> I thought this was limited to a basic framebuffer mode > with no hardware acceleration though.
No, it was hardware 3D on the RSX. From the first video's description:
"Until recently, not enough was known about how to use the RSX to make any headway to usable, free access to the 3D contexts on the GPU on the PS3. With some excellent work from people in both the Nouveau and PS2Dev groups, homebrew developers may soon be able to write their own 3D applications."
