I wants a PSP

Lumines is need.

If you like sports games go Tiger woods, and need for speed is cool too.

Burnout Revenge will probably keep you entertained. I might get a PSP down the road now that it's finally getting some good games like Jeanne d'Arc and a port of Final Fantasy Tactics. Also, the Harvey Birdman game looks like a lot of fun.

Crush is a lot of fun. The game I've loved the most, though, is Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee.

The GTAs - Faithful to the other games, more fun than Saints Row.

Puzzle Quest - Absolute crack, if you haven't experienced it for DS yet. I'd wait for it on Live Arcade, though.

Creeping Dickrot 2 - Sequel to the best damn Atari 2600 game ever made.

Hot Shots Golf - Never thought I'd get hooked on a golf game. I did.

Chili Con Carnage - Pure shootemup goodness. Way better than the console game it's a spinoff of.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror - Best game in the series, by far.

Also, you need to hack that shit, for Ebooks and comics and movies and old console games. Not that I'd condone that sort of thing, of course.

Hot Shots Golf over Tiger Woods, definitely. If you're going to spring for only one GTA game, get the Vice City one. What I've played of Dark Mirror is great. As is Gitaroo Man Lives.

Avoid the Katamari game unless you find it for, like, five bucks.

It's old, but I love Wipeout: Pure.

GameStop sells refurbished ones for $129. I'm holding off until the new models come out on the assumption that the price for the refurbished units will drop farther still.

Having said that, I have some questions. Here's my vision: this will become my all-in-one commuting gadget, replacing the iPod I use to listen to audiobooks while walking to the Metro and the laptop I use to watch movies while on the Metro. Consequently, I want to be able to store 2 movies and 5 CDs on the PSP. How big a memory card do I need? Further, how do I "hack that shit," and do I have to in order to accomplish my objective?

Gitarooo Man, Ratchet and Clank, and Tekken, damn it!

Let us also add in Metal Gear Portable Ops and Ace Combat.
If you do get a PSP, remember to always check for firmware updates, and to get some homebrew emulations.
For space, 5 gigs should do.

What the hell is a homebrew emulation?

Oh, and thanks for the space recommendation!

(edited to say thanks)

I'm about halfway through Syphon Filter, and I'm really enjoying it. Of course, I don't game away from my house that much, and when I am at home, I'm using the 360. I'd say Syphon Filter does the best job possible of handling the lack of a second analog stick.

One word of warning about Syphon Filter: almost the entire first area really isn't that great. I enjoyed the following three settings far more.

Good question. When a marketed product copies the gimmicky work-arounds prevalent in homebrew software?

Frank- For just a couple of movies and a few cds, a 2 gig should be fine. They're all getting pretty cheap, anyway, I got a 4 gig card from Buy.com a few months ago for 50 bucks.

As for hacking it, it's tricky. There's lot of guides online, but it all depends on which kind of operating system you get. Some you're able to crack, some they haven't gotten to yet. But if you just want movies and cds, you should be fine with how it is out of the box. You're just going to need software to rip your dvds to the right format (it has to be an mp4 file for it to work). The best (free!) program is this- http://www.pspvideo9.com

There's all sorts of nifty apps and original games available to you when you hack the system. Check sites like QJ for news and stuff on the homebrew scene. It'll make your head explode if you delve too far into it, though.

I was just about to post all this, but one thing you should know is that you can hack the psp using above guides you can get Flac and ogg vorbis playback, and ebook reading. Further more if you do mess around with homebrew, you can get emulations of older video games (snes, sega). Its kick ass playing kirby super star, altered beast, super mario bors, and kid icarus on a sony handheld system. If you like, you can get the "Undiluted Platinum" mod-chip for further fun. Its a whole different story if you get a new psp slim, though. This system has tougher security against homebrews but has a 3.60 firmware which is rumored to have something of a DLNA client (allowing to connect with computers and other consumer electronics).

Umm... if you don't know or care what about what im saying, just enjoy your games, Frank!

It's great, they really managed to make the single stick work. I had fun with Killzone as well. If you can find it cheap, Chili Con Carnage is surprisingly good (although repetitive), and you can say you own a game called Chili Con Carnage.

Need for Speed and Burnout are both fun, but the load times killed my enjoyment.

Thank you, gents. You gave me precisely the information I needed.

Recently got a psp myself, had to track down a copy of Lumines to downgrade and 'hack' it, but now thats taken care of I'm enjoying the heck out of it.

Yeah.. maybe I play more punchout/super punchout roms than actual PSP games.. but hey, they're classic for a reason

Actually, along with Street Fighter Ex Alpha 3, GTA Vice City, Def Jam Fight for NY, and FF1.. also grabbed Monster Hunter 2, and though I'm still super early into it, it seems like its going to be a great time-eater..

I can't believe nobody's mentioned Pursuit Force or Exit yet.

I also quite enjoy Field Commander, but I'm a huge nerd for turn-based strategy. YMMV. The collection games can be fun too... I quite enjoy the EA collection and the GF loves the Activision collection. I've heard good things about the Capcom collection, but I don't own that one.

Aside from that, I'll echo the love for Puzzle Quest, GTA:VCS, Killzone Liberation and Crush. I never spend more than $30 on a PSP game and buy most titles used, so I don't know much about brand new releases. The PSP library is getting more respectable day by day however.

Which is the best baseball game? The Season of Darkness is nearly upon us.

I'm enjoying Need For Speed, Lumines (addictive!) and Pursuit Force at the moment, but I keep coming back to that silly ATV: Blazing Trails game over and over. My two boys, nephew and I play it wireless and have a blast. It's one of those weird lightning in a bottle moments in our household where we all like different games, but that one brings us together.

Five PSP games you need:

1. Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (The best PSP game IMO)
2. Lumines I or II
3. GTA: VCS or LCS
4. Wipeout: Pulse (when it comes out)
5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (when it comes out)

Having Lumines on Live is really doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it for PSP. Having it on the go makes so much more sense than playing it on a TV.

I would hold off on PSP games at the moment. Too many big titles are coming down the pipe before Christmas. Aside from that, most of the big stuff has already been mentioned by others.

Also, if you want a better value, consider returning the PSP and getting a pricematch at Circuit City. They have a 110% pricematch policy, and if you buy a handheld (or console) before mid-October you get a free year of their Gamer's Savings Club (10% off all games and accessories). That's where I'm hoping to get my upgrade, whenever they decide to release the piano black models.

Cool! I hope you enjoy it. Having Daxter as a pack-in isn't a bad idea. It's actually a pretty decent game. I picked it up back in May and was quite addicted to it for a bit.

I dig the Need for Speed games too, like some of the others on here have mentioned, but I prefer the Most Wanted flavor.

You've got a bit of variety right off the bat with what you picked up so you're good to go for now. The PSP library has actually been picking up some steam lately. For a while it was just kind of bleh.

Right now I'm hooked on Brave Story, a VERY good, if somewhat unexceptional Japanese RPG, as well as Jeanne D'Arc, the turn based strategy game that Nick started a thread for a while back. Noone took much notice of the thread, but the game is great.

Coming up, I'm looking forward to the Castlevania: Dracula X set, Silent Hill Origins, Final Fantasy Tactics, and probably most of all Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness.

Enjoy!

Just as a quick aside with the whole price match thing... I've tried it a few times in the past, and I'm starting to get the feeling I was just sort of unlucky. Does it usually work out for those of you who've tried it? It seems to pop up on the boards every so often. I tried doing a Price Match at a Circuit City a few times and they seemed to be only willing to do it if I could prove that the item was out of stock at the store I tried matching for, going so far as to say they would call the other store up. Granted, it's been a while and maybe they were just being a pain in my ass, but I really don't even think about any price matching anymore... Maybe I should give it another whirl sometime.

Circuit City is like dick cancer. I don't want to have anything to do with it.

If you like, check out MLB : The Show. Also reserve God of War. I played the demo and I wanna fuck it, due to the reason that the controls for ps2 translates well onto psp.

If anyone is not into homebrew emulations, a good idea would be the aforementioned classics collections. EA and Capcom are great, but the sega collection with altered beast, sonic, and especially Shadow Dancer:Legend of Shinobi kicks ass on so many levels. Personally, I 've been having old-school fun with Ultimate ghosts and goblins.

Give it a few weeks, you'll get over it.

Let go of your hate, Otis. Time to let in the LOVE.

I experienced PSP buyer's remorse pretty severely last year, to the point where I returned it a month later. However since buying a new one back in March, I've had nothing but good vibes for it. It's reached a good price with a nice little hardware revision, memory sticks can be found in good sizes for low cost, and there's a solid library built up with huge titles coming.

Now I need to buy a black DS. Who needs Wii60 when you have....the DSP.

I sold mine a few months ago, but yeah, I've been thinking about picking up another one. The price is better and the games are starting to roll in.

The forthcoming FF Tactics, SH: origins and Castlevania have me swinging more towards the PSP, too.

I'd probably trade for Crush. Let me see if there's anything I want to get rid of.

Funny you mentioned that collection. I played it for about four hours yesterday while I holed up waiting to see how much of Irvine would burn down. I've given up on Syphon Filter-the game just gets too difficult towards the end for me to continue without a second analog stick or a "save anywhere" mechanic. Which is a shame, because I really enjoyed it (up to a point), and the sequel has the best graphics I've ever seen on a portable system. God of War PSP needs to come out asap.

Speaking of which, did anyone who signed up for the God of War demo actually receive it? I got an e-mail within the past couple weeks saying I should get it shortly. I got nothin'.

Have the old one. Got the new, slimmer one as a gift. Should I keep it? Much of a difference? I do love the PSP. Just don't know if the upgrade is worth it.

Ok, all you PSP fiends. I think I might be able to snag one at Christmas, provided I can come up with a “legit” use for it. So, any apps out there that make it like a PDA? Some calendar, date book functions? I know the music, movies, old games bit…which is cool, but not a selling point. Anybody got any ideas?

I can't even figure out how to convert movies properly and get them on the memory stick (although songs are a breeze).

I got nothing.

My psp died after under 2 months of infrequent use. No clue what happened, it was downgraded but the problem wasn't it bricking or anything of the sort.. spent one night playing Twisted Metal, turned it off after beating a level. Next morning the power switch doesnt do anything. Take out the mem card, take out the battery, slap them back in and flick the power switch 250 times, put it on hold, flick it 250 times. plug it into the AC, flick it 250 times. Let it "charge" over-night, next day flick 250 times.. nothing. (Yea, I like that #)

So I take my brand new, just under 2 months old PSP back to EB to claim it on the extended warranty I paid for, 2 hours of waiting later they send me to a different location because they don't have any PSP's on hand. Drive over to the other branch, and get handed a white cardboard box with "EB refurbished!" stamped all over it, get asked if I want to purchase another warranty for the lousy refurb. When I had over my debit card, I try oh-so-hard not to pull a Billy Zane and ram my fist clean through the counter-jockey's smug fucking face.

So I get home, pissed off by the fact my new console died so quick and having had to pay for two warranties for the fucking thing already, much less getting handed a refurb instead of a new one when it barely had any use on it.. I boot the thing up and check the system version..

Oh goody, 3.52. Not downgradeable, unless I feel like buying a second battery pack to kill in some kind of voodoo ritual I still don't understand. By this point I've had more than enough of this nonsense. I call up EB as soon as I see the version #. "What do you guys give for trade-in credit on PSP's?"

69 bucks. I paid 199.99 for it at the end of August.

So more or less, fuck my PSP, fuck this refurb PSP, FUCK EB and Sony.. if it wasn't for the new Silent Hill game coming out soon I'd already have this thing up for sale on Craigslist or something

Needless to say, I am not impressed in the slightest. When I finally sell the P.O.S.. I'm going to use the proceeds to buy games for my reliable ol' DS. Maybe Zelda. Or maybe I'll just blow it all on gimmick Stylus pens.

I do not understand why you 1) received a refurbished unit as a replacement and 2) had to buy another warranty. I'm sure the EBGames warranties are draconian and evil but it sounds like you got hosed.