PSP Blogger - PlayStation® Portable Fansite

We recently covered a topic about gaming in relationships and received some very interesting feedback. While some females hated the idea of their partner’s gaming habits, others joined in on the fun.

We decided to visit Grrlgamer and had the privilege of interviewing Managing Editor and PR Coordinator Didi Cardoso about female gamers in general. This is what she had to say:

PSPSA: First off, how long have you been with Grrlgamer?

Didi: Going on 8 years, started as a fan-fiction contributor, and a few years ago I took over as managing editor and PR.

PSPSA: Are all the members of you forum/lounge only female and how many of them are there?

Didi: No, our community is composed of males and females. Only the staff is female. There are about 500 registered members.

PSPSA: So what exactly made you decide to become part of the gaming community?

Didi: What made me become part of the site was the passion for games and writing.

PSPSA: Do you think that females in general have a hard time getting accepted as gamers?

Didi: I can't speak for every other girl, but I've had my share of nasty comments and funny stares in several occasions. Fortunately for me, I don't care what other people think of me playing games. :)

PSPSA: We recently had a discussion about females who don't really approve of their partners gaming habits. What's your opinion on this?

Didi: I say try to play a game together, you might enjoy it. My husband and I have been playing games together since EverQuest came out. We've been through a bunch of MMOs together, we play FPSs and action/RPGs together, and it’s a lot of fun. And if it weren't for him and the usual "You have to play this!” I would have missed out on a lot of great games in the past.

PSPSA: We recently added an article to the site that included the words DS vs. PSP, which obviously caused some flaming. Does this problem also occur in your community?

Didi: No. We actually don't have flaming wars, only healthy discussions. Our community is very diverse in both the games they appreciate and systems they own, everything from classic platforms to the PS3. Preferences are preferences, but I think it's unfair to compare systems that are so different and each has its own set of games and features, and serves different purposes. It's like the PS3 or Wii vs. Xbox 360 argument. It just doesn't work.

PSPSA: What is the general age group of your staff and members?

Didi: We're all in our 20's-30's (staff), members ranging from 18 to their 40's.

PSPSA: Anything you would like to say to the guys that don't really approve of female gamers?

Didi: Approve or not, we still play all sorts of games.

PSPSA: If you where forced to choose one gaming platform, what would it be?

Didi: Probably the Xbox 360. Although I like all my gaming systems and use them all, so I'd rather not pick just one especially since I really like the advantages of portable gaming.

PSPSA: Just before we wrap this up, is there anything else you would like to mention?

Didi: I don't know. But I always like to clarify that we don't encourage an anti-male attitude. For some reason, people tend to jump to that conclusion a lot.

PSP gamers seem to constantly talk about custom firmware and the benefits of having it on the console. You’ll find hundreds of forums and websites containing guides, tips, tools, and downloads on CFW all over the web.

Here are some of the main features provided by CFW:

1. You can watch movies from all regions.
2. Run emulators for old console platforms such as NES, SNES, Genesis, Atari, etc.
3. PSP games can play directly from the memory stick.
4. Custom XMB themes can be installed.
5. Full support for third party homebrew applications.

Now while playing movies from all regions and being able to run emulators sound really nice the problem seems to be point nr. 3. Running PSP games directly from the memory stick is quite handy since you don’t have to constantly swap UMD disks but this feature also opens up the door to piracy. Even though the PSP is not that popular in South Africa I was still curious to see how big the effect was CFW had on the gaming community.

PSPSA interviewed local MBB forum member Cerealkilla about CFW and this is what he had to say:

PSPSA: How long have you been in the custom firmware scene?

CK: I’ve been using CFW for about a year now.

PSPSA: Do you think Dark Alex is a genius or just someone who wanted to promote piracy?

CK: I’d go with genius! As for promoting piracy, No! If you download a ripped game, you'll notice in the read me that it's for preview purposes, at the end of the day, it comes down to you as an individual... buy it or be a sad sap.

PSPSA: Is custom firmware in your opinion the main reason for the reasonably low PSP games sales?

CK: I certainly hope not. I think the reason for the low sales rate is marketing and cost related. Firstly, games take ages to reach SA shores. Secondly, some titles are overpriced and last, you don’t see any ads for PSP games!

PSPSA: How many PSP systems have you “hacked” with CFW?

CK: I’ve hacked 3 PSP consoles to date, 2 of my own and a close friend’s console.

PSPSA: Have you experienced any problems while using CFW on PSP’s?

CK: Personally I’ve never come across a bug in the system.

PSPSA: Does running CFW void with the PSP’s warranty?

CK: Yes, it does void the warranty, but you can always reload the original PSP firmware before taking it in and you're good to go. You haven't physically opened the unit.

PSPSA: What’s the main reason you use CFW for?

CK: I use CFW for the homebrew! There are lots of great apps available for the PSP such as using it as a remote for my TV. I love it! Gets my girlfriend really mad when she has the remote and I channel hop!

PSPSA: Do you believe the rumor that the Pandora Battery fix will be patched in the upcoming firmware 4.0?

CK: You know the PSP hackers... anything is possible with time,

PSPSA: What do you think about torrent sites promoting free downloadable PSP ISO images?

CK: I think there should be a fee involved apart from just using your bandwidth. The game should be a full version trial... play it half way, if you dig it, buy the original!

PSPSA: Anything else that you would like to tell us about CFW?

CK: Like I said, I'm a fan of CFW, in my opinion, it rocks. I'll never go back to original FW because my homebrew won’t work.

From what I understand it seems CFW does have its benefits even though games are still being downloaded illegally. The question is who’s to blame. Is it the creators of CFW for allowing the PSP to play pirate games or the users downloading the torrents?