What! Shops charging to downgrade!

[froggie22]

Was just looking at around the net at shops that have modchips and saw this. They are charging people $40 aus to downgrade a 2.0 psp to a 1.5

They are making money out of the devs hard work they put into it. They release it for free for everyone to use but this shop is making money out of it!

http://www.arach.net.au/~itechrocky/games/index.html

to see just click on the link and then on the psp icon on the left of the page.

Bit of a waste of a thread i know but just letting people know.

DIGG THIS NEWS AND SPREAD THE WORD OF THIS OUTRAGE

http://digg.com/gaming_news/Shops_Charging_to_Downgrade_PSPs

Know any other shops charging then post your comments

[steve520]

thats a peice of bullshit charging money to downgrade if anybodys got the right to charge money is the developers who created the downgraders

[Malksta]

Hmm, maybe they mean to send your PSP in so they can downgrade it =/

[Triv1um]

Well ive seen them in the dodgy markets and stuff, they charge like £20 to do it.

It sucks man, i mean admittedly, it is there time they are using to do the service, but the money they charge isnt just for the time.

[JKKDARK]

and they got the moeny only from n00bs :p

[DarthPaul]

Omg what the hell is this? Scammers.

[Psyberjock]

Well, it's a pretty stupid deal no matter what, but I don't think they make much money off of it if the PSP has to be 2.0 to start with!

But really this is just for people who don't know what they're doing anyway. If someone where smart enough to do it themselves, they'd probably know you can do it for free. Or if there is someone who is completely paranoid about bricks then maybe there would be brick protection offered by the business.

Anyway, yeah it's a rip, but only to those who know better and we're not doing it anyway.

A fool and his money are soon parted.

[splodger15]

I went to some market fair once and I went to the games console part. And they were charging £20 to downgrade 2.71 PSPs at the time.

[josiii]

many shops are chargin too in Spain 35 or 30 Euros
i think this is awful its like the people who sells emus+roms in a cd or dvd making money selling the works of great people who put it for free :mad: thanks good for the tutorials

[xg917]

it happens everywhere. get over it

[Uberman]

And people charge to install Linux.

They're not charging you for the downgrading software, you're paying for somebody's time and effort. I don't personally see anything wrong with this.

[Triv1um]

For 30mins of work, dont you think like £30 is quite harsh?

£5 would be 'ok' pay for 30mins of work in a proper job.

[scarph]

its people who know how to install the downgrader, doing it for a fee. like geek squad

[Uberman]

For 30mins of work, dont you think like £30 is quite harsh?

£5 would be 'ok' pay for 30mins of work in a proper job.

Well, I wasn't talking specifically about how much they are charging, just that they are charging something for the service. :)

At any rate, they can charge whatever the market will bear. People who are not do-it-yourselfers, like us, will often happily pay that kind of money to make sure they don't screw things up. If you look at forums as soon as an OE version is release, there are always people who complain that they've bricked their PSPs. Such people might find it cheaper to pay £30 to ensure their PSP is downgraded properly, instead of paying 3 or 4 times that amount for a new console (that will still need to be downgraded).

Keep in mind that they are also assuming the risk of having to replace the PSP if they brick it irretrievably. I'm sure part of the charge is a bit of that kind of insurance (implied, if not explicitly stated).

[Basil Zero]

I downgraded 10 psps

free of charge

Money's not important to me.

[NoQuarter]

The information and programs are freely available over the internet,if someone doesn't want to take the time to read and would rather pay somebody else to do it I see nothing wrong with that (other than the persons laziness).
Now selling someone else's programs is wrong but where is the line drawn?The programs are required for the downgrade process.I think it should be made clear if a service is sold that you are not paying for the programs but the service.As well as including all licenses available with the software and making it known the programs are freely available.

[billionhits]

Damn have I been ripped of payed £50 to downgrade I thought it was a good deal plz tell me if it was

[meanguns]

[QUOTE=froggie22;405829]Was just looking at around the net at shops that have modchips and saw this. They are charging people $40 aus to downgrade a 2.0 psp to a 1.5

Ok lets see this my be wrong but, do you guys know how many people don't know wtf they are doing? $40 is better than a bricked PSP these people need somewhere to go as they don't know what to do for themselves. Those people doing it also take on the risk of bricking a PSP If they do they are the ones ultimately responsible.

I am not defending them but how many noobs PSP's would you do for free? If they came to you all the time? And if you bricked it? Would you also replace it for free?

Ask yourselves these questions the noobs need someone to do it for them or they will destroy their PSP's

Noobs also have the right to a downgraded PSP also don't you thing after all at one time we were all noobs to the scene.

:thumbup:

You should stop trying to make something out of nothing!

[lemoe]

Damn have I been ripped of payed £50 to downgrade I thought it was a good deal plz tell me if it was

Woh, you payed over twice what most people charge!

[Gold Line]

Damn have I been ripped of payed £50 to downgrade I thought it was a good deal plz tell me if it was

it cost me £0 and 0p to downgrade my psp :p

[Veskgar]

And people charge to install Linux.

They're not charging you for the downgrading software, you're paying for somebody's time and effort. I don't personally see anything wrong with this.

I have to agree. but the way I'd do it though is charge a little extra with a portion of the fee reserved for Dark_AleX or whatever developer created the downgrader.

Then after x amounts of downgrades/upgrades I'd send the cumulative portions designated to the developer via PayPal.

Downgrading and upgrading a PSP is not something that just takes a few seconds. A lot could go wrong if you are not careful and follow certain steps closely.

Hmm. You know what? I think I'm going to start charging people to convert their PSP's into OE custom firmwares for the sole purpose of getting Dark_AleX some well deserved PayPal funds.

Its about time that the major developers and coders of the scene get rewarded more than they have been in the past before the scene starts slowing down.

[Nicko01]

ive downgraded a few psp's for free...

I bet the only reason it's $33 USD is because there is a risk of bricking. if they brick, they would need to fix it...

[yoshinatsu]

I've seen console shops here telling that they "modchip" your PSP, but all they do is downgrade it.
They charge 80-100 euros:eek: :eek:

[yoshinatsu]

For 30mins of work, dont you think like £30 is quite harsh?

£5 would be 'ok' pay for 30mins of work in a proper job.

Ahem... 5 minutes...

Sorry for double-post.

[s.skarbinski]

why the **** should we pay them money when we can just upgrade to a dark alex firmware or pick up a new 1.50 psp for 30 pounds what the hells the point **** these lot they suck ass!! they probaly just use a well known psp downgrader then after add the modchip anyway.

[Lukeson]

These Bitches!

[Buddy4point0]

that is so damn disrespectful. i hope the get suied

[Bruce.Lee]

I think if they´re using a modchip to solder to your PSP downgrade it and then desolder it then they have a right to charge money, because they are providing their services and hardware. But if they´re only using software downgraders they have no right.

[SSaxdude]

This has been going on since the 2.0 downgrader was first released in fall 2005. Nothing new.

[Kloe]

whether it's morally wrong or not is irrelevant, the fact of the matter is that people will always try to exploit people's money as long as they are willing to pay for it. I don't think these shops are doing anything wrong, they are just taking advantage of people that don't know anything better. If anything the people that give them the money for these services should be to blame, because without them there would be no reason to have the service.

[baracki96]

If they will replace the psp if they brick it then I think it's actually logical. You'r not paying for the downgrader persay as much as your buying a sort of peace of mind that your psp may brick in during the process of downgrading. Of course if you'r just lazy, and have extra cash to spare it's anice conveniance.

[J sims]

Im no more angry at these guys for charging to downgrade a psp than I am at mechanics for charging to change peoples oil.The way I see it is the 40 or whatever they are charging is for the larbor.And yes im aware that these toools were developed and distributed freely.But just like i can change your oil with the tools I acquired or you can do it your self. I can charge to downgrade your psp with the tools that acquired or you can do it your self. The only differnce is one guy's tools was made by dark alex and the other guys tools was made by snap-on

[psp411]

my schoolmate once offered to downgrade my psp from 2.5 down to 1.5 for $10 canadian.(he didn't know that I knew all I need to know about the homebrew scene and how to downgrade, etc.) as soon as i heard a cash value for his service, I immediately told him how to do it and boy, did he feel dumb. he told me not to tell anyone how to do it so that he could make cash. well, i didnt tell people how to do it but, i told them that i'd do it for them for free. anytime people at school need their psp downgraded, i do it for free... i didnt create the software to do it so why should i profit from it? lol i would love to charge for it but im too good (and lazy) to do that ahah :D :cool:

[froggie22]

Im no more angry at these guys for charging to downgrade a psp than I am at mechanics for charging to change peoples oil.The way I see it is the 40 or whatever they are charging is for the larbor.And yes im aware that these toools were developed and distributed freely.But just like i can change your oil with the tools I acquired or you can do it your self. I can charge to downgrade your psp with the tools that acquired or you can do it your self. The only differnce is one guy's tools was made by dark alex and the other guys tools was made by snap-on

Yeh but all they do is push a few buttons to downgrade and changing oil takes time and u give the customer something (oil) so they should charge.

[djchk]

Here in Hong Kong they charge to downgrade in a lot of shops. They also sell memory sticks at a higher price with emulators and roms already installed on them.

[sourced]

in the philippines[i live there] theres a mall over here called greenhills. they offer alot of repair services ranging from cellphones to a variety of electronics. there are a number of shops here who charge for downgrading psp's and even for putting ISO'S on them! they charge anywhere from 200 to 1000 pesos. thats about 2 u.s dollars +

[Psyberjock]

I've seen console shops here telling that they "modchip" your PSP, but all they do is downgrade it.
They charge 80-100 euros:eek: :eek:

What? Where? I haven seen those shops. Are they in Den-den Town? I'd like to go talk to those people. If they actually have mod chips, I'd like to buy one.


Here in Hong Kong they charge to downgrade in a lot of shops. They also sell memory sticks at a higher price with emulators and roms already installed on them.

Uhh... yeah. We all know about piracy in China. It's the Capital City of piracy of intellectual property. While I personally don't have a problem with copying, selling copies is a big no no.

[Hobobo]

I wonder what happens if they brick it :rolleyes:

[SnesR0X]

ze are screwed then

[kiore]

I think One needs to understand the downgrade / upgrade procedure for themselves if they wish to use the psp in this manor , Hell we all had to.

[kayhanbakid]

this may not be such a bad idea. My friend bricked his 2.71 trying to downgrade it. luckily he had a warranty. The psp just doesn't come as second nature to people who haven't been following homebrew since 2001. It gets confusing sometimes with the ta-082 and all that shit.

But 40$ is a bit much though.

[Sektor]

$40 AUD is around $33 US.

Sounds like a good idea to me. They are charging for a service. They spent their time reading and learning how it works and what to do. Many people don't want to do that or shouldn't be doing that since they just aren't good at following instructions or using logic. It also saves the user having to find and buy an unpatched GTA LCS (if they downgrade 3.03). If they offer a replacement if they brick it then they have even more right to charge for the service. It would be nice if the authors of the programs they used got some of those profits but unless it was in the license of the program, it's not required. Perhaps it should be added to the license of a program but i'm sure some people would ignore it.

[Chameleon]

Sounds like a good idea to me. They are charging for a service. They spent their time reading and learning how it works and what to do. Many people don't want to do that or shouldn't be doing that since they just aren't good at following instructions or using logic. It also saves the user having to find and buy an unpatched GTA LCS. If they offer a replacement if they brick it then they have even more right to charge for the service. It would be nice if the authors of the programs they used got some of those profits but unless it was in the license of the program, it's not required. Perhaps it should be added to the license of a program but i'm sure some people would ignore it.

agreed, and if people find this BS than dont use their service... its to help people who dont have the gumption or the know how to do so.

[ilovegadgets]

I am from a country where there is only around 2/3 shops that actually specialize in selling game systems. These guys have stopped selling unpatched GTA umds and are charging $30 to downgrade to 1.5. :mad: So you see I am absoulately hopeless. I have owned the PSP for around 8 months now and still haven't been able to downgrade.

[bufinjer]

This is no different than PSPBlender charging to give you free torrent info. If you don't know any better you'll pay, sad but true...

[Sektor]

I don't know anything about PSPBlender but i'm guessing the torrents were illegal but downgrading PSP firmware is legal or untested in courts in some countries. The custom firmware allows region free movies, so it would most likely be legal in Australia.

[White_Hawk_UK]

It's not a rip off. They're not charging you for the software used to downgrade, but the act of downgrading. If on the other hand, they're attempting to provide something for money that should be free (like a copy of the downgrader software), then they'd be ripping you off. What's more, they'd be doing something illegal that could result in heavy fines or a loss of trading license in most countries.

My opinion of PSPBlender on the other hand (and I make this view public wherever and whenever I can) is that it is legal only as a result of major loopholes. It is a reprehensible and disgusting way to make money off the trust of unwitting customers, and should be shut down. PSPBlender is, in every sense of the word, a scam - founded by scum to con kids (and make no mistake, this is who they expect to steal from) out of their money.

The two should not be confused. PSP-Blender is akin to someone on eBay selling a copy of an otherwise freely released downgrader - though the provision of instructions written personally by the seller make this an ambiguous argument, despite the fact that instructions are also freely available elsewhere, as they can argue that they are providing a service/product on that detail alone.

A charge for performing a downgrade is requesting payment for a service performed.

The fact that I provide this service for free to friends and colleagues is my choice. If they're willing to give me money for doing something that, by rights, they should be capable of doing for themselves, then I have every right to accept it.

I choose not to charge, but it wouldn't make me a criminal if I did.

[kam30en]

If noobs need to pay to downgrade, than they should. No one is going to do it for free.

[White_Hawk_UK]

I will say this; if I was charging people for a downgrade service using, for instance, a downgrader from Noobz.eu, I would seriously consider sending a proportionate donation to them for being so kind as to provide the software in the first place.

It occurs to me that once you have identified yourself as someone making money providing a service that utilises a specific downgrader, the original coder/developer may well have a legitimate claim based on licensing.

It's tricky, especially regarding geographical variations, and I won't pretend to know enough about the applicable laws to say one way or another. My previous post may have been inaccurate in this respect... o.O

[tvrstl]

why i have done this for many, is because they ask, free offcourse.

the reason is that I'm the only one they know, knowing something 'bout it..

(I am living in a small town, so this means that I don't have to have much knowledge to be the onlyone who knows 'bout the PSP and homebrew enabling. I am just a noob anyway!)