The PlayStation Portable just turned 20 years old. Alarming as that may be to hear, it means the PSP is "retro", and thus features some rather aged hardware. Broken screens, worn out batteries, stuck buttons; all of these issues plague used PSPs, rendering them unusable. However, a new project from two modders has found a new way to repurpose otherwise useless PSP units. Creatively named the PSP Placeable, it's a kit that takes PSP-2000 and PSP-3000 systems and turns them into a home console. The project is open source, and there's detailed documentation that explains how to dissemble PSPs and attach them to the custom-made Bluetooth board and 3D-printed shell, or alternatively, fully-made PSP Placeables are sold through their RetroModWorks website. Designed to look like a mini PlayStation 2, the Placeable plays original UMDs with the pop-up tray, connects to Bluetooth controllers, and has an AV to HDMI converter.

Currently, the PSP Placeable is sold out, though you can still send in your broken PSP to be turned into a Placeable, or you can order the parts yourself and assemble it on your own.

Source

 

[simbin]

It looks great, but I think it's important for people to understand that 3D printing is best suited for prototypes rather than final products.

 

[CMDreamer]

The only bad thing I see on this is that it will no longer be a portable console.

But I like it somehow.

 

[impeeza]

This does sound quite amazing. Connect any compatible Bluetooth controller and play your PSP games on the TV.

I would've liked it better if you could dock your PSP rather than place it into a shell built from the ground up. There's also the aspect ratio; if you use a television that renders the video at 4:3, then the picture gets cut off as seen in Macho Nacho's review; it seems like it was meant for a widescreen TV in mind. One day, there will be future updates that fix this, I hope.

280USD!

 

[SylverReZ]

280USD!

Is that how much it cost to build it?

 

[impeeza]

Is that how much it cost to build it?

That was the price of a set but I just realized, include a PSP!

you can send your PSP and they make it for 185 USD, or you can buy the kits .

 

[SylverReZ]

That was the price of a set but I just realized, include a PSP!

That doesn't sound like it's worth the effort especially for how expensive it is for all of the parts. Even paying for a 3D printer which is a lot more to repair and buy new filament reels.

If I was repairing a PSP then I would actually diagnose the problem and do what I can to find replacements and make it work.

 

[AngryCinnabon]

this is like a prequel to the PSTV, i actually kinda like this concept.

 

[Retrojunkies]

This does sound quite amazing. Connect any compatible Bluetooth controller and play your PSP games on the TV.

I would've liked it better if you could dock your PSP rather than place it into a shell built from the ground up. There's also the aspect ratio; if you use a television that renders the video at 4:3, then the picture gets cut off as seen in Macho Nacho's review; it seems like it was meant for a widescreen TV in mind. One day, there will be future updates that fix this, I hope.

Hence for "broken" psp units that can be rebuilt into a shell.

Had you click the link you'd find that they too have a docked model coming.

I remember having a psp god I had made shit loads of cheat codes, especially for GTA LCS, and not sure what happened to it and my memory card with all my codes.

Not bothered about the psp, I'm more gutted about my cheat list because I didn't used to back them up or post onto other sites back then.

And psp cheat db is littered with shit loads of shit that doesn't work which is a major problem when people make a master db and have it open to public submission or they take off public places.

 

[JaNDeRPeiCH]

So to configure the buttons to any bluetooth controller you will be force to use the website of this psp mod and pay hefty price 189 dóllars.

With that price you can buy a new psp,a mini pc or a new nintendo 3dsxl.

The project its good but need to rethink the materials to lower the prices and make a offline tool to configure bluetooth controllers.

 

[YuseiFD]

I read somewhere that this whole setup costs around 250 bux, you can get a mini pc with that and literally emulate the entire library of ds aswell as half the consoles that were ever made

 

[Sekii]

There's also the aspect ratio; if you use a television that renders the video at 4:3, then the picture gets cut off as seen in Macho Nacho's review; it seems like it was meant for a widescreen TV in mind. One day, there will be future updates that fix this, I hope.

This mod uses the official PSP Video Cable as an output, which is unfortunately pretty bad. At first it was just meant for outputting UMD Video to a TV, until the later revision, the component version, added the ability to also output games. I'm not 100% sure on the aspect ratio, but I think it's 3:2 with a resolution of 480p, displaying the game unscaled in the middle. So unless your TV either supports 3:2 or has some advanced zoom options, you'll get some wonky aspect ratio shenanigans on top of a pretty fuzzy output.

The first attached image is the signal straight out of the PSP, completely unscaled on a 1920x1200 monitor. The grey border around the PSP image is what the PSP is sending. In the second image, I set the monitor to stretch the image to 4:3. If you take a look at the UI elements, you'll notice that the circles in the top left and bottom right have become ovals, revealing that stretching the image to 4:3 is incorrect. I don't have an image of me stretching the signal to 16:9, but that's too wide and also turns the circles into ovals. In the third image, I used a Sony TV (from 2016, I think?) which has a zoom option specifically for the PSP that fills the whole screen and reveals how grainy the output looks.

After playing around a bit with the PSP Video Cable, I'd say, if possible, use RemoteJoy Lite to stream your PSP over USB to a PC. I heard it's not compatible with every game, but haven't seen any examples of it not working yet. This plugin will give you a perfect video output and allows you to control your PSP with any controller (or even keyboard) connected to your PC for no additional cost. The last image shows how it looks like via RemoteJoy Lite.

So unless you install an HDMI out mod, you'll be stuck with Sony's weird official cable, its fuzzy output and odd aspect ratio.

 

[SDA]

So basically this mod turns a portable console into some kind of PS2 slim knockoff. What are the odds.

 

[SylverReZ]

So basically this mod turns a portable console into some kind of PS2 slim knockoff. What are the odds.

That is exactly the point of this mod. With the addition of TV out and external controls from a wireless Bluetooth controller.

 

[Ligeia]

Looks really amazing ! I love the concept of turning handhelds into consoles.

 

[Robert Newbie]

This mod uses the official PSP Video Cable as an output, which is unfortunately pretty bad. At first it was just meant for outputting UMD Video to a TV, until the later revision, the component version, added the ability to also output games. I'm not 100% sure on the aspect ratio, but I think it's 3:2 with a resolution of 480p, displaying the game unscaled in the middle. So unless your TV either supports 3:2 or has some advanced zoom options, you'll get some wonky aspect ratio shenanigans on top of a pretty fuzzy output.

The first attached image is the signal straight out of the PSP, completely unscaled on a 1920x1200 monitor. The grey border around the PSP image is what the PSP is sending. In the second image, I set the monitor to stretch the image to 4:3. If you take a look at the UI elements, you'll notice that the circles in the top left and bottom right have become ovals, revealing that stretching the image to 4:3 is incorrect. I don't have an image of me stretching the signal to 16:9, but that's too wide and also turns the circles into ovals. In the third image, I used a Sony TV (from 2016, I think?) which has a zoom option specifically for the PSP that fills the whole screen and reveals how grainy the output looks.

After playing around a bit with the PSP Video Cable, I'd say, if possible, use RemoteJoy Lite to stream your PSP over USB to a PC. I heard it's not compatible with every game, but haven't seen any examples of it not working yet. This plugin will give you a perfect video output and allows you to control your PSP with any controller (or even keyboard) connected to your PC for no additional cost. The last images shows how it looks like via RemoteJoy Lite.

So unless you install an HDMI out mod, you'll be stuck with Sony's weird official cable, its fuzzy output and odd aspect ratio.

Ooooh, you gave me PSP flashbacks! I had access to the Sony PSP Component AV Cable, and I remember that it did output in a tiny rectangle. Zoom was definitely your friend there, but I didn't use it for very long. I may have tried RemoteJoy Lite multiple times, but I had the opposite experience and never got video output. Good memories of tinkering with the PSP.

 

[duwen]

That being said, I don't see what this kit actually does that you couldn't do without it already.

Bluetooth, but that's pretty much it. Would be far more appealing if it included an HD upgrade to the output.

I watched Tito's video on this last week.

 

[raxadian]

Waste Not

Want Not

Repair Yes

 

[Axido]

Bluetooth, but that's pretty much it. Would be far more appealing if it included an HD upgrade to the output.

I watched Tito's video on this last week.

Thanks for posting that video as it sheds some light on things. It's nice to see that the guys behind that Placeable kit are actually involved with PSP-Bluetooth and not just some random guys profiting off of it being open source. I initially expected the opposite to be the case.

 

[MadMakuFuuma]

I've seen some comments from people who don't quite understand what "preserving a console" means (on facebook). They said things like "why do that if PPSSPP already exists" and things like that. They just forgot that PPSSPP is an emulator. This project, on the other hand, aims to give new life to consoles that would otherwise never be used again (and sometimes due to a small defect, for example the screen, or the control part, etc.) that is, modification or not, at least the hardware is being preserved.

Emulation is great for preserving the system "forever", because the original hardware, even if refurbished, will definitely fail.

This type of project using real hardware, on the other hand, allows longevity for consoles that would otherwise never be used again.

I think both things are important for preservation!

 

[AncientBoi]

I say...

BRAVO