Homebrew Community Blends Gamers and Hackers 87
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."
Luminesweeper thread (Score:3, Interesting)
I am the author of the Luminesweeper [pineight.com] game that the article mentions. If you have any questions about that game, ask away :-)
Wrong (Score:5, Interesting)
A EULA may be attached to copyrighted software and functions as a contractual agreement between the author and the user. This agreement may set terms for duplication of the software, limit certain uses of the software, and as well as set different pricing for various categories of users or regular per-use payments. The EULA is thus expressly bound to copyright and contract law, and lives between the boundaries of the two.
The PSP is not copyrighted (though firmware within it might be). Thus, it should be legal to use or abuse your PSP however you see fit. However, downgrading firmware might constitute a EULA violation since it constitutes duplication and installation of software - which, depending on the contract terms, could be deemed breach of contract and a copyright violation. But installing emacs, cross compiling the source and installing doom/quake/whatever, or even shoving that PSP up one's ass and mailing it back to Sony for service -- all that should be perfectly legal.
Please note: IANAL, but I do own a PSP - bought at launch. Given Sony's obnoxious and rude behavior to the homebrew scene though, I regret that purchase. It has not lived up to my expectations, both as a gaming machine (the games mostly suck) and as a homebrew platform. I think I would have been much happier with a DS.
Oh well, Sony seems intent on economic suicide. Good riddance.
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd love to have one unified, well-designed, attractive and ergonomic handheld game unit preloaded with a lightweight, unlocked, extendable OS and emulators for every system ever made. I'd pay a lot of money for that.
You're kidding, right? I've had my GP2X [wikipedia.org] since December, and I love it to death. It doesn't have emualtors for EVERY system evermade (a bit of a hyperbole there), and they aren't preloaded, but there are lots and you can download them right onto an SD card, plug, and go.
The device itself is lovely and capable--dual core ARM, 320x240 LCD, stereo sound, 64mb of RAM + 64MB of internal flash plus SD reader and external serial port. Also has a USB port, but no host controller, I believe. No wifi, but such nicities as onboard MPEG decoder and TV-out. If that's not enough to tickle your fancy, it runs embedded linux and comes (as of firmware 2.0) a handy file browser, ascii viewer, photo viewer, movie and music player (mplayer). Lots of downloadable utilities such as terminal emulator and pdf viewer.
The device runs for about $180. You can get one from gp32z.com (official US distributor--where I purchased mine) or google around for it. In my opinion, it's kind of cheap for what it is. You'll get better hardware for your buck if you get a PSP or even a DS, but you can't beat the programmability.
Sony take note! (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course Sony doesn't seem to be reasoning rationally as of late, but one can dream...