Release Dates:
JPN: December 12, 2004
NA: March 25, 2005
EU: September 1, 2005
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) was Sony’s first foray into the handheld market unveiled on May 11, 2004 it was a capable machine, touted as the strongest handheld console to date boasting graphics that were comparable to the PS2 but fit on the palm of your hand and with features such as expandable memory via it’s card slot, its video and music player, photo viewer, web browser and RSS capabilities, the PlayStation Portable made an awesome mobile multimedia device. The unique thing about the console was that it used discs as its physical media but not just any discs, Universal Media Discs or UMD’s.
These babies were able to hold 900 MB of data and up to 1.8 GB on a dual layer disc. Various movies and music albums were also released on the format during the earlier years of the PSP’s lifecycle before dropping support around 2006.
Later updates to the console gave it connectivity with some PS2 and PS3 games and the introduction of the PS Store expanded the library of the PSP to include PSX games and also downloadable versions of retail games which helped to cut down on the need to carry all your discs around with you.
Hardware Revisions:
1000 (Phat):
Dimensions: 74 mm (2.9 in) (h), 170 mm (6.7 in) (w), 23 mm (0.91 in) (d)
Weight: 280 grams (9.9 oz) (including battery)
The Original PSP was a sleek, shiny, powerful machine that was the perfect size for playing games and playing back your various media specially movies on it’s large 4 inch screen. It has an infrared Port that was removed in all later revisions, a mechanical disc tray, Lacks the AV-out of later revisions and is pretty big and bulky by todays standards and also compared to the later revisions. Another tidbit as well is the D-pad.
Still as Sony’s first attempt at a portable it is amazing how much they got right with its design.
2000 (Slim):
Dimensions: 71 mm (2.8 in) (h), 169 mm (6.7 in) (w), 19 mm (0.75 in) (d)
Weight: 189 grams (6.7 oz)
The “slim” PSP reduced the thickness and weight of the console as well as adding in 32 MB more of memory for a whopping 64 MB of memory half of which was mostly used as UMD cache in order to decrease load times and reduce disc reading by offloading more of data into the cache. It also boasted a brighter screen, improved wireless connectivity, a manual pull out disc tray, and the addition of Skype in order to make calls with your PSP but requires an external mic since there isn’t one built in. This was also the first PSP to have AV-out via the official composite or component cables and allowed you to plug the PSP to your TV and enjoy gaming on the big screen!
3000 (Brite)
Dimensions: 71 mm (2.8 in) (h), 169 mm (6.7 in) (w), 19 mm (0.75 in) (d)
Weight: 189 grams (6.7 oz)
The main change between this device and the slim was the inclusion of a brighter screen with an increased color range and better visibility when playing outside and It also has a built in mic that can be used to make calls with skype. The problem with this revision is that the screens suffered from interlaced artifacts that appeared during motion being most noticeable on fast games like racing games:
N1000 (PSP Go):
Dimensions: 69 mm (2.7 in) (h), 128 mm (5.0 in) (w), 16.5 mm (0.65 in) (d)
Weight: 158 grams (5.6 oz)
Unlike previous PSP models, the PSP Go lacks a UMD drive, but instead has 16 GB of internal flash memory to store games and other media. It also supported M2 cards to expand your memory but they have become very expensive. The Go is a small machine that has a slide out screen that reveals the buttons and allows for great portability especially when compared to its predecessors. A new feature is the ability to pause or “suspend” your games which works much like the PS4’s suspend feature, it allows you to stop playing and do something else, even play another game, and then return to your suspended game and continue where you left off. Being a digital only device it didn’t do very well at release but today is probably the best way to experience the PSP’s library games as well as the PSX classics available due to one important feature, Bluetooth connectivity. This allowed you to sync a PS3 controller to your Go and play not only PSP games but PSX games with a full fledged controller with 2 analog sticks and a set of triggers which the PSP lack. This combined with its AV-out capabilities makes for a great micro-console to enjoy your digital PSX library with full support for 240p via its interlace output.
E1000 (Street):
Dimensions: 73 mm (2.9 in) (h), 172 mm (6.8 in) (w), 21.5 mm (0.85 in) (d)
Weight: 223 grams (7.9 oz)
The European exclusive PSP street was a budget version of the console that took out all wireless connectivity and outputs sound in mono only. An interesting device that isn’t all that useful today due to its predecessors being more fully featured.
What games should I play?
The library is filled with lots of great games both old and new but here are some suggestions to get you started:
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Patapon 2
Locoroco
Ridge Racer
Outrun 2006 Coast to Coast
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
Metal Gear Acid!
God Of War Chain of Olympus
Casltvania Dracula X Chronicles
PSX on my PSP?!
Announced during the now infamous Sony E3 2006 Press Conference, original PlayStation games where coming to the PSP.
RIIIIIDGE RACERRRR!!!
Launched in December of 2006, PlayStation Classics are digital re-releases of original PSX games that were released for the PSP but also work on the PS3 and the PS Vita. The games were run using an in-house emulator referred to as POPS. This emulator was continually updated throughout the PSP’s life and it makes the PSP one of the best ways to enjoy some of your favorite PSX games on the go. PlayStation classics can be downloaded from the PS Store. Although you can no longer download them directly from your PSP due to the service no longer being supported, if you have a PS3 you can download and then copy them over to your PSP via USB or if you have a Vita, you can download them directly from the store. Unfortunately, there is no way to download the PS1 Classics to your PC or PS4 for easy transfer to a PSP so if you don’t have a PS3 then you’re forced to download them using alternative methods that require Custom firmware.
PSX games play extremely well on the PSP for the most part. The only downside being that games that rely on heavy use of the R2, L2, R3, and L3 buttons or the second analog stick can be a bit hard to play. The PSP Go comes in handy here with its ability to sync with a PS3 controller which has all the necessary buttons to play any game. The PSP has a couple of options that affect the image such as changing the aspect ratio from the PSP’s native 16:9 which stretches the image or 4:3 which maintains the games original aspect ratio. There is also a 1:1 mode that presents the game in its native resolution which causes letterboxing on all sides.
So what’s all this I hear about homebrew?
On top of having a great library of games the PSP was also hacked and various homebrew projects were created for it including ports of popular emulators. That’s right, from the Atari 2600 to the Commodore 64 to the SNES, this machine has got you covered.
It’s pretty simple to install custom firmware on the PSP nowadays since Sony has dropped support and no longer updates it. Some simple searching can point you in the right direction. Here are some notable emulators that run pretty well on the system:
PSP VIce (Commodore 64)
Nester J (NES)
Snes9xTYL
CPS1
gPSP
The PSP has many more emulators just search up your favorite console and changes are that the PSP has an emulator for it.
That’s cool but how do you run the games?
Well since the PSP doesn’t support the various physical media that each of these emulators need it does so by using ROMS. If you’re interested in finding out how you can play your own cartridges on the PSP have a look at the The Ripping Thread that we have here made by the wonderful Seik that will teach you how to make your own ROM dumps for the various emulators the PSP supports.
