haha, wasen't trying to make u feel stupid. I honestly couldn't have gave a correct definition off the top of my head anyways.
WARNING: Don't bother reading this if you have no interest in it. You'll just be wasting your time. Just FYIAnyway, PSP firmware is how Sony is combating the use of Homebrew Applications (unauthorized code) being run on their PSP. PSP started with a 1.0 firmware. It is now up to 2.71 and from rumor going up to 2.81. They make u update because you can't play certain games on the older firmware. You have to update and then you can play the game. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for instance. You must have Firmware 2.00 or above to play it. However, by updating to play it you install their blocks and seals which stop you from exploiting the PSP. The firmware to have is 1.50. Before a couple days ago, once you updated past 2.00 you could not go back to the 1.50 firmware. Now there is a way to Downgrade your psp from 2.71 (their latest release) to 1.50 (The one to have). Some very smart people have came up with a way of playing all games that require Higher firmwares thru emulation of the higher firmware.
The point of all this.. ?
Homebrew is an awesome feature to have. I have PSPMillionaire on my psp because Ashley loves Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
I also have the snes emulator which makes it possible to play roms of older games like Super Mario world and the original Mario Bros 1,2, and 3.
I also turned my PSP into an Infared Remote that controls my TV, DVD PLAYER, PS2, Xbox, and my stereo.
Someone even made a WiFi Sniffer program for it so you can find unsecure wireless internet and use it.
Having a hacked PSP allows you to play games right from the Memory Stick of the PSP. You can rip the UMD disc to your pc and thru a few programs, turn it into a .iso and load it up on your memory stick. The latest version of Dev Hook allows you to even play games you have saved on your PC directly thru the USB cable. There are many sites out there that have PSP torrents and downloads. I myself have downloaded around 10 PSP games and they all play flawlessly. I have them burnt to DVD-r's and when I want to put a few games on my PSP, i just load the ones I want and I'm off on a road trip or whatever. Or I can attach it to my computer and just play them right there.
It gets pretty invovled and can overwhelming but if you take ur time and do the research, its honestly not that hard to do. A moderate PC user could easily do it. Heres a link to the downgrader and files you will need. Just read it a little. Also, heres the guide I used to install Dev Hook with the USB Support and all.
http://digg.com/gaming_news/2_71_PSP_s_say_Goodbye_Downgrader_to_be_Released_at_7pm_ESThttp://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/374049
