The last weeks have been pretty eventful both in the PlayStation Vita & Switch scenes with even the 3DS & PlayStation Classic managing to get something for themselves. However, older hacked consoles have not been forgotten because while exciting developments are happening in other scenes, the PSP Awakening Game Jam 2020 is going on which may result in some interesting PSP homebrew to check out!
What is the PSP Awakening Game Jam 2020?
As its name suggests, the ‘PSP Awakening Game Jam 2020’ is a currently ongoing event in which contestants are to create a homebrew game centered around a specific theme in just one week. This event, which has ‘The PSP Homebrew Community’ behind it who also organised this year’s PSP Homebrew Developer Conference, was kicked off on the 2nd of May and submissions are accepted until the 9th of May @ 1PM GMT on itch.io.
Thanks to the PSP Awakening Game Jam, the beloved PSP is set to get at least a few more homebrew games added to its already vast homebrew library so perhaps it’s time to dust off your PSP or Vita to check them out when they’re available 
In regards to the specific theme, which was announced on Discord upon the event kicking off last Saturday, “Your Life is Currency” was chosen which could have a variety of meanings depending on whom you’re asking thus allowing developers to let their imagination flourish as long as they could somehow integrate the theme into their homebrew game.
When it comes to rules, this game jam is pretty lenient with the dos and don’ts being as follows:
- The game code itself must be built from scratch although it’s possible to use existing libraries and engines such as SDL2
- It’s not permitted to use the Quake engine as this makes one’s life too easy when creating FPS games
- One may borrow assets as long as proper attribution is performed but games with original assets will be awarded extra points
When it comes to judging, a panel of 3 judges consisting of members from the The PSP Homebrew Community’s staff and non-participating developers will be set up with the primary criteria being Gameplay, Creativity, Originality and Faithfulness to the theme. It’s important to note that this game jam has no cash or other prizes at the moment so winning it will only earn you bragging rights thus one should mostly participate for the fun of creating homebrew for the PSP.
Homebrew games that are currently being worked on
‘Kingdom Of Flesh’ is already taking shape after its developer Iridescence pulled two all-nighters
Going through the ‘gamejam-discussion’ channel on The PSP Homebrew Community’s Discord (linked below), the following seems to be going on:
- Iridescence is creating a game called ‘Kingdom Of Flesh’ with pixel-art graphics
- A game called ‘Soulless’ by Noche
- Mrneo240 is also working on an entry although there seems to be no title to it as of yet but it may feature 3D graphics
- TBS-Frain_Breeze also seems to be working on something but not many details have been given
- Currently the itch.io page for the game jam has 9 people that have joined so it’s possible we’ll see more information on what others are working later this week
Conclusion
To learn more about what’s going on with the PSP Awakening Game Jam and keep yourself updated, make sure to check The PSP Homebrew Community’s Discord.
PSP Awakening Game Jam Announcement Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lBZJwQmr2c
2020 PSP Awakening Game Jam Wololo /talk Thread: http://wololo.net/talk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=50117
2020 PSP Awakening Game Itch.io Page (Submissions): https://itch.io/jam/psp-awakening-game-jam
The post PSP News: 2020 PSP Awakening Game Jam with the theme “Your Life is Currency” currently going on – Brought by ‘The PSP Homebrew Community’ who were also behind the PSP Homebrew Developer Conference! appeared first on Wololo.net.