Buying a PSP

Homebrew isn't just for pirated games though. There is homebrew out there that allows you to organize files on your PSP, change icons, or add other things not normally available.
 
Well, I pretty much made up my mind: I'll keep the first one, without the Firmware for homebrew. It's mostly because I am a wuss about things I don't understand (or are new and thus frightening to me ;)) but also because I remembered why I bought a PSP in the first place: to play EA Replay, nothing more. I won't get into the PSP modding community, I don't have a PS 1 to emulate or any other consoles, I just want to play EA Replay, maybe some other official Sony games but the less money I put into it, the better. And since the first one is cheaper, I'll stick with that one.
When I get it, I am certain to tell you how it went and how bad I sucked at WC SNES. I've never played a WC game with something other than a joystick. :)

I just hope no official Sony firmware update fries my PSP. Or anything other.

Again, I thank you all, your help is always most appreciated.
 
Thanks for the link - I probably was going to ask for advice concerning worthwhile PSP games in the future. :)
I already looked a bit around for games as well but went less after rating but more after "flavour": games that I thought a console (or handheld) needed :).
My list so far has: SW: Battlefront II, a Beat'em Up (Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter or Tekken), Prince of Persia, Pirates! (that's just a game I love) and a racing game (probably NFS). Oh, and Godzilla Unleasehd when it's out, I love Godzilla.
The "Ace Combat X" sounds like a great game as well. Metal Gear Solid never really appealed to me but it got great reviews, so maybe. Anyway I'll try to get the games cheap from Ebay.

As for buying a PSP just for WC - I have to admit, I am a bit surprised myself. I mean, I had WC games for many systems without having those (WC SNES, for the PS, MAC, Amiga, Gameboy Advanced. Not as much as LOAF, of course) and never thought about buying the missing system (apart a MAC for Super WC - that's something I'd really love to play once). I don't know why I did it with the PSP. Maybe because I never had a Gameboy...
 
Speaking as someone who bought a PSP the day Replay was confirmed, I can honestly say... you should get a Gameboy instead. The PSP is a neat system, and there are a few fun games... but it doesn't compare to the sheer fun of the GameBoy/DS. What's more, Prophecy GBA is a much bigger technical accomplishment than EA Replay's SNES ports... it's basically Prophecy done from the ground up as a handheld title, making it a completely unique experience.

I love my PSP whenever I have it on -- it's an amazingly beautiful and elegant little machine... but I very rarely touch it. I play a lot of Replay (mostly WC, a little bit of Variable Stirke), I play a little Tomb Raider (which I don't like because it's too good a port) and I watch my one UMD occasionally (StarShip Troopers!)... but I play with my DS *constantly*. From Prophecy to Pokemon, there's a huge variety of games for it that are just plain fun.

I don't regret buying my PSP, but I would have done myself a bigger disservice had I not bought a GBA (and later DS).
 
Yes, from all what I heard and read, the Gameboy (Advance/DS) is far more popular than the PSP. And I have to say, when I read about the long load times on the PSP, I was a bit annoyed - that shouldn't be with a handheld, I think.

Still - I think I was amazed by the thought, that I could also watch videos and play music with my PSP so I would have three in one, so to say. And I do have friends who have a Gameboy Advance and DS, thus I was able to play Prophecy Advance. My friend was impressed with Prophecy - he said he had never seen such a character expostion on a game for the Gameboy. But nobody I know has a PSP.
Oh well, I am sure I'll have some fun with it. And it looks sleek. :)

BTW: you do have Tomb Raider for the PSP and find it too good a port? What do you mean by that? I thought about buying it, more for my girlfriend than for me because she likes the TR series while I suck at it (I offered her TR Legend for the PC). But then I read that the controles are horrible and bad controles always spoil the fun in my eyes. What are your experiences?
 
If you're into portable video (which I'm not), then the PSP is certainly for you.

Re: Tomb Raider... it's just that it behaves exactly like the Xbox 360 version (with downgraded graphics). I like my ports to be *different* -- they released a Tomb Raider Legacy for the GBA, too... and it's a sidescroller instead of a 3D game! Not as impressive technically, but more fun because it's a completely different experience.

Take Wing Commander 3. The PSX port tries to be exactly like the PC version... and the 3DO version is completely different, making it much, much more interesting -- even it doesn't have as good a 3D system.

That said, I foud nothing technically wrong with the TR controls... and I will probably buy the next game for the PSP, since it isn't being released on the yBox (which is awful).
 
I've never done portable video on the PSP... but I suppose it's one of the few ways you'd need a large memory stick.

Though, last time I checked it out, you couldn't do full screen video at full framerate - either you had full screen with reduced framerate, or full framerate with a smaller screen resolution. (This was a software restriction, since UMDs have full screen full framerate). I just seem to recall one of the features of the hacked firmware being able to do full screen full framerate video.

It's definitely not a technical limitation - UMDs are slower than memory sticks... and not sure if this restriction still holds these days.
 
As for buying a PSP just for WC - I have to admit, I am a bit surprised myself.

Buying a GBA or PSP for Prophecy Advance or EA Replay is great, but if you have to make a choice, you should also seriously consider the XBox 360 to play Arena. You might have other considerations that weigh on the side of getting a handheld, and a PC port of Arena is certainly possible someday, but I wouldn't want someone to have to miss the first all new WC game in nine years because they just sunk a couple hundred dollars into a PSP. I guess part of my reasoning is that you can buy Prophecy and Replay without owning a GBA or PSP, but you do need to have an XBox to buy Arena for now at least.

Just being in the terrible position again of having to spend hundreds of dollars upgrading for all the new WC games is pretty awesome though.
 
Well, I have to say that the DS is one of my favorite systems ever. Lots of good games, and they keep coming.
Oh, yeah, and it's quite portable, has some unique gaming experiences like Ouendan, Rub Rabbits and Elite Beat Agents, the battery life is great, and there are NO load times.

Nintendo knows how to make portables, they know that disk based media sucks for on-the-run gaming.
 
Yeah, that's kinda why I like my hacked PSP - disc based media sucks, but at least being able to load my dumped games from memory stick makes life bearable. I do prefer my DS, though.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is a neat "not a game" (a genre that Nintendo seems to have created) - it's really a nice book. They did a good job translating it from Japanese, too. I really enjoyed "playing" (reading) it.
 
So, my PSP arrived last thursday. Sadly, I hadn't much time to use it (2 hours total at the most) yet but I plan on playing at least a couple of hours today.

So far, I like it. I haven't tried out anything, except looking into most EA Replay games but I'll try out some of the music/video possibilities soon, (I hope). It's so exciting to have something new.

But it almost started with a catastrophe: when I first tried to play EA Replay, I tried to get that small "CD" out of the plastic - I thought it was just a box to store the UMD in. Luckily I got doubts and double-checked the manual before applying too much violence. :)

I mostly suck at the games (though I haven't played any game, except WC, for more than 10 minutes) because I am not used to the controls. Also, I am used to more detailed instructions - I still don't know how to move in Budokan or how to change/pick-up weapons in Syndicate. But I am looking forward to finding it out. :)

And no fear: I will have WC Arena - maybe not the first day it comes out but I will have it, no doubt. I still have a gift to chose to get from my parents. :) So, besides the the question "when", it will just be the question "on what": PC or XBox.

Again, thanks to you all for your help.
 
We'll see. I won't shy away from buying a XBox360. But why should it take so long before Arena comes to PC?

Oh and LOAF: thanks for the TR info. I'll check if I can get it for cheap on Ebay.
 
It's still some time until summer and maybe they already had it in mind when they programmed it for the XBox. Ah, I am grasping at straws. I'll just wait and see - but I will play Arena in 2007, no doubt.
 
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