It was the "New" prototype. A developer unit rumored to have been scrapped when the Vita took over, but somehow, this one had survived the dumpster.

is highly preferred over the PSP 1000, as they have 64MB of RAM (double the 1000's 32MB), which helps prevent crashes during asset-heavy tracks like Rainbow Road.

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For nearly two decades, the dream of playing Mario Kart 64 on a Sony handheld felt like a fan fiction fever dream. The Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation Portable (PSP) were arch-rivals in the late 90s and mid-2000s. Yet, if you search the emulation forums today, you will see a surge of interest in a phrase that defies corporate logic: