Gaming PSP worth it?

[Midna]

I want an honest answer here. Fanboys need not apply. I want to get a PSP, and I want to pandora it, but my father, embarrassing as it is, will only allow me to play T games He's looked into and approved, and M games are out of the question. Is the PSP worth it even then? does it have enough mild T games and e-e10 to be a good buy? pandora is also a factor. is the homebrew scene very good right now? Also, I heard some new PSP slims are unhackable. Is there any truth to this? is it enough of a risk to get a PSP phat instead? and on that topic, how does the phat compare with the slim? sorry for the huge bombardment of questions, and thanks to whoever takes the time to answer.

 

[pepsibluehawk87]

There are tons of other fun games for psp that aren't "M" rated. I think the homebrew scene is well. I haven't seen an unhackable one thus far (but that's just me). It's not enough to make you go buy a phat. If it really bothers you, get an older model slim such as the daxter or core pack and such. The phat is fatter, heavier, the screen is less bright. The slim is light, lite, has a few more features than the phat, and feels better in your hands in my opinion.

 

[Foxle]

If you can get the PSP cheaply, I'd go for it. I got my old scruffed up Phat for about $80 dollars with a low enough firmware that I could software hack it. (A friend of mine found that there are a ton of software hackable Phats on eBay for about $100).

For about the first 3-6 months I played on my PSP about equal to my DS. However, after breaking my leg and having plenty of video game time during the summer, I pretty much played the system out. I hardly touch it now. It's an amazing portable emulator machine, which can flawlessly run SNES, Genisis, and PSX all on the go, but I carry a netbook with me everywhere I go, so that isn't much of a lure to me anymore.

Some games are more suited to the PSP than the DS, such as racing games or 3D platformers. I found myself playing games on the PSP that I didn't see myself playing when I originally got it. Some of my favorites include...

Ape Escape
Burnout Legends
Crazy Taxi
Crush
Daxter
Final Fantasy Tactics
Lumines
Patapon

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't think twice about getting a PSP. It's a fun console to own, and can prove a nice distraction when your DS doesn't have anything new to offer. It also is a really nice way to go back and revisit old PSX games without having them feel so dated, since they're on a portable.

 

[xcalibur]

Or you could just forget about the 10% of the small amount of PSP games released so far which are actually decent and go for emulation.
The PSP is great at emulation and has perfect ps1 support. GBA and SNES are also almost perfect.
You have years of games available for play. I say the PSP is more than worth it.

 

[babelfish]

Games: Depends, what genres do you play? I have 11 favorite PSP games that go with me everywhere, however, your taste probably varies, and thus your mileage will as well. Also, don't forget that you can play practically all PSX games flawlessly, which should increase your options.

Homebrew: The homebrew scene on the PSP is extremely strong, and you can do WAY more with the PSP than the DS (but I still love my DS very much

). What type of homebrew apps are you interested in? Which older systems would you want to play emulated? I bought my PSP for the sole reason of playing CPS2 / NeoGeo fighters on the go, which are emulated about 99% accurate. Again, your tastes will determine how much you get from your PSP.

Pandora: Yes, new PSPs with the TA88v3 mainboard are currently unhackable, but I would still recommend getting a slim over the phat for the improved d-pad alone. Buy it from a store that accepts returns, and bring it back if you get a TA88v3.

Differences: Google is your friend, but I'll save you the trouble and tell you that the slim is better than the phat in almost every way, unless you really need that IR port...

 

[KidIce]

The slim is light, lite, has a few more features than the phat, and feels better in your hands in my opinion.

Not that I disagree, but the Fat can run 1.50 firmware and associated software while the Slim can not. Not that there is much anymore that requires 1.5 but it is worth considering if there is an emulator or such you think is a must.

If you look into what homebrew will only work on 1.5 and don't see anything compelling, get yourself a Slim.

As far as the PSP being "worth it"... Most the games on the PSP do not lend well to short bouts of play the way most DS games do. If I'm going to say have new tires put on my car and expect to be sitting in a waiting room for quite sometime I might choose my PSP. But more often then not the only time I play w/ my PSP is sitting at home, YMMV.

I'm not particularly thrilled w/ most the PSP's commercial offerings, but there are some true classics available for it and emulators and homebrew. I'm glad I have one, but if someone asked me whether to buy a DS or PSP I'd tell them to get a DS.

Edit: I suspect babelfish is right (he posted while I was typing what lies below)

AFAIK, all PSP's are hackable but the new one's have a battery that cannot be soft modded into a Pandora battery. If you got a hold of a Pandora battery from some other method (Deal Extreme sells them for ~$7, IIRC) it should be able to be used on any PSP you might end up w/... Of course, I haven't had the need to mod a PSP in some time so I haven't done much homework on the subject since then so someone may know something I don't.

 

[Midna]

Well, thanks for all the quick responses. I think i will get a PSP, if just for the emulation capabilities, and since I am getting it used, i think the chances of getting an unhackable one are slim. Thanks for the input.

 

[ackers]

If you can get the PSP cheaply, I'd go for it. I got my old scruffed up Phat for about $80 dollars with a low enough firmware that I could software hack it. (A friend of mine found that there are a ton of software hackable Phats on eBay for about $100).

Software hack? How? I'm buying a PSP off a friend and I think it's a Phat and I ordered a Datel Battery Service Tool for it yesterday and now I find out I might be able to soft mod it? Gahhh I hope I didn't waist £10..

 

[Jasonage]

You do know that with a hacked psp, you can just download your games, so your dad will never know you're playing them

 

[Lumstar]

PSP has a massive selection of underrated games. You need to look past the shelves at generic places like Walmart, they're very misleading.

Instead try something like Gamestop or online. You'll find much more.

 

[Tikker]

I use my PSP daily, but very rarely actually play PSP games on it, heh

I actually use it to watch tv more than anything else

 

[ackers]

you can watch tv on your psp? cool. how?

 

[ZombiePosessor]

I haven't found any PSP games that I really enjoy. I bought my PSP for the homebrew. I was pretty anti-PSP until I read about all the homebrew stuff you could do. My friend had a lot of his money stolen, so I used the opportunity to my advantage and bought a near-mint PSP for $60. Now I have it loaded up with every (decent or great) SNES, NES, GB/GBC/GBA, Genesis, and a few PS1 games on it. I love being able to play games such as EarthBound, Toejam & Earl, and so many more, on the go. That's the best part. hanging out at someone's house at its boring? PSP. Waiting around for the wife to browse make-up? PSP. Sitting in intro to computing? PSP. Also, I'm a huge Mother fan, so having Mother 1-3 on one system... come on, you can't beat that. So yes, the PSP is worth it, if you're an old-school/classics lover gamer like me. My grandma bought me an NES back in 86 when I was 6 years old and I haven't stopped since.

 

[Tikker]

you can watch tv on your psp? cool. how?

locationfree player


it's basically sony's slingbox, psp has a native player for it

 

[Raestloz]

1. PSP is worth it, as not many great games are rated M. Take, for example Crisis Core, PSP's champion. Many great games are rated T for PSP

2.As for homebrew, IDK. You can lay homebrew but only with hacked firmware (if I'm not wrong) which means you gotta downgrade, problem is, usually SONY implementes new features in PSP upgrades

3.Unhackable or not, you don't really need it. PSP doesn't need flashing or something, just drag and drop your game's file to your Memory Stick Pro Duo and you can start playing.

4. PSP Slim (PSP-2000) has more RAM than Phat, almost twice if I'm not wrong, has better battery life and better screen. It's not a bad idea to get PSP-3000 though