PSP firmware is lame

[Niode]

Put simply. Consumers don't have any rights whatsoever over their own hardware. You don't play ball, you're on your own. Just like if you want to have Linux and play the latest games/blu-rays on your PS3 you're up shit creek. Can't do it. To my knowledge Sony is the only company that forces these kinds of restraints on how you use your hardware. The solution, don't buy Sony's bullshit, or pray that there are hackers out there with workarounds. However, thanks to the DMCA, you're still breaking the law by implementing them.

removing product functions is not the same as updating it. But once more gamers get treated like crap, cause no consumer protection group considers gaming serious enough to do something about that.


but PSP updates is nothing like that. They want to keep pirates of their system. Makes sense to me.

This is like buying a house and turning it into an illegal casino. It's yours, you can do anything with it, but you can't expect illegal action to be tolerated.

Sony have always required the latest updates to run games. Even back on 1.50 upwards. They started with the software just being fooled into thinking it was on the latest firmware, then games started requiring updated binaries on the firmware (whether they were required or not) to play. Prompting the user to update if the check came back negative. The hackers, either patched the game not to check, or more usefully, patched the binaries to fool the software. So this is nothing new.

I'm not saying that Sony should just allow piracy to happen, after all they have a right to protect their software. However, I'm not in favour of the way Sony treats legitimate customers. The pirates can go fuck off, they have absolutely no right to complain, never have (before you all jump on the piracy bandwagon, there's no point arguing, it's all been said before). Just like getting anything for free, you should NEVER complain, regardless of the legality or difficulty of the acquisition (gift, horse, mouth) doing so just makes you out to be an arsehole.

[noiseredux]

I'm not saying that Sony should just allow piracy to happen, after all they have a right to protect their software. However, I'm not in favour of the way Sony treats legitimate customers. The pirates can go fuck off, they have absolutely no right to complain, never have (before you all jump on the piracy bandwagon, there's no point arguing, it's all been said before). Just like getting anything for free, you should NEVER complain, regardless of the legality or difficulty of the acquisition (gift, horse, mouth) doing so just makes you out to be an arsehole.

THIS.

[Hobie-wan]

Where'd you come up with that analogy?

Nissan truck = PSP
Motor = firmware
Driving surface = software

Stock truck works on all road surfaces and offroad in 4 wheel drive. Needs an oil change every now and then and other maintenance. = Stock PSP works with all games. Needs a firmware update every now and then to fix bugs (and yes, squash pirates, but this doesn't matter).

Truck is modded to add additional functionality, in this case, likely more power. Mod can be functional, but can also be used to speed excessively or make epic burnouts at stoplights. = PSP is modded with custom firmware to add functionality. Mod can be used for legitiamte purposes, but can also be used to pirate games or run emulators.

Truck still works on flatter roads and can accelerate faster, thus has increased functionality under some conditions. There are problems mating the Chevy engine with the 4 wheel drive portion of the transmission, so cannot drive in conditions needing 4 wheel drive. = Most original games still work fine on the PSP and other programs can be run. Some games requiring official Sony firmware, either for legitimate functionality or piracy checks and will not function with the custom firmware.

Remember that firmware on consoles also contains stuff that on a PC would be a driver update to correct bugs or add new functionality.

Car analogies almost always work to explain anything.

[MrPopo]

I'm not saying that Sony should just allow piracy to happen, after all they have a right to protect their software. However, I'm not in favour of the way Sony treats legitimate customers. The pirates can go fuck off, they have absolutely no right to complain, never have (before you all jump on the piracy bandwagon, there's no point arguing, it's all been said before). Just like getting anything for free, you should NEVER complain, regardless of the legality or difficulty of the acquisition (gift, horse, mouth) doing so just makes you out to be an arsehole.

I'd argue that from Sony's perspective those who put custom firmware on their devices are not legitimate customers. Especially when you consider that custom PSP firmware today gives you the ability right out of the box; just download the ISO and go. The fact that there are legitimate uses of doing so (speeding up the terrible load times, for example) doesn't erase the fact that piracy becomes trivial. Sony released the PSP with their own OS and intended it to be used to play games and whatever else the OS lets you do. If you decide to forgo using their OS then I see no reason why you should complain when your custom OS can't do everything the original OS does. That's like saying "I switched to Linux and now I can't run Team Fortress 2!" Of course you can't, it was written for Windows (and now Macs).

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I only use my systems to play legally bought games and only use the system the way it was intended. I have no problem with digital downloads or unobtrusive drm or any of that. I love my pspgo and ps3.

I'm just surprised how many people are completely pissed off about all this, I don't see it as a big deal. Although, if corporations were smart they'd realize that people that pirate games are going to pirate them no matter how hard you try to keep them from doing it.

Just my 2 cents.

[dlmvii]

if corporations were smart they'd realize that people that pirate games are going to pirate them no matter how hard you try to keep them from doing it.

Well, you just have to outsmart the intelligent people. Most people that pirate these games have little to no technical knowledge, and are more or less at the mercy of the hackers when anything changes in terms of the protection scheme.

[Anayo]

Here's the bottom line: I can play Soul Calibur if I want to. I can just patch the damn game or pirate the cracked version. But it leave me with no incentive to buy a legit UMD in the first place. That was the main reason I posted about it.

[lwcook]

Here's the bottom line: I can play Soul Calibur if I want to. I can just patch the damn game or pirate the cracked version. But it leave me with no incentive to buy a legit UMD in the first place. That was the main reason I posted about it.

I think that's just one of the restrictions you have to except by keeping custom firmware. Modding anything usually comes with compromises.

[Hobie-wan]

Here's the bottom line: I can play Soul Calibur if I want to. I can just patch the damn game or pirate the cracked version. But it leave me with no incentive to buy a legit UMD in the first place. That was the main reason I posted about it.

Or... official firmware?

[lwcook]

Here's the bottom line: I can play Soul Calibur if I want to. I can just patch the damn game or pirate the cracked version. But it leave me with no incentive to buy a legit UMD in the first place. That was the main reason I posted about it.

Or... official firmware?

Exactly. By Sony's design, the "incentive" to buy a legit UMD was to play the game. The cfw scene hasn't come out with a real cracked version of newer ofw, leaving you with this every problem.