PSP Questions.

Well, since the Holidays are coming and sales should be popping up quite soon I was considering buying a PSP. I mostly want it for the mature games on the go (which DS doesn't offer). I was also thinking about using the upcoming PS1 emulator to play Silent Hill and RE2 but will I have to make a choice between the upcoming commercial games or homebrew and emulation?

I have a DS Lite which I use as a portable NES, MP3 player, Genesis (although not quite good), and the very fun, unexpensive commercial games. I don't care much for portable video since I'm easily distracted from small screens if no interaction is involved (even with portable DVD players). But what I liked about the DS scene is that there is no downgrading involved, which I heard can f'ck up your PSP if you're a newbie (i.e. me) or just not careful.

So here's what I basically want to know:

-Will I have to sacrifice the ability to play newer commercial games for emulation and homebrew?

-What emulators are up and running smoothly (original console quality)?

-How dangerous is downgrading? In other word, is it easily possible brick a PSP in the process?

The fourth question was how the hell does one upgrade the PSP, but that's not important. I can find that out if I buy a PSP.