PSP World

Hackers Release Custom Firmware 5.0

Hackers scored another win against Sony over the weekend, as word spread that a custom version of Firmware 5.0 was available for download. Underground coder Dark Alex was responsible for the release. Custom firmware is a hacked version of the official firmware, which keeps all of the official functionality of the PSP intact, while allowing users to run homebrew applications and illegal pirate copies of games. This removes protection for developers hoping to make their games require firmware 5.0 in upcoming releases, because pirates can simply circumvent this security requirement.

While this is surely bad news for prospective software developers, some hope remains. Currently the PSP-3000 hardware has proven unhackable, meaning that new customers who buy the handheld will not be able to run any unofficial applications or downgrade their system to a custom firmware version. Hopefully this will remain the case long enough to encourage weary Western publishers to take another crack at turning a profit on the system.

Our take? If the pirates are eager to benefit from the new updates avilable in Firmware 5.0 such as the PSP Store, perhaps they will find that it is easier to actually pay for games on the service rather than steal them.

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