E3 2006: PS1 Emulation on PSP

[wraggster]

Via IGN: (http://uk.psp.ign.com/articles/707/707098p1.html)

Sony Computer Entertainment's first console is coming roaring back, this time in portable form. SCE announced earlier that it would be featuring downloadable PS1 games for its PlayStation portable system, and in a test station here on the show floor, the company showed off Namco's PS1 game Ridge Racer playable on the portable.

Ridge Racer was a good choice to show on PSP, because it's one of the most visually-impressive and yet simple to control games on the PlayStation 1. And "simple to control" is key here, because several questions are still left unanswered with this demo. Chiefly, how will PSP cope with the lack of a second set of trigger buttons? It's possible that SCE and developers may be able to map one set of the triggers to the D-Pad when using the analog nub, but since the Ridge Racer demo didn't use both buttons, it's unknown how that'll work. In fact, it's unknown in general how emulation interfacing will work -- as demonstrated by the Pre-E3 demo by SCE, the PS1 demos on PSP boot straight to the game after download (although it's possible that there will be an option outside of the boot menu before the game starts.) Once in the PS1 game, it's a PS1 game -- the select and start buttons do what they did on PS1, and the only buttons that you can interface PSP-style are the volume, screen, and home buttons. Games made for the emulator from PS1 will be carefully remapped to the PSP controller to make the most of the system. On the start menu, when you go to controller options, you see the ancient PS1 white controller, pre-DualShock. Interestingly enough, the analog nub didn't work at all in the demo -- we're not sure if this is because the real PS1 game didn't have analog (although that should be an easy thing to cheat onto the stick), or because we were not able to find the analog switch-on feature, or if the feature is just not implemented yet.

Whatever the control system, the emulation was clear and nice. Framerate was not at all a problem for the advanced little portable, running Ridge Racer at full speed. Textures were sharp, possibly with some texture smoothing (road signs were perfectly readable.) The boxy textures of the old system were not nearly as much an issue as we expected, with flag girl Reiko looking like a dream all these years later. Color depth was incredibly rich thanks to the PSP's mondo screen, and aside from some graininess (which may be inherent in the PS1 original ... it's been a while since we've played this oldie), the game looked colorful and speedy. Using the PSP's screen button, you can change the aspect ratio while still at full play, between PS1 res, full res (scaled up to the PSP's boarders but not stretched beyond that), and widescreen (a full stretch to widescreen.) The full res option was probably the best way to play, with little issue in blowing up these low-res textures since the screen is so small; widescreen, meanwhile, should probably be avoided, since it stretches things obscenely, makes text look soft, and overall loses the good look of the emulated game.

Ridge Racer was the only game playable in PS1 emulation on PSP, so we still have a lot of questions and concerns for the feature, but as far as performance, the PSP looks to have no problem running its forerunner. Look for more PS1-to-PSP emulation soon.

True Emulation fans will also remember that Ridge Racer ran on the PSone Emulator for PC Called PSEmu pro and the size of the rom was only 2.5mb.

Interesting times ahead for this new commercial emulator - Unless someone ports a killer PSOne emulator to the PSP

[Sharkey]

Yay, I can't wait to pay for games that I already own.

Wait, thats basically what I'm doing with my psp playing ps2 ports.

*sigh*

[Shilo]

To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is not the question, unless someone hacks the frimware that has the PSOne emu on it!!!!!!!!

[SSaxdude]

Not updating.
Make that never.

[tedou]

not upgrading emulateur n64 as coming lol

[whitey75]

For the chance to play thousands of games on the best console ever (IMO) I may actually upgrade....we'll see how well they implement it. Kinda sucks we have to buy the games again though!

[Emeriastone]

Lets not forget about mapping the analog PS1 sticks as well. There were two of them (as if I needed to say it). Later games DID use them in some way.

[RedKing14CA]

The only way i'd even THINK of upgrading to play PS1 games is if They were

A. Free (I might even buy a second PSP)

B. Free if you own them (I may upgrade for MG Solid, the great Star Wars games and Crash Bandicoot [i'd buy] cuz i never played it... too old)

C. 10-30 on one buyable UMD (for $50) (I would definately have to think about it if i went to the store and found and AWSOME game pack)

So until Sony pulls their head out... I'm content with not buying ANY games that require past 2.00 and Emulating my PERFECTLY LEGAL, OWNED N64 games...

ah Zelda... I'm so glad i never gave you up..

*Rubs his Zelda: Ocarina of Time Cartridge while saying "my precious, my preciiouss"*

Edit:


Lets not forget about mapping the analog PS1 sticks as well. There were two of them (as if I needed to say it). Later games DID use them in some way.

First person shooters... its the problem with the PSP... they just couldn't fit an extra analog stick on the side of the PSP... They can make a perfect emulator for the PSP in under week, with perfect speed, and ISO protection... But they just cannot fit another analog stick or allowed homebrew with ISO protection... nope... they just cannot... They admit it, they are not that bright...

[shiftybill]

yea n64 pwns the ps1

[Andraik]

I won't upgrade, because after it's out someone will hack it for 1.5 LOL, PSP 1.5 FOREVER!

[mexicansnake]

the n64 games are better than the ps1 ones :rolleyes:

[V3N0M]

hell ya 1.5 rocks. But i'm going to update as soon as i buy another psp lol. i just wish there was a way to have the best of both worlds on 1 psp. Someday we will... It is just if your patient enough to wait for someone to hack it. Dam sony and their tempetation. lol its cool tho. BTW Sony is a professiional company they will find a way to get all PS1 games to run on our portable. Even if they have to redifine the controls for the games to get it to work right with the psp.

[pkmusicmaker]

I'm sure once this all starts someone will figure out a way to share files and such. We'll cross that bridge when it comes.

[stotheamuel]

idk... Ill wait for pacmanfan..... or homebrew on 3.0.... or a new psp

[IndianCheese]

This is the 2nd reason I will be getting a new PSP. You know, I bet this really isn't an emulator. I bet they boot just like the Loco Roco demo. It might use an emulation engine, but there is, most likely, no emulator interface. Probably just like ms_ps1.prx or something. That would be great. To go into the game menu and see Spyro, Crash, etc. right there waiting for me...what a great way to waste time...Think about it...Watch a movie, stream TV to your PSP, and play classic PS1 games all in a few minutes. Sony is really making something of this. But how long until the enthusiasm dies? How many more updates are there waiting? 2? 3? 14? I am guessing a lot, since there is no PSP2.

[djakku]

yeah, right, if sony made it for the same hardware but a different firmware, there no reason to upgrade if you're into the homebrew. Eventually a PSOne emulator will pop-out for 1.50 before or after sony's one. Plus I'm skeptic about their publicity, how will they provide psone game, for free? I don't think so, even for one dollar I wouldn't pay!

[samthegreat68]

ide pay a dollar!

[jwilds73]

I wont consider upgrading at all at this time. The only way I would upgrade was if I bought a GP2X. I am keeping an eye on that scene to see how it continues to develop. However I'd probably just shell out for a second PSP as it seems the PSP homebrew scene is still going strong and I dont want to lose out on that.

[Voltron]

Hell, I'd pay $5.00 - $10.00 for certain games. There are other factors though. I would expect Sony to develop some kind of compression technology so that games would be extremely small. If I have to wait an hour to download a game and can only fit a few on a 1 - 2GB memory stick, the value in Sony's idea of PSOne Emulation on PSP substantially decreases.

This is strange. We've become so accustomed to bashing Sony but now something is in the works that may actually be really great. I will never upgrade my 1.50 PSP. But this may justify the purchase of a 2nd PSP.

[geise69]

I wont consider upgrading at all at this time. The only way I would upgrade was if I bought a GP2X. I am keeping an eye on that scene to see how it continues to develop. However I'd probably just shell out for a second PSP as it seems the PSP homebrew scene is still going strong and I dont want to lose out on that.

I own a GP2x and there is a lot going on with the psx emu. In not to long there will be a new release that will have some decent speed on quite a few games from what the author has been saying. Also the emulator isn't even using the Dynarec code that they are trying to implement yet for speed increases. It could possibly (with a lot of hard work) come close to the official Sony one when it's released. As for the psp one itself I'm upgrading for it mainly cause I have a 2.7 firmware psp. (which I love) I still don't like the idea of re-buying my games, but people need to understand that sony is trying to make ps1 emulation as easy as possible for the "normal" consumer. A lot of people will not have the patience trying to map buttons and what not. They need it spoon fed to them, and that's basically what sony is doing. They are basically redesigning games it seems to fit with the way the psp fuctions. I guess we'll just really have to wait and see.

[Spanishpeacock]

Holy freaking cow, think about it. If you could rip iso files off of your games and put them on the memory stick... I've already got a 2.0, so I might as well upgrade. Plus, if Sony allows you to compress the files to fit several games on one card (instead of spending money on a larger one) then it could be a great thing Sony could do, even if it's just a cheap rip off idea that Nintendo Wii has with there games. Can't wait to play all those games again.

[whitey75]

Ok i'm gunna bite...mexican snake n60 wat? If u want kiddy games go by a gameboy my friend or stick to ur snes emulator, ps1 owned nintendos answer to it! The hardware meant nothing without quality titles and for each of nintendos good games there were 10 on the ps1.

Now I know this is gunna spark the usual debate, we've heard it all before. I don't begrudge u ur n64 emulator, in fact i look forward to it myself, so why ignite the debate with ur nintendo fanboy flaming. If u don't want to upgrade fine, but in the meantime, shut ur cakehole!

I brace myself for ur replies nintendogs!

[Paiku]

I'd probably upgrade, because of the great rpg's.

[Malksta]

luckily i got 2 psp's (no im not rich) il upgrade for FF7. My one and only love <3

[acn010]

what is 2.10, 2.50, 2.60, 2.70 which everybody speak of? (he he)
i wont upgrade by any means

[PSPh4ck3rCMD]

i think the only way the roms will be free is if you give sony the scus number for the game so you probe that you have the game(hehehe going to game stop).

[Emeriastone]

Has anyone given thought to sizes of games that have multiple disks (for example FF 7 - 9?). You'd probably have to have a 4 gig stick to store the files (unless the disks themselves were smaller than 700 mb). I wonder also how "disk swapping" would work for these emus, whether homebrew or not.

[whitey75]

Thats a good point Emeriastone. Maybe they'll just combine disks in a single image file. I agree on the space issue. Those new Sandisk Ultra 4Gb cards can't come soon enough.

I saw that Sony has been showing 8Gb cards at E3, anyone think that they may have lifting the firmware limitation of 4Gb?

[Voltron]

1. Multiple disc games such as Final Fantasy will be merged to just 1 game file.

2. The games will not be "ROMS" or "ISO" in the traditional sense that we have come to know.

3. Sony will likely have a proprietary digital format with built in DRM (Digital Rights Management) where the game can only be played on PSP & PS3

4. There won't be a separate "EMULATOR" to load before loading PS1 games. It will be built into the firmware and games stored in the GAME folder on memory stick and loaded like we currently load homebrew on 1.50 PSP's.

5. With Sony's proprietary format for PS1 Emulation, not only will multi disc games be 1 file. Large games will probably take up only 100MB or less on the memory stick.

6. I don't care if you own 1 or 500 PSOne games. They will NOT be FREE. I think it would be safe to say that games would run about $10.00 a piece.

7. Sony will likely unveil their take on Apples iTunes for the delivery of downloadable games, demos, movies, music, etc. Remember Sony Connect was supposed to launch in March???

Remember this post and stay tuned for more news about Sony's plans. I'm sure my theory's will be pretty close to what Sony will do in the end.

[Knyte]

I just want the emulator so I can FINALLY have some decent RPG's on my PSP! (Well, other than my SNES ones. :P ) I want Suikoden I & II, dammit! (Which are already out in Japon on UMD, but there are no plans to release them here), and now with the emu, I might finally get them!

[mog]

If the game disks really do get merged, i don't wanna even know how big ff9 will be on download! :eek:

what i really wanna know... when they say the ps1 emu ran Ridge Racer at full speed, was the framerate really 60fps? or did they use frame skipping...
I know it is sony that made it and all, but still... a ps1 emulator running at 60fps without frameskip would be mindblowing... :confused:

[mr_nick666]

Upgrade!?? You crazy fool! :confused: You want to DOWNGRADE to 1.5 - thats where all the good stuff is! :D :D