PSVita & Switch News: SphereSolid to make another run of PSVSD chips allowing for internal microSD cards on PSVita Wi-Fi+3G models & m4xw releases a new PPSSPP build for the Switch while the Cursed Souls mod gets ported to the console
With the coronavirus dominating the news lately and more severe containment measures being announced by the day in some countries, the homebrew scene is still alive and kicking; perhaps, we’ll even see a surge in releases as some talented developers may be forced to stay at home rather than go to work/school. Shifting focus to this article, we’ll be looking at another run of PSVSD chips by SphereSolid and some Switch releases!
PSVita News: SphereSolid announces another PSVSD run
Neither Wololo or myself are associated with SphereSolid but provided the difficulty of finding PSVSD chips of good quality and SphereSolid’s good reputation, it was felt that a mention of a production re-run was in order
For those who are unaware, the PSVita doesn’t use microSD cards for external storage but instead it uses proprietary Sony memory cards which are quite expensive. However, the homebrew scene found ways to remedy this with SD2Vita, a microSD-card adapter that goes into the game card slot and PSVSD, a hardware mod that goes into the mini PCIe slot of Vita Phat Wi-Fi + 3G devices and lets you use a microSD card.
Wanted to grab a PSVSD but never got around to it? Well, now you’ll be getting another chance! (Tweet)
While it may seem like a no-brainer to go with the former as it doesn’t require you to open up your device, there’s still some demand for the latter as it not only allows you to use the game card slot for physical games but also to have 3 storage devices namely an SD2Vita, the PSVSD itself and a Sony memory card which could provide a good deal of storage for those who need it.
Due to the fact the SD2Vita is much more popular, finding a good quality PSVSD chip online is pretty difficult although SphereSolid is a pretty trusted source of these adapters but as of late November, they were sold out with SphereSolid stating that they’ve decided not to do another run. Now, the situation has changed following a decent deal of online pleading as SphereSolid has announced yet another production run with availability being forecasted for April/May. That being said, SphereSolid state that “There are circumstances which I am still working out” so availability may come at a later stage especially due to the disruption being caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
For the latest updates on SphereSolid’s PSVSD, check out their Twitter account.
Switch Releases: Updated PPSSPP build & Cursed Souls Mod port for Dark Souls released
PPSSPP works pretty well on the Switch and even allows you to play GTA games quite well
Moving over to the Switch, the console’s homebrew scene is pretty active as always and some stuff worth looking at has been released especially if you’re stuck at home due to coronavirus measures.
One of these releases is an updated build of the PPSSPP RetroArch core by m4xw which includes:
- Fixes to some regressions that happened recently
- Remote ISO loading
You may grab this release as a standalone bundle (PPSSPP on its own sans RetroArch) from m4xw’s Twitter. Needless to say, PSP emulation on the Switch works pretty well and even allows you to up the native resolution for a better experience while still maintaining good performance!
As the last item in this article, we have a port of Sepukakke’s Cursed Souls Mod for the Switch’s version of Dark Souls. This mod turns every enemy/NPC into a ‘ghost’ which provides for more challenging gameplay as you’ll either have to use the ‘cursed ring’ to damage enemies or get cursed yourself. However, using the ‘cursed ring’ has the side effect of halving your HP so you have to be careful when you actually use it.
The Switch port, which was done by maxx488/GIGO, is compatible with both Atmosphere and SX OS CFWs.
You may grab the Cursed Souls Mod for the Switch by following this link to its NexusMods page.
Conclusion
Other than these releases, byuu v3 and higan v109 have been released just a few hours ago. Futhermore, TheFlow seems to be showing some interest in PS4 FW 6.20 so perhaps we’ll be seeing something interesting on that front in the future as he recommended not to upgrade past FW 6.20 if you want a kxploit!
TheFlow is at again and this time, it’s the PlayStation 4 on FW 6.20!
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I have a 3G Model with the MicroSD Adapter in place. Only problem is, if I want to take OUT the card, I have to open it up to get at it. If the new Adapter for it would allow Users to simply use the 3G Card Slot, that would work out MUCH better. But then again, for right now, I have plenty of Space left, so I wont be needing to get at it for a while.
UX0 – 512GB (3G Card)
UMA0 – 400GB (Game Card Slot)
IMC0 – 64GB (Actual Vita MC)
Only thing I dont get…….the Accessory Port on the 1st Gen/3G Model….the heck did they have planned for that???? Shouldnt they have already have a Device or Cable/Connector already made out for it and ready for use WITH the System????? Kind of a waist that they did not have anything for it after they released the Device. Did they have ANYTHING for it? FM Receiver, HDTV Receiver, something??? I know the PSP had a TV Receiver (JP Only). Speaking of which, is there a Translation Patch or something for it???????
I actually worked on one of the launch titles for Vita, and we were all speculating about what that Mystery Port was for when we had the prototype consoles. We were never *told* of any concrete plans for it, but my personal suspicion is that it was originally intended for a proprietary Video Out adapter until they decided that they could make more money with the PSTV.