Best Hardware for portable emulation

[barnieg]

We've got a family holiday coming up so the wife suggested I make sure I have something portable to play with so that I don't go insane lying on a beach all day:)

 

I've got an original model PSP which hardly gets used (and when it is a photo/music player) I'm not too worried about official game support but would this be worth adding some of the unofficial hacks available to allow it to run emulation software.

 

Next option is a Nintendo DS lite - however is it now hardware to get the memory carts that would allow home-brew to run?

 

Final option is and what I use for most portable emulation at the moment my HTC Desire HD phone - however the on-screen controls aren’t ideal and I believe there is supposed to be some compatibility problems with the HTCS and bluetooth Joypads so am wary of buying any bluetooth devices

 

Options? Sell all the above and start again ?! what’s considered the best portable emulation platform at the moment?

 

Barnie

[NightSprinter]

If you've a PSP-1000 (original model, as you've stated), you're gold when it comes to emulation. There's full custom firmware of Sony's latest official stuff available, as well as a substantial amount of emulation and homebrew software to enjoy (like Cave Story). On top of that, I believe there are more emulators for the PSP than the DS and Android emulators were pulled from the market entirely.

[SlammedNiss]

Have to agree on the PSP. It's perfect when it comes to emulation.

[barnieg]

I have Version 5.50 firmware on my PSP am I right I would need a pandora battery to downgrade to 1.5 then install an appropriate custom firmware? It's a while since I looked into this properly an tips on doing it properly?

 

Thanks

Barnie

[NightSprinter]

Actually, all of the current custom-firmwares for 6.39 can be run straight from the latest official firmware. The news updates at PSP Slim hacks even give you instructions on how to properly install. I'd say your best bet is neur0n's 6.39-ME series.

[barnieg]

thanks for the help I've been able to update to 6.39-ME2 successfully where would you recommended download homebrew games & emulators?

 

Barnie

 

 

Actually, all of the current custom-firmwares for 6.39 can be run straight from the latest official firmware. The news updates at PSP Slim hacks even give you instructions on how to properly install. I'd say your best bet is neur0n's 6.39-ME series.

[Asaki]

If you've already got the PSP, you might as well mod it.

 

I don't know what "however is it now hardware to get the memory carts that would allow home-brew to run?" is supposed to mean, but the DS has a few really good emulators.

 

S8DS covers Sega's early consoles, the Sega Master System, ColecoVision, and GameGear very well; Lameboy lacks some of the features of its GBA counterpart, but runs most (if not all) GB Color games at full speed; and there are two or three different Spectrum ZX emulators that run great (I use ZXDS).

 

Also, NES DS and Mini vMac DS run great as long as you don't mind having to scale the screen.

 

SNES isn't very good. Genesis is alright, depends on the game.

[barnieg]

I've got the fuse spectrum emulator running from here psp akop so next up will be the Atari800 all looks good so far

 

Note: Is there anyway of attaching a mini keyboard to the PSP would be particularly useful for Atari emulation?

 

Barnie

Edited June 13, 2011 by barnieg

[NightSprinter]

The site I referred also has a good bit of emulators and homebrew games. Here's the link to the PSP port of Cave Story. Highly recommended if you enjoyed the classic Metroid games. Multiple endings, too.

[musicalfish]

The biggest problem with PSP emulators for me is that the SNES emulation is pretty sub-par. Somehow they can emulate the GBA almost perfectly, but the lower-powered SNES is more difficult to emulate or something.

[NightSprinter]

musicalfish, I think it also has to do with the fact there are numerous co-processors available to use for SNES games (SuperFX, SuperFX2, C-3, C-4, SA-1, etc.). Once you figure those chips in, some extra CPU oomph's needed.