If you see someone still playing on a PSP, chances are it's because it's been hacked to hell. Sony's trusty handheld might not have been the sales sensation the company had hoped for, but—despite the company's best efforts—the PSP became the handheld to own if you were into homebrew software or retro gaming. This was due to the ease with which it was hacked, the quality of the hardware, and a steady stream of unofficial software and emulators.

There was hope that the follow-up to the PSP, the PlayStation Vita, would be similarly hacked, with the improved hardware and additional analogue stick allowing for the emulation of more sophisticated consoles. Unfortunately, the Vita has been a much tougher nut to crack. Despite some early efforts, the best anyone had come up with was an exploit that only worked on an older version of the Vita firmware, and that required it to be tethered to a PC—hardly ideal for a portable console.

Finally, though, some clever folks at the hacking collective Team Molecule have come up with a solution that fully unlocks the Vita hardware for homebrew developers. Dubbed HENkaku, the jailbreak exploit not only works on the latest 3.60 Vita firmware, but also requires very little user intervention to execute. All you have to do is head over to the official HENkaku website on the Vita, tap on the install button, and then sit back and let the hack work its magic. The one drawback is that the jailbreak isn't permanent, so if the Vita is fully powered off it needs to be reinstalled.

Once installed, the exploit allows users to access the Vita's file system via FTP and transfer across homebrew packages. Those games and apps are then displayed on the home screen ready for use. Software is relatively scarce at the moment given how new the exploit is, although a Vita version of Doom and a handful of emulators are available for the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Neo Geo Pocket, Mega Drive (Genesis), and SNES. Users can also install VHBL, a PSP-based homebrew menu that features more fully developed emulators.

Interestingly, the exploit also works on the PlayStation TV/Vita TV. Aside from enabling homebrew software, the exploit also brings back the ability to play any Vita game on the system, not just those whitelisted by Sony.

One thing the exploit doesn't do is let users play pirated software. All the DRM features of the Vita remain intact. While it's doubtful that Sony will let the exploit slide even without the ability to play pirated software, at least those that do decide to use it can do so with a clean conscience. Team Molecule recommends that players using the exploit avoid updating from firmware 3.60 until it can confirm the hack still works. Given the dearth of content and features on the Vita of late, that's not too big a sacrifice to make.