they are both illegal.

Isn't Target giving out SOCOM for free with the purchase of the PSP? I think that's a great deal there...

Homebrew is illegal?

According to Michael Corvin it is.

:hscratch:

MAME and Roms are questionable, aren't they?

MAME and ROMS do not equal HOMEBREW

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_%28video_games%29

Setzer specifically mentioned "like running MAME or NES emus" which is what I'm assuming Michael Corvin was assuming meant roms. Sorry, too many assumptions :)

Yes, running emulators, like MAME, SNES, NES, Genesis, etc., are illegal but homebrew isn't just about emulators and roms, there are people who program their own games, media players, etc. for use on the PSP and that stuff is NOT illegal. It depends on what it is but not all homebrew is illegal.

Setzer mentioned both homebrew and roms. MC said both were illegal. I don't believe homebrew is illegal.

Not that I want to get into this debate, but I feel it necessary to mention that technically Home-brew apps are not-illegal, however most often the devices that enable the apps to be run on the device are. Believe it or not, companies can legally regulate how you may and may not interact with their devices, and you consent their terms at time of purchase be it through standard law or included user agreements on the hardware.

They can say what they want, but most user agreements are unenforceable.

Most laws are unenforceable too by the nature of being hard to catch the person breaking it. I'm not getting into the debate, the bottom line is "The home brew" scene is not a successful ethical scape goat in some the arguments put forward in this thread.

sorry. The quote I was referring to mentioned pirating PSP games and Mame-NES roms. That is what I was referring to "both" are illegal.

And anyone can't honestly say they are running a MAME or NES emulator just for homebrew stuff with a straight face. Seriously.

True. But there has been homebrew stuff that didn't run on emulators. I can't speak for the PSP, but the GBA had stuff like mp3 players, picture viewers, e-readers, etc.

I'm not really sure what all the PSP homebrew stuff consists of. I'd guess there has been emulators for playing roms, but I'd guess there was other stuff (linux, etc.) as well.

So I'm sure there are some people using "legal" homebrew.

Well I mean that it's hard to even get a conviction, not just caught. I believe I've read that some courts have sided with the users on some of these cases. I'm no lawyer though.

Nice price, gonna have to pick one up in a few months.

I want to throw in my opinion about pirating. On my wife's side, she has nephews in high school and college, and they will not spend one dime on music, games, or movies. The look on their faces when they see me pull out an actual game case to play a game, you'd think I had "sucker" written all over my face. It's a really strange culture shock for me, but I'm afraid they are the norm nowadays.

Well I work in the media industry and I think piracy does have a very negative effect. I know it's popular to hate the RIAA, but I actually understood what they were trying to do -- they wanted to change the perception that piracy/copyright violation was ok (now that it's so easy). Piracy used to be small scale (in the U.S.) where you'd see some tapes at the swap meet. Copyright violations were mostly people making copies for friends. Pirated/copied games were exchanged between friends (or downloaded very slowly from BBSs). The internet changed all that, but the perception that it was basically ok didn't.

Even "abandonware" has changed. It never really existed (it was still copyrighted), but I think companies turned a blind eye because there was no perceivable profits to be made on a 10 year old game. Virtual Console pay-per-downloads have changed that. Downloading NES roms didn't seem so bad when you knew Nintendo wasn't really making money off these games anymore anyway and you couldn't even buy them in the store anymore. The VC on the Wii has changed that though.

About time they had a price drop.

Anyone else get that email survey from SCEA a few months back, asking what we would like to see in a redesigned PSP?

Maybe the price drop is a sign that it's on the way?

Well, the DS is out and the PSP back in. Got one with a nice no dead/stuck pixel screens. With my trade in credit (DS, 3 DS games and 2 GBA games) along with the money from selling my old Verizon phone I came out ahead (well so to speak)!!

I forgot how nice that big screen was. Heck, I didn't even realize that it now has a web browser built in. Now I gotta hit the greatest hits rack and play catch up!

Enjoy it! :)

It actually has some good games worth checking out.

Ok, when I last owned a PSP, there were nearly no worthwhile titles. I had Mercury, Twisted Metal and Coded Arms.

So what is new and really good? I'm especially interested in online (infrastuctre or whatever it is) games. I really enjoyed the online component of Twisted Metal.

Is there anyplace that keeps track of the popular online games (as far as number of people that play)?

What's a good RPG (in the vein of KOTOR or retro like Golden Sun)?

if you want an RPG that really focuses on dungeon diving and melee type battles, Untold Legends 2 is real good, and has an online infrastructure.

if you like those types of games, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is fun, online, and has a shit-ton of characters.

If you like turned based, tactics style combat, Spectral Souls is really good.


For popular, online games, SOCOM 2 is probably the most popular.

Medal of Honor : Heros is a really solid, online shooter as well

I'll be waiting for the psp lite, sounds like they may make some good improvements