Sony survey asks players: why hack the PSP?
Consumer research into the mind of the hacker
It seems PSP hackers are getting to Sony a bit. At least, they've caused enough concern for Sony to issue a survey to a section of its customers in an attempt to understand why they're doing it.
The survey - as passed on to Kotaku by one of its readers who was asked to participate - asks gamers how much they agree or disagree with a range of statements about hacking the PSP and customising its firmware. These statements include: "I hack my PSP to see if I can get away with it", "I don't see anything morally wrong with hacking my PSP" and "I like to push the PSP in directions that the developers didn't intend".
Other questions in the survey are: "Do you know of anyone who has 'hacked', or modified, transferred and customised their PSP firmware and software?" Presumably followed up by: "Could we have their name and address?"
The hacking of PSPs in order to play pirated games is clearly a concern for Sony - as it is for all console makers - and its official firmware updates are constantly upping security in an attempt to beat it. Developers and users of homebrew applications could argue, though, they have legitimate reasons for modifying their consoles.
In any case, Sony is clearly looking into the reasons behind the hacking and will likely keep coming up with ways to curb it.
