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30 Day PSP Coding Contest

Posted by Zonk on from the good-luck-coders dept.

Busshy writes "Lik Sang and PSP News have tonight announced the start of the first 30 day Coding competition for the PSP. The competition can have entries such as Games, Demos, Emulators and Applications for any version PSP. Full details and prizes (which is a complete range of essential PSP accessories) are available on the site."

14 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Development software.. by Andares · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If the Sony guys are still charging 10k for the PSP SDK, then lots of qualified possible winners are going to be weeded out. However, from Sony's perspective, if they released the SDK to the public people would use the emulator that it comes with to play roms and not buy their product. Perhaps they should offer copies to people who they think might do well but can't afford the software.

    1. Re:Development software.. by phase_9 · · Score: 2, Informative

      There is already a strong 'homebrew' scene for the PSP which has churned out plenty of emulators from SNES to the mighty Amiga 500(!), all of these using exploits and haxies found on the version 1.0 and version 1.50 firmware (hence the recent kerfuffle over the 1.5 downgrade) IMHO, Sony are very unlikley to release the SDK to the public (at a resonable price) anytime soon, therefore practically all the entries are likley to be of equal running - still, the Doom and Quake ports are very impressive! I'm eager to see the results of this compo!

    2. Re:Development software.. by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "IMHO, Sony are very unlikley to release the SDK to the public (at a resonable price) anytime soon"

      They won't. They're losing money on the system and making it up through the sale of games. They want people buying PSPs to play the games they make royalties off of. In some ways it's sad, in some ways it's understandable. Can't say I agree much with their business model, but they did pack a lot of hardware into that price range.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    3. Re:Development software.. by whizzter · · Score: 2, Informative

      true, but i bought my psp last weekend and it came with a 1.52 firmware + 2.0 upgrade disc. considering lead-times,etc i think that most psps over the holiday season will still be 2.0. 2.01 and higher firmwares will prolly not be in retail machines until next year (altho some batches for the holidays might be have it aswell).

    4. Re:Development software.. by ivan256 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They won't. They're losing money on the system and making it up through the sale of games.

      Do you have any proof of this, or are you just speculating? I mean, they're charging $249 for the thing, and there are handheld computers out there that aren't much more expensive that are on a 40%+ profit margin. I would bet they're selling these things exactly at cost.

      The only thing I see out there is speculation though. Even the Official Playstation Magazine can only speculate. And Sony isn't going to come out and deny it, because they'd love for you to think you were getting something that was worth more than what you paid for it. Even if the screen and the UMD drive cost $100 each though (they probably don't in quantity), I can't imagine the PSP costs more than $249 to build.

    5. Re:Development software.. by aliquis · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Remember you've got distributors and retail stores atop of that to thought.

  2. Re:Hmm by Enti · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seconding this. It's nice to see groups encouraging homebrew, especially given Sony's current attempts to prevent it. I would like to point out that the DC was a bit of an underdog, despite how wonderful it was. The PSP, on the other hand is bound to generate a nice homebrew scene in the coming year or two (I'm amazed by what there is already) simply due to it's mainstream nature and awesome features (portable, powerful, nice screen, decent onboard storage, ect.)

    --
    In these days, bleeps and bloops mean something more
  3. Any application... by oopsdude · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think I'll start working on my Nintendo DS emulator right now!

  4. finally! by cow_licker · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh good, I was wondering when a new game for the psp was coming out ;)

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    $_='while(read+STDIN,$_,2048){$a=29;$b=73;$c=142;$ t=255;@t=map{$_%16or$t^=$c^=($m=(11,10,116,100,
  5. Re:What if by jackbird · · Score: 3, Informative

    No control over content is what eventually sank the Atari 2600 and almost brought the whole industry down with it. No console manufacturer since has willingly given up control of what gets released for their platform.

  6. Re:C64 Emu, dammit! by ALeavitt · · Score: 3, Informative

    Try looking for one.
    http://pspupdates.qj.net/categories/Emulators.html #Commodore%2064

    --
    This sig has been stolen. Return it to its original user for a reward.
  7. Re:What if by KDR_11k · · Score: 2

    They aren't losing money (except for MS) but the profit margins on the consoles are tiny.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  8. Re:What if by grumbel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ### All of which were general-purpose computers and not game consoles.

    Well, yes, thats kind of the point, if you remove the content control and let everybody develop for it, every computer becomes a 'general purpose' computer. An XBox or Playstation to which I connect a USB Keyboard and a harddisk is no less a general purpose computer then an Amiga was one, only difference is that Sony/Microsoft don't allow you to develop for it officially, while Commadore did allow you todo exactly that. Only different is really the control, not the hardware.

  9. And all of a sudden it costs $2000. by Corngood · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The control gives them the ability to manage the up front (hardware) vs. ongoing costs (software) costs for the consumer. Without that control they'd have to sell the hardware for a profit, which would make acceptance lower, and in turn make software less profitable.