The PSP is what the Game Boy would have been to Generation Z gamers, but only better. To this date, this handheld console is unarguably the best portable system. Despite being less successful than its rival, the Ni♒ntendo DS, the PSP managed to sell 80 million unit throughout its 10-year lifespan. For some gamers, it was the vast library of games with superb 3D graphics that attracted them while for others, it was its multimedia functionality. However, you’d be surprised to know that the PSP could do so much more beyond its native features. Indeed, only dedicated fans are aware of the console’s real potential. Thus, we present you 25 PlayStation Portable Secrets Only True Fans Know.
Whether you were a casual or a hardcore PSP player, this article is for every type of gamers as we’re sure you’ll find some new information. Though Sony stopped supporting the console, the fan community is still alive and serves as a gateway for amateuౠr developers. It definitely occupies a special place in gamers' hearts capturing a new exciting world of portable gaming.
22 🌊 Hacked PSPs For The Win!
For the most tech-savvy fans, it is no s🥀ur𓆏prise that the PSP can do so much more than its essential features. However, its biggest turn on is that the console is fully hackable.
However, its most popular hack will undoubtedly remain the “Pandora’s Battery.”
Essentially, this hacking method allows you to convert your PSP battery into a bootable one. Once inserted, the PSP will force itself onto the recovery mode, enabling the device to install custom firmware. From there, players could even download game filꩲes from the internet and play them. These modified batteries can either be purchased online or 🌟can be created by yourself, given that you do have an extra battery and a friend who can lend you its hacked PSP.
21 It Was✃ Just A Dream...
Looking at the PSP now, I guess its only natural that we consider it as the little brother of the PlayStation family. Its default black color a𒆙nd its signature buttons are reminding us of a cross experiment between a DualShock controller and a PS console.
The handheld device concept featured flat buttons instead of the regular leveled ones.
I’ve always despised these type of dials as I never seem to have the feeling of button-mashing. Furthermore, the analog stick seems to have been tossed out for a thin-lined circular D-Pad. Though petite-h🎀anded players would have easily adapted with this configuration, large-handed gamers would have struggled as the annular strip would have been too small for them.
20 Why Have A Camera When You Have A PSP? ൩
Before its successor — The PS Vita, the PSP was the most efficient handheld console in the ma🔥rket, at the time. Whether you wanted to play games, listen to music or watch movi✃es, the PSP had it all covered.
The PSP Camera is an accessory that plugs itself directly onto the USB port of the PSP.
Once screwed to the top, players could then select the “Camera” option under the Photo app to activate the camera. The hardware only came in the US, on 20🐻10, which was four years later than 🐓its original Japanese launch. The camera resolution was 0.3 megapixels which would be considered as mediocre in our today’s standards.
19 ꦡ Nint꧅endo PSP
Yup, you could play your favorite games from the NE♕S al♑l the way to the N64.
To enable the feature, players naturally need to hack your PSP to allow custom firmware. Once done, gamers can download compatible emulators to run ꦚthe games. Custom apps like NesterJ, GBA4PSP & SNES9x are the most popular apps to run on the NES, Game Boy Advance and SNES, respectively. Players would൲ then need to download ROMs files of their games. The DaedalusX64 is the most ambitious homebrew for the N64 but not every game are entirely compatible with it.
18 💦 Mini-Internet? Check!
Web browsing is now consಌidered as a necessary feature of every mobile device. However, it wasn't the case at the beginning of the 2000s. Many devices even lacked wifi connectivity, as the technology wasn’t prevalent at the time (this is something that young kids would never have to experience). The PlayStation Portable was a vanguard of the modern console partly thanks to its built-in wifi and its ability to surf through the web.
♚Players were able to access web pages and could even save multimedia files, such as music, videos, and pictures. Before you get any superficial ideas, the handheld’s 🍎browser was very limited compared to today’s smartphones. Although users could view web pages, hefty pages proved to load very slowly and could sometimes crash your PSP.
17 Co🦩ntrol Your PS3 With Your PSP
In a nutshell, players could stream the PS3 through the PSP and could even play PS1 games directly from the portable. PS3-based games couldn’t be played, but few PSN titles were Remote Play compatible. For instance, players could run the PS3 game Bionic Commander Rearmed via PSP. Also, Remote Play was also an inspiration behind the Cross-Play feature, which allows you to play a game siꦆmultaneously in the PS3 & PS Vita. The only hick is that players are not able to use the PS3 from the TV, as the PSP takes the streaming connection to enable the feature. Still, we have to give props to Sony to come up with an idea like this!
16 Not Your Average New PSP Model ౠ 🧜
The original bulky PSP-1000 & the slimmer PSP-2000 are by far the most preferred models for real PSP fans, thanks to their easiness to hack. Sony would later release upgraded models of the PSP, but its most noticeable one would be the PSP Go.
One of the PSP Go's most robust feature is its design. The console is about 50% lighter than the original PSP and more compact. Also, it comes included with a 16 GB built-in memory and players can insert an additional memory stick to increase it. However, the PSP Go was only compatible with digital g🅰ames as Sony removed the UMD tray from the console. This proved to be a problem for gamers that already bought physical copies of their games as they couldn’t play it.
15 🅷 PS2/PSP Connectivity
The PSP released more than a ye𒁏ar before the PS3. Despite that, the꧂ portable system had more affinity for the future console than the PlayStation 2.
Unknown to many, both consoles had a limited amount of games that were cross-compatible. Although the library was scarce, it’s still interesting to see how the titles would fare together. For instance, SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo 2 (PSP) and SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs Combined Assault (PS2) would feature cross-🐲talk objectives that players would need to complete in both games. Succeeding these missions not only unlock items, but it also affects the gameplay of the other title.
Though this feature may be lost in history, we have to credit the PS2-PSP connectivity for bringing innovation in the video💯 game industry.
14 🧜 The BoomBox Is Back From The P🔯ast
Audio has always been an esseღntial component when playing video games. In a nutshell, players can simply plug the PSP onto the machine’s port to connect the audio through the system. While you may enjoy the tunes of your favorite artist, the Boombox is also equipped with a 3.5 mm cable that allows you to play your favorite games more comfortably. The accessory is also compatible with most of your MP3 devices should you need to play your full collection of𝓀 digital sound! On another perspective, you can now hear the Ridge Racer announcer more clearly!
13 🦩 Put A GPS🎃 On It
The fact that the PSP could connect through the web via wifi was definitely a significant achievement from the gaming industry. While casuꦉal gamers may think that wifi was the technology peak of the PSP, then you’d best to th💛ink again, as you could also flip your portable console to a GPS.
Go!Explore converts your PSP into a high-frequency direction finder. The beauty of it is that you don’t even need an internet connection to activate it. The accessory comes with a receiving panel that connects through the USB port. Users would then need to run the Go!Explore, and that's all; you’ve got another GPS with you. The add-on was not only limited to find your destination as specific titles were compatible with it. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops allowed players with their GPS- converted PSP to re𓆉cruit each other as a soldier,꧋ should they be in the same area.