The recent 3.70 PSP firmware (also in the 3.71 M33 custom firmware) added support for custom themes to personalise the XMB. Using this utility it’s possible to make your own, and since the homebrew community has been customising the XMB for months through less legitimate means, it naturally hasn’t taken long for some good, highly professional ones to show up.
I downloaded a rather impressive theme pack and trawled some forums for the best, as well as a couple that are a bit rubbish really but I found funny. Here are some of my favourites, both official and fan-made:
Cookie (official)
Doom
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Foxhound/Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
iPhone
Ken Kutaragi
Kingdom Hearts
LocoRoco
Lumines
Neon
Puyo Puyo
Super Mario World
Wipeout Pulse (official)
I suspect that at least two of those ‘unofficial’ ones are secretly leaked from within Sony. Can you guess which ones?
Tags: Firmware, Homebrew, Modding, PSP, Themes.
dude than you so much your awesome
Comment by brock g — 29/10/2007 @ 2:00am
My favourite is the Foxhound/Metal Gear Solid
Comment by The Sorrow — 03/12/2007 @ 3:24pm
ya this is awesome i dont no if i downlaoded the KH 1 tho. and i dont really no how 2 put them on my PSP so i will figure it out
Comment by A Stephenson — 23/02/2008 @ 3:56pm
To put them on your PSP you need to create a folder on the Memory Stick called ‘THEME’ (without quotes) inside the ‘PSP’ folder. Just drop the PTF files in there and select them from the PSP’s theme menu, under settings.
Hope that helps.
Comment by Olly — 24/02/2008 @ 5:27pm
hey man it’s awesome i like the one of the neon
Comment by daniel — 24/02/2008 @ 11:52pm
How can u make a folder on the Memory stick because i want the Kingdom Hearts one
Comment by bob — 17/03/2008 @ 6:52pm
Connect the PSP to your PC with USB Connection enabled and then you should be able to right-click from within Windows (or OS X, or whatever else you might use) and choose to make a new folder there.
Comment by Olly — 18/03/2008 @ 10:59pm
oh. thank you for the hlep man.
Comment by bob — 19/03/2008 @ 11:13pm
I love the kingdom hearts theme and the doom theme
Comment by edgar de la cruz — 26/03/2008 @ 12:44pm
could i use the usb cable.
Comment by Brandon — 02/04/2008 @ 1:43am
Yep, that’s how you have to connect it. Either that or use a Memory Stick reader for your PC.
Comment by Olly — 02/04/2008 @ 11:28pm
i did what you said but it didnt work
Comment by Brandon — 09/04/2008 @ 12:05am
I know which are “leaked”, The Cookie and Wipeout Pulse,
Comment by XXX — 23/04/2008 @ 3:23am
Hey, just wondering regarding the firmware version compatibility with the themes u showed here, especially the KH theme.
I’m running on 4.01 firmware version, is that compatible? Or will my psp get bricked if i try to put the theme in?
Hope anyone can answer, thanks =]
Comment by Ven — 02/09/2008 @ 1:02pm
You’ll be fine. I run custom themes from the same batch on 4.01 with no problem, and it’s an official feature with themes created by Sony’s official theme creation software, so it’s not like you’re hacking the PSP or doing something that could result in damage.
Comment by Olly — 02/09/2008 @ 1:55pm
That’s nice =]
Though, i’m on 4.01 M33 custom firmware, its still the same? As in no damage to my psp n theme works fine?
*Just being extra cautious* ~.~
Comment by Ven — 03/09/2008 @ 1:29pm
Yep, I’m on M33 too. No problems.
Comment by Olly — 03/09/2008 @ 9:58pm
Great~ erm, is there a download link for the themes displayed here? The KH theme got me hooked.
Comment by Ven — 04/09/2008 @ 3:59pm
Oops, looks like the one I linked to has gone. I’ve zipped them up myself and updated the link in the post, or you can download it here.
Comment by Olly — 04/09/2008 @ 9:31pm
Cool, thanks man ~ =)
How do i get the themes to work?
I know its; 1)make a folder ‘THEME’ in my psp. 2)put the .ptf file in ‘THEME’
3)thn how do i select the theme once i turn on my psp? cuz some sites say XMB -> Settings -> Themes.
What’s XMB??? *Sry if my questions are bombarding >.< doesn’t seem to work for me.*
Comment by Ven — 05/09/2008 @ 9:14am
The XMB is the PSP’s dashboard main menu thing. It stands for cross media bar, bizarrely.
Assuming you’ve got the PTF files in the right folder, you just go to the PSP’s main menu, go all the way to the left to find ‘Settings’, and then a few options down there should be ‘Theme Settings’. The option to change the theme is in there, and selecting it should bring up the list of all the ones you put on the Memory Stick.
Comment by Olly — 05/09/2008 @ 8:39pm
Ooh, so that’s XMB >.<
Yea, got it to work. Didn’t have to make a folder THEME…just had to find the one already in my PSP. Lolx
THANKS A MILLION OLLY! ^^)
Comment by Ven — 06/09/2008 @ 12:28am
As A Short Time PSP Theme Creator And Long Time User.. I Was Stunned At The Effort Put Into Your Themes. I Would Like To Know Where You Got The Wallpaper For The FOXGROUND/MGSPO+ One As I Am Midway Through One Of My Own…
Keep Up The Good Work
Comment by Darkside — 14/09/2008 @ 5:57am
As much as I’d like to claim credit, I only collated some of the best themes around. The only one in there that’s actually mine is the slightly amateurish Ouendan theme.
The Foxhound one is the logo – plenty of good quality versions of that around – with the gun artwork from Portable Ops that you can probably get yourself with the game and a screenshot plugin for your PSP (requires custom firmware).
Comment by Olly — 15/09/2008 @ 9:01pm
Trust Me Olly If I Had CFW I Would Be Over The Moon… When I First Got The PSP I Was So Enthrilled That I Updated My Firmware A.S.A.P. And When I was Told About Halo On PSP I Looked Everywhere Until I Found This Thing Called Custom Firmware… And You Can Figure The Rest Out…
If Any Of You are Ever Interested In Either A Custom Battery Bar Or A XMB Seeker Just Let Me Know As I Have An Over Abundance Of Knowledge In Placing Them On Wallpapers…
Comment by Darkside — 24/09/2008 @ 7:42am
The Red Ring of Death theme that you have on here uses my photograph as a background image. I own all rights for it and it is copyrighted in my name. I did not authorize this photo to be used or modified in any fashion and would appreciate it if you removed it.
Thank you!
Comment by Jonah — 07/01/2009 @ 4:44pm
No worries. I didn’t make the theme, I hasten to point out, but I’ve removed it.
Comment by Olly — 07/01/2009 @ 8:40pm
the themes and mobile sor or videos to be gemes mobile you can send to my imeil please thank you…
Comment by carlos — 22/01/2009 @ 3:43pm
the themes and mobile sor or videos to be gemes mobile you can send to my imeil please thank you.
mada for the metal gear.
Comment by CARLOS — 22/01/2009 @ 3:47pm
dude can u get any for the ps3 and tell me how by mail so i can get some final fantansy themes cause i am a big fan of kingdom hearts and final fantasny plez will u messaage me bk asap so i can get some new themes cause all mine are shit cheers m8
Comment by NATHAN — 07/04/2009 @ 3:43am
One of the talented designers on NeoGAF made some nice themes for the PS3, including Final Fantasy ones, which can be found in this thread.
Google also turns up some theme sites.
Comment by Olly — 07/04/2009 @ 11:37am
my folder is in their i made 1 i put two theams in it psp still wont register that its there
Comment by guy — 16/06/2009 @ 12:57pm