RF Generation Message Board

Hey gang,

I've been recently craving a PSP lately and was hoping to get some info from you people. Looking for this kind of information:

- Whats a good price for a used PSP (CIB and Loose)
- Are there any reliability issues I should be aware of (or model #s to lookout for)
- Do any kind of SD cards work with it?
- What are 3 games you'd recommend I look into? (try to stick to games I may not have heard of if possible)

You can treat any of these questions like your talking to an infact if you wish, because truthfully I know extremely little about this system. Thanks guys!!

You looking to run any homebrew on it?

Edit: Eh I Guess it doesn't really matter.

I payed about $150 for mine (loose) and about the same for my cousins (pretty close to CIB).

I believe the earliest models (PSP-2000?) have a problem with the game hatch popping open often if the handheld has been a little damaged. Mine started doing this after I dropped it once. To make sure my game doesn't get interrupted by it I just keep a piece of electrical on the back to keep it shut. Other wise after dropping it twice its the only problem I had with mine.

My 3 games would be:
1. Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles
2. Final Fantasy Tactics
3. Star Ocean: First Departure

It doesn't take SD cards, it takes Sony MemorySticks. If you look enough, you can get them for cheap (I got my 8 GB for like $32).

As for games, I'd say Jeanne D'Arc, first and foremost. Final Fantasy Tactics is good, God of War - Chains of Olympus, Lumines, Disgaea, etc etc etc. There really are quite a few enjoyable games if you're willing to put some effort into looking.

Looking through your collection I see a few Baldur's Gate/Bard's Tale/Norrath listings for different systems. In that case I'd recommend Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony (http://www.rfgeneration.com/news/modern-gaming/Tan-s-Mini-Reviews-Dungeon-Siege-Throne-of-Agony-742.php). Also Ace Combat X and God of War Chains of Olympus are great games as well.

The type of memory stick you'll need:

http://www.rfgeneration.com/PHP/gethwinfo.php?ID=U-095-H-00050-B

They come in many different sizes but I'd recommend nothing smaller than a 1Gb.


Here's a great protector case for the system:

http://www.rfgeneration.com/PHP/gethwinfo.php?ID=U-095-H-00130-A

Great thing about this case is that not only can you play the system inside it as well as store UMDs and mem cards, the AC adapter port is open so you can charge it while the case is closed. :)

If you do get a PSP, be sure to check out some of the other things you can do with it: internet TV, internet radio, PSX emulation, etc. You can even use it as a universal remote for a whole host of electronics. It's also quite easy to run your PSP games right off the memory card so you don't have to worry about carrying around those UMDs, and it's fantastic for emulating those older systems.

The newer systems (PSP-2000 and 3000) are better to get because they have more ram, which makes games load faster.

Three games I recommend...

Jeanne D'Arc
Jeanne D'Arc
Jeanne D'Arc

Other notables- Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, God of War, Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, the Square Enix games, Patapon and Lumines. One more thing... Castlevania Dracula X is good but has problems. The remake of Rondo has the annoying tendency for your character to jump through the ceiling and you have to unlock Symphony of the Night. Furthermore, the version of Symphony of the Night takes up about 2/3 the PSP screen when you play it which is annoying and it takes a while to load up the game.

I always wanted to use emulators on my PSP and play PSX games I missed out on but it seems like a huge pain in the ass to get it set up. I'd have to buy another battery to turn it into a Pandora's battery (which seems complicated), reformat my memory card, and constantly switch out the batteries depending on if I wanted to play PSP games or roms.

Is it as frustrating as it sounds? Also my friend has an original model PSP and his SNES roms had significant slowdown if there was a lot happening on screen. Is this common? I'd like to do PSP emulation but I'm so overwhelmed with my lack of knowledge and stuff I've been really turned off from even trying.

@ Shimra
The Snes emulator runs on different speeds as you tinker with the settings. I've gotten many games to run at normal speed but the graphics start messing up (usually anything in the foreground that is supposed to be transparent ends up disappearing.) The only other emulator that I had this problem with was Genesis. I played through Mother 3 on my PSP and everything worked fine.

As long as your PSP is set up with Custom firmware PSP emulation isn't too hard. If I remember correctly its just making a folder or two and placing the game files in the right place. PSX Emulation runs pretty well too, but its frozen over on me a few times. I was thinking of trying Chrono Cross on it but I'm not sure how the disc change would work.

I've never had that problem in Rondo of Blood. The smaller screen size in symphony does kind of suck but being such a big Castlevania fan I didn't really mind, I guess I was too busy trying to find the new stuff they added.

@Silent Scythe

I guess I'll have to make an attempt to mod my PSP for emulators. I really really want to get into Super Metroid speed running again but the family SNES is in Cincy and it's broken. Plus I can't stand playing games on a computer for whatever reason.

Also, regarding Dracula X, it is a great game for a Castlevania fan. I enjoyed it, but loading up Symphony of the Night takes about 20 seconds to actually load to the point where the game starts. It's not really much but I really dislike load times, particularly on portable systems. But in the remake of Rondo, if there is a low ceiling above you and you jump you go through the ceiling. It happens in the classicvanias as well but I guess I never noticed. It has no bearing on the gameplay at all, and it makes sense as to why it happens, it just looks goofy in the remake.

Also, regarding Chrono Cross... when I frequented gamefaqs people used to always talk about playing ISOs on their PSP. No one seemed to have much problem regarding multi-disc games, but I'll be damned if I know the specifics. I would ask there for you but it's a moddable offense now (everything is moddable now-- you can't even discuss an upcoming game or what you'd like to see in a new installment).

@Shimra

I know what ya mean, I cant play a lot of those great classic games on my computer and keep interest.

I can see how most games would work with the disc change because they have a save point right at that part. So its just a matter of saving and then loading the next ISO. However Chrono Cross doesn't have a save point like that, its like you hit a point on the map and then you change discs. Maybe I'll look it up some time but with 20 something other RPGs to play I think it can wait.

I really appreciate all the responses!! Unfortanutely there were a few things I wasnt aware of that you guys brought up in this thread that kinda scare me off right now. I still want a PSP, but I think I'll wait for a couple more years unless I find a really great deal.

I'll keep all the game suggestions logged away though as I heard some interesting ones.

I think we sell em used for $150. Sometimes you can get a real deal, I got mine after I sold it to a guy and he sold it back to us like a week later. You might be suprised at how often people do this at Gamestop. Any not-must have games are bought in this manner by me.

Since all the other questions have been answered.

My 3 recommendations -
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Disgaea
Super Ghost and Goblins
Honorable Mention: one of the Capcom Classic Remixes

All of those are great games of different types of genres. If you like old school gaming, I REALLY suggest one of the capcom classic remixes, most all gamestops should have em for pretty cheap and they have like 15 or 20 great games ranging from Strider to Street Fighter Turbo II.

If you just buy a PSP bundle (like God of War or something) you're good to go unless you really want to mod your PSP to play emulators. I bought a PSP slim (not bundled) and a memory stick and that's it. I've got demos on my PSP, music, and of course my UMD PSP games. You can put photos and videos on it without modding it as well. Also you can get a bundle PSP which comes with a game and a memory stick for a little less than $200. I'd recommend that since memory sticks are expensive, plus you get a game. I think if I would have bought a bundle it would have been like $10 more than what I payed including the memory stick. So $10 for a game isn't bad.

So... don't be scared about getting one if you just want it to play PSP games and maybe use some of it's other features.

Personally I can't play any involved games on a handheld. I much prefer them for quick time waster type games. Puzzle games, arcade ports and such.

1. WTF: Work Time Fun - this a collection of really stupid, simple mini games but it's surprisingly addictive.
2. Metal Slug Anthology
3. Gradius Collection

I also really enjoyed Napolean Dynamite: The Game. It's another collection of mini games. I only picked it up because I liked the movie but I ended up playing it through.

It is a handheld DONT GET ONE!!!!!!!!!!

Not a handheld fan, I assume?