[Ymer]

This is the sendoff thread to the PSP. The first real competition Nintendo got in the handheld market (ever?) before a new era of Angry Birds changed everything. The near constant runner-up in the race but always hanging in there until the perhaps all too early end of it in the west while still getting new releases in Japan where it even seems to outsell the Vita.

I'll start off by saying that I'm probably the last person who should make this thread. My PSP 3000 (and oh did Sony know how to make model numbering confusing) arrived hardly a month ago where my previous perception of the device had always been "the handheld for Mature G4m3rz" with perhaps one too many ill-advised ports of home console titles, the machine that could do everything from gif to mp4 before our phones started doing all that better, the beginning and the tragic end for the UMD format, the last bastion of DITHERING in games and a console which it seemed like Sony had no idea what they wanted to do with. I have also seen exactly 3 of them out in public on separate occasions.

Now that I've actually tried out this thing I realize that the above is all true but damn if not Patapon is a fun little game and that holy hell this thing can run like 95% of all PS1 games almost natively.

So talk about your PSPs or how you want to get one cheap.
Tell us about hidden gems like Shiren did.
Share your Mega Man Powered Up stages (yes the servers are still up).
Add some stuff to our wiki (yes, we do have one!).
And link to more great PSP-related threads here on the forum. I know SOME of you own one at least.

[Ymer]

Homebrewing and hacking. First off, can somebody explain how we went from custom batteries (how did those work anyway), glitches in official firmware and a very few and special model types that could actually do it to lliterally just putting a few files on the Memory Card and running it no matter what model or firmware you may have which seems to be a relatively recent development?

Anyway, what this means beyond the obvious less legal purposes is that the homebrew community for the device has become more then just an excuse for people who throw huge fits when the latest patch blocks their specific flash cart. A few things like the abilty to:

Rip and run all UMD games from the Memory Card for GREATLY reduced load times and with more portability
Emulate most video game systems as recent as the GBA and even MAME (although SNES emulation is lacking)
Use your PSP as a completely functional Windows or PS3 USB-controller
Use your PSP as an extended computer monitor and vice versa allowing your PSP screen to be displayed in Windows either via USB or WiFi where you can even capture it in Fraps.
Greatly improve the in-game XMB with the ability to play your own music tracks, overclock the CPU for reduced slowdown in some cases (but increased batter usage) and take take screenshots
Play online using adhoc WITHOUT a PS3
Adjust the sensitivity of that darned analogue nub
and much more. Basically, if there's a problem there's probably a fix

[Dark Age Iron Savior]

Courtesy of winker, this was the last major PSP recommendations thread we had.

[Deets]

I recently played through most of Brandish: The Dark Revanant (I gave up in the middle of FORTRESS when things started to get absolutely soul-crushingly tedious) and uhh man you guys really didn't miss anything with them not releasing it outside of the Japan, much as its mid 90s Diehard Game Fan mystique on the internet seems to suggest otherwise.

[Dark Age Iron Savior]

I disagree strongly on both counts.

[Deets]

Someone convince me I'm wrong. I wanted to like it, I swear!

[spectralsound]

aside from the whole thing where like every game was a port (though hey i guess at least most of them were really great ports), i kind of really like the PSP. it's a neat little machine if you're just looking to emulate stuff, and it has my favorite version of Cave Story. also yeah holy hell almost every ps1 game in your pocket.

i'm not sure if they fixed it for the later models (i have a 1000), but one of the first things you're going to want to do after picking up a PSP is to mod the d-pad. in its original state, the PSP d-pad is finicky at best; at worst it can't do diagonals for fucking shit (so long Landstalker/every fighting game in existence). the way you fix this is by cracking open the case (one screw on the bottom, a couple more in the battery compartment) and attaching a little cross-shaped piece of card stock or hard plastic to the underside of the d-pad using bluetack or the like. fit the d-pad back in, wipe the screen down thoroughly, reassemble the case and you're good to go. it should take about 10-15 minutes.

also, don't do what i did and assume that you'll be fine without a screen protector -- the PSP is a magnet for scratches.
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[Deets]

The d-pad on post-1000 model PSPs are pretty darn good (if you've used a Vita it's kind of like that), but yeah if you have a 1000 you absolutely have to mod that asap.

[Tokyo Rude]

I bought Eva 3nd Impact yesterday and it is a pretty great game!

Then I showed thesycophant Panzer Bandit and Rockman 4 Minus Infinity. Those are also pretty dang great.

[Ymer]

[Ni Go Zero Ichi]

Were the Patapon sequels better than the first game? I liked it a lot for a while, but eventually the grind for money got really boring. The inability to sell items was a pretty colossal oversight in the game design.
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Just another savage day on Planet Earth.

[Mikey]

I got bored of the second game before very long.

[Adilegian]

I got a PSP through my company specifically to become familiar with the MG AC!D games.

Worth it.
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[Deets]

[Moogs]

Ys: Oath in Felghana all day bros

[Drem]

That's unfortunate to hear, because I enjoyed what I played of it immensely. I thought the class systems worked really well as the various classes played very differently, surprisingly, and multiplayer was a blast. The enemy types and class progression system both seemed to encourage using multiple classes to depending on the mission. I never got too far but I could definitely see potential for it to hit a grinding wall for experience points, which is apparently the case. I'll probably go back and play it until I hit that point since as of now I still enjoy it.

I got a PSP back when Monster Hunter Frontier came out, got a PSP Go later for $100, and at some point started downloading a ton of random Japanese games throughout my college years (I'm preeeeety sure I gained some infamy among many people at my school as a the guy you go to get your PSP hacked). I really like the PSP even though I was part of why it bombed so hard. I'll try to remember what I've played and write some small comments about them.


I played the entirety of Ys 7 on an HDTV with a PS3 controller. It was great. The only problem is that I can't find a way to both charge the PSP Go and use the TV Out at the same time, limiting my TV gaming time to however long the battery lasted (a few hours I think). Maybe it was designed to force you to stop playing games for a while and go outside.

Edit: Oh yeah forgot to talk about:

[Booter]

can we talk about Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! ?

i never played it, but i was obsessed with it

[boojiboy7]

Man I was so sad when my PSP got stolen. All my 300+ hours of MHFU gone :(.

MH3DS can't come soon enough.

[drobe]

Jean D'Arc was the reason why I bought a PSP, and it'll forever sit on my PSP.

All recommendations go to buying a PSP Go. It's a little more expensive than your off-the-street 1000 or 3000, but it comes with its own built in Memory Card. And be honest, it's not like you're going to find UMD's sitting around these days.

If you haven't already put 200 hours into Lumines and P3P, you should get started now.
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http://i.imgur.com/9ATgokP.gif

[Booter]

[Ymer]

[Booter]

oh god that is a no-brainer. might have to get one as a permanent starsweep machine.

[ionustron]

[BenoitRen]

There was a pretty good PSP thread in the axe that DAIS didn't move to King of Posters yet.

I like the PSP, though I haven't spent much time with it as I'd rather go through my huge stack of unplayed DS games first. What I did play through is Phantasy Star Portable, which is a very competent port of Phantasy Star Universe's gameplay. The sequel is more of an original game which I'm looking forward to putting in my PSP.


In the meantime, though, I'm building up my collection. Next in line are the collector editions of Persona 2: Innocent Sin and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. I was going to order them this morning from Ghostlight to support them directly, but their combo pack is no longer available (it was last night). It's my own fault, though, because I've been waiting for months for a more favourable EUR to GBP currency conversion rate. That their store only accepts PayPal made it worse. At least I can still order the collector editions elsewhere.

I also pick up cheap PSP games during sales. My latest acquisition is Adventures To Go!, which I've read isn't that good, but at 10 euro bucks I want to give it a try.

By the way, what screen protector would you people recommend? I assume that using a sturdy case won't be enough.
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Get Xenoblade Chronicles!

[Ymer]

[The Blueberry Hill]

[Dark Age Iron Savior]

[The Blueberry Hill]

[Schwere Viper]

Screen protectors are a non-issue if you still have the totally sweet PSP wallet that came with the 1000-series value pack. 8)


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HeavyViper@Twitter ~~~ HeavyViper@Soundcloud
Blog: Machines That Sing

[Mikey]

[Martial Loh]

I could never get past Track 29 of that Evangelion 3nd impact game..

[Deets]

[internisus]

Could anyone explain to me the Vita's backwards compatibility? Can I play any PSP game that can be loaded onto a memory card on it? (So not a UMD-only release like Metal Gear Ac!d, but anything on the PSN store.)

If you can play the likes of Patapon and Valkyria Chronicles 2 on the Vita, do they look good/better or are they all stretchy?

[notbov]

You can play whatever Sony lets you buy and download, except for games that get pulled because they can be exploited to load PSP CFW (which is to say only a chunk of the PSP library is on the Vita store)

Now, if you have the combination of 1)a Vita with older firmware and 2)a game that can be exploited on your PSN account that isn't currently pulled, then, yes, you can load any old PSP .iso through CFW trickery

welcome to the brave new era of digital sales fuckery
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[internisus]

That's pretty bullshit, but I'm in no way surprised.

My list of reasons to get a Vita is currently small: Persona 4 Golden, Gravity Rush, and the 999 sequel. But if I could play all of my (fucking legit) account-owned PSP games on it and have them look at least the same if not better, I'd probably be willing to get one at this point.

Why do Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo care so little about backwards compatibility when their customers all seem to care a lot?

[BenoitRen]

Most customers don't care about backwards compatibility, actually. A lot of people don't even know that the Wii is backwards compatible with GameCube games.

The 999 sequel is out on the 3DS, too.

Isn't there a way to transfer your PSP games to your PS3 so you can transfer them from there to your PS Vita?
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Get Xenoblade Chronicles!

[Geo Mantle]

Here are my recommendations:
Hajime no Ippo Victorious Spirits (best boxing game around, fast and very crunchy. portable version of the victorious boxers series with a slightly more anime-style.)

Persona 3 Portable (best version of the game by a long shot. the changes made therein make the gameplay quick and snappy.)

Spectral Vs. Generation (port of an arcade game released by IGS. was on the PGM hardware, and is solid in visuals and gameplay. there's a european version in english.)

Fate Unlimited Codes (there's an english version floating around. 3-D fighting game on a 2-D plane. A Cavia/Eighting-developed but Capcom published game based off of a PC doujin title,
but taken in a much more solid direction than its predecessor.)

Jeanne d'Arc (wonderful strategy RPG with cell shaded graphics by level-5. Battles move quickly, the enemies are slapstick but imaginative and the main character is very likable.)

Outrun 2006 Coast2Coast (this is actually a very bad port, but it's still portable Outrun 2, and is still miles above most racing games on the platform.)

Gundam Vs. Gundam NEXT PLUS (2 on 2 giant robot battle game. This is by far the best Gundam-branded game on the platform and features a ridiculous selection of mobile suits. Not as twitchy as Gundam Extreme Vs. on the ps3, but damn close. There's an english patch floating around that translates most of the menu bits and mission details.)

The Red Star (single player version of the ps2 title. Really great 3-D action game with shmup elements, solid beat-em-up style gameplay and lots of options to take down attackers. Might be the best action game on the entire system. Really great port of the ps2 game, but somehow seems more at home on the psp.)

[skelethulu]

[sarsamis]

I think I've played around 350 hours of Monster Hunter games on mine... which is about all it's ever been used for, but it was worth the investment. I have exactly 3 friends with PSP's who played; it was perfect.

[Ymer]

Here's a probably incomplete yet useful PSP-Vita compatibility list for reference:

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=316058

Seems to be a USA only though and knowing Sony it could swing any possible way when it comes to other regions.

[BenoitRen]