Hacker Adds Mouse Support to PSP

[Earnest Cavalli]

Hacker Adds Mouse Support to PSP

Hackers: They do things because they can, regardless of the actual utility of the project. Case in point, adding support for a PC mouse to Sony's handheld PSP.

Crafted by a German techie, the hack combines all the portability of the PSP with the completely stationary platform requirements of a mouse. In essence, it doesn't make much damn sense.

As the below footage detailing the project shows however, it does make playing first-person shooters much easier.


I won't claim familiarity with the technical wizardry employed to rig this thing up. Instead, I'll let SlashGear explain how it was accomplished [http://www.slashgear.com/psp-mouse-hack-video-0542845/]:

It's not USB at all that connecting the mouse to the PSP. Instead an old PS/2 mouse has been used, together with the PSP's serial port. A quick breadboard with the ATMEL ATmega8 chip allowed him to write up some code for the PSP; it eventually connects via the PSP Slim Remote.

All of the mouse buttons work, as does the scroll wheel, and there's even adjustable scaling and sample rates. You can map different PSP buttons to the mouse's controls, too.

Dubiously useful? Completely unnecessary? A waste of free time? Maybe, but you can bet that the millions of professional Coded Arms players around the world are going to want one.

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[cainx10a]

Oh dear lords of Kobol, this is actually the best thing I have read in the entire day.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

Sony should totally give a guy a job somewhere. This is just awesome.

 

[Erana]

I can see the kids on Japanese subways playing their PSPs with their mice to the glass, blinding those looking at the train with the optical lazer...

 

[-Seraph-]

ME WANTZ!!!

 

[Raptoricus]

Nice work! Shame that the movement is going to be a bit of a difficulty, still *thumbs up*

 

[sheic99]

I can see the kids on Japanese subways playing their PSPs with their mice to the glass, blinding those looking at the train with the optical lazer...

Sounds like it suddenly has a second use.

 

[Erana]

I can see the kids on Japanese subways playing their PSPs with their mice to the glass, blinding those looking at the train with the optical lazer...

Sounds like it suddenly has a second use.

All things considered, they'd make an anime out of it.

 

[cainx10a]

I can see the kids on Japanese subways playing their PSPs with their mice to the glass, blinding those looking at the train with the optical lazer...

Sounds like it suddenly has a second use.

All things considered, they'd make an anime out of it.

With tentacle monsters!

 

[Sanaj]

An interesting and impressive achievement adding PS/2 support to a PSP.

How useful will be?. That I'm not sure that depends on reliability and mobility concerns.

I think it's kind of a shame that person is being labeled a hacker, it's not exploiting anything...just adding functionality.

 

[tenlong]

sweet!

 

[HydraZulu]

An interesting and impressive achievement adding PS/2 support to a PSP.

How useful will be?. That I'm not sure that depends on reliability and mobility concerns.

I think it's kind of a shame that person is being labeled a hacker, it's not exploiting anything...just adding functionality.

I do believe you are mistaking 'hacker' for something else. Specifically a cracker.

 

[Sanaj]

Yeah, I really don't know how to respond to that...

Can someone else help me out, or clue me in to what HydraZulu is talking about please?

 

[gxs]

A hacker is a person that uses his knowledge to increase performance or add new features to equipment, software,... He can also help make computer systems better by showing or discovering their bugs, weakneses.
A cracker is someone that accesses computer systems to steal data, do harm, exploit things.

Hackers are mistakingly taken for crackers so some less educated people think that hackers are bad but they are thinking of crackers.

I hope that this is explained well enough. If not just google both terms and you'll find your answer.

 

[sheic99]

I can see the kids on Japanese subways playing their PSPs with their mice to the glass, blinding those looking at the train with the optical lazer...

Sounds like it suddenly has a second use.

All things considered, they'd make an anime out of it.

And it would still be better than School Days.

 

[Earthbound]

A hacker is a person that uses his knowledge to increase performance or add new features to equipment, software,... He can also help make computer systems better by showing or discovering their bugs, weakneses.
A cracker is someone that accesses computer systems to steal data, do harm, exploit things.

Hackers are mistakingly taken for crackers so some less educated people think that hackers are bad but they are thinking of crackers.

I hope that this is explained well enough. If not just google both terms and you'll find your answer.

In addition, hackers are either white hat or grey hat, meaning that they'll either check for security problems in order to fix them or just out of natural curiosity. Crackers are black hat and will, as you said, seek to exploit bugs rather than trying to fix them. Unfortunately, society generally labels the term "hacker" as being a black hat, though it's far from the truth. Then we educated people can just point and laugh at society, so it evens out.

 

[MiodekPL]

If someone adds something like that for X360 or PS3, I'll consider buying one of those
Neat idea.

 

[scotth266]

I can see the kids on Japanese subways playing their PSPs with their mice to the glass, blinding those looking at the train with the optical lazer...

Sounds like it suddenly has a second use.

All things considered, they'd make an anime out of it.

And it would still be better than School Days.

Oi. I liked School Days. At least it wasn't Love Hina all over again.

Err... this is dubiously awesome. I would totally do this, except I lack a PSP. I'll tell my friend though, he'll likely enjoy it.