Jomc 191 Class Blog / Official PSP Website

The PSP community is an extremely large one, to give you an idea as to how active the gaming community is, QJ.net released their stats on Wednesday:

QJ.net - Stats and Thanks!

The PSP community itself varies from portals, such as Yahoo’s, to very dynamic blog-like sites.

The more active PSP community, according to Wikipedia, sites are:

• PSP Updates – The largest and most frequently updated homebrew news site. Also reports on new PSP games.
• PSP Hacks – Another frequently updated news website, focused more on just homebrew.
• PSP Files – News about PSP hacks and exploits. Also hosts Conga Lines to earn free consoles including the PSP.
• PSP Wire – Information about games and homebrew. Accompanied by a growing archive of homebrew software and applications.
• PSP-Spot – An up-and-coming PSP scene website that has information and news about the latest games, homebrew and news related to the PSP. Rewarded number one website by PSP E-Mag's third issue PSP E Mag
• PSPCrazy – Homebrew website that receives homebrew software first and are known for creating tutorials such as using a wireless adapter as a PSP hotspot.
• PD Roms – Covers homebrew news for many systems, also PSP. Updated daily and frequently.
• PSP News – Reports on homebrew news and commercial releases, such as games and accessories. Also has a database of nearly every PSP application ever released.
• PSP Compatibility Lists – Wiki style compatibility list of PSP home brew games and emulators.

Usability and Learning

Preece states that usability is key to a good website, saying that a site should “support rapid learning, high skill retention, low error rates, and high productivity (Preece, p. 276)."  After viewing these sites you’ll notice that most of them have one thing in common, they rely heavily on user input and feedback.  This tug-of-war between users helps create this atmosphere of learning.  Here are a few examples where a website community came to the needs of a user who was having difficulties with his PSP.

• http://www.psp-hacks.com/forums/forum-12.html

This process of listening to your users also helps the community to build up trust.  Gilmour writes in Chapter 4 of “We the Media” that people learn by listening.

The post that I used as an example under my homebrew section is great example of how the community builds trust, supports learning and how the community listens.  The poster was brand new and the community welcomed him and came to his need.

Trust

One thing that we mentioned in class was that a community needs to build credibility, one site managed to make the AP Wire and lay claim to being the first site to have cracked firmware (the PSP operating system) 2.0. 

The conversation started with a simple post  hand went on to several hundred postings where the community determined whether or not the individual was telling the truth.  I liken this process to that of a peer reviewed journal where the community validates the claims made by those doing the research.

Preece says the following about trust: 

Successful communities are built on cooperation and trust (p.188).  

In this one example within the PSP community, the community as a whole came together, cooperated, and determined if the individual poster could be trusted.  This shows a level of high sophistication and sustainability within the community.  This example is just not unique to this one site, the news spilled over to other community websites and the same debate took place.  This shows that community is very close and that users just do not have loyality to one particular site, their loyalty lies with the entire online PSP community.

Furthermore, Dan Gilmour says that blogging is a matter of trust in Chapter 6 of “We the Media,” listing focus, good reporting, good writing and credibility as some of the characteristics to adhere to.  Eventhough the PSP community as whole is not a blog it still does have blog-like characteristics.  The BBS format allows users to post their thoughts and solicit comment.  The PSP3D site does just this, and also adheres to Gilmour’s principle of one needing to give up control in order to gain trust.  Writer butterballer360, a member of the PSP3D Hack Team Administration, opened up his claim to examination by the community.  The peer review process gave not only the site trust, but the entire community credibilty.  The fact that the AP Wire reported on butterballer360's efforts and credited the website he posted on shows that the mainstream PSP community is accepting the efforts of the homebrew communities.  The report was published on individual users' blogs, articles in magazines, and so forth.  But in order for this information to be deemed credible it was up to the PSP homebrew community to determine the fact.