PSP Emulation Madness

An anonymous reader writes "The PSP is now the ultimate in handheld emulation consoles, already it boasts Full Speed Gameboy Colour Emulation and improving Snes & Master System but added today it also has NeoGeo CD and Sega Genesis emulators added to the impressive list of homebrew releases."

All these are for the 1.0 firmware only

[CerebusUS]

No one's cracked the 1.50 or the 1.51 firmware yet, so US PSP owners are still SOL.

Whats wrong...

[timtwobuck]

Next step, GBA games.

That would seal the deal for me, and probably many others.

I think that it isn't outside of reason, its touted that the GBA is just as powerful as the SNES, so the hardware requirements apparently are close to being met....

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:This is SWEET...

[sjf]

Clearly Sony doesn't want people to do this. That seems to be the point of the later firmware releases: to block unencrypted binaries. But, I don't see what is illegal or worthy of suit in running homebrew software on the PSP. Unless, of course, that homebrew is compiled (and probably distributed) with libraries that are copyright Sony. As far as I know, that is not the case.

But, Goddamnit, I can't wait until we can run these emulators on the North American PSPs...oh the anticipation...

Re:Portable vs Console

[Serapth]

Yes, but the Pocket PC video chipsets are pure arse compared. I have a HP3950 iPaq ( 400 mhz arm 64 ram ), and it cant run MAME or any other emulators worth a damn. I also have a PSP, and from what ive seen sofar, it will easily be capable of running most older emu's ( SNes, gameboy, earlier mame, etc... ). You really cant compare the two devices, they have different purposes. When it comes to graphics and sound, the PSP blows the PPC out of the water.

But thats not the worst part. The controls for a Pocket PC are absolutely horrid for gaming! First off, the placement sucks... and secondly most units cant support multiple button presses concurrently.

In summary, when it comes to gaming you just cant compare the two devices. The PSP way out performs the PPC, but it damn well better, seeing as it was designed for gaming. That said, it rather sucks at reading Excel spreadsheets :)

Re:This is SWEET...

[DeVryGuy23]

There is no reason for Sony to get upset about this. People are simply making their system more marketable. It isnt economically feasible to pirate games using Memory Stick DUO(you might be able to get 1 game on a 1 gig stick, which is freakin expensive), it'd be cheaper to buy the UMDs. As long as the mods dont interfere with the PSPs ability to play retail games, then why would they take legal action?

Re:Living under the law

[__aamkky7574]

The problem with playing games on handhelds (I have experience of Palm and iPAQs) is that they simply aren't designed for it. Nothing is more frustating than trying to play a game with sticky keys. Also, the iPAQ couldn't register two seperate key presses at the same time (say, up-left and fire). I tried a few games, everything from NetHack to more recent proprietary games, and gave up.

P.

http://oceanclub.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]

Zaurus

[dangerz]

My Zaurus has been emulating other game devices for a couple years now. Declaring the PSP the *ultimate* emulation machine is a little far fetched.

Re:All these are for the 1.0 firmware only

[cosinezero]

You're assuming the plan is to hack the encryption... likely the plan is to work around it. The japanese versions simply don't check for a digital signature; once the firmware or hardware is hacked to ignore the signature, it's game on.

Re:This is SWEET...

[DeVryGuy23]

They will definitly have no profit coming from games if you dont get the hardware into people's hands. The point is, if a great game comes out that appeals to someone, then no matter how many games they have emulated they will be able to buy it because they have a system. I dont think anyone would buy a machine meerly for emulation at a price of $250. It's more like an incentive, "Hey you get all those cool PSP games, PLUS you can play all your old NES, SNES, Game Boy, SEGA, etc." Playing Chrono Trigger on the go would be awesome.

Re:Hopefully Homebrew Will Run Soon..

[poot_rootbeer]

Sony would be wise to open the machine up - it'll drive hardware sales certainly more than UMD movies will.

If the PSP is anything like the PSX, PS2, and presumably PS3, Sony doesn't WANT to drive hardware sales -- unless sales of game and movie media are driven at least equally as hard. The hardware is the razor, they make their money from selling blades.

Let's keep the attractiveness of emulation on PSP in perspective, too; out beyond Slashdot, very few people actually have enough interest in homebrew projects. More people buy PSP's thinking "hey, I can watch Spider-Man on the airplane" than "hey, I bet if someone manages to hack the firmware this thing would make a sweet Gameboy emulator"...

Re:Ain't it funny...

[bynary]

When did it become wrong to pay for things? If there is something that I really enjoyed from previous generations, I will pay for it. This whole "everything digital has to be free" movement is sickening. It's this idea of entitlement. Nintendo's not just going to release old games for the hell of it. Suck it up and pay for good software.

Re:PIM Suite?

[macemoneta]

And the point of a PDA incapable of data entry is...?

It keeps your schedule, documents, contact list, and to-do items with you in a portable manner. I rarely do data entry on the PDA itself. Other than checking off items or acknowledging reminders - which don't require a touch screen or keyboard - the bulk of the data entry occurs on my desktop/laptop. Some small amount of data entry could be performed with an on-screen keyboard and the two directional/select pads on the PSP. Heck, if you can put your name in the high-scores list on an arcade machine without a keyboard or touch screen, this shouldn't be a problem. Certainly more than enough to record a name and number, or schedule an appointment, for example.