The Rise and Fall of the PSP, the Handheld Miracle That Still Lost the War

 

A Modern Setup Guide for the PSP-2000 (Jailbreak, Plugins, and More)

 A few weeks ago I wrote about taking a chance on a cheap "junk" PSP-2000 from Japan, replacing its faulty charging port, and ending up with one of the nicest handhelds I own.

Quite a few people reached out afterwards asking about jailbreaking, or just sharing that they planned to buy UMDs for it. I guess this article is my answer to that (or maybe just yet another thinly veiled excuse to write about my favorite old handheld...the PSP)

Rather than another super technical wiki, I wanted to write a bit of step-by-step with just pictures of all of it. I cover installing ARK-4 custom firmware, setting up a microSD card, loading games, movies and music, a handful of homebrew recommendations. I really, really love Sony's PSP. I think as far as industrial design language goes, you just can't beat it.

I know that 99.99% of you on here will have already jailbroken the PSP, or will probably know more than me about the process. For you I guess you might like to read along just...seeing a PSP in an article in 2026? There's so few of us writing about it these days, so that might be fun.

Link here:

https://gardinerbryant.com/a-modern-setup-guide-for-the-psp-2000-jailbreak/

PSP VS. PS2 Hot Shots Open Tee PSP vs. Hot Shots Golf 3 PS2

 Our Contenders

Vs 

Believe me I was shocked, in the PSP you get better graphics and gameplay. Also you don't get a Caddy just standing in the way. The differences are HUGE, static menus, almost no character animation and the caddy only says 1 line. Besides no direct access to the Shop, you have to go through an active game just to gain access. This is all in the PS2 version.

Frankly I was shocked, plus it loads data on to the memory card which they say it a faster load. It's the same. Zero difference.

As I dig through my collection there will be more of these.

An Apology Plus a New Series

 Hello everyone it's me again I know it's been a while over a year from what I see. So what brought me back? Here I was one day surfing the internet when it hit me. I hadn't played most of the ps2 games I bought at Flea Markets as well as Yard Sales, and with a big local one coming up in a few weeks.

But that wasn't all....

My printer died, and it wasn't that same message we all heard about with InkJet printers. I mean it was DOA DEAD.

That was fun, LaserJet is what I went for and with the elevator being out in my building.

Yes it was a Royal Pain the printer weighs more than 40 lbs

I know for years I been saying for years the PSP is just as good as the more POWERFUL PS2. But I have to say I was wrong. The PSP is more powerful, as in the games having more features.

I just got through playing Hot Shots Golf 3 at least the 1st course. 

Read the post and you maybe shocked

TV Add-ons For PSP and Other Handhelds

 

Fallout 1 on PSP

 Original Reddit Post here

How to do it:

Disable ALL your GAME plugins through the PSP Recovery Menu, else the PSP won't have enough available RAM to run DOSBox + the game (it will need as much as it can have).

Install Fallout on Windows or DOS wherever you want. Go for the latest version if you have it (GOG), and use Max install.

Copy the Fallout folder to somewhere in your PSP memory stick (I have it like root:\DOSBox_C\Fallout).

Download this ZIP (v5).

Inside "For the Fallout folder", choose the correct folder (PSP 100X (Fat) vs any other PSP type) and copy everything inside that chosen folder into the Fallout folder.

If by chance you don't have the DOS executable file, get it from Fallout Fixt mod (tick the option to include the MS-DOS executable file) or from TeamX patch 1.2. In Fixt it's called FALLOUTD, in TeamX's patch it's FALLOUT.

Use DOS/32A instead of DOS4GW if you'd like - it's an improvement and it's faster. For that, just download it from https://sourceforge.net/projects/dos32a, rename it to dos4gw, and delete or rename the old one.

Copy the DOSBox 0.72 folder (a HUGE thanks to u/captchalove for updating DOSBox for PSP) to PSP\GAME and configure the path to your Fallout *DOS* file on dosbox.conf if you didn't use DOSBox_C\Fallout\FALLOUT.EXE as the file path like I did (the same that comes in the dosbox.conf file I give).

Download the F1DP mod, install it (read its README to know how to install it), and configure it. Use Ctrl+F to search "delay" and set all delays to 0 (CombatPanelAnimDelay, DialogPanelAnimDelay, and PipboyTimeAnimDelay). Also set FADE_TIME_MODIFIER to 0 and SkipOpeningMovies to 1. This will get the game as fast as it can be when it starts up, and hopefully too when playing (because of the animation delays).

NOTE for the PSP 100X: is has only 32 MB of RAM compared to the 64 MB of all the others. That means DOSBox can only have 14 MB to work (thank you u/ClassyTheCooller for the testing). Fallout's minimum requirements are 16 MB of RAM... So to do magic, one not-so-cool thing had to be done: fully disable the sound ahah. That's apparently what it takes to run it on the Fat.

Fallout Fixt also works on the DOS version. If you'd like to use it, check here: https://www.reddit.com/r/classicfallout/comments/sjpw0s. Note though: I never tested Fixt on the PSP. It may or may not have enough memory to run it, especially the Fat (or maybe no additional memory is required. No idea. If anyone tries and wants to say, feel free and I'll update this).

The PSP did VR first and yes, of course there was porn for it

So here’s a weird bit of forgotten gaming history I stumbled across. Back in 2006, the PSP had what was basically its own VR headset. It was called the Solid Eye and came bundled with Metal Gear Acid 2. It wasn’t some high-tech headset like we know today, more like a chunky pair of plastic 3D goggles that clipped directly onto the PSP. But get this, it actually worked. The game rendered two slightly offset images and the lenses in the Solid Eye created a stereoscopic 3D effect. It was surprisingly effective for such a low-tech setup.

This came out five years before the Nintendo 3DS and long before mobile VR was even a thing. In a strange way, it might have been the first real attempt at handheld VR or at least 3D gaming in a portable format. And since it was developed by Kojima’s team, you know it was going to be quirky and experimental. The wildest part is that it was only used for one game. Metal Gear Acid 2 was the only title officially compatible with it. They built this whole accessory just for that one experience. Total mad scientist energy.

But here’s where it gets even crazier. Apparently there were also UMD videos released in Japan that used the Solid Eye. And not just any videos—we’re talking 3D porn. Yeah. People were literally watching adult content in stereoscopic 3D on their PSPs. So while some of us were grinding turn-based battles with Snake, others were getting fully immersed in very different kinds of content. Sony really made a device that had something for everyone.

To top it all off, the Solid Eye makes a comeback in Metal Gear Solid 4 as a high-tech eyepiece gadget. Just classic Kojima turning a forgotten peripheral into in-game canon. Anyway, I thought it was wild that the PSP had this kind of pseudo VR setup almost twenty years ago and no one ever brings it up. Did anyone else ever mess with the Solid Eye or even know this existed?