Pongus

[tempBOT]

Pongus
First 100% legal PS3 homebrew game

CodeZombie has released Pongus, a Pong clone homebrew game for the PS3.
It's not the first Pong game for the console but it is the first "100% legal homebrew game for the PS3". Pongus is entirely written using PSL1GHT, a recently released open source SDK. It contains no proprietary Sony code which makes it legal to distribute and legal to download.[/p]

Download

Source

Contributed by Cyan​

 

[emigre]

I'm quite excited now!

 

[Juanmatron]

First homebrew to use ALL the power of PS3!

 

[8BitWalugi]

Wait, how do we install this?

 

[Recorderdude]

SnooPONGUS usual, I see!

...couldn't resist.

From what I know, you run the .pkg file or something.

 

[8BitWalugi]

SnooPONGUS usual, I see!

...couldn't resist.

From what I know, you run the .pkg file or something.

Using PSJailbreak or something?

 

[Rydian]

Well, it IS homebrew.

 

[EpicJungle]

Wait, how do we install this?

Same question..

______

This is better than nothing...

 

[WiiUBricker]

Does that mean that any other ps3 homebrew released is illegal? Does filetrip host those "illegal" apps? Are there any links on gbatemp to "illegal" ps3 homebrew?

 

[Rydian]

There was controversy over whether programs made with a leaked SDK were illegal (and I was a proponent of them not being as all anybody has was anecdotal evidence and logical fallacies)...

But then a very smart and knowledgeable friend of mine with a PS3 checked things out and confirmed the SDK does insert copywritten code, so programs made with it are in violation of the license (and according to current US law fall in the same category as general piracy).

 

[MADKATZ99]

Woo!! Let's buy a PS3 to play pong!

 

[Sephxus]

Is it 1080p?

I'm not playing it if it isn't.

 

[dilav]

Pong!? looks a little high tech then I remembered it... where do I buy the pong controllers!? haha.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Wait, how do we install this?

Same question..

______

This is better than nothing...

you need a jailbreak device than you just pop the proggy on a card and put it on browse to it and click to play.

 

[Cyan]

Pongus may not be an extraordinary game by itself, but it's demonstrating that we can now create 100% legal homebrew.
It even uses a specific 2D graphical mode (RSX memory), as a proof of concept.

Wait, how do we install this?

Using PSJailbreak or something?

Yes, you need to place the PS3 in a debug state in order to run unsigned code.
All homebrews need you to jailbreak the console first.

There's a lot of commercial USB dongle and even open sources solutions for many devices (phones, calculators, media players, other consoles, etc.), which will let you boot the PS3 in debug mode.
Though, the requirement is that the PS3 doesn't have a firmware past 3.41
Jailbreakable firmwares are : 2.76, 3.01, 3.10, 3.15, 3.21, 3.40, 3.41 and 3.41_kiosk

Once in debug mode, you put the pongus.pkg on the root of a FAT32 USB stick/hdd, and go to the new menu "Install package files". It will be installed on the internal HDD.

 

[SifJar]

Is it possible to run it without installing it, using one of the more recent payloads which allows you to load .elf homebrew from a specific folder on your hard drive or something? (I dunno if you can extract the elf from the pkg or something?)

 

[Cyan]

I tried, but it didn't work.

It's possible to extract a pkg content, so it should be possible to launch it via the fat32device:/HOMEBREW/pongus/EBOOT.BIN

I unpacked the pkg (using PS3 GUI Toolbox).
Inside, there were :
HBRW00001/ICON0.PNG
HBRW00001/PARAM.SFO
HBRW00001/USRDIR/EBOOT.BIN

Then, I put the file in USB:/HOMEBREW/pongus/EBOOT.BIN
Using Hermes v4 + Open Manager 1.16, pushing Start to see the homebrew list.
Pongus appears, but when I select the launch command, it doesn't work and go back to XMB.

PS3 GUI Toolbox can also decrypt eboot.bin into eboot.elf file
So I tried to decrypt the eboot and rename it to eboot.bin (.elf are not listed by Open Manager), but it didn't work either.
Maybe it needs the param.sfo to boot ?
Or maybe they have to be compiled in a different way ?
Or, the extractor corrupted the file ?

I think homebrew should be released in form of a .bin too, and not only as an installable package.

Note the gameID : homebrew 00001. Developers should maintain a homebrew database to know which gameID is already used or available to prevent overwriting.

 

[EpicJungle]

No..

Is there anyway to run this w/o a jailbreak device?

 

[Rydian]

No, it's homebrew.