Hackers vs Sony: the homebrew game
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Jul 17th 2006 at 11:00AM }
A new homebrew game by DreaDNoughT attempts to accurately chronicle the ongoing battle between Sony and the hacking community. The story begins as such: "Sony, previously considered a friend to the gaming community, has betrayed us... After some time Sony released the first plague: Firmware version 2.00... And now you must begin the quest to defeat the ultimate firmware."
Uh... excuse me? Am I the only one that doesn't feel betrayed by Sony's firmware revisions? I, for one, do use the internet browser, RSS feeds, AVC, Flash and WMA support. Regardless, it seems like a notable effort by a fan, and might merit some playing for you non-updated PSP owners. And, as a bonus, the latest version lets you actually win.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Br0 @ Jul 17th 2006 11:32AM
Are you kidding? Why even bother upgrading a 1.5 when there is a rabid homebrew and development fanbase? Theres really no point. and now we have DevHook to make all that waiting worth it. its pointless to upgrade a psp.
Sony just needs to come to grips with the fact that the consumers will do what they want with THEIR property.
XenoPhage @ Jul 17th 2006 12:38PM
I don't feel betrayed, per se.. However, I wish Sony would finally recognize that there is a huge homebrew scene and that it would grow even larger given a little encouragement. Sure, there is the possibility that the UMDs could be cracked and made to run from flash, but I think that's going to happen regardless.
I, for one, love my PSP. I play it all the time and I enjoy the games I have. However, there are a number of homebrew projects that I would love to try out. I'm not willing to stick with 1.5 firmware to do so.
How about this. What if Sony were to release a dev kit that would allow homebrew? Something that would have specific hooks to prevent the running of UMDs on flash, but allow custom code? Hell, that might get me to start writing some PSP code..
Cmon, Sony! Step up to the plate!
Ixalon @ Jul 17th 2006 1:32PM
I agree, if Sony were to introduce a SDK for home users and allow distribution of homebrew apps and games, they'd a) slow the momentum in firmware hacking and b) sell a hell of a lot of PSPs!
Their thinking will certainly be that stopping homebrew will prevent piracy, but if they'd have allowed homebrew from the get-go there wouldn't have been such motivation to hack the firmware and there wouldn't be such a large group of users with PSPs able to run pirated ISOs.
KingOfGods @ Jul 17th 2006 1:48PM
I just downgraded my firmware to 1.5 last night and started playing with the emulators that are available and boy is it great.
The homebrew scene is pretty sweet :0)
pixelator @ Jul 17th 2006 2:24PM
I agree, it's not a 'betrayal' per se, and hell, it allows you to make a choice to some extent. Older rev firmware for homebrew or newer rev for all the latest game compatibility and web, flash, etc. improvements.
I think the big complaint among PSP enthusiasts looking to run stuff through the homebrew scene is the lockout of newer games requiring newer firmware. There's really no excuse for it other than Sony forcing people to upgrade and abandon the homebrew capabilities. From what I've read, there's nothing in the updates that the newer games actually need, so it's a 'play by our rules' thing -- something Sony is pretty bad about.
Me, I have up the homebrew scene a while back and flashed up to the newest revs. I didn't feel like waiting for the game 'rev fooling' hacks to run the new titles, and I actually felt some of the improvements were worthwhile, such as the browser, flash, podcasting, themes, etc. -- Yes, homebrew apps make up for most of that, but you also have to go find the latest revs and install, etc... Easier to just give in to Sony.
Look at it this way - at least we got a browser for free. DS owners have to pay $33 for an Opera port that doesn't do flash, pdf, file downloads, etc.
Tiago @ Jul 17th 2006 2:42PM
While homebrew == nintendo emulators i'm sure sony won't do a bit to support it.
lol
Fedaykin98 @ Jul 17th 2006 3:41PM
Yes, I think you are out of the mainstream by not thinking that Sony is being uncool to its customers by fighting homebrew - although probably only enthusiasts who read a lot of internet sites feel this way. Still, you write for an enthusiast site. So, yes. I own a lot of Sony products, and most if not all of them give me the feeling that Sony is not interested in making me happy; they are interested in what they think are their own concerns, not realizing that they would be best served by making their customers happy. It kind of amazes me, actually. Their attitudes are clearly on display right now with the lead up to the PS3, and the spirit of "arrogance" that Joystiq has written about recently.
SuicideNinja @ Jul 17th 2006 4:05PM
"I think the big complaint among PSP enthusiasts looking to run stuff through the homebrew scene is the lockout of newer games requiring newer firmware."
Exactly. This leaves me little motivation to buy games because they won't run without some an unwanted firmware update. It's one thing to require an update because it improves the game, but just to ensure the user has the latest firmware is no good.
The browser is still horrible, so there really is not reason for the new firmware except to play certain games. Thankully 2.71 emulation fixes that issue.
I refuse to permanently update my firmware; I don't trust Sony as it is. If they ever do that PSX emulation, I may reconsider if the firmware emulation has performance issues.
Matt Wenger @ Jul 18th 2006 8:24PM
Andrew just wanted to say congrats on your reporting for this great site! That's one funny story too! Keep up the good work buddy!
Marco C Jr. @ Jul 19th 2006 12:51PM
You tell them Andrew! I'm with you all the way! I basically use every feature on my PSP to the fullest (except LocationFree Player, Although I really want to try it out). I don't know about the homebrew community but I support my Industry. Oh yeah I went there.