Confirmed: Firmware 3.50 unlocks full 333MHz speed [Update]
According to QJ's "insider" at Sony, firmware version 3.50 allows UMD games to use the full 333MHz of the PSP. If true, this is great news but brings up a few questions. Using the total available processing power will potentially allow for smoother framerates and quicker load times. The problem, however, comes with the battery life. The reason games are locked to 266mhz (only one game has been allowed to use even that much - Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters) is due to the very limited battery life when the PSP runs at full speed.
This would coincide with Kotaku's PSP redesign rumours, which claim to have a much heftier battery life due to a much more economic screen. If this feature really is already in the current firmware update, does that mean we will be seeing a redesign much sooner than we expected?
[Update: Developers have confirmed that new 3.50 SDKs allow for full clock speed use.]
[Andrew's note: Older games will not run at the higher clock speed. However, any new games developed from this point onwards will be able to utilize the full clock speed of the PSP. This is intrinsic to firmware 3.50, and any new games that require 333MHz will need firmware 3.50 or above.]
