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What Is a PSP Dev Kit?

A PSP Development Kit is a combination unit of the hardware and software necessary for a developer to design and test software for the PlayStation Portable handheld game console. Devkits are a necessary tool in the development process for hardware that can't be used for its own software development purposes. PSP devkits include both special hardware and software for developers to design games and other tools for the system through a computer-aided environment.

PlayStation Portable
- The PSP system is Sony's first entry into the handheld gaming console market. Released in 2005, the PSP went on to sell over 60 million units and introduced the Cross Media Bar, or XMB, menu system that was later used in Sony's PlayStation 3. The PSP went through several hardware revisions during its lifetime, including a version called the PSP Go that dropped the system's trademark UMD disc drive in favor of download-only content. The PSP system was replaced with the upgraded PS Vita system in 2011.
Devkit
- Devkits are specialized packages that offer developers all the tools they need to program for a particular hardware system or operating system. Devkits vary in content depending on what they are used to develop for. The Android and iOS devkits only include a software environment for app development on a computer for their respective formats. Video game consoles historically have included special hardware in addition to the development software. The games themselves are designed on a computer system while the development kit hardware is used to test the game. While the computer may be able to emulate the game console's hardware, the testing process may not be perfect and irregularities and bugs that show up in the test may not be in line with what someone on a console would experience. The devkit hardware is close to, if not identical to, the actual hardware used in the console to provide real-world testing opportunities.
PSP Devkit
- The PSP devkit includes a software environment for the developer to use to design software on a computer and varying forms of hardware for testing PSP software in a real-world environment. PSP devkits include a tower computer that's designed to emulate a PSP system and a special PSP unit that forgoes the UMD drive and features a special cable that connects to a computer to supply the software code. According to PlayStation news site PlayStationLifeStyle, the PSP devkit initially cost 15,000 Euros. However, according to technology news site Edge, the PSP devkit cost dropped to 1,200 Euros towards the end of the system's life cycle.
PSP Devkit Status
- In lieu of the PS Vita, the PSP DevKit program has been discontinued. According to Sony, in August of 2010 they discontinued applications for new devkits. Registered developers and educational entities were eligible to receive PSP devkits during the time they were offered.

PSP Games