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Sony admits that PSP piracy 'fuels the growth of hardware sales' photo

I know it, you know it, and you know that Sony has always been aware. But it's weird to actually hear them say it.

"There is a piracy problem on PSP. We know about it, we know how it’s done,” says SCEE President David Reeves, at a recent DevStation conference in London.

According to NextGen, Sony is looking into a way to combat this piracy "problem," but, in the meantime, this very problem is boosting sales, and Sony is totally aware of this.

“It sometimes fuels the growth of hardware sales, but on balance we are not happy about it,” Reeves said.

Sure, you're not happy about the piracy, but you're always happy to report strong PSP sales. We don't blame you at all!

Sony has been trying to prevent piracy and hacking for some time now, but the hackers always seem to find a way back in. I know that for some gamers, piracy and emulation are their only reasons to even own a PSP. Would Sony be shooting themselves in the foot by fixing this piracy problem?


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25 comments | showing # 1 to 25

TorpedoTed's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 08:52
TorpedoTed
Its got no fooking games so i can see why people do it!! plus prices of games are stupid! should be like 20 quid max for a portable game!!
linuxguy's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 08:54
linuxguy
people have to actually buy psps to use them for piracy?I'm shocked
killias2's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 08:54
killias2
I would TOTALLY buy a PSP if I knew the firmware didn't try to fight off all the homebrew stuff.
ParaParaKing's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 08:57
ParaParaKing
Piracy is what got me to get a PS1, a PS2 and a PSP.
I still spend a shitload on games though.
Cyberxion's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 09:23
Cyberxion
I won a PSP a few years back through that McDonald's Big Mac promotion, and sold it six months later. I wish I had held onto it, because the Homebrew available for it now is so much better than it was then, but at the time there was absolutely nothing that made it worth holding on to.
Brahms's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 09:24
Brahms
I bought it for the amazing homebrew, not to pirate PSP games. Just the other day I replayed Illusion of Gaia for it, and tomorrow I'll probably play FFIV Advance on it, rather than spending more money on the latest graphics update.
RoboSheep's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 09:25
RoboSheep
This late into the PSP's life I think Sony would be better off cracking down on piracy and getting money from software sales. Any pirate that has a PSP would contribute to their install base and potentially boost game sales because there would be no other option.
Misanthrope's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 09:56
Misanthrope
Cry me a river sony: The DS has as much piracy if not more and still kills you on sales so much is not even funny. Which once again proves that piracy its actually the greatest form of promotion ever.
robestyles's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 10:10
robestyles
More units and less software still kills Sony cause there not making money off the units there making it off of the software. But PSP game prices are too high and there aren't that many quality titles. Plus I'd say that more than 50% of people running custom firmware are doing it for homebrew and emulators not ISOs. I for one LOVE my portable NES and PS1
ajaxender's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 10:16
ajaxender
Brahms has got it in one. People are unlikely to buy a psp if there are no games at all that theyd be willing to buy, but a pirate-capable psp (ie with custom firmware) can do much more. If people can do what they want with the thing, theyll buy it.

TBH, until Sony really get on the backs of developers to get some incredible games out, they should enjoy their strong hardware sales. I dont see any current titles losing too many sales to pirates.
Josh Tolentino's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 10:23
Josh Tolentino
I certainly see why they would WANT to continue trying, but piracy and emulation are the BEST reasons (but not the only reasons) to own a PSP. Or, for that matter, a DS. No storage issues, more battery time (playing a PSP iso with the optical drive off), emulation (sure as hell can't pick up Persona 2 unless it pops up on PSN sometime), and even semi-useful media functions (I once used a DS to display a walkthrough for FF Tactics PSP while I played.).

I'm not justifying my actions or those of others, but the PSP is a strong homebrew development platform as well.
king3vbo's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 10:23
king3vbo
I agree with Reaprar
robestyles's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 10:26
robestyles
More units and less software still kills Sony cause there not making money off the units there making it off of the software. But PSP game prices are too high and there aren't that many quality titles. Plus I'd say that more than 50% of people running custom firmware are doing it for homebrew and emulators not ISOs. I for one LOVE my portable NES and PS1
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 10:45
Jim Sterling
I like Reeves. He always seems to be direct and frank with his statements.
Y0j1mb0's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 11:05
Y0j1mb0
A very interesting piece..
The-Excel's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 11:51
The-Excel
You can always pirate software, but knowing how is useless if you don't purchase the hardware to do it.
Milkman519's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:01
Milkman519
Piracy is for poor people and pussies.
vuffi_raa's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:17
vuffi_raa
anyone (I am looking at you Milkman519) who tows the corporate line that installing custom firmware and running homebrew on a unit is bad is either
A. working for someone who is trying to squeeze blood from gamers
B. has no idea what the homebrew communities are about
C. has never used a homebrew enabled system
D. all of the above

It is a waste to have such good hardware in a handheld and not use it to it's abilities- cfw changes that
Cowboy TTop's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:28
Cowboy TTop
I've always found it interesting how piracy and homebrew are painted as the same thing by Sony, MS and Nintendo.

Obviously, pirating PSP games and such is wrong. However homebrew covers various applications, besides old game emulation, showing an great amount of talent and creativity.
Fana7ic's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:38
Fana7ic
"Would Sony be shooting themselves in the foot by fixing this piracy problem?"

They cant, now that there is the pandora battery (google it).
At least I think so.
brainderailment's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:40
brainderailment
They don't want to sell psps and not umd games.
Mystic Violet's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:52
Mystic Violet
For a $200 "all-in-one" system, I'd expect a little more. Sure, Sony is releasing a new feature here and there but it's too little, too late IMO.

I want to play the PlayStation games I own right now; not when Sony decides to release them on the PSN. I want to play PSP games without carrying a bunch of UMD discs in my purse (I'd love this feature for my DS too). I want to get rid of load times and conserve the battery life. I want emulation for old school games and homebrew applications.

Since I can have all of that, why wouldn't I hack it?
Syn's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 15:03
Syn
Features that Sony releases for the PSP are basically useless. You can get all sorts of apps for your homebrew PSP. There's apps that allow you to watch youtube, theres a pseudo GPS app you can download, Word Processors. People write their own indie games for it.

The IR Shell is one of my favorite apps. It covers the normal PSP XMB and replaces it with a new screen and options. It even has the capability of being turned into a remote with a pack of IR codes you can download.

Now that I look again, I'm seeing a torrent client for PSP, RSS readers, calculators, an adaptation of the Rosetta Stone program called Rosetta Shard, IRC clients, email clients, multi protocol IM clients, and more, I'm not going through the rest.

All that and I still have yet to mention the emulating capabilities. I like my PSP.
Dan CiTi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 16:32
Dan CiTi
Piracy is the only reason to buy a PSP.
Syn's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 18:11
Syn
Assuming you have a mighty broad definition of piracy
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