Comments on: P-S-Puleeze!

Question: P-S-Puleeze!

ejoey — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 07:29:39 -0800

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?

By: Mwongozi

Mwongozi — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 07:33:48 -0800

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.

By: shinji_ikari

shinji_ikari — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 07:35:06 -0800

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.

By: lyam

lyam — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 07:35:49 -0800

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?

By: alexst

alexst — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 07:48:21 -0800

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.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 07:56:17 -0800

It's worth buying it for Lumines alone! Amazing game.

By: lotsofno

lotsofno — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:01:16 -0800

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.

By: terpsichoria

terpsichoria — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:07:35 -0800

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.

By: lyam

lyam — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:20:03 -0800

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.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:36:37 -0800

But hey....at least you can watch movies on it?

By: terpsichoria

terpsichoria — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:36:52 -0800

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?

By: eschatfische

eschatfische — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:40:09 -0800

Mentioned above, but I second Mercury.

By: solid-one-love

solid-one-love — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 09:38:55 -0800

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.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 10:24:10 -0800

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.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 10:25:50 -0800

x men legends 2 is adequate. winning eleven 9 is amazing.
both worth more than an hour.

By: benjh

benjh — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 10:46:01 -0800

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.

By: haqspan

haqspan — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 14:47:04 -0800

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.

By: haqspan

haqspan — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 14:48:57 -0800

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.