The icons of PSP hacks and homebrew development

A lot of you folks may have totally forgotten about it, but last Saturday (March 24) was a very important day for us PlayStation Portable owners. That day marked the date Sony unleashed its latest handheld to North American shores. Yes, it’s been two years since we’ve first held the sleek black rectangular-shaped contraption in our hands and marveled at its graphical prowess and multifunctional capabilities.

Its first few months filled PSP owners with frustration though. It would be remembered that before PSPs were launched outside of Japan, Sony released its very first firmware update thus blocking homebrew for gamers around the world who just bought their handhelds. With a handful of measly launch titles, disappointing UMD movies, and no homebrew, the PSP was nothing more than an expensive piece of mp3 player for many. It wasn’t surprising then to see a brand new PSP left lying around the household untouched. Until devs laid their hands on some…

The PSP development scene is right where it is right now, not because of Sony’s marketing schemes, but because of the sheer ingenuity of our numerous developers. THEY made the PSP the multimedia device its creators billed it to be. THEY brought the PSP to the heights it’s currently in. THEY realized the PSP’s true potential. So it should not come as a surprise that this post is all about THEM.

So to celebrate the second birthday of our North American PlayStation Portables, we’re going to feature the guys who really made this gadget the gadget it is now. Think of it as our own makeshift Hall of Fame for PSPs. They are the icons of PSP homebrew development.

The gods of PSP applications
Sony made us believe the hype about the PSP being a multimedia wonder. These devs laboured hard to actually make the PSP an efficient multimedia machine. In other words, they didn’t merely plan, they made it happen. Among the notables are Ahman (creator of arguably the best organizational program/shell for the PSP – iR Shell); Raf (maker of PSP Radio, a radio music streaming PSP application); and DickyDick1969 (PiMPStreamer coder, a video streaming application for PSP). There are lot more PSP applications developer out there, you could see them all here.

What made them famous: For turning the PSP into something its original creators have failed to do – a true multimedia device.

The other icons of PSP hacks and homebrew development await after the jump!

A lot of you folks may have totally forgotten about it, but last Saturday (March 24) was a very important day for us PlayStation Portable owners. That day marked the date Sony unleashed its latest handheld to North American shores. Yes, it’s been two years since we’ve first held the sleek black rectangular-shaped contraption in our hands and marveled at its graphical prowess and multifunctional capabilities.

Its first few months filled PSP owners with frustration though. It would be remembered that before PSPs were launched outside of Japan, Sony released its very first firmware update thus blocking homebrew for gamers around the world who just bought their handhelds. With a handful of measly launch titles, disappointing UMD movies, and no homebrew, the PSP was nothing more than an expensive piece of mp3 player for many. It wasn’t surprising then to see a brand new PSP left lying around the household untouched. Until devs laid their hands on some…

The PSP development scene is right where it is right now, not because of Sony’s marketing schemes, but because of the sheer ingenuity of our numerous developers. THEY made the PSP the multimedia device its creators billed it to be. THEY brought the PSP to the heights it’s currently in. THEY realized the PSP’s true potential. So it should not come as a surprise that this post is all about THEM.

So to celebrate the second birthday of our North American PlayStation Portables, we’re going to feature the guys who really made this gadget the gadget it is now. Think of it as our own makeshift Hall of Fame for PSPs. They are the icons of PSP homebrew development.

The gods of PSP applications
Sony made us believe the hype about the PSP being a multimedia wonder. These devs laboured hard to actually make the PSP an efficient multimedia machine. In other words, they didn’t merely plan, they made it happen. Among the notables are Ahman (creator of arguably the best organizational program/shell for the PSP – iR Shell); Raf (maker of PSP Radio, a radio music streaming PSP application); and DickyDick1969 (PiMPStreamer coder, a video streaming application for PSP). There are lot more PSP applications developer out there, you could see them all here.

What made them famous: For turning the PSP into something its original creators have failed to do – a true multimedia device.

The fathers of PSP emulators
They are the folks responsible for making full use of the PSP’s hardware advantages. Tweaking left and right, nonstop, these guys have made our handhelds a virtual time machine. The more popular ones include: Yoyofr and Laxer3a (parents of the SnesPSP emulator responsible for allowing us to play with Super Nintendo games in our PSP); Ruka (creator of the most reliable Nintendo NES emulator for the PSP – Nester J); and, Exophase (maker of the Game Boy Advance emulaGame Boy Advance emulator for PSPtor for PSP – gpSP).

Other guys worth mentioning are PSMonkey (master of Monkey64, a Nintendo 64 emulator for PSP), ZX-81 (an emulating machine with projects ranging from MSX to Amstrad CPC emulators), and NJ (another monster coder with NEOGEO, CPS1PSP emulators among other under his belt. We have more, and you can all meet them here.

What made them famous: For giving us our own gaming time machines.

The heroes of hacks and exploits
Now these are the guys who started it all. The trailblazers and frontliners of war whom Sony has waged against us. They paved the way for all the homebrew goodness we’re currently enjoying. In fact, we could liken them to the Spartan warriors of old. Pardon my geekiness, but here’s a convo I’ve envisioned if Sony ever decided to send an envoy to negotiate with our PSP community hackers.

Sony: A thousand company-paid coders descend upon you! Our firmware updates will be so thick, it’ll blot out the Sun!
PSP Hackers: Then we will hack in the shade.

Back to business, though. Here are our well-respected developers.

Nem: The true father of homebrew. This guys started it all. He, along with the SEC-Saturn Expedition Committee, released the first homebrew application for the PSP, a Hello World application (the very first step to any programming). And since the PSP is so tightly locked by Sony, a Hello World application is definitive proof that you’ve got code running.

What made him famous: Provided the keys for the locked gates of homebrew heaven.

PSP-DEV: There was an age when the PSP owners were lost in a sea of darkness. Sony unleashed its then most powerful weapon, the PSP firmware 1.50, right before the first PSPs hit North American shores. PSP users sailed blindly without homebrew and kickass games, until a Spanish group called PSP-DEV (comprised mainly of CybBlade, Pawstick, and Killer-X) burst into the scene. They made what could be considered the very first exploit for North American PSPs – the Swaploit. It is a method of swapping Memory Sticks while starting the application, hence the name. Crude, yes, but it gave the PSP owners their first glimmer of hope that someday, homebrew will be smoothly launched on their handhelds.

What made them famous: Served as a lighthouse for lost PSP owners.

MPH: There was time when the PSP community seemed to be immersed in darkness. PSP owners have barely enjoyed homebrew via exploits made in the 1.50 firmware, when Sony began a barrage of firmware updates bringing it up to firmware 2.0. Back then it served as a vast sea for PSP owners stranded in the island of firmware 2.0. Nobody could crack it, until MPH came along out of the blue with a working 2.0 to 1.50 firmware downgrader. We were rescued, and the happy days were here again.

What made him famous: Saved drowning PSP owners from the sea of firmware 2.0.

Fanjita and Ditlew: Just the mere mention of their names brings shudders to any learned PSP owner and perhaps even developers under Sony. They have been frontliners right from the early days of PSP hacking, and even now a lot of coders respect them. Ever since the development of Eboot Loader (or, as you may now call it, eLoader), these guys have had a hand in most firmware cracks, downgraders, and existing exploits for the PSP. Their insights demand respect, and rightfully so.

What made them famous: Served as the vanguards of PSP development.

Booster: Here’s the father of one of the PSP development’s many breakthroughs. The creator of the one of the most commonly used emulator/application for PSP, DevHook (or Device Hook) has truly raised the bar of hacking for PSP. When Sony was dishing out firmware updates like there was no tomorrow, not a few of our companions in the crusade were able to resist the tempting new features the latest updates offer. Yes, true, a few remained loyal, and Booster rewarded them in full.

His application have been sought by many (a lot of those were the same ones swayed by the firmware updates). And why not? It has given PSP 1.50 owners the best of both worlds – homebrew heaven, and the ability to load the higher firmwares and enjoy the new features (and games that require it) that come along with it.

What made him famous: Became the Alchemist behind the “boost” of PSP enjoyment.

Dark_Alex: … Silence … True enough, whenever Dark_Alex speaks (or in our case, makes a post on his website) everybody listens. Why is he a PSP development icon? Let me count the ways: Firmware cracks, downgraders, popstations, and of course, custom firmwares. The darkest days of the PSP were right between firmware updates 2.50 and 2.82, and Dark_Alex was there to lead the crusade toward the light. When Sony came up with a plan to market PSOne games to the PSP, Dark_Alex was there to provide an even better way to play your PS1 backups in your PSPs.

Mt. Olympus has mighty Hercules, the Norse Gods have Thor, and the PSP homebrew community has Dark_Alex. He’s every homebrew user’s hero. ‘Nuff said.

What made him famous: He is the Hero of homebrew.

The most important icon of them all:
(If you’d like to know who’s being whispered in hushed tones across the internet as the most important person behind the success of PSP homebrew community, just highlight the following text with your mouse, by dragging your cursor over it)

YOU

Yes, you. None of this would have been possible without you, us, everybody. The guys mentioned above achieved what they did not because they wanted it solely for themselves, but out of desire to share it with the whole PSP community. It is within our ranks where great coders like Nem, Fanjita, Ditlew, Dark_Alex, Booster, and the rest came from, and it’s definitely where the future greats will come from.

You shared their frustration every time a hard-to-crack firmware is hurled at us. You egged them on when they’re on the brink of breakthroughs. You basked with them under the rays of triumph every successful hack. And you showed them your gratitude for all of this. So to YOU, we extend our thanks.

Postscript: Let’s offer a moment of silence for CybBlade of PSPDev whom we lost to cancer back in 2005. We’re sure he’s now cracking God’s PSP up there.