PSP SNES Controller Mod

October 29, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 27 Comments

[foo] sent in this amazingly well done mod to add an SNES controller to a PSP. He was contacted with a request to mod a PSP for someone who had limited use of one hand. The PSP controls were too difficult for her, but miraculously, she could play an SNES controller well. The quality of the mod is very nice. [foo] has added a port on the back that the controller plugs into. Other than the port on the back, the PSP looks completely stock and functions fine. When plugged in, the cable and plug act as a stand for the PSP too. Check out the video after the break for more.

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Making The PSP Not So Portable

October 27, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 15 Comments

[alien x] has posted this peculiar hack for a PSP. He has gutted and splayed the PSP spreading its insides neatly and mounting them on a plexiglass back. Everything is easily accessible and ready to tinker with. It may not fit in your pocket, but adding mods and experimenting with ideas should be much easier like this. It looks pretty cool too, we want one for our office wall. That could be possible too, he’s selling it.

[thanks doodle]

PSP Firmware 5.00 Hacked

October 18, 2008 by Eliot 14 Comments

We remember the halcyon days of firmware 1.00 for the PSP. It was wide open to run any code you wanted. Once the handheld game console was released outside Japan, Sony locked it down and began an arms race to prevent any sort of homebrew usage of the device. Nearly four years later and we’re at firmware 5.00. The hackers are on top of their game though. It’s only been a couple days since the official release and a custom firmware has already been published. Sony has traditionally supported development on their home consoles and we hope they’ll take that approach on their next portable instead of this stupid back and forth.

[via Gizmodo]

PSP 3000 Teardown

October 16, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 51 Comments

If you absolutely feel an incessant need to see the innards of every new piece of equipment out there, you’ll probably be excited to see that the PSP 3000 has been disassembled and photographed. Apparently there isn’t much new here. The screen has been replaced with one that has 5 times the contrast ratio, twice the color range, and a refresh rate that is twice as fast. Other than that, there’s a built in microphone and a mystery “PS” button.

[via Engadget]

Use A PSP As An Extended Display

October 6, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 20 Comments

Follow along with this project and you could use your PSP as a display for your computer. The software, available for download on the site, gives you a 960×544 display. The data is compressed, sent to the PSP, then decompressed for display. Though that sounds clunky, the video after the break shows it working pretty smoothly with some Winamp visualization. Only 32 bit Windows XP or older is supported currently.

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Blip Festival: Reformat The Planet

August 18, 2008 by Eliot 7 Comments

Pitchfork.tv is showing the documentary Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet for one week only. The Blip Festival is an annual chiptune event in New York City featuring musicians who use video game consoles as part of their production. The documentary has a ton of artist interviews and music from all across the spectrum. Most of the initial featured artists are using the Game Boy LSDJ tracker cartridge. [Nullsleep] has put together a tutorial for the device. You’ll see a lot of other old hardware and hear discussions of coveted mods like adding backlights as well. [Mark Denardo] is shown using a PSP as part of his performance. Other people are using software like Fruity Loops to build tracks with Nintendo samples. Honestly, our favorite part was a clip of the loud objects doing a live soldering circuit bending performance on top of an overhead projector at the Bent Festival. Although not musical, Element Labs’ Versa TILE makes a fairly mesmerizing backdrop throughout the film too. You can find links to all the featured artists on last year’s festival page.

Blip Festival 2008 happens December 4-6 in Brooklyn, NY.

[via Waxy]

[photo: ziggy fresh]

Why We Mod

July 17, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 12 Comments

[Codejunkie] has written up a great explanation as to why we mod. He’s specifically talking about the Sony PSP, but many of the points he makes carry over to any modding. Though the “why” question may seem like a no brainer to most of us, we do hear it a lot. We strongly suggest you take a few moments to read his article.

Who hasn’t been asked this question? We all have different reasons to mod things. Some people do it to make improvements, some people do it just for the fun. He lists some of the more practical reasons and makes some insightful comparisons.

For example, he likens some modding to making personalizations to your car. Has anybody asked why you put a custom shifter knob on? No, because we are used to this, just as they are used to being locked out of their electronics. He also talks about products that are crippled from the factory. We’ve covered this situation on Hack a Day before. Is it wrong for you to want your product to function to its built in potential?

He covers a few thoughts on homebrewing software for the PSP as well. There’s no reasonable explanation for why you shouldn’t have full control over something you own.