A few questions about PSP homebrew

[vhx]

I don't have a PSP yet but am tempted to get one soon. [[Simply because I have become addicted to Lumines]] Anyways, I am definitely interested in the homebrew aspect of the PSP and emulation and all of that but I have a few questions that I need to get straight before I do.

I have heard only firmware 1.50 can play homebrew, but I have read on these forums of people using 3.40 OE. So do I really need 1.50? If I get a newer version is it possible to update [or downgrade] to any of the above versions?

What are the chances of 'bricking' the PSP from flashing it to one of these custom firmware?

What are the best emulators for PSX, GBA, SNES? I ask this because there are many spinoffs and many that haven't been updated since 2005 or earlier. Would obviously prefer the ones that have high compatibility. How is the speed of these games, do they run 100% for GBA or SNES? I assume PSX games won't, but I could be wrong. Do I have to use 1.50 for these or will a 3.40 OE be sufficient?

Will this custom firmware have any impact of me playing official retail games I would buy?

Anything else really important I need to know?

[pt9087]

PSPs are great and i advise you get one!

1.50 can play homebrew but so can any Custum Firmware - 2.71 SE - and any OE Firmware

The chances of bricking from CF is very slim, downgrading has more risk but yet if you do it right you wont have any problems!

3.40 OE has all the possibilitys of 1.5 plus many more!

Best Emu - N64

You can still play all the official games with 3.40 OE, with 1.5 you need Devhook

Not much apart from experiencing it yourself and then deciding on how good it is!

You wont regret doing this is you get it all right

[parkermauney]

Just get lumines with your psp so you can downgrade it.

[Saracchini]

I have heard only firmware 1.50 can play homebrew, but I have read on these forums of people using 3.40 OE. So do I really need 1.50? If I get a newer version is it possible to update [or downgrade] to any of the above versions?

To jump to 3.40 OE you need to downgrade your PSP to 1.50, then upgrade it to 3.40 OE. I recommend use 3.40 OE instead 1.50 + Devhook.

What are the chances of 'bricking' the PSP from flashing it to one of these custom firmware?

Minimal if you follow the instructions.

What are the best emulators for PSX, GBA, SNES? I ask this because there are many spinoffs and many that haven't been updated since 2005 or earlier. Would obviously prefer the ones that have high compatibility. How is the speed of these games, do they run 100% for GBA or SNES? I assume PSX games won't, but I could be wrong. Do I have to use 1.50 for these or will a 3.40 OE be sufficient?

Emulators runs fine in both firmwares.
GBA emu runs fine for the most of GBA roms.
The Sony's PSX emulator have some issues but for most games its near perfect . To use it you must have 3.40 OE fw.
Greater emus:
Master System: MMSPlus 1.1
Genesis/Mega Drive: DGEN 1.70 or PSPGenesis 0.18
SNES: SNESTYL 4.2me
CPS-1,CPS-2,MVS: CPS1PSP, CPS2PSP, MSVPSP
PSX: No one ! There one built in 3.40 firmware !
GBA: gpSP
NES: Nesterj 1.20 beta
PC-Engine: PCEP, Hue 0.61 ou 0.70

Will this custom firmware have any impact of me playing official retail games I would buy?

No problems with UMD games. But the newer games requires firmware greater than 3.40, so you will not run these games. Dark_Alex retired of PSP custom firmware scene... so dont expect Open Editions of the later firmwares for a long time. It's to bad when CastlevaniaraculaX, God of War or FF:Crisis Core will be released...

Anything else really important I need to know?

If you want run homebrew in your PSP do not update your PSP with official firmwares !