Hardware PSP needs a battery and memory stick

[SuperTrever]

My friend gave me a PSP 2000 which has no battery or memory stick. I plan to mod it and play games off of the memory stick. Should I buy a Pandora battery or just go with a normal one? Also where is a good place to buy a memory stick that isn't too pricey? And what size memory stick would be best to store a decent amount of games? Any other helpful information would be appreciated.

 

[s4mid4re]

You really don't need a pandora or MMS, even if you're trying to hack. It's better to use hellcat's recovery flasher to install CFWs like GEN and M33. The only problem with older CFWs is that they're less 'noob-friendly' and requires third party software support (such as the prometheus plugin or iso_tool) in order to run newer games.

Installing 6.20 PRO-B7 is much easier and doesn't require anything special (such as pandora battery + MMS or hellcat's recovery flasher) in order to install, and also has a permanent patch, which is optional.

The only downside would be that newer Lite Custom Firmwares don't have great plugin support nor Popsloader. You will only need Popsloader if you want to play psx games on your psp, though.

here's a tut on hacking/downgrading your psp: http://gbatemp.net/t293978-how-to-softmod-hack-your-psp

I hope this helps

EDIT: You'll probably find some good deals at Amazon or Newegg or maybe a close-by store like bestbuy. Don't trust ebay

If you're planning on pirating playing a bunch of games, 16-32gb is a good range. If you won't 8gb will do.

 

[SuperTrever]

Pandora batteries a a lot cheaper though... Is there a reason for that? Like do they crap out quicker or not hold a charge? And I think I only want like 7-10 games max. What's the average size of PSP games?

 

[Nathan Drake]

Pandora batteries a a lot cheaper though... Is there a reason for that? Like do they crap out quicker or not hold a charge? And I think I only want like 7-10 games max. What's the average size of PSP games?

Pandora batteries aren't gaming batteries. They don't hold as much of a charge, as they aren't made for it. There are Pandora batteries that can act as normal batteries too, but the charge they hold still isn't as good as just getting an official Sony battery.

Most PSP games run somewhere between 750MB and 1.2GB. With that size in mind, 8GB would probably be fine, or at least, it works for me. If you really want to make sure you can hold everything, you can go for a 16GB, but that will start getting a little pricier (about $40 I believe).

 

[xist]

Most PSP games run somewhere between 750MB and 1.2GB.

That's rubbish....larger PSP games are somewhere between those figures, and the average size would be considerably lower.

 

[Nathan Drake]

Most PSP games run somewhere between 750MB and 1.2GB.

That's rubbish....larger PSP games are somewhere between those figures, and the average size would be considerably lower.

Are you sure? The smallest I've found was about 500MB, and that was a pretty small game in CSO format. Should I phrase it as most of the worthwhile PSP games are going to be 750MB to 1.2GB? The smallest I found was Cladun (I think about 30MB or so), but that was really, really shrunk down from its original size.

 

[xist]

Listing only games i'd consider as worth playing otherwise i could destroy you...
All ISO's without the Update folder -

War of the Lions - around 400MB
Patapon - under 400MB
Patapon 3 - under 300MB!
Metal Gear Ac!d around 300MB
Prinny CIRBTH - Under 500
FINAL FANTASY IV: The Complete Collection - Under 500MB
Wipeout Pulse - around 350
Killzone Liberation, not strictly worth playing and just breaks the 500MB mark


etc.........

 

[Nathan Drake]

Well, of course there are tons of bad games under 500MB. You could destroy me there, but it wouldn't matter, as people don't play them.

FFIV Complete Collection is about 859MB as an ISO. Prinny and Patapon aren't exceptionally large games content wise, and the former isn't that involved. It mostly just tests your patience. War of the Lions is a port (is it considered a remake?) of what already wasn't a very big PSX game. I wouldn't expect its size to become too terribly large. Metal Gear Ac!d was a fairly early release, and game developers aren't known for utilizing all the space there early on. Wipeout Pulse is a racing game, and there is never too much content there and unless it is a console racer like Gran Turismo (where the PSP only has a fairly watered down version).

Can't comment on Killzone Liberation, but the game didn't look that interesting anyways. :3

Regardless, that is a very small number of games. PSP games worth playing that are within the range I specified (and actually, a few are even larger):

Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
Dissidia 012
Daxter
Ys 7 (just there actually)
FFIV Complete Collection (:3)
The 3rd Birthday
Persona 3 Portable
God of War: Chains of Olympus
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

And THAT list just goes on and on. There are definitely more games over the 750MB mark than under when it comes to the PSP games worth playing. You don't find too many games outside of older PSP titles that are at or under 500MB that are worthwhile, or aren't PSP Mini's.

 

[Satangel]

8GB memory stick should be enough. You can fit a lot of media on it, I'm very happy with 8GB. More I do not need.

 

[xist]

Many racing games are big....Ridge Racer 2 was around a gig. FFIV is small with dummy data removed. You're essentially saying if you want to play all FMV heavy games, or newer games then the average is bigger. Of course it is. But the majority of PSP games don't approach 1GB...

And just because it's a PSX port (which has added content) doesn't account for sizes.

For a user unprepared to play the PSP's library or a graphics whore, your size guess may be accurate, but if you're happy to play just good games then a 1GB average is WAY off. Then there's always downsampling FMV and reducing audio Bitrate.

I've had PSP's for years now and never needed more than a 4GB stick.

 

[Nathan Drake]

Even with the big games, no more than a 4GB stick is needed. I mean, how many PSP games are you going to be playing at once? I have nearly my entire memory stick filled up (8GB), and find myself only ever playing one game at a time, regardless of how many games I get at once.

FFIV may be small with dummy data removed, but I'm thinking an ISO that has not been tampered with. The ISO that has not been messed with is about 859MB, and that's what matters. Not everybody is willing to go through the process of making games smaller, regardless of how easy or simple it may be, as it doesn't really matter much in the long run.

Also, yes, being a PSX port with a few added things does account for size. FFVII, a three disc PSX game, was over 1GB. That means around 333MB a disc when broken down (if I still had the the three discs on my computer, I could say for certain). Final Fantasy Tactics was a relatively light game in terms of graphics, but that was so that it could be heavy in content. I wouldn't be surprised if the original was only about 300MB or so for the entire game. A modified port wouldn't get much bigger than that unless they decided to add in a hell of a lot of new content, or heavily modified the game to the point of it being a remake.

Not all of the games I named are new or FMV heavy either. Ratchet and Clank isn't FMV heavy, or even that graphics intensive. There is just a lot there, and it runs smoothly. Daxter is another example. There are very few things you could really consider a cut scene of any sort, but that game is over 1GB as a CSO and lags a little as a CSO. I've actually been meaning to decompress it to fix the slowdown, but haven't gotten around to it. Ys 7 is around the 750MB mark (it has a permanent place on my PSP), and that game isn't really graphics intensive, nor does it even really have any cut scenes outside of a very small handful of things that I can remember.

The content has grown dramatically as time has gone on, as developers have found more ways to utilize the space they have. Older games generally don't utilize this, and most newer games as small as early PSP releases are either ports, or just aren't content or graphics intensive.

 

[xist]

Daxter with cutscenes removed is tiny.....search for a Daxter rip and you'll see what i mean. I'm guessing the same goes for R&C.

If anything never games are more reliant on graphics....to grab attention for a undersupported console.

And which is it?

With that size in mind, 8GB would probably be fine,

Even with the big games, no more than a 4GB stick is needed.

 

[s4mid4re]

Daxter with cutscenes removed is tiny.....search for a Daxter rip and you'll see what i mean. I'm guessing the same goes for R&C.

If anything never games are more reliant on graphics....to grab attention for a undersupported console.

And which is it?

With that size in mind, 8GB would probably be fine,

Even with the big games, no more than a 4GB stick is needed.

I think he's had good experience with an 8gb, but thinks that 4gb is enough.

How about this: The OP wants 7-10 games max, so he won't need a lot (like 16gb), but 7-10 games will definitely not fit into 4gb; take the middle and get an 8gb. Problem solved.

 

[xist]

Ultimately it all depends upon how you play games, and your price limit.

For instance i play a game, finish it and move onto the next...i could probably cope with a 2GB stick.....

Someone with ADHD, or one who couldn't read reviews would probably need a 16GB stick.

 

[RoMee]

Ultimately it all depends upon how you play games, and your price limit.

For instance i play a game, finish it and move onto the next...i could probably cope with a 2GB stick.....

Someone with ADHD, or one who couldn't read reviews would probably need a 16GB stick.

that must mean I have ADHD because I have about 30GB of games on my GO

having all or most your games available to you so you can play them at any given time is a pretty good luxury, especially on road trips.

I say go with the biggest one you can afford

 

[Nathan Drake]

Daxter with cutscenes removed is tiny.....search for a Daxter rip and you'll see what i mean. I'm guessing the same goes for R&C.

If anything never games are more reliant on graphics....to grab attention for a undersupported console.

And which is it?

With that size in mind, 8GB would probably be fine,

Even with the big games, no more than a 4GB stick is needed.

I found Daxter with the cut scenes removed, and it was under 500MB (if I remember correctly). The problem was, it lacked sound, and it kept black screening every time it was supposed to load a video. I don't personally think the trade off was worth it. :3

Just to reiterate though: 4GB would be good if you're the type to only play a game or two at a time, but 8GB is better if you really want to stick with that 7 to 10 games.