PSP Hacks and Homebrew
I didn’t realise the PSP gaming market was so huge, not just the UMD and games for the PSP platform – but the backup proceedure using the likes of the homebrew application is huge.
Basically, using the homebrew app for the playstation portable, a user can backup their UMD or disc based games to a large Sony memory stick and easily play a wide range of games on the psp handheld without needing the disc in the unit.
While often referred to as PSP hacks or playstation portable exploits, it really is a simple app that for main part – allows you to safely backup PSP games and not risk losing and having to repurchase games online or through stores.
Sony has been trying to stop the users applying rogue code to the handhelds, offering free psp upgrades (including web browser app) which basically made the hacking virtually impossible and certainly required a new version of the homebrew to work with the new sony based OS for the psp.
In addition, when users that upgraded their PSP to the latest offical versions tried to ‘downgrade’ they instantly lost critical system files and their PSP was now unable to work fullstop.
The debate rages over whether a vendor such as Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo owns the rights to a product once they have sold it to a consumer – hackers and crackers for the PSP on the other hand say that if they have purchased a device then they should be able to do exactly what they like with it.
It was the same old story when the XBOX and original Playstation were released all those years ago. The modchip scene became huge and not just backups or piracy as the vendors claimed, but it was a huge market for ‘game trainers’ and other addons that really added a new dimension to games for serious players.
A larger understanding of PSP mods and hacks can be obtained from the following sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable_homebrew
