"Rampant piracy" makes PSP the perfect gift in China

[wraggster]

An article from PSP Fanboy (http://www.pspfanboy.com/2006/12/07/rampant-piracy-makes-psp-the-perfect-gift-in-china/) that explains a lot why the PSP struggles to sell the Commercial games it should:


The Chinese video game market is a difficult one for manufacturers to deal with, simply because piracy is totally out of control in that region. Many publishers and console manufacturers avoid the market altogether. However, the Chinese market loves to play video games, and a blog called Shanghaiist is recommending the PSP for holiday gift givers this year:


"Our buying decision this holiday season has every bit to do with the PSP being a nifty gadget as it does some of the extra "resources" available to us as residents of Shanghai, or China for that matter ... rampant piracy of games. The PSP is no different. Machines for sale here are from either Europe or Japan, but with firmware downgraded/modified so that they can handle "backup" (read "pirated") games."
While I'm all for sales of the PSP increasing, I'm appalled at this recommendation. Telling people to buy a system because you can easily pirate games on it is really uncool. Of course, it seems like many people on the Internet also seem to think the PSP is all about homebrew and piracy as well. What have you experienced on the web?

So who agrees with the article above ?

[SmashinGit]

With all the raving about Devhook recently being able to emulate 3.02 it makes me wonder just how many people actually own a umd that needs fw 3.02.

[Cap'n 1time]

for me the psp is all about the home brewed projects out there. If i want to play a game then i will pay for it... and a certainly wouldnt pirate psp's shitty collection of games.

[Veskgar]

Sounds like they need to focus less on restricting the Internet and spend more time on the counterfeiting issues.

[the catalyst]

I think that the main reason the psp has a whole bunch of "shitty games" is because they know that if they made a good game nobody would buy it, and everyone would just pirate it.

Homebrew is good, and really enhances the purpose of the PSP, but most homebrew games don't match up to the quality and depth of most commercial games (no offense to anyone). It just seems sad some people (those who pirate the games) complain about the quality of the PSP selection, when in the end, they helped cause the paucity of good games in the first place.

[Ichijoe]

Those who decide to come to the PSP™ Party now, hopeing for an easy out, (e.g. ISO Loader / Devhook), shall likely go away disapointed! :p

Think about it?
There the new Mainboard(s) TA-082 & TA-086, I don't think there are many Cherry v1.50s' left in the Wild.
And arn't all the new PSP'™ Systems being sold with Firmware v2.8x now? :rofl:

V2.7x may have been somewhat hacked, but lets' face it v2.7x IS NOT v1.50 and never will be either!

And how many PSP™ Owners out there even know about the whole Homebrew Scene?

No unless those Chinese possess some Mad Soldering Skilz, I wouldn't worry myself needlessly over this event. :thumbup:

[mikebeaver]

I have a few games on my PSP, all on UMD and all quite good fun to play, i dont totally disagree with piracy otherwise where would that leave my large collection of emulated games (although I do own quite a large proportion of them in there original format aswell) but the reason I got a PSP was for the simple fact I was getting bored of my DS and wanted a change, the extra functionality has kept me interested in a product that would possible have grown very old, very quickly wioth the large amount of sub-standard games released.
I feel that the article telling people to buy one just because it is "back-up" friendly is a disgrace, it's behaviour like this that will stop truely groundbreaking games being released and sound the end of comercial development.

[mikebeaver]

V2.7x may have been somewhat hacked, but lets' face it v2.7x IS NOT v1.50 and never will be either!


Surely with a 2.7x downgrader it WILL become a 1.50, it's with a 2.8x that you can hack but not downgrade (yet!, it may be possible one day)The homebrew scene is amazing for this format, but with every new-comer is the possibility of just another pirate, it's a conundrum alright
PS sorry for the double post, didnt know how to edit and add a quote

[irishwhip]

i would have sold mine long ago if it wasn't for homebrew. there is not one commercial game that appeals to me.

[Avenyet]

Homebrew all the way just there are just some amazing things u can do with this hardware and it a great platform to practice coding on i love it really

but it is true people only buy consoles when they know they can get free games just look at the PSX in it finaly years i know some people that never brought a real game and how about the amazing dreamcast...

still i;m surprised how few people are award of homebrew considering all the gaming magizine in the UK have covered it.

[F9zDark]

i would have sold mine long ago if it wasn't for homebrew. there is not one commercial game that appeals to me.

Homebrew is why I still have a PSP also. But I have found a game for me and its MGS:PO. If ya'll are interested in the MGS franchise, this title is a must have.

Back on topic, I think its utterly horrendous that they would openly suggest pirating. If I was Sony, I'd make sure nobody in China would be able to procure homebrew-able PSPs.

[Veskgar]

I think that the main reason the psp has a whole bunch of "shitty games" is because they know that if they made a good game nobody would buy it, and everyone would just pirate it.

Thats not true at all in my opinion. To give an example to counter that statement I can give you a multitude of ways how the DS Lite can be more easily pirated than the PSP. The process to pirate DS Lite games is easier, faster, & cheaper than doing so with the PSP.

Not that I support that but it is interesting that despite that, the DS Lite is selling like crazy continually week after week. In any given week in Japan, the DS Lite sells 100,000 - 200,000 units whereas the PSP sells only 17,000 - 25,000.

Moreover, if you look at the many quality games for the Nintendo DS, its quite clear the developers were NOT thinking "lets not put too much effort in this game because it will just get pirated".

The PSP is a great little device. SONY has just done a poor job implementing the many possible uses for it. I mean a lot of the homebrew I use regularly I would have paid for if there were no PSP homebrew scene and SONY offered it.

[Cap'n 1time]

Thats not true at all in my opinion. To give an example to counter that statement I can give you a multitude of ways how the DS Lite can be more easily pirated than the PSP. The process to pirate DS Lite games is easier, faster, & cheaper than doing so with the PSP.


I agree say for the cheaper comment. Those carts for DS are pretty damn expensive and after that you have to buy an SD cart which is of course slightly cheaper than sony's memory sticks.. but still its quite expensive.

[ab88]

Surely with a 2.7x downgrader it WILL become a 1.50.....

Why does everyone forget TA-82's :(
No downgrader for us
BTW I buy my games (only 5 tho)

[kpaul_nyc]

With all the raving about Devhook recently being able to emulate 3.02 it makes me wonder just how many people actually own a umd that needs fw 3.02.I just like having 3.02 with devhook. Just makes me feel up-to-date.

[kpaul_nyc]

Why does everyone forget TA-82's :(
No downgrader for us
BTW I buy my games (only 5 tho)
Use the devhook for 2.71 (yes there is one) to load 1.5 and go from there.
:thumbup:

[m0th]

Im not gonna lie, when it comes to games, Im not gonna go out and spend money on something I may not like and not be able to exchange it for something else. Just as with PC games, I like to "preview" them. If I like it to where I know i'll keep playing it, I buy it. Ive downloaded over 50 ISOs in the past month. The only ones I felt were worth the money were GTALCS and GTAVCS and I now OWN both of those games. As for the rest of the 50, they're basically wasting space on my hardrive. So, if Sony wants my buck than they're gonna have to put out more quality games at the price they are asking. For example I woulda bought Sims2 BUT definetly not for the same price if not more than the PC version being as the PSP version is completely dumbed down. Why should I pay more for less of a game? Most PSP ports are like this and I dont understand why. Console games are just dumbed down in general and its really irritating. I guess thats why I have a hard time liking most of the titles. I want PC complexity, I dont care if the graphics arent that good. And if I want a simple game to play, COS thats all they are, no way in hell im paying 40$ a pop.

No harm no foul. I'll download a pirated copy if I like Ill buy if not it'll just sit there on my HD til its time for spring cleaning, or I start running low on diskspace.

[Veskgar]

I just like having 3.02 with devhook. Just makes me feel up-to-date.
I have 3.01 firmware installed with DevHook 0.51. Its not just about whether or not games need the firmware or not. Its all about rebelling against SONY trying to force people to upgrade.

I can't help but get an evil grin on my face knowing I can have a 1.50 fully loaded homebrew PSP and then activate 3.01 firmware at the press of a button also.

In your face SONY! Resistance is futile...

[Nocuddle]

I bought my PSP from outside Shanghai area. Price prolly by now abt 1600 RMB, comes with 2 gig MS (fake?). There are serveral shops on the underground area, selling 1.5 like cakes, in white & black. About approx 10 shops there & my estimation is one shop stock at least 10 PSPs.

Meh, I dont use PSP solely for gaming. My main reason buying the PSP is to watch movies & animes on the move. And also as my digital photo storage. Wont buy any game in the future either, nothing interesting even tho i d/l "some". My only UMD in my PSP is the sample UMD. :D

And I bought 2 PSP from them. :)

[Russoxley187]

Piracy is horrible, but I wish they wouldnt charge so much for games and stuff..
but I dont condone it either way

[jhontikis]

I think the reason stated ("backup") in the article is pointless.
Every machine under the sun has pirated stuff, especially if its popular.

[comicgeek]

If it were not for Tekken I wouldn't have bought the PSP. Come to think of it Tekken is THE only GAME I played for hours everyday. But sometimes I play Super Mario 3 and 4 sometimes metal slug x. If it weren't for homebrew I wouldn't have played any other PSP game except for Tekken. I think i need to buy another game.

[irongiant]

I find it ridiculous and quite sad that some are still saying there's no decent games on the PSP. The PSP now has a wide library of games just like any other console, some are great some are crap and plenty are just ok. Anyone who says there isn't one PSP game they would like to play either is a rabid fanboi of another console manufacturer or isn't a gamer at all.

As for piracy it's inevitable on all consoles.. i know of people with a DS who've downloaded just about every game available for it. Then theres the 360 which is quickly becoming a pirates favourite.. PS3 will follow.

[Veskgar]

I find it ridiculous and quite sad that some are still saying there's no decent games on the PSP.
Yup, no respect. There are plenty of sweet games for the PSP.

The PSP itself is overpriced but the games don't suck.

[daCuk]

Piracy is the ONLY option for "third-world" countries, just because game companies don't really care about countries that are not included in USA-Canada, Europe, and Japan-Asia Pacific.
Africa and Latin America are neglected because the big manufacturers still think there is not enough people with money to be gamers (as idiot as it sounds, it is reality).
Just to give you an example, in my country (CR) the only way to get a PS3 is to pay 1.300.000 colones, what is equivalent to $2000; the Wii costs like 300.000 colones, like $700; there is no official distribution of Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo.
So, before taking a "holier-than-thou" stance about piracy, you gotta realize that some game companies are actually supporting piracy. in an indirect way.

[darthhaze420]

if a game is good i will buy it but not many games for the psp are all that good i buy the quality games mgs po\gta vcs \medal of honor \ are some but why spend your hard earned cash on a game that is going to suck so i play the back up b4 i buy it if i like it that much i will go to the store and get it if not the back up is saved and not played ever again

[Chuthbert]

If it were not for Tekken I wouldn't have bought the PSP. Come to think of it Tekken is THE only GAME I played for hours everyday. But sometimes I play Super Mario 3 and 4 sometimes metal slug x. If it weren't for homebrew I wouldn't have played any other PSP game except for Tekken. I think i need to buy another game.
I'm glad someone mentioned Tekken. Not only is it a great handheld fighting game... but one of the best fighting games in general.

[Veskgar]

Piracy is the ONLY option for "third-world" countries, just because game companies don't really care about countries that are not included in USA-Canada, Europe, and Japan-Asia Pacific.
Africa and Latin America are neglected because the big manufacturers still think there is not enough people with money to be gamers (as idiot as it sounds, it is reality).
Just to give you an example, in my country (CR) the only way to get a PS3 is to pay 1.300.000 colones, what is equivalent to $2000; the Wii costs like 300.000 colones, like $700; there is no official distribution of Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo.
So, before taking a "holier-than-thou" stance about piracy, you gotta realize that some game companies are actually supporting piracy. in an indirect way.
That is certainly an interesting objective which should be looked at more by major corporations.


I'm glad someone mentioned Tekken. Not only is it a great handheld fighting game... but one of the best fighting games in general.
Yeah, Tekken: DR is one hell of game!!!

[F9zDark]

I'd hardly consider China a third-world country...

I think its that game companies don't want to deal with a country like China because OF the rampant piracy, which then, just leads to more of it because the Chinese still need games...

I own a 'handful' of PSP games, (Wipeout, Metal Gear Ac!d, GTA:LCS, MGS:PO). I enjoyed Wipeout for a brief while, but I only bought it for the web-browser "hack" (when we didn't have one for 1.5). But the rest of the games I have enjoyed quite well, because they are from franchises that I like.

Now here also comes in the problem, I am 'afraid' of sorts to go out, shell out the dollar on a new PSP game from a franchise I have heard little of, or one that I enjoy seldomly, only to be disappointed, which is why I refrain from buying new games for the PSP regularly (last game I bought was probably 8 months ago and that was another copy of LCS for multiplayer with my other PSP).

I am also not fond of games with sub-par graphics (graphics aren't a big deal, but when shitty graphics hinder playing the game, SCREW THAT) and I am thoroughly pleased that Konami made MGS:PO as well as they did, because I think that kind of bar will really push the envelope on the PSP.

Point is? There are plenty of games for the PSP out, many of which I believe are probably pretty good. But if you're like me, you don't want to gamble on that, buying a new title from a new franchise or one that you never heard of, to be disappointed.

[r2works]

Chinese pirating games from a portable console that they manufacture for under paid wages...

karma, i love it.

[heilong]

Well alot of you are missing the point, The PSP like alot of other systems is not released in china yet, They import and the piracy thing is usually contained to that area alone and so companys like sony are not really losing profit. You can buy real UMDs here also, but they tend to be more expensive than back home in Ireland about $90 us dollers for tekken DR. Most Chinese seem more intrested in PC games ecause games are usually hack to have chinese language and internet cafe's are one of the biggest things here after food.

So I say let them have what they want, They pay the same for their PSP's and get no support for SONY(not like we do;/)

[Nocuddle]

The PSP like alot of other systems is not released in china yet

Say what?
Do you want me to give u an address of a market that sells heeeeaps of PSPs IN China? oh sorry they also sells PS2, Xbox, DS, GB, VBA & even old NES.

Though i agree with u abt the other systems, like 360, Wii & PS3. They dont sell these here as yet but u can preorder from black market & u will hav it next day. how? coz these fukkin Sony+others warehouses are just around the corner (contractors/suppliers, all freakin made in china)... and coz money talks. but why these 3 system not in china yet "officially"? coz no one will ever buy original softwares, too exp for local rates. just wait till mod chip come out, coz the next day u will see is every1 selling PS3 & each games cost like 5-10 RMB. :rofl:

fyi, i just happen to live in china, for a moment. :o

and yeah yesterday i saw Pink PSP 1.5 in the market for 1500 RMB incl 2 Gig Sony MS.
cute pink strap tho. thinkin to get that. :rofl:

[heilong]

No, you need to read my post a little better, you can buy anything you want in China and the shops and stalls have tons of PSPs and other such things, I never said they didnt, BUT the system in not released offically here yet so thats why they import from Japan and Europe (the People selling the PSPs here I mean.) as stated in the artical on page one.

[Lodis]

If it were not for Tekken I wouldn't have bought the PSP. Come to think of it Tekken is THE only GAME I played for hours everyday. But sometimes I play Super Mario 3 and 4 sometimes metal slug x. If it weren't for homebrew I wouldn't have played any other PSP game except for Tekken. I think i need to buy another game.

f you plan to buy another game, u should make it Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops. The best game on the Psp ever created period. Also if you like Tekken, you will probably also like the new Mortal Kombat game too.

[comicgeek]

I got it already and it is great but the controls need a little getting used to. I would love Mortal Kombat but its still not available where I lived. Same with all the other 3rd person and 1st person shooters. I have SOCCOM 1 which is great reminds me of the PC game Delta Force - ah the .50 caliber sniper riffle wow - anyway... playing 3rd person and1st person games on the PSP for too long is nauseating for me. The games I like the most are those that don't have too much moving background (doesn't move more than 180 deg).

[UchihaSasuke]

. Just as with PC games, I like to "preview" them.

Just like me:)