Before we discuss the selling of homebrew on eBay, we just want to mention Dark-Alex.com. Again. There are other iffy sites listed in the Full Article (click on the "Full Article" link below). And then there are people selling homebrew on eBay (they've been doing this for years). We'll jump straight into the discussion (you can read about the two eBay sales by clicking on the "Full Article" link below). What do we think?

Legal mess. If homebrew programs are "freeware," then parts of the software (or all of it) are proprietary ("are somebody's property"). The software is "free" or "available without charge" for redistribution (i.e., letting your neighbor have a copy). Even if the homebrew developers let you distribute the source code "for free" - that's still only making it open source. It isn't clear if it's OK to sell the hard work of others without crediting them or giving them a cut. Besides, what does Sony have to say about that? Can people sell applications for Sony's PSP even though these applications don't have a license from Sony?

The developer's proprietary or "ownership" rights. Whatever the case, arguably, the maker of something has proprietary privileges over that something. At least philosophically, ethically, and by common practice (any lawyers out there wanting to throw in some free advice on whether homebrew developers have any legal say about their software?).

Conditions and credit. As far as we know, many homebrew developers have made CONDITIONS about the redistribution of their hard work: "you are free to redistribute this AS LONG AS CREDIT GOES WHERE IT IS DUE." That's just good manners. We feel for Dark_Alex (who mentioned being fed up and plans to quit the scene) - there are sites that really do such nasty things: bad manners and stealing credit and identity theft. Bad manners will get your website flamed by the righteous burning justice of a very angry PSP homebrew community. We protect our own, right?

Truly free software. To make things more complicated, some homebrew is "free software." This means the maker doesn't really care if you sell it and make money out of it. The maker is just throwing the code out there and hoping that people will benefit. We mustn't get confused between "freeware" and "free software (with conditions)" and "free software."

The "real" issue. Only one half of the issue is the SELLER who earns money from stuff he or she didn't make - some of us are OK with that kind of "capitalism," and some of us are not. But there's another bigger issue here: people are paying for software that the homebrew developers said should be free.

False advertising. Seller beware. If you claim something or you lead somebody to believe something about your product that really isn't true, you can be hauled to court. Many times people are sold free software while the seller NEVER tells the person "this software is free; it's not written by me." It would be nice if the seller says "you're not paying for the software, you're paying for the PSP and the charger - by the way, here are the websites of the developers..."

But what if...? For example, you make a compilation of Dark_Alex's and other people's homebrew and sell it with your PSP. Are you reselling "your" PSP with "extras like homebrew"? Or are you reselling the hardwork of homebrew developers who intended their work to be distributed for free? (There's a longer example in our Full Article if you really want a tough "what if.")

Tough questions. Stuff like this that can destroy a community if we don't think about things right. Finally, if you're the kind of person who wants to pay for your software, then you should send a donation to hardworking homebrew developers and independents. There are also free software movements that need support.

Go ahead, click on "Full Article" for a list of iffy sites and details on the two eBay sales!

Let us give you a little background on this story first. A few months ago, Sony presented a few slideshow images during their PlayStation Business Briefing. They said that several things were supposed to be released by the time October's being displayed on our wall calendar. The official first-party camera was supposed to come out last September. Well, so far we have 2.81 firmware, RSS audio, Flash, Chinese font, and GPS/camera library files.

This is where the big and obvious question from PSP3D's Birdman1 comes in -  WHERE'S THE CAMERA?

He gives several speculations as to what might be causing delays. Most interesting is that Sony R&D might be delaying it in light of the new TIFF exploit. They could be taking time to patch up the firmware and the security holes or something. Most likely (and this is what we agree with), is that Sony might be holding back because of the holidays. The PS3 does invade this November, and interest for Sony goods will probably peak. Holiday season equals buying power, and this perhaps is what is causing Sony to delay their first party accessories.

Then again they might just be a bit too occupied with the PS3.

Birdman1 went on to worry about possible business problems for Sony if they continue to deviate from what they've promised to deliver. Well, we know you guys are tired and probably annoyed already with "doom and gloom" business analyst predictions about Sony losing money. Some of us here at QJ are sort of tired (and confused) with all the bad news too, so we'll just leave the Sony accessory delay issue in your hands. Well? What do you guys think? Does the delay with the PSP Camera mean that Sony's abandoning the PSP? Will this bring them deep doo-doo?

Anyway, we're tired of "this is bad for Sony" news, but we guess it can't be helped. It's all over the place; it's like a Pink Elephant in a room, or a fly in your soup, you just have to talk about it. Personally, I don't think this will be bad for Sony, after all they've got a console coming out. They could probably care less... But still, we just want that camera. There's official word on Japan getting the camera. What about us?

  

Months back, we featured homebrew ports of one of the famous games featured in PS1's Final Fantasy VIII- Triple Triad. Almost every gamer who got tickled with the Squall-Rinoa romantic tension knows this game, but for those who don't know what Triple Triad is and who Squall and Rinoa are, well here's a little refresher.

Triple Triad is a semi-complex card game wherein you'll have to obtain as many of the opponents cards as possible, using a number system. It can be quite strategic and from what other people who are FF lovers are saying, quite addictive.

So why the trip down memory lane? After Sakya and JBird gave their rendition of the card game in the PSP, now comes TheEmulatorGuy's turn. The good developer entered this WIP into the PSP3D Contest and so far have been getting good feedback. Since there are still a lot of room for improvement, it only features the capability to play against AI players using closed and random rules - for now.

TheEmulatorGuy has big plans for this creation of his as he plans on adding two player support and all the rules featured in FFVIII. Aside from that, in the future, the game will be coupled with the RPG system that will enable players to trade and play with other characters. Things are indeed looking up for this game.

As always, you could comment about this Triple Triad port and who knows, you might help TheEmulatorGuy win the competition. Not only would he win goodies and other giveaways, but the ego-boost might make him slave harder for this one. Let's wait and see, for now, give the game a chance and try it out.

  

Download: [Triple Triad v0.1]

Okay, so we've been featuring some of the user entries for PSP 3D's "Ultimate Goodies and Cash Giveaway" contest, and here's our latest find.

Shadow Darkness has just released a LUA-based RPG adventure game he calls Final Fan-tasy: Cloud's Destiny. Much spiky-haired, buster-sword-wielding, cute-little-sprite fun to be had in this brew. Don't believe me? Okay, here's a whole row of really cute Cloud sprites (taken from one of the games' folders):

                

Feeling the cuteness yet? The title itself is relatively simple, and it uses a lot of that "green grass" background, but the sprites are cute, and you'd really have to play through the game to pass judgement.

No readme in the archive though, just your standard LUA folders. Anyway, you guys know the drill. I'd like to say more about this game, but that might spoil it for you guys.

Nice job Shadow Darkness. Good luck in that competition.

Download [Final Fantasy: Cloud's Destiny]

This 'brew by HardHat is an entry for PSP3D's Ultimate Goodies And Cash Giveaway. HardHat made a few changes on the GUI, optimized the graphics, added in some levels, and cleaned up most of the transition screens. He even added in a level editor just in case you guys want to tinker with the game yourself.

Be sure to check out the readme that's included in the zip file as it has the instructions for this 'brew, and it also has a few tips on how to edit the game to your liking. Great work, HardHat!

Here are the changes made in this version direct from the readme file:

• Added new skin for car theme, since horses and kittens are too "girly". (Note: We got this from the readme.)
  
• Updated sounds for car theme.
• New levels (now 8 levels).
• Level editor for windows now included.
• More forgiving placement of object in the level editor.
• Anti-aliasing in the level editor.
• Performance improvement for control lag in the input queue.
• Major performance improvement in grass loading to minimize intersections.
• Beginnings of high score screens.
• Clean up of transition screens.

Download [GTA Jump v1.1]

Lots of shells have been released for the PSP, and it's about time that someone create a new LUA-based shell for the homebrew community. This time around, the developer PopcOrn DeVil has come out with Vautex Shell BETA, an all-in-one shell that zips together some applications and games done by himself and other developers.

The shell compiles Snake (coded by Shine), Suicide for the Planet (by MaSt3r ShAk3 and PopcOrn DeVil), Button Masher Endurance (by PopcOrn DeVil), and Minesweeper (by JEK). There's also a Calculator, LED Timer, and Pixel Cleaner.

Here's the instructions, controls and installation from the readme:

If you want to use Lowser, put any lua games/apps in the Applications folder, next to Vautex. Once starting Vautex, you will see a few screens then you will finally come to a point where it asks to press L for standard theme or R for custom theme. Press L, or you can press R if you have a custom theme already. You will end up at the main GUI, and you can move the pointer around with either the D-Pad or the analog stick.

To install a custom theme, simply get the custom folder and replace the one already there in Applications/Vautex. Installing Vautex is simple if you have a 1.5. Simply copy the __SCE__Vautex and %__SCE__Vautex folders over to MS:/PSP/GAME (replace MS with your PSP's drive letter). If you have another firmware that isn't 1.5, you can take out the Vautex folder and put it in a LuaPlayer applications folder.

There's more info in the readme, like how to put other LUA games in the Games menu, and creating your own theme, so you might want to check it out. The coder reminds us that it's only in a BETA release, so we're asking all of you guys to keep low on the flaming. And if you find this Vautex Shell useful, you might want to vote for it in PSP3D's contest as well.

Download: [Vautex Shell BETA]

Arguru and PSP 3D have finally released the newest game currently in development: Turrican PSP alpha. You might remember our article about Arguru testing his 2D engine with the Turrican graphics a while back, and now the game's alpha version has been released.  Although the game needs more work as it's still in development, this clone of the popular Turrican/Metroid games is showing promise.

Turrican PSP Alpha isn't fully playable yet though, as the engine lacks some basic things like additional enemies and working level transporters, to name a few.

But like we said, this game shows promise. These are some of the features the finished version WILL have:

• Non-linear levels that will allow players to put in links in the level maps to a specific point in that level;
• Permanent power-up items that can also be included in the same way in level maps;
• Items that players will need to achieve certain skills (morphing, double jump, etc.).
  

Turrican PSP has only been tested on 1.50 FW, and developers are not yet sure if it's going to work under GTA/eLoader. This is because of the memory requirements of the alpha release, but cutting the .WAV sound files is said to reduce RAM load.

Hopefully, the developers of Turrican PSP will be able to finish the game soon. Stick with us for more updates.

Download: [Turrican PSP Alpha]

KaotiK DesignZ and PSP3D have announced the release of a Developer version of the popular X5 PSP web browser portal. Since modability was requested by many for the next version, Kaotik DesignZ have added an all-new section in X5 especially for any applications you have made and want to include in the next version of the X5 browser portal.

Any decent games/applications/mods will be included in the next release, but the team behind X5 have stated that no alterations to the core X5 source code or official documentation are allowed. Please make sure that you read all the way through the documentation before you start developing your own part of X5. You can download this developer version below or through using the "Software Update" function included in X5 version 2.00.

Download: [X5 Developer v1.00]

The latest version of the X5 Portal for the PSP by KaotiK DesignZ and PSP 3D has been released. X5 Portal Version 2.0 has new features that focus more on media, GUI and Internet connectivity.

Free flash gamepacks for the 2.7 and higher firmware users to be released at PSP3D will be playable with the Quicktime Player, movie trailer and music videos will be downloadable to the PSP through the PSP, and RSS feeds with music will be playable at iTunes.

Other new features included in the latest version of X5 are:

• Address Book (Redesign)
• Dock (Redesign)
• AOL Instant Messenger (New Dialog)
• Finder (Redesign)
• iPhoto
• iCal (Redesign)
• iTunes
• MSN Messenger (New Dialog)
• Mail (New Dialog)
• QuickTime Player
• System Preferences (Redesign)
• Safari (Redesign)
• Yahoo! Messenger (New Dialog)

The X5 Portal v2.0 will work only on firmwares 2.0 though 2.71 via the official web browser.

Download [X5 Portal Version 2.0 Aqua Style]
Download [X5 Portal Version 2.0 Dark Aqua Style]