So today’s article I wrote is just me plodding along wondering out loud why the Sony PSP has become so popular again all of a sudden.
I mean, clearly “so popular” is an exaggeration in the grand scheme of things, these are no-doubt extremely small numbers compared to other handhelds available. Scrolling social media really has shown a lot of them on feeds for me in 2026.
If you’re interested in why I think they’re showing up more lately, then read on with my article. I go through a reason in each ‘section’, but If you’ve got your own ideas, I’d love to hear them below here. Oh and if you’re thinking:
“hey there’s no in-depth investigative journalism here, it just looks like they wanted an excuse to write about the PSP!!!”
…you’d be right. I’ve been obsessed with them lately. This is my 4th PSP article in a very short time. I do so love them!
Anyway, if you want to see some old PSP TV ads, some nostalgia, and want to chat about PSPs (plz do), then here’s the link:
EVERYONE is getting one? Bruh, that is simply not the case, don’t make stuff up just to sensationalize for clicks and engagement just because your TikTok algorithm started showing you more PSP stuff. You’re literally just spreading your TikTok garbage over to here now trying to “make fetch happen.” Be better man, you’re doing their work for nothing. For real.
Everybody was not, in fact, kung-fu fighting.
before making stupid comments like this, read my article “why everyone is stocking up on sand”: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ
Can i run linux on it?
PPSSPP because I can’t trust second hand dealers anymore.
Bro I being thinking of jailbreaking my pspp after I did my Nintendo Wii, but laziness keeps me back.
It’s so ridiculously easy now for PSP. Fifteen minutes should handle it no problem.
Maybe even half that time!
Yea, also I have to buy a new battery and SD. Hmm will see.
PSP was great, some stand out games were crush (2/3d puzzle), jrpgs like the final fantasy tactics remake and Joan of arc, rhythm games like loco roco and patapon, and easy to install custom firmware to play emulated games PSP or some others like Gameboy or snes.
Man, I gotta check how the battery for my PSP3000 is, and the microSD card on it. The internals work perfectly, those two things are the only ones that seem likely to give out anytime soon. My little buddy is 14yo now. I don’t think I ever played any of the 3 UMD games that came with it, I immediately jailbroke it after purchase
It’s not “retro” in the same way a much older console is. It’s closer, more relatable, and maybe more importantly, more usable. It still fits into modern life without needing to be explained.
I think this is something extremely important. Looking at stuff from 20 years ago was much different when the current year was 2006 - we’d be looking at the mid 80s. Computers of the 80s and even the early 90s became obsolete fast, whatever you had in 2006, even if it was 4 years old at the time, felt light years ahead of anything from 1986 and would be internet capable.
Games from the 80s were also comparably “archaic”, as the hardware limitations were much more significant and several then current games could never happen in that old hardware (NES, C64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga 500), and that’s ignoring graphical complexity. Meanwhile, a number of current day games could exist in 2006, so long as the graphics were appropriately scaled down (Total War games being a perfect example).
I felt weird/guilty using mine in public, like staring down at a little rectangle was unsocial or bad for you or something…
Turns out, it’s more like digital detox! It would be cool these days.
Ugh, where is it!? I know I still have mine.
Staring at a little screen that brings you entertainment & joy: 😡
Staring at a little screen that fills you with anger, dread, and despair: 🤩
weird/guilty using mine in public
Some people would talk shit, but no one ever blinked an eye at reading a book. Now everyone is on their phones if they have to wait in a line for 30 seconds lol
Theytm had the same attitudes against newspapers and books at first. It takes a bit to normalise things(and for the old guard to die off)
They™ were right, we need to connect with each other not isolate in media. Doesn’t matter if it’s cheap newsprint or an oled, problem is all staring up at what’s presented vs over at each other
Do you think people should have to stay in their houses if they want to read/game?
No, just wish they’d go out (or stay in!) and talk to each other more :(
I’m someone who played on Nintendo handhelds growing up, but I always admired the design of the PSP. It felt so much sleeker than the DS at the time, and it’s remarkable how impressive it looks even today.
What are the most interesting hacks and tinkering projects that you can get up to with a PSP or Vita today? I’m considering getting one now.
Phats had IR ports so anything with IR can be played with.
It can emulate a lot of old systems including the n64 to some degree. PS1 too.
The web browser became useless for the modern web a long time ago, but it can still be used for very small/simple sites.
Lots of homebrew games out there.
Great platform to learn Lua on
It’s basically cracked open entirely… So good learning platform for that too.
This but PS Vita*
Yeah, I’m confused most nostalgia veers towards the PSP, when the follow-on was fully backwards compatible. Weirdly enough, some of the best AAA blockbusters I played on the Vita were first written for the PSP.
I’m an oddity in that I never jailbroke mine. I just really enjoyed playing indie PSN games on it, since most teams releasing on PS3 and not driving a graphical powerhouse could just do a side release there.
Vita means life
Vita is nice, but expensive as well
Tbh, like the 3DS, will definitely get more expensive as well.
I’m hoping there will be a renaissance of smaller, low-stakes, offline capable dedicated handheld gaming/media on the go by the big boys but it’s wishful thinking at this point. I was speaking to a younger colleague the other day and one of my favourite things about the PSP/DS era of gaming was Game sharing where some games enabled you to send over a limited version of a game to a second device to play ad-hoc local wrireless multiplayer even if only one of you had the game.
This is a missing recipe in today’s gaming landscape IMO.
Yes Vita with custom Rom is a beast.
Whoa whoa whoa, there’s custom ROMs for Vita???
You can play most of the old consoles on it.
And it’s super easy to exploit, barely an inconvenience
Even the “back ups” can be downloaded from the official servers
Last year I bought a PS Vita and I’d highly recommend that instead if you can find one for cheap! The Vita can natively run PSP games via Adrenaline, and you get the advantage of Vita games and homebrew (and a better screen).
That said, I’m a long time PSP Go lover. It’s basically the PSP in a smaller, pocketable form factor. I would absolutely get that if you can get your hands on one.
Are there decent microSD to their proprietary card format adapters? Because there are plenty of cheap microSD-MSduo for the PSP
Yeah, SD2Vita is the standard and are usually found for ~$6. You put an SD card into it, then slot it into the game card slot to expand your storage.
Yeah, SD2Vita is the goto and works pretty well with micro-SD
I got one from AliExpress like 5 years ago that still works fine
I grabbed a Vita a few years ago to play around with. Never had any of their handhelds growing up so it was all new to me. Not something I regularly use and it kind of just gathers dust next to my analogue pocket and 3DS, but even so, it’s a really neat little thing and can do a lot once hacked open.
PSP is such a cool console but had the worst lineup of games.
Whaaaat? The PSP had a great collection of games, you might be thinking of the Vita that had barely anything in it. You got Tekken, God of War spinoffs, Patapon, lots of racing games, metal gear solid, lots of JRPGs, among other things.
Its main issue was the lack of a right stick so many 3D games either didn’t get ported or had horrendous controls (monster hunter…)
Ugh I do NOT miss all my hours of THE CLAW in MH and MH 3rd… but I do miss getting together with all my friends as teens/young 20ses to smoke the devil’s lettuce and hunt all day.
I have no idea how people put up with it, my hand starts hurting 5 minutes into playing MH on the psp. I played maybe 20 minutes total, said “nope”, and never played it again.
I can doooo it… I just… yah nope you’re totally right, I can’t do it anymore. When they released the N3DSXL I bought one INSTANTLY for Monster Hunter, and bought a Circle Pad Pro for my partner… no way to go back hahaha.
Then realized the circle pad pro was dope and the C-nub on the N3DSXL is complete garbage, so I ripped the C-nub out with a knife and popped a PSP joystick from my spare PSP onto my DS… works incredibly. Snapped in like it was MADE for the N3DS!
I wonder if my Vita’s second stick works in old PSP MH games in Adrenaline? I can’t imagine it does, but I’d kill to play through MH 3RD (Eng patch) again with two sticks…
I had a ps2 so every PSP game just felt lile a really bad scam version of the games I liked.
Welcome to the NES/Gameboy experience.
One of my favorite, unexpected gems was Kenka Bancho. You’re a bancho (high school delinquent badass) and you have 7 days during a school trip before graduation to punch other school banchos into submission to prove you’re the best of all banchos. A real shame that only one game got localized, there are several others in the series.
I was also sad that Maverick Hunter X didn’t get sequels, so it became the sole 3D remake of Mega Man X, but it’s really good and you can even play as Vile. Speaking of Capcom, you could also play Monster Hunter 1, 2 or 3 on your PSP. I spent a significant amount of time on 2 and got nowhere near the mid game. I kept getting my ass handed by some bosses. Kushala Daora became my arch nemesis. On the other hand, beating Basarios was a piece of cake with bow and (piercing) arrow
Excellent, thank you for the recommendation! I have to re-learn how to get games on Adrenaline on my vita—Kenka Bancho sounds awesome.
Ace Combat! Ratchet and Clank!
Star Wars Battlefront!
Gah, I forgot about that! It was so much fun in singleplayer.
Whaaaat? The PSP had a great collection of games
I’ve been so enjoying racing games on mine lately! Gran Turismo and WipEout have been such wonderful time-sinks for me :)
Such a huge variety of games on there!
If you’re into racing, also check out Midnight Club 3. Great game.
Remember the touch panel on the back and the games that used it?
That’s the Vita.
Criminally underrated console… especially now, hacked, it can play all PSP games, hold shit tons of games on an (until recently oh god) WAY cheap SD card, and emulate tons of old consoles on its magnificent OLED screen.
Only complaint is the PSP’s D-pad is way better for my favorite PSP/Vita series, DJ Max Portable. Buttons too, but I modded my PSP’s buttons and D-pad to make them hair-trigger sensitive (most terrifying mod I’ve ever done and I’m so proud of it)
There were some decent games. What killed it for me was the layout. Constantly bumping the power switch mid game. It happened so often.
Sony has gotten so good at developing excellent gaming devices and then letting them languish. Speaking as a PSVR early adopter.
Good catalogue is a must. I’m excited to see if Steam Frame will do it, and if can afford one.
I wouldn’t say “the worst” but the phrase “squandered potential” looms large.
it had quite a few gems. The WipEout games were some of the best in the series, the God of War games were very good. Battlefield II on it was great. Final Fantasy Tactics and Crisis Core. Jeanne D’Arc was one of the best tactics game ever. Ys Seven, Megaman Powered Up, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Ape Escape, the Killzone game on it was very good, LocoRocco 1 and 2, Final Fantasy Dissida, Monster Hunter, Daxter, Special Agent Clank, and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.
Don’t forget both Death Jr games! Absolute fucking bangers!
The PS Vita would like a word
As far as I’m aware it’s impossible to get a decent quality battery replacement for PSP these days
Not true! OSTENT have wonderful batteries and have long-since become the default recommendation. I have a 1400 mAh one in mine (slight bump up on the regular capacity)
Nice. I already got one that deteriorated shockingly quickly then decided a retro handheld was the way to go. As a bonus the emulator fast forward helped me finally make it through persona 1 lol
I mean, probably cheaper than a modern pi for a server…
This is making me want to go dig out my PSP.
No better time than now!
