PSP in Europe

[Spaff]

it's here... not that thats an exciting thing exactly.

i cant believe the games are £35.99, same as a full console game and more than most PC games...

fuck off Sony.

So.... did anyone bother getting one today?

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

The thing I don't understand is the whole PSP movie thing. Sure it's cheaper than a portable DVD player... but you can only watch it on your PSP... I just don't get it.

[n0wak]

Welcome to the PSPVOLUTION Europe!! Now bend over and get ready to be bored for the next eight months.

[Tanukitsune]

I saw some PSP games for sale before the console was out, and nearly all of them were PSOne game ports....

[miffy495]

Well, I've had mine for about two months now. Lumines is great, but really all that's worth playing. At this point, I'm waiting on GTA and Burnout. After that, God knows what'll be worth playing. If you'd been able to get your hands on a pre-firmware update PSP, I'd recommend it, as all it's really good for right now is playing all those old SNES games I'd forgotten were awesome. Without homebrew, I really can't see the point until some real killer apps come out.

[Lechimp]

As you may already know, the psp has already kinda died out here in America. People were pretty excited when it first came out, probably because they liked the ps2 so they assumed that the PSP was going to be a mini version of that. And it was, and it bored the hell out of everyone. Pretty much all of the games are ports and I really haven't liked anything that's for the psp except for Lumines and Wipeout. Lumines is probably the greatest puzzle game since Tetris (yes, I like it more than Meteos), but aside from that it's a waste of money.

I love how everyone thought that the PSP was going to completely dominate the DS when it first came out and now those views have almost completely reversed.

[Tanukitsune]

You know, I'm the first to say you should never be anti-anything in gaming, but I really want to see Sony fall from it's high horse...

[Kolzig]

Hehheh, oh man I laughed today when I went to a local store that had PSP's on display. The price was god damn ridiculous 289 euros! Also the games were 54,90 euros, who the hell would pay that amount of money for a shitty ps1 game like MediEvil...?

But then I asked my friend, who is a salesman there that how many PSP's they had sold already, and the thing had only been in sale for like 5 hours and already 3 consoles were sold.

And that's a huge amount here where people usually don't buy anything.

[twmac]

I hate PS2's as it is. But the idea of a portable one makes my blood run cold. The posts I've read so far confirm my suspiscions... there aren't any exclusives, so what is the point. The thing is about as portable as a Sega nomad and all the games suck.

[Spaff]

ive got one, i got one in america in may

it was fun at first, and i think it would remain fun if i travelled lots. but its a bit redundant at the moment...

its portable in the sense you can move it but you do need a bag with you at all times... i dunno

the emulation on it is kickass, gotta hand it that

lumines is also awesome...

i wish it were a GBA game though

[Jake]

It's too bad that the PSP is kind of an extended gimmick at this point - "You can take your Platstation with you!" and the DS is the system with a bunch of genuinely fun portable games.... Kind of funny how that turned out though.

[vimes]

"Platstation"

That sounds like Dutch.

Yeah, that's no fun.Erm. Anyway, I've got mixed feelings about those new generation of portables : I though that, in the beginning, portable consoles were made to allow players to fill some tiny holes in their agenda (transport, wait,etc...) by playing easy-to-use games you could enjoy for 5 to 20 minutes and leave them without being frustrated.

With new technologies, more elaborate games have come up and ....I think I'm might be losing my point by saying this but, if you say that having more complex games is great, I'd reply that those new technologies have a price and that portable have become more expensive than before.

One way or the other, I can't find buying a portable such a good deal : it's expensive but it's not as satisfaying as a full-size gaming system...

Pfff, I know that my opinion is unclear but here is a fact : I WOULD buy a portable if it was way cheaper and I wouldn't care much about graphics or complexity as long as it is fun and can fill a hole in my agenda.

[n0wak]

You need to get a DS, vimes, as that's exactly what it does. I can power the system on, play two games of Meteos, and shut down faster than it takes for me to boot and load a track in Ridge Racer on the PSP.

That's not a fault of the system, really, just a different philosophy to how portable games should be. So far, the DS has way more quality "quick play" games. Fun on the go. The PSP is more about (ugh) *experience*, even Mizuguchi says as much when talking about and comparing Meteos with Lumines. I'd say that both of "Q"s games highlight the difference: Meteos is good for quick play; Lumines is for that mindless two hour "get in the zone" flight or bus ride.

[vimes]

You need to get a DS, vimes, as that's exactly what it does. I can power the system on, play two games of Meteos, and shut down faster than it takes for me to boot and load a track in Ridge Racer on the PSP.

Yeah but ... 150 freakin' euroz!

Jeez, I don't have that kind of money to spare... and if I had I would buy a kidney instead.

[Jake]

There's always some reason to hate something isn't there?

[SiN]

I'm lucky enough to have both a DS and a PSP. I bought the DS and was given the PSP as a gift from the company I work for.

My DS gets ALOT more action than the PSP.

Nintendo understand handheld philosophy alot better than Sony do it seems. I completely agree with nowak on this ...

I can power the system on, play two games of Meteos, and shut down faster than it takes for me to boot and load a track in Ridge Racer on the PSP.

... except replace "Ridge Racer" with "Wipeout Pure".

The DS is a real handheld system ... its quick to boot, has long battery life, has cheap games, and the games are literally the "5-10 minute" games that handhelds require.

One of the other neat things on the DS is how the sleep mode works ... it's simply flipping the thing shut. I love that, 'cos it feels so natural. The PSP requires you to flick the Power button ... but not too long, otherwise it shuts off! And even then the sleep mode isn't quite as instant as the DS.

But the PSP is kinda cool too. There's no denying it's far more stylish than the DS in terms of the hardware itself and the graphics. It's great that you can just hook the thing up to the PC via USB ... no need to dick around with custom ROM burners and things like that.

But then, owning a PSP is a shallow experience. I have only one game for it : Wipeout Pure. It was awesome for the first week or so, for the whole "OMG, LOOK AT THE GRAPHICS!!!" but after the initial experience, it's not so great. I've owned it for 2 months and I'm not really compelled to get anything else ... I'll get Luminies later, but thats all that really appeals. Whereas on the DS I've got 3 games for it (WarioWare, Meteos and Yoshis Touch & Go) and I STILL want a couple more games.

In short : DS pwns PSP

SiN

[vimes]

There's always some reason to hate something isn't there?

I don't hate it... I'm just mad at the price. DS seems a fine console but still, I can't afford it.

[miffy495]

I also have both. I got the DS as a Christmas present (well, ok, combined birthday/christmas from 2 people, but still awesome) and bought the PSP when the price dropped $50 in preparation for the new GTA. So far, I've worn through at least one DS screen protector a month and my current addiction, moreso than any PC or console game that I have, is Advance Wars. As for the PSP, well, I got the highest possible score on Lumines. Then I played an emulated copy of Earthbound. Then I stopped caring. Still waiting on that GTA, so the DS kicks the PSP's ass in every respect at the moment.

[Marek]

I've worn through at least one DS screen protector a month

That's funny. Apparently the screen protectors go bad really fast. I've not used any and the screen itself is still fine. There's hardly any scratches on it, and the ones that are there you can't see without tilting your head.

[Big Fuzz]

Handheld gaming in general leaves me feeling all kinds of meh. I would never personally get the oppurtunity to play any handheld console (except at work of course), so I've failed so far to see the appeal.

I walk to work = No busrides to get a quick game on. I also have a lovely PC at home = no need for an inferior machine to browse net/playvideos. Hell, I'm steadily growing to become a hermit, so the idea of gaming on the move is lost on me.

That said, none of the current handhelds actually interest me in terms of their designs or their specs. Quite simply, it would be a waste of money for me to get mobile.

As said above, there simply aren't any games that are unique enough on PSP and the DS, as lovely as I'm sure it is, is burdened by the second screen - I feel there will be a glut of gimmicky games that have been forced into including some form of bizarre and "inventive" functionality based around the touch screen. Which to my mind spells a glut of half arsed games.

[Chris]

That's funny. Apparently the screen protectors go bad really fast. I've not used any and the screen itself is still fine. There's hardly any scratches on it, and the ones that are there you can't see without tilting your head.

Yeah same here. Even so I still keep thinking maybe I should get some protectors but after reading this thread I guess there's no point.

[Mr Flibble]

I think its funny how the tables have turned, and everybody's opinion (of both quality and market share) has been reversed.

I still think PSP movies are a bad idea. The only time that you're traveling long enough to watch a full movie is either a plane trip, or a long car journey.

And even then, once you've watched a movie once, the novelty wears off (not helped by lack of bonus features), whereas with games you can keep going back until you complete it/ beat your high score.

[AndyB]

I see reviews of WarioWare Twisted / Topsy Turvy that say you will look like a nob on public transport, thing is I wouldn't play it on public transport incase someone wanted to mug me for my handheld. More so if I got a PSP.

[miffy495]

That's funny. Apparently the screen protectors go bad really fast. I've not used any and the screen itself is still fine. There's hardly any scratches on it, and the ones that are there you can't see without tilting your head.

Yeah, I got a huge scratch on my screen playing Warioware and have used the protectors since. Problem is, the games all feel a lot better without the protector, except for that one vertical line that the stylus gets caught on when you try to drag horizontally. The protector removes this problem, but does go bad quite quick.

[twmac]

Popped into the local Gamestation, they were tripple manned because the demand for the PSP was over whelming...

I overheard one guy in his late 20's enthusiastically saying that it would destroy the DS.

Later still I worked a shift in my offlicence and noticed three separate occasions where kiddies, under 16(180 pounds!!!! How can their parents afford this shit!), wandering around with their parents, a PsP carry case dangling from their belt.

PSP fever has hit Brighton.