PSP piracy is "trending down", says Sony

By Ellie Gibson Published 25 November, 2008

Not as prevalent these days, apparently.

Sony Computer Entertainment America exec John Koller has said PSP piracy is "trending down" these days.

"We've made really no secret [that there] certainly has been some piracy on the PSP," he told MTV multiplayer. "It's trending down right now, we've seen the piracy not be as prevalent in the last month to two months."

Although videogame piracy is of course inherently bad and wrong and should probably be a hanging offence, there are still those who persist. Koller has observed there are also people ready to dole out the nooses, however.

"We've noticed there’s kind of a 'good vs. evil' battle that we track on many of the forums and many of the pirated web sites," he chuckled.

"There's certainly people that are standing up and fighting for what we consider the good side, the rights of developers and publishers to make money on their IP. And then there’s certainly the other side that believes that they can take as warranted.

"It’s kind of been nice to see other consumers going and help and fight the battle for us," added Koller.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Zomoniac #1 3 years ago

    Maybe because there haven't been any games worth pirating in recent months?

  • Les #2 3 years ago

    Don't think a sample size of one to two months is representative of a trend...

    I use official firmware on my PSP though I probably would have used custom firmware if it didn't involve messing with the batteries. I'd love to rip my PSone ISOs and put them on a memory stick so that I can play them. I paid for these games so I don't consider it piracy though it's not legal (let alone that installing CF is illegal) because clever lawyers and business managers have decided they can make more money by making it illegal.

  • kangarootoo #3 3 years ago

    "Don't think a sample size of one to two months is representative of a trend... "

    It depends on the sample numbers involved and also the trend history I think. If numbers remained stable for 10 months, and then dropped over 2 months, that would be significant. If they had been up and down for 10 months, then perhaps a slight deviation wouldn't be so reliable.

    "because clever lawyers and business managers have decided they can make more money by making it illegal."

    You know, I sometimes wonder if they might make money if they DID allow you to do that sort of thing, which perhaps suggests they aren't so clever (or that I am deluded, which is equally possible). Buy once, play anywhere. That is what people are asking for with music, instead of everyone having to buy all their albums again every time a new platform comes along.

    It will happen one day (kt predictions ltd).

  • jonsaan #4 3 years ago

    The more psp integrates with PS3 and PSN the less need there is for piracy it's true. Just take a squizz at the pricing of full price psp games on PSN please Sony. It's kind of daft that you can pick up a UMD for less than half the price in general.

  • andromeda #5 3 years ago

    zomoniac is right.

    theres been f*** all out thats worth downlo.. buying on the machine for ages.

  • mcmothercruncher #6 3 years ago

    "Trending down" ?

    Bloody cock.

  • Grom #7 3 years ago

    They're probably not other consumers, Sony. They're probably bitter devs who've released games on your piracy-ridden handheld and have seen precisely $1 in actual sales come back from retail.

  • DB2k #8 3 years ago

    trending down? what a cnut!!!!

    I would say its because people just aren't playing with their PSPs any more. Nice screen - shame about the rest of the console. Including the games.

  • Les #9 3 years ago

    "It depends on the sample numbers involved and also the trend history I think. If numbers remained stable for 10 months, and then dropped over 2 months, that would be significant."

    Theoretically you're right. But the PSP has been out for a bit longer and I think in this case 1 to 2 months (so probably 5 weeks or something) doesn't make a trend.

    "You know, I sometimes wonder if they might make money if they DID allow you to do that sort of thing"

    You mean by increasing sales revenue by making the product more attractive? I don't think enough people value it enough currently. Maybe if gaming ever becomes a true mass medium.

    /edit: syntax
    Edited by 1 at 25/11/08 @ 12:07

  • kangarootoo #10 3 years ago

    "You mean by increasing sales revenue by making the product more attractive? I'm don't think enough people value it enough currently. Maybe if gaming ever becomes a true mass medium."

    This is true. I'm looking longer term. Its the kind of change that would help gaming become more mass-use, and I'm certain I'm not the only person who thinks so. Give it a few years says I.

  • oreillymj #11 3 years ago

    All I want to do is play Driver 1 on my PSP. I had it for PSOne and would buy it again, if they'd let me.

    But unfortunately this has never made it onto the Irish Playstation store and I never got any reply to the mail I sent asking why it's missing.

  • Notorious_LRO #12 3 years ago

    Some of the big headed morons at Sony probably think this is good news, but here is another futile attempt at trying to tell it like it is: the PSP is not very sexy. Not at all. It is boring. It is something your auntie would want, had she known that shitty and boring games are the norm for this schizo piece of polished techturd.

  • Shakey_Jake33 #13 3 years ago

    Does this mean they'll stop the futile struggle with dark_alex et al?

  • kangarootoo #14 3 years ago

    What would stopping the struggle entail though? Unsecuring their platform? That would be suicide and its never going to happen, with good reason.

  • motslaps #15 3 years ago

    @zomoniac word!

  • Les #16 3 years ago

    "what a cnut!!!!"

    I've always wondered why people do that (I assume this 'spelling mistake' was intentional). Might be thread hijacking but I seriously wonder. It doesn't impact the meaning of the message that one tries to put across so it seems a bit hypocritical, a travesty of political correctness IMO. To be clear, not blaming you, rather the social conventions that have a problem with writing "fuck" while "the f-word", "f***", "fcuk", etc. are OK.
    Edited by 1 at 25/11/08 @ 14:01

  • Cyclone #17 3 years ago

    @Les

    I think it's due to some sites, im programs, etc automatically censoring words; I guess some people just prefer self-censorship to someone or something else doing the censoring for them.


    @oreillymj

    It really is shit that Driver 1 is missing from the Irish Playstation Store. It is probably the only one of the classic games released in Europe so far that I would have bought. They really should get around to releasing the Resident Evils, Final Fantasies, Metal Gear Solid, and Colony Wars on it.

  • kangarootoo #18 3 years ago

    @Les

    I tend to censor what I write with *, just to avoid offending those that get offended.

    I agree, its nonsense. If offsense is caused it is because the reader is aware of the word, and so what is the difference?

    But I also tend to think that happily (or even eagerly in the case of some people) causing valueless offense just because you don't agree with someone is out of line.

    Its a minor rule for me though, and it allows me more space to express. If I REALLY want to make a point I won't censor my words, and then the contrast with my normal writing style conveys the extra meaning.

  • kangarootoo #19 3 years ago

    And I agree, Driver 1 was fucking awesome.

    (see what I did, hehe, I crack myself up).

  • toy_brain #20 3 years ago

    To anyone with a problem with the 'Trending Down' phrase, please try to remember just how infectious businesspeak can be. It pisses me off no end, but I work in one of those office environments where you just cant help but find it creeping into your everyday vocab.
    So annoying.

    Now excuse me, I just need to go touch base with my collegues.

    ARRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!

  • oreillymj #21 3 years ago

    Yes, I want to sound like a cock too.

    I think I'm going to have to incorporate the phrase 'Trending Down' into as many mails/posts as I can going forward.
    Edited by 1 at 25/11/08 @ 13:29

  • Rodster #22 3 years ago

    As the first poster said it's partly due to little to no games being released on the PSP as devs don't want to deal with the piracy. As recently as last week the PSP 3000 has been officially hacked with a new battery being sold in the UK so unofficial firmware can be installed on the PSP.

    The only way to combat the piracy is for Sony to just sell 1st and 3rd party games thru the PS Store.

  • Matfink #23 3 years ago

    I hear ZX Spectrum piracy is at an all-time low too!

  • Bitkari #24 3 years ago

    PSP is "trending down"

    fix'd.

  • MDL199 #25 3 years ago

    Notorious_LRO
    25-Nov-08 11:20:35 Some of the big headed morons at Sony probably think this is good news, but here is another futile attempt at trying to tell it like it is: the PSP is not very sexy. Not at all. It is boring. It is something your auntie would want, had she known that shitty and boring games are the norm for this schizo piece of polished techturd.

    ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------

    The PSP is a great system with lots of great games!

    You'll find most aunts are playing boring non games on DS's like shitty brain training and cooking mama.

    Nintendo has completely sold out and the DS and the Wii are joke systems aimed at non gamers who don't know better.

  • Feanor #26 3 years ago

    Why don't they just get the IP addresses of pirates and sue them?

  • Cosmopolitan #27 3 years ago

    ^ ^ I'm no expert at the interwebs but I think getting an IP address is not so simple, especially with this "dynamic IP" thing. Further, if they already GOT your IP address it's still not so simple to prove that it was YOU behind the computer. Or so I heard.
    Edited by 1 at 25/11/08 @ 15:46

  • kangarootoo #28 3 years ago

    "I'm no expert at the interwebs but I think getting an IP address is not so simple, especially with this "dynamic IP" thing. Further, if they already GOT your IP address it's still not so simple to prove that it was YOU behind the computer. Or so I heard."

    Getting an IP address and tracing it to a computer is relatively easy, and I believe ISP keep records all what IPs went to which MAC addresses (even dynamically assigned ones). Not completely sure, though I know a man who is and I can ask if people are that interested.

    The whole "who was sat at the computer" thing is of course harder to prove, but its an extremely flimsy defense and I can't imagine a household of students (for a shared house example) backing each other up long in the face of a good coporate legal team. If you lived alone on the other hand, you would be very pushed to suggest it was someone else.

  • zedzee #29 3 years ago

    "Nice to see consumers help to fight the battle? For us?!"

    Pleeeeeaaase.

    It's very much clear that if you give someone a FREE game, rather than having to fork out £30 for it and it's guaranteed to work, then they'd go for the former option.

    If developers stopped being so greedy (Fony, too), and stopped charging an arm and a leg for things like Space Invaders Advanced (or whatever crap they call it) then piracy would not be prevalent.

    "...see consumers fight the battle" - what planet is this guy on?!

  • Solvalou #30 3 years ago

    Maybe because there haven't been any games worth pirating in recent months?

    Exactly. Nothing else to add. Sony you dummy PSP piracy is trending down because PSP as a whole is trending down.

  • Meho #31 3 years ago

    As someone who uses custom firmware and downloads PSP games so I can play them when they come out and THEN wait for our slow ass stores round here to actually get them and put them on sale (and make no mistake, I spend tons of money on PSP games) I can ensure Sony that the "trending down" of piracy is certainly due to the rather poor selection of new games on offer. At the beginning of the year it looked much better and I have been frothing at the mouth at the prospect of buying a bunch of games and sure enough when Crisis Core, GOW COO, Echochrome, Patapon etc. hit stores, I was spening money like mad (despite, I might add, the fact that I had downloaded all of these games previously), but the end of the year is rather slim. However, seeing the numbers of people downloading Loco Roco 2 and the Japanese version of Patapon 2, I can also say that piracy certainly is NOT "trending down". And, oh, Sony, I downloaded the leaked beat for Loco Roco 2 that made me so enthusiastic about the game that I preordered it at the local shop. So, as they say in the colonies, put THAT in your pipe and smoke it.