nVidia Shield / Handheld question

[Stg-Flame]

I've been looking to buy a handheld mainly for PS1 classics while I'm at work (I work in the oil field so I have a lot of downtime and I often spend a few nights out on location). I was trying to decide between a PSP and a Vita when someone had mentioned the Shield has the capability to play PS1 games on top of better compatibility when it comes to non-PSN-featured games.

So, does anyone know which would be the better choice if all I want is to play PS1 games on a handheld? I really like the Shield's design, but I'm hesitant to purchase one due to the limited information on playing older games. Also, I cannot get a definitive 'yes or no' on whether or not the Shield and PSP can only play older games via emulation. Almost every forum I've asked this question on bans people for asking about emulation, but I'm not asking how to emulate games on either system, I'm simply asking if the devices are capable of playing PS1 games and if so, what is the method used (ie. software or emulation). I should note that if it is done by emulation and any mod has a problem with this, I just want a simple "yes it's done by emulation" or "no, there is software provided".

I only ask about the non-PSN classics because I know there are quite a few PS1 games out there that I loved playing in the past that the PSN probably will never get around to adding to the network as a classic, but I've heard from people that the Vita and PSP have ways of playing games so long as you have the original disks.

That rambled a bit more than I had intended, but I'm short on time and I didn't want to leave anything out. So if anyone has any idea as to what I'm asking/talking about, please give me any information. Any information is greatly appreciated.

 

[Aikouka]

The PSP and Vita are able to play any PSOne Classics game that's on the PSN Store. I have a hacked PSP, but I've never done much with playing PSX games on it. Although, from what I found on Google, you can take any PSX ISO and have the emulator on the PSP (the same one used for PSOne Classics) play it. It takes a little bit of work, but it supposedly isn't anything too hard.

As for the Shield, it's just Android. It looks like they have ePSXe for Android, which is $3.75 on the Google Play Store. There are also other emulators as well.

I own all three devices mentioned, and I think it depends on cost. If you want to spend the least, finding an old PSP that is hacked or can be hacked most likely won't cost that much. The Vita costs $200 and the Shield costs $300. If you get PS+ along with the Vita, you can get some free games instantly and more over time, which does include PSOne Classics titles. You can also get discounts on titles, which is sometimes kind of random. I bought the Shield through the latest GeForce promotion. Personally, I don't think it's worth $300, but I was willing to pay $200 for it. My biggest complaint about it? It weighs A LOT. It weighs about twice as much as my iPad 4. I would consider a Shield more if you also want to use the PC streaming capability, which is a little more limited than I'd like. There are some titles that are fully controller capable on Steam, which the Shield software doesn't pick up as compatible. You can just load Steam and select them manually though.

 

[Stg-Flame]

It looks like I can buy a brand new one from Newegg at $140 - $170 or from eBay at $120.

Considering you have all three, can you tell me how durable the PSP feels? Like I stated above, this will be travelling to the oil field with me so it's bound to get a little banged up here and there (though I try to take very good care everything I take out there), but I'll have it in some sort of carrying case to help protect it from damage. I've been playing SNES games off my Galaxy S III for six months or so and that still looks brand new.

Thanks for the information. It looks like the people on the other forum I asked this on are saying the PSP is a better choice as well.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Buy an old PSP, install a custom firmware, rip the .ISOs from any PS1 games you own, and it can easily be converted to play on said PSP.

Only way to play games that are not on the PSN, plus I don't wanna pay for a game I own a second time.

I have the original PSP myself. Probably the most durable handheld electronic thing I own, though the screen is pretty dismal by even yesterday's standards. I don't just mean colors or resolution, but the ghosting.

 

[waggy]

I have a PSP3000 i like the system. i just had sony's propriety memory.

I haven't found a firmware for the 3000 is it out yet? been a while since i looked though.
the PS store is great. i have a few games downloaded on it. great system to play on

 

[zebrax2]

I've been wondering for a while how does the RT and LT triggers translate to the psp; through button combinations? (IRC the psp doesn't have RT and LT)

 

[Aikouka]

Considering you have all three, can you tell me how durable the PSP feels? Like I stated above, this will be travelling to the oil field with me so it's bound to get a little banged up here and there (though I try to take very good care everything I take out there), but I'll have it in some sort of carrying case to help protect it from damage. I've been playing SNES games off my Galaxy S III for six months or so and that still looks brand new.

The PSP has never come across as a weak handheld to me. I used to use a clamshell-style case for it that gave it a bit of extra protection, but I stopped using it because it added a bit of bulk when I didn't really need that protection.

I think this is an image of the case that I used: http://www.gamestop.ru/images/goods/big/2888_1.jpg

My only worry about the PSP would be what the screen is made out of. Newer smartphones use Corning's Gorilla Glass.

 

[Stg-Flame]

I found this link that claims it's possible to mod the firmware for the 3000. I'm really interested in buying a new 3000 and modding the firmware so that I can play .ISOs of the games I already own. I don't see a reason why I should have to buy another copy of a game I already own just to play it on a handheld system that I also own, so modding is the way I shall be going with this.

Any information on this subject is also greatly appreciated.

 

[snickersnack]

I have a PSP-3000 with custom firmware and have played dumps of some of my PSX games on it.

There's lots of obsolete information out there. Here's a relatively up to date guide on installing custom firmware from a dedicated PSP homebrew site:
"PSP Custom Firmware for Dummies"
http://wololo.net/cfw4dummies/

Among other things, custom firmware is great for dumping your UMD discs to a memory card. It significantly increases battery life and makes the system much more portable. I have never observed any quirks or incompatibility with my 40+ game library.

In order to run PSX games, the PSP actually needs to emulate them just like your PC does. It does this through an emulator called POPS that Sony bundles with the PSP firmware. This is the same emulator Sony uses for PSOne classics on PSN. You can gain direct access to run your own dumps with custom firmware. Problem is, it's kind of a PITA.

Sony does a lot of quality assurance on their PSOne classics releases. They make sure the version of POPS and the possibly custom game image they use will great together. If you want to run dumps of your PSX games you'll have to do this for yourself. You need to make a good dump of your game, convert it properly to a format which the POPS emulator expects, and then find a version of POPS which (hopefully) will work well with. Unfortunately there are no surviving up to date community compatibility databases. Furthermore, POPs has hit or miss compatibility with games not on PSN so you'll never know for sure if your game might work unless you test it on all version of the emulator (this alone could easily take 15- 20 minutes a game).

Personally, I went through the process for three of my games and then lost interest after I encountered freezing mid game on my known good dump of Soul Reaver. If you want to have a good experience playing emulated PSX games, I'd recommend PSOne Classics on PSN or using a PC style emulator with high compatibility like ePSXe or NO$PSX. POPS seems quite useful for running a game or two but getting a large number of games running on it is practically a hobby in and of itself.