PSPi 6 – Raspberry Pi in a PSP

[−]spike021 · 2026-10-11 Sun 01:56 UTC · link

it's an interesting idea for sure but there's always been a plethora of homebrew emulators for the PSP. do they not work well anymore? Or does the Pi just have more modern emulator options?

[−]kiririn · 2026-10-11 Sun 02:20 UTC · link

The CM4 is roughly an order of magnitude faster than the PSP

[−]bcwildlife · 2026-10-11 Sun 03:04 UTC · link

How does the Pi zero/zero 2 compare to the PSP1000? Link says they're the only ones that'll fully fit in the PSP case.

[−]doodlesdev · 2026-10-11 Sun 03:22 UTC · link

Pi Zero has an order of magnitude extra memory and 3 times the CPU frequency. Likely to be enough, if emulator overhead doesn't compensate for it, although I think it could.

In that case, the Pi Zero 2 W ought to be enough, as its Cortex processor is leaps and bounds better, with a quad-core vs the Pi Zero's single-core, low IPC ARM CPU.

Crazy times we live in :)

[−]jacquesm · 2026-10-11 Sun 03:35 UTC · link

Indeed. The amount of horsepower these poststamps have is incredible. Winner in this category - for me, at least - is the teensy, that thing packs so much into so little space.

[−]my-next-account · 2026-10-11 Sun 10:46 UTC · link

Can it run all PSP games?

[−]erk__ · 2026-10-11 Sun 05:59 UTC · link

Anyone who has a PSP laying around somewhere should go have a look at it because the battery in them consistently turn into a rather spicy pillow. Which I guess makes mod like this more interesting.

[−]networked · 2026-10-11 Sun 07:22 UTC · link

Awesome! It looks like eBay still has relatively inexpensive units sold for parts, so you can avoid cannibalizing a working PSP-1000 for this. I wonder what it would take to adapt the design for the smaller PSP-2000/3000.

[−]theodric · 2026-10-11 Sun 10:51 UTC · link

A fine one-off.

Pi SoCs have no sleep/suspend mode, so you'll be pocketing it powered on or waiting for it to boot every time you go to use it. Furthermore, you have to destroy a PSP to build this, AND buy an overpriced Pi (seriously, go look at the prices now) to shove in it, which will probably cost you more than a more capable and already-built modern retro portable.

All that aside, I have been down such paths enough times to know that this stuff is drawer filler within 3 evenings. People killing vintage hardware to build "cyberdecks" that are basically unusable and will just end up in the dump soon after is just the latest atrocity along the path to hell. Do what you will.