Super Smash Bros. Melee runs natively on hacked PS3

Melee-PS3 1.0 ports Super Smash Bros. Melee natively to hacked PS3s, from your GameCube disc: DualShock 3, GameCube controllers and rollback.


Melee becomes a PS3 homebrew

On 3 November 2026, mayo (Mayo1970 on GitHub) released Melee-PS3 1.0, followed by 1.0.1 overnight. It is a native port of Super Smash Bros. Melee to the PlayStation 3, built on the decompilation doldecomp/melee, now complete, and on the free PSL1GHT development kit. No GameCube emulator: the game code runs directly on the console.


What you need

• a PS3 running CFW or HEN;
• your own disc of the US version, GALE01 revision 2 (1.02), as.iso,.gcm,.ciso or an extracted folder. The port contains no game data;
• install melee.pkg from the XMB package manager, then copy the disc image to the game's folder or to /games/ on a USB drive.

What the port offers

• the DualShock 3 and GameCube controllers via the Wii U adapter, with no setup, rumble included if the adapter is powered;
• a PS3 menu (Select button): rendering in 16:9, unlock everything, stick jump, C-stick as smash or tilt, D-pad as a stick;
• the 1-on-1 online mode with rollback: the host displays an 8-digit code, and the other player enters it. Both sides need the same version, and UDP port 51000 open on the host's side (UPnP or manually);
• memory card saves in GCI format.

Our take

The port's code is under the GPL license and the author's account dates back to 2021. The project describes itself as AI-assisted, and the port has been tested on a real PS3. To play on PC, the native versions based on the same decompilation remain the simplest option; on PS3, it is one of the most ambitious homebrews of the year. Questions can go in the forum's PS5/PS4/PS3 Help.


Sources: Melee-PS3 (GitHub) · Releases (GitHub) · doldecomp/melee (GitHub) · Announcement (Reddit)