Software engineers over at Google have hacked the PlayStation Portal to run the PSP emulator PPSSPP and demonstrated their accomplishment by showing it running GTA for the PSP.

Officially the Portal can’t run any games without being tethered to a PlayStation 5 but this proves that the device is technically capable of running emulators as modern as the PSP.

So if the engineers release the method for this which is entirely software based and doesn’t require any physical tampering which they say they don’t plan on doing in the near future, or someone else figures it out there’s no reason it can’t play PS1 games too and a whole library of Sega and Nintendo games for the SNES and Mega Drive, among others.

It would still be an expensive device to buy as a retro emulation machine, especially when the Vita exists and can already play a whole host of retro games and they can bought for around £90.

  • smoothbrain coldtakes
    13•9 months ago

    It’s wild how efficient we were with computing in the past, and how we have so much power these days that we just use shit because it’s what’s available as opposed to what’s efficient. I have a feeling that extra oomph is designed in so that they can flip a software switch and also enable cloud-based streaming.

    If the Portal was basically always capable of this, it would have rocked to be both a streaming device and a retro emulation console.

    • @[email protected]
      9•9 months ago

      the problem is fundamentally sony as they want to make it a closed garden. its capable of bluetooth but sony refuses to allow bluetooth headsets because sony wants users to buy their proprietary headset/earphones for the device.

      • CorrodedEnglish
        3•9 months ago

        Similar story with the PSVR. You can use it with a computer but you don’t get Sony’s proprietary 3D sound.

        This might have changed in the past couple years but I think you still need a secondary headset. You can’t just use the headset’s aux port.

      • @schmidtster
        0•9 months ago

        These codecs are called “lossy” because they discard most of the audio data. Typically, they reduce the 1,411-kilobits-per-second data rate of CD-quality audio to around 300 kbps. The discarded data represents audio that the human ear is less likely to detect, such as a soft sound in the presence of a similar but louder sound. Some codecs allow higher data rates, thus requiring less compression and offering the potential for better sound.

        It’s because it’s inferior and degrades the quality of the audio.

        Not everyone cares, but it does make a difference in gaming when it comes to listening to footsteps and other stuff. Desync is another issue in fast paced games.

        You are also perfectly capable of using most headsets with the console, you just need a dongle.

        • @[email protected]
          1•9 months ago

          i never said they were equal, knowing its a better option, but the point is it outright blocks it instead of informing the user about its cons.

          and if desync is a huge issue on its own… then don’t do it on a device that inherently is a streaming device… which adds its own latency