Vita:PlayStation Portable (PSP) Games
The PlayStation Vita's "Kermit" SoC happens to also house the original CPU and GPU from the PSP, allowing the PS Vita to have almost complete backwards compatability with PSP and PS1 titles download from the PlayStation Store.[1][2]
Emulated CFW
In the early days of the PS Vita's homebrew scene before native Vita exploits, it was common to install PSP CFW for the Vita's emulator in order to have some sort of homebrew access and the ability to play backups of PSP games.[3]
The CFWs that were made include Vita Half Byte Loader, TN-V, ARK, ARK-2, and ARK-3.
The most recent eCFWs made for the PS Vita are Adrenline and ARK-4, with ARK-4 still being supported to this day.
Chovy-Sign
chovy-sign is a more recent method of sideloading PSP or PS1 games on a PS Vita, and even works on unmodified firmware. It allows you to convert PSP ISOs into individual bubbles for each title you install without any custom patches, just like if you downloaded them from the PlayStation Store.
File Structures
The PSPEmu file structure is essentially the same as an original PSP's memory card. It is stored in ux0:/pspemu/.
| Folder Path | Description |
|---|---|
| .../PSP/Game | Digital PSP content from the PS Store |
| .../PSP/Licence | Self explanatory. Contains .rif license files for PSP content. |
| .../PSP/SAVEDATA | Self explanatory. |
| .../TEMP | Temporary files. Cleared every time game starts |
| .../ISO | Only seen if eCFW has been previously installed. It is where ISO dumps of UMDs can be played. |
| .../SEPLUGINS | Only seen if eCFW has been previously installed. This is where homebrew plugins can be installed. |
DRM
The PSP emulator's npdrm is similar to how it was on original consoles.[4][5] The licences are stored in ux0:/pspemu/PSP/LICENSE and are in the .rif format. However, the activation file is shared with the Vita's at tm0:npdrm/act.dat
Bypassing the DRM can be done by either using eCFW with the npdrm_free plugin, playing .iso backups inside eCFW, or using the NoPSPEmuDRM plugin on homebrew enabled consoles.