How to Install Homebrew Games on a PSP

Get a Memory Stick for your PSP:
Before you can load any data onto your Sony PSP, you must have a memory stick to store the files onto. The PSP comes with a tiny 32MB card that is only big enough to store a relatively small amount of files. If you plan on watching video clips and installing lots of games on your PSP, you will need to purchase a larger Memory Stick Pro Duo card. These cards come in several different sizes. Exact sizes vary depending on compression rates and quality, but on average, you will need about 5MB for every 1 minute of video. Before you can use a brand new Memory Stick with your PSP, you need to reformat it. If you don't know how to do this, here's a quick tutorial on how to format a PSP Memory Stick.
Download the game to your computer:
As I mentioned above, we will be using the game SmashGpsp for the purposes of this tutorial. The game can be downloaded from mATkEUpON's website. He's the author of the game.

SmashGpsp download options:

On the pages linked to above, you will find several versions of SmashGpsp available for download. It's important you download the right version for your PSP. Here's some tips:

Download a file that will work with the current version of Firmware installed on your PSP. If you never upgraded the Firmware on your PSP, then you may have version 1.0 installed and will need to download a 1.0 Firmware version of the game (i.e.. SmashGpsp02b10.zip [1.0 PSPs] ). The 02b is the build version of the game, not the Firmware version! To figure out what version of Firmware is installed on your PSP, please read the Firmware tutorial on this page.
You probably want to download the newest version of the game. However this will depend on what version of Firmware is installed on your PSP. At the time this tutorial was written, the latest version of SmashGpsp was 0.2b and was available for PSPs with Firmware version 1.0 and 1.5 only. A newer version of the game and Firmware may be available as you are reading this, but with each Firmware upgrade Sony has tried to block people from using homebrew games. Most homebrew PSP games work with Firmware 1.5 and under only. We will say this one more time, most homebrew PSP games work with Firmware 1.5 and under only. If you get an error that says something like "The data is corrupted" or "The game could not be started" then the Firmware version on your PSP is not compatible with the homebrew game. Please check smashgp.gp32z.com for the latest version of SmashGpsp that may be compatible with your PSP's current Firmware version.

Make sure the file you download ends with "psp" (i.e.. SmashGpsp02b15.zip). This is because the author has ported this game to several different platforms. Only a version with "psp" in the title will be compatible with your Sony PSP.

If for some reason mATkEUpON's website goes down, please let us know.

NERD NOTE: Every time you upgrade the firmware on your PSP, you may need to download a newer version of this game.

Uncompress the file:
The game will be compressed into a ZIP file archive. Most computers come with a compression utility like Stuffit Expander (Mac) or Winzip (PC) and will automatically "unzip" this file. Once you uncompress this file, you should find two folders called "SmashGpsp" and "SmashGpsp%" as well as a read me file from the author.
Connect the PSP to your computer:
If you haven't already, you need to connect the PSP to your computer with the USB cable that it came with. You will then need to put the PSP into USB mode. Press the HOME button located on the bottom left of your PSP and then scroll left to the SETTINGS column. Scroll down to USB CONNECTION and press X. The Memory Stick inside your PSP will now mount or connect with your computer.
Copy the game onto your PSP:
In order to play this game on your PSP, you must copy it into the proper folder.

The correct file path is PSP > GAME . If you place the game files anywhere else on the Memory Stick, it will not function properly.

If the "PSP" and "GAME" folders don't already exist on your PSP's Memory Stick, then you need to make two new folders and name them in ALL CAPS. Just a reminder, the GAME folder goes inside the PSP folder.

If you take a look at the image to the right, you will see where on your Memory Stick you need to copy the two folders called "SmashGpsp" and "SmashGpsp%".
Play the game on your PSP:
Once the game has finished coping onto your Memory Stick , you can then disconnect the PSP from your computer. From the main menu, scroll over to the GAME column on your Sony PSP and then down to the Memory Stick option.

Press X, and a list of game files will be displayed. Scroll DOWN and you should see the game you just installed.

Press X to play it. Enjoy!

Troubleshooting:
If you get a corrupted data error, chances are you downloaded a version of the game that's not compatible with the current version of Firmware installed on your PSP. To figure out what version of Firmware is installed on your PSP, please read the Firmware tutorial on this page.