The PlayStation Portal has finally been hacked, and rather than turning into a proper Steam Deck competitor, it now runs PSP games. Pretty amusing given Sony’s first handheld debut back in 2005, but the project will no doubt open the door to homebrew on the remote player.
In case you’re out of the loop, the PlayStation Portal is designed to hook up to your PS5 using Remote Play. That very fact prevents it from taking on most of the best gaming handheld contenders out there right now, as it can’t run games natively using its own hardware. At least, it won’t be able to out of the box, but as the community has now proven, the portable is at least capable of emulating classics from 19 years ago.
In a photo to Twitter by Google engineer Andy Nguyen, the PlayStation Portal is shown running Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. According to the enthusiasts, the GTA spinoff uses the PSP emulator PPSSPP natively to make it happen, something that isn’t possible using the stock handheld.
After more than a month of hard work, PPSSPP is running natively on PlayStation Portal. Yes, we hacked it. With help from xyz and @ZetaTwo pic.twitter.com/AXuRROo6IpFebruary 19, 2024
While we’ve only got static evidence of the PlayStation Portal hack for now, Nguyen says videos of the project are on the way. That will hopefully provide some insight into the process behind running anything using the Portal’s actual hardware, as well as whether performance is actually good enough to be useful. After all, the Qualcomm SG4150P inside the handheld isn’t designed to handle proper full on gaming experiences, which makes sense given that we’re talking about a “remote player” rather than a PlayStation Vita 2.
In any case, it was only a matter of time before someone cracked the PlayStation Portal, and it sort of feels like a birth right for Sony consoles. It’s early days yet, but we’ll no doubt see some interesting projects out in the wild as the hardware matures.
As a side note, if you've yet to get your hands on Sony's cloud handheld, you'll want to check out our PlayStation Portal stock page for regular updates.
Already got Valve's portable? Check out the best Steam Deck dock and turn your handheld into a hybrid. Alternatively, take a peek at the best gaming laptops and use a full rig instead. We've also got you covered with the best PS5 controllers if you'd rather stick to Sony flavored hardware.
