Sony announces new PSP strategy Develop 2009: Sony to give handheld a serious shot in the arm

This week sees the Develop Conference in Brighton - the annual UK games developers' shindig – where the creative types that design some of the best games in the world gather to chat, exchange ideas and opinions and, of course, drink themselves into a pleasant oblivion in a pleasant pavilion by the sea.

The first big news to emerge from the event comes from Sony, with the company making a concerted effort to re-establish its PlayStation Portable console in 2009.

Sony is, according to Develop magazine, "aggressively courting developers around the world to work on digitally distributed games for PSP in a bid to grow the software offer on its handheld."

Sony's PSP originally launched over four and a half years ago (firstly in Japan back in December, 2004), with new iterations of the hardware appearing each year since then – each time with notable improvements such as brighter screens, better battery-life and becoming increasingly slimmer and sexier.

Streamlined content pipeline

Develop reports that Sony is now preparing for the release of "a streamlined content pipeline for the platform" part of which includes "abolishing concept approval" and providing PSP developers with "cheaper devkits, shorter quality assurance processes, and very low price points for new games."

Sony recently cut the cost of the PSP SDK by 80 per cent and recently announced the forthcoming PSPgo console, finally ditching its largely unpopular UMD-disc.

Zeno Colaço, SCEE's head of developer relations said: "Sony's been working very hard to find our position… and bring top-end gaming to not just the consumers who were there for the launch of PSP, but extending to an audience that is changing how it consumes entertainment and applications.

"We're introducing new initiatives for the PSP which take it beyond traditional gaming, but still includes elements from gaming, and also includes new developers."

A suitably vague outline for Sony's new 'strategy', but TechRadar is itching to see what emerges from over 50 studios worldwide that are already signed up and beavering away on these 'new style' PSP games.

Stay tuned to TechRadar throughout the week for latest news from the UK's thriving videogame development scene.

Source of the above article :

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/handhelds/sony-announces-new-psp-strategy-616079

http://redirectingat.com/?id=92X363&url=http%3A//www.develop-online.net/news/32374/Exclusive-Sonys-new-development-strategy-for-PSP

Sony PSP app store prepped

Sure, the Sony PSP Go is a download only handheld console, but if you thought Sony was content with stuffing games like Gran Turismo on there and chillaxing, guess again. As promised, Sony’s pushing for developers to come up with snack sized games and applications for a new, separate area of the PlayStation Store, putting the Wi-Fi connected, UMD-less device, as well as the plain PSP, up against the might of the iPhone App Store.

There have been whispers aplenty that Nintendo is planning to push apps on the Nintendo DSi in a big way, but now Sony seems set on getting in on the fun with the PSP. According to Develop, Sony has already gathered developers up for a new section of the PlayStation Store, to sell mini games (Just 20MB in size) and apps for the Sony PSP and PSP Go.

50 studios are believed to be in on it, including Subatomic Studios, which is priming a Sony PSP version of its iPhone Fieldrunnners tower defense game. You won’t be able to get in on the action unless you’re an approved partner unfortunately, but if you were in need of some extra justification to slap down the cash for a Sony PSP Go in October, this could be it, especially if the non-game apps prove to be as useful as some of those on the iPhone and iPod touch. Here’s hoping the guest list keeps quality high.

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology/2009/07/16/sony-psp-app-store-prepped-115875-21524979/

Sony PSP Go ??

I'm quite shocked to see that Sony is finally coming with a much anticipated PSP - phone gadget with the name "Sony PSP Go". So the rumor which was going around the internet for past few years wasn't just a rumor. Anyways as my phone is not working as good as before I think I can go for this cool gadget "psp go". I bought my present PSP in the end of 2007 and I felt it was worth the price after all.

Enough said .....will post articles on this one now !!

Sony PSP 2000 Slim Vs PSP 3000 - Review

Sony PSP 2000 Slim Vs PSP 3000 - Review - by Antti.K

The recently released Sony PSP Slim 3000 has caused quite a controversy among new PSP owners who purchased their Sony PSP Slim 2000 units within the last few months. It has not even been a full year since Sony released the PSP Slim 2000, with its biggest feature being the ability to connect to a TV through AV output. Many are arguing that Sony's latest addition to its handheld family should not even be considered an upgrade of the current model. Let's take a deeper look into the features of the PSP 3000.

The 3000 was unveiled at the Leipzig gaming conference last week. The unit has the exact same dimensions as its counterpart, the Slim 2000. However, there were a few upgrades. Sony gave the PSP 3000 a new anti-glare screen, which is supposed to make playing the PSP while outside a bit more bearable. This new LCD screen also features a broader color palette than the older model, which accounts for a brighter, more vibrant picture. Along with this new screen, Sony added a built in microphone to the 3000, which will allow many people who have access to WiFi hotspots peppered through-out a large city to utilize the PSP as a phone-like device with the built in Skype software.

Along with these hardware improvements, the Slim 3000 also features a few cosmetic improvements as well. The 'HOME' button no longer exists, as it has been replaced by a PSN button. It functions exactly the same as the old button, but instead has the Playstation logo instead of the word 'HOME'. Also, the brushed aluminum ring which was featured on both the PSP Fat, as it has become known, and the PSP Slim has been replaced with a more polished and thinner chrome ring. The edges of the PSP 3000 have also been smoothed a bit so that it feels more comfortable while holding it in your hand.

Sony PSP 3000 will be available this October, featuring the colors Piano Black and Mystic Silver. All in all, if you're already a proud PSP 2000 Slim owner, you might want to skip this upgrade as the anti-glare screen is only a major upgrade if you find yourself playing a lot while outside. However, if you're looking to purchase a PSP, the 3000 is the way to go.

Source: here

Hackers bamboozled by PSP 3000 security

It's still early days in the life of the PSP-3000, which was released approximately 3 weeks ago, but Sony will be happy to hear that hackers have so far failed to exploit the latest hardware revision.

So far hackers have only been able to swap its CPU with that of a PSP Slim, but haven't been able to exploit the hardware in the same way as previous models.

Dark Alex, one of the most popular PSP sites for the hacking and homebrew community, has been unable to find a work around to hack the hand-held and the community as a whole appear to be stumped as to whether it will even be possible.

If it can't be hacked then Sony will have finally won its long battle against piracy and the homebrew community. Throughout the life cycle of the PSP, Sony has tried to thwart hackers by releasing firmware updates to improve security, but every time it's still managed to be hacked.
PSP hackers have in the past been vocal about the fact that they're not actually interested in hacking the PSP to take advantage of copied games, but believe they should have the right to do whatever they want to the hardware.

Fanjita, a member of the hacker group "N00bz!", stated,

"Everyone has the right to do what they want with their own hardware. Piracy does upset me, and because what we are doing opens the way to piracy it's harder to justify it morally. But our stance on piracy is clear, and we hope to be role models. Sony have never been in touch with me, so I am confident that what we are doing is legal."

However. some people believe that by stopping hackers from exploiting the hardware, Sony is actually doing itself no favours.

Phillip Torrone from Make Magazine recently stated:

"I think the really smart companies should release their products to the alpha geeks for six months and let the alpha geeks play around with them. It seems to me they'd save a lot of money on R&D, and they'd come out with much more solid products."

The PSP 3000 is obviously going to be tough nut to crack, but there lies the challenge - something that the hacking community will relish.

Source: here

PSP 3000 comes before the PSP 2 lol !

July 6th was my last post. Hmm then it seems it's been a while since I posted something here. It seems there's been quite some news about the psp as a new version of psp is released. Thought not much of difference from the older psps (fat & slim) the psp-3000 claimed to be brighter than the older ones I still don't know how true it is. I myself got mixed reactions towards it providing better display after doing some r & d over the internet about the new psp. It was also a step by the SONY to increase their UMD sales too. What I mean is, it was made a little hack proof so that people who buy this cannot be able to get it's firmware changed and which forces them to buy UMD games instead of playing them by download the images (iso & cso) of the games put all over the internet.

In my personal opinion I feel that it aint that way. Because, since some time psps have got a bit cheap and they are affordable now and most of the teenagers buy it only because they can play the games just by downloading from the internet for free just after getting their firmware changed to cfw (custom firmware). It's unfortunate but even I bought my psp only because of that reason. After all I can't afford to buy the UMD games which cost a bomb for me. I guess it's the same for most of the gamers out there.

I wonder what would be the result of the sales of psp-3000 if it cannot be hacked, as the above article mentions that so far it's not hacked yet. I guess SONY would stop producing the previous versions of psps (fat and slim) so as to boost the sales of psp 3000 and also sales of their UMDs.

Whatever I was expecting psp's next version after psp slim (which came last year I suppose) to come somewhere next year as a PSP Phone. But it was quite a suprise that 1 more version came before that.
Enjoy gaming and keep visiting my blog for more news :)

Custom Firmware 4.01 M33-2 and 1.50 Kernel Add-on Released

It seems the newest Custom Firmware 4.01 M33-2 is released recently, to be specific on 29th of June. Of course it's again by dark alex itself and it can be downloaded at his exclusive website I suppose. Whatever I'm happy with my 3.71 m22-4 cfw as I feel that it's stable and all other custom firmwares which came later on may be unstable sometimes. And I don't wanna take the smallest risk of getting my PSP bricked lol. So I will still be with 3.71 firmware atleast for 6 more months. Whatever it seems by then PSP phone may come as it's highly stated that PSP mobile is under chards and the design is also finalised, I've read it somewhere though not sure where I read it !!

bye for now take care !!

you can download the new firmware at here