Homebrew Apps Offically Hit US PSPs

[ReaverX]

Earlier this morning a new method of running homebrew aplications on US ver. 1.50 PSPs was released on psphacker.com (http://www.psphacker.com/). Although programs could previously be run by using a somewhat risky memory stick swapping technique, the new method loads programs directly from a single memory stick.

Hear that? That's the sound of Sony readying another "Version Update"

[Varsity]

They've already got the unbroken 1.51 and I think 1.52?

[AspectVoid]

If I wasn't at work, I'd check this out. As it is, I'm gonna have to wait a few hours until I get home. If anyone's actually tried this out, does it work, or would I be wasting my time?

[jim_rock]

It works, alright, it works great! Go to psp-hacker.com and download the newest homebrew pack unrar it to your mem stick and your good to go, it comes with all the new updated emus and homebrew game.! You'll flip when you see how fast and cool doom is!

[if76]

This is joyous news.

[Grimgrock]

There are "version updates" for the PSP? I have yet to go online (wifi) with my PSP so I haven't gone looking for updates. Has anything signifigant changes since release of the handheld?

[Royal Fool]

The updates aren't only available online - Sony has made some games require the 1.5 firmware update in order to play. And I think they will soon make the games covertly update the PSP firmware without user confirmation...

[Fonz]

Well if you remember earlier, somoene had posted that they were cutting psp production by half as many psps. Most people thought is because the PSP is "Doomed" cough*nintendo apologists* cough :-p anyways......... no its because they are planning for a major firmware overhaul on the new batch of psps which is suppose to go into effect next year.

[jim_rock]

Sony wont do that, its kind of illegal but they plan to make you update past 1.5 before your allowed to play some of the newer games that are coming out in the near future. They'll probably claim compatiblility issues....
Im worried about downloading the new gamma packs for wipeout pure because I like being able to run homebrew stuff more than the actual sony games so far! An autoupdate would ruin me!

Addon: By the way, how friggin cool is it that people have been ripping and hacking this thing up since the day it came out in japan? Makes me real proud to be a part of the game community!

[outontheporch]

hey have any of you tried running snes roms? I tried all 3 emulators, and they run the roms very slow, like the games are in slow motion.

[hideouslywrinkled]

hey have any of you tried running snes roms? I tried all 3 emulators, and they run the roms very slow, like the games are in slow motion.

I've had the same problem. Games ran about 3/4 speed at the lowest resolution and with the audio turned down to the lowest quality. Although I was able to 20-30 frames per second.

Has anyone tried the NES, SEGA or MAME?

[GrinR]

I'm waiting for MAME to run..

[Dracula-X]

The games are slow because the emulators aren't optimized for the PSP - nowhere near it. So little is known about the hardware and as of yet no hardware accelleration is being taken advantage as well (writing to the framebuffer just like the good old dos days, and software scaling it for fullscreen modes).

It will take some work and time before some of the emulators get up to speed.

[Fonz]

For most games I turned frame skipping to 3 and 11hz sound , turn up the core speed to 333mhz too for snes games. This should help. On some high end rpgs, wont say which for obvious reasons, i had to turn frameskipping to 4.

[hideouslywrinkled]

On some high end rpgs, wont say which for obvious reasons, i had to turn frameskipping to 4.

I think we're probably talking about the same game ;) .

[Kamalot]

Well if you remember earlier, somoene had posted that they were cutting psp production by half as many psps. Most people thought is because the PSP is "Doomed" cough*nintendo apologists* cough :-p anyways......... no its because they are planning for a major firmware overhaul on the new batch of psps which is suppose to go into effect next year.
How much BS is this?
Sony can update firmware on the units via Wi-Fi or from a patch on game discs. Why would they need to cut production in half to put a firmware patch on the system?

And for that matter, why bother cutting production at all?! Why not just ship the new units with the latest patch?

Maybe they are cutting the production in half to spend the rest of their time looking for units with dead pixels.

Hey, one can dream.

[Kamalot]

Unless someone gets an illegal dev kit, don't expect much hardware optimization. I've been watching developers struggle getting emulators running full speed for systems that are open and fully documented, complete with dev kits, such as the Zodiac and PocketPC. It ain't easy, especially when Sony does not want to share the documentation with anyone.

[Dracula-X]

Unless someone gets an illegal dev kit, don't expect much hardware optimization. I've been watching developers struggle getting emulators running full speed for systems that are open and fully documented, complete with dev kits, such as the Zodiac and PocketPC. It ain't easy, especially when Sony does not want to share the documentation with anyone.You can expect plenty of hardware optimization. People have already discovered the Gu* and Ge* calls and are experimenting with them as we speak. Sony, out of every major *CONSOLE* (citing zodiac and pocket PC, they can't keep their systems closed if they wanted to, and they aren't consoles) manufacturer, has been the most forthcoming and open about their hardware. Sony gave the community the Yaroze, and PS2Linux. The PS2Linux manual was actually better than the official developer manuals, and detailed the hardare top to bottom for all to see.

[Kamalot]

Sony gave the community the Yaroze, and PS2Linux. The PS2Linux manual was actually better than the official developer manuals, and detailed the hardare top to bottom for all to see.
Are you telling me Sony is encouraging independent developers to create software for the PSP? If so, then why don't they open up the development environment?

This isn't the PS2, this is the PSP.

[Dracula-X]

Are you telling me Sony is encouraging independent developers to create software for the PSP? If so, then why don't they open up the development environment?

This isn't the PS2, this is the PSP.No shit Sherlock, these are consoles we're talking about, not Zodiac or PocketPC. You cited other irrelevant platforms and openness, I cited those that were relevant and open. Sony didnt release the Yaroze or PS2Linux right away, but we have historical precedence which is more than we can say for Sega, Nintendo, etc. Sony representatives have hinted at the possibility anyway, but I wouldn't expect something for another year or two.

[Kamalot]

I wouldn't expect something for another year or two.
Ahh. I see.

Call me then.

You are right. The Zodiac and PocketPCs aren't consoles. They have open development environments. They are much easier to code for and take full advantage of. That means it more difficult to program for undocumented systems than it is for documented systems.

You cited other irrelevant platforms and opennessI cited other platforms that can run emulators. That seems relevant, seeing as how our posts were about emulators.

[Dracula-X]

You are right. The Zodiac and PocketPCs aren't consoles. They have open development environments. They are much easier to code for and take full advantage of. That means it more difficult to program for undocumented systems than it is for documented systems.Really? It's far easier to work with documentation then it is without? No way. I mean, that's incredulous.

I cited other platforms that can run emulators. That seems relevant, seeing as how our posts were about emulators.No, I was addressing your bit about not expecting hardware accelleration. People are playing with hardware features now, everyday more about the psp is getting exposed. A gcc toolchain including allegrex specific opcode support is about to be released. It's quite simple to program the PSP even now (look at all the apps/emulators popping up now without any official docs or tools) using a general mips toolchain, but it's about to get piss easy in the coming weeks.
You say Sony doesn't want to share documentation, but they have done so, historically (a fact you conveniently sidestep). Does Nintendo? No, I didn't think so.

[Kamalot]

Let me see if I can recap:

1) It's far easier to work with documentation then it is without.
2) Sony has, in the past, released documentation for one of their systems.
3) Don't expect documentation for the PSP for another year or two.
4) Hackers are reverse engineering the PSP. (See number 1)

What does that get us today? The ability to play emulators at 25% of full speed with the graphics and sound turned down?

I can play Genesis, SNES, NES games on my phone using an emulator. Lots of other handheld devices can run emulators full speed.

So, I guess the PSP is nice for people who want to reverse engineer things, but not for people who want to play emulators at full speed TODAY.

Potential for something great? Sure.

[Dracula-X]

What does that get us today? The ability to play emulators at 25% of full speed with the graphics and sound turned down?
Ah, I see you're part of the mindless patience-challenged instant gratification crowd. Emulators take years to perfect in and of themselves, and often more work is needed to support multiple/new platforms. Homebrew is practically brand spanking new to the PSP and already the community has accomplished much without benefit of official material. Many of the SNES games are getting 20-30fps, and will no doubt get full speed in the near future. The NES emu I'm told runs full speed, as it ought to. If things aren't moving as fast as you like, it is your problem really, the fact remains that they exist, can be played, and are being worked on continuously. These guys are doing this all on their free time, but maybe we should rip on them for not being fast enough and not knowing enough about the PSP to take advantage of it.

I can play Genesis, SNES, NES games on my phone using an emulator. Lots of other handheld devices can run emulators full speed.
How excited you must be.