How PSP Go Will Help Sony Combat Piracy

The PSP first came out in late 2004. The system was the first handheld attempt from Sony after they dominated the home console segment of the video games industry. Although it sports impressive technologies for a handheld video game system, the PSP couldn't stop piracy. In fact, it became one of the most hacked video game systems ever. As a result, software sales were dismal despite the PSP selling well as a hardware device on the marketplace. Partly because of that, Sony decided to release the PSP Go. Here are a few factors why the new PSP model will prevent piracy on the system.

Removal of UMD
On older PSP models with hacked custom firmwares, hackers can simply rip a game from the UMD drive and on to the computer. They could then upload and share the files with others over the internet.

That method will be impossible with the PSP Go, however, because Sony decided to completely remove the UMD drive from the new model. In order to play a game, users must sign up for a Playstation Network account and purchase content from the Playstation Store. With this, Sony has a more direct control over the piracy distribution as the digital data is more protected than data ripped from the UMD. Not to mention that this will also increase load times for PSP games when compared to the UMD drive, which is one of the main factors towards PSP piracy.

Non-Removable Battery
Sony has been trying to combat piracy on the PSP for years. Every time they come up with something, however, the hackers usually counter very quickly. Perhaps the most popular hacking method on the PSP (especially recently) is the Pandora battery exploit that makes installing a custom firmware on the handheld relatively easy and carefree.

To combat the Pandora battery exploit, Sony designed the PSP Go to feature an internal non-removal battery. This move effectively shuts out pretty much all of the exploits that hackers used to install custom firmware for piracy.

Firmware Protection
Finally, Sony has been fighting a losing battle against hackers for years on the PSP in terms of firmware. Seemingly every official firmware release tries to patch up the exploits on the PSP. Unfortunately for Sony, hackers usually crack the firmware and find new exploits just days after release. It just seems that the hackers are always a step ahead of Sony. That may no longer be the case, however, thanks to the PSP Go. The new model will have the latest and most exploit-free official firmware yet.

Piracy has been a black eye for Sony in the PSP business. The PSP Go should be able to help them combat the threat and increase software sales.