This is all very nice but I get the impression that most of the people that got a GS , even for hacking, they’ve never written a line of code in their lives.
Have you had a good look around the community? The people who got the GS for hacking / tinkering / modding / etc are fixing, creating, programming, and making things all over the place. Myself @duckyvirus @r043v @nmodnation @Petrakis @pezhman , everyone who entered the 1st GameJam, everyone who is participating in the 2nd GameJam, and more.
You also have people doing hardware mods, like all involved with solving how to and which battery / components to get, to get better battery life out of the unit (not a particularly difficult problem, but still), or @KalTalen attempting to create a clamshell enclosure.
They just expect for the code to be ready in some repo to download it install it and discuss why it is or not working in the forums. That is not hacking.
You seem to have a misconception about what hacking is. Hacking is simply solving problems with technical knowledge. Discussing a problem from a technical point of view in an attempt to solve it, is exactly what hacking is. From discussion, people go out and use the information and knowledge to produce a solution and contribute it back to the discussion so it can be iterated on further, improvements made, etc. Sure, there are the people who bought it expecting it to just work, and those people should have looked closer at what the GS actually was. The thing is, some of those people actually come to the forums, post about their problems, and help those that are able to assist create solutions for them and the rest of the community. Maybe one day they will know enough to start solving the problems for others as well.
Also I can take the argument even further by saying PS VITA vs GS
I re-iterate what I said above. If all you want is to emulate games, then sure, stick with PSP or Vita or any of the plethora of other cheaper devices that can emulate (There isn’t a shortage of them).
Finally, Let me ask you something.
Why did YOU buy a Gameshell? What are you looking for with this thread? Are you trying to validate your purchase? Are you playing devils’ advocate?
If you have a genuine reason, let it be known, maybe some good discussion can actually come of it.