#39: PlayStation Portal is the new PSP

In today's overkill digest newsletter, we look at the hacked PlayStation Portal, check out the Elden Ring DLC, and more.

Hi, hello, and welcome to a new edition of the overkill digest newsletter, your go-to read for everything handheld gaming (and then some).

I'm your host, Kevin, and I hope you enjoy the newsletter I put together.

So, let's get to it!

Big this week

The PlayStation Portal has been hacked. A trio of hackers, including Google engineer and long-time PlayStation hacker Andy Nguyen, broke Sony's handheld open and installed PPSSPP, an emulation tool to emulate PSP games. So yes, the PSP now emulates PSPs. There is no release date, so much work is still needed to make this viable. But this certainly opens the doors for many new possibilities on a handheld that was very limited in its capabilities so far. (Going by the reaction on the internet, you either hate or love this device, but there is no in-between.) Since the PlayStation Portal runs Android, there could be space for more emulation tools, like PS Vita, PSX, and even non-Sony platforms. However, all this now also depends on whether Sony tries their best to patch all devices. Or maybe they decide to do it themselves? (More below.)
Elden Ring DLC trailer dropped. The much anticipated DLC – Shadow of the Erdtree – finally has a release date and will drop on June 21st. But if you don't want to wait that long, a new mod dropped, overhauling major parts of the souls-like.

Quick links

PSVR2 is coming to PC, officially. This week, to my biggest surprise, Sony announced official PC support for the PSVR2 (this is what I alluded to in the PS Portal piece above). While hackers previously tried to make PSVR2 run on PC, now Sony has taken it into their own hands and expects to ship this update this year. Oh, and they also announced some new games. (Which are bitterly needed. I bought my PSVR2 on launch, which has been gathering dust ever since. But I can't wait for modded Skyrim in VR on PC!)
All the new Settings Guides for Steam Deck. We've been super busy this week, and Timo released several new settings guides/reviews for Steam Deck:
Age of Empires is coming to mobile. The RTS-classic is in a pre-registration face, with a public beta coming later this year. I'm intrigued to see what this game will look like ported to mobile, but going by the screenshots, I fear it'll be pay-to-win.
Chris reviewed Quadroids. At gamescom last year, Chris and I played many, many games, but one of the highlights was undoubtedly Quadroids, a puzzle platformer that has you control four screens at once. Well, the game is out, and Chris reviewed it, finding it still as charming as in August. (If you want these mini-reviews per email, you can easily sign up for them for free through this link.)
Baldur's Gate 3 will get official mod support later this year. Mod support. In Baldur's Gate 3. Mod support. I don't think I have to say more.
iOS classic Infinity Blade has been ported and runs on Steam Deck. Back when this game launched in 2010, it was a showcase of what smartphone gaming was capable of graphics-wise. I remember loving this game so much, even though it was hard. I can't wait to dive back in.
A guide to Gaming on the Apple Vision Pro. If you are wondering how gaming fairs on Apple's $3500 VR/AR headset, John Voorhees from MacStories has you covered.
Proton 9.0 beta is live. A public beta of Proton 9.0, the compatibility layer that makes Windows games run on Steam Deck, has been released.
Nintendo held a Partner Showcase. During the 23-minute Direct, we got confirmation of which Xbox games are coming to Switch (Grounded and Pentiment), saw the return of the Epic Mickey franchise (coming to PC, too), and heard of the next South Park game.
EmulationStation-DE is now available on Android. Emulator frontend ES-DE (which you know if you run EmuDeck) has been brought to Android and is now available on the Amazon AppStore for $5.39.