What's the future of the PSP?

[rowech]

I bought my PSP about 9 months ago and in that time, I've played the God of War game and MLB The Show. Some other games here and there but not for very long. What do folks see as the path for this thing? Is it dead?

[SackAttack]

Eh. Understand that the PSP has done better than any other non-Nintendo handheld portable, ever.

I don't think it WOULD have if not for the PS2, granted. A lot of established franchises from that system have helped to prop up the PSP.

But I think "dead" might be a little strongly worded. Certainly Sony isn't going to unseat Nintendo in that space anytime soon, but they still make money on it.

[Marc Vaughan]

Its far from dead - putting my errr development where my typing is .... Football Manager Handheld 2009 comes out later this year

[Fidatelo]

I hate to break it to you, but I think it was dead before you got it...

(and I own a PSP, so I'm not some smug DS guy)

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Its far from dead - putting my errr development where my typing is .... Football Manager Handheld 2009 comes out later this year

Man, I've never played FM and everyone talks about it being the best sports sim thing since Sliced Bread Manager and I'd love to see it on the DS but no way I'm getting the Pretty Shiny Paperweight to play it on.

SI

[Big Fo]

It has a number of good games, and some good games yet to come. It's not dead, the hardware sells really well considering Nintendo's historical dominance in the handheld market. In the US it currently sells better than the PS3, 360, and PS2 so games will still get made for it, maybe just not as many as it would in a world without the DS and rampant piracy.

If action games and sports games are your thing, consoles are much better than handhelds.

[rowech]

What games do you guys like then? Perhaps I just haven't played some of the good games. As it is, I just don't see anything for it. Perhaps buying late, I missed out on quite a few of the good games?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by rowech

What games do you guys like then? Perhaps I just haven't played some of the good games. As it is, I just don't see anything for it. Perhaps buying late, I missed out on quite a few of the good games?

Well, as I said, a LOT of the franchises on PSP have their roots on the PS2. Either in terms of ports, or in terms of "yeah, technically a new game, but based off a franchise which originated on PS2."

Sometimes that's okay. I love Disgaea PSP, because I'm a Disgaea junkie and can take it on the go with me now. There's a few other turn-based RPGs on the system, and FFVII: Crisis Core is on the system as well, if you're a FF fan.

Because it only has one analog stick, though, sports and action games are going to be hit-or-miss on the PSP. Some will work great, some will work, and some will suck.

I use mine these days mostly for puzzle games and RPGs.

[DanGarion]

The PSP was great, except for the 5 minute load times. Especially with MLB the Show for every time my player had his at-bat.

[Groundhog]

PSP?

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

The PSP was great, except for the 5 minute load times. Especially with MLB the Show for every time my player had his at-bat.

yeah, I couldn't put up with that. loving FF Tactics, though.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

The PSP was great, except for the 5 minute load times. Especially with MLB the Show for every time my player had his at-bat.

I'm guessing you have an original PSP. The load times were cut in half with the new PSP models that were released last year. It's a much improved product over the orginal model.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by rowech

What games do you guys like then? Perhaps I just haven't played some of the good games. As it is, I just don't see anything for it. Perhaps buying late, I missed out on quite a few of the good games?

Hot Shots Golf (1 or 2, they are basically the same thing) are the best games for the system. Puzzle Quest was my other favorite. I haven't played anything else that really blew me away.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I'm guessing you have an original PSP. The load times were cut in half with the new PSP models that were released last year. It's a much improved product over the orginal model.

The other way to cut your load times is to buy a memory stick, grab some custom firmware, and play all of your games off memory sticks rather than the UMD. I can't stand playing games off UMD anymore.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

The other way to cut your load times is to buy a memory stick, grab some custom firmware, and play all of your games off memory sticks rather than the UMD. I can't stand playing games off UMD anymore.

Yes, I've downloaded a few PSP games off the PS3 store to put on the memory stick. No wait time worries.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

The PSP was great, except for the 5 minute load times. Especially with MLB the Show for every time my player had his at-bat.

Even if you have ye-olde PSP version then this is only certain games, FMH PSP for instance was designed so its no wait during the gameplay at all (once the game is started it never accesses the UMD, this keeps it fast and also maximises the battery power).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Interesting rumor in the November EGM magazine related to the PSP. It states that all PSP releases starting next calendar year will be available for UMD or download purchase on release day. Great move for those that don't like the load times.

[Abe Sargent]

porn

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Interesting rumor in the November EGM magazine related to the PSP. It states that all PSP releases starting next calendar year will be available for UMD or download purchase on release day. Great move for those that don't like the load times.

Not a vast surprise to be honest, especially as the new DS has download capabilities (see seperate thread).

[Icy]

Imho the PSP is the perfect console for adults with a busy schedule and family. I love my PS3, specially now with the great game that is NHL09 but sadly i can't sit to play with it as much as i would like. On the other hand, i play my PSP a lot because it's portability.

For example, after dinner I like to sit with my wife in the TV room, but i usually don't care about realities or most of the crap that is in TV so i play my PSP while staying close to my wife. I also play t some nights at bed while my wife reads, that way everybody is happy

Also always carry it when in a trip or when i need to wait somewhere. the only problem is that sometimes i see people throwing me weird looks like "what is doing a 33 years old guy playing that thing for kids???" but i just blame their ignorance.

Other of the great features of the PSP is the standby mode. You can press it anytime when playing to turn the console off, and when you turn it on again, you are exactly where you were, in middle of the game etc, unlike in next gen consoles where you must play a full game before being able to save, that is impossible for me with a kid around. I don't have the time to play 40+ minutes games without saving so i can't play full franchises in next gen consoles, while thanks to the standby/resume mode in the psp i play long franchises a lot in the psp and turn it off/on when needed in the middle of games.

Some people could be turned off by the small screen comapred with playing in a big TV, as i was at first and was what delayed my purchase, But i can tell you that once you have been playing for 15 minutes, you forget about the screen size and get as immersed as playing in a big one.

About games, i play mainly sport titles as i do in the PS3 too. FIFA08, Pro Evolution Soccer, NHL07, FM handheld, Madden, ncaa and MLB the show. I would say that most of those games are even better that the next gen versions, as are based on last gen and have way less bugs or issues. Madden in the PSP is a great game as it's NHL07. With my late NHL passion due to NHL09 in the PS3, i bought the PSP version (07 was the last one) and i can say that it's a really well done hockey game. FIFA08 was so fun in the PSP too and it had all the leagues and game modes than the next gen (just be a pro was missing).

I have played god of war and other platform/arcade titles, but i end always going back to sport games that are my passion.

In resume, i love the PSP and i hope for a really long life or upgrades. The only thing i would add to it is a right analogic stick like the big consoles pads have.

[DanGarion]

I wonder where my PSP is.... I haven't seen it for like 6 months.

[samifan24]

Hey, does anyone know how to get a PSP to recognize a WEP password? I'm trying to get online using a PSP and it scans and find my WiFi network without any problem. The problem is that it always prompts me for the WEP key and when I type in the long alphanumeric key that my Macbook uses, I get an error message:

"The characters you entered are not valid. For hexadecimal: Use 10 or 26 characters..."

I logged into my wireless router and tried both a different WEP key (we apparently have four but only use the first one) and also the alpha passphrase and neither worked.

Any idea on how I can get this thing online to access the PSP store?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by samifan24

Hey, does anyone know how to get a PSP to recognize a WEP password? I'm trying to get online using a PSP and it scans and find my WiFi network without any problem. The problem is that it always prompts me for the WEP key and when I type in the long alphanumeric key that my Macbook uses, I get an error message:

"The characters you entered are not valid. For hexadecimal: Use 10 or 26 characters..."

I logged into my wireless router and tried both a different WEP key (we apparently have four but only use the first one) and also the alpha passphrase and neither worked.

Any idea on how I can get this thing online to access the PSP store?

My PSP-1000 has never been able to access an encrypted network. When my neighbors were using an unencrypted network, I was able to connect via that. When I was at Sony's E3 press conference in 2005 or 2006 (forget which), they had an open WiFi network that I was able to connect to.

Encrypted? Fuggedaboudit.

[Icy]

I have this setup in my wireless network and works perfect with my PSP:

WPA / WPA2 Personal + TKIP / AES

Btw, is your psp updated to the latest firm? i think to remember that early firms had those problems with WEP.