Yesterday Sony released a version 3.10 firmware upgrade to the Playstation Portable system with some increased security among other new features. By the end of the same day, hackers had already decrypted the 3.10 firmware to allow third party applications to run on the PSP.The party claiming responsibility for the PSP hack, “C + D”, was boastful about the day 0 hack of the new firmware stating, “$ony has lost another batle and will loose the war…”. Obviously they are better at hacking than they are spelling.
The new firmware updates for Sony’s PSP include support for an expansion of Playstation titles, support of MPEG-4 AVC format video files, a Conserve Memory feature and a dynamic sound normalizer. In addition, and more interesting in this upgrade is the ability to download demos directly to the PSP or transfer downloaded demo games from a PC. The first of these new demos that PSP owners can download is Killzone: Liberation, followed by Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 2 in a couple weeks.
From just about day one, the holy grail of the PSP homebrew scene has been PSX emulation, and while much has been accomplished on this front, the spiffiest emulator yet happens to come courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment Itself. Of course, that emulator entails a pay-per-download scheme, limited catalog and requires a PS3 to make it all work, right? Not so much anymore, thanks to hacker extraordinaire Dark_AleX and his new Custom Firmware 3.02 OE-B, which lets you convert your very own PSX ISOs and run them at full speed on the PSP. OE-A worked as a hack for Sony-released download titles by stripping the DRM, but it sounds like OE-B is the real deal here. Sure looks like those PSP fanboys are going to be having some happy holidays this year. Keep reading to spy an incredibly blurry vid of the hack in action.
Read - DCEMUuk
Read - QJ.net
Play a game in multiplayer mode against a friend when only one of you has the UMD for the game. It’s a rather simple hack that’s easy to perform, yet saves everyone money in the long run (besides Sony of course) 
Hot on the heels of the Jeanne d’Arc announcement earlier today, yet another deep PSP title has come to light: XSEED’s Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground, which is scheduled to be released this July. The game allows the player to create their own customized environments for some hack ‘n slash fun, and it sounds similar to the PS1’s cult classic, RPG Maker.
There is a storyline in this one, however, as you’ll follow the adventures of a novice dungeon maker, who must find a way to protect his town. Monsters are constantly attacking from every direction, so the young hero grabs a plot of land just outside the town and gets to building. A fortress? Nope, a dungeon, so he can lure the monsters - and their master, the Wandering Demon - away from his home. The ultimate goal will be to defeat the head Demon, of course, but we assume how you build your dungeon will directly impact the game.
You’ll have all kinds of building materials at your disposal, and you’ll even be able to share your work with friends across the PSP network. Any battles you encounter will be fought in real-time, with the ability to attack via melee and ranged weapons, as well as with magic spells. In this way, it sounds similar to a dungeon crawler like Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance, so if we fuse that with the RPG Maker philosophy, we end up with a very intriguing premise.
Pox and Ragable’s update of episode 1 with all the anwsers for beginers:
- How to buy a PSP that is homebrew capable
- What is homebrew
- Why would you want to Hack a PSP
- Geting into the PSP Scene
- Installing homebrew
- Running homebrew (1.5 or e-loader)
- Downdating 2.71 to 1.5
- Downgrading 2.0 to 1.5
Download in High Def Windows Media HD 720p
Looks like Sony tried to slip us one in their latest PSP Firmware update. Sure it’s got a new memory saving mode for the PSP’s web browser and support for new PlayStation Network games, but what they didn’t tell you is that for homebrew fans Firmware 3.10 will secretly brick your PSP. Anyone out there install the new update?
PSP Firmware 3.1 Hits [Kotaku]
The Wii’s Twilight Hack has been a big hit for the homebrew crowd. Using the software flaw, they’ve been able to play Tetris on their Wiis and even create some custom Wii channels. Nintendo tried to shut that program down, but 8 hours later, it was back. Nobody can keep the homebrew devs down, and over the past week there have been two more major breakthroughs in “hacking the Wii.”
A group called Waninkoko has created a custom firmware for the Wii which allows writable DVDs to be read by the system. This means that downloading Wii titles to your PC, and then playing them on a burned disc could be right around the corner. The second crack for the Wii came from teamshift. They were able to create a PSP emulator that can play whatever games you wish.
Of course, neither of these hacks have actually been confirmed, so take heed before you try to install the Waninkoko hack. Do so at your own risk. The PSP emulator rumor from teamshift comes from a single image posted on NintendoMax showing Puzzle Bobble Pocket playing on a Wii. The image doesn’t hold much credence, and could be completely fake, but if it’s real then PSP games may become the new black for a while in Wii owner’s homes.
As more information is revealed on this, we’ll let you know.
Read more at engadget and DCEMUuk
Ever since the Sony PSP was released, industrious hackers across the nation have been working diligently to figure out new things to do with it. Here are some of our favorites:
Read E-books:
Browse the web:
Play multiplayer PSP games using just one disc.
Make a DIY USB PSP charger.
The PSP puzzle game Lumines released last June jumped 5900% in sales on Amazon.com after gamers learned they could utilize it to hack their PSP. After following directions posted on noobz.com, players can download and play homebrew games on their Playstation Portable, for all firmware versions from 1.0 to 3.5.
However, the only homebrew currentlyavailable is the boringly titled “Hello World,” which is really just the equivalent of the crackers saying, “We did it!” There are plans to release a Homebrew Enabler and a downgrader. The out-of-print video game is currently outselling everything in Amazon’s Video Games category except Mario Party 8 and the Nintendo Wii. It looks like gamers are excited about the opportunity to play what they want with whatever they want. Maybe the video game industry will someday take heed.
Sony Corp. on Thurs. said that it will release more than 100 first and third-party titles for the Playstation 3, Playstation 2, and PSP handheld in spring 2007.
Titles for the PS3 include Vivendi’s F.E.A.R., Activision’s Spider-Man 3, Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and SCEA’s MLB 07 The Show.
PS2 offerings include Square Enix’s Dawn of Mana, 2K Games’ Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Bandai Namco’s .hack//G.U. Vol. 2: Reminisce.
PSP handheld games include Sega’s Alien Syndrome, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, Namco’s Ridge Racer 2, and Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas.
“Our second-quarter line-up of PS3, PSP and PlayStation 2 software titles demonstrates a continued commitment from both SCEA and third-party developers to the PlayStation family of products,” said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President of Marketing, SCEA.
“We are excited by the content being developed by our partners, but are also looking forward to launching PlayStation-branded exclusive games created by our own worldwide studios this quarter and throughout the rest of 2007.”
In addition, Sony will hold digital distribution of new content on its Playstation Store. Titles include Calling All Cars, Gauntlet II, Mortal Kombat II, and Super Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix.
