PSP Emulator

The JPCSP emulator is a Java emulator for the Playstation Portable (PSP).

PSP emulation is still relatively new with few emulators that can play more than a few games, however the JPCSP team have begun well.

If you wish to experiment or make your own PSP 'homebrew' games or demos then having the JPCSP emulator to develop on is a useful development tool.

The JPCSP is a young emulator with a fledgling community - but it is growing and development is continuing. They have recently ported the Java version of the emulator to C++ so that should enable people with less able PC hardware to use the system at decent speeds. Or that is the hope. This review is for the Java version, but it is encouraging to see further development to improve the performance of the emulator.

Configuration of the JPCSP Emulator

The demos that come with the download all work straight away after installation with no additional configuration.
The configuration options are simple in that they are mostly to do with experimental features, compatibility features (that is, tweaking these one at a time to try to find a combination that will work with a particular game), or setting your preferred controls setup.
You don't need to know the terminology or jargon to try tweaking the compatibility features. Just make sure you take a note of the settings before you start tweaking them so that you can get back to where you were before you started. Since everything is emulated is is incredibly unlikely that you will do damage to your PC by changing the settings - all that will happen is the game will not work correctly. Just restart the emulator, reset the settings to what they were, load the emulated software then try again.

Summary

I was pleasantly surprised by the JPCSP emulator. I didn't know what to expect - but it runs well although it is still a little rough around the edges (it shows its youth). If the JPCSP emulator gets more development work I think it will become a great tool for demo makers, homebrew developers and emulation enthusiasts alike.

Installation 9/10 (you need to install the latest Java runtime first)

Configuration 9/10 (nothing much to do, except tweaks for compatibility)

Compatability 6/10 (homebrew/demos work without a hitch, compatible games list is growing)

Overall 8/10

How To Install and Run the JPCSP Emulator

 The 'in a nutshell' things you have to do to get the JPCSP emulator installed and running:

• Ensure your PC hardware is up to the task (see hardware requirements below)
• Get the latest Java Runtime (since this emulator works on Java)
• download the Official JPCSP emulator
• Run the emulator (making sure java is setup correctly)

More detail below on how to achieve these steps.

PC Hardware Requirements

The JPCSP emulator for the PSP runs on Java. This means that it will run slightly slower than an emulator written in C/C++. This slowdown will only be significant if you have older hardware. If you own older hardware you may wish to look elsewhere for your free PSP emulation needs.
The JPCSP emulator is being developed and its performance will improve over time (not to mention their C/C++ port of the emulator which will also help).
If you have a machine with the following specs (or there about) you will be able to run the emulator easily:

• XP/Vista 32bit/64bit
• CPU – Intel Core 2 Duo @3.2ghz or better
• GPU – Nvidia GeForce 8600GT or better (or equivalent e.g. ATI HD2600) (if 3d games)
• 512MB (1GB RAM on Vista)

Some games may still give poor frame rates - but as the JPCSP emulator matures so will the performance of the emulator.


Download Links

-Lates PSP Emulator