ARK and PSX Games: A Discussion

 When ARK hit the interwebs on Saturday afternoon, there was a lot for Vita users to be excited about. After all, we had a new eCFW with a host of added features that made us rethink the Total_Noob option that has been out for a while now. With ISO caching and speed boosts alongside support for PSX games, it's hard not to love this new entry into the homebrew sector. Still, why don't we have sound on those PSOne titles? This is mostly due to differences in the hardware of the PSP versus the Vita.

When the PSP plays PSOne games, it uses a secondary processor called the Media Engine to effectively produce the sound. The problem is that the Vita not only doesn't have the Media Engine at all, but the system's own PSP emulator doesn't even emulate the lost hardware either. Essentially your PSP ISOs are looking for the Media Engine to make the sound, and it's not there at all to do so. The next choice then would be to make a plugin that can emulate PSOne sound like what we see on PEOPS and other audio options on any PSOne emulator out there. PEOPS has in the past been ported in early versions by a developer known as Coldbird, but they have since left the scene after their work on a Vita CFW had been compromised. Where that leaves us now is at soundless PSX emulation. Until someone picks up the lost project, you'll have to deal with AEK's limited support for now.

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