Newer PSPs require Pandora's battery to mod. The only way to make one is to buy one, or make one yourself using a hacked PSP. Older PSPs didn't need all this... so it wasn't always this way, no. It is just that the older, easier, ways to hack the machine have been closed by Sony in the newer firmwares come in the box now. Some only required a certain game or a certain exploit to fully mod... did you know the first shipment of Jap and US PSPs were practically already modded out of the box? They could run whatever you liked without needing to be hacked at all.