Sony Playstation Portable (PSP)

Edit on Github | Updated: 19th December 2024

Introduction

Welcome to our page dedicated to PSP reverse engineering! The PlayStation Portable, or PSP, was a popular handheld gaming console released by Sony in 2004. If you’re interested in learning more about the technical aspects of this console and how it works, you’ve come to the right place.

On this page, we’ve compiled a list of links to other pages that cover various topics related to PSP reverse engineering. Whether you’re interested in understanding the hardware architecture of the console, analyzing game code, or exploring the many mods and hacks that have been created by enthusiasts over the years, you’ll find a wealth of resources and information on the pages we’ve linked to.

So grab your PSP, and get ready to dive into the exciting world of PSP reverse engineering!


Hardware

When announced the PSP was claimed to be as powerful as the PS2 and while it was certainly a very powerful system and the most impressive portable console on the market, it didn’t quite reach the performance of it’s home console sibling.

The PSP was made up of:

  • Dual Core MIPS 32bit CPU with SIMD Matrix coprocessor
  • GPU with embedded memory (Fixed Function Pipeline)
  • Sound processing on second CPU core

Retail Hardware

For an in-depth look at the Playstation Portable’s Retail hardware architecture check out the excellent post by Copetti.org:

ALLEGREX CPU

The main CPU in the PSP was the ALLEGREX.

VFPU - Vector Floating-point processor

The VFPU operates as a coprocessor for ALLEGREX it is a 128-bit vector floating-point processor.

Operates synchronously with ALLEGREX’s clock (However, the write buffer operates at the bus clock speed.)

Equipped with 32 128-bit matrix registers Designed for vector and matrix calculations (The minimum access unit is 32 bits.)

Capable of high-speed processing for geometry calculations, audio processing, and more.


Development Hardware

We have a seperate post all about the development hardware used to make PSP games:

Official PlayStation Portable Development Kit

For more information on the development hardware check out this post.


PSP Game Software Devleopment

SN Systems ProDG SDK

There was a custom Software Development kit that was created by SN Systems before they got bought by Sony in 2005. It was later included in the official SDK when Sony bought the company.

SN Systems ProDG PSP SDK

For more information on the SN Systems SDK check out this post.

File Formats

Some file formats used in the creation of PSP games:

  • GIM - 2D Image Texture format similar to TIM on PS1
  • GMO - 3D model format

All Posts

Official PlayStation Portable Development Kit

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Official Sony PSP SDK

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PSP Saints Row Undercover Officially Released Prototype

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Playstation Portable Games with Debug Symbols

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SN Systems ProDG PSP SDK

Read all about SN Systems ProDG PSP SDK in this s...

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