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PSP firmware exploit found in Lumines; sales jump 5900% on Amazon photo

You may have already heard about the latest PSP exploit discovered within the classic puzzler Lumines, availing owners of any variety of PSP -- all the way up to its current firmware, 3.50 -- the opportunity to run homebrew, install custom firmware, and generally monkey up Sony's plans to get you to play PSP games on the system over, say, 14-year-old SNES games. Can't stop 'em, Sony -- this is what people want. People want their hardware unlocked, they want emulation of everything up to PSX, and they don't want you steppin' on their toes over it. Proof? Hell, look at Lumines.

Quite a big jump for a launch title. Hey, I'm not saying it wasn't a great game -- it's certainly one of my all-time favorite titles to play on the toilet, that's for certain -- but I can't imagine a nearly 6000% jump just for nostalgia or 'cos word got out that it wasn't half bad.

It's levelled off a bit since then, but still impressive -- the force of a wall of gamers all moving towards emulation and maybe-probably piracy. Well, at least they'll actually play the damn things, now. Go buy Crush, jerks!

[Via PSPFanboy] 


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32 comments | showing # 1 to 32

Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 06/25/2007 12:27
Shame on any PSP owners who don't already have Lumines.
galagabug 's Avatar
galagabug at 06/25/2007 12:34
if i had a dollar for every time i've powered on my psp, i still wouldn't be able to pay the thing off.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/25/2007 12:36
Up 5900%. That's just fucking awesome.
Ambulance-Y's Avatar
Ambulance-Y at 06/25/2007 12:39
agreed with galagabug, i posted in the community blogs where you can find the stuff to do the homebrews.
Justice's Avatar
Justice at 06/25/2007 12:44
I haven't touched my psp in months, and that had full homebrew capabilities
tazarthayoot's Avatar
tazarthayoot at 06/25/2007 12:45
Think now I may actually purchase a PSP since this is available.
Joseph Leray's Avatar
Joseph Leray at 06/25/2007 12:51
Vegeta, how high have Lumines sales increased???
bhive01's Avatar
bhive01 at 06/25/2007 12:52
OVER 9000!
tazarthayoot's Avatar
tazarthayoot at 06/25/2007 12:54
WELL, TECHNICALLY, IT'S ONLY BY 5900, BUT MAYBE IT'LL SOON HIT OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!1111ONE
tazarthayoot's Avatar
tazarthayoot at 06/25/2007 12:55
Am I the only one who finds explanation jokes to be very very funny?
Crunshii's Avatar
Crunshii at 06/25/2007 13:01
is that a legit number or a Amazonian error?
Snaileb 's Avatar
Snaileb at 06/25/2007 13:02
I lawl'd
Joseph Leray's Avatar
Joseph Leray at 06/25/2007 13:03
Yes!
savagesaladin's Avatar
savagesaladin at 06/25/2007 13:05
I've got mine modded. Pretty sweet. NES, SNES, N64(almost), TG-16, PSX, GBA, you name it.
jerrt's Avatar
jerrt at 06/25/2007 13:05
i read the news this morning, then i laughed when i saw two copies of lumines at my local gamestop store. i thought to myself, they will be sold in 2 days. [:

i agree with Mxyzptlk; any psp owner that doesn't have this is really missing out.
dv8withn8's Avatar
dv8withn8 at 06/25/2007 13:12
People don't want their hardware unlocked. A minute portion of the hardcore gamer minority wants their hardware unlocked. If Sony didn't keep patching the holes then they're just allowing piracy to happen. Which, face it, is the driving purpose behind wanting to do such things anyway.

I don't care for SCE all that much but if it came down to affecting my paycheck I'd be doing the same thing.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/25/2007 13:17
I said it on Podtoid (upcoming), but I'll say it here - if Sony had allowed homebrew and piracy to some degree without stifling its progress, the PSP would be pure dynamite. Imagine if you, not officially, but in a shady sorta way, smiled and nodded at the idea of your handheld being able to play SNES games. The ability to emulate the classics of your competition isn't a bad thing to have.
dv8withn8's Avatar
dv8withn8 at 06/25/2007 13:28
"Imagine if you, not officially, but in a shady sorta way, smiled and nodded at the idea of your handheld being able to play SNES games."

If Sony was totally unethical that might have worked.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/25/2007 13:33
Um
dv8withn8's Avatar
dv8withn8 at 06/25/2007 13:39
Ok, what I'm getting at is that Sony's current stance against allowing homebrew apps is the correct one. Even allowing it to be assumed by the public as a possibility raises legal and ethical issues.
BluDesign's Avatar
BluDesign at 06/25/2007 13:47
I HAD a PSP that I modded and the emulated stuff got boring because it was the same stuff I've emulated before time and time again.

It's one of the reasons why I got a Wii. Those games are on there and I don't have to worry about buying 1 game that shuts all the exploits down. And they stay mine for the life of the console. (which if Nintendo's track record for supporting the Famicom holds, could be 20+ years in customer service requests)

Besides, if I wanna emulate a NES, SNES, or whatever, I've still got a DS if the mood strikes me.
HarassmentPanda's Avatar
HarassmentPanda at 06/25/2007 13:57
It's crazy that sales jumped that much and, to my understanding, a downgrader isn't even available yet. All you can currently do is use Lumines to run a "Hello World" app. Must be a lot of hopeful and eager 3.1-3.5 owners out there!

I actually had to buy my PSP used to make sure I got the older firmware in order to downgrade. It ended up costing as much as a new one once I replaced almost the entire casing because I can't stand minor scratches.
Fana7ic's Avatar
Fana7ic at 06/25/2007 13:59
Hahaha thats fucking awesome, 5900%.
Homebrew on the PSP = win.
Rainbowblack's Avatar
Rainbowblack at 06/25/2007 14:01
I had my PSP modded shortly after launch. the novelty wore off and I Upgraded to 3.30

since i quit the homebrew has come a long long way. i'll look into this later
Chibs's Avatar
Chibs at 06/25/2007 14:16
Reports of over 13000% increase in sales on it now (well that's what I saw on maxconsole site)

But to be honest I agree with Mxyzptlk, shame on people that didn't own the game since launch! I imported my game from Japan before I imported the console :) True story ^^
sushi111's Avatar
sushi111 at 06/25/2007 14:59
I cant believe people didnt have this game in the first place! By far the best game on the PSP ever!
parrothead's Avatar
parrothead at 06/25/2007 15:29
I have not played my PSP in months. My DS has taken over my life.
nsolo1717's Avatar
nsolo1717 at 06/25/2007 17:08
Lumines owns my soul
Xzyliac's Avatar
Xzyliac at 06/25/2007 17:29
Lumines is $10 down the street. Finally! A chance to put my new (stupidly pre-updated) PSP to better use.
0bshaky's Avatar
0bshaky at 06/25/2007 23:52
Where the fuck i left my PSP? I checked the closet, the laundry, the car's trunk... Damn maybe I lend it to someone and I cant forget who... Got to look inside that bag I used for vacations 2 years ago...
ajaxender's Avatar
ajaxender at 06/26/2007 07:53
"People don't want their hardware unlocked. A minute portion of the hardcore gamer minority wants their hardware unlocked. "
Well thats obviously a dumb statement, if a simple homebrew test working via a game makes that games sales increase by that much... the fact is, while a lot of homebrew apps are piracy based, theres a alot more that are just small games or useful functions that make the psp better. And, imo, emulating game systems that are simply not in production anymore, and hence cannot make the original maker any money, is not unethical. What sony really needs to do to reduce the popularity of homebrew is to put some useful functions and stuff of their own on the system, and actually get some really awesome games out! It has a few good games on it, but it still doesnt have anything that makes people go 'omg i must have one of these'. Its been what nearly 3 years and it still doesnt have a good rpg on it, for crying out loud!
Forbidden's Avatar
Forbidden at 08/21/2007 06:38
Lumines doesn't just open up homebrew, because if you update back up to 3.40 OE-A you can add cheat master, CW cheat or nitePR, these are all hacking programs and let you add your own codes. Some people just get them from others.
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