Programmers ran PSP games on the PlayStation Portal and then ‘responsibly’ reported the exploit so it could be patched
The latest PlayStation Portal update is said to have addressed an exploit that allowed PlayStation Portable (PSP) games to be emulated natively on the streaming handheld.
This is according to A recent X/Twitter post by Andy Nguyen that was the first noted by VGC. An employee at Google, Nguyen previously claimed that they were part of a small team that managed to get PSP games to run offline on the PlayStation 5 peripheral via some hacking and the open-source emulator PPSSPP.
Now, however, Nguyen says that the exploit they used to get the software installed and running has been patched after they “responsibly reported the issues to PlayStation.” This alleged change is part of the latest PS Portal software update, version 2.0.6.
While the official patch notes for version 2.0.6 are extremely vague and simply state that Sony has “improved the performance and stability of the system software”, it seems likely that the company would take quick action to fix such software bugs if notified of the existence of it.
In case you’re not familiar with the device, the PS Portal is a gaming handheld completely dedicated to streaming games. It features a very limited operating system, which can’t run games natively and can almost only connect remotely to a PS5 console out-of-the-box.
While some were disappointed by these limitations, our PlayStation Portal review praised the device’s excellent ergonomic design, which actually wedges an 8-inch LCD screen between the two sides of a DualSense wireless controller. We also highlighted its excellent performance combined with a fast internet connection, allowing you to seamlessly pick up and play many of the best PS5 games while away from your console.
Considering how well the PS Portal performs on this particular function, we’re not too disappointed that it doesn’t seem like unofficial emulation will be coming to market anytime soon. After all, there are plenty of the best portable gaming consoles to choose from if you want to play games offline, and you can still pick up an original PSP on the second-hand market quite cheaply these days.