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Playstation Emulator for PSP Released

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the because-the-games-editor-misses-the-dreamcast dept.

Joan Cross writes "Today sees the release of the first Playstation Emulator for the PSP to play commercial games; the emulator plays games such as Ridge Racer at up to 10fps, and once dynarec is added full speed is easily in grasp. The emulator works on all PSPs except those with firmware 2.80 and higher." Update: 09/26 12:19 GMT by Z :Fixed dept.

63 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. Oooh, a groovy 10fps! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    10fps in Ridge Racer, alright!!! Flooring it in slow-mo has never been so much fun.

    1. Re:Oooh, a groovy 10fps! by falloutgib · · Score: 2, Funny

      http://lexluthor.ytmnd.com/

      C'mon, let me hear you say it.

      "It's Ridge Racer! Riiiiiiiidge Racer!"

      No, not that...the other thing.

      "The Playstation 3 shall retail for... $599!"

      WRONG!

      --
      "Holy shit! A talking muffin!"
    2. Re:Oooh, a groovy 10fps! by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      10fps in Ridge Racer, alright!!! Flooring it in slow-mo has never been so much fun.

      This is great for people who are hopeless at driving games. At least they have more time to avoid the other cars :)

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
  2. I seriously doubt it. by Cutriss · · Score: 5, Informative

    once dynarec is added full speed is easily in grasp.

    Yeah right. The authors of the PSP SNES emulator basically stated that even with dynamic recompilation and a full rewrite, they could see no more than a 10% speed increase over what they already have, which is playable, but not full-speed.

    Somehow I highly doubt that the PSX emulator (at least the homebrew one) will accomplish that feat.

    --
    "Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
    1. Re:I seriously doubt it. by mike260 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Absolutely right. Running MIPS code at full speed on a MIPS CPU is clearly impossible, even with a 4-5x clockspeed increase. It'd be like running win32/x86 apps at full speed on Linux/x86 - as if that's ever going to happen!

    2. Re:I seriously doubt it. by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Running MIPS code at full speed on a MIPS CPU is clearly impossible, even with a 4-5x clockspeed increase.

      Running MIPS instructions on a faster MIPS core isn't the problem. It's emulating the support hardware of the Playstation -- the sound hardware, the Geometry Transformation Engine, the Data Decompression Engine et al -- that requires a lot of overhead, and has to be done mostly in software. Even where the PSP hardware offers a close analogue, you'll need at least twice the power of the original Playstation, to translate the opcode and then execute it.

    3. Re:I seriously doubt it. by matt328 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Dynarec (while being a pretty cool little contraction) has rarely brought the speed emulator authors promised. I'd like to see the authors of this emu blame its slowness on my hardware not being up to snuff.

      --
      Check out the cave on the east side of lake Hylia. Strange and wonderful things live in it.
    4. Re:I seriously doubt it. by PhotoBoy · · Score: 1

      No it doesn't it has 1 CPU running at 222MHz (333 if you overclock) and it has a GPU running at 166MHz.

    5. Re:I seriously doubt it. by Fozzyuw · · Score: 1

      It's all fine and dandy except...

      1) If you want to play new PSP games, they require you to update your PSP OS to the latest version. So, don't expect to be able to play anything that's "X.X and earlier" if you buy and play new PSP games.

      2) PSP games are pretty limited. So, maybe you won't have much need to upgrade. =)

      I've used my PSP more for a MP3 player than game or movie player. It's such a beautiful piece of hardware but Sony has just driven any sport of the system into the ground. They really need to get off their "We're Sony, we demand a premium price!" kick. If they sold UMD movies for $10, maybe the UMD business would be thriving more, exciting more people to buy the PSP, which will encourge more 3rd party support for games as there's a greater user base and better chance of selling more games.

      --
      "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
  3. One More Platform by blueZhift · · Score: 1

    Cool! Now I'll have one more platform not to finally finish Final Fantasy VII on! I love the homebrew scene, but I really wish Sony would build this stuff and make it easy for people to do all of this stuff. I'd even be willing to pay for the software if it was good, easy to use, and not too expensive. Oh well, a guy can dream.

    --
    To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
    1. Re:One More Platform by DrXym · · Score: 1
      The problem with the homebrew scene on the PSP is that's its basically a front for pirates. While there are people just interested in homebrew, it is quite obvious from looking at various sites that all the tools for downgrading / exploiting firmware, emulating UMDs, ripping UMDs, running isos from memory stick etc. are basically piracy tools and used as such. No wonder that Sony are updating their firmware as fast as they can. It's tough on genuine homebrewers, but what do they expect?

      Genuine homebrewers should be imploring Sony to release a Linux for the PSP and then to lock down the firmware as tightly as possible. Then they can have-at-it with Linux while not allowing the pirates to justify their actions by pretending to be homebrewers. Perhaps that is one motivation for Sony to say the PS3 would have Linux.

  4. GPL violations by RonnyJ · · Score: 1

    From what the linked forum thread states, this emulator seems to be based on the code of PCSX and others, breaking the GPL license.

  5. License Violations ahoy! by TheBlueCrab · · Score: 5, Informative

    This emulator is a deriative work of PCSX (see the linked forum post), as well as the P.E.Op.S Soft SDL driver, and SDL itself. It violates the license of all three of those by not releasing source or an offer to get the source. (Heck, it doesn't even acknowledge that its a deriative work of any of them.)

    1. Re:License Violations ahoy! by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Are you sure that it's an SDL derivative and not just using SDL? There are quite a few commercial games using SDL that aren't opensource either.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    2. Re:License Violations ahoy! by TheBlueCrab · · Score: 1

      Statically linking with a library (in terms of the LGPL) makes the resulting binary a deriative work.

    3. Re:License Violations ahoy! by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Ah ok, the commercial games use dlls AFAIK.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  6. Yet last I heard... by beckerist · · Score: 2, Interesting
    From Engadget:

    ...users of [firmware versions] 1.5 and above obviously requiring the eLoader exploit.

    ...which still requires editing of savegames, which still requires a copy of GTA, which still isn't legal (at least according to SONY). Why can't SONY come out with their own, viable version or a PS1 emulator already? Besides, who wants to play these games at a max of 10FPS when the human eye can see at a solid 16FPS itself?
    1. Re:Yet last I heard... by beckerist · · Score: 1

      and don't get me wrong, it's a very cool concept... I just don't see this as practical in the least (at least for now!)

    2. Re:Yet last I heard... by Manmademan · · Score: 1

      actually, I'm using the current version of Eloader on my PSP (firmware v.2.60) to play NES/SNES Roms, and it 1.) requires no editing of savegames and 2.) Requires no copy of GTA.

    3. Re:Yet last I heard... by ZakuSage · · Score: 1

      "This version brings user-mode homebrew to v2.0-v2.6 PSPs, without the need for Grand Theft Auto. Now, almost all the software that worked with GTA can now be used without it.

      And GTA Exploit was never illegal.

    4. Re:Yet last I heard... by tepples · · Score: 1
      And GTA Exploit was never illegal.

      Unless you're under 17 and you have to show fake ID (which is illegal to use) to buy a copy of GTA.

    5. Re:Yet last I heard... by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Just order it from eBay then or get an adult to buy it for you.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    6. Re:Yet last I heard... by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      The page you linked to referenced 18fps, not 16fps, as the point at which the eye ceases to see flicker for a movie. But as they point out, this is due to a number of factors, including the "blur" (which I assume is very visible on film-based media but is less likely to appear in an FPS as that's, essentially, three dimensional anti-aliasing.)

      Interesting link. Given the limitations of modern monitors, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of research into how to create appropriate "blur" in the future (if there isn't already.)

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    7. Re:Yet last I heard... by ZakuSage · · Score: 1

      Not in all areas.

  7. WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    from the because-you-have-to-play-shenmue-on-the-train dept.

    I thought Shenmue was exclusively for the Dreamcast, not PSX

    1. Re:WTF? by rincebrain · · Score: 1

      You are correct, sir.

      --
      It's only an insult if it's not true.
    2. Re:WTF? by Cryptnotic · · Score: 1

      Shenmue 2 came out for Xbox in the U.S.
      Of course, Xbox isn't PSX either.

      AFAIK, there was no Shenmue for PSX.

      I wonder if Castlevania: Symphony of the Night works.

      --
      My other first post is car post.
  8. Connectix Virtual Game Station by Bones3D_mac · · Score: 1

    I wonder if Sony will ever come up with a virtual machine using CVGS (which they purchased a few years ago) to play legitimate downloadable versions of PS1 games stored on memory sticks. This could help draw some attention away from the Nintendo Wii and its virtual console feature.

    --


    8==8 Bones 8==8
  9. Er... by Manmademan · · Score: 1

    Sony IS developing a PSX emulator for the PSP, due to release later this year around the Ps3 launch. It will cost money, (obviously) but you DID say you'd be willing to pay for the software...

    1. Re:Er... by blueZhift · · Score: 1

      Absolutely, I'd be willing to pay as much as $30 or $40, but if it came out at the Ron Popeil friendly price of $19.95, I'd be even happier. I have a lot of old PSX games lying around that I'd love to be able to sneak off into some room in the house, away from the kids, and play without too many interruptions. Yes, I'm a baaaad man!

      --
      To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
    2. Re:Er... by Sancho · · Score: 1

      But are you also willing to pay for the games? Otherwise, I don't see how you're going to get them on a PSP (particularly with a Sony (tm) emulator, which probably won't allow ISOs.)

    3. Re:Er... by tepples · · Score: 1
      But are you also willing to pay for the games? Otherwise, I don't see how you're going to get them on a PSP

      Walkman(tm) shaped CD-ROM drive?

    4. Re:Er... by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      At that point you can just mount a battery and LCD on your PS1.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    5. Re:Er... by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Hell, if I could get a PSOne with the controller built in, like that one guy did, I'd be totally ok with that. I just want to play FFT and DW7 on the go, dammit!

    6. Re:Er... by steveo777 · · Score: 1
      Hate to burst your bubble, but anyone who's played FFT (assuming you meain Final Fantasy Tactics) knows that 4 hours of batterly life is never going to be enough. It's frusteratingly little... Where the hell is the next Tactics Sqeenix? We'll buy it as long as it is more like the PSOne version and not like the GBA version. Hell, it'll sell a lot of systems. I would even think about buying a PS3 if'n it has enough amazing tactics games on it...

      I might even break down and buy a PSP if there was a few good tactics games and they let me copy them to mem stick so I didn't have to play off UMDs.

      --
      This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
    7. Re:Er... by Khaotix · · Score: 1

      I'm assuming $0 for the emulator, $10-20 per game

    8. Re:Er... by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Four hours of battery life is plenty for me. I just need it to survive long enough for my commute to finish and to reach the next outlet. I don't mind playing tethered to the wall, or even carrying around the gear. It's just the having to hold the controller instead of the unit itself (and thus having to set the PSone down somewhere) that kills it.

      On the other hand, There's always my ASCII Grip

  10. Definatly going to check this out. by kinglink · · Score: 1

    I just got a PSP a month ago, and haven't found that many great games for the system (metal gear acid is great). But I kinda feel crappy that Sony has screwed the homebrew users...

    However as long as someone confirms it (sounds like this does) I'll be picking this up. I used to have a ton of PSX games, and am rebuilding my collection. Add in the fact I can play it on a portable and I'm happy.

    And I play RPGS, fps isn't too important there.

    1. Re:Definatly going to check this out. by tepples · · Score: 1
      But I kinda feel crappy that Sony has screwed the homebrew users...

      That happened back in 2004 when Sony started to terminate CLIE. It has little to do with PSP, which was never intended to run homebrew. (Another company, on the other hand, mostly looks the other way.)

    2. Re:Definatly going to check this out. by kinglink · · Score: 1

      Yes, however that other company realizes they make money especially if people are able to run homebrew and buy games, plus they don't have firmware.

      Honestly Sony continues to show an unkind face to the consumers. If they want ot charge me 15 bucks per game to play games I already own on PSX legal discs, screw them. I'm going to continue to support PSX-P even though it might go against the GPL because simply put, they give me the fairest deal (I am allowed to play the games I bought).

      I hope they give a website and avoid this GPL problem. I love the software it works (though it needs speed upgrades). I'd love to donate to the project because this is worthy work in my book. Allowing people to play games that they paid money for on the hardware that they paid money for shouldn't even be a question.

    3. Re:Definatly going to check this out. by tepples · · Score: 1
      Yes, however that other company realizes they make money especially if people are able to run homebrew and buy games, plus they don't have firmware.

      Yes, the DS has a 256 KiB firmware. There have been two major versions of the firmware, with some minor revisions to each (e.g. to support DS Lite brightness control). However, Nintendo doesn't plug holes nearly as often as Sony: a DS Lite purchased in August 2006 is still subject to the same exploits (PassMe2 and NoPass) as a DS from October 2005.

      Honestly Sony continues to show an unkind face to the consumers. If they want ot charge me 15 bucks per game to play games I already own on PSX legal discs, screw them.

      Honestly Sony Pictures continues to show an unkind face to the consumers. If they want [to] charge me 15 bucks per movie to play movies I already own on VHS legal tapes, screw them.

      Allowing people to play games that they paid money for on the hardware that they paid money for shouldn't even be a question.

      You paid money for your original PlayStation or PSone and its games. You can still play them there.

    4. Re:Definatly going to check this out. by PhotoBoy · · Score: 1

      Are you sure they're talking about Nintendo and not GamePark's GP2X?

    5. Re:Definatly going to check this out. by tepples · · Score: 1
      <kinglink> that other company realizes they make money especially if people are able to run homebrew and buy games
      <PhotoBoy> Are you sure they're talking about Nintendo and not GamePark's GP2X?

      I don't think "and buy games" applies much to the GP2X. Do native commercial games for that system exist? The only current gaming handhelds I can think of that have both commercial games and a stable homebrew method are GBA and Nintendo DS.

    6. Re:Definatly going to check this out. by DrXym · · Score: 1

      They have screwed the homebrewers because there is a significant overlap between the homebrewers and the pirates, in the tools they develop and the sites they inhabit. I'm sure Sony have no particular beef with genuine homebrew software but they sure as hell do with pirates. Homebrewers are just caught in the crossfire, and that's just too bad. You could hardly blame Sony for wishing to protect their profits and the long term success of their system by updating their firmware to combat the various exploits to it.

  11. shenmue by namekuseijin · · Score: 1

    huh, Zonk, Shenmue is a Dreamcast game...

    --
    I don't feel like it...
  12. Re:Works on Verions 1.5-2.71 NO GTA REQUIRED by tepples · · Score: 1
    There is a new exploit that works all the way up to 2.71.

    Unfortunately, Sony is shipping 2.80 or later on new PSPs.

  13. Did someone say "Ridge Racer"? by Yvan256 · · Score: 2, Funny
    [...] the emulator plays games such as Ridge Racer at up to 10fps
    Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidge Raceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!
    1. Re:Did someone say "Ridge Racer"? by bunbuntheminilop · · Score: 1

      You drive me to dancing!

  14. The GP2X one? by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

    When will we read about the one for the GP2X on the front page? Let me guess, never?

    --
    You just got troll'd!
  15. And this is a problem.. how? by Khyber · · Score: 1

    we've got GHz of power (whereas the PSX had a 33 MHz core) and we've got far more than it's paltry 2 megs of RAM (I believe the PSP has more, so no wonder the PSP emulator is lagging,) for video memory. Then we haqve more plain RAM, at far faster speeds than the PSP. Emulating opcodes will not be a problem, even within an emulator, even in the tangled wreck that is Windows. BTW - ePSXe is nearly perfect with Pete's GPU/SPU plugins, so if anything, just up the Frame skipping to match real-time framerates.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re:And this is a problem.. how? by kalirion · · Score: 1

      What the hell are you talking about? GHz of power? Windows? The thread is about an emulator that plays PS games on the PSP, not on a PC!

  16. FPS is ABSOLUTELY important by Khyber · · Score: 1

    ... otherwise you'd never hit those combos correctly in Legend of Dragoon.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re:FPS is ABSOLUTELY important by kinglink · · Score: 1

      Turns out waiting for a single screen of text to appear in suikoden is like pulling your fingernails out, only with out the niceties. Playable by masochists.

  17. Are you just an idiot? by Khyber · · Score: 1

    FPS might as well be Hz when it comes to game frame refreshes. The human eye can at average discern 70 individual frames per second (that'd be 70Hz for you uneducated people...) and generally organically-processed motion blurring keeps that around 30Hz (or 30 FPS, whichever you prefer) Where you get your 16FPS is bullshit. Right around 30 pure FPS from my webcam is real-life motion, and I run one nice 64-bit system. You still using an 8-bit 8088?

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  18. Re:Works on Verions 1.5-2.71 NO GTA REQUIRED by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

    Well yes but honestly anyone who cares about homebrew probably noticed that the higher the firmware version the more difficult playing homebrew becomes so they bought their PSPs as soon as possible.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  19. Actually... no. by porkchop_d_clown · · Score: 1

    The human eye *can't* perceive 70 frames per second. It can only detect 20 or so FPS, which is why movies use a frame rate of 24 fps. The flicker that people used to complain about was because of interlace not frame rates.

    The drive for high frame rates is driven by people who need the latest and greatest, not by any real biological demand.

    --
    Clear, Dark Skies
    1. Re:Actually... no. by CaseM · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Jesus, this is the OLDEST Internet rumor that has yet to die off. It's damn near "640k should be enough for anyone" in legend.

      Please read this this and get educated.

  20. Sounds familiar. by ectal · · Score: 2, Funny

    Games originally published years ago on another system that you can now play on the PSP with really bad frame rates? Isn't that a lot like 80% of the PSP titles out there? Still, portable Parappa would be pretty amazing...

    --
    http://nerdcartoons.com/
  21. As long as you don't buy any new games... by LordRobin · · Score: 1
    So it only works on old firmware, huh? My wife recently bought LocoRoco, the first really good PSP game in a long while. It forces you to upgrade the firmware (included on the disc) to play the game.

    So as long as you never plan to play any new PSP games ever again, this emulator is totally awesome!

    ------RM

    1. Re:As long as you don't buy any new games... by millennial · · Score: 1

      No. It works on all but the latest two firmwares, and no games require those firmwares yet.

      --
      I am scientifically inaccurate.
    2. Re:As long as you don't buy any new games... by LordRobin · · Score: 1
      No. It works on all but the latest two firmwares, and no games require those firmwares yet.

      "Yet" being the operative word, my naive little friend...

      The point is that Sony has a perfect vector to shut this down, by implementing incompatible changes to firmware and requiring them with all new games.

    3. Re:As long as you don't buy any new games... by millennial · · Score: 1

      They've already done that several times, and nothing has stopped us from playing the new games on the oldest popular firmware, due to a little program called Devhook that simulates the new firmwares. Sony can't stop us.

      --
      I am scientifically inaccurate.
  22. So, you're saying by porkchop_d_clown · · Score: 1

    that we're buying $400 video cards because programmers can't do motion blur properly?

    Sorry, but I understand the biology of the eye quite well, thanks. I don't need to be educated by children.

    --
    Clear, Dark Skies