Hacking the PSP Blog

Sony must act on 'worrying' PSP performance – Climax

Karl Jeffery, CEO of developer Climax, has told GamesIndustry.biz that Sony must act to reverse poor performance of the PSP before publishers begin to abandon the format.

The outspoken development boss, whose company has recently released a new ATV Offroad Fury title for the system, is concerned that the Nintendo DS is trouncing the PlayStation Portable - while Sony is doing little to support its own handheld.

"To be honest and frank about it we worry about the future of the PSP," said Jeffery.

"In terms of sales of the actual units, it's not doing so great. The DS is going gangbusters, the sales volumes are going up exponentially. But the PSP worrys us, because we're sitting here thinking about what Sony is going to do to get the platform back on track and we're not hearing much from them."

Jeffery believes there are two ways to reinvigorate the format – redesign the handheld to create a more ergonomically appealing unit, and develop a serious digital download content strategy.

Read the full text here...

Matt Martin
November 21, 2006

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

PlayStation Downloads Start on 11/22

The Japanese version of Sony's PlayStation Store went quiet following the PS3's 11/11 launch. But things are going to get much more interesting in just a few hours.

Sony has announced final details on the first set of games to be made available for download via the Game Archives section of the store. On 11/22, PS3 owners will be able to download the first batch of PSP-compatible PlayStation titles from the store. Each game is priced at a tax-inclusive price of 525 yen.

Here's what will be available on day one:

Resident Evil Director's Cut (Capcom)
Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol.1 (Konami)
Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol.2 (Konami)
Bishi Bashi Special (Konami)
Arc the Lad (SCEJ)
Jumping Flash! (SCEJ)
Hot Shots Golf 2 (SCEJ)
Silent Bomber (Bandai Namco Games)
Tekken 2 (Bandai Namco Games)

Once downloaded to your PS3, you'll then be able to transfer these games to your PSP for play on the go. A PS3 update next year will allow you to play the games on the PS3 as well.

You'll have to make sure your PSP has been updated with version 3.00 firmware. Upgrading to version 3.00 also alows you to take advantage of another PS3 feature: remote play. If you have the 60 Gigabyte PS3 unit, you'll be able to use the PS3 as a local area media player, viewing and listening to all the content on your PS3's hard drive through the portable system. The PS3 will be upgraded next year to allow for worldwide remote play.

These download details concern the Japanese PlayStation Store, which can only be accessed via Japanese PlayStation Network accounts (that is, a PSN account that has a Japanese address). Details on the international Game Archives should follow shortly.

Anoop Gantayat
November 21, 2006

Source: IGN

PSP firmware 3.00 file system changes

Since the release of firmware 3.0 yesterday, our PSP hacking friend 0okm has been hard at work, along with other developers intent on unlocking the golden firmware, and has made some pretty cool discoveries. Along with posting some great screenshots of a PSP running 3.00, 0okm's latest update tells us that the file system in firmware 3.00 has changed! The file system has been changed on flash0, with 0okm unable to find a Fat32 (that's a bog-standard file system for small storage devices if you didn't know) table on flash0.

Read the full text here...

Source: PSPUpdates

Psardumper mod extracts 3.00

The excitement keeps on coming this week, with the release of firmware 3.00, the emergence of flashing applications for firmware 2.80, and rumors that Dark_Alex is on the brink of releasing 2.71 SE-C and his Hen D loader.

For PSP developers at least, the excitement keeps on coming with this release from Jas0nuk from our forums that allows you to extract PSP system software v3.00 firmware files. This Psardumper modification allows you to extract (not decrypt) files from 3.00. Just place the 3.00 DATA.PSAR into the root of your memory stick, and use PBP Extractor to get it (Can read PSAR files up to 18mb, 3.00 PSAR is 16.7mb).

We will state again, this Psardumper modification does not decrypt the encrypted firmware 3.00 files (instead it skips them), and therefore will not allow you to emulate it using DevHook or something like it.

However, what it does allow developers to do is take a sneak peak into firmware 3.00 and learn more about how it works. Here's a few things that Jas0nuk has found out about firmware 3.00 by using this mod:

• No more ./vsh/resource/1.bmp, 2.bmp, 3.bmp (etc.). Instead, there's now just a 1-12.bmp which is grey. The firmware probably applies a colour overlay onto this.
• audiocodec_260.prx and mpegbase_260.prx
• Audio/video codecs from 2.60..?
• Just 1 certificate in "./data/cert" folder

This application proves that although firmware 3.00 is quite solid in security terms, it isn't uncrackable! Jas0nuk would like to say thanks to Dark_AleX for Psardumper mod, and zshadow for the buffer fix. Remember to report any findings you have using this to the psardumper 3.00 mod release thread!

Download Psardumper 3.00 mod

Source: PSPUpdates

RUMOR: firmware 3.0 has bug, 3.01 to drop tomorrow

There's a bug in firmware 3.0! 3.01's coming tomorrow!

Yeah, that's what everybody's shouting/screaming/hollering about in the various PSP communities. Apparently, an SCEE admin named Sslust said that there's a teeny tiny bit of a bug in 3.0, and that 3.01 will be released tomorrow (to read his post, click on the 'via' link below and scroll to the last post. It's in Dutch, though).

Sslust didn't offer any details on the bug apart from a huge-toothed smile emoticon at the end of his post, but theories have been running the gamut from the PS1 emulator to a bug that occurs when you put Visual Player on random. Whatever the bug is though, this has given homebrew fanatics new hope in the continuing quest to finally crack the new firmwares that have come out.

Of course, it's still too early to know if the alleged bug can be exploited to allow PSP owners to run homebrew on their Sony handhelds, but we're keeping our fingers crossed while we wait for 3.01 to drop.

Source: PSPUpdates & YourPSP

3.00 Firmware Update and Manual Released

Sony has released the 3.00 firmware update for the PSP. For those of you lucky PS3 owners, this might be worth an upgrade. Be warned that this will end your dreams of running homebrew anywhere in the near future. PSPUpdates put together a description of some of the update's key features:

Remote Play - Remote play is a new feature in Firmware 3.00 that allows you to remotely control your PlayStation 3 from your PSP. This also includes the display of PS3 content on the PSP. “You can display a PLAYSTATION®3 system screen on a PSP™ system and play content that is on the PS3™ system. To use this feature, you must adjust the necessary settings on the PSP™ system and the PS3™ system.” Using this new mode of playback, one can control the Photo, Music, Video, and Internet Browser features of the PlayStation 3 from a remote location via their Playstation Portable.

Video Compatibility - In this updated version of the Playstation Portable firmware, you are also able to play a few new video formats. The Motion JPEG format (M-JPEG), is an “informal name for multimedia formats where each video frame or interlaced field of a digital video sequence is separately compressed as a JPEG image” (Wikipedia). The PlayStation Portable plays both the Linear PCM and the μ-Law versions of the Motion JPEG video format. In addition, you will now be able to access the Camera (functionality) from the photo option menus, for quicker easier access when taking photos or video. Another nifty function is the ability to finally turn off Auto Play for inserted UMD Discs via UMD Auto Boot. (Thanks zerojay)

PlayStation Games - Here’s the big tip you’ve been waiting for. Finally, Sony is going to drop their highly anticipated PlayStation One emulator onto the PSP. From the manual however, there seems to be a unavoidable catch. If you don’t have a PS3, your not going to be enjoying PlayStation One games emulating on Sony’s PlayStation One emulator for PSP anytime soon. From the manual it states that you must connect to the Playstation Online store with your PSP connected to the PlayStation 3 in order to download and play the games. In addition, they mention that you can in fact share the games, but you must activate the other system in the Friends menu as a PS3 Network Account.

Download the System Update 3.00 HERE
Download the Offline Manual

Source: PSPUpdates

Off Topic: Halo Movie Project Fragged

I know it's a bit off-topic, but I'm a big Halo Fan (already have the Halo 3 Legendary pack pre-ordered for its Nov 2 '07 release date)...

Apparently the Halo movie, to be directed or produced by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings), has been scrapped... from MSNBC:

Plans for Jackson to make a $128 million movie version of the sci-fi video game “Halo” were also scrapped this month after backers 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures pulled out.