SLAYER, the 2x-year-old PSP

I resurrected my PSP the other day. I learned a lot about it. I think my dad bought it off someone in 2010 (or so the dated files say), and I knew it was "modded" to some extent, which is why there are some pre-installed games on it that I could play without using the UMD. However, I didn't really know anything about the state of the PSP with respect to the Custom Firmware (CFW) it bore, nor the features it held. 

I wanted to add and play some new games on it, because I wanted to give it life again. Additionally, I feel like there is an entire spectrum of games that I've never seen nor touched on this system despite labeling myself a gamer. #fraud. Also, the Internet has been sending me subliminal messages that I'm 100% falling for, not to hop on the "modding-your-PSP-is-so-easy" trend. Unlike those FRAUDS and POSERS who spiked up the prices for this and adjacent hardware so they can make their little TikToks and get views and follow trends and not be actual gamers and waste devices (CONSUMERS, CONSUMERSSS), I actually love and have a psychic bond with electronics -- gaming systems, to be exact, but I share a similar enamour with other things like electric fans and lamps and CRTs and such.

Any who, my PSP was modded to 5.00 M33-4, which I learned was from a group(?) spearheaded by a Dark_AleX. I learned there's a M33-6 released in 2009 or so and it was the last version released from the M33 CFW. I learned about a Virtual Shell (VSH) and Recovery Menu and something about overclocking the PSP and using different drivers to run .iso files. Most of this is beyond me since I just wanted to play my little games.

I wasn't really planning on modding (modifying?) my PSP any further, but when I tried to play Black★Rock Shooter (BRS) (2013), it just wouldn't launch despite reading various threads from a decade ago. I suspected it was because BRS was released in 2013 and 5.0 M33-4 in 2007(?). Beforehand, games pre-2011 worked fine (the latest of which was Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep dated 2010) and I also watched Lady Bird (2017) (downscaled and made compatible to the PSP using HandBrake).

So, I decided to just upgrade to the latest CFW so that I wouldn't run into any other future problem beyond BRS; I also heard that the ARK CFW was cool and epic and modern, so I #did that. It was relatively easy: install 6.61 official firmware (OFW) to replace/upgrade from the 5.00 M33-4 CFW (Chronoswitch Downgrader not necessary (doesn't work below 6.2x or something)), then install the ARK-5 CFW according to the installation steps. Yay! No memory stick wipes, just rewriting internals or whatever the freak.

I had to read a bunch of threads and forums and Reddit posts because I was scared of bricking the PSP and no one was being specific about how to do it from M33-4 (there was one method I found that required formatting the memory stick but I didn't wanna copy-paste all my SAVEDATA and ISO all over again :3).

Any who, all's well's end's well's(?). Is that how it goes... ? I installed one of the custom themes available (a .ctf file, differing from the .ptf that OFW uses) using the Custom Launcher. It's of BRS and it's stylized really well. I think it's really unfriendly to beginners visually, but it looks sick af and not that bad if you know how to navigate the Cross Media Bar (XMB) by heart (or close to by heart).

That is all. My next goal is to watch Cosmic Princess Kaguya on it and The Serpent's Skin (films I just had on a list to watch). I already have the films formatted. I just need to transfer them to the PSP. The games I have on it now are: Metal Slug: Anthology, Black★Rock Shooter, LEGO Batman: The Video Game, Pangya Fantasy Golf, and Serial Experiments Lain (PSX) (yeah this one is a PSX/PS1 game but the PSP is also an emulator for that. #win).

Thank you.

21 May 2026 (12:10 AM)