PSP: one year on

[Dogg Thang]

Hmmm...I think you're misinterpreting the effect of that chip. It's that no one notices the good games that came out since it launch.

Rmoxon, I understand what you are saying about Outrun now and it makes sense - I haven't actually played it. Yeah, it does sound very different then.

[Darwock]

Hmmm...I think you're misinterpreting the effect of that chip. It's that no one notices the good games that came out since it launch.

Agreed. There was enough gushing praise for Virtua Tennis and GTA:LCS (for example) on this forum to make you sick of hearing about them, yet when it comes to PSP discussion everyone mysteriously forgets these are recent titles. You've all been brainwashed into thinking a certain way because it's 'cool'.

[rmoxon]

Well I don't like GTA and Virtua Tennis seemed better on the Dreamcast. I don't think there have been any truley great games yet besides Ridge Racer. I just got Star Soldier and its fun, but very easy and the way you have to hold the PSP means my big hands end up covering half the screen and it feels very cramped playing like that. I have never played it on the Gamecube but I probabaly should have got that version now I think about it.

Having said all that my mate just got Patlabor Minimum and that seems very enjoyable, nither of us speaks Japanese so its confusing as hell really... but in a fun way...

[segages]

One of the best features of the PSP was the Time Vortex chip. It allows for the console to sit in limbo for almost a year and for no one to notice that the only good games came out on its launch.

LOL. I kinda noticed this after I'd rinsed Minna no Golf and Ridge and they were still the only games worth playing (for me) 6 months on. Result: I sold my launch value pack and 1gb stick without hesitation.

Just rebought one (VP + 1gb stick) for LCS. I'm hoping to keep this one and am looking forward to PoPoLoCrois, Initial D, Outrun and maybe, just maybe, GT.

?250 - ?160 = a ?90 saving and the new machine has no dead pixels like the original.

The Time Vortex chip didn't fool me!

[Zapp$ter]

I'm the same really, I've not bought a game since Everybody's Golf back in May although I did come close to buying Winning Eleven. I still get a fair bit of use out of my PSP for transferring files between my laptop and my main pc, haven't played on it in any capacity for a couple of months though. That said things are looking up for me as there are some games on the horizon that interest me and games being announced that are getting me excited. Outrun2 for example, if the controls are up to it will be a fantastic purchase for me personally as I loved the Xbox version. Then you have stuff like Valkyrie Profile, Suikoden 1 and 2 being ported and with any luck getting english language releases. Plus Gradius Portable, Exit, Loco Roco and Armored Core which I will be getting soon hopefully. I'm still debating picking up GTA: LCS, not really sure if it would be worth picking up as I generally seem to get bored of them after the first few hours. Still haven't finished off GTA3 or VC either for that very reason. Certainly things seem a lot better now than at E3 time when really there was **** all announced for the PSP that got my juices flowing, in fact IIRC there was hardly new game announcements for the PSP at E3.

I'm glad I haven't sold mine, although to be honest the thought never crossed my mind, as I generally don't tend to sell off hardware. There have been times I've regretted making the purchase but then there's also been times when I couldn't live without it, especially during my addiction to Lumines which has now thankfully passed.

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

Bought 1 in Japan, played Ridge Racers a few times, stopped after a while as i got bored of it in 1998 or so.
Minna No Golf was mildly diverting, but what do i need with another golf game?
Wipeout: ditto RR, got bored of Wipeout games years ago
WE9: was a disasterous conversion
Guilty Gear was great, but nothing i havent seen before + the PSP pad/buttons are a mare for 2d fighters
Snooker was alright for a few frames

Sold it, got a DS and couldnt be happier


How has it done?

dismaly, it has lost a fortune for Sony and given Nintendo a real confidence boot to press ahead and innovate with the Revolution.

ha

Oh and the battery life is a joke, if you play it in the airport before a flight you wont make it until take off, never mind a long journey

[Darwock]

That battery life thing is rubbish, I used mine to watch the Naruto movie on UMD and played numerous sessions of Lumines throughout a 12 hour flight, then also played it while waiting in Heathrow for 2 hours for my return flight to Glasgow.. it still hadn't run out by the time I got home.

[MikeRox]

I wish it was, I had to charge my battery up 3 times on the first day I got my PSP so I was getting about 5 hours out of each charge playing ridge racer, not too bad tbh (didn't the gamegear get like an hour or so outta 6 AAs?), it'd last the 3 an half hour train ride it is back to hudds from uni, but certainly not great imo.

[segages]

The whole battery life issue was a big thing pre-launch. 4-6 hours didn't sound like much but I can honestly say I've never been troubled by it - I used to get 5 hours out of Ridge which was enough for me.

There's always the option of getting a spare one... yeah I know you shouldn't have to but it's a solution (if it becomes a problem).

[Dogg Thang]

Agreed. I've never got even close to 12 hours out of mine, although maybe under the right circumstances it might happen. I get an average of about 5 hours. Much better than the early reports (but then the early reports included flying UMDs - has that actually happened to anyone ever?). Still pretty pox in my opinion.

[Kubrick]

I get about 4-5hrs out of mine. That's with max screen brightness and high speaker volume.

My GBA SP lasts about twice as long.

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

The fact that i had to 'plan ahead' if i wanted to use it made the whole thing almost redundant for me

[Santas Boyfriend]

I'm glad I haven't sold mine, although to be honest the thought never crossed my mind, as I generally don't tend to sell off hardware. There have been times I've regretted making the purchase but then there's also been times when I couldn't live without it, especially during my addiction to Lumines which has now thankfully passed.

I bought mine just after Xmas last year. I played RR and Lumines a lot and have bought and then sold a few games - Wipeout, Everybody's Golf, Namco Museum, Twisted Metal, WE9 - before buying GTA. I've played GTA for a few hours; it's OK, more impressive as a technical achievement than as a game I actually want to play.

Overall, it's probably the worst console I've ever bought apart from a 3DO. It's certainly the only one since the 3DO that I've considered selling. As I play more games on it I hate the controller, load times and battery life more and more. Pretty much everything on it after the launch has been either a cut-down PS2 game or disappointing

And to think that I bought a DS at the same time, worried that it was a bit of a novelty whereas the PSP was obviously going to be a lot better...

[shafropuff]

Okay I've had my PSP since like a month after the Japanese release.

Anyway PSP is good, the actual thing but its the games. They haven't rele made me wanna "pick up and resume play" like many great PS titles, I think it's because the games on it are just re-makes and ports of PS2 games the original games like Persuite Force do make me like it but still its not a "pick up and resume game" for me it a "do as much as u can in one go" type of thing, I think thats due to the fact that I just can't get myself to play many handheld games I do the same with he DS but I do play on the DS more "so PSP it's not you its me".

It hasn't crossed my mind to actually sell the thing as my brother uses it as a MP3 player by day and by night it's my personal source of K-dramas and I rele can't live without a place to watch my K-dramas.

[The Mole]

I think the focus of the machine has been all wrong. The game i was most excited about (Infected) seamed to be average at best (looking at reviews). People look at the PSP and think it offers nothing that a PS2 doesnt so why do you need one? Playing through games that you have on a home console does not seam as fun IMO.

The reason the DS is doing well IMO is because of the lower spacs of the system. It is causing developers to think about the games (to get the best out of them) and most of the time this is resulting in the game being tailored to the DS and the hardware.

With the PSP developers seam to think it is ok to but out the PS2 game it saves them money and it is quite easy to do.

Sony need to do a better job of getting new games to the system and looking at what is coming in the future compared to what is on the DS and even GBA the PSp line up looks very poor.

Apart from Lumnies what original games do we have on the PSP? While the DS is not flooded with original games i think it would get into double figures. To me gaming is about offering something new or a major advancement in the series and it looks like the developers that are making games are being lazy and are out to make a fast buck.

Wasn't Sony losing money on the hardware? Couple this with low game sales the PSP could start to hurt Sony more than help it if things do not improve.


One think that i think has caused the current situation is the gaming media action towards the console. Last year we had people saying the PSP will revolutionise hand held gaming, and it will wipe the floor with the ugly gimmiky Nintendo brick.

This has resulted in Sony effectivly sitting back and doing nothing.