The thing about hacks - and the whole homebrew culture - is that there is a great deal of talent and passion out there working hard to free the PSP game system for uses way beyond the imaginings (or pockets?) of Sony’s creative and marketing teams.

Now Microsoft has worked out how to tap into these rebellious creative geniuses  - by setting up XNA Creators club. And when you see some of the great stuff that is coming out of PSP hackers lately, ya gotta think that its a waste not to have their work brought into the main stream. Check out this about-to-be-released hack:

The developers have also just released Half Byte Loader Rev. 94, about which one reviewer says:

Pure awesome sauce! I have a library of almost 900 games that are about to be made portable and added to the thousands of others I already have thanks to HBL, Wololo & Co. Keep up the good work. 

You will know from previous posts (eg Most Popular Stolen PSP Games) that the Bitfood team are not supporters of the hack culture - purely because its a threat to the bottom line of game developers and we fear that fewer games will be released.

But we have to admit that this stuff is gold. C’mon Sony. Bring these guys in from the cold. Take a look at Microsoft’s solution and then come up with something even better to harness all this creative juice for the PSP gamers ultimate benefit.

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Go visit the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 site to see whats new in PSP gaming and  - and other gaming platforms for that matter. The Expo is on right now (June 15 - 17) at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. Or check out some of the trailers being released today for PSP games, below:

1) The latest Toy Story game trailer (Toy Story 3) for PSP is on show (see below)

Another cool game (that has yet to announce its platforms) is Swarm - take a look at the debut trailer - and hope its gonna be on offer for the PSP:

As we have said before, these are not the kind of demos that we at Bitfood really want to see being released - as its really just a trailer that they have called a “demo”.

In our book a demo is more like the “lite” version of games that get released for the Apple platforms (iPhone, Ipod Touch and now iPad). That is, we get to have a play of the game - to see and feel what the game is like. Maybe just one level or a special demo version where we get to play a mini version of the game. Still, a preview is better than nothing. Here is another PSP game trailer released at the E3 Expo - Everybodys Tennis - and the trailer does look good:

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PSP’s have never really done as well in the USA as they have done in Europe. Not sure why, as they are very popular over there - so much so that they even use them in schools and Sony have developed (or helped develop) educational games for PSP in the UK. And recent research by Flurry (aka Pinch Media) suggests that at least some US gamers are abandoning their PSPs for the iPhone!

Techcrunch reckon the reason is simply that:

When it comes to mobile gaming, fully-featured, general-purpose computer phones are hard to beat. 

The fact that there are  over 30,000 free games on offer has to also be a big draw card. But lets face it - these figures really overstate the case as a lot of these games get a serious thumbs down from users (with less than 2 star ratings out of a possible 5). All the same, that still leaves a LOT of free games with good ratings to choose from.

But most of these are really not in the same  class as PSP games. They are short limited games - more like mini games! All the same, the figures speak for themselves. Apple is chomping away at the PSP market here and that can only be bad for the rest of us loyal PSP gamers as Sony also faces massive loss of revenue from games being copied.

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The highly reputable research company, Nielsen, did a big study in 2009 looking at how teens use media. And it was a real “reality check” as they found that most of the beliefs out there are actually wrong!

For example, teens watch more TV now than ever (and have not abandoned it for the internet, mobiles or game platforms!). In contrast, they watch LESS online videos than adults do (actually spend a whopping 35% LESS time doing that than 25-34 year olds, for example).

But it is the findings regarding game play that the Bitfood team were wanting to check out. Nielsen found, for example, that:

* Teens play video games, but are as excited about play-along music games and car-racing games as they are about violent ones: Just two of their top five most-anticipated games since 2005 are rated “Mature.”

* Video consumption, led by TV viewing, is the centerpiece of teen media consumption.

Console gaming comes in third “in a day in the life of” the average teenager in the US. These are averages, tho, and we are betting that game players actually spend more time using their consoles than these figures would suggest - but averaged out over all teens that figure goes down a lot.

* The myth is that teen gamers spend all their time playing “Mature” shooter games But in reality just two of the top five “most anticipated” games among teens since 2005 were rated Mature (Halo 3, and Grand Theft Auto IV)

* Teens account for just 23% of the console audience and less than 10% of PC game minutes.

* 83% of teens have at least one console in their home.

What do ya think? Does this describe teen use as you see it? We want to hear your view on these results (For example, the last 12 months has seen a massive increase in the involvement of females in the gaming world - Nielsen are suggesting the Wii has played a big role in broadening the population of those playing games. But we suspect that the increasing use of mobile game platforms in education has had a big impact as well)

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What with the massive drop-off in the sale of PSP game hardware still continuing, and the massive pressure being put on the traditional mobile game platforms by the explosion of free and cheap games on the iPhone, its great to see that Sony is not giving up without a fight!

And in one exciting new direction they are clearly thinking outside the box…er PSP - literally!! Its early days yet, but the release last year of Invizimals and the release last week of Second Sight, signal perhaps, that Sony is prepared to take the PSP into the 21st century - and to a place that iPhones cannot go?

Both Invizimals and Second Sight make use of the PSP Cam to add an extra dimension to the game or learning experience. The camera is used to input extra information to the PSP which then is used to either add extra characters to the game or generate extra video or 3D experiences for students.

Now whilst neither the game nor the edu-tool are particularly exciting for most PSP gamers (and in fact are not even available for PSP gamers in the USA) they may signal new directions for PSP games.

Adding credibility to this observation is the patent filed by Sony where the PSP is used to operate a remote car using a camera on the car - which, like the above two “games” then inputs that info to the PSP. In the patent, apparently, it actually describes the purpose as:

a user may control the car… so as to spy on their friends… then upload the stored video images to a website.”

The point is that Sony is clearly experimenting with ways to take our gaming experiences interactive with the real world. And once they take this step - the opportunities for developing dramatic new game experiences are endless.

In other words we think (hope?) that these recent moves from Sony signal that completely new game experiences are about to be developed.

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The Bitfood team have researched and written on this topic before. In fact we did several posts on the need for Sony to take a new look at the changes taking place in the “typical” gamer profile. One of these changes is the % of females playing games -  which has risen massively (if you are interested, the most up-to-date study can be found here) In fact, over 50% of PSP owners are female!

We began to push for new games to suit these new demographics early in 2009. But has Sony been listening?

To answer this, we decided to have a look at the games due for release over the next few months. ING usually have a good (but not, usually, complete)  list of upcoming PSP games. Their list shows some 40 games are due out over the next 6 months. So we decided to put together a quiz based on their list to see what you have the hots for! Your answers will show us whether Sony (or other game developers) have yet noticed that their buyer market has significantly changed!

Girls answer this quiz:

Guys answer this quiz:

Taking a look through the list, we suspect that the game developers are still behind the times and are ignoringboth the growing female population of players AND the fact that a lot of older players have joined the ranks of PSP gamers!

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* Been wanting to unlock the Precursor Orb secrets for the  latest PSP game in the Jak and Daxter series? Just out  - you can now get the cheats guide for this game.

*  Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron on PSP Cheats and Hints

* Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days (PSP) Cheats & Unlockables  (pretty good as the game is yet to be released!)

* Final Fantasy Tactics: War of Lions  – PSP Cheats plus, on the same site, the recently published cheats for Daxter

* Not quite so “hot” but still worth getting are the GTA  Chinatown Wars cheats for psp:

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Digital access codes for more than 200 Play Station Network games and game-related content for PSP (and PS3) entertainment systems, have now been made available from Amazon.

According to Paul Ryder, vice president of consumer electronics for Amazon:

PlayStation Network games are an important addition and we plan to continue making it easier for customers to instantly enjoy new content as well as their favorite games from the comfort of their living rooms.

The new deal between PlayStation and Amazon means that we can purchase digital access codes for download via the Amazon Video Game Store as well as the PlayStationNetwork.

Is that a benefit to us? Well, if Amazon gives us better prices, or special deals, maybe! Plus it is handy that all the addons are in one place and easy to find.

Some of the games already on offer include - Flower(TM), PAIN, PixelJunk(TM) Eden, Wipeout Pure and classics like Twisted Metal®:Head-On.

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NIS America has announced (8 hours ago!) that it is re-releasing some of their PSP titles in conjunction with the launch of the PSPgo! And the PSP titles they are re-releasing will be 50% off for the whole of the next week!

The discount will only be for one week starting tomorrow (October 1st).  Price will range from$4.99 to $9.99 - so its a great deal. The PSP games on offer are:

• Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light
• Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
• Dragoneer’s Aria
• Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This?
• Mana Khemia: Student Alliance
• Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?

You can get them at the PlayStation Store tomorrow!

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Bitfood recently did a preview post on the Beaterator - a soon-to-be released game for the PSP.

Well, it hit the US stands today, and according to Rockstar Games (co-producers):

Beaterator for PSP system .. puts a world-class mixer at your fingertips - enabling easy, powerful and innovative creation. Featuring original music and a sound-kit which includes thousands of loops and sounds produced by Rockstar and multi-platinum producer and entertainer Timbaland exclusively for Beaterator.

Beaterator for PSP system will also be arriving on shelves on October 2nd, 2009 in Europe.

Timberland seems to pretty pleased with himself for producing this game for PSP:

Or maybe you just wanna see what the game looks like? Well, here is the Rockstar full length trailer:

The Bitfood team all agree with Timberland - this is a cool game dude!

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