Any PSP Owners?

[MottZilla]

Does anyone here own a PSP? I'm curious what people whom actually own one think about the PSP. Also if you do, what games do you like. And most importantly if you have done homebrew, what's that like? Specifically how well do emulators for NES, SNES, Genesis, and GameBoy perform?

The emulators are a tempting part of why I might buy a PSP, but the constant firmwire updates that are often required by games to run seem like quite a pain since with each update you may need a new exploit to run your emulators. Also, it seems the best emulation capable handheld may be the GP2X anyway.

Back to the PSP itself though, I'd be interested in atleast a handful of games.

Mega Man Powered Up
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X
Midway Arcade Treasures (portable Mortal Kombat)
Metal Slug Collection
Capcom Classics Collection, Remixed and Reloaded
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max
Gradius Collection
Twisted Metal: Head-On
Mortal Kombat: Unchained

Maybe some others. But I think those are enough games to justify the system purchase. Afterall it's probably more games than I have on my DS. If I can do the emulation on the PSP that just makes it sweeter. The DS unfortunately can't compete with the PSP's capability for emulation.

[AlexMax]

Mega Man Powered Up
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X
Midway Arcade Treasures (portable Mortal Kombat)
Metal Slug Collection
Capcom Classics Collection, Remixed and Reloaded
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max
Gradius Collection
Twisted Metal: Head-On
Mortal Kombat: Unchained

So you're grabbing the PSP for a ton of remakes? (And I can't beleive that any self-respecting Mega Man fan would even CONSIDER the Mega Man remakes. Have you SEEN them? They look like shit!)

At least get a decent new game, like Wipeout Pure, Ridge Racer, or Lumines. That said, I've played on a PSP, and it's quite nice, but not nice enough to justify it's very scant battery life and terrible terrible TERRIBLE loading times. (Had a cousin with Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition, it literally took two or three minutes to load tracks, and of course the infamous Smackdown vs. Raw 6 minute loading times)

And yeah, it does kick ass at emulation, but Sony's handling of homebrew is absolutely terrible with how they love to keep breaking it. Do you really want to pay $250 for a portable SNES emulator that might break with the next firmware update?

[Kairyu]

I've heard excellent things about MMMHX, MMPU is suppossed to be at least decent, and I'm interested in SFA3. And there's Guilty Gear: Judgement. If not for the price tag, I'd probably already have one. I like my DS, but that doesn't mean I can't like the PSP as well.


And who cares if they're just remakes? They're portable, and they're generally better than the originals. If no original games are ever released for the system, yeah, that sucks, but it makes sense that the first few rounds of games are mostly ports. It's easier to port games based on similar hardware than make new ones from the ground up.

The only other problem I've got with it is the UMD format.

[Orion]

My room mate used to have one, and I played nothing but Lumines on it. None of the other games really interested me. Then he sold it, and I kinda miss it. I've been looking at buying one for myself. I know the price is dropping to $200 soon, but looking on ebay, there's a lot of them going from between $130-$175, I don't think that's such a bad deal.

How easy is it to emulate on these lil guys?

[vegeta1215]

I played Prince of Persia Revalations (Warrior Within port) briefly on my friends PSP. The graphics were nice but the controls were terrible. Plus there were 2+ minute load times all over. That's unacceptable to me on a handheld. I hear the Daxter game is good though, and has no load times (except before cutscenes). So it seems better games are coming out.

Even if there are good emulators on the PSP, that's not enough reason for me to get one.

[MottZilla]

Orion, the current method just requires you be able to access your memory stick from your PC, apparently there is some kind of USB cable for your PSP that probably came with it, and GTA Liberty City Stories. Atleast up to firmwire 2.6 you will be able to launch most homebrew (no ISO loaders). But that means NES, SNES, GBC, Genesis, NeoCD, etc. emulators will be playable. And fear of future firmwire updates stopping your emulation from working is a drag, however there are homebrew programs out there that will let you run the games (original discs) without updating your firmwire. So before buying and playing a new game you'd need to get on the net and check out if it needs a certain loader or something. I'm unaware of the quality of the emulators, but I would assume NES and GBC are pretty good. SNES and Genesis I'm not so sure about, if I get the chance to try that stuff out I'll let you know. Also, the PSP already is at 200$ for the basic pack. Unlike the value pack, the most important thing the basic pack lacks is a memory stick. However the value pack costing 50 bucks more, you could get a much larger memory stick for 50$. They also include a remote and headphones and a soft case in the value pack. Nothing you'd really need.

AlexMax, have you SEEN the remakes? Or have you seen screenshots? The screenshots really make games look alot worse than they'd actually appear I've noticed. Self-Respecting Mega Man fan can't consider buying a Mega Man game? What? I don't know any Mega Man fan that wouldn't want to try MM MHX and MM PU. Maybe Mega Man fans that hate sony or something.

I didn't mention any "new" games because I don't really know too much about new games. And really it's about being portable and the emulators being portable are a bonus. And really above all else, it's for the Mega Man. I have heard about and noticed when actually playing one, the very pathetic load times. I'm not saying PSP is without its flaws, but it does look neat and has some things I want.

If I really wanted just an emulation handheld, I'd get a GP2X. It can even emulate NeoGeo MVS/AES cartridge games full speed with sound.

Kairyu, I totally agree about the UMD. They really didn't seem to think that through very well. They really should have spent alot of time optimizing the disc drive, esspecially making it load compressed data right into memory. Anything to reduce load times.

Well I think I probably will go buy a PSP pretty soon. Hopefully I'll be able to do the emulators on it as that certainly extends the life of any device. My Nintendo DS would get uninteresting, but it would always have the potential for life thanks to the SuperCard combined with an Mp3 playing program as well as a NES emulator. When I went on a road trip a week or a few weeks ago my DS kept me quite entertained. NES emulation alone can provide an endless amount of entertainment.

[firebug]

If you're looking at the PSP as an emulation device, you would be infinitely happier with the purchase of a GP2X. I see you're already thinking about this, so let me be another to point you in the right direction. At $192 shipped from dynamism.com, the GP2X is well worth it. Not only does it play almost any movie/music format, but it's emulation capabilities extend into the PSX realm ( http://www.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,5,976 ), making the purchase of a PSP seem almost ridiculous. (note I said almost, for I am certainly going to purchase one at the next price drop!) Plus, the battery life is outstanding! I can get an average of about ten hours of gameplay, a little less with video. On two AAs!!
You definitely won't be disappointed!

[MottZilla]

I'm already aware of the GP2X, and have considered it. But the problem is I don't want JUST an emulation handheld. But indeed GP2X is the king it seems. Do you have a GP2X yourself? If so can you let me know the status of certain emulators? Forinstance, full speed/no frameskipping, sound quality, etc. I could ofcourse, buy both the GP2X and the PSP, which I might do if a game I want to play requires I update and lose the ability to run emulators on the PSP.

[AlexMax]

I'm already aware of the GP2X, and have considered it. But the problem is I don't want JUST an emulation handheld. But indeed GP2X is the king it seems. Do you have a GP2X yourself? If so can you let me know the status of certain emulators? Forinstance, full speed/no frameskipping, sound quality, etc. I could ofcourse, buy both the GP2X and the PSP, which I might do if a game I want to play requires I update and lose the ability to run emulators on the PSP.

Jesus christ, what kind of job do you have that you can blow money on both?

[MottZilla]

They aren't all that expensive. I have money to spend on some nice gaming stuff because I had some cash for this sort of thing saved up. It's for whatever purpose I want, not needed for any expenses or anything. Some of it is going for PC upgrades, then some for a PSP I think. The rest I'll be saving for later.

The thing about the GP2X is that it's emulation only really, but has the plus of TV Out. But for damn near 200$ for emulation, I've already got enough stuff and for being portable I do have NES emulation already which is enough if I save 200$ not buying the Gp2X. Now if the PSP does more that'd kick ass. We will see.

[firebug]

Yes, I recently purchased a GP2X. So far I've only played with a couple emulators (the ones that interest me) for snes i'm using SquidgeSnes, which has all sorts of frameskipping options and fullscreen vs scaled, etc. It doesn't work with all games obviously, but most I've tried do work. and it plays them beautifully. The sound is a little glitchy though, so I usually just turn it off. I'm using a port of MAME to play arcade games, which works flawlessly with almost all ROMs, and I've got a port of stella running on here as well, which hasn't denied me an atari game yet ;).
The GP2X is a little more than an emulation device. There's a whole slew of homebrew games developed specifically for it. Other than gaming, it will play back almost any media file you throw at it. Video, audio, text. There are also many applications programmed for it, making it one of the most powerful handhelds on the market right now. It's basically a mini computer.

Alexmax - I own a GP2X, a DS, two GBASPs, an Xbox, PS2, a Gamecube, and a Phoenix ( http://benheck.com/phoenix/ ) These are only the consoles I own from 'this' generation of vidgames. I work at a Gas Station. I live away from home. The question is: What habits do you have that are preventing you from 'blowing money' on both?

[MottZilla]

Expensive arcade hardware collecting habbits. =) I need to get a new TV for my arcade setup, trying to find one that supports the odd Midway refresh rate used in games like Mortal Kombat. So that's gonna cost me something a bit over 200$. The PSP with the games I want will probably cost me a bit over 300$. Then to add the GP2X ontop of that right now may not be worth it, yet. So we'll see. I'd rather wait until SNES emulation is of high quality atleast.

[MottZilla]

Well I bought myself a PSP today. It took quite some time before I ever had the chance to open it up and play it. I bought Mega Man Maverick Hunter X with it, and incase you didn't know this week Best Buy had a coupon for 10$ off Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, Mega Man Powered Up, or Capcom Classics Collection Remix for PSP. You just download the coupon in a PDF file and print it.

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with my PSP, and MMMHX is absolutely awesome. I got a 2 year replacement plan when I bought it, though at the moment the only thing wrong with it is 1 partially stuck pixel. I'm not sure which light component is stuck (Red Green or Blue) but its a single pixel on the far left that isn't visible during gameplay.

Eventually I'll go buy GTA for the emulation exploit as well as Mega Man Powered Up. Maybe pickup the midway treasures while I'm at it.

[Cronic]

So you're grabbing the PSP for a ton of remakes? (And I can't beleive that any self-respecting Mega Man fan would even CONSIDER the Mega Man remakes. Have you SEEN them? They look like shit!)


(michael jackson voice) thats ignorant (end jackson voice)

firstly how much nintendo garbage do you support and you complain about remakes? Please...

also ...the mega man remakes rock ...i'm playing through both sides of powered up and as a mega man fan who plays the series annually and owns most of them with box and instructions I have to say your words can choke on themselves cause theyre full of shit. powered up was 30 bucks well spent.


i hate everything and still it rocks so whatever dude


Maybe pickup the midway treasures while I'm at it.

is bionic commando on that and are the games just straight up ports or remakes

[MottZilla]

Midway treasures has midway games like mortal kombat, Capcom Classics Collection Remixed has Bionic Commando, as well as other capcom arcade games on it.

1941: Counter Attack
Avengers
Bionic Commando
Black Tiger
Block Block
Captain Commando
Final Fight
Forgotten Worlds
Last Duel
Legendary Wings
Magic Sword
Mega Twins
Quiz & Dragons
Section Z
Side Arms: Hyper Dyne
The Speed Rumbler
Street Fighter 1
Strider
Three Wonders
Varth

Those games are on the Capcom Remix. Late this year a new Capcom Collection, "Reloaded" will come out with other classics such as Street Fighter II'.

I've played through MM MHX tonight and it was quite cool. I loved the short anime episode bonus, and I've gotta try out playing through Vile's game. I already tried the Mega Man Powered Up demo and enjoyed that.

[AlexMax]

(michael jackson voice) thats ignorant (end jackson voice)

firstly how much nintendo garbage do you support and you complain about remakes?

Let me restate that I thought that the PSP was a nice system. I'm not complaining about remakes in general. I'm complaining about remakes being pretty much the ONLY games you guys see worth buying a $249 portable system for.

Come the fuck on, at least look at some halfway decent titles
Lumines (http://www.gamespot.com/psp/puzzle/lumines/index.html)
Metal Gear Ac!d (http://www.gamespot.com/psp/strategy/metalgearsolid/index.html)
Exit (http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/exit/index.html)

[MottZilla]

AlexMax, even if the remakes are the ONLY titles that make us buy the 200$ system, from there you'll eventually try something new. I do intend to read up on Lumines and other games. Then I'll decide if I should buy them.

[VT_Hokie_Fan]

Definitely consider Burnout Legends for PSP. It's great. I played it at a friends house for an hour or two. The graphics are good and the load times were fine. It also was easy to control and all around fun to play.

Unless you don't like racing games of course.

[MottZilla]

I love Burn Out. I might consider getting it for PSP. I certainly enjoyed playing Mega Man Maverick Hunter as Vile. It was hard at times and very cool in general though. I'll have a chance to play Mega Man Powered Up soon, the full game not demo. Also I hope to get setup for doing homebrew/emulators soon.

Edit: I'm posting with my PSP right now. The browser is pretty neat. Typing is painfully slow. The DS would be better for that.

Update: I got GTA today and a USB cable to transfer from PC so I could do homebrew/emulators. So far I tried out the NES emulator NesterJ which works pretty much perfectly. I also tried out the Genesis emulator which surprised me by being quite playable. I've yet to try the SNES or GBC emulators, but that'll be soon. ;)

[MottZilla]

Well this warrents a post bump, I finally got to try out all the basic emulators (NES, SNES, Genesis, and soon GBC). NES not surprising ran very well no frameskipping with sound and all that. Genesis runs quite well too, definitely playable. Super Nintendo I tried Super Metroid and after a few settings tweaks, it runs quite playable. It's definitely worth it to get your PSP setup for emulators if you have one. It certainly offer alot of extra use for your PSP. ;)