P-S-Puleeze!

October 31, 2005 7:29 AM

Are PSP games ever going to be fun?

Seriously, besides Lumines and Hot Shots Golf is anything on the system worth playing for more than 1 hour?

posted by ejoey to sports, hobbies, & recreation (17 comments total)

I'm a big fan of Wipeout Pure, but if you're not into racing games... probably not for you.

Liberty City Stories is out soon. Watch sales of the PSP rocket when that happens.
posted by Mwongozi at 7:33 AM on October 31, 2005

Well, if you've got firmware 1.50 or earlier it makes an awesome SNES/Genesis/MAME/NES emulation system. At this point that's all I'm planning on using mine for. It would take a bunch of seriously awesome games to convince me to upgrade my firmware and lose the ability to run emulators, and it doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime soon.
posted by shinji_ikari at 7:35 AM on October 31, 2005

Seriously? Is this a question worth asking? Maybe I'm not understanding you correctly.

I own Wipeout, Burnout, Untold Legends, Ape Escape, Metal Gear Acid, Grand Theft Auto all for the PSP and don't regret a single spent penny.

Seems like you can find out whether you like a game by renting it before buying.

Am I the only PSP owner tired of the PSP bashing?
posted by lyam at 7:35 AM on October 31, 2005

Nope, never. Sony have specifically stated that all PSP games are designed to be as boring as possible. Lumine's and Hot Shot's are actually really really bad games by Sony's new rules.
posted by alexst at 7:48 AM on October 31, 2005

It's worth buying it for Lumines alone! Amazing game.
posted by fire&wings at 7:56 AM on October 31, 2005

GTA:LCS is supposed to be great, and will provide you with many hours of entertainment.

if you really wanted fun, portable gaming though, you should've gone with the Nintendo DS. they've already released an impressive amount of A+ games (ouendan, kirby canvas curse, advance wars, castlevania, jump super stars, trauma center, phoenix wright, and meteos come to mind).

the PSP is a great geek/media toy, but very few titles in their library stand out since launch, and even fewer provide an experience you can't get from a console.
posted by lotsofno at 8:01 AM on October 31, 2005

I'm no staunch defender of the PSP's thin release schedule, but there are a couple of games worth a look, depending on your tastes - it sounds like you aren't a fan of racing games, which is a shame since Ridge Racers is stellar. Pursuit Force has been getting excellent reviews, too, and is apparently much more of a chase game than a racer. Taiko no Tatsujin Portable is absolutely fantastic, but it requires a love of rhythm action and Japanese music. Winning Eleven 9 and Mercury are both excellent, too. Oh, and Star Soldier is a great little vertical shooter.

On the horizon, and GTA aside (since for all the critical acclaim, I've never seen the appeal), you've got Loco Roco, which looks like Katamari Damacy crossed with DK: Jungle Beat and therefore pretty promising. On that subject there's My My Katamari itself, and more Katamari can never be a bad thing. On a more conventional note there's Daxter, which for all the yearly-platforming-franchise stigma looks like a more-than-competent platform game for a system sorely in need of one. Tales of Eternia should be getting an English translation before too long, as well. The jewel in the crown right now, though, is Mizuguchi (he of Lumines, Rez, Meteos, SC5 fame)'s next release, Every Extend Extra.

(I should add that I've linked to Play-Asia for most of the Japan-only releases above, as they've been my default importer for years. Their customer service has been very iffy lately, though, and they were awfully quick to roll over when Sony tried to prevent importing of PSP games into territories where they hadn't been released yet. Changing all the links would be far too much effort, but don't take my use of their catalogue as a recommendation, 'kay?)

Also, hi, drawing attention to the near-terminal release drought on a platform isn't 'bashing'. Right now and for the foreseeable future, the DS has by far the most interesting and plentiful games, and in all honesty I'd advise anyone with a PSP and no DS to sell the former and pick up the latter ASAP.
posted by terpsichoria at 8:07 AM on October 31, 2005

Maybe I jumped the gun a bit, as most of the tech blogs I visit are consumed by handheld bashing with a defininte focus on the PSP. Of course, this could be a purely innoccuous post asking for nothing more than advice on potentially worthy games despite it's snarky wording.

Also, I was with you until you suggested selling a system based on nothing more than not owning the competitor's. Regardless, the current 'dearth' of games on the PSP will soon be rectified (as you eloquently elaborated upon). As a matter of fact, it strongly reminds of the situation the DS was in a few months after it's release.
posted by lyam at 8:20 AM on October 31, 2005

But hey....at least you can watch movies on it?
posted by Atreides at 8:36 AM on October 31, 2005

You're right, I was too hasty in saying 'sell the PSP', particularly if the poster's enjoying Hot Shots and Lumines. The release schedule is still more of a trickle than a torrent, but it'd getting better. I suspect in a year or so both platforms'll look equally appealing, and there are definitely enough games to be getting on with over the Christmas period - and hell, who could get rid of a handheld that's playing host to the beautifully insane Solid Eye binocular attachment?
posted by terpsichoria at 8:36 AM on October 31, 2005

Mentioned above, but I second Mercury.
posted by eschatfische at 8:40 AM on October 31, 2005

Mercury, Ridge Racer, World Poker Tour. All masses of fun.

And you could always go out and spend the $80 or whatever it costs these days to get a 1 GB Memory Stick pro Duo, which will hold about four hours of video or unpty hours of audio.

Or maybe find a wireless hotspot and surf the web with it.
posted by solid-one-love at 9:38 AM on October 31, 2005

Soon, the PSP RPGs will be released. I'm looking forward to Lord of the Rings Tactics, myself.

Current faves include Lumines, Twisted Metal, and GTA.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:24 AM on October 31, 2005

x men legends 2 is adequate. winning eleven 9 is amazing.
both worth more than an hour.
posted by juv3nal at 10:25 AM on October 31, 2005

I have to admit, I did some silliness with my PSP.

I sold my Nintendo DS on eBay to buy my PSP. I bought it at launch. I rented every game that was out, and bought about 4 of them.

I was simply underwhelmed by the whole thing. The multimedia was lackluster and hard to use, and the games just weren't coming out.

I ended up selling my PSP on eBay and buying another DS, which I am thoroughly enjoying again.
posted by benjh at 10:46 AM on October 31, 2005

No fun games? I'm playing SSX on Tour (a great snowboarding game), Virtua Tennis (which plays just like the arcade game of yester year) and Burnout Legends. I'm looking forward to Field Commander, a turn-based strategy game, Infected, a zombie shooter, and Armored Core: Formula Front, fighting giant robots. Although I will say everyone should stay away from Madden on the PSP because it's sluggish and bug-ridden.
posted by haqspan at 2:47 PM on October 31, 2005

1 GB Memory Stick pro Duo, which will hold about four hours of video

I'm able to get one full movie, plus about an hour's worth of podcast on my 1GB stick. YMMV.
posted by haqspan at 2:48 PM on October 31, 2005