The Sony PSP GPS has a lot of potential. If coupled with mapping software that covers the planet and good functionality it could be an incredible add-on. That being said, the only official software support for the device so far is lacking severely. There are a few games that recognize it in frivolous ways and only one piece of mapping software that is limited to the shores of Japan. So what’s a Gaijin to do?


The device.
Being that I don’t live in Japan, my only option for testing out the peripheral has been zilch since I received it. That is until Deniska released their homebrew MapThis! PSP GPS software with support for the Sony PSP GPS. With homebrew enabled PSP in hand I loaded up the software and was surprised to find a very functional mapping application. The GPS via Map This! found my position very quickly. With my custom map and directions file converted from Google I was able to follow a path exactly.


Map This! demo.
So it works fine and dandy but what about the official Maplus: Portable Navi software? Well a user over at PSP-Vault has submitted a video showing him using this software in Japan. It features searching for a location, GPS coordinates, train stations, what’s nearby, gas stations, parking, and even voice guidance. It’s seems to be a very complete software package that unfortunately is limited only to Japan.