Why can the PS Vita emulate PSP games as well as it does?

[MooMooMan]

Okay, before I say anything. Mods, check my IP for older accounts, I have an old account, and I don't know what email it's linked to or the user name, so I had to create a new one. Please delete my old account, thanks.

Anyways, back to the question. Let me get into it a bit more. My question is : Why is the Vita able to emulate the PSP so well, while other devices like smartphones fall to their knees when asked to do the same task? I am very aware of the basic hardware that is found in smartphones and the Vita, and it seems that the newer phones that come out should be able to do this, but they can't. Why? Is there some hardware in the Vita to assist with emulation? Or is it all in the software? I'm very curious about this and I am eager to hear the answer from you guys.

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[MooMooMan]

All emulation on smartphones or other devices are achieved by reverse-engineering the PSP, so it's bound to be imperfect. Sony doesn't need to do that, because they have the source themselves. That's why the PS Vita is able to emulate the PSP as well as it does.

Thanks. That's exactly what I thought, but I wasn't sure.

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[bodega]

Also don't forget that Sony wants to earn more money with psp games.. so they have worked hard on this

[MooMooMan]

Also don't forget that Sony wants to earn more money with psp games.. so they have worked hard on this

Well, the devs of PPSSPP work hard too, but they still don't have a perfect emulator. But I'm sure the guys at Sony really did try hard. Obviously. I mean, you couldn't release the Vita with a half-@$$3D PSP emulator and claim it to be perfect, or else the Vita would have gotten a really bad name!

[yifanlu]

Vita doesn't emulate PSP. There's a PSP CPU inside the Vita. They can do it because it's cheap and small. Isn't technology amazing?

[Kankertje]

Vita doesn't emulate PSP. There's a PSP CPU inside the Vita. They can do it because it's cheap and small. Isn't technology amazing?

So I assume you finally managed to confirm this, great

[Ruben_Wolfe]

Vita doesn't emulate PSP. There's a PSP CPU inside the Vita. They can do it because it's cheap and small. Isn't technology amazing?

Ha, always wondered about it since I saw a discussion about whether the psp emulation is achieved by software/hardware.
Good to finally know for sure.
Can you tell why the emulator is that of a psp 1000?(32MB ram)
Is there really any good reason for sony to limit it's ram from 64 to 32?

[GonnaGetPSVita]

Even if they go full software they could do that at full speed too as PSVita is around 20x PSP's specs.
Also 10x original 3DS' specs. It should be able to emulate that.

[Conjo]

Vita doesn't emulate PSP. There's a PSP CPU inside the Vita. They can do it because it's cheap and small. Isn't technology amazing?

Ha, always wondered about it since I saw a discussion about whether the psp emulation is achieved by software/hardware.
Good to finally know for sure.
Can you tell why the emulator is that of a psp 1000?(32MB ram)
Is there really any good reason for sony to limit it's ram from 64 to 32?

I don't think there is a good reason to have 64 mb, since I think those 32 mb extra are only useful for homebrews and games don't really need them (at least not the games in the store)

[endrift]

Vita doesn't emulate PSP. There's a PSP CPU inside the Vita. They can do it because it's cheap and small. Isn't technology amazing?

I'd been wondering about this for quite awhile. It's the classic Nintendo approach, but everyone seemed to think there wasn't an Allegrex chip in the Vita. I guess that explains why Kermit works entirely by message passing.