PSP
Sony's first handheld
- 2004Released
- 7thGeneration
- SonyDeveloper
PSP Specifications
- Processor
- Sony CXD2962GG (32-bit based on MIPS R4000)
- Processor Speed
- 222 MHz
- RAM
- 32 MB eDRAM
- GPU
- Embedded into CPU
- GPU Speed
- 111 MHz
- Video RAM
- 2 MB eDRAM
- Resolution
- 480 × 272 pixel
- Colors Available
- 24-bit RGBA
- Media Engine
- Sony CXD1876
- Media Engine Speed
- 222 MHz MHz
- Media Engine RAM
- 2 MB eDRAM
Overview
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) was Sony’s first handheld console and its attempt to challenge Nintendo’s dominance of the handheld market. The PSP was well regarded and benefited from the strength of the PlayStation brand, but it fell well short of its main competitor, the Nintendo DS. The PSP sold over 80 million units over its roughly ten-year lifespan, a respectable figure but far below the DS family’s roughly 154 million.
PSP emulation began not long after the console’s release in 2004. The first attempt was PSPE, which could never run a commercial game but showed that PSP emulation was possible. Many other emulators followed. The leading PSP emulator today is PPSSPP, which can run almost every PSP game and render it in HD. Thanks largely to the PPSSPP team, PSP emulation is now very mature.
The PSP had high-end hardware for its time, with a more powerful processor and GPU than the Nintendo DS. It also had multimedia features such as video and music playback, and it could connect to the PlayStation 3 for Remote Play.
Unlike Nintendo’s handhelds and most of the rivals that tried to compete with them, the PSP used an optical disc format instead of cartridges: the Universal Media Disc (UMD).
Key Features
UMD Discs
Used the Universal Media Disc optical format instead of cartridges.
High-End Hardware
A more powerful processor and GPU than the Nintendo DS.
Multimedia Player
Played video and music as well as games.
Remote Play
Could connect to the PlayStation 3 for Remote Play.
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PSP Emulators
Which one to pick
Known forRuns almost every PSP game at several times the PSP's resolution, with shaders, texture replacement, save states and ad hoc multiplayer over the internet.
Known forAn early Java emulator that uses multi-core CPUs to run some commercial games at full speed and can play hundreds of them.
Known forA C# emulator with a strong dynamic recompiler that ran several commercial games at a decent speed, with higher render resolutions.
Known forAn early C++ emulator that ran some homebrew but never commercial games.
In short
PPSSPP is the better choice for most people: it runs almost the entire PSP library in HD on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, with low system requirements. On Linux, Flathub or your distribution’s packages give the current version. JPCSP is a Java emulator that plays hundreds of games but has been overtaken by PPSSPP. Soywiz PSP Emu and PCSP are no longer developed and are kept here as an archive.
