Revisiting the PSP Go, more than 10 years later…
So, my kids were playing Astro’s Playroom the other day, and when they unlocked the PSP Go, I told them “We have this thing at home, let me fetch it”.
Disclaimer: this is a copy of a Twitter thread I published back in March 2022. I’m hoping publishing it here will get it some visibility for those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter.
I haven’t turned my PSP Go on in years, possibly a decade. Let’s have a look!
Here it is! (I’m cheating, it was very dirty, I had to clean it up with alcohol before taking this picture. I almost threw up when I saw the color of the buttons)
Of course, after a decade in a closet, the PSP won’t turn on. It took me a while to find the charger… I think that’s the right one?
It looks like it’s charging! That’s a miracle in itself. Let it sit for a few hours then come back. Fingers crossed!
And the PSP Go still works after a decade of inactivity, ladies and gentlemen! I haven’t touched it in so long, I am excited to discover what’s on it, as I don’t remember at all.
It’s running on firmware 6.60…
Some psp games related to usermode exploit research in there. Uno, Patapon, Hot Shots Golf in particular were used as entry points for PSP/Vita hacks:
- Happy new year! PSP Game UNO vulnerability revealed by Frostegater, port of CEF To Vita 2.02 incoming. (2012)
- Way to keep a secret malloxis (2010)
- HBL Released for 6.30/6.31 (2010)
Afraid to click the PRO CIPL Flasher as I don’t clearly remember what it does. I decide to leave it for now
Some homebrew on the console: rrootage, Touhou Imitation Style, Adventure Game Studio,… most releases seem to be around 2011 (as I said, haven’t touched it in a decade)
The list wouldn’t be complete without some emulation. The console has Snes9xTyl (SNES Emulator) installed.
And of course, my very own homebrew game, Wagic ( wololo.net/download/ ), which at this point was pretty much burned in on the internal flash…
Did you notice Killzone Liberation in my photo above? This game was given to PSP owners for free as a commercial gesture by PlayStation, after a very long downtime of the PSN back in 2011. Remember what caused that downtime?
Before I try to run homebrew, I’m having a quick look at what else is on the console. I have a bit of music in there… the PSP was a great MP3 player! In an era where dedicated MP3 players were a thing, having a multi-purpose portable device was kind of new when the PS Launched
Remember these? You could watch TV (with the dedicated accessory) and subscribe to some comic ebook service on the PSP…at least in Japan
I enter the image folder, and… crash! Some tiff image in there that the console doesn’t like… Image lib vulnerabilities were a popular usermode entry point on the PSP. We didn’t have Webkit 🙂
Let’s go back to homebrews. I haven’t run the 6.60 PRO exploit yet, so most homebrews refuse to start:
Rrootage is the exception. The homebrew was signed, meaning it behaves as a “legit” game and can run on an unhacked console. This signing technique was developed by hackers in 2011, following the discovery of critical PSP keys on the PS3.
Now running PSP Pro Custom Firmware. This will install the hack in RAM, deactivate the console’s security, & allow me to run unsigned software. PSP Pro was one of the most popular CFWs for the PSP, because it defeated almost all games anti-piracy measures.
My unsigned homebrews now run! As to why some homebrews were unsigned even though we knew how to sign them and run them without a hack: unsigned homebrews had benefits, for example they could use more RAM
That’s all! I hope you enjoyed. It was a nice trip down memory lane for me 🙂
What do you remember from the PSP days? Share in the comments below!
What’s that Touhou game with Marisa on the icon?
Ive always had my PSP GO in its dock on my desk. I play it at least once a month. Have since i got it back on launch day.
Had to get a new battery and replace it myself but so worth it.
Its my fav handheld. Vita is my very close 2nd fav, then N3DSXL.
Running out of actual news eh ?
Bet the PSP Go is older than your kids
Reading this really took me back to the old days of buying exploitable games online and then not updating for the half byte loader I believe it was. I remember I bought an exploitable game online that at the time wasn’t exploited yet… one of the monster hunters I was super excited AND had a great game to play. I have a ton of great memories thanks to the hard work of hackers. Fast forward to date and super mario world on my ps4 9.00 keeps an extension of those memories alive in different form/platform.
Never had to pay for piracy. The earliest file sharing was via Newsgroups where pirated warez/game was disguise as text file and chopped up into hundreds of pieces. You are too young, son.
it’s good you didn’t touch the CIPL flasher tho
Thanks for a nice article. But isn´t there anything going on in the scene? No releases or anything? The last “release article” was over three weeks ago (VitaShell 2.04).. Since then we only got articles about Jailbreak statuses and history articles about Vita and PSP. I’m not complaining, I’m just curious what is happening.
Sorry about that, I was on vacation. Will resume regular articles publishing this week
Ah super! Was just worried the site was going downhill. Visiting everyday so it’s nice to now it’s soon getting articles again 🙂 And of course, even you need some vacation sometimes 😀
Hey cut the man some slack. Having some quality family-bonding time is important. You’ll know when you have kids your own.
No worries, K’s comment reads as some genuine concern rather than some finger pointing 😉
Aún juego con mi PSP Go a juegos tipo novela visual o RPG por turnos. Para juegos de acción no me resulta cómoda. La batería aún dura bastante tiempo !!!!! un dispositivo para traslado cómodo por su tamaño pequeño. En este momento ejecuta Infinity 2.0, muy buena nota para el recuerdo.
Don’t forget the Go supports pairing a DS3 controller over bluetooth, as well as a dock that does power and component video at the same time. This thing was my Switch back in the early 2000’s!
Heartwarming article. Hope you’re doing well, Wololo!
PS. Did you know, until recently, Wagic was getting updates from Vitty85 on GitHub?
I did try a semi recent update (about a year ago?) and it didn’t work (broke the Android build) so I stopped checking. I’ll definitely look again!
Where did my comment go?
Where did my comment go?
Keeps saying “duplicate comment” but I only clicked the button once.
What I said was;
I still got my PSP GO in its dock and have used it since launch day. I still use it at least once a month.
Its my fav handheld, 2nd is Vita, 3rd is N3DSXL.
I had to change the battery but it was well worth it. its got life back in it again. Before the battery swap it only lasted about 10 mins off charge, now its hours again.
Nice throwback, those days Sony were more bold and creative with their consoles, times change, times change.
And of course obligatory comment “PSP was way ahead of it’s time”.
PSP Go was the last “portable” console. From Vita (and switch) the are more like “trasportable”.
I use that today as main console for emulation on the go, but the go have a strange battery management and mine… Is f*ed:
For a strange reason I don’t know, it doesn’t recharge neither with ufficial charger, neither with another. But, it recharge when connected to PC via UMS.
And when the battery die… I have to extract and charge with an external lipo charger.
Not the best setup but I still love.
Still have mine, still use it to this day. Lot easier to carry around than my Vita or any other portable emulator I have.
You should see the amount of iPods I have kicking around too. It becomes a handful going through all the old portables I have, charging them up every so often so their batteries never hit cell damaging low levels. Especially with the FireWire only models, still use a PowerPC Mac Mini to charge and sync those
Great article, would love to see more of these kind of articles on this site
Where are my posts? Thats 4 posts now that either got deleted or your system is just not posting them?
Sorry, was on vacation and just got back, approving a bunch of things now 🙂
my ps4 after …
sitting there like more than ten years ago …
Still a great device you can easily carry elsewhere… What i usually play on my pso go is the ps1 classics converted to eboot sotn… How i wish sony will get their *** back on the handheld gaming…
When is a ps5 jell 5.05
Ahhhhh! The good old days, i miss them. The world was just fine back then…
OK, I gotta ask, did you have my Temple (to you) installed in Wagic…
https://wololo.net/2011/08/22/temple-of-wololo-easily-unlock-sets-in-wagic/
Yup. My favorite template still 🙂
PSP Go w/dock, component output to a CRT (tube tv) using a ds3 remote is still FAT CITY for playing PSP & PS1 and various 8-16 emulators in 2022.
Nice read, I still have my white Go. I installed the microsd adapter but it never worked properly
First
Almost….. But hey, 26th is still good! 😀
Why are there no new articles for like a month except these status/revisiting articles?
I’ve been on vacation. Things should progressively get back to normal now 🙂
Wololo, this was a really cool trip down memory lane! I was following the scene since almost the beginning. Wish Sony would release another handheld now.
Brought back memories for sure.
Sony’s portables will always have a special place in my heart. Very beautifully designed and capable devices, both officially and unofficially.
The PSP, to me, also had the best console-modding scene of them all. The amount of work that was being put out from, like, 2007 to 2012 was insane.
So many themes, homebrews, plugins, many of which are lost because of closed forums, filesharing sites, etc.
Been following your blog for more than 10 years, wololo (I think I first stumbled upon it in late 2010, with the whole 6.20 Homebrew Enabling thing), and it has been a habit to check on it every once in a while, ever since. Thanks for all the hard work. 🙂
I wish Sony would release another handheld. I love Sony, it’s my favorite tech brand, but they can be SO stubborn… I’d love to see them create a new device similar to the new wave handheld gaming PCs, like the ones by Aya, Odin, and other smaller “startups”. You know, off-the-shelf parts, etc. Maybe release it under their new “INZONE” brand, instead of PlayStation? Anyway…
Sorry for the wall of text, I almost never comment on these blogposts, thought I’d celebrate with you is all. lol