Recently major steps have been taken regarding homebrew on the PSP.
In the past, PSP users cursed with a TA-082 motherboard (such as myself) were unable to downgrade their PSPs (to version 1.5) in order to enjoy homebrew and emulation. If they tried, their PSP would have been bricked. Sony was trying to prevent the emulation scene from flourishing, and for the most part it was working in this regard. There was a limited way to get homebrew working, but it involved using software to emulate the 1.5 firmware. That worked, but generally things ran slowly. Well, that is the past now.
Every TA-082 PSP that is 2.71 or lower can now effectively downgrade to 1.5 without bricking. Once at 1.5, homebrew can be run flawlessly.
But that's not all. From 1.5, PSP users can upgrade to version 3.02 OE-A, and then to 3.02 OE-B. What's the point of all this? Using this new custom firmware,
EVERY PSX game can be played right on the PSP. (With few exceptions. At the moment, games with multiple discs that do not allow saving right before a disc change cannot be played in their entirety.) Sony is offering the download of PSX games to be played on the PSP, but one requires a PS3 in order to do so. With this new firmware, people can rip their own PSX games, and do not need to even own a PS3. Once again, Sony has been foiled.
Here's a youtube video of a PSP with FFVII. As you can notice, it runs at the right speed with no slowdown.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="
http://www.youtube.com/v/CW4m0gkei9k"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="
http://www.youtube.com/v/CW4m0gkei9k" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
So, with these recent breakthroughs, how do you think Sony will react? They've been resisting homebrew and emulation at every turn, but someone always manages to breakthrough the roadblocks they put up to stop it. Should they just give up or keep fighting? How does this affect them financially? Will they lose more profits, or gain with an increase of purchases of PSP units? Does the ability to play your favourite Playstation games on the go make you want to buy a PSP if you don't already have one?
Discuss!
(YAY! This is my 9999th post.. Just one away from 5 digits!)