Hacked PS1 emulation on PSP now more efficient [update 1]
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Jan 4th 2007 at 8:25PM }
Dark_AleX has released another edition of his custom PSP firmware. Just as it appears '3.03 Open Edition Revision A' (OE-A) is essentially a modified version of Sony's official v3.03 fimware. 3.03OE-A also comes with a modified version of Sony's PS1 emulator, popstation; and with this latest custom firmware release, custom-made ISOs (game files) can now be compressed to conserve memory stick space.Ethical concerns aside, it's amazing how the PSP homebrew scene has exploded ahead of Sony, unlocking the company's emulator for use with all PS1 titles. With just a few hours of research, a stack of old PlayStation games on hand, and perhaps a little trial and error, you now have the power to forge your own emulation experience -- imagine that. You don't even need a PlayStation 3.
Update: clarified that popstation is a modified version of Sony's PS1 emulator.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Heishiro @ Jan 4th 2007 8:47PM
Its pretty damn funny that the PSP was supposed to be the end-all be-all media device, with the most incredible
hand-held games around. Instead it's greatest assets right now are its ability to play games from 11 years back. I got only 4 letters for that L.M.A.O.
Zero_ @ Jan 4th 2007 8:55PM
Been using it for the past week or so (With 3.02OE-B), and I have to say; I love the PSP Homebrew scene.
shirizaki @ Jan 4th 2007 8:49PM
Ethical concerns aside?
I bought FF7, why should I buy it again digitally?
qbix @ Jan 4th 2007 8:59PM
Dark_Alex just saved me $599 or more! Take that Geico!
nubs @ Jan 4th 2007 9:03PM
AFAIK popstation is a converter, not an emulator.
I might be wrong though, I'm a PSP noob (bought a PSP after DA released 3.02 OE-B, to play PSone games, how's that)
Darren Tilley @ Jan 4th 2007 9:09PM
Joystiq, don't get ahead of yourselves. You are so quick to bash Sony in every post, that you forget to look at the facts.
The PSOne emulator contained in this firmware was written by Sony. The only thing changed is it's ability to only open copy protected games. The fact that it's nearly compatible with every ISO at full speed, falls on the shoulders of Sony. Dark_Alex may have opened the thing up, but he has done no work to improve or otherwise modify the actual emulator's core.
Compression was always supported by the emulator. All of Sony's official downloads were compressed. Just because the compression has now been hacked so it can be utilized for non-official releases, doesn't mean that homebrew is , does not mean that "homebrew scene has exploded ahead of Sony in terms of PSone emulation".
Every aspect of the emulator you love so dearly was coded by Sony. Give props where they are due. Dark_Alex deserves praise for the hacking/reverse engineering he has done, but don't forget to at least say something positive about Sony once in a while.
Gaspacho @ Jan 4th 2007 9:10PM
i wonder what the minimum firmware has to be. in the readme.txt instructions it asks to place the update in a folder that doesn't exist on my memory stick.
ninja @ Jan 4th 2007 9:17PM
so if i have a 3.02 firmware psp with no homebrew at all, i can update it with the 3.03 OE-A and take advantage of playing my old ps1 games?
Darren Tilley @ Jan 4th 2007 9:21PM
#7. You need to have a homebrew capable firmware already, or at least one that can be downgraded to support homebrew.
#8. No, if you have 3.02, you'll have to wait till that firmware has been hacked to be downgradable, or to run homebrew itself.
James @ Jan 5th 2007 6:36PM
OK, for those who are not familiar with the seedy underbelly of the Internets, here's the basics of PSP hacking (or the subset pertinent to this post):
If you have a firmware version greater than 1.50, you need to downgrade so you can run homebrew in kernel mode (I think -- this may have changed, but it's a good idea). If you have a firmware version greater than 2.80, you cannot downgrade.
Once you're running 1.50, you can run homebrew software (like the custom firmware flasher). Then, follow the readme to create the firmware composite image, copy the file over, and run the flasher. You can run homebrew just like in 1.50, plus any ISO UMD backups, plus PSX games converted with popstation. The previous poster is right -- popstation just turns an ISO you ripped from your PSX CD into an EBOOT.PBP file you can play on your PSP.
zMastaa @ Jan 4th 2007 9:34PM
Gaspacho..................u create the folder..........................
The ZeroCorpse @ Jan 4th 2007 10:39PM
One more time. . .
Can we please dispense with the "homebrew" pretense? You and I and everyone else knows that "homebrew" is simply code for "pirated ROMs" and in this case- with PS1 games being the subject of the article- it's all too obvious that the PSP's only real strength is the ability to allow people to steal software and play it on a smaller screen.
Until I see an article about all the great independently-developed homebrewed games, I won't buy it when people say "homebrew" PSP and pretend they mean that there's some great community of open-source PSP game developers. There isn't. It's almost ALL illegally downloaded ROMs, and it is about time we stop using the polite "homebrew" euphemism and instead started calling it what is is.
This is the PSP illegal emulation scene, NOT the "homebrew" scene. I have no respect for people who can't at least own up to the fact that they're doing something that they know is wrong.
Zero_ @ Jan 4th 2007 10:58PM
ZeroCorpse, perhaps you should check out the 'scene' before you make such bold claims, I'll sustain from attacking you and conduct myself in the most pleasant manner by not making you look like a fool.
1. This is only the second of 2 firmwares that allow you to 'steal' Playstation games, ever, so the 'scene' by no means, is just about pirating Playstation games.
2. I was never aware that making images of games purchased 4 years ago was 'pirating'. Sure, there are people who download the games, but that is no different to the numerous systems in the past.
3. You shouldn't just perceive reality from articles you read on Joystiq. Just because you don't see articles written about it, it does not mean it does not exist. Fact of the matter is, there are numerous -homebrew- games and applications that don't revolve around stealing things; programs to customise your PSP far beyond anything Sony could allow you to, programs that'll improve aspects of the system that could've used to much more work; music, video etc., games such as Iris and other games people code exist, heck, even to the most extreme such as turning the PSP into a universal remote.
4. There is a large growing community of open source developers all helping each other out. Check out http://noobz.eu if you want justification, and that's only a handful of them.
Please, if you really want to see how great of a community the PSP -homebrew- scene is, check out pspupdates.qj.net, noobz.eu, maxconsole.net or ps2dev.org, but whatever you do, don't make such assumptions without even looking into the scene.
TopaZ @ Jan 4th 2007 11:23PM
I second that #12!
There are TONS of fantastic HOMEBREW PROGRAMS (gasp, the H word!) that I use EVERY single day:
Bookr (e-book/pdf reader)
PSP Kick (drum machine/sequencer)
MP3 Plugin (allows you to listen to your mp3's while playing games)
VNC (to connect to my home PC remotely)
Remote Control (acts like a Harmony-like remote for my home theater system)
etc, etc. The list goes on and on.
Thanks to Dark Alex for allowing me to enjoy all the benefits of firmware upgrades, without having to sacrifice the applications I have been using on the device since Day 1.
Salut
LuckyCharm2007 @ Jan 6th 2007 12:00AM
Good , now lets hack PS3 to pirate those games too.
Counterfe1t @ Jan 5th 2007 1:28AM
i suddenly have new found love for my psp the firmware saved my psp from being dust magnet
THANK YOU DARK_ALEX!!
MrP @ Jan 5th 2007 7:14AM
Actually, as far as I know (from reading Popstation's readme file), you need a PS3 to play your own PS1 games on your PSP completely legitimately. Or at least, you need to know someone with a PSP. See, the Popstation converter needs a "base" game from the Playstation Store for it to convert anything. Dark_Alex recommends Hot Shots Golf 2 for it. So for those of us without a PS3, the only way to play PS1 games is to get that game through filesharing systems or to have friends with PS3s download them and send them to us. Or to look for the already-converted PS1 games that are bound to pop up on various filesharing systems. Either way, you're playin' with piracy.
Of course, if you're feeling guilty, you could always just pay for every download of Hot Shots Golf 2 that your friend-with-the-PS3 is doing for you.
The ZeroCorpse @ Jan 5th 2007 12:27PM
Oh, they're 3 years old so it's not piracy. I get it.
WHAT?
So what I saw above was a list of FIVE homebrewed applications, and justification for pirating ROMS and emulating them on your PSP.
Yes. I've been in the "scene"- Since before the PSP was released, but I since got wise and dumped that paperweight because frankly, putting old ROMs and lame hackware on my $250 portable wasn't what I got it for, and the commercial software was a joke.
And word to the wise: It is piracy as long as the companies hold the publishing rights to the software, and it doesn't matter if it's three years or ten years, you're doing something Sony doesn't want, and explicitly tries to block. Even circumventing their protections is questionable in terms of the law.
Old PS1 games are NOT worth the hassle.
SuicideNinja @ Jan 5th 2007 1:32PM
"but don't forget to at least say something positive about Sony once in a while."
Okay. Bravias are neat. Everything else Sony branded sucks.
:)
NOT ENOUGH PS3\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ @ Jan 5th 2007 2:06PM
Okay. Bravias are neat. Everything else Sony branded sucks.
...
I disagree, I've got a SONY 65" projection tv that my xb360 looks AWESOME on... Hell, I've got 2 buddies that were (note past tense) PS2 fans and after GRAW, PGR, GeoW and RB6, they are hooked. One bought one and the other is kinda cheap, so he's holding off (but he'll buy one)...
Oh, and its the LAST sony product I'll ever buy (mainly the rootkit fiasco-thats just beyond BS - signing the authentication certificate - F them)...
play nice kiddies...
James @ Jan 5th 2007 6:51PM
I accidentally didn't confirm the above comment for a day and a half. As such, I didn't get to respond to Zero's assinine comments. So, here goes:
To ZeroCorpse: even *one* good homebrew app can be ample justification for hacking; five is pretty good, though that was definitely an incomplete list. A few more examples:
- I can play Quake I and II, which are open-sourced now.
- I can watch full-screen videos at the proper PSP resolution - not possible with the built-in player
- I can get MP3 player software with playlist functionality
- I can get a better web browser
(...Let's just say that I can fix shortcomings of the built-in functionality generally)
- I can read and edit text files, and/or use it as a PDA
- I can get emulators to play games from the SNES that I own, or NES, or Genesis, or...
Also, there's an open question whether the licensing restrictions that prohibit you from playing your previous-gen games on the PSP are actually violations of your rights under US Copyright law or not. So it's questionable whether it's illegal to play PSX games you own on your hacked PSP (the hacking itself is probably a DMCA violation, but a very large number of people consider the DMCA unconstitutional anyway). There's piracy, I don't deny, but there's a lot you can do with open source.
Zero_ @ Jan 5th 2007 11:40PM
"So what I saw above was a list of FIVE homebrewed applications, and justification for pirating ROMS and emulating them on your PSP."
You're a complete idiot. Like I said mate, don't percieve reality to be whatever you read. Just because he listed 5, it doesn't mean there are only 5 homebrew applications on the PSP. Maybe take a look at the sites I gave you? There are atleast 100+ homebrew applications.
Aex @ Jan 6th 2007 4:44AM
Oh man, Every thread ZeroCorpse touches just turns into pure entertaining gold!
"Yes. I've been in the "[PSP]scene"- Since before the PSP was released, but I since got wise and dumped that paperweight..." - ZeroCorpse
I guess its worth mentioning, there is a even larger scene, pirating DS games to things called flash carts, than there is a PSP homebrew scene o.O Oh but wait, we can't say bad things about the DS /slaps hand.
Anonymous @ Jan 30th 2007 7:57AM
I love it how sony comes out with a way for you to buy old games from their new console, and suddenly they are evil moneygrubbing scrooges, out to screw you out of house and home, but when Nintendo comes out with the Virtual Console (which is the same thing, but for NES/SNES/N64 etc they are praised and put on a soapbox of awesomeness. Seriously, the Nintendo fanboys have always been the most insane. I have a friend that (and I'm not even kidding) looked at Gears of War (on my 60" Plasma) running 1080i, and then switched inputs over to my Wii running Zelda at 480i (no component cables at the time) and he was (and is) such a Ninty fanboy that he told me (to my face) that he couldn't tell the difference in the graphics between Gears and Zelda. Some people will love Ninty till the cows come home, I friggin give up.
Joshua Adam Holland @ Feb 13th 2007 6:26PM
Is there a Universal Remote for Psp Supported By firmware Version 3.10
Rafa Rdz @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:48PM
I think PSP homebrew community is illegal and wrong like some comments say, but i dont care, since i think games and consoles could be cheaper and the companies would still win lots of money. I dont justify piracy, but i live in mexico where we make less money than the US other countries, and things are more expensive, when i got my PSP here it was like 350 dlls (maybe more, cant remember) for the simplest version (32 Mb ms and no usb cable) a year ago. I know there are people that live from doing games and this electronics, but come on things could be cheaper and they would still be rich. Same with music, movies, and windows. Im not gonna buy a CD from the crazy rich Mrs. Spears, or a P.Diddy one so he can get drunk with Crystal champagne and get laid, or a brad pitt movie so he can have his 20 million dollar house, they are so rich and stupid, i refer to download MP3, ROMs and Divx movies for FREE, and i just got SuSE linux x64, im starting to learn to use it, and for 50 bucks (could be free if i go OpenSuSE) i can do many things i would in a windows environment for more than twice the money (and even mre for the new Vista). To finish, i have to say that i do buy original CDs, games and movies when they r worth it and other stuff i like, or a mexican movie, or when i really like and need software. Sorry for the long comment. Keep it going Homebrew PSP illegal piracy guys, or whatever u want to call it. JRROmx