PSP PSP: The Quintessence of Handhelds

[ThunderBoy]

 

[Morgana Veil]

The PSP was a great handheld. I still whip mine out from time to time when I get a pang to play a few of the games on the actual system. It was about damn near perfect, with the exception of the overpriced undersized storage for it, SONY's proprietary memory sticks. I think for a 32 GB stick it was 80 or so USD when it was new. That was another point that hurt it, whereas the DS could use standard SD cards.

More people knew Nintendo was kid friendly, so it was safer for the kiddys to play it. I digress though. The PSP was a great system, and once the SD2PSP adapters hit, it more or less made the PSP a beast for gaming and emulation. And once it was jailbroken or modded, whatever you want to call it, it was great as a music player. Since smartphones were still ungodly pricey at that point in time (yeah, like they aren't overpriced now) but at that time you couldn't buy a half-decent knockoff smartphone for 20-30 bucks either. Yeah, the PSP is still a great little handheld, albeit long past its prime. (I really need to replace the analog stick on mine) I remember it likes to ghost drift.

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[Lod 10]

PSP a console ahead of its time if I had the money I would buy a black or blue one To play my Japanese games and watch my movies and animes

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I still think what killed the PSP wasn't the DS but the iPhone.

 

[Tonberry]

I still think what killed the PSP wasn't the DS but the iPhone.

In one way or another smartphones killed handheld gaming in general, really.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

In one way or another smartphones killed handheld gaming in general, really.

I have to agree since the Vita and 3DS couldn't survive the post-Candy Crush era.

The DS had "programs" like that cooking one since not everyone had a smartphone with apps nor easy access to the Internet.

I think even the PSP had some "program" to learn languages.

 

[ThunderBoy]

I think even the PSP had some "program" to learn languages.

Yeah, here in Spain had this.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Yeah, here in Spain had this.

I remember that one

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[Mechablade-X]

Nothing beats a classic like Patapon

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[Lod 10]

I'm building my console library to play on the Chinese handheld consoles that I'm downloading ROMs for.

 

[Otsuu]

Unrelated to the content of the console's game library, the PSP still has, to my memory, the most crisp, crystal clear screen I've seen on any portable device. Felt so vibrant and clear compared to everything else at the time, and frankly even compared to something like a Steam Deck in this day and age.

I might have nostalgia goggles, though.

 

[urbancowboy]

I still play on PSP time to time, it's an amazing device. I had one since they came out and modded mine. I will play Final Fantasy or W40K on it.

 

[Doomsday519]

I purchased a PSP for cheap over the summer and I always carry it in my backpack when I go to work. Got a pretty nice set-up over there with the privilege to build Legos at my desk in peace but every now and then I break it out to play. Funny enough, I don't have a single physical game for the handheld as I jailbroke it as fast as I got it. I love it forreal. Eventually I needa buy at lease ONE physical game for it and load it up with things other than games.

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[NobodyHere]

I started using the psp in the last year. My bus ride is over an hour long, thus I dug up one of my mum’s old psps’, an she let me jail brake it. It inspired her to get back into it too, so we’ll update each other on what we’re playing and she’ll tell me if she wants any different games on her’s.

 

[TallGrass]

This image is exactly what led to the enshittification of Sony and the death of the Vita. The same sort of shit that killed Sega. American GRR ANGRY SRS gaming and the xenophobia of the "growing gaming demographic" against anything "anime" or otherwise unabashedly Japanese. Most everyone in this thread is reminiscing on the great JRPGs on the system, it had some nice VNs, but YOUR WHOLE WORLD is supposed to be ANGRY MEN AAAHHHHHHH. American companies in the 2000s were so excited to kill gaming through their own incompetence it's not even funny. Same thing that happened to their car market, too, essentially. So many BS regulation laws to try to shove Japanese small trucks and cars out of the market, and now American companies don't even make cars any more. They harmed innovation to try to create a handicap to their benefit, and yet only their competitors survived.

 

[Lena CE]

Woah I have never seen the Spirited Green unit before!

 

[ThunderBoy]

Woah I have never seen the Spirited Green unit before!

Yeah, that color was exclusive to the 3000 model.
And it was beautiful

 

[Questless Knight]

There is SOOOO many psp games I wish got like remastered and playable on PS5 or even sold and played via steam just so they are not stuck the PSP for their rest of their life.

Sure one can alwats emulate psp games on PC but I think it never looks great and some games does not work well yet.

 

[Adrastia]

I have a modded 3000. I bought it a long time ago when the model came out. But didn't use it much until recently. I didn't know about the PSP Street. I like the matte shell.

What's this scanline thing with the 3000? I just read about it and I never noticed. I wonder if I'll notice now because I know about it. Or maybe it doesn't affect all 3000s?

 

[Diadu]

My first PSP was the one that came bundled with Vice City Stories. And while I liked that, I was far more interested in Parodius Portable. Then a friend convinced me to install CFW and I ended up spending more time with homebrew and tinkering with things than actually playing PSP games so I eventually gave it to a friend.

I owned 3 more PSPs later down the line and bought a new copy of Parodius Portable each time lol. With the second PSP I fell into the CFW pitfall again and sold it. The third one was CFW free but went to a friend who had stickdrift on his PSP and I was busy with other games. The last one, a blue one, was finally phased out when I got a Vita.

Had a grand time with the system, it kindled my love for the project diva games and other rhythm games and some games, like Blazing Souls, I still revisit every couple of years.