What Firmware Is Needed to Play Downloaded PSP Games?

Not all games for the Sony PSP can be bought on disc. Some can be downloaded from a torrent and placed on a memory stick. The catch is that a PSP owner cannot use the software that comes with the system to run such games. Fortunately, it is only a little more difficult to find the right firmware than it is to find the torrent files that contain PSP games.

What Type of Firmware Is Needed?

Sony loads the official firmware by default. (This is often abbreviated as OFW.) If the official firmware is found on a PSP, it needs to be replaced with a program called CFW (custom firmware). The new program will need to be obtained and installed on the user's Sony portable device.

Check the Firmware on the PSP

Pressing R when booting up the system and going into system information will provide the necessary information to the user.

Firmware Preloaded on the Sony PSP

Sony does not make it easy for Playstation portatable owner to play downloaded games. The software hard coded on the PSP's chips does not allow the user to play games from a memory stick directly: the OFW needs to be replaced with CFW.

Finding Custom Firmware

PSP hacks that allow the user to play games from their memory sticks directly can be found for a small cost or totally free of charge by doing research in an Internet search engine.

Other Things that Can Be Done With Custom Firmware

All of versions of PSP firmware allow a user to play music and view pictures. Custom software allows a user to run ISO (an image of a CD) files downloaded from torrent sites around the Internet. The legality of these torrents varies widely, and a person downloading PSP games should do everything possible to avoid violating any international copyright law.

Resources

• PSP Firmware Information