How Sony can stop piracy on the PSP
Recently, a Sony representative indicated that the piracy on the PSP is “sickening.” There is not doubt that piracy is rampant on the handhelds such as the PSP and Nintendo DS. However, there are measures Sony can take to reduce the piracy on the PSP.
SCEA’s Peter Dille spoke about the growing piracy issue on the PSP recently to Gamasutra. Dille talked about how third party developers were ready to jump off a year-and a-half ago. However, with education and a paradigm shift in approaching handheld games, third-party developers were ready to get back into the game.
The PSP has been selling phenomenally across the globe, but the software sales have not matched the hardware sales. This has been attributed to an increase in piracy. However, blockbuster games like GTA, Crisis Core, and God of War still managed to sell millions of units. The problem may be a combination of quality, quantity and piracy.
One way to reduce the piracy on the PSP is to support the homebrew community. The PSP currently has one of the biggest homebrew communities out there. A cursory glance at sites like QJ.net reveal that there is a wealth of applications that will run on the PSP such as a YouTube streamer, VNC client/server app, custom OS, and emulators (GBA, NES, SNES, N64, etc…).
Believe it or not, most people that hack the PSP do so for the homebrew capabilities but gets sucked into piracy because it’s so easy once the PSP has been hacked. Even some of the most influential PSP hackers delivering hacked firmware on a regular basis seem to be against piracy while being for homebrew software.
If Sony is able to bring firmware updates that support the creation of homebrew applications while preventing piracy, then this could be the needed catalyst to reduce the issue. As Dille said, most people are inherently honest and want to do the right thing, Sony just needs to take the temptation away from the average consumer.
Related Posts:
43 Responses to “How Sony can stop piracy on the PSP”
Leave a Reply:
You must be logged in to post a comment. Don't have an account? Register today!
April 23rd, 2009
banana muffins!
the DS is in alot more trouble then the PS and i think sony have the right frame of mind to do something like this or an APP store sorta thing that iphone has… which is one of the big rumours doing the rounds isnt? a psphone?
April 23rd, 2009
The Iphone is making both look silly because of free apps and games. People need cellphones more than they do handheld gaming consoles, but if you can have both in one, it is all the better. Iphone is sticking both PSP and DS’s faces in the toilet right now in software (free – 99cent – $10 app) sales. What do I prefer? PSP by far. What is more accepted in public and sold right now? Iphone.
April 23rd, 2009
Heaven forbid they make the games cheaper, release them across all english speaking territories at the same time (more if they already have it translated), and release demos a month or so before the game gets released so people don’t get sick of buying horseshit products.
April 23rd, 2009
Did you find and get any good PSP games Carl? I remember you asking.
April 23rd, 2009
I know how Sony can stop piracy. The same way the US government did with those Somali pirates, snipers.
April 23rd, 2009
Gentlemen, I played a demo for the new Batman game yesterday. I was under whelmed by the combat. The demo I played consisted of challenge rooms. The Joker kept sending in waves of thugs for Batman to beat the piss out of. All attack moves are performed with the square button. When the thugs heads flash (looks like there spider sense is going off), you press triangle to counter. Randomly the camera zooms in and slows down for some stylized moves. I think there was a “cape stun” move you could do with the circle button.
Granted it was a demo, but I was hoping for deeper combat. The combat seems pretty shallow when compared to other modern beat ‘em up games like Devil May Cry and Heavenly Sword.
April 23rd, 2009
I forgot to mention… the X button… does nothing. Read: No jump button. BatMan is glued to the ground. I think you can throw your Batarang and zip up into the rafters, but no jumping for BatMan. Weak.
April 23rd, 2009
Sorry Carlb, but the iPhone is a joke of a gaming portable. As a multi-function phone, it is tops, but the gaming is an afterthought.
It is kind of like the Wii of handhelds: casual.
April 23rd, 2009
Does anyone (besides the usual ‘buy anything with a Sony badge on it’ fanboy crowd) really care about the PSP these days?
April 23rd, 2009
Not really, hah.
April 23rd, 2009
Well, hard as it might be to believe JofaMang my mate has one 7 almost never uses it these days.
It was a serious question.
Do they really have any purpose?
(My pal also has a PS3…..wasn;t there some talk about the 2 integrating on certain games, did that ever come off or get done well or with any point?)
April 23rd, 2009
The inter connectivity between the PSP and PS3 is pretty cool. You can remotely access files on your PS3 via the PSP. You can play a really large number of PSN games on you PSP as well.
That said, there are a few new PSP games that look pretty good.
April 23rd, 2009
Probably Con.
But it’ll be some old sh!te about how *bad/doing badly/about to do badly (*select at whim) the Xbox is.
April 23rd, 2009
Hey Mike, are your parents Portuguese or something?
April 23rd, 2009
@CON,
Don’t spam, just a sentence will suffice. *Deleted*
to be honest, its really been a dry spell for Xbox 360 related news.
Was hoping for some blockbuster announcements at Microsoft Conference in Japan, but was disappointed with it.
@Happyhockum,
Thats not true look at my stories for this week:
Just a jist of the stories:
- PSP piracy a growing problem
- Sony can’t market properly thats why PS3 is not selling as well as Xbox 360
- Killzone 2 would have sold 4 million if it was on Xbox 360
- Xbox 360 E74 could be RRoD replacement
I try to take on stories from all angles, but its not my fault if there are times where there are barely any good news for one system versus another that hasn’t been covered by a million sites already.
April 23rd, 2009
@lockdown,
Yes, I wound up playing Liberty City Stories after Final Fantasy Tactics but didn’t finish it before I got back.
@Jofa,
Don’t be sorry for me, I prefer PSP games. Unfortunately, Skype on PSP is an afterthought too, so I usually wind up using my IPhone for phone calls. And size shouldn’t be a factor for not having a quality gamephone, because even the Game Boy Micro does a better job for games. Maybe one day.
@HappyHockum,
When I was deployed it was my gaming platform, but since I have got back all I did was hook on to the internet, see how crappy it is compared to browsing on IPhone, and now it has resided on the entertainment room floor (now moved to lower shelf of cart) for the last 6 weeks.
I do agree with Barnabe though, if I had a PS3 I might fool around with it just to download Suikoden and a couple of others… but then again after that initial novelty it would probably just lie around gathering dust again (unless I deployed or was on the move again). I think it mainly appeals to travellers and people who are on the go a lot.
April 23rd, 2009
@CarlB,
fyi – I would highly recommend Killzone Liberation for the PSP. You can currently purchase it over the PSP store for $15.
It really is a great game, as you progress through the missions you collect Vekta money which if you collect enough of you can purchase awesome weapons to use instead of finding them randomly throughout the level.
There is even a crossbow like the one in Gears of War where it will explode on contact.
After completing each mission, a challenge game gets unlocked where you can earn Gold, Silver, Bronze medals, and those medals help purchase perks.
Perks can be used in the single player game as you play along and range from things like: carry extra grenade, faster reload, more health, etc..
The game really plays like a isometric Gears of War, with lots of emphasis on using cover. The boss battles are fantastic as well.
You can download it straight off the PSP store via WiFi with no PS3 required.
April 23rd, 2009
Hey Mike you just ignored me.I Resent that.It was a fair enough question…wasnt it?
April 23rd, 2009
@ Mike,
How about a review of sorts for the new Survival Mode in Left 4 Dead? It’s pretty similar to the horde mode in Gears 2 but a shitload harder. I have only lasted only 4 minutes just once. But that still beats my performance in the bedroom.
April 23rd, 2009
yeah i heard if you lasted more then a minute it was a “good night”
April 23rd, 2009
Mike, I agree, KZL was a great game. I never did get all the medals, but did play all the way through it a couple years ago. Good stuff, but short… like Chains of Olympus.
April 23rd, 2009
KZL was really hard, but it was a great top down shooter.
What did that dumb ass Con do know? Seeing that his nonsense was deleted made me smile and feel warm inside.
April 23rd, 2009
How do you see something that’s deleted you tit?
I asked for post that actually wasn’t sony related and it was quickly deleted and referred to as “spam”
April 23rd, 2009
@CON,
I deleted your comment because you took up two pages worth of space with nothing.
A sentence like what you wrote above is more than sufficient.
April 23rd, 2009
how didn’t i get done for spam with 140+ posts in a day then?
April 23rd, 2009
maybe you guys just like me
April 23rd, 2009
“I asked for post that actually wasn’t sony related and it was quickly deleted and referred to as “spam””
That may have had something to do with the 300 lines of ‘-’…
Altho, I really don’t know why they just didn’t clean it up for you… Suppose the ‘delete button’ is just easier.
April 23rd, 2009
It burns when I pee.
April 24th, 2009
then your sex must be on fire
April 24th, 2009
Indeed it is.
April 24th, 2009
i hear they have a cream for that now days… “no more ouch-y fun”
April 24th, 2009
I want more “I love microsoft” article’s.
Apparently all the stories that are negative towards sony is still seen by SOME here as “pro-sony” get a life fellas.
If yas really have such a problem with the “apparent” pro-sony flavour of this site….. your not obliged to stay here ??!!
April 24th, 2009
Spidey, didnt you know that it has PS3 in the first 5 sentences… ZOMG ITA PROZ SONY BOOOOOOO NO FORZA PHYSICS HEAR!!!
April 24th, 2009
I thought the cream was for pink eye?
@ Spidey,
There once was a time in the days of Jonothan Schlafer and Tristen Mcintyre where the articles were 50/50, now they’re more than a little lop sided. I would have stopped visiting this site a while ago if it weren’t for the banter that goes on underneath these articles.
April 24th, 2009
Ah, the banter…yes i agree
Give them a little credit ….. if there is not much news about the 360 at the moment, it is a little hard to “report” on it ??
How bout the 360 fellas here submit some stories or ideas to the writers ?? Seriously, I’m not saying this as a smart arse.
April 24th, 2009
Spideydog
I was first here with the E74 included into the 3yr warranty story.
Look how that got spun.
April 24th, 2009
In additional to RROD & E74, there have been reports of 360s causing herpes simplex B. True story.
April 24th, 2009
I just watched my borrowed RE5 360 give birth to a zune. Value Added, bitches!
April 24th, 2009
I did already. I wouldn’t mind seeing Dave/Mike’s impressions of Left 4 Dead’s new survival mode for starters. It’s been kicking my arse since I downloaded it.
April 24th, 2009
Keep the suggestions coming guys and we may see something of it ??
Anyone know of a cheap place to get Left 4 Dead for 360 ??? (not pirate copy’s)
April 25th, 2009
About 2 months ago on Steam, it was like %50 off (or more), it was awesome
Sucks to want it on 360 muahahahah!!!!!!oneone
April 26th, 2009
Try Ebay?
April 28th, 2009
“Dry Spell” Article Ideas:
PlayOn Functionality: PS3/XBox 360
Achievements on XBox Originals: Why Not/When, if ever?
PS3 PS2 Backwards Compatibility: When?
PS3 Price Drop: When?
Release lists for each console to years end. Top games to look out for this year from each console.
Top ten 360/PS3/Wii/DS/PSP games.
PSN vs. Silver XBL: free content, download speed, Netflix vs. YouTube, why PlayOn is not inherently downloaded, etc.
PS Store vs. XBLM: exclusive match off including PS1 vs XBox Originals… will PS1 games get trophies before XBox originals?
Price declination schedule trends: PSN/XBL, physical software
Just a few ideas