Homebrew Community Blends Gamers and Hackers

MSNBC is running an article on the gaming homebrew community. They examine the 'do it yourself' attitude of the folks that make mods, knockoffs, and emulations possible. From the article: "So lively is the homebrew scene that some PSP fans -- it's impossible to say how many -- say they don't buy or play new games because they don't want to upgrade their gadgets and lose their homebrew software. There's even a circulating joke slogan: 'Friends don't let friends upgrade their PSPs.' Unable to break through recent versions of the Sony software, PSP homebrewers have moved on to another trick: downgrading their PSPs to earlier versions."

Why screw around with the PSP?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't get PSP "hacking" - if you want to write code for a cool handheld, why not get a GP2X [gp2x.org], which is totally open, easy to develop for (using the standard GNU toolchain), runs Linux, and doesn't have a multi-national corporationa attempting to thwart you at every turn?

Plus, a GP2X is $169 USD, instead of $199, and you'll save a fortune using SD cards over Sony's proprietary (and absurdly expensive) Memory Stick.

For the record, I own a GP2X, a PSP, and a DS.

Re:Can you answer my question or not?

[despisethesun]

Actually, they've been in compliance with regards to 90% of their GPL obligations for months. The kernel, uboot, all that stuff is available from their subversion repository last time I checked. The MPlayer source was recently released as well, which as far as I know brings them into full compliance.

Re:Wrong

[nacturation]

... or even shoving that PSP up one's ass and mailing it back to Sony for service -- all that should be perfectly legal.

Actually, it's illegal to send humans through the mail.