somewhat cheap for a mobile device with that kind of a screen..

Homebrew version of PSP

[dev!null!4d]

Just an idea...
As we know Sony sell the PSPs at a loss, and make up the rest by selling the games.
So, why don't they sell a PSP at cost + margin that will allow modding and homebrew?

A bit like with mobile phones, free or cheap when locked to a network. Full price if you want to use it however you want.

Non-evil uses of buffer overflows

[eXocomp]

I was the one who did that hack. :)

The way it worked was, the TI-92 let you send and receive a "backup" -- an image of its RAM starting from a certain address. I sent a super-large RAM image that wrapped around over the top of its memory and into the interrupt vector table, so that the first time an interrupt occurred it would execute my hook (which I put elsewhere in the image).

The downside of this method was that sending the huge backup took a lot of time, which was especially inconvenient for me because I had to resend it every time I changed the kernel. Later I found a more streamlined hacking method; I found a callback function pointer in the RAM image, and modified the RAM image to make it point to my hook.

I later used a buffer overflow in a certain online PC game for non-evil purposes. I released an unofficial patch that exploited this, to remotely disable a cheat for the game I had previous written which had been leaked and abused, and also to allow people to host games with more options using remotely-executed code (the same code would run locally so the options would be the same on all ends). My patch also fixed some bugs in the game, like incompatibility with Windows 2000/XP.

The company that made this game noticed my patch and offered me the job of working on an official patch. This surprised the heck out of me but of course I accepted!
Since then, I plugged the security hole. But had I not been hired, I would've wrapped a security layer around it and used it to further open the game to customization. Having the source code is much better though. :-)

Re:Non-evil uses of buffer overflows

[alan_dershowitz]

Since I commented in this article, the system won't let me use any of my mod points to bump you up...which is too bad, because you deserve a +5 for your post more than I do :-)

BTW, thanks for the hack in question, I got years more use out of my TI learning ASM.

Except that it almost doesn't actually exist?

[Moraelin]

You know, I'd be more impressed with all this "legal use", if it actually _existed_.

Have you actually _seen_ a home-brewed game developped for the PSP or any other consoles? I didn't think so.

How about for other consoles? The closest I've seen were some "homebrew ROMs" for SNES emulators, being waved around back then as proof of why ROM sites should be legal. Except here's the most amazing thing: it was just some pirated Nintendo games with some of the graphics replaced.

For the PS2, Sony even ported Linux to it. Probably not even because they love OSS or anything, but because it allowed them to declare it as a "computer" in the EU and not pay import taxes on it. Anyway, you could get Linux on it if you wanted to. As open as it gets, right? And it already has (or you can port) all the APIs you're already used to, right? How many people actually used that to actually make a game for the PS2? Because I know of exactly zero homebrew games for it, Linux based or otherwise.

So I hope you'll understand if I'm not particularly impressed with all this "but it's for homebrew games!!!" banner being waved around yet again. For the last 10 years straight, the homebrew scene was just some theoretical possibility being waved around. Yeah, it would theoretically be possible that someone codes this great PSP game on their own and offers it for download for free. Except it never happened, and I see no sign of it getting anywhere _near_ even getting started. It's like saying that having bacteriological weapons in your home could one day save humanity from an alien attack, like in so many movies where the aliens get felled by the Earth's viruses and bacteria: yeah, it _could_ purely theoretically happen, but I hope you can understand if I'm not holding my breath.

In the meantime, it _is_ used for piracy.

So while I'm not saying it should be illegal, I can also understand why Sony would try to prevent it. Between (A) the purely theoretical possibility that the next great thing would come along as a homebrew game, and help sell a gazillion PSPs, and (B) the hard fact that piracy is costing them real money here and now... well, let's just say I can understand very well why someone wouldn't bet the company on A.

And honestly, even as a consumer, I'm not too prone to get mad at Sony for it. The pirates aren't just stealing from some evil faceless corporations, they're directly or indirectly stealing from paying consumers like me. Because it's our money that pays for those games and it's the reason they're developped in the first place.

So basically it's like having a bunch of people dropping by and helping themselves to our coffee at the office: it's not some fight for freedom, it's not resistance against the money-grubbing coffee vendors' empire, etc. It's just plain old freeloading off those of us who bought the coffee in the first place. Wrapping it in any kind of self-righteous speeches still doesn't make it right.

So if Sony actually managed to keep those at bay, eh, kudos to Sony, then. Sure, it's sad that in the process we'll lose the purely theoretical possibility of getting homebrew games for it some day. But seein' as, you know, none actually _exists_ anyway, I hope you'll understand if I'm not that grieved by that "loss".

Re:Except that it almost doesn't actually exist?

[Zigg]

Have you actually _seen_ a home-brewed game developped for the PSP or any other consoles? I didn't think so.

I don't follow the PSP homebrew scene (not particularly interested), but GBA and DS have probably dozens of titles. Off the top of my head, there's Luminesweeper, Tetris, Battleship... you know, the kinds of things you'd expect single-person teams to put out.

Re:Except that it almost doesn't actually exist?

[pnice]

Here are some links to just a few examples of GBA homebrew games.

http://www.gbadev.org/compo2003.php
http://www.gbadev.org/compo2002hearts.php
http://www.gbadev.org/compo2002.php
http://2004mbit.gbadev.org/
http://www.mrdictionary.net/blastarenaa.php
http://www.websamba.com/gamecircle/index.html
or browse through the archives at gbadev.org and see all sorts of homebrew games that aren't emulators.

Or go here for some Nintendo DS homebrew
http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index.php?topic=654. 0

I agree with what you are saying though. I don't buy flash carts or mod chips to play homebrew stuff. I might be buying a PSP very soon now as well.

Re:Except that it almost doesn't actually exist?

[bluGill]

I have seen homebrew games for the Gameboy. The PSP is a new platform, and most do not have Roms (before this hack) that would allow homebrew games, so it isn't fair to say this won't be used for homebrew games.

Most people use the VCRs ability to make copies of tapes to pirate movies (despite macrovision), but there are home movies that can legally be copies, so this ability is legal. The illegal use is an incidental consequence of legal uses.

RE:running Y2K6+ games

[Anonymous Coward]

running Y2K6+ games

Odd shorthand (or not so short??)

Vote:
-----

Which do you prefer ?

a) Y2K6+
b) 2006+

a[ ], b[ ]

(being a pedant)

[thatguywhoiam]

running Y2K6+ games.

Y2K6 = 4 keystrokes and confusing
2006 = 4 keystrokes

Re:(being a pedant)

[InvalidError]

But only '2006' could be confusing too... the context would allow it to be interpreted as either a year or some arbitrary number of games.

The confusion will end when the Y2Kx format dies in 2010... unless people upgrade to the Y2Kxx format.

Re:(being a pedant)

[octal666]

you forget the geek-leet factor of writing y2k6 :)

Re:(being a pedant)

[AvitarX]

Best would have been '06

the "'" makes it clear it is the end of a yeah (we an all guess the 20) and is 3 keystrokes.

Re:(being a pedant)

[InvalidError]

Wasn't two-digit years the main reason behind the Y2K gold-rush?

But yeah, the near-future context would have resolved this sort of ambiguity.

Re:(being a pedant)

[AvitarX]

God help us if /. posts are a key reference in a context that a mention of '06 is ambiguous in that context. I would hate my decendants to think my time was dominated by the GNAA and the Penis Bird. So actually if they miss by a century that would be great.

MPH not STX

[Anonymous Coward]

All that MPH gives credit to Yoshiro and team for is testing. Yoshiro game MPH an idea to try, that idea bricked a psp. After that MPH did it all on his own the asked Yoshiro to test for him. Thats all. Read up on psphacks.net where he hangs out for the story right from him.

Amazing.

[Anonymous Coward]

A handheld system that has more firmware updates than actual worthwhile games.

For some reason only 1.5s on the market

[Anonymous Coward]

Just thought I'd add something odd about the recent European launch - it seems they're all v1.5's?! A friend bought his in a highstreet store - I fully expected it to be at least 1.51 or 2.0??

Don't make me buy a mod chip, then....

[Jetson]

Is "homebrew software development" the new euphemism for "piracy"? You know, how 99.99% of everyone who got mod chips for their ps2 and xbox was just so they could "run linux" ?

By the time I resolved to installing MythTV on my XBox the soft-hackable versions had pretty much all dissappeared. I managed to get a used one from a friend and now I use it for watching time-delayed cable TV. The soft-hack doesn't allow me to play copied game disks, and that's fine with me because I'm not a full-time gamer and the half-dozen legitimate disks I own are enough to satisfy my trigger finger.

When M$ decided to patch the later XBox firmwares so that they couldn't be soft-hacked, that meant the only way to install Linux was to buy a mod chip. Once you've done that, you're faced with a machine that CAN run pirated games, and for which you've paid extra money for that option. If I had been forced to mod-chip a later XBox I would almost certainly be playing pirated games by now, whether to justify the expense or simply because I could.

Microsoft's decision to banish soft-hack installations probably had a negative impact on their profits by turning away marginal customers and motivating the marginal pirates.

Never say never...

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I purchased the new classic arcade disc and guess what...it required an upgrade before games could be played! Flashed me to 1.6 (or something). And then guess what? When I upgraded to 2.0 the following day, BRICK!!!!

Was it the 1.6? Dunno. Was it the 2.0? Dunno? I followed the instructions religiously. My best friend did the same - only difference is that he didn't play the classic arcade game and so went from 1.5 to 2.0 directly.

If anyone else went to 1.6 to 2.0 and bricked (which requires finding your reciept, getting a authorization number, paying for shipping and waiting a week for a REPLACEMENT to be sent (not your original unit, FU Sony!) then let me know.

~Gildas

Sure, let the dogs loose

[Norfair]

Nobody else mentioned it, but that's the best thing that could happen for the modding community right now. Just imagine the negative publicity for Sony.

Re:I hate to mention this, but

[Anonymous Coward]

You must be new here... *looks at UID#*... Oh wait, you are not.

You must be new here if you've never heard of Timecop, AKA the guy who runs the GNAA.