PSPs - New, Old... Talk to Me.

Hiya Folks.

I've been a DS owner for a long time, I'm familiar with the history of that system and I love it, but lately I've been considering getting a PSP for a few specific games like "Ace Combat" and the MOH FPS games so that I can dig those titles on the go (which I constantly am)... but my question goes out to the people who've (like me with my beloved DS) been on the system from a fairly early point, have perhaps "upgraded" when hardware has changed... are aware of where things are headed...

... if I'm buying one, what am I looking for? By that I mean, I'm an adult with bigger hands (that's right, ladies)... have there been modifications or are we on the cusp of another hardware change that might ergonomically be of consideration in my purchase? Old versus new, screen brightness, crashing, dead pixels... etc. - Is there a better vintage? Model?

I know I'm interested in the software, gimme a no-holds-barred run-down about what I'm looking for when I go to EB for a used one or BB for a new. Bundles available?

I hate to sound stupid or appear lazy, but I find that actual USERS are better sources of info than Sony's website. Thank you for taking some time to help me out!

Get the slim psp because it is a much improved model. U can buy the God of war PSP bundle which looks really cool.

The new slim psp has brighter screen, much lighter, faster loading time, more ram, more power efficient, can connect to TV, more choice of colours. It is pretty much better in everything.

So would that be what is advertised as "PSP Core" on the EB Games website? $169 U.S. price... the GoW bundle is $199. Am I going to need to make too much of a specification to the kid behind the counter, or do I just tell him/her I want the newest one and hope they don't take advantage of my ignorance? In other words, is there a version number on the hardware?

Yah its the psp core, the 169.99 is piano black, then from there they have bundles for 199.99 like the God of War or Daxter one. The bundles come with the game advertised and usually a different color, might include some sort of emblem on the system it self. I don't even think they sell the original psp in retail stores anymore. It is worth up-grading, i have an original psp, works fine, but the slim has more memory so some games will load faster, plus it is more portable. Since your new to the psp there are tons of games you have to play like Grand Theft Auto:LCS or VCS, Burnout, etc. Only thing is, it kind of lacks in the rpg department, not many quality games, well atleast here in the US that is.

edit: your not going to need a specific number, it has one you can google it if you want. Just tell him/her you want the psp slim, then the core, GOW bundle, Daxter Bundle, etc. If you go somewhere like circuit city, i think they just have them sitting out, so you just pick it out yourself. Don't forget to purchase a memory stick, not sure if any of them come with one. I always recommend getting one in the 1 to 2 GB range, that way you can fit a good amount of music, or a few tv shows, a movie or two, etc.

So would that be what is advertised as "PSP Core" on the EB Games website? $169 U.S. price... the GoW bundle is $199. Am I going to need to make too much of a specification to the kid behind the counter, or do I just tell him/her I want the newest one and hope they don't take advantage of my ignorance? In other words, is there a version number on the hardware?

ston3henge

Call it a slim and lite, and if you want the number it's one of the PSP 2000 series.. It'll be fine though they don't make the old models anymore, and the packs you buy like the GoW one will have the new style PSP's in. The only other essential is a memory stick which I suggest buying off Amazon or somwhere similar for cheap, again that's down to preference, just using it for game saves and maybe some demos? Get a 512mb/1GB one. Going to be putting music and video on it, then you'll want a bigger one. Apart from that your fine, but you might want some sort of cheap travel case, just so you don't get any scratches on the screen whilst it's in your pocket.

Of course you could get the Daxter bundle instead of GoW it comes with a 1GB memory stick and I think it's the same price as that GoW one.

I've had my Black phat PSP-1001 since 2006, the new psp slim 2001 has a better D-pad, TV-out and 64Mb on RAM (the phat only has 32 Mb). I don't think you can find a phat these days.

There is plenty of great games, like the ones you've mentioned, there is also another good FPS, Coded Arms and its sequel Coded Arms Contagion both are great games

You can go for the core piano black psp or get a Bundle, The God of War Bundle just came out (I'm getting one soon BTW, just wanted a good reason to upgrade my Hardware and that psp looks simply amazing, is red and has Krato's face on the battery cover, plus it comes with God of War Chains of Olympus and Superbad movie)

You need to get a memory card, I would recomend at least 2Gb, but if you can get a bigger one, get it

As for ergonomics there is not much, I think it would be pretty much like your DS

BTW seme people say that the FPS doesn't work well on the PSP, I have everyone of them and I can tell you that they're great, what can be better that shooting someones ass while on the go.

Right on... wow, thanks for the quick AND informative posts so far, peeps...too many times it seems like i throw a post up here asking a question and it's either ignored or you get monosyllabic responses.

I've been watching my roomie whale on LCS on our PS2, he's got almost all of the side missions done like the Noodle Boy and the hoodle-whaddle... he's got it all. I've also played and RE-played all BurnOut games in exsistence, so unless there's a completely new title that hasn't been on any other system that's a non-issue... though I would LOVE a good sim like "Gran Turismo".

They don't make that for PSP though... :(

I'll probably pick one of those up, but flight is something I need in a portable and in all of the years they've been out, the DS has a handful and they pretty much all suck, though I'll get the Spitfire game if I see it in a resale again soon. FPS and flight, that's what I'm looking for... I've got an iPod for the movies, and i know they don't like it when you ask questions about grey-area programming alternatives around here so let's just leave all that be...

... I like the idea of the Daxter game system and he was a favorite character of mine way back when that first game came out...

I don't think I could be seen with the Star Wars one... I'm a big enough geek as it is...

... mmmmm-HM. BIG geek.

Anyway...

Yeah... a push-back marathon on a "Gran Turismo" title... go figger... I love those games though, I am STILL playing GT3 every week. Blows my mind that a game from 2001 is still tops in my library...

... funny you should mention "Midnight Club 3" 'cuz my buddy and I just finished (beat every little bit) MC3 on the PS2 as well... essentially we're "BurnOut" freaks and have played all of them ("Legends" on our DS, but it counts). I'm a Survival Horror junkie so I'll pro'ly get whatever they've got in the RE vein, I'm mostly interested in titles I haven't played on other systems; Titles with a bit of exclusivity to the PSP.

Good point about the fatty... but is the screen brightness significant then? As far as old to new design? The screens on my DS Lite were one of the reasons I upgraded off my old GBA SP... the DS screens were SO much brighter and sharper that they brought new life to my cart library (cuz I gotta have my "DOOM").

Get the slim psp because it is a much improved model. U can buy the God of war PSP bundle which looks really cool.

The new slim psp has brighter screen, much lighter, faster loading time, more ram, more power efficient, can connect to TV, more choice of colours. It is pretty much better in everything.

joeychew

I think you've pretty much covered everything witht that. I would dfeinately recommend the slim tho, its my fav PSP

Good point about the fatty... but is the screen brightness significant then? As far as old to new design? The screens on my DS Lite were one of the reasons I upgraded off my old GBA SP... the DS screens were SO much brighter and sharper that they brought new life to my cart library (cuz I gotta have my "DOOM").

ston3henge

Brightness is better I think, Slim has like 4 different settings, not sure if the phat PSP has any. However the buttons feel much much better on the Slim, I picked up my friends phat at his house the other day and whilst the weight and size are also much better on the slim and lite, the buttons feel better, they stick out more, they are kind of indented on the older version. And the disk slot thing isn't that bad either, just make sure you get it right the first time and then you'll always remember which way the UMD has to slip in on the slim.

Coolness...

... the one other thing I might add or ask, is whether or not anyone's had trouble with dead square buttons, etc. like they did when the system first came out...

... anyone have any horror stories about returns or bad units lately?

I see That Codemasters has a version of "Race Driver" out for the system... that, "NASCAR", and "Ace Combat X" are the first purchases... can't wait.

Coolness...

... the one other thing I might add or ask, is whether or not anyone's had trouble with dead square buttons, etc. like they did when the system first came out...

... anyone have any horror stories about returns or bad units lately?

I see That Codemasters has a version of "Race Driver" out for the system... that, "NASCAR", and "Ace Combat X" are the first purchases... can't wait.

ston3henge

I haven't had a problem, but I guess the slims are still pretty new, only like 8 or 9 months old, I haven't heard of anyone having dead square buttons, and I've not heard many people have dead pixels either. So it's all pretty fine. The only problems I hear are things people have done themselves like dropping it, or throwing them into ponds. You can always join Sonys PSP insurance thing, it's really cheap, about 3 pounds a month ($6), and they replace your PSP if anything breaks.