the sony PSP

[brunoafh]

It may have been a weird way to word it, but there's no denying that the ratio of shovelware to decent games on the DS is way higher than it is on the PSP.

[irixith]

Yeah, that's all I was saying.

[Anayo]

I love the PSP.

To me, the Nintendo DS just felt like a Gameboy Advance 2.0 (which was fun! But not quite what I wanted). The PSP on the other hand delivers something more like a cross between a Sega Dreamcast and a Playstation 2, with hi-res, 3D games and multimedia stuff.

My favorite games so far are Tekken: Dark Resurrection and Burnout: Legends.

Siphon Filter Logan's Shadow was an entertaining shooter... Daxter was a fun platformer, like Crash Bandicoot except 3 times better. Power Stone Collection is a lot of fun if you can link up with someone and beat them up at multiplayer.

I'm hoping to get Me and My Katamari and Metal Slug Anthology before long. Anyone have any hands on time with these and know if they're worth it?

[irixith]

Metal Slug Anthology is just plain awesome. I can't comment on Katamari because I don't like the series.

[Balasubbie]

I like the PSP. Mind, I sometimes find that playing Street Fighter II with the analog stick is akin to trying to play tiddlywinks with a crackpipe gauze.

[Opa Opa]

I'm not a big Sony fan but for what it's worth; the PSP is a pretty good handheld.

Hardware:
I remember the original PSP having issues so I waited a few years and got the 2000 model. It's feels pretty solid although the slot for the umd feels fragile and I feel like I have to be extra careful when opening it. Unlike Sony's controllers for home consoles, the psp d-pad is fantastic. The same with the face buttons; they are responsive and easy to use. The shoulder buttons are all right but the control stick is only mediocre. The range of movement feels limited but it does work well. However, I'd rather not have the control stick because the d-pad works so well and the control stick's placement feels kind of tacked on. When holding a psp my thumbs go right to the d-pad. I have to alter my positioning to play with the stick and it's a little less comfortable (but is playable, mind you!).

Home interface:
I like the design of the home screen. It's very sleek and stylish and easy to navigate. However, most of the features are useless to me. I only use the psp as a game system so the music/picture/video/etc. options are nice but completely unnecessary. For someone who does a lot of traveling it is a great multimedia device and does its job well.

Games:
The PSP has a good, albeit different, library than the DS. Both systems offer a huge rpg library and that isn't an exaggeration. My only gripe with the psp's library are the games that really need a second analog stick. Action-heavy games like the Monster Hunter series come to mind. They're playable once you get used to the control scheme but they would significantly benefit with a second stick. Other than that problem it has unique titles and is a fun system to play.

Load Times:
More recent titles have a data install option that allows you to install a large portion of the game on your memory stick. This shortens load times sometimes to the point of non-existence. However, some of the older titles that don't have this option will take a while to load so that can be a problem for people with zero patience. The only game with this problem that I can think of right now is the first Untold Legends. It's a great game but the load times are something to behold.

UMD Game format:
It's kinda cool to see games on disc that's even smaller than a GameCube game but I wished that Sony went with a card based storage system like the DS. Less moving parts means less to break.

UMD Movies?:
The way of the future!... Not anymore. I didn't like the concept of buying movies on a umd. Sure you can take it with you but I remember a lot of umd movies costing more than a standard DVD release. UMD movies were an interesting experiment in movie formats but I think that they are best avoided unless you like collecting them.

Playstation Store:
This is a great store. Although I've never purchased anything, I like how affordable some of the original PlayStation titles are. I think Sony's prices reflect what a digital game should really cost. $6 for Silent Hill? That's a good deal considering you'd pay at least double for a physical disc. The only problem is that you are limited by the space on your memory stick so there's added cost to store a lot of games.

As good as the prices on PS1 games are, the psp games need some serious price cuts. I'm not afraid to say that 99% of the time you can find a physical title cheaper than a downloadable title. Although, I'm not going to bash on those prices because the download service isn't aimed at a consumer like me. It's aimed more at the person who doesn't care to own a box/manual/etc. for whatever reason. And for those people the service will work but still I think the prices should be a little lower considering the money saved without producing the physical media.

Game demos are good because I wouldn't have purchased some great games without trying them out first.

Overall, the store is all right. It's easy to connect to but you need a fast internet service to download big titles.

Hombrew Application:
I know that the PSP is incredibly easy to hack for its homebrew (and legally iffy) uses. I no longer use mine for those applications but it's out there for those who dabble in that sort of thing.

Overall:
Wow, I just typed a lot! I'll wrap this up.

Ideally you would own both a DS and a PSP just because they offer different gaming experiences but a PSP won't disappoint.

[skyknight]

Limited games for PSP, that is heresy!

There are plenty of games to choose from, though at times I do wish there was a 2nd analog stick.

There is no shortage of RPG and action/adventure games for the PSP, and it is more suitable for fighting games than the DS, plus you can download most of the PS1 classics from the PSN store, which is supposedly getting a serious facelift coming on April's Fool (serious no joke!) to prepare Sony's next phase for its on-line presence.

[Croooow!]

I love my PSP, I like to think of it as a portable Dreamcast. It has a similar button configuration (D Pad, one analogue stick, four face buttons, and two shoulder buttons), comparable graphics, and has a bunch of great games from Sega. I love PSone Classics as I find the games look better and I can support the companies who made those games.

I saw a couple people mention Metal Slug Anthology and I just wanted to chime in. I picked it up and was very put off by the load times. To me they just ruined the flow of the games. I decided I'd pick it up on Wii if I ever felt the need to play any of the other besides the original. I don't know, maybe I had unrealistic expectations since Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded had more options and much less loading than the PS2 version.

[BlackDS]

the PSP's library is like the n64 library, while not great in number, almost all of those games are worth your time. The DS is like the PS1 library, where there were so many games to choose from all but the very best get lost in the shuffle

[jfrost]

According to Wikipedia, counting all regions, the PSP has about 700 games. The N64 had a little short of 400 (and it wasn't region free). Compare it with the NES, with 800 games (US/PAL) or with the Mega Drive, with 900.

While the DS library is big (about 1100 games), it really doesn't compare to the PS1 or PS2 libraries (2400 and 2100 games respectively).