Datel sued by Sony over for 'Lite Blue Tool'

by Andrew Yoon { Jan 13th 2009 at 5:15PM }

Datel had intended on manufacturing a battery which would make the PSP Brite susceptible to hackers.The product never found release, however, and many were left wondering why. According to Portable Video Gamer, Datel cannot manufacture the battery due to a lawsuit in progress from Sony Computer Entertainment.

We're glad that SCEE is taking a more aggressive approach to PSP piracy. The causes of piracy and its effect on PSP software development are debated quite frequently in our comments section. We stand by the belief that curbing piracy on our system is the best way to get the system back to its former glory. Stopping devices like this from entering the market is a key step in Sony's new efforts in making PSP a viable platform once again.

[Thanks, David B.!]

Tags: battery, datel, lawsuit, lite-blue-tool, scee, sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Phil @ Jan 13th 2009 5:32PM

I don't see why people would need to pirate PSP games. At $30 average price they are affordable. Besides there weren't enough games released for the PSP last year to break anyone's budget.

I would like to try out some of the Homebrew but I think I will pick up a second system before I mod my only one.

Animaleante @ Jan 13th 2009 9:04PM

I'd like to point out that not every country is so gamers-friendly. I live in Brazil, that third world country you know, and here, well, eletronics cost about an arm or an leg. For example, while you pay 200 bucks for it, we pay 600.
If you think that is expensive, a game that you pay about 20 bucks, we pay 200. The math seems crazy, I know, but it is like that. And sometimes you don't have that much to buy just a game, so, piracy can be your friend until the government decides to do something about the taxes. And I think the Psp is to limited without homebrews...My 2 cents.

Phil @ Jan 13th 2009 10:56PM

Point taken.

I did not think of countries other than the US of A.

If that's really the price you pay wouldn't it be easier to develop a friend in the states and have them ship stuff to you? I knew a guy from Bello Horizonte and he does something similar.

baleia @ Jan 14th 2009 10:00AM

I'm brazilian too and i'm a programer, one of the best payd carrers in Brazil and I have been working for about 5 years and I'm a good programer. I'm best paid than most of my friends and still I can't afford to buy original PSP games.
By the way, I wouldn't be able to buy even the PS1 games by the time of it's release an it was officially released in Brazil. The target market in Brazil for videogames are the really rich people and taxes are way too high all games, even the brazilian releases are expensive. To the point you have to decide if you will buy the last video card for your computer or a new game for your psp.

Don @ Jan 14th 2009 5:05PM

I'm in Canada, and only last year has PSP games dropped to the average price point of about $30.00-$40.00. Since the PSP release in 2005 to 2007, PSP game prices were on average $50.00+ here.

I'm not advocating piracy, but it seems a bit of a price gouge to charge as much for a handheld game as a console game, and the average gamer didn't see the logic in paying those kind of prices. Of course this was part of Sony & the other companies strategy of raising console game prices to $60.00+....

If Sony had stuck to the $40.00 & under price point from 2005-onward, there would've been more buyers of the games.

midnightshade @ Jan 22nd 2009 8:09PM

Hell, PSP games in the 2 gamestops near my house are cheaper than that... I just got New version of Syphon Filter: logan's shadow for $20, Metal Gear Acid2 (new) for $9.99 and Mega Man Powered Up for 9.99, even very popular games like Final Fantasy tactics are $20 or less. The psp games are dirt cheap its' almost like buying ps2 games. I own so many Umd's though I am running out of space. 2 8 pack cases and my metal master case that holds both psp slim and ds with games....Ah I love my handhelds!

I Guess My PSP Just Died @ Jan 13th 2009 5:33PM

Wow. That is incredibly lame. These sorts of things are what makes the PSP a good handheld. It's certainly not the PSP titles, but what can be done with the PSP itself as far as gaming is concerned.

I Guess My PSP Just Died @ Jan 13th 2009 5:34PM

Wow. That is incredibly lame. These sorts of things are what makes the PSP a good handheld. It's certainly not the PSP titles, but what can be done with the PSP itself as far as gaming is concerned.

Also, you can use TOOL for more than PSP games. You can use it for home brews and past gen titles.

sony boy @ Jan 13th 2009 6:34PM

i guess my psp just died, you suck for saying that. Some people don't like to hack such as me. Hackers are part of the reasons why games and music and movies haven't been selling since these "computers" arrived.... man, thank you sony for making a good move.

Now i just want a frikin gps for my psp.

devilmaker @ Jan 13th 2009 7:03PM

And its because of "these sort of things" that the PSP has become a barren and dying gaming platform for everyone else who plays and uses the PSP innocently.

pixelator @ Jan 13th 2009 9:15PM

Bullsh*t. Even if there was hard evidence that the PSP has more per capita piracy and that it hurts publisher sales more than any other system (there isn't any such evidence but let's pretend), it still doesn't explain the lack of 1st Party support, imported JP titles and accessories, like that GPS, that we have yet to see.

DS software sells well. GBA did superbly. PS1 did fantastic. XBOX did pretty well. All those systems have had extensive piracy. The dirt cheap DS flash carts are now so common they're sold at local flea markets in my area - but you don't see developers complaining because thanks to Nintendo's marketing and direct development efforts and heavy use of 'evergreen' IP driven software, most DS software sells - unfortunately - because there's a hell of a lot of shovelware on it as a result. But this is as it was with the GBA and PS1 and PS2, all of which had piracy. How common are 'mod chip' lists on Craigslist?

Place blame where it's due and maybe Sony will learn from their mistakes. But keep spreading distortions and FUD making some diminishing group of tards who jump through an increasing number of hoops for CFW into the 'People Responsible for the Failure of the PSP' and you guarantee Sony will learn nothing and change not at all. The PSP2 will be a repeat of the failed promise of the current model.

emirabal @ Jan 13th 2009 10:08PM

Sony boy, you really kill me, you guys do realize that the DS has the ability to be hacked also and play homebrew and copied games (not sure about the copied games part) but either way, you dont see NIntendo complaining about this stuff, because (drum roll please).......

THEY SUPPORT THEIR PORTABLE CONSOLE HERE IN THE US.....CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT....A COMPANY THAT SUPPORTS THE PSP..

I dont even care anymore, this fucking argument about how its the hackers fault is just ignorant on almost everyone who starts talking about it.

Flame on.

slycooper_rocker [patapon defence force] @ Jan 13th 2009 10:07PM

bite your tongues! being able to play chrono trigger on psp justifies hacking the psp. yeah, piracy sucks @$$. but being an @$$ about it doesn't help. sony should target sites like psp blender and psp iso and major torrent sites. then we would get going.

Wrathbringer @ Jan 13th 2009 5:47PM

Woot! Hopefully this will lead to a curb in piracy on our beloved portable system and draw in more developers!

lasersanchez @ Jan 13th 2009 7:26PM

Being able to rip your old PlayStation games to play them on the go, playing roms of your classic games, and ripping UMD games and putting them on your Memory Stick are all pretty cool advantages custom firmware has that are all somewhat ethical. Oh well, the PSP still plays used games, and that's not exactly helping Sony either. But that's a much more complicated matter, isn't it?

perspective @ Jan 13th 2009 5:59PM

I am very glad Sony has done this...and I am someone with a custom firmware PSP and have downloaded many games.

Phil asked why anyone would pirate a $30 game. Well, it's simple, would you rather pay $30 and go to a store to buy a game that may or may not be good or sit at home and dl a game in 5 minutes for free...the choice for most people is pretty easy.

Now, I always hear people say "well, Im using custom firmware only for homebrew". That's a load of bull...I highly doubt that anyone (maybe a few exceptions) who have custom firmware doesn't also download full games.

So this is definitely a necessary step by Sony to curb piracy.

pixelator @ Jan 13th 2009 7:25PM

I had custom firmware and while I did test out my ability to rip my UMD to memory stick, I never downloaded any games I did not already own.

PSP piracy being the reason software sales are low in the USA is an apologist/shill/ignorant crock of shit - it's no more of an impact than it is on the DS, or was on the GBA, or has been for consoles. Piracy was MASSIVE on some of the 90's and early 2000's consoles, yet because first party development was strong, third parties followed - and there wasn't so much favoring of the JP market and abandoning the US.

NOW. That said, I think it's good to 'close the back door', even at this late date and make efforts to curb future hacking of the system. It could give some devs peace of mind and stem some of the bleeding of talent off the platform, although I think the damage has already been done, unfortunately. Maybe this somewhat more proactive measure will bode better for PSP2 support.

p-diddy @ Jan 13th 2009 11:29PM

*raising hand*

I run CFW on both my phat and slim and have never, EVER downloaded a ROM. I use it solely to rip my own ISOs and not carry around the discs. It is very convenient. Furthermore, since my discs for Crush and Def Jam went belly up before I could back them up, and I just re-bought Crush, I am very much of the mid set that I want to back up every disc I buy.

Admittedly I am lucky enough that I make very good money so buying a $30 game is an impulse purchase for me (not bragging, it just takes being cheap out of the equation), but buying the same game twice just because the disc crapped out sucks for anyone.

-p-

andwhyisit @ Jan 13th 2009 11:40PM

So just because I have CFW and haven't pirated PSP games I am suddenly a minority?

I use my psp for homebrew games, emulators, my collection of near 20 UMDs, and for playing ripped PS1 games (I have the original disks for those as well), and Playstation Store games.

I do have one iso, but I own the original disk for that. I ripped it to drop the loading times from 10 seconds to 1 or 2 seconds. Digital copies have faster loading times than UMDs. Anyone who has played (or attempted to play *shudder*) "Crash Bandicoot: Mind over Mutant", or any psp game with outrageously long loading times will understand what I talking about.

p-diddy @ Jan 14th 2009 12:01AM

p-diddy @ Jan 14th 2009 1:41AM

Zippon @ Jan 13th 2009 6:04PM

Bravo, Sony! And always nice to see PSPfanboy's common sense approach to piracy and what it means to the PSP. Very refreshing.

Christopher @ Jan 19th 2009 11:00AM

"We stand by the belief that curbing piracy on our system is the best way to get the system back to its former glory."

Because we all know how it's hurt the DS, right? Good gawd. It's the LACK OF GAME RELEASES that is killing it and since it's easier to pirate games on the DS, piracy on the PSP is just a scape goat. >.>

Zippon @ Jan 19th 2009 4:40PM

If Youtube videos are any indication, piracy on the PSP is **FIVE TIMES MORE COMMON** compared to the DS. Let that sink in for a moment. That's 500% we're talking about.

Ignoring the effects of software THEFT on the willingness of developers to produce more software because an unrelated system also has theft is boneheaded. It's like saying crime in Compton isn't a factor in people wanting to move there because it's easier to break into houses in the suburbs (less deadbolts on the doors and bars on the windows). The DS is aimed squarely at kids. Young kids. The accessory and game selection alone will clearly explain that. Kids (and the parents buying their games) are far less likely to exploit the DS than teens and young adults with PSP's. Hence their piracy is much less (relatively speaking) when compared to their relative software sales.

You want to know WHY there is a "LACK OF GAME RELEASES"? It's due to piracy. If games sold on the PSP, developers would create them. It's called economics. But the PSP torrents far outnumber the legitimate sales, so developers concentrate their efforts where they will do more good. Simple as pie.

Matthieu @ Jan 13th 2009 6:23PM

Its not pirating if your next door neighbor has the UMD and LETS you rip it. He wasn't selling me the ripped game.

devilmaker @ Jan 13th 2009 7:01PM

Of course thats still pirating. Did you purchase the game yourself? No! Did you not give the devs your money? Yes!

Just because you're friend has it does not make you above the law. If you give someone else, outside of your family that lives with you, media of any kind it is pirating. Unless there is no copyright on the media, it is all piracy.

p-diddy @ Jan 13th 2009 11:25PM

I am an attorney and can tell you that is in every way, without a shadow of doubt, still copyright infringement. Same as if you rented a game/movie from blockbuster and ripped that and returned it.

And no, contrary to the mangling of the concept among the people of the interwebs, it is NOT fair use if it is limited to friends.

Matthieu @ Jan 13th 2009 7:25PM

However, I understand that there is a majority that get out of hand with Isos and etc so I understand the decline of money for developers. But, what I do is wait for my friend.

pixelator @ Jan 13th 2009 7:55PM

"We stand by the belief that curbing piracy on our system is the best way to get the system back to its former glory"

I'm sorry to see PSP Fanboy taking this official stance, Andrew. Blaming end users and not Sony for low US game sales is, I think, a disservice to your readership.

I think it's clear that Sony failing to lead third party development with strong first party software of their own is a major cause of PSP market apathy in the US. Another is the lack of new games - 2008 was abysmal. This has come about not because piracy is hitting sales figures (since it seems likely that DS piracy is no less prevalent), but because people are looking to the DS or iPhone for new mobile games. GameStop has practically stuffed their PSP section in a closet, as have many other retailers. PSN support has been lukewarm at best and Sony's 3000 revision was received angrily by those in the know who dislike the refresh scanlines and by total lack of awareness by everyone else because they barely said anything about it. It's a challenge to even tell the combo and base packs apart from 2000 to 3000 - they even used the same Ratchet game. The DSi, by contrast, has quite a few new features and it, like the Lite model before it, was introduced with fanfare by Nintendo.

GPS, when? Camera, when? Scores of popular JP titles ported to the US WHEN? Please don't insult our intelligence by blaming the PSP community for killing the software market. Sony has done a bang-up job of that, already.

andwhyisit @ Jan 13th 2009 7:32PM

Glad to hear it. The Datel tool doesn't work anyway from what I heard.

Kattleox @ Jan 13th 2009 8:20PM

I want to make a long comment too!

I have no experience with hacking my PSP or that of another. Piracy is bad!

emirabal @ Jan 13th 2009 8:49PM

This is for Devilmaker, i cant reply to your comment but i can make the point here. I do not believe in piracy, but i do believe in doing with my system as i please, if it means i want to void the warranty and open it up and put a green cover on or if i want to hack the software so i can play custom firmware thats fine also in my book.

Your comment about not giving the devs money for the game makes me wonder if you are a dev. Not really but i like this discussion always about homebrew. You make the point almost the same that was made about the gamestops and eb reselling used games. The devs dont see that money so what is your take on that end. I just wonder.

As for the kid who took it from his neighbor, yeah sorry dude, you stole the game, you basically copied it but oh well.

Also, i remember the discussion from before, i havent bought a game since Tactics. The reason i havent bought anything, dont want to play, but i will tell you that i ripped that shit to my psp to see if the GOD DAMN LOAD TIMES WOULD GO AWAY - they did not. plus you couldnt do online ad hoc multiplayer, which was effing awesome in my opinion, you take out a key feature and it makes players have to get the legit version.

Point is, the system is flawed, sony knows it, we know it, hackers know it and until they get the trophies in that shit, and they get it linked directly to the ps3 and ban people from going online with it, the hacking wont stop, it will be limited (like it is on the 360 and ps3) and then you wont have these arguments about a weak system, that is hackable, not supported by its own company here in the states, reiterated for no reason other than to add some stupid slim design with no second analog stick or internal memory.....look i can keep going but i wont, gotta have dinner.

Heres looking at you sony to make the better PSP2 with PS2 support so that i can play all my ps2 games that i never had a chance to play (FFX) and give me trophies for it.

Until then, ill stick to my PSP wit homebrew to play all my old snes games (which i own).

Jacksons @ Jan 13th 2009 9:05PM

Products like these shouldn't exist anyway. No loss here.

Scuffles @ Jan 13th 2009 10:04PM

Yup should never exist

Who would honestly want to be able to go down to their local used game shop in the event their PSP bricks during its update to get it fixed. When you could just contact sony who would gladly out of the goodness of their heart fix your psp ... odds are for a much higher price + shipping. That is if they don't just tell your your SOL and to go buy a new psp.

But hey I'm impartial my psp is a 1k loaded with whatever firmware sony puts up on the psn and my battery is original so if mine ever bricks I can fix it myself... yay me !!!

erdie84 @ Jan 13th 2009 10:44PM

Yeah, unfortunately the potential problems of making service modes or the kernel accessible by users far outweigh the consequences to the company, as you already know.

A better idea would be to implement a resident boot mode using a button combination that would enable you to return to your last installed firmware. All the instruments I work with have that feature. Anything with upgradable firmware should, in my opinion.

bluedee @ Jan 13th 2009 9:25PM

yeah, piracy is really bad...I always imagine how it feels if I am the developer of the game.

Scuffles @ Jan 13th 2009 9:38PM

Oh well anyone who didn't see this coming a mile away is a little on the thick side anyhow.

when the original article and their website mentioned something about them examining the sony hardware with SEM, they were in some pretty questionable waters just from a reverse engineering standpoint.

Maybe it is but I doubt every time a game fails to hit sales expectations that its due to pirates. Personally at least when it comes to me as I can't speak for anyone else when I don't buy a game its because I think it sucks and want nothing to do with it.

I guess when it comes down to it, could this product be used in a crime (that of pirating games) yeah it could be ... but you could use a baseball bat to commit a crime ... and I guess it helps that I don't care much for sports but if you want to ban the sale baseball bats as they are potential criminal implements, I'd be all for it.

Then again I'm using a psp 1k with whatever firmware update sony havs posted to the psn so it really doesn't effect me one way or the other. As in the event my psp bricks when its trying to update to the new firmware I can poke around my batterie and get access to the built in bootloader and install the new firmware anyhow. While most of the people complaining that its the end of the world will have a bricked psp that if they are lucky sony will charge them to fix ... if their not lucky sony will tell them to go buy a new psp.

So feel free to glaze over the fact that said admittedly questionable product does in fact have a legitimate use and hold fast to the "my psp will never brick on me" attitude. Its always easy to say something will never happen until it does and even if you didn't Buy one of these you would think it would be nice to know that your local used game shop had one in case of an emergency, assuming they weren't pirating games =P

Scuffles @ Jan 13th 2009 10:07PM

Oh well anyone who didn't see this coming a mile away is a little on the thick side anyhow.

when the original article and their website mentioned something about them examining the sony hardware with SEM, they were in some pretty questionable waters just from a reverse engineering standpoint.

Maybe it is but I doubt every time a game fails to hit sales expectations that its due to pirates. Personally at least when it comes to me as I can't speak for anyone else when I don't buy a game its because I think it sucks and want nothing to do with it.

Could this admittedly questionable product be used to commit a crime (that of pirating games) ... yeah but you could also potentially use a baseball bat in the commission of a crime. Perhaps its the fact I don't much care for sports but if you want to rally around banning the sale of baseball bats I'd be glad to join lol.

Honestly one way or the other this doesn't effect me so I don't really care.... My psp is a 1k and updated to whatever the newest firmware sony tosses out to the PSN but in the event it bricks while updating I can always poke around my battery and get into the bootloader to force it to take the update and rescue my psp .... while people unfortunate enough not to be able to do that will at best have sony tell them they can out of the goodness of their heart fix their psp ... for a price ... and at worst tell them to go suck a lemon and buy a new psp.

Which I would never do because I probably couldn't find a 1k and the 2k and 3k feel like cheaply assembled junk .... my 1k could probably take a fall off a roof and still work, god knows I have dropped it more than its fair share... the 2k feels like its going to break when you pick it up and whats with manually opening the UMD drive .... no eject button :( ugh and the 3k yay interlacing....

Anyhow perhaps you wouldn't care to own one personally but you would probably happily go down to your local used game store if they had one and have them fix your bricked system, assuming they aren't using it to pirate games =P

Then again if you want to listen to the game companies buying used at least according to them about as bad as flat out pirating a game in the first place =P

cloud123 @ Mar 7th 2009 12:47PM

do you know where i can buy a lite blue tool for my psp 3000 and how iy works thanks hope to hear from ya

Virtuous @ Jan 13th 2009 11:12PM

I have absolutely no interest in homebrew. If you don't want to play in Sony's sandbox, go somewhere else. No one is forcing people to buy Sony products.

Sai @ Jan 13th 2009 11:13PM

All thats going to happen if Datel loses, is they will leak out their method of making the battery to the internet and instead of just Datel knowing how to make the new Pandora, the whole internet and hacking community will know. Either way, it will probably leak.

andwhyisit @ Jan 13th 2009 11:49PM

Their battery is a piece of crap that doesn't work. They were stupid to try and release it in the first place.

Anthony @ Jan 13th 2009 11:18PM

If there is less piracy, more developers would be confident in the console and there would be awesome games for the PSP.

Of course that won't happen. Everybody just LOVES their custom XMB's too much.

Jeremy @ Jan 13th 2009 11:29PM

From what I've read, this was nothing more than a regular "pandora" battery, it never worked on the 3000 series.

What I think is funny though is that Gripshift has now jumped to the top sales charts, now that an exploit in it has been found...

That said, I just don't understand PSP piracy at this point. Most the back catalog games can be had for dirt cheap. The few games coming out worth buying won't bankrupt you

Nor do I understand the Homebrew people. Buy a GP32 or whatever, have all the emulators and homebrew you want, without the hassle.

Richard @ Jan 15th 2009 10:57AM

My understanding is that the Gripshift exploit doesn't allow you to do very much. They still haven't managed to work out how to use it to get CFW onto the device.

I'm sure it'll happen eventually. However "eventually" could mean well over a year.

If you know differently, please do tell.

TM @ Jan 13th 2009 11:35PM

From what I hear, the psp 1000 was the best quality of the three. It has taken a few falls and still works fine. It also has a few scratches over the screen. But it works as well as when I got it two years ago. Glad I still have it. My ds, on the other hand, didnt make it two years I think, then I sold it. why? Because the psp is far more advanced and capable than the ds and has better, but fewer games

Dr Haisook @ Jan 14th 2009 6:17AM

I agree about the quality of the 1000. I sold mine and got a 2000, and it's like moving from a Jaguar to a toy car. The build quality of the thing is abysmal.

Ta2dFreekshow @ Jan 14th 2009 2:24AM

While I have to say a lot of blame is on the lack of innovative PSP games. I travel a lot, and I enjoy carrying several Memory Sticks with games, and the longer battery life that comes with not using the UMD's.

The fact the PSP is easy to hack doesn't draw new buyers to the system. Triple-A titles like God of War and Crisis Core were the major highlights of 2008, and I don't see any major titles in the pipeline worth getting excited about, purchasing or otherwise.

andwhyisit @ Jan 14th 2009 7:10PM

The psp is actually annoyingly difficult to hack.

influencia @ Jan 14th 2009 12:43AM

Alright so why is it Homebrew is a bad thing for the PSP yet, your sister site NintendoWiiFanboy.com highly praises homebrew on the Wii, do you not realise you can play pirated Wii games on the wii withOUT a modchip. sure its a damn deal easier to do it on the PSP, but for real homebrew for the psp, is great piracy aside. Homebrew is really good in general albeit it would be better if we didn't have to deal with the piracy concerns.

Really though why is it so terrible for me to have Homebrew on my PSP, but on the Wii it isn't frowned upon? I mean I love playing Doom and Quake on the Wii and PSP when im on the go its great

You guys make me sick when you say All homebrewer's are pirates. You in turn fail, I can't even find a pic on photobucket describing the failure. Don't deny it because you really technically did say All homebrewer's are pirates. after this post, I think I'll find my sources of information elsewhere, via pspupdates.qj.net perhaps?

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