a guide to owning a psp in 2k25

TLDR BECAUSE I GO AUTISTIC IN THIS BITCH

So! You want a psp. This is a definitive guide to all you need. Sourcing materials, custom firmware, some specs, and games.

There's a few models of PSP. I'm going to list the key differences.

1000-3000 series

These are largely all the same model. I’d recommend getting one of these if you want a bogstandard psp. They all operate just fine, with the only difference being more RAM and internal memory (which from what I know affects next to nothing), some ports and the screen. Mainly, the 1000 has a serial port, the 2000 and 3000 have a video out port, and the 3000 has a microphone. The 2000’s screen has better image smoothening, while the 3000 has better colour depth, contrast and antiglare.

Street

Basically a budget PSP. It has only mono audio, no wifi, a non-removable battery, lesser build quality and larger than the 3000. I would avoid this like the plague.

Go

Probably the most interesting of the bunch. It’s a digital only console with 16gb of internal memory. It also uses a different memory stick format, M2, instead of the more available memory stick duo the other models use, which itself caps out at 16gb, making the max storage 32gb. The screen is smaller, it flips out, it has bluetooth 2.0, the aux and video port has been combined, the battery is non-removable. It’s an oddball console. I’d recommend this if you’re okay with a smaller display size, would like some more modern features, aren’t going to store a whole lot, and you’re okay with modding it. Personally, I wouldn’t go for it, but that’s just me.

I bought a 3000 myself, which is the model I had as a kid. Bluetooth was tempting, but the form factor of the go is really small, and they're usually 2.5x the price. Also m2 cards are real expensive compared to the memory stick duo the other systemsIf you want to store games, music, videos and pictures, that really isn't a whole lot. Considering you’ll need to jailbreak it to get anywhere with the online shopfront down.

I'd recommend going to eBay to find these. Most of the resellers you'll see have extensively listed any flaws with units, and take their work seriously. Make sure you take note of the condition and any peripherals the listing comes with, and to check a sellers feedback percentage. You can also check Facebook marketplace, but these tend to be more expensive and less detailed listings. Its a gamble, but if you can crack it, you're golden.

As an aside, the PSP isn't region locked aside from the movies and music umds, meaning you can buy a Japanese one like I did which is cheaper due to the popularity of the console and a thriving culture of archiving gaming history. Only difference is Japanese models use the circle button to confirm and x to go back on the home screen, as is the norm there.

MEMORY

For memory sticks, you're going to want to grab a memory stick pro duo, or an SD adaptor for the same thing. memory stick pro duo was a proprietary storage format Sony used in the mid 2000s, mostly for cameras and psps. I recommend an SD adaptor, as it allows higher storage potential. If you're using a go, you’ll need memory stick micro M2, these go up to 16gb from what I've seen. The internet is the best place to source these, though some camera shops might stock some too.

BATTERY

The battery is a proprietary 3.6v battery, with the 1000 model taking noticeably thicker batteries. There's a few different variants, all with different capacities (mAh). The standard is 1200, but you can find unofficial ones online. These tend to have a higher capacity, but very dubious quality, with usually worse mileage than the standard ones. When in doubt, get an official one. The street and go models don't allow you to remove the battery so they can't be replaced. The one I've seen recommended on the aftermarket is the ostent batteries.

CHARGER

For a charger, you're looking to get a 5v 1.7mm diameter DC charger that's at least 0.2amp. You can get these off the internet or any decent electronics shop (they will probably come with interchangeable DC heads). They'll either come in the form of a standalone psu, a transformer that usually takes a figure 8 type power cord, but my personal preference is a USB to DC cable. If you’re getting a charger that plugs directly into an outlet, make sure it's the correct plug for your region. Different regions have different ratings for outlets, which many adaptors can't account for.

GAMES

The PSP uses its own format of UMD (universal media disk) as games. You can find umds online. Most are pretty cheap, but the rare ones jump in price. Note the PlayStation store is down however (along with other online storefronts), so if you want games digitally, you'll need to install custom firmware, which I highly recommend because The PSP can also play a litany of PS1 games! But these were online only, so again, you're out of luck for official channels.

That's all your sourcing. Now, I'm going to go through the process of installing custom firmware (cfw), upgrading it to a permanent install, and running games off an SD card in lieu of UMDs. If you're a purist, please skip these steps and enjoy.

CFW

Custom firmware is mostly used to run disc image files of games (ROMs, effectively) on a psp, but just as handily allows for plugins and extra hotkeys. Think jailbreaking for an iPhone.

Start by inserting your sd card into your adaptor, then into your psp. In the system settings there’s also going to be the option to format the memory stick. Do so. After this, update your psp to the latest version. You can either repeatedly run system updates via settings until you cap out at around 6.60 or 6.61, or you can manually load the update version from a computer, which I'll get into now.

Connect your PSP to a laptop or pc with a USB mini cable and select “USB connectivity” on your PSP to see the files on the memory stick. For faster transfer speeds, you can also use an sd slot in your computer or laptop, and just put it in the psp as needed. In the card, there shall be a folder called “PSP”, and inside that, “GAME”. Inside this folder, create another one called “UPDATE”. Download the official firmware 6.61 or 6.60 and move it to this newly created update folder. It should be called ‘VERSION-NUMBER.pbp.’. Rename it to EBOOT.PBP.

On your PSP under the ‘Game’ tab, there should be an option called ‘Memory Stick’. In there is PSP UPDATE VER XXX. Select it, the update should run. After you confirm it’s successful via checking system information, you can delete the file, but I'd recommend you keep it.

In terms of custom firmware, the most complete solution is ARK4, which we’ll be going through now.

Firstly, download ark4. This is a folder containing two sub-folders among other things, Ark_01234 and Ark_loader.

Move your copy of ARK_01234 to /PSP/SAVEDATA. Move the loader to PSP/GAME. There’ll be a new ‘Game’ to select in your memory stick, Ark Loader.

Run it. It will install Ark, which, after it's done you can check via the system information, which should show Ark.4.xx.xx Live.

This install is temporary, and will reset when the system restarts. To make it permanent, do the following. Make sure ark is installed temporarily first.

The following method has 2 variations. Either you can install ark4 to the system memory, or make your memory card a bootloader, meaning the firmware is dependant on having the SD card inserted. the steps are the same but use Ark_FullInstall for the system install, or Ark_clPL for the memory card install. I'm going to be using the term ‘install folder' to refer to both of them. Use whichever one you want.

Back on your computer, navigate to the downloaded Ark folder. Inside there should be a folder titled PSP. In that, your install folder. Copy this to PSP/GAME/. Back on your PSP, you’ll find this app now under games. Run it to permanently install Ark.

If for any reason you wish to remove this permanent install, you can follow this guide to revert back to 6.60 or 6.61, or reselect the permanent Ark installer in your PSP and select uninstall.

CFW GAMES

Now that your PSP can load games from the memory card, you can load ROMS of games simply by dragging creating a new folder called ISO in the main directory of your psp and dragging the iso files into there.

When downloading ROMs, you might run into the terms ‘Redump’ and CHD. These are different formats of the same files, but they operate differently. For running on a psp unit, you’ll need to use Redump copies of games, as these download as iso files in a zip folder. That said, some fan translated games or homebrews only use the CHD format. If you're stuck in this predicament, please consult the FAQ on how to convert a CHD file to an iso.

For PS1 games, you can find them by searching up PS1 Eboots. Many of these will be official, many will not. Unlike the iso files, these are imported by finding the folder inside the Downloaded zip folder, which usually looks like a serial code, and importing that to the memory still under GAME. The only way I've been able to tell the two apart is seeing the preview screen once it's been loaded onto the PSP. Unofficial games will just be the cover art. Official PS1 ports will have some flavour text to go with them in the preview.

MUSIC + VIDEO

Hooray! The PSP natively plays MP3 files. Have at you. The video files are a bit more complex. Please refer to this guide, which is excellent.

To create playlists, create a folder called PLAYLIST in the PSP folder of your memory stick. Once inside, create one folder called MUSIC and one called VIDEO. These will act as folders for each type of media playlist. The steps for both are the exact same:

THEMES

Themes come in two file types, PTF and CTF. PTF files will work with your PSP natively, official or custom firmware. Simply drag the file in the THEMES folder of your PSP. CTF uses the blank plugin, which you can follow THIS guide to install. ARK also has a custom theme creator, which you can learn more about here.

HOMEBREW

These are games / apps / tools that have been created by the community. Here is an extensive list of homebrews. Its not everything though, so always be on the lookout! The craziest ones I've seen is a Dreamcast emulator, a Minecraft port, a port of half life, and MAME.

REPAIRS

Its actually relatively easy to replace a few of the parts in your PSP to fix some issues. While I was pulling this together and looking to refurbish my PSP, I found TotalKommando who has recently made a lot of great videos on the PSPs and how to mod / repair them. They're really well put together, and include listings for parts in their descriptions. I highly recommend watching a disassembly video for your model. It's not super hard, and it means if anything goes wrong, you’ll know how to take your device apart and reassemble it. You can find parts of Aliexpress very cheaply that come in different varieties for different models. This can include entirely different outer casings for the PSP, including special edition ones. Meaning, if you want the monster hunter PSP 3000, you can buy a regular model and find the case separately. It'll require a bit of extra work, but it's much cheaper.

You should be up and running! Please consult any guides linked for questions, as well as the FAQ.

Special Thanks

FAQ