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PSP Piracy: Worse than we think?

J

john tv

Member
Funny/sad story:

Here in Tokyo, you often find people playing handheld games on the train and the bus. Of course, GBAs are still the most commonly sighted handhelds, but since this past December, I've seen a fair share of DSes as well (maybe two dozen or so). PSP sightings, on the other hand, are pretty rare. I think I've seen maybe three or four in total since launch, and two of those came in the past week. One of those two happened this morning. I saw a dude playing his PSP on the train, and I thought, wow, that's pretty rare! I wonder what he's playing? The new Tenchu? Taiko no Tatsujin perhaps?

I slowly walked past his shoulder to get a glance at the screen, and lo and behold, what do I find? He was playing a GBC game on emu. :p

Is the PSP piracy situation worse off than anyone realized? I never expected to spot a random dude in public using an emulator on his PSP...I thought that was just for uber hardcore geeks like us GAF-types...
 
i'm pretty sure anyone who has a 1.5 and internet access are using their psp's for emulators (and...arr....). at least the new firmware patches will control the homebrew/piracy situation somewhat, at least until someone figures out how to hack the new firmware or force a downgrade. someone playing a gbc emulator in public isn't all that bad...but if i see someone eject their umd drive and put the same disc in that they ejected, i'd laugh
 
Actually, seeing the PSP isn't so rare in Hong Kong. Seeing DS is a truly rare site in Hong Kong... which is quite the opposite to Japan isn't it... sad...

The sad thing is that, my friend told me that there is now pirate PSP games on sale in HK!
 
Kobun Heat said:
That he was actually playing his PSP should have been your first indication that he had emulators installed.
Click to expand...
This is true.

I don't know a single person that uses his PSP for anything else besides emulators.
 
mutsu said:
The sad thing is that, my friend told me that there is now pirate PSP games on sale in HK!
Click to expand...

Can anyone independently confirm this?
 
Maybe it is a good thing (just to increase the userbase).
I'm very far from being an accurate stadist and my samples are the worst for this case but I think the scene helped to bring a respectable userbase size to the xbox.
 
john tv said:
Funny/sad story:

Here in Tokyo, you often find people playing handheld games on the train and the bus. Of course, GBAs are still the most commonly sighted handhelds, but since this past December, I've seen a fair share of DSes as well (maybe two dozen or so). PSP sightings, on the other hand, are pretty rare. I think I've seen maybe three or four in total since launch, and two of those came in the past week. One of those two happened this morning. I saw a dude playing his PSP on the train, and I thought, wow, that's pretty rare! I wonder what he's playing? The new Tenchu? Taiko no Tatsujin perhaps?

I slowly walked past his shoulder to get a glance at the screen, and lo and behold, what do I find? He was playing a GBC game on emu. :p

Is the PSP piracy situation worse off than anyone realized? I never expected to spot a random dude in public using an emulator on his PSP...I thought that was just for uber hardcore geeks like us GAF-types...
Click to expand...
i play emulators on my PSP on the trains in NYC all the time
 
I think it's more an indication that someone would rather play a GBC game than anything from the current PSP library.

I mean, most of the PSP games out so far (at least in the west) are stinkers, save from a few diamonds in the rough.
 
olubode said:
Can anyone independently confirm this?
Click to expand...
I think "pirate PSP game" doesn't mean a pirate UMD
it only means a DVD that has the PSP games ISO and some GBA/SNES roms
that you don't need to d/l from the internet and can be more convenience to transfer the files in the MSDuo
 
John, why do you assume random train dude isn't a hardcore uber geek? You were on the train and you're one...
 
its pretty bad when i can download 90% of all the games out and play them off my stick so easily. I don't do that, but it certainly isn't hard, especially considering how small some of the files sizes are.
 
neo2046 said:
I think "pirate PSP game" doesn't mean a pirate UMD
it only means a DVD that has the PSP games ISO and some GBA/SNES roms
that you don't need to d/l from the internet and can be more convenience to transfer the files in the MSDuo
Click to expand...
Oh, ok. So it's just business as usual in HK? :P
 
in other hong kong news, looks like the DS is really going down... the latest supercard firmware plays DS games, and two new DS pirate kits (M3 and G6) are set to release by the end of the month!
 
heh, yeah.. my friend was just asking me about the PSP emulators because he saw a guy in line playing Mario Bros on one..
 
If you have 1.50 you gotsta have your homebrew!

As for playing GBC games, I'd argue that this really isn't true piracy anymore. It is a gray area, but if someone plays an emulated NES, SNES, Genny, GBC game, so what. It isn't like publishers are selling these games for profit anymore.
 
At any given time, I play about a 50/50 mix of PSP games and emulators, and other forms of media as well, music, movies, legit homebrew apps, etc... I've yet to see another PSP owner besedes myself (I live in NC), or DS for that matter, seen plenty of GBAs though. It's quite peculiar really, when I'm using the PSP in public, people give me the strangest looks, like I'm using some kind of strange foreign technology, and when some people realise I'm playing old Genesis and SNES games they really give me strange looks :lol Seems highly probable to me that PSP homebrew use could be pretty rampant, I mean, the emus are available in easy to find locations, and all you have to do is drop two folders on your memstick, not exactly a tech-savvy process. The hardest part I can think of would be obtaining the roms, which can be to an extent, obtained very easily. Still, I remember the perplexed look on even some of my more tech-savvy freinds' faces when I tried to explain to them the concept of emulators and roms when I discovered the PC emu scene. Personally, I'm a bit worried about the PSP ISO Piracy scene at the moment, good thing 2.0 staves the launchers off for a bit longer, although, last trip to EB, all the PSPs here were still 1.5 (launch sales were pretty slow here), but that was a few weeks ago, so that may have changed by now.
 
Society said:
Work will always be on the way for all systems, but at this time, it could be much worse.
Click to expand...

The people that use emulators most probably will never get the retail hardware, besides the emulators that features a mostly perfect and playable emulation are from plataforms that are very old.
 
JPRaup said:
dude, way too obvious
Click to expand...
actually, it really did have nothing to do with PSP or DS/GBA piracy at all...

and in other anecdotal news... i saw a car almost hit a guy who was listening to music on his PSP... and one of the young workers at a local corner store has a PSP, and he always has the earbuds in his ears...
 
Today at work some guy came in asking how to share his broadband connection between his PC, PS2, X360, and PSP and the conversation turned to whether or not he should update his firmware because he wanted to play emus. PSP is obviously doomed.
 
FiRez said:
The people that use emulators most probably will never get the retail hardware.
Click to expand...

That is what I was suggesting. Lose in PSP sales. Unless you mean no intention at all to buy the hardware, which I find to be a bit of a stretch. Even the cheapest pirates I know have had a GCN at one time, even though a mod chip was only recently available.
 
The Faceless Master said:
actually, it really did have nothing to do with PSP or DS/GBA piracy at all...

and in other anecdotal news... i saw a car almost hit a guy who was listening to music on his PSP... and one of the young workers at a local corner store has a PSP, and he always has the earbuds in his ears...
Click to expand...

Don't try to cover for him. ;)

As for the Supercard firmware, was it a coincidence they decided to label the new firmware as version 1.50? I tested the firmware and was surprised that it ran those 3 patched games well. I wonder how the 64MB games will work if you only have 32MB of RAM to work with.
 
The constant bashing of PSP games and the increasing usage of either emulators and/or pirated PSP games...it will all backfire man.

At this rate, not many developers will want to be making games for the PSP in the future.
 
Troidal said:
The constant bashing of PSP games and the increasing usage of either emulators and/or pirated PSP games...it will all backfire man.

At this rate, not many developers will want to be making games for the PSP in the future.
Click to expand...
or maybe they should try harder instead of doing halfassed cash-ins?
 
john tv said:
Funny/sad story:

Here in Tokyo, you often find people playing handheld games on the train and the bus. Of course, GBAs are still the most commonly sighted handhelds, but since this past December, I've seen a fair share of DSes as well (maybe two dozen or so). PSP sightings, on the other hand, are pretty rare. I think I've seen maybe three or four in total since launch, and two of those came in the past week. One of those two happened this morning. I saw a dude playing his PSP on the train, and I thought, wow, that's pretty rare! I wonder what he's playing? The new Tenchu? Taiko no Tatsujin perhaps?

I slowly walked past his shoulder to get a glance at the screen, and lo and behold, what do I find? He was playing a GBC game on emu. :p

Is the PSP piracy situation worse off than anyone realized? I never expected to spot a random dude in public using an emulator on his PSP...I thought that was just for uber hardcore geeks like us GAF-types...
Click to expand...

so you are also in tokyo. nice to meet you here in gaf

i have a different viewpoint about people playing handheld games on the train and the bus.

i take the train everyday, taxi sometimes, bus only in weekend
i seldom find people playing handheld games on the train and the bus.
since the nds/psp launch in dec 2004, i've seen 2 or 3 times handheld sightings on the train, never seen on the bus. and never seen in the park where there are lots of kids.

i just wonder where the handheld gamers are.
 
indeed

from what i hear , you have companies offering GBA budgets for projects to development teams, then the users expect PS2 standard products.

It's just not feasible.

"i just wonder where the handheld gamers are"
Click to expand...
on my line - the train is pretty much full of salarymen, OLs , kids, etc all playing some form of game (Keitai, DS, PSP).

Not ALL of them obviously, but i'll see at least 3-4 people a day playing DS for example.
 
or maybe they should try harder instead of doing halfassed cash-ins?
Click to expand...



What I think to be a classic example of halfassed cash-ins and full commitment:

Sangokushi V (PSP) (halfassed cash-ins)
romance-of-the-three-kingdoms-v-20050218053842892.jpg
romance-of-the-three-kingdoms-v-20050218053843813.jpg




Sangokushi DS (full commitment)
sands03.jpg
sands02.jpg




Looks like the screenshots have reversed!
 
john tv said:
Funny/sad story:

Here in Tokyo, you often find people playing handheld games on the train and the bus. Of course, GBAs are still the most commonly sighted handhelds, but since this past December, I've seen a fair share of DSes as well (maybe two dozen or so). PSP sightings, on the other hand, are pretty rare. I think I've seen maybe three or four in total since launch, and two of those came in the past week. One of those two happened this morning. I saw a dude playing his PSP on the train, and I thought, wow, that's pretty rare! I wonder what he's playing? The new Tenchu? Taiko no Tatsujin perhaps?

I slowly walked past his shoulder to get a glance at the screen, and lo and behold, what do I find? He was playing a GBC game on emu. :p

Is the PSP piracy situation worse off than anyone realized? I never expected to spot a random dude in public using an emulator on his PSP...I thought that was just for uber hardcore geeks like us GAF-types...
Click to expand...

Where do you work at John? On the Yamanote line and the JR, Tokyu and Tokyo metro lines near the Yamanote line of course GBAs and DSes are the most commonly spotted. But amazingly enough the PSPs are also pretty common. The PSPs however seem to be mostly popular with the salaryman crowd (I've only seen kid with a PSP ever). I always try to make my way to a spot where I can see what he's playing and unfortunately since the discovery of 1.0 and 1.5 exploits I've only seen 6 of the numerous (over 30 by now) people actually playing PSP games. Even more unfortunate was that the kid I saw playing with his PSP was also using a GBC emulator....

I hope new firmware libraries are added so that newer "must have" games use them making it very difficult to use older versions of the firmware. I think that given must have commercial production quality software is > emulators and homebrew. I think it's the only way to stop what's going on with psp right now...
 
The Faceless Master said:
or maybe they should try harder instead of doing halfassed cash-ins?
Click to expand...

Sure, there are half-assed cash-ins, but there are others that simple aren't and isn't given enough credit. Perhaps the consumers are expecting too much out of the PSP.

Limited budget, constrained development schedule, lack of development tools (especially infrastructure) - just a lot of negatives even on the development side of things.
 
"i dunno, sales?"
Click to expand...

then wouldn't people move projects to the DS? Less piracy, less distratcing home brew, not having to compete with UMDs, lower dev costs (?), lower user expectations etc etc?

Lol - last time i bumped into DDKawai on the yamanote line, i believe i was playing Rtype PCE on the PSP.... roofles.
 
januswon said:
so you are also in tokyo. nice to meet you here in gaf

i have a different viewpoint about people playing handheld games on the train and the bus.

i take the train everyday, taxi sometimes, bus only in weekend
i seldom find people playing handheld games on the train and the bus.
since the nds/psp launch in dec 2004, i've seen 2 or 3 times handheld sightings on the train, never seen on the bus. and never seen in the park where there are lots of kids.

i just wonder where the handheld gamers are.
Click to expand...
more anecdotes... at the end of the school year this year, i saw some kids going on a field trip on the train with their teachers... like 25-30 kids... 10 GBASP's, 1 GBA and 3 DS's...
 
DCharlie said:
then wouldn't people move projects to the DS? Less piracy, less distratcing home brew, not having to compete with UMDs, lower dev costs (?), lower user expectations etc etc?

Lol - last time i bumped into DDKawai on the yamanote line, i believe i was playing Rtype PCE on the PSP.... roofles.
Click to expand...

DC - yep, you're in the salary man set!
 
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