PSP gains touch screen support
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Oct 2nd 2006 at 8:25PM }
People that try to avoid the flame war between the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP always jump to one conclusion: both are great systems, each with their unique capabilities... But it looks like the 0x89 development team is trying to blur the lines between the two systems by giving the PSP touch screen support. What?! In quite possibly the most ambitious homebrew modification to date, the team will allow you to attach a device to the PSP's USB connection and control the XMB and specially programmed homebrew applications. PSPTouchMe as it's called will not only give you touch screen capabilities, but it'll provide a new, completely customizable XMB that's far more flexible than Sony's official one. Look at their video support: avi, mpeg, mpeg4, wmv, avc, pmp. Most impressive.
I wish the best of luck to the programmers: it'll be a truly amazing feat if they can pull this. If they're able to complete this project, tons of PSP owners will be able to understand that touching is good.
[Via PSP Hacks]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
alienclay @ Oct 2nd 2006 9:03PM
they claim imsomniac is in on this thing. i would buy it just for the additional video codec support, but the idea of a major video game developer making something for this is somewhat exciting. but iwonder how far it will go. and will it be constantly be targeted by sony in their anti homebrew or will this be seen as simply a legit 3rd party accessory?
ZRX @ Oct 2nd 2006 9:09PM
How about a ghosted QWERTY keyboard on the touch screen? Now that's something I would buy !
pixelator @ Oct 2nd 2006 9:32PM
Only problem I see is Sony shutting it out through firmware revs, rendering it a pre-2.x firmware toy -- in other words, play new games or play with this. Or have two PSP's.
Nevertheless, an amazingly ambitious project and much kudos deserved for the effort. ^^
Give me Stars or Give me Death! @ Oct 2nd 2006 9:54PM
If Sony backs it they will be accused of copying the shit out of the DS. Everybody knows they tried to semi rip off the Wii controller so I guess it depends on how much they want to look like they just blatantly mimic Nintendo. Don't bitch at me about how Sony isn't the one behind this, I know. However, reality is perception and the perception is imitation.
Tequila Mockingbird @ Oct 3rd 2006 4:18PM
Are you still going to b!tch about Sony copying Nintendo?! God!! Pardon the language but shut the f#$& up.
PerfectVirus @ Oct 2nd 2006 10:42PM
Actually if you want to play the blame game. Both Sony and Nintendo would be ripping off Logitech and Microsoft who manufactured a motion sensing controller for the PC in 1999. I think if the idea works Sony ought to seriously consider the application employing this group.
alienclay @ Oct 2nd 2006 10:41PM
to go along with your arguement i think that perception issue is strongly dependant on packaging. i would never mistake a madcatz controller for the real sony and i think nary a consumer would as well. in the same vein i doubt that people will percieve this as sony copying nintendo when only 2-3 games support it. more than that than maybe but not likely.
russdogg @ Oct 2nd 2006 11:00PM
How does that Blondie song go? "When I think about you, I touch myself..."
Jason @ Oct 2nd 2006 11:48PM
Mark me surprised. I said that a touchscreen could be added to the PSP in the GPS post and there it is one day later. Not what I had in mind, but still a touchscreen nonetheless.
Give me Stars or Give me Death! @ Oct 3rd 2006 12:45AM
All I'm trying to say is if Sony came out and said, "We've got touchscreen!", you can't tell me that people wouldn't cry foul. I get where you guys are coming from but don't pretend that this couldn't be spun to look like a wanna-be DS knock-off. And # 5 and # 7, I know the facts about the whole motion-sensing thing, don't get me wrong (you could argue that Nintendo had it first anyway with the Power Glove) but if you guys were at E3 you know that the sentiment was that Sony shamelessly stole the idea for the remote, in a kind of half-baked way. Get all pissed off if you want but the perception issue is still a force to be reckoned with.
HeartbreakRidge @ Oct 11th 2006 11:12PM
That's not Blondie, that's the Divinyls, BTW.
pixelator @ Oct 3rd 2006 11:31AM
You have it backwards. People are pissed because you're a Nintendo fanboy troll peppering every other blog with anti-Sony bullshit, not because they care who stole what tech from whom.
Nintendo, Sony... They all 'steal' ideas from each other and from other devices. Are you seriously trying to establish that the DS touchscreen is a new concept? On a handheld? On a GAMING handheld?
Be the Nintendo troll bashing Sony on a PSP site all you want, but when you start arguing 'perception' people are going to laugh in your face.
alienclay @ Oct 3rd 2006 12:02PM
give me stars...
pix may be comming of as very offensivly defensive here but he's right. acknolaging the point i made in post #6 and even with your own words "Don't bitch at me about how Sony isn't the one behind this, I know." it's like you're infering that sony would somehow make a huge selling point of the psps based on a 3rd party attachment marketing itself as offical from sony product, while at the same time realising this is a very unlikely and unrealistic sceanerio. it's like you want to pull a "sony wants to do it like nintendo because they're losing" arguement out of thin air. we're tired of this. it seems like you or someone like you wants to jump in on nearly every post on PSP FANBOY to make yourself feel better by sony/psp bashing causing pix to have to whip out the obvious to those who don't know or have to put up with it. we had 3 intellegent posts that added to the bolg post before you chimed in with some psp vs. ds emotional rant. and it's ruined (i guess the PSPDS logo in the bottom right corner didn't help perception here, but whatever.)
*sigh*
btw, nintendo didn't do motion sensing first with the power glove. there was a mercury based joystick for the atari that came before it.
Give me Stars or Give me Death! @ Oct 3rd 2006 12:14PM
Yeah pixelator, you're right, because there's no way that the perception could be anything but positive. I apologize for making the balanced argument that adding a touchscreen peripheral could make Sony look like a bunch of copycats. You're absolutely right about the DS not being unique in its touchscreen abilities. The GBA, GameGear, Lynx, all the mainstream gaming handhelds, possessed inherent touchscreen powers that were hidden to protect the public from itself and only revealed in dire times of need. You are also correct in not backing up your opinion with cumbersome and inconsequential details like "facts" or "history". These things are boring to the readers and not conducive to being a Sony fanboy. Also attacking someone by calling them names is a much better and more mature way to win an argument. Following your example I am hereby converting to the church of Sony. I will commemorate the occasion by making and wearing a t-shirt that says "My other Jesus/Buddha/Ganesh/Allah is a PSP".
Simon @ Oct 3rd 2006 12:18PM
This is going to be pointless tech unless sony can be convinced to release one themselves.
And where's that keyboard!? Or at least a Killzone-esque on screen keyboard in an update.
Hey, a touchscreen might solve this problem, anyway! Come on sony!
pixelator @ Oct 3rd 2006 3:01PM
"I apologize for making the balanced argument"
No need to apologize, you're not guilty.
"a touchscreen peripheral could make Sony look like a bunch of copycats"
Sony isn't making it. It wouldn't make Sony look like anything - except to fanboys who see what they want to.
"...DS not being unique in its touchscreen abilities."
The Zodiac and Game.com both had touchscreens. The Game.com was available at Target and other chain stores. The Zodiac was available at CompUSA. PDAs have been gaming since the 90's with touchscreen & stylus.
"not backing up your opinion with cumbersome and inconsequential details like "facts" or "history".."
See above.
"blah blah namecalling, blah blah"
The only names I'm calling you are NINTENDO FANBOY and TROLL. You can easily prove me wrong. Guess how?
Tequila Mockingbird @ Oct 3rd 2006 4:16PM
Pixelator FTW!!
Pixelator : Who counts anymore?
Trolls: -7
Vince @ Oct 3rd 2006 9:16PM
*sigh*... a bunch of fools.
Look, you guys don't get it. Now, I see people bashing Sony because they 'stole' the idea of motion sensing, and then I see people who defend Sony by saying 'Nintendo copied off of whoever thought of Motion Sensing!'
...which is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
When Nintendo implemented motion sensing into thier Wii system, it wasn't because they saw the success of other motion-sensitive hardwares, it was because they thought it would succeed. Now, think about this. If Nintendo had never utilized motion-sensing, do you think Sony would have either?
Nope. The only reason they did was because they saw the success of Nintendo's first 'out there' idea, the DS, and thought that using thier idea would be good for the system (which it is.)
Then again, its a freaking business - 'stealing' is not only smart, but encouraged. When you fail to give credit where credit is due, however, or better yet claim the idea as your own, now thats when hate is garnered, and thats why so many Nintendies don't like what Sony is doing.
There's no difference with this... oh wait, there is! And here it is - this isn't even being backed by Sony. It's most likely going to be used only for homebrew applications and anyone who bashes Sony because of this is, well, a freaking idiot.
Give me Stars or Give me Death! @ Oct 3rd 2006 9:22PM
"You have it backwards"
Have what backwards?
"PDAs have been gaming since the 90's with touchscreen & stylus."
Maybe, but not at the same level and certainly not as a machine built from the ground up to PLAY GAMES. It's a completely different ballpark. Anyone that's lucid doesn't consider their palm pilot in competition with their PSP or DS. You can chime in with the Game.com and the Zodiac if you want but I don't know that anybody considered those serious handhelds. I know you probably worship CompUSA and Target but just because it's sold there doesn't make it mainstream.
"Sony isn't making it."
No shit? Oh yeah, I said that in my first post. The argument was never about what it is, only what it could look like.
"The only names I'm calling you are NINTENDO FANBOY and TROLL. You can easily prove me wrong. Guess how?"
Can't wait for what is sure to be a masterpiece of wit and sophistication.
At least Simon is making sense.
"This is going to be pointless tech unless sony can be convinced to release one themselves."
Tequila Mockingbird is obviously drunk and repeating himself.
Oh, pixelator, name calling isn't one word. At best it's a hyphenated word. See ya, buddy.
Red Night @ Oct 4th 2006 7:56AM
I'll have to go with pixelator on this one, even though I felt him posting on DS Fanboy just to defend the PSP was rather silly. (So I like to read all the blogs..) It still isn't nearly as bad as N-nuts spamming here.
I guess fanboys will be fanboys. :( Thank god I don't limit myself to enjoying just one console.
pixelator @ Oct 4th 2006 11:31AM
"I don't know that anybody considered those serious handhelds."
They were gaming handhelds, built 'from the ground up' for, primarily, gaming. Just because they didn't sell as well as the DS, they're not "serious?" Yeah, OK.
"I know you probably worship CompUSA and Target but just because it's sold there doesn't make it mainstream."
*smacking forehead* Sure. I 'worship' CompUSA and Target and so that means the DS was really the first game handheld with touchscreen and those other things didn't really exist. You keep clutching those straws.
Red Night, you're right. It was indeed silly - I plead vindictive over PSP Fanboy playing host to several lurking DS trolls. *shrug*
Stars, since you're incapable of deciphering my apparently too-cryptic previous challenge, lemme spell it out: Prove me wrong in calling you a fanboy troll by NOT TROLLING.
'Namecalling' is a common contraction. Not in the dictionary. Neither is 'Touchscreen'. Nice try at grammar policing.
Vince, I agree up to the point where you say the stylus has been successful for the DS. I'd say the majority of games still don't use it to a decided or unique advantage, and those that do don't appeal to everyone.
kowalski @ Oct 10th 2006 6:28PM
i smell vaporware.