For hire: Sony Japan looking for 'new game machine' testers

Posted Feb 21, 2009 at 12:51PM by QJ Staff Listed in: PS3, PSP Tags: Japan, PS2, SCEJ, Sony

Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation portable consoles - Image 1

Folks hoping to fan rumors of the fabled PSP 2 will surely have a field day over this. The other day, a job posting made public by Sony Japan has the Internets whirring like crazy. See, SCEJ is looking for people to test some "new game machine."

What's this new hardware? Well, translations of the job description vary, but the common thread here is that the people they hire will be tasked to evaluate and assess the new hardware which is to be part of the PlayStation brand - namely, the "PS3, PSP, PS2, and its peripherals." Vague much? Vague indeed.

Right now, it could be anything from an upgraded version of their three current platforms (a PSP-4000? PSP 2? PS3 Slim? Who knows...) or maybe it's just a peripheral. Part of the job description also notes that those who get hired will "test game machines not yet released or new functionality of PS3 peripherals before they are released."

Whatever the case, something's definitely cooking in Sony Japan's labs. As for what that is, only time will tell. Blu-ray UMDs? *shrug* It's really anyone's guess. If you really want a front-row seat to see where this goes, the only chance would probably to apply for the job itself!

Sony blasts touchscreen PSP 2 rumors: nothing but poppycock

Via PlayStation Japan

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Comments

# great — IIVIIOJICA 2009-02-21 07:46

Hopefully is a psp2 the would be great!!!;)

# PSP2 announcement please! — mistr305 2009-02-21 07:51

I am waiting to upgrade to a PSP2!

# psp2plz — kon_e3 2009-02-21 08:37

put more ram on that bad boy

# Hmmm — Cortador 2009-02-21 08:44

Wow. Imagine a blue ray UMD O_O.

# praying for PSP2 — fenomeno0chris 2009-02-21 09:11

I hope this is about PSP2!

I would love to play all fantastic PS2 games with a portable system.

There ar so many games wich I would play:

- Final Fantasy X

- God Of War I-II

- Metal Gear 2-3

- Shadow of Colossus...

# I think — soopergooman 2009-02-21 09:14

It would be a PS2P as in PlayStation 2 portable with umd bluray that will have an adapter to allow movies on the ps3.

# rarwr. — GLO13AL_T3RROR 2009-02-21 10:08

m still waiting for psp 2

# noo — 78211carlos 2009-02-21 10:18

sony really needs to focus mainly on the ps3 this year, i want this to be the year of the ps3.

# .. — m3rox 2009-02-21 11:20

Where exactly on the webpage does it say anything about this? I went there, translated the page, and saw nothing.

# - — RJ 2009-02-21 11:48

Eh, and what would the point of that be? Beside upping the cost of the device.

HD isn't needed on handhelds. Even then they'd likely use an optical drive with a higher data per inch ratio, rather than putting a bluray diode in.

Hopefully they'll do the smart thing and give us lots of internal storage and produce a device to rival the iPod Touch or something.

# ohh my... — Drakoon 2009-02-21 12:36

"It would be a PS2P as in PlayStation 2 portable with umd bluray that will have an adapter to allow movies on the ps3."

u should write porn. that was hot

# Hmmm — Cortador 2009-02-21 13:01

Internal Storage is a good idea.

Well, the point of a "Blue Ray Umd"(Not really blue ray, but a UMD with storage capacity of around 4.5 GB) would be a good for the PSP because as of now, we are starting to see games that comes in 2 UMDs >1183 - Eiyuu Densetsu - Sora no Kiseki SC< is an example.

Also, since we are talking about "PSP2" most likely they will upgrade the gfx engine. Hoping it will look something like a wii game.

# ehh.. — azn1189 2009-02-21 14:21

we don't need another souped up psp. maybe they should release a larger volume of good games for it..

# Hoping it will look something like a wii game. — mr.x256 2009-02-21 15:02

All the Wii games I've seen look worse than PSP graphics. Which games do you have? I'll have to check them out.

# - — mr.x256 2009-02-21 15:04

I'd like to get a PS1P.

Imagine the battery life.

# ... — steve_723 2009-02-21 16:01

PS2P sounds like a good name.

# PS3 SLIM — railman5 2009-02-21 17:16

Im not sure if they are talking about the next version of psp here but ther will definatlly be a ps3 slim. For example just look at sony's history playstation few years later ps1 then ps2 few years later ps2 slim, psp few years later psp slim. You know its bound to come and it should be easer to make all they have to focus on is changing the harddrive from the big one like on desktop computers to the small one found in laptops. thats half the space then take out the power supply and make it in the cable like the ps2 slim.

# Remember... — Miclowgunman 2009-02-21 18:02

...the crazy star wars looking motion sensor with the playstation eye. I bet it has something to do with that and 3d stereoscopic stuff.

# ... — TheLastGuitarHero 2009-02-21 18:38

I thought that's all they've been trying to do.

# i agree — triplehisking 2009-02-21 19:17

I really do hope they're working on a PSP2! The PSP3000 was a huge disappointment in my opinon..it was just i monor upgrade. If they make a PSP2 it should HUGE upgrades such as a touch screen or internal storage or Both! :)

# lol... — mikal_rokz 2009-02-21 19:22

I would test for free... It wouldn't be a job. It would be PLEASURE!!!

# ...or — Dr_Olaf 2009-02-21 19:25

Make a PSP which is unhackable so that developers would begin making good games again.

# If I'm not mistaken.... — Dr_Olaf 2009-02-21 19:31

... the PS3 already uses Laptop harddrives, doesnt it?

# What? — Yoloni 2009-02-21 19:52

This says nothing about a new system. This is just a job offer. It doesn't say anything about reviewing a new system.I assure this because I'm Japanese and I could read Japanese normally.

# or my dream — xche78x 2009-02-21 20:34

Sony Experia X2 /PSP 2

-can play PSP games from PSN or memstick (locked + un-writable memsticks) (no more umd)

-capable of windows xp/win7 as OTHEROS

-keyboard includes two thumb sticks triangle circle square select start PSbutton, L R triggers on side/top (R trigger also acts as camera shoot button)(thumb stick as mouse), left right up down buttons

-has nvidia chipset to drive hd movie and 3d content, plus mini hdmi out

-dont cost more than 500 dollars

-1280x720 screen resolution on 5" lcd or oled

-wifi and high speed wireless broadband capable

-battery life of no less than 5 hours, more is better.

-with our without touch, included is better

-multi or single touch, whichever

-dlna capability is a plus

# @ dr_olaf — martin447 2009-02-21 21:09

that is correct :)

# s — saldude2 2009-02-22 00:39

I would go to the military base take a bulletproof armor,a chinsaw attached to a gun,amissile launcher ,a shotgun, an AK47 and kill everyone in sony if they make a PS3 slim

# PSP2 unhackable w/internal memory, dual-stick — damonous 2009-02-22 01:57

@xche78x: I like the way you think. ;-)

....but now that the pure-fantasy is over (running Windows XP/Vista or even CE would make it immediately hackable), I think the major things for a PSP2 would be: 1) Dual-analog sticks. 2) Quad-triggers. 3) Internal flash memory around 20gb (w/games run entirely from either secure flash or PSN download). 4) cellular connectivity. --While I love the Xperia, as I said this could NOT run Windows Mobile because that would instantly dash any hopes of it being secure. Nevertheless, they've got to build some easier way to connect the device to the Internet when isolated. WiFi is not enough, and really "limits the dream" of being able to access your PS3 content "anywhere" via PSP. There are ways to do it with a good cell phone (and data plan), and a mobile cellular router like a Cradlepoint. But, good Lord trying to keep-up with carrying all that crap, keeping it charged, setting it up and keeping it connected at a high enough bandwidth, etc.

# .. — failtorespond 2009-02-22 02:08

Meanwhile we'll be at home watching you get sniped out on the evening news. Sweet deal.

# Unhackable? — Luigi Panache 2009-02-22 02:20

I think this would be the best anti-piracy solution:

Create a PSP (or PSP 2) that can run Unsigned code, i.e. Homebrew. Add all the plug-in functionality and recovery stuff of the m33 firwares, as well as Sony Guides on their use. DO NOT incorporate any ISO loading. Hopefully, the UMD will be phased over to flash memory. Thus, the only way to pirate ISOs (we all know that's how it's done) will be to use a non-Sony firmware.

If Dark Alex or GEN or anyone else were to create a firmware that has ISO loading, that would be the true "pirate's firmware," and they would be an open advocate of piracy.

# I would buy it if.... — FORCE4121 2009-02-22 03:53

if they allow se plugins, recovery menu, ctf themes, waves,

or everything that cfw can do exept the piracy stuff id be happy.

I dont agree with piracy but i love ctf themes.

# lol — y2bangali 2009-02-22 06:13

well i would definitely love better graphics than a ps2 and on par with a ii... but most of all, i want it to be able to play all PS3 GAMES THRU REMOTE PLAY.....

# Open Firmware Does Not Equal Piracy — Deerwings 2009-02-22 08:48

Having Open Firmware on a PSP to extend and open up its functionality has nothing to do with Piracy. I have two Open Firmware'd PSP's, and I don't use them for Piracy at all. I have an IRC client, an SSH client, PSPKVM so I can run a superior web browser (Opera Mini) as well as GMail, and for reading eBooks with Bookr. If you call that Piracy, you need to re-think your definition, because Piracy is the theft and redistribution of Pay-To-Play games, and I own all of the games I have for my PSP. Being able to back them up to memory stick and play them that way is permitted under US Copyright Law and the DMCA, if you own the media. The DMCA does not specify how you obtain these backups. Being able to load them on a memory stick and have more than one game on a stick at a time instead of only one UMD at a time cuts down on how many things I have to carry around with me when I take my PSP. Just my PSP, a few memory sticks with my *Legally* obtained backups of games I own, and the other software that the Hacking Community has created for its use (Some of which Sony should have included in the first place!) is what has turned my PSP from a passable, mediocre handheld gaming console into a powerful multimedia portable device with extended net functionality even the iPod touch can't match. So if you claim that the Hacking community is only about piracy and the stealing of games (Even though it makes it possible) you may as well claim that the Linux community is all about hacking and stealing since a lot of script kiddies use Linux-based tools from their unsecured computers to commit crimes on the internet. It's got nothing to do with developers making poor games or producing quickly ported versions of pre-existing games and generally keeping the PSP's library as small as it is. Look at the Playstation and the PS2. The hacking community enabled all kinds of features with it, and look how huge the PS2's library is. Look at the 360's library. Look at the Gameboy's library (One of the first -officially- hacked Handheld gaming platforms) and compare it to the PSP's. The PSP gaming community is at the mercy at what Sony and the devs decide will 'sell' and has nothing to do at all with the hacking community at all and any claims to the contrary are nothing more than unfounded conspiracy dreck with no basis in fact or reality. Show proof other than Sony's continued small 'updates' in firmware that this is the case. Most of it is microfixes in code to allow newer games to be more broadly compatible. Yes, there's some security updates in it as well, but that's because if they didn't, they would be remiss in their 'quality' control. Sometimes not performing a security update breaks something else that comes later. Sometimes we also find that it contains code for other applications that come later (Like Skype, the GPS and Camera modules, and other such accessories not even available in the US yet, if ever) that the hacking community discovers. So try playing another record, you might find one that isn't as broken and overplayed.

# that's not right — yoshi314 2009-02-22 09:15

"The DMCA does not specify how you obtain these backups. "

@deerwings: you are wrong here.

"The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures (commonly known as Digital Rights Management or DRM) that control access to copyrighted works and

it also criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, whether or not there is actual infringement of copyright itself"

you see, the problem is - you are not allowed to circumvent the protection mechanisms.

so, cfw breaks dmca, not due to iso loader, but because it allows you to run arbitrary, unsigned executables on psp. and that is a circumvention of protection mechanisms in psp.

as far as umd ripping is concerned - i'm not sure, since you use your own psp do dump them. but playing them back via cfw circumvents some protection mechanisms and most likely goes against dmca.

i personally consider dmca the second most evil thing, right after software patents. it's hard to understand, and way too easy to exploit by money-hungry companies.

# PSX2 — Helghast 2009-02-22 10:15

Maybe sony is testing a new PSX much like the first one but with HD offcourse. It's a media center/ps1-2&3 in one

# LOL — eaferrari24 2009-02-22 12:15

somebody needs to lay off the gta vice city

# stop... — i13371363nd 2009-02-22 14:32

drooling, my friends we're gonna fry our keyboards... lol i love these ideas, but i think theyll go in a TOTALLY different way than most of our thinking...

# ... — i13371363nd 2009-02-22 14:35

actually... the first psx's DID have hdds, as i remember... UP TO 450GB to be exact

# Get free games and electronics here! — irwintorres727 2009-02-22 14:41

Just go to this website and sign up!

http://www.xpango.com?ref=91646456

# Technically Correct, but not quite — Deerwings 2009-02-22 15:47

However, CFW does not circumvent the copy protection. It disables the security that prevents you from running unsigned code (designed to 'protect you' from harmful software) which is pointless on a closed system except where flashing the rom is concerned, but that's not the same thing as circumventing the copy protection.

The DMCA also does not forbid the rights granted by copyright law allowing you backups of your media. Since Cfw does not change the hardware (ie modchips), and does not change the software that interprets the data (ie the game), it's not copy protection circumvention. Finally, dumping a umd to iso does not bypass the cooy protection present (which is a catch-22 tefhnically) because it only changes the physical form and location of the data but not the actual data itself, so technically you're not circumventing the cooy protection even if you now have a copyable file which is the catch-22. But lastly, now Sony is offering many of their games in the library as a digital download, which you can then copy and backup and replace on your memory card or wherever you like, essentially allowing you to do something the cfw community has let you do for quite some time now, only more gracefully and 'officially' supported, so technically, you're not even breaking drm there, either! The caveat, is only owning backups of media you actually own. If you have isos, and do not own the physical media, or the downloaded-from-Sony versions, then yes, you are in violation of Copyright law and the Dmca.

But having cfw on your PSP, an iso loader, and the ability to run unsigned code still does not you a piraye make. Any more than owning a VCR or a DVR makes you a pirate. Having copies of media you did not pay for in its original form, downloading them, or making them available for distribution does. That's the DMCA distinction between copyright circumvention and backibg up. Yes, it's still a catch-22, but they could not invaidate your right to have a backup of your media however you want to look at the DMCA, they just made it illegal to be the one distributing the backups which are not one and the same thing. Which is why if you buy a dvd of a bootleg movie on the street withing 'reasonable doubt' that you didn't know it was a bootleg, you become legally entitled to that bootleg just as if you bought it from a store; you just can't sell it, and you're stuck with a not-official version. It's the person that gave it to you that broke the law, not you for having the media. As long as you purchased it first. And this is why the RIAA is having so much trouble in court.

# eh — Binary 2009-02-23 05:53

BURN IN HELL YOU DOUCHE!

# Horrible typos — Deerwings 2009-02-23 06:26

I just realized two things, that spacing is not occurring when I enter a comment with separated paragraphs, and my phone apparently is quite easy to make typos on.

# enough junk already... — Kexbut 2009-02-23 07:43

Just stop wishing for new consoles...hmph PSP2 !

# Unhackable --means to say, 'Publisher-friendly' — damonous 2009-02-23 10:44

@Deerwings: bla, blah ... blah blah blah ...blah, blah, blah... Look: let's stop for a moment and forget the whole question of whether or not this fine-hair here or that fine-hair there makes it legal or illegal to hack the PSP. *Regardless* of whether or not the games are completely cracked, I think the history of the PSP market has shown that game developers JUST DON'T WANT THE COMPETITION. --I mean, would you? Would you (if you were a game publisher) want to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars of development into a game for a console that you know might well be able to run PC games, etc.? Would you want to take the chance knowing that there is a HIGH PROBABILITY (with an 'open' firmware) that your IP might be cracked/hacked in the future (if not presently)? --Especially in the early market, before user-ownership of the console is high. --It's just not a good investment. And, at the end of the day, if ALL games were available to purchase and download to the device, what difference would it be then between the 'legit' firmware and a bootleg one? --The ability to run pirated software. And, for the 1 in 10,000 user, maybe Opera or some other productivity software. ....Of course, the REAL irony is that (if the firmware would be either hacked or just outright 'open'), few if any developers would want to write productivity software for the device. ---It's kind of funny even writing this in a 'future tense' (what if?) scenario. Because reality is the best proof of all that. The closest thing we've gotten to productivity software in the lifespan of PSP has been those TalkMan language-translator programs. ...Probably because it would be the rare publisher that would what to be hacked or deal with freeware apps.

# Piracy — Dr_Olaf 2009-02-23 19:12

I think the PSP has a somewhat special position amongst all the devices that have been hacked, as it is the only device which requires no modification of the hardware or the purchase of additional hardware (modchips etc) to crack. Basically everyone who has internet access can open up his PSP without even having to leave his desk. This makes the PSP incredibly easy to hack, and a great number of people who would normally be hesitating when it comes to actually modifying their hardware would not hink twice about downgrading their PSP.

And I personally have never met anyone who had a PSP on offical Firmware. And although I don't know any numbers (and probably never will, cause you can't make a survey on that), I believe that the vast majority of all PSP's out there is hacked. My wild guess would be that the number is somewhere around 90%.

This is, as I see it, the huge problem: Developers are just not willing to put much time, effort and resources into the creation of a software that everyone is going to play but almost no-one is going to pay for.

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