Hope yet for people with Euro PSP homebrew fantasies!

By Tom Bramwell Published 1 September, 2005

1.52 is default, 'undo patch' due.

Good news for those of you contemplating a PSP purchase but kind of indignant about the measures taken by Sony to stop you accessing homebrew content gathered from the likes of PSPUpdates: European PSPs actually come pre-installed with the 1.52 firmware.

We had been told to expect PSPs with 2.0 software installed - including the web-browser update - but according to reports from people who've actually bought a European one (ours are Japanese) the truth is somewhat different. You're actually expected to pop in the "sampler" disc, which will then apply the 2.0 patch for you. Sneaky!

If you don't do this, you should still be able to play all the games available on day one - including the likes of Virtua Tennis, Lumines, Ridge Racer and WipEout Pure - but you won't be able to use any of the 2.0 updates. And, crucially, you still won't be able to use homebrew software because the 1.52 firmware has yet to be properly dismantled.

Hoooowever, rumours abound that a clever chap with lots of time on his hands is about to release details of a technique for downgrading PSPs from 1.52 firmware to 1.50 - the magic numbers that allow for the execution of homebrew software. We will of course let you know about that when we do.

Sony frowns on all of this of course. Actually, "frowns" probably isn't the right word - "froths uncontrollably and contemplates bloody murder" might be closer to the truth. It's upset because third-party code can in theory be used to play pirated games (in an admittedly complex manner). But if all you want to do is try out portable Linux distributions or see if Notepad can work on your portable, this might be the route to go. Or the root, if we're being funny. [Big "if" - Ed]

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • raikov #1 7 years ago

    "If you don't do this, you should still be able to play all the games available on day one - including the likes of Virtua Tennis"

    Virtua Tennis comes with 2.0 on the UMD, and updates your firmware to be able to play, no?

  • krudster #2 7 years ago

    No. 1.52.

  • raikov #3 7 years ago

    That's alright then :) I'm still waiting for my copy to come through *kicks letterbox*

  • Teeth #4 7 years ago

    There's a nice homebrew game called "squares" that's quite good fun.

  • Huntcjna #5 7 years ago

    Eurogamer in piracy backing shocker!

    I can see the front page of the news of the world already

  • gamingdave #6 7 years ago

    "It's upset because third-party code can in theory be used to play pirated games (in an admittedly complex manner)"

    Errrr, its actually increadably easy. (To run "backups" with available homebrew tools, not make the homebrew tools)
    Edited by gamingdave at 01/09/05 @ 16:51

  • PearOfAnguish #7 7 years ago

    Heaven forbid you should be allowed to actually do something interesting with the thing.

  • flp #8 7 years ago

    Isn't there a fix to trick your PSP into thinking it has 1.51/1.52/2.00 firmware when really it has 1.50, to stop the automatic patching process? That's what I read on the Internet.

    Must be true.

  • kincaide #9 7 years ago

    flp - you speak of wab version

    /do google search

  • sephy #10 7 years ago

    Nice Linux gag :)

    or it would have been if it was more subtle :p
    Edited by sephy at 01/09/05 @ 17:12

  • killyourtv #11 7 years ago

    I couldn't give a crap about using my PSP for any of this homebrew crap

  • trevd72 #12 7 years ago

    flp - see my posting in teh VT review

  • binky #13 7 years ago

    I noticed today that Lumines comes with 1.50 on the disc!!?

  • firefly #14 7 years ago

    Yeah, so does Metal Gear Acid.

  • Khab #15 7 years ago

    Surely it's just matter of time until some enterprising fellow cracks 2.0 as well, though? Or is there some kind of sinister thing barring this?

  • JHuxley #16 7 years ago

    I wouldn't pick up a PSP for homebrew until someone can find a stable alternative for all these hacks that are floating around at the moment. I mean, homebrew is fantastic but I wouldn't want to lose out on commercial games either...

    For the timebeing the GP2X (which is the new official name for the GPX2 by the way - yes, 'GP2X' won that naming competition...what imagination!) sounds like the best bet for people who homebrew apps and emulation.

  • el_pollo_diablo #17 7 years ago

    Hahaha! I think it's clear where the Eurogamer staff feel about the issue.

    Or to put it another way:

    "Sony - get fucked"
    Edited by el_pollo_diablo at 01/09/05 @ 21:15

  • BLACKSHEEP #18 7 years ago

    Can't sony release a UMD that allows "official" homebrew liike they did with the PS1 and Yaroze???

  • SirScratchalot #19 7 years ago

    Really hope homebrew becomes a reality again, I really just need sooo small a push to buy one..... I´ve wanted a handheld megadrive since the days of the nomad...

  • Psi #20 7 years ago

    im sure someone is being lashed to death in the sony dungeon over this one.


    sony employee of the month, carlos the executioner!

  • symmetry #21 7 years ago

    When I first got my v1.5 PSP, I was checking it out and saw the network update option, so I thought "Yeah, why not?" So upgraded to v1.51. Then homebrew came out and I swore. Allot.

    Then Japanese v2.00 came along and I thought "Noooo, you won't find me updating again, not going to make that mistake". But v1.51 still wasn't cracked and it looked like it never would.

    Then American v2.00 came along and was slightly different to the Jap version, and I thought "Ooooh, there must be an exploit in Jap v2.00 that they fixed in American v2.00" so I found an old Jap v2.00 and updated because they were much more likely to crack that then v1.51.

    Then they annouce a downgrader for v1.51 and v1.52. I swore. A great deal.

  • zErOb_cOOl #22 7 years ago

    But Sony are going to sell more PSPs if people know they can play pirated stuff on them, as some people are not going to buy one if you can't play copied games on them. This means Sony are losing sales of not just games, but the PSP itself which is stupid.

    I suppose some people will bite the bullet and buy the console and games regardless though, so they make money anyway, but probably not as much as if they made the console easy to hack.

    And even if they lose games sales due to people playing pirated games, more people will have shelled out £180 straight to Sony's back pocket regardless, and there will still be people (like me) who buy proper games anyway, and also the 3/4 of the country who have no idea how to play pirated stuff will also buy full priced games.

    It all seems silly on Sony's part. Why fight it (piracy)? It will happen anyway, sooner or later, and it goes on everywhere, so make your customers happy instead of pissed off, and allow a bit of freedom with the PSP, instead of these money-grabbing restraints. Allowing the PSP to be easily hacked isn't supporting piracy either.

  • Fozzie_bear #23 7 years ago

    Not bothered about pirating games... really don't mind buying them (I object to paying 4.50 to rent them from Choices though, bloody rip-off). Not getting a psp - but the prospect of being able to run emulation would probably persuade me to shell out. As it is, I'll not bother.

  • Pod #24 7 years ago

    zErOb_cOOl : Thats not how it works at all. Sony make a loss on every PSP they sell. They require people to buy games to turn a profit. Strong homebrew and pirate offerings are very very bad for them.

    As for
    "and allow a bit of freedom with the PSP, instead of these money-grabbing restraints"
    That worked really well for the dreamcast didn't it :/
    Edited by Pod at 02/09/05 @ 16:21

  • sephy #25 7 years ago

    Why are people claiming EG is backing piracy?

    Homebrew yes, piracy nono

  • Lawlost #26 7 years ago

    I just wanted to clarify/answer a couple of items people have posted. It is unlikely that anyone will be able to crack 2.0 it is 128 bit encrypted, the most likely scenario is someone will strip out the elements of 2.0 we all want i.e. web browsing and combine it into a 1.5 version.

    The reason Sony are so p****d off is that they are selling the PSP at a small margin (gasps from all in the UK when it's being sold for £179), but they make their money by licensing the games, somewhere around £8 per UMD. So they are not going to be happy about people using their PSPs to play emulated nintendo, sega, mame and cracked PSP games. My take on it - Don't upgrade your 1.52 UK PSP unless you really want to web browse on it and hope that someone gets 1.52 fixed for Homebrew!

  • Pod #27 7 years ago

    Don't underestimate the scene. 128bit isn't that much and they've proved time and time again that they can work out the toughest of systems