How to run the XMB (VSH)

The Xross Media Bar, or Visual Shell (VSH) is the PSP's main UI.

Historically we have not bothered to implement support for it, because it does require quite a lof of funcionality that games do not need, and it's actually almost completely useless. But for some people it might be really nostalgic to just run it and navigate around in the menu a bit! So here we are – from version 1.21, PPSSPP will support running the VSH, in certain configurations.

This functionality will be available in PPSSPP 1.21, which is NOT out yet!

You can also download the latest development build, which does include this functionality.

Getting and installing the required files

First, you need a PSP update. PPSSPP will now actually install PSP updates directly from your games when it finds them.

To get the newest one (which is required for sceMp4 support), you can download 6.61 directly from Sony. Just open the update in PPSSPP, which will offer to install it for you.

NOTE: The IR Interpreter cpu backend is currently not compatible with the XMB.

Interpreter, JIT and JIT/IR work.

Running it

  1. On Windows or Mac, choose File -> Load the VSH from the menubar. Alternatively, go to Settings / Tools / PSP Firmware and click 'Launch XMB'. Yeah, the wording is currently a little inconsistent.

  2. Enjoy playing around! NOTE: None of this will work on PPSSPP versions before 1.21, except late development builds before it.