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I'm hoping to create a Playstation Portable Beginner Guide and I thought the first thing to bring into conversation is the Strengths and Weaknesses of the handheld.

This could mostly be the hardware and its reception from the community. However, hardware revisions sometimes addressed these, but I'm curious what everyone has to say about them.

I also welcome strength and weakness conversations around the game library.

And any observations in the years since it was actually on the retail market are helpful too.

Thanks, everyone!

Edit: the PSP Beginner's Guide is out now!
https://www.racketboy.com/retro/playsta ... ners-guide

One weakness are long load times. The concept of a portable with disc media was a neat concept. But this added to longer load times compared to its competitor, the DS. You’d see some improvement if you had the game on the memory card.

Another weakness was introduced with the PSPGo revision: a digital only console which removed the disc drive. No program was ever implemented to migrate your physical collection.

Gucci wrote:One weakness are long load times. The concept of a portable with disc media was a neat concept. But this added to longer load times compared to its competitor, the DS. You’d see some improvement if you had the game on the memory card.

Another weakness was introduced with the PSPGo revision: a digital only console which removed the disc drive. No program was ever implemented to migrate your physical collection.

When you put it like that, it does kinda stink in that regard.
Not to get too far off topic, how has the hacking crowd handled that situation, if at all?

A hacked PSP allows you to copy/paste your disc games to your pc via USB, run games off your memory stick, and emulate other consoles. It is dead simple to hack at this point and I highly recommend it!

Hardware differences from memory:
1000- physically bigger unit. Slower processing.
2000 - slimmer design. More plasticity feeling. Faster processing.
3000 - different screen (I think it's worse? Someone correct me if I am wrong)
Go- no disc drive but you could hack the sucker and copy games to it

I think the biggest weakness at this point is that you will have difficulty finding decent aftermarket batteries. My stock battery is still good so I personally haven't purchased any yet; but I've heard mixed things about the replacements you find on ebay.

Proprietary memory cards were a weakness of the PSP - you can easily work around it now but at the time you were required to buy expensive Sony Memory Sticks.

The UMDs were ultimately a weakness I feel. They came with the promise of more storage capacity but the load times, noisy loading and shorter battery life that came from them really worked against the system.

The thumbstick was definitely a weakness too - the 'nub' is not great, and the console tried to replicate a lot of PS2 era games whilst missing both a second analogue stick and 2 of the shoulder buttons, which feels quite short sighted when console quality was the aim.

Nowadays, I think hardware reliability is an issue. The system has a lot of delicate parts for a handheld of the era and I've gone through a couple now. Screens and batteries needing replacement is common, and the thumbsticks needing replacement is practically a given at this point I feel. The large for the time screen is prone to being scratched too as it has no time of cover or clamshell design like the GBA SP or DS.

It was a bit of a meme, but I remember a weakness discussed at the time being the tendency for the original PSP to launch your games across the room when you opened it due to the spring loaded disc tray. The 2000 onwards has a tray you open manually


In terms of strengths - I think the longevity of the library is a big one. PSP got games for a long time, somewhat helped by the specs being close enough to both the PS2 and Wii that ports weren't out of the question. Both of those systems being so long lived and popular didn't hurt the PSP, for sure.

Another strength of the system was probably it's power. It blew the GBA out of the water in capability, and far surpassed what the DS was capable of too. The PSP wasn't too dissimilar to a 6th gen console like the PS2 or Dreamcast overall, if not quite on the same level.

Support from big names was a strength too. Sony and third parties really commited to the machine with most of the PS2's big name IPs of the time appearing - Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, God of War, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken. It's night and day compared to the support the later PS Vita enjoyed.


Adding to the above post - another benefit of the PSP2000 and PSP3000 is that they offer video output using a component cable. This isn't possible on the 1000.


I sound negative maybe with the systems weaknesses, but in retrospect I actually think the PSP hardware is pretty bad. The software library is worth struggling through, but I don't like the actual machinery at all!

alienjesus wrote:I sound negative maybe with the systems weaknesses, but in retrospect I actually think the PSP hardware is pretty bad. The software library is worth struggling through, but I don't like the actual machinery at all!

Not to detail the conversation too much, but a modded Vita running Adrenaline is the only way to play through PSP games now. The graphic options, save states, battery life, and second analog stick are just so much of an upgrade.

lwcook wrote:

alienjesus wrote:I sound negative maybe with the systems weaknesses, but in retrospect I actually think the PSP hardware is pretty bad. The software library is worth struggling through, but I don't like the actual machinery at all!

Not to detail the conversation too much, but a modded Vita running Adrenaline is the only way to play through PSP games now. The graphic options, save states, battery life, and second analog stick are just so much of an upgrade.

And I will include something along these lines in the guide -- where emulation/flash carts etc usually go.
I think the notes above are a great start for the original hardware discussion.

And that's what these guides are for... for somebody that's looking to play the games and wants to know the best directions to go.
What I might actually do is list the Vita in the hardware section with notes like yours in there. I wouldn't make a habit of this, but this might be a good fit.
For instance, when I get around to doing a Wii Beginner's Guide, a Wii U can be a solid recommendation. While it's not the same in more ways than one, it's a reasonable recommendation.

Thank you! Excellent discussion so far!

Side newbie question -- is there any way to easily rip UMD games?

If playing on original hardware kinda sucks, is there much point in owning original games other than the collectability?
Although, walking backward, is the load time any worse than something like the Sega Saturn or even the Sega CD?

Strengths: Actual exclusives...unlike the port machine that was its successor. People hate it when they hear that the Vita, the Xbox One, or much more recently, the PS 5, have no games, but it's the truth

Exclusives define a gaming device, and the PSP had a lot of them. To date, it's still more fun to collect for than the Vita is

racketboy wrote:Side newbie question -- is there any way to easily rip UMD games?

If playing on original hardware kinda sucks, is there much point in owning original games other than the collectability?
Although, walking backward, is the load time any worse than something like the Sega Saturn or even the Sega CD?

To rip a game from the disc drive (using a modded psp):

1- On the home screen press select and change your USB device to UMD
2- Connect your console to a pc and enable a USB connection on the system.
3- Copy and paste the iso. That's it.

Just remember to swap back the USB mode to memory stick so you can load from it.

I've never really had issues with load times. Maybe someone can point out some egregious examples but for the most part games load fairly quickly. I use a 2000 model and load the games from storage.