PlayStation Development Network

Hello, my name is Blake. I've been interested in video game and operating system development since I was about 8 years old. Recently, I found an old Playstation 1 SCPH-9001 in my shed. I thought it would be awesome if I could program small games for it. I searched a little while on Google, and I ended up here! I have been programming since I was a little kid. I've programmed in a variety of languages such as C#, C, C++, Assembly, BASIC, Fortran, and PHP (Well, I've SCRIPTED in PHP ). I have a few questions about programming the Playstation 1:

1. Is it possible to program a PS1 without the parallel port?
2. Would it be beneificial for me to learn PS1 programming eventhough I already have knowledge of operating system and video game programming?
3. Does the PS1 execute code written by developers directly on the CPU? I've read somewhere that it is executed like the Java code (Java Code -> JVM -> Processor)
4. If all the answer to #1 is yes, where could I get the cheapest supplies available for programming the PS1?

I'm a complete newb at console programming, so some of those questions may be.... "invalid".

Hi Blake! Yes it is possible to program the PS1 without the parallel port, but you will need to build serial port programmer hardware. From what I know, it does not work well and it is very slow. You can just use an emulator to program (ePSXe works great), but nothing beats the real hardware.

Yes! Learning how to program a PS1 or any video game console for that matter is fun yet challenging. There are certain hardware limitations on each console that you can't get from PC's.

The PS1 executes the code from RAM. You compile a file called a PS-EXE (EG: main.exe) that gets executed by the CPU from RAM and talks to the other hardware by DMA over the bus.

Seeming as you have a 9001 series without the parallel port, your best option would be to actually buy a PS1 model that has a parallel port on it. Once you have a PS1 with a parallel port, you can then buy an Xplorer, or wait for the PSX Blaster that should be coming out soon

Good luck, and happy PSX development!

Why not starting here with PSY-Q SDK:
WORKSHOP CODING INTROS & DEMOS

cheers and happy Coding

I have just looked at PSY-Q, and by what I can find, it only runs in Windows 95/98. I hate Windows with a passion. Can I run the programs in DOSBox? I use DOSBox to play all my old games that require a DOS environment.

Yes, you can compile with DOSBox, but as for the Win32 programs, you can not run them.

I run and compile perfectly on xp and windows 8 too.
all downloaded here.