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Sony Gives Educational Access To PS2/PSP SDKs
Verunks points out that senior manager Mark Danks at the Playstation Blog has announced the availability of PS2 and PSP development kits through college programs. He writes:
"PlayStation-edu is a program for universities and colleges to get access to PS2 and PSP development kits ... the same ones that professional developers use to make the games you love to play. You get the development software, the hardware, and the SDK to learn and experiment with. SCEA wants to make sure that students who are graduating from college are ready to program on PlayStation hardware and that means getting it into your hands."
Why on the PS2 and PSP? is programming for them the same as programming for the PS3?
is there any greater confirmation of the value of OSS than companies wanting to give you access so you will help them out later?
Hold on, so the megacorp will 'give' you access so you'll be ready to help them later.... uhm, can we sue them? This is entirely the process of OSS, well sort of. If it is open, people will use it. If you build it, they will come. To me, this validates RMS rather than saying anything about Sony, unless you want to say that maybe they get it now? but huh? They don't get it, they just want cheap labor.
Well, perhaps people will learn... software is free. Excruciating customer service experiences cost money.
Just my opinion
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
have been doing what Sony is doing for ages.
Don't be suprised, it's not revolutionary, and has nothign to do with OSS. Just good business.
well said. If all people that are currently entering the field have an attitude that's even remotely like yours then I have some good hope for the future :)
The real problem is a general lack of interest by the great masses in the problems that you outline, by the time it will surface on their radar they'll be owned lock stock & barrel by the media companies.
MP3 Search Engine
I'll not be writing code that helps Sony.
Same here, nothing else to add.
Holy shit, grow the fuck up, it's not the like that ancient rootkit killed half your family and raped your father. Go troll somewhere else.
Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
which is totally what she said
Won't somebody please think of the trolls? I'm glad that a 2 dimensional snow man agrees with me even if everyone else is on the Sony hate bandwagon. How could anyone dislike Sony more than Microsoft? It's hilarious to just be blind to Microsoft's ongoing anti-competetive practices and shoddy software, but to get eternally pissed when Sony try to implement DRM to protect their copyright. I don't agree with their methods, or even DRM in general, but with an entity as large as Sony they are bound to make mistakes and poor decisions at some point. The entire music industry have been jerks over the last few years - all large music related companies including Sony gave in to the DRM hype, but most of them seem to be coming around a bit. If it weren't for the rootkit thing then the process would have taken even longer..
which is totally what she said
Savy profs will be able to ensure their students have adequately covered the course material by building courseware into PS2/PSP games. Instead of reading law at Oxford, perhaps one can play Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer or Computer Architecture at A&M.
Invenio via vel creo
Troll? OK, give me the benefit of the doubt and defend them for installing rootkits on customers computers and give me one reason why I should take up the practice since it seems most people here really could care less. The fact that it happened a long time ago doesn't mean a thing. It was a predetermined malicious action... yet you defend them. Why? Give a single reason that it's ok and justifiable.
If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.
Rootkit? Rootkit?!?! You think that's the only reason why people are pissed at Sony? My own decision to boycott them was long after that debacle. Let's look at a short list of some of Sony's many transgressions:
- Rootkit
- Irresponsible handling of exploding battery situation
- Failure to take responsibility for warrantied CCD failures
- Legally crushing Lik-Sang for (ohmygosh) importing the PS3
- Playing customers for stupid with their "All I want for Christmas is my PSP" astroturfing campain
Sony has a demonstrated track record of disdain for their customers. As long as they maintain that disdain, I do not feel the need to be their customer. (Which is upsetting, because I used to see Sony as a great company.)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
My name is Inigo Montoya, you rooted my father's PC, prepare to die!
There seem to be two common questions about the program.
1) Why not PS3?
The PS3 is a complex box to program for and the amount of knowledge which a student would get in a semester actually wouldn't be that much. The goal of the program is to help teach students about the low levels of the hardware...regardless of the platform. The PS2 is a very good teaching tool for this. I have seen too many students graduate who think that they can program "the metal" only knowing C# and Java. They don't know anything about DMA, registers, bus contention, instruction latency, etc.
2) What about indie games?
Again, the goal of ps-edu is instructional. However, I am in close contact with Sony World Wide Studios, so if a student creates a great game, I can easily put them in touch with WWS.
Mark
It's neither ok, nor justifiable... but neither is your attitude. Contrary to your assertions, the fact that it was a different division of Sony, and happened a long time ago, means EVERYTHING. Your "I refuse to have anything to do with Sony" rant is pretty childish. They did wrong. Let them be punished, and then let's go about our business like normal. We don't have to refuse to do any business with all divisions of Sony for the next $foo years because of it... there is such a thing as overkill.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
However, I wanted to point out something that no one has mentioned yet (oddly):For the record, no, there aren't always caveats. While the legal agreemenst may be harmless, I wouldn't be surprised if the fine print makes this program far less attractive than the first impression. If it involves the transfer of intellectual property, I'll be livid. Yes, the Playstation blog is probably not where that information should be, but a link would be appreciated.
Also, the fact that money still changes hands is a bit confusing. Were colleges and universities were not allowed to buy dev kits before? It seems like this program is just Sony marketing its dev kits to a specific audience.
Again, I'm not saying that this isn't a good idea - it would undoubtedly be a great learning tool for many university classes. But saying "You get the development software, the hardware, and the SDK to learn and experiment with" is a bit disingenuous given that the school has to purchase it, something that they could have always done.
All companies have viral marketing, the PSP adverts were certainly not worth being upset over. You're a troll.
The Rootkit was a dumb move, but they apologized for it and paid their price long ago. Unlike MS's attempts to destroy competitors and screw us, Sony was doing stupid stuff to stop thieves, and as soon as the higher ups found out, it was stopped. You're a troll.
Lik-Sang was a piracy company, Sony did not crush them for exporting PS3s, they crushed them because they were thieves. By crushing Lik-Sang, Sony protected me from the higher prices of games that have been pirated. Nintendo and MS also tried but failed. And after all, Sony used the legal process to facilitate Lik-Sang seeing the justice they so richly deserved. You're a troll.
Sony replaced all the failed products you're talking about. Sony invented the Li-Ion batteries we use in our laptops, along with so many other technologies. Their contribution to your life is enormous, and yeah, when they make the bleeding edge level of tech, sometimes it fails. The batteries didn't explode, they overheated and melted, damaging equipment that Sony replaced. It's normal business and there's absolutely no reason to hate Sony for it. You're a troll.
Sony's main competitor in the game console business is Microsoft (nintendo sells more, but it's not really the same revenue level nor is it really the same kind of product). You are a gullible believer of MS's viral marketing... It's FUD. Do you want to know why you don't see Zonk on here much? Because he took really expensive gifts from MS, and became totally uncredible in game reporting.
MS has been convicted in court for so many monopolistic, fraudulent, and deceptive trade practices it's not even funny. They invested in patent trolls to sue Sony for BS patents Microsoft had previously admitted were totally specious. MS is forcing game companies to reduce quality of PS3 games in a high-stakes game where no one knows who will win, but all know the customer is losing.
Sony isn't perfect. Their grandiose attitude about the PS3 as arrogant and silly and led to a lot of anger in the US press thanks to MS's heavy heavy advertising budget. But MS is far worse in even this category.
We've seen Sony dominate gaming. It led to a golden age for third party devs, success for MS and Nintendo in being able to compete with a fair market leader, etc etc. We also know what happens when MS dominates a field. Sony is so obviously the good guy here. They have the most open and cost effective console out there, despite MS's obvious and hamfisted efforts to spend enormous sums of money just to destroy the Playstation brand (which they then will spend to destroy Nintendo and then recoup from you and me somehow).
Anyone attacking Sony and not granting that they are the most ethical competitor in this market, by far, is a dishonest clown or an idiot (Nintendo has shown their business practices too, which is why no one wants to work with them anymore).
You say you used to see Sony as a great company. The vast majority of the things you mention such as Sony's product recalls and the viral marketing, are ubiquitous and benign features of this marketplace. Lik-Sang deserved a lot worse than Sony gave them. You're really mad about the Rootkit, an isolated incident that Sony clearly is opposed to. What a jackass.
Holy cow. Pot calling kettle black.
I got as far as "Lik Sang was a pirate company" before I gave up. You don't work for Sony do you?
Lik Sang didn't pirate anything. They were an importer of Japanese goods; many of which were extremely high quality. The company that Sony crushed had the same name as a previous company that sold mod-chips (a legal gray area) but they were not that company. They sold stuff like LCD-compatible light-guns and Japanese-only games.
I won't even bother replying to the rest. Pearls before swine and all that.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade