forums.ps2dev.org

[deadrat]

hi,
I'm a game developer but I'm new to homebrew dev for consoles and I want to buy a portable console? but don't know what to choose PSP, PSPlite or NintendoDS?
so what platform is easier/cheaper to start learning homebrew with?
thanks,

[Torch]

The DS requires additional hardware for homebrew. Get a PSP Slim. And its WAAY more powerful and stuff...

[J.F.]

Expanding a little on one subject - the DS has VERY little memory inside it. You would have to get a special memory expansion that plugged into it. Those memory expansions are usually fairly slow, and not very big. The DS version of Quake 1 had to be severely hacked to run on the DS.

The DS is also very slow. It's really only capable of Doom level programs. Although they were able to hack Quake to run, it's really slow. So the speed and memory will be an issue for many things a homebrew dev would want to do.

The PSP has a TON more memory, and it considerably faster. It's capable of Quake 3 level games, although the Phat PSP doesn't have enough memory for Quake 3 itself. The Slim COULD run Quake 3, but someone has to make a conversion. In the meantime, there's a conversion of irrlicht (LTE) for the PSP that can load and display Q3 levels. Look over the range of PSP homebrew and you'll see that the PSP is king of homebrew.

[deadrat]

thanks it's very helpful.
and what about firmware upgrade/downgrade stuff to run homebrew?
is it possible to run homebrew (after some hacks) on any PSP on the market?

[J.F.]

All PSPs out can have custom firmware installed on them, although we do not discuss that here. I'll refer you to the proper thread at MaxConsole.

Install M33 on the Slim
Pandora and DC Guides, et al

I suggest you read up as much as possible on the subject before you do anything. Too many people rush out to get a PSP and don't do their homework (so to speak).

You cannot run homebrew on official Sony firmware unless there is a homebrew enabler for that specific version of the Sony firmware. A homebrew enabler is something that takes advantage of an exploit in some part of the firmware to run code to allow homebrew. For example, on older versions of the firmware (2.71 or 2.80), displaying a corrupt picture in Sony's picture viewer triggered an exploit. HEN (Homebrew ENabler) for the 2.71/2.80 came with a special picture and some code files that enabled the PSP to run homebrew after viewing the picture.

Pandora's Battery is used to install custom firmware these days. It's a battery that triggers the service mode in the PSP, and with the proper memory stick, you can then do almost anything you want on the PSP, including install custom firmware. Again, refer to the threads linked above.

One thing I have to give the DS - it's easier to run homebrew on the DS. Just use the latest card adapter that plugs into the DS cart slot and use the proper code in the program. However, once you HAVE installed custom firmware on the PSP, it's again better.

[cosmito]

I always been curious about the GP2x... How does it compare to a PSP in terms of performance? What about its free SDK compared to the PSP free SDK?

[hlide]