Flojomojo
Patron of the Nerdly Arts
Having never downloaded anything to my PSP can someone anwer some questions:
Are the games copy protected? That is can they be backupped in any way should the memory card break.
The PSN store keeps a list of everything you've ever bought, and you can re-download them again whenever you want. The files themselves can be copied, but they're tied to the account owner. If you bought a new system, you would just need to activate it with your account credentials to play the file you bought.
The PS3 is a little more versatile than the PSP in that you can have multiple activated accounts at the same time. You coan go to a friend's house, log in with your PSN credentials, activate the system for using your account (you get 5 of these), and download and play the game on the big screen.
Are there any known problems with custom firmwares and downloadable PSP stuff?
Depending on the version of custom firmware you have, certain features might not work correctly, but in general, legit purchased PSN store stuff should co-exist with whatever else you're running.
Personally, I went for official firmware all the way -- got rid of my old fat PSP and the UMD discs and got a slick little PSP Go. There are plenty of games on the store now, I have other ways of running emulators, and I don't really have time to rip my PSone games to memory stick.