“Sony is set to unveil a new clampdown on those responsible.”

So that’s about a ¾ of all PSP owners then!

Should have probably thought about these things at the design stage rather than make a system that almost seems it was meant to be hacked in order to nick people’s ideas for future systems and applications! Xbox 1 anybody!

It'll be interesting to see what this clampdown is as a simple updated firmware patch isn't going to work as most people with a pirated psp are a little smarter than that.

Should be a little more than that, the new PSP will have a little feature that will result in any custom firmware being installed will cause the PSP to shut down for good.
Whether the pirate industry will find a way round it is another matter and whether it is legal in some countries will be debatable as some countries, like here, say it is not illegal to modify consoles whether using custom firmware or a modchip.

Well, that's ruined SCEE's plan, ka0znrky...

Simple answer, add the functionality to teh psp that hackers are doing!

I have heard of many people hacking their psps to play old megadrive games etc. Why not just release these games in another pack like the sega mega collection? I know I would buy it (though I am not one of the hackers admittedly)

@3: If their solution is a hardware one, then its a real waste of time. Firstly there will be someone somewhere who finds a way round and it doesn't solve the problem of the ppl who have the current systems hacked.

Its probably the sort of functionality they should be planning for their next handheld whenever that is. Nintendo are the same with the DS. They are easily hacked and in many cases a simple slot-1 card with a memory stick in it is all that is needed to play any number of games.

If you could figure out a way to prevent this that worked not just for 6 months but for the machines life cycle you could quite literally name your price and every company would pay it gladly.

I dont get what Sony are playing at with this one?

They stop people from buying the games they want by imposing import bans.

Piracy goes through the roof as a result of people modding their machines in order the play the games they're not allowed to buy and for emulations of games that arent available officially.

They dont provide official software so people can properly manage their media files from their existing movie and music collection. So modding once again comes into play as people try to view media that they've already payed for on the move etc.

As point 1 quite rightly said, look at what Microsoft learned from the first XBOX and then implemented in the 360.

Sony need to fix up because as a gamer, I cant see what the point of them being involved with gaming is anymore?

Its almost as if the last thing on their minds is games.

Surely that doesnt make sense?

So its only taken them a few years for them to admit theres a problem, cool. Got get out clause for Sony missing the boat with the PSP. "Yeah, the reason the PSP has failed against the DS is because of the extreme amount of piracy, not because we missed a trick, didn't try an bring out innovative software like Nintendo, but instead arrogantly believed future PSP owners would be PS2 owners and would accept half-arsed PS2 ports and would lap it up." Yay for Sony, losing this round of the hand-helds war wasn't your fault, it was those pesky pirates!

Anyone tell them that its in fact easier to run pirate software on the DS?

SCEE says "It sometimes fuels the growth of hardware sales, but on balance we are not happy about it,”

A sad attitude, think what could be achieved with an open platform anyone can develop on? Some bright spark would have put all the iPhone functionality on a PSP years ago and then who would be smiling?

Trying to control the whole world is rarely successful - a healthy independent developers market is good - and hacking is generally the response to unnecessary protectionism.

Of course he's going to say, "...we are not happy..." about the piracy issue. But, I don't believe for a second that Sony doesn't know - without question - the megagrowth in sales of the unit is specifically because of it. And, of course, they're extremely happy about that! Let's face it, many wouldn't have even purchased a PSP unless it could be made to be more useful. My whole (well, almost whole) PSX library can be played on my PSP. And, my kids love some of the retro (public domain) roms they can play on it. Being able to play our legitimately purchased UMDs from a memory card greatly improves the rather inept battery that ships with the unit. Trust me...Sony is damn glad that this has happened because if it hadn't, their handheld wouldn't be around period.

I really think sony missed a great chance to utilise the PSP to do more than just gaming. The machine seems like its so much more flexible than to be stuck playing worms.

It can play media much better than the DS can and while i'm not a fan of all-in-one devices i think the idea of starting with a gaming device and working towards multimedia instead of doing it the other way would work out much better. Because if it failed atleast you've still got a gaming machine ... and worms (i really want to play worms now lol).

I have a hacked both psp and ds and I buy more DS games cause they are more affordable. Don't give us a reason to download and we won't. I prefer hard copies of games but psp stuff is just so dang expensive and loads slower than downloads.

I agree with every comment posted here. The thing is, my PSP is not even hacked/modded (because I'm worried I'll mess it up).

I have only purchased one game for the PSP because PSP games are too expensive. Shortly thereafter, I learned about the whole 'modding/hacking' community surrounding the PSP and have not purchased a game since I want to obtain my games for free instead of paying a steep price.

The bottom line for me is if PSP games were in the $10-$20 range, I wouldn't even be interested in hacking. But they are not, are they?

Additionally, there's added functionality that SHOULD be an autoinclude on the PSP like saving UMD's to a memory stick. I mean honestly....

So with all that in mind, could anyone help me get started with the PSP hacking? I have been reluctant to do so myself because I don't want to brick mine. My contact info is at lihimsidhe.deviantart.com. And yes, I am willing to do artwork for help hacking my PSP.

So where's the full story?

piracy?

psp is hacked because :

-sony created killer hardware, with abzolut lack of features, or useless software. who cares about skype and rss on psp? who will watch a video at half or double speed? come on sony we just want DIVX we want FLV. hey sony ITS 2008 WAKE UP

-sony doesnt give a f%%k about features people want. all they do is (total useless) security upgrades

-my sister,my grandma,my dog.. everyone knows what a DS or a WII is. no one knows what a PSP is, i never saw any ads for it.

-PSP original games are 98% crapware, i use it for emulators, maps homebrew, internet radio (not the sony internal software) and play my backup ps1 games i already have bought. i dont care about psp ports, i already played them on another machine.

-PSP gets only one original game a year (locoroco,patapon,echochrome)...is that enough to make people want to buy the hardware?

-we're in 2008 whereas the PSP internet explorer is straight from 1991 : no flash, and memory issue as soon as theres more than 2 pics on the page. that is NOT a browser. how can something that cant display youtube pages be called an internet browser?? or call it internet TEXT MODE browser

-speaking about this,the offical sony portal, where you can buy games, is not compatible with PSP internet browser. whats the point??

-dont blame custom firmware. without custom firmware i would NEVER have purchased a PSP. Im sure im not the only one in this case

i think without hacking and homebrew PSP would be dead and gone already. stop crying, sony morons, lets get something out of your hardware

You make a very good point about marketting. I remember watching a link on digg that showed some of Sony's ad campaigns and they are absolutely terrible, even for the PS3 their adverts made no sense and confused buyers. I think they tried to shock you into remembering the product but it didn't really work ... yet they keep doing it.

The PSP is the same, i've never seen an advert for it, i've seen adverts for the games themselves on websites and tv but not the machine. The ads for the DS have someone holding a DS ... might not seem overly flashy or "edgy" but my dad knows what a DS is, he has heard of a PSP but couldn't draw you one.

If anyone gets a chance to see the article again (it was like top 10 worst sony ads or something) its def worth a read because its just mind boggling how such a well known company can make such awful ads and never learn from its mistakes. Some of them really have to be seen to be believed.

Is that so hard to give us a browser in 4.00? Thank you sooooo much.

roflmfao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pirates ftw!!!!!!!

BUDDY!!!! RICK JAMES...

I agree with the comment posted above (5) . Why not add the functionality the hackers are adding or at least some of it.
I personally think the PSP is a classy piece of kit and I am puzzled and surprised that Sony are not actively marketing it. I far out classes any other portable gaming device on the market bay a long way. What further surprises me are the rumours that Sony my be thinking of killing it off? Here we have a Sony producing the best and most versatile portable gaming device on the market and not taking advantage of its position?

M33 will get around ANY issue that Sony throws at them. You have to love CFW, i get actually use Youtube on mine. and i can use cTorrent (kind of like BitTorrent) on the PSP. so unless sony can roll out better updates, there's no need to remove my 4.01 M33-2 CFW of my PSP