Welcome

PSPInstaller was created by Richard Sparrow as a portal from the PSP console to the internet, that enabled users to download and install Homebrew, themes, and more, without needing to go through the tedious process of connecting their PSP to their computer. Although SONY has unfortunately stopped releasing the PSP we believe that the console always had a loyal following, and it is for that following that we do what we do at PSPInstaller.

With this in mind, if you’re a PSP user and are looking for easy ways to adjust some modifications or get a bit of a makeover to your console, you’re in the right place; and what’s more, all you need for this is the console and an internet connection.

Playstation Portable games console

The PSP or PlayStation Portable was quite a game changer at the time it came out, and of course, many people still love its compactness and versatility. It was originally released in around 2004 in China and 2005 in the U.S, and was the first handheld installment in the PlayStation lineage of consoles, following the PlayStation 2 Slim, which had just come out that same time.

The advanced graphics and what they could offer naturally made it a very popular console and it also made it the first PlayStation console that you could connect to the internet; which was revolutionary. This is perhaps a big reason why people still use their PSP because it has several features which essentially make it a very portable device on which to watch videos, listen to music, and surf the web, and although these are all the things you can do on a phone, there was a great collection of unique and popular video games for the PlayStation Portable which people still love to this day. One could also say that the user interface of the PSP paved the way for the displays and ideas behind what followed with the PlayStation 3, the Playstation 4, and eventually the Playstation 5.

Today the PSPs are not in production anymore, but with the estimated 80 million that were sold worldwide it is no surprise that they are still around and adored by whoever uses them, and here at PSPInstaller, we would like to keep acting as a medium for users who like to modify and play around with this portable media player and game console.

What is Homebrew?

As the word in itself implies, PlayStation Portable Homebrew is essentially the process of making use of methods and hacks to play around with the code of the Official Firmware of the PlayStation Portable. Why is this done? Because some users, as you know, would prefer a certain theme, specifically designed icons, or simply something that is not originally part of the code that was programmed on the console by SONY.

Very soon after the release of the PlayStation Portable, programmers and hackers started experimenting with exploits within the mechanics of the console to see if they could run external code on the device. Originally SONY tried to counter this by issuing a newly released PSP firmware but soon that code was cracked as well and it was shared on the internet.

Throughout the history of the existence of Homebrew on PlayStation Portable, it seemed very clear that SONY tried its best to hinder the development of these apps by putting out several updates in a short amount of time. Nonetheless, the creative Homebrew programs, whether they were themes, emulations, and so on, kept coming, and since the PSP is no longer in production today, it’s become a very open world for Homebrew searchers and makers to play around with whatever they want to experiment with, and modify this iconic media and gaming console with the best of their abilities.

This back and forth had continued for a while with hackers dodging their way through, and essentially doing so with the belief that this is a way that allows individuals to have full access to such a product, and to be able to do with it whatever they want. Over the years it is interesting how SONY themselves had also acknowledged that Homebrew exhibited a very colorful range of creative ideas and products that were eye-opening and inspiring.

Let’s have a look at only some of the variety of this here:

• You can play the ROMs of other consoles.
• You can play Homebrew video games and emulators.
• You can also print photos.
• You can stream videos on media players that were not originally supported by the console programming.

Update

The latest PSPInstaller version was updated on the 6th of August 2014 at 12:40 GMT. If you’d like to use PSPInstaller please make sure you update to the latest version by starting the program, clicking on the ‘About’ section, then going to ‘Check for Updates’.

Uploading Homebrew

If you yourself are a provider of Homebrew applications or games in general, and you would like to make your contribution available to the PSP world, please feel free to upload it here. We’ve specifically sorted out two different pages with which one can upload the applications; the ‘Signed’ and the ‘Unsigned’ Homebrew applications, and we’ve done this to facilitate the process of distinguishing the two categories.

What are ‘Signed’ and ‘Unsigned’?

There is one significant difference between these two categories of ‘Signed’ and ‘Unsigned’. If you want to upload Homebrew applications or modifications that can run on an unmodified PSP (like Game Saves for example), please use the ‘Signed’ section to upload your program; as these programs run fine with the PSP firmware, without any problems.

On the other hand, if you’d like to upload Homebrew applications or modifications that have not been signed with this original firmware (such as legacy Homebrew, kexplpoit, CXMB themes, and SEPlugins just to name a few examples) please use the ‘Unsigned’ section to upload your program as these programs run only on a modified PSP.