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."
Blending Gamers and Hackers: What setting? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Blending Gamers and Hackers: What setting? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Blending Gamers and Hackers: What setting? (Score:1)
Not just PSP (Score:4, Insightful)
Not just PSP-Modding sticks and stones. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Not just PSP (Score:2)
http://www.videogamecharts.com/page3.html [videogamecharts.com]
In japan, the PSP was only a million or so units behind. Now that the DS lite is available, the DS is taking a much larger lead, but the two systems are still fighting neck and neck. The DS lite is outsell
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 :-)
Re:Luminesweeper thread (Score:1)
Re:Luminesweeper thread (Score:1)
Your version seems pretty much complete to me. Perhaps a native DS port would be worth considering, considering the current momentum of the DS?
Justify a DS port? (Score:1)
What would the DS have to offer for this sort of game? It's not a 3D playfield, it doesn't really need the extra VRAM, it doesn't need the "analog" [1] control of a touch screen, and I don't know what the second screen would display. The only reason that I can see why a DS port would be needed is if SLOT-2 (GBA) flash cards were to become unavailable as all the Chinese manufacturers shift to SLOT-1 cards using
Re:Justify a DS port? (Score:1)
Again though, thanks for making this.
Re:Justify a DS port? (Score:1)
not a question, but.. (Score:1)
Re:Luminesweeper thread (Score:1)
Re:Luminesweeper thread (Score:2)
Re:Luminesweeper thread (Score:2)
[tries to think of the least smart-aleck response]
If you're curious, my other game is called Tetanus On Drugs [pineight.com].
Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:5, Informative)
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:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:1)
LK
Can you answer my question or not? (Score:1)
Before I get one of these, I'll probably end up with a Zaurus or some other PDA that I can run linux on.
LK
Re:Can you answer my question or not? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:OH NOSE, THEY DON'T FOLLOW TEH GPL!!!! (Score:1)
Half the homebrew developers on the GP2X seem to prefer working directly with the hardware anyway - for which, guess what, the damn source code for the hardware is rather a lot of help.
Sony? GPL? Heh. (Score:2)
I don't know whether Sony has complied with the (L)GPL. If I have a rootkitted music disc, can I get a copy of the LAME source code from Sony?
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:1)
That's why. Where's the fun in using something the way it was intended?
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:1)
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:2)
If you need something little than runs linux, look into a Zaurus PDA.
Funny that you mention a Zaurus PDA because the GP2X runs Qtopia. Anyways, people don't get a GP2X because they never heard about it and they don't have the knowledge to put games on it or anything, however I had some n00bish girl asking me to play my GP2X all the time because she just loved Super Mario World, and you don't need a 3D acceleration to play Super Mario World
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:2)
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:2)
Compact Flash around here, so that's no longer a problem for PSP homebrewers.
Still, I wuv my DS, and don't need a PSP
Not True Over Here (Score:2)
Well, I don't know where you live, but where I live (Switzerland, by the way), SanDisk Memory Sticks cost only a bit less than Sony's own Memory Sticks. Generally, the cheapest Memory Sticks cost a little less than twice as much as the cheapest SD cards for the same amount of storage space.
So, yeah, I got a GP2X with 2 gigs of space and the TV adapter, and it cost over 100 bucks less than my PSP with a 1 gig Sa
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:2)
The deals are out there, but from your post I'm assuming you don't own a PSP. If you don't own a PSP or a sony camera, I can understand why you wouldn't have an
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:2)
Because the audience for PSP homebrew is wider?
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:1)
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:2)
Real answer: Piracy (Score:2)
Re:Why screw around with the PSP? (Score:2)
That's your answer. It's all about the challenge, man!
Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:2, Insightful)
I'd pay a lot of money for that.
But that won't happen in my lifetime, because of the approach the game companies take to copyright law and the razor-and-blades marketing approach.
--
(Waves Hand.) There is no sig here.
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:1)
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:1)
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:2)
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:1)
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:1)
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:2)
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:2)
Oh yeah? How about a portable gaming system that runs Linux and is homebrew friendly (unlike PSP and GB)? Maybe you should give this littl [gp2x.co.uk]
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:1)
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:2)
Re:Ultimate Handheld Game Device (Score:2)
Thanks for refiring that synapse.
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.
Touch screen? (Score:2)
How does the terminal emulator work if the GP2X doesn't have a touch surface on which to press keys? And making the Nintendo DS programmable costs about 70 USD nowadays (MAX Media Launcher + GBA Movie Player + CF card).
Re:Touch screen? (Score:2)
Re:Touch screen? (Score:2)
Where...? (Score:3, Funny)
The newest coffee for all you caffeine junkies is now available at nearby Starbuck, Peet or Trader Joe.
Re:Where...? (Score:1)
Licencing (Score:2)
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:Wrong (Score:2)
Re:Wrong (Score:1)
As a gaming platform it lacks, but going into it expecting it to be a homebrew platform (and being disappointed) is nigh upon ridiculous. You won't have much better luck with the DS, seeing as how the only way to get homebrew on it now is to:
1) Buy a 20-30$ device that you will use exactly once to install a loader that will void your warranty.
2
Re:Wrong (Score:2)
I never bought a PassMe, and never used one, although I did get one for free with the M3 Adapter that I bought my GF for Christmas last year. It remains unused. I am a homebrew developer, and I lack money, so the only tools I have for myself are my GBA Flash Cart and my PC. My PC is equipped with a RT2500 card.
Both mine and my GF's DSs are version 2s, that were bought at launch. They can be spoofed into loading DS code from the GBA slot by sending a
Re:Wrong (Score:1)
My primary point was that being disappointed with a unit because it's not homebrew friendly is silly because they're never intended to be used for homebrew in the first place. Just because Nintendo's lockouts are weaker doesn't necessarily make them better.
Also, once a unit is out they never update firmware, but newer units do have newer firmware. You can load FlashMe to get back wireless boot, but the developer of the WiFi utility refuses to support anything bu
DS homebrew future is HTTP Download Play (Score:1)
Sure, playing musical CF cards is a bitch. But:
Wireless boot through DS Download Play was the past. The future is HTTP Download Play, where you run WinApache on your development machine, use an HTTP client on the DS to pull each build down to your CF card through the same wireless router that you already use for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and then run it on the DS.
Full PCI slots? (Score:1)
Are those still widely available, or have manufacturers moved on to other chipsets (as denoted by the * in the master list [rapla.net])? And doesn't WMB as we know it require a PCI card, meaning that if all of my PC's PCI slots are full I have to buy another PC?
Re:Full PCI slots? (Score:2)
Re:Wrong (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, it's illegal to send humans through the mail.
Re:Wrong (Score:2)
Sony take note! (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course Sony doesn't seem to be reasoning rationally as of late, but one can dream...
Re:Sony take note! (Score:2)
You probably have a very different perception of the word "significant" as compared to a company which books about $7.5 million in revenue in the average hour.
Re:Sony take note! (Score:2)
One thing you may discount is that the "power users" who use these features are often trendsetters in their small communities
Re:Sony take note! (Score:2)
piracy on the PSP used to be as simple as: 1) download these two precompiled files to this folder on your PSP. 2)