Joystiq Guide: PSone downloads hit the PSP (by way of the PS3)

by Christopher Grant { Dec 6th 2006 at 4:22PM }

Sure, a larger and cheaper selection of PSone titles hit Japanese PlayStation 3s a couple weeks ago but Sony has released the service stateside this week. The initial list includes Cool Boarders, Crash Bandicoot, Hot Shots Golf 2, Syphon Filter, and Tekken 2, all available for the exceptionally reasonable price of $5.99. Unfortunately, the list comes up notably short in the large jumping robotic rabbits category but, for now, we're just happy we're getting anything (see the full break down of Japanese versus American titles after the break). While the process of getting these PSone games from the ether and onto your handheld isn't quite as elegant as we'd like to see -- you need a difficult-to-find PlayStation 3 to download the games from the PlayStation Store and onto the PSP, even though you can't play those games on that PS3 -- the technology worked flawlessly and is an impressive display of the PSP's versatility and the potential interactivity between the handheld and its console big brother.

Enjoy our photo guide for getting PSone games onto your PSP using nothing only $5.99 in virtual cash, a USB cable, and some time (then some more time) ... oh yeah, and a PS3.

PSone titles	Japan	US
Arc the Lad (320MB)	X
Biohazard Director's Cut (380MB)	X
Bishi Bashi Special (160MB)	X
Cool Boarders (283MB)		X
Crash Bandicoot (469MB)		X
Hot Shots Golf 2 (167MB) (Minna no Golf 2 210MB)	X	X
Jumping Flash (280MB)	X
Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 1 (40MB)	X
Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 2 (40MB)	X
Silent Bomber (200MB)	X
Syphon Filter (385MB)		X
Tekken 2 (535MB 550MB)	X	X

The PlayStation Store has a nice new banner promoting the PSone classics for the PSP.

Follow it to a list of all available PSone games with release dates and descriptions.

Select a game and you can see the price ($5.99) and storage requirements (535MB). Add to cart and ...

... you get a cart. Of course, we don't have leftover money in our wallet since it's so darned convenient to just add what you want when you want. No remaindered points here!

If you continue the transaction, someone's bound to notice your wallet's empty. Luckily, they're very polite and they quietly ask you to add some funds in there before your friends notice.

We love love love this. No silly points, no obtuse denominations (1000 points when my game is only 800 ... ). The game is $5.99, so we add $5.99.

We really bought Crash Bandicoot ... everything else has a PSP native version, y'know? There are two files necessary: a "license" file that restricts playback to your PSP (or up to 5 according to some) and the data file. That's the actual game. Duh.

This part gave us way more trouble than it should have. When you select to download either file, it prompts you to "Connect the PSP™ system using a USB cable." Conveniently, we always have a USB cable sticking out of our PS3 since it demands we plug the stupid thing in every time we update the console (please fix this Sony). What they meant to say was that you need to connect the PSP before you hit download ... and that you can't just connect it, but you need to connect it, enable USB Mode, then click Download. "Connect the PSP™ system using a USB cable" makes it sound so simple, right?

Our 466MB Crash package took almost 1-1/2 to download. We're willing to chalk this up to growing pains.

What isn't so clear is why the install process took forever. This is USB2 guys, how long can it take?

Bam! Under Games, under Memory Stick, is Crash Bandicoot!

Here's the "license" for Crash. There's "no time limit." Will we see time-limited demos maybe?

A brief note about PSone games on the PSP. Of interest: a software manual available by hitting "Home" and a warning about the converted functionality of PSone games (some features may not function properly ... like rumble).

Here it is!

We hit "Home."

There are four different control schemes. In this one, the analog nub is used to duplicate the PSone's L2 and R2 buttons.

Screen Mode options include "Original," pictured here ...

... Normal is just like Original but bigger ...

... while Full Screen stretches the image a little bit, but it looks great!

The software manual was a really nice surprise. They've included a scanned copy of the entire thing.

Page 5 of 29.

The credits. Fin.

Tags: Guide, Joystiq Guide, JoystiqGuide, PlayStation Store, PlaystationStore, PSone

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

RPM @ Dec 6th 2006 4:34PM

Who came up with the idea first? Nintendo with VC? Or Sony with this?

TIP @ Dec 8th 2006 11:39AM

I wanna see Gran Turismo 2 soon.

Lorben @ Dec 6th 2006 4:34PM

Neat! I haven’t played any of available games before, so this is great for me. Now they just need to cut the PS3 out of the equation.

JodyAnthony @ Dec 6th 2006 4:35PM

check out that battery level!

Chris @ Dec 6th 2006 4:35PM

This is the only thing I am excited about with the playstation 3.

Miguelotron @ Dec 7th 2006 7:25PM

Looks very nice, can't wait til they allow you to play the games straight off your PS3.

I'm looking forward to what else Sony has in store for the PSP-PS3 connectivity.

John @ Dec 7th 2006 1:43PM

have you tried copying it to a second psp?

seems like you could lol, they dont seem to be that well organised yet!

Goob @ Dec 7th 2006 6:15PM

I tried this without getting a connect your PSP prompt< and im assuming that was because it was already connected. Then when the file started downloading I disconnected my system, it downloaded the whole thing then said "install error." Now im starting over again, and that sucks

Backround downloads, Sony, please!!!!

Strike Man @ Dec 6th 2006 4:43PM

"We really bought Crash Bandicoot ... everything else has a PSP native version, y'know?"

Did the PSP get a Cool Boarders game while I wasn't looking? :p

DBX00 @ Dec 6th 2006 4:46PM

Sony announced PS1 emulation well before Nintendo Wii even became the Wii (I still like Revolution better). I bought Crash Bandicot as well and the game works well; I like being able to change the controls around and adjusting the screen size. The three things I'm looking forward to are:

1) Direct downloads from my PSP
2) Playing these on my PS3 (storing my collection on PS3 and downloading the data file to my PSP as I want to play)
3) Faster download speeds on the Playstation Network in general; they need to improve the speed of the servers during the 'rush hours'; The only way to get decent speeds is to download stuff at like 6am.

C. Grant @ Dec 6th 2006 4:48PM

Haha, touché Strike Man! SSX is on there though, and those games are all the same to me! =)

Yeah, my battery was running low! The download and install took so long ... the PSP is an incredible piece of machinery, but one thing I would LOVE to change would be the lack of charge-over-USB functionality.

Dopple Boppler @ Dec 6th 2006 4:54PM

Dang, Tekken 2 and Hot Shots Golf 2. I played those games to death back in the proverbial day. If it wasn't for the necessity of the PS3 I'd probably get myself a PSP just for this.

Andy @ Dec 6th 2006 4:51PM

@2
Its irrelevant because this is to put PS1 games onto a portable console, and Wii is not portable.

JodyAnthony @ Dec 6th 2006 4:56PM

before people attack me, my battery comment was all in fun. i still want to get a PSP, and plan to in the spring.

Keysesoze @ Dec 6th 2006 5:28PM

Looks good, I'm just waiting for Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Vagrant story, and any Final Fantasy game.

Kirk @ Dec 6th 2006 5:34PM

The question remains: Can these games run using devhook v.51 with the 3.01/2 firmware?

DBX00 @ Dec 6th 2006 5:45PM

Kirk

I would think that the problem with that is they can update the PS3 to check for devhook when you connect to the PSP. Therefore, even if you don't have a updated PSP, you still can stop the installation from the PS3; the license file also probably does something to stop this from working. As more and more titles become available, it will only make sense to either buy another PSP or give up on playing homebrew games and apps. It just kinda defeats the purpose of paying for PS1 titles if the next update will scrap any chance you have of playing them.

DBX00 @ Dec 6th 2006 5:50PM

Matter of fact, as the PSP becomes less of an island and more connected to the internet; I anticipate that you will have to upgrade your firmware to access the PS store like the PS3 or to login to the network. Therefore, it will be more and more difficult to play anything online without the latest and greatest firmware. The days of homebrew are coming to an end unless you really want to have a device to solely be used for homebrew apps and roms.

I personally like the homebrew scene but the majority of the stuff coming out now is to bypass the latest firmware instead of useful applications.

Jayslacks @ Dec 6th 2006 7:21PM

This is the only thing cool I've seen come out from the Sony camp. I love those old PSOne games and would gladly play them. But is it worth $600 dollars? I'm not sure yet. I like the idea of the PSP and I like the idea of getting games online. But I'll wait to see if the PS3 is worth the dollars. But, from this, it's a nice step in the right direction that has been making horrible moves thus far.

Shagi @ Dec 6th 2006 6:10PM

While updating my PSP to 3.01 in order to download and play these old titles my PSP bricked. I went from overjoyed to sour in a matter of the time it takes to 'Press the X-button to restart'.

Meh, now I'm probably going to have to pay Sony to fix my PSP even though I didn't do anything wrong.

All I can think of was having the USB plugged into the Ps3 at the same time I applied the update caused some corruption, or maybe the system memory just decided to go bad?

Shagi @ Dec 6th 2006 10:06PM

Oh and time to buy a Gp2x for all your homebrew needs.

DrXym @ Dec 7th 2006 4:45AM

PSP battery life is perfectly acceptable. Not great, but acceptable. I get about 4 hours worth of game or video time out of it.

Concerning downloads, anybody who has been looking at the firmware releases must see the general direction Sony are going with the PSP. All the thing with downloadable demos is just testing the proof of concept of running games from a memory stick. And the PSP now has a mysterious crypto key setting under games. Seems pretty obvious that the next step is to allow people to buy and download (not just PS1) games either from the PS3 or from a PC. I expect movies too. The key is probably to protect the content and lock it to the specific PSP.

rothbart @ Dec 6th 2006 6:15PM

See this post for video of this process: http://www.gamercastnetwork.com/forums/index.php?topic=1578.0

barry @ Dec 6th 2006 6:36PM

is there any reason that nintendo can't send VC titles to the DS? i'm not sure what the memory is in those things, but i know i've downloaded some pretty elaborate demos from target onto my DS.

what's keeping them from releasing an official cart with all of the necessary emulation software, hopefully with software for multiplayer between DSes, and some extra space for downloaded games? it would certainly make the $8 for altered beast seem a bit more reasonable.

there aren't many PS1 games i'm fond enough of to buy a PS3 to play them on the go, but they've got the price right. it would be so awesome to have VC games on the DS without having to resort to illegal and unreliable avenues.

ttr @ Dec 6th 2006 6:46PM

@15
Wow, the firmware update bricked your PSP? That really sucks. Did you make sure your battery was charged and you weren't fiddling with the power cord while it was installing? I know there's a bunch of warnings before the upgrade starts about that stuff.

Tim @ Dec 6th 2006 8:15PM

Eihander should work perfectly on the PSP. That game was awesomo.

Fan @ Dec 6th 2006 7:58PM

"Who came up with the idea first? Nintendo with VC? Or Sony with this?"

Who cares? For the record I think it was Sony who was first to the mill. But does it really matter? Is not the important thing that we can play older titles on handhelds and consoles? You people amaze me with your constant need to bicker and moan.

"This is the only thing cool I've seen come out from the Sony camp. I love those old PSOne games and would gladly play them. But is it worth $600 dollars?"

This again pisses me off. This is the only cool thing thats on the PS3? What about the damn games? Mercenaries 2, Heavenly Sword or The Naughty Dog Project. None of these titles interest you at all? What about GOW3? Do you actually use your consoles to game or do you hoist them up a pole and swear an alligence?

Also the PS3 is NOT 600$ there is a cheaper version out there that is just as good for your gaming needs. These types of comments just show that you are not out to discuss anything you just want to CONVINCE others that the PS3 is as expensive as possible.

So SHUT UP with the damn penis comparisons allready. It makes us all look like 16 year olds with nothing better to do than argue on the internet. Instead of the 20 to 30 something people we are who come together because of our mutual love of GAMES. Do us all a favor and THINK before you come of as some corporate marketing tool.

Calibur @ Dec 6th 2006 8:31PM

Ah, thank you Verizon Fios:-D

tunglashor @ Dec 7th 2006 3:57AM

DBX00 - since we're discussing emulation, you can now get full speed emulation of Capcom CPS2 games on the PSP - so it's not quite fair to say there's no worthwhile homebrew coming out these days.

Fan - I agree very much with what you're saying although to be fair the guy you're calling out didn't seem particularly fanboyish... but yeah I agree with the sentiment. I don't get how supposed game lovers can have so much ill feeling towards a damn game console, particularly one they've never played.

Juise @ Dec 6th 2006 11:35PM

Hey Chris, I modded my PSP to charge over USB. It's a simple one wire mod. Email me if you would like me to write up some instructions on how it was done.

dolemite @ Dec 7th 2006 1:14AM

Just bought a PSP today. Now I need a bigger memory stick and I'll be good to go. Where is SOTN? Dammit SOny, hurry up! If they can allow users to download without a PS3(yeah I know its coming) then this along with a price cut would be just the boost the PSP needs. Now if Nintendo would do this for the DS then I would buy one of those as well.

martin @ Dec 7th 2006 8:32AM

For those saying Nintendo copied Sony because of Wii VC games..... ummm when did Sony announce it would actually be in affect, and anyone remember Animal Crossing to GBA.....

but anyways.... this looks cool and who cares who did what... my main concern is....

What about games that require 4 triggers on the PSX??? What about games that required dual analog??? (there were a few) what are they doing with those???