Correct, it never asked for a game partition before launching. I can try out the SOCOM games as well, was just trying games I knew needed the HDD. Do all regions of SOCOM use HDD or just Japan?
I was asked to test this out on my CECHA, so here's my setup and results:
Freshly installed 4.89.1 Evilnat and WebMAN Mod 1.47.42, used 489_game_plugin_patched.pkg to install the patch and copied over an ISO of Final Fantasy XI for the HDD requirement. Mounted the ISO and ran it using the disc...