swivel
October 3rd, 2007, 04:35 PM
Dear gods! The Sony PSP has now outsold every other console in Japan for two weeks in a row! This is the land of the DS, the handheld that has dominated sales charts for years now. But the new PSP Slim and Lite, and the great game library, have resulted in a new leader.
(The PSP sold 128,000 in comparison to the DS' 72,000 units, a pretty large margin)
I have spent more time with my PSP over the last year than with any other console. It isn't just a road-trip system for me. I sit around the house, on the porch, in bed, in front of the TV, in the powder room, anywhere I can get a few minutes. The great thing about handhelds is that they cater to the adult lifestyle. You don't have 6-hour chunks of time to invest into major games anymore. You want something you can play for an hour, tops, but mostly for smaller segments of time. The DS and PSP are great for this, and this thread tells you what you need to know to get started with either one.
PSP
Today is the first day that you can probably go into a store and buy the new PSP Slim and Lite as a standalone unit. Previously it has been in a bundle of things you don't need. Get one for $169.99 and grab yourself a Pro Duo Memory Card. I prefer the Sandisk Ultra II 4GB card, but that's because I play all my games as backups. I purchase the UMD, and never even put it in my PSP, and we'll get to why that is in a moment...
Another accessory that I can't recommend highly enough is the Invisishield (http://www.shieldzone.com/item_description/SONPSPSLF.html). This is a clear piece of plastic that you apply to the entire face of the PSP by first spritzing it with water, then using the supplies squeegie to adhere it on. It sounds weird, but when you see what one does, you will get one of these for every device you own. It is like rubber armor that makes the screen quality go UP!
Even with this nifty screen, I still recommend a case. There are several quality ones to choose from.
Now you need to hack your PSP. This will require a friend who has an old "phat" PSP that is already hacked. They will transform a battery and memory stick for you that will load Dark Alex's custom firmware onto the PSP. The custom firmware has all the Sony functions, and then some. You can play homebrew, emulate almost all older systems, play backups of your ISO (and they will load SOOOOO much faster and you can have several with you at once), plus much more.
Now you need to get the best games for the system. I recommend:
Jeane d'Arc (GOTY for me)
Final Fantasy Tactics (recent review said it was reason enough to buy a PSP)
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (9.5/10 from IGN this week)
Hot Shots Golf
LocoRoco
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
PuzzleQuest
Dungeons and Dragons Tactics (classic turn-based RPG, just like the pen-and-paper days)
Coded Arms: Contagion (mindless fun, got bad reviews, but I am loving it)
The two GTA games are great, Vice City and Liberty City Stories
God of War will be here in early 2008
DS
The DS is still ultra-popular, but the number of quality games has slacked off a bit. The latest Zelda is out, and is a BLAST, and Dragon Quest IX is coming soon. To get going with a DS, all you need to buy is a CycloDS (http://www.divineo.cn/cgi-bin/div-cn/nds-cevo). It is the Bee's Knees of DS homebrew. It lets you do EVERYTHING, and it requires no bizarre hacking, like other solutions. When I hacked my DS, I had to roll up some tinfoil like a joint, bend it in half, and stick it in two holes in the back of my DS, and if I hit the wrong contacts, I would brick the thing. Those days are over with the CycloDS. Pop it in, drag and drop your ROM's, MP3's, homebrew, e-books, etc... That's it. Once you get it going, check out:
The New Super Mario Bros.
Mario Cart DS
Trueswing Golf
PuzzleQuest
Final Fantasy III remake
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
BrainAge (I and II)
Advance Wars Dual Strike (and AW2 is coming soon!!!)
SimCity DS
There you go, I hope I get you guys interested in either or both of these systems. If you need help, post here or check out my favorite site for all things console and homebrew, MaxConsole (http://forums.maxconsole.net/).
(The PSP sold 128,000 in comparison to the DS' 72,000 units, a pretty large margin)
I have spent more time with my PSP over the last year than with any other console. It isn't just a road-trip system for me. I sit around the house, on the porch, in bed, in front of the TV, in the powder room, anywhere I can get a few minutes. The great thing about handhelds is that they cater to the adult lifestyle. You don't have 6-hour chunks of time to invest into major games anymore. You want something you can play for an hour, tops, but mostly for smaller segments of time. The DS and PSP are great for this, and this thread tells you what you need to know to get started with either one.
PSP
Today is the first day that you can probably go into a store and buy the new PSP Slim and Lite as a standalone unit. Previously it has been in a bundle of things you don't need. Get one for $169.99 and grab yourself a Pro Duo Memory Card. I prefer the Sandisk Ultra II 4GB card, but that's because I play all my games as backups. I purchase the UMD, and never even put it in my PSP, and we'll get to why that is in a moment...
Another accessory that I can't recommend highly enough is the Invisishield (http://www.shieldzone.com/item_description/SONPSPSLF.html). This is a clear piece of plastic that you apply to the entire face of the PSP by first spritzing it with water, then using the supplies squeegie to adhere it on. It sounds weird, but when you see what one does, you will get one of these for every device you own. It is like rubber armor that makes the screen quality go UP!
Even with this nifty screen, I still recommend a case. There are several quality ones to choose from.
Now you need to hack your PSP. This will require a friend who has an old "phat" PSP that is already hacked. They will transform a battery and memory stick for you that will load Dark Alex's custom firmware onto the PSP. The custom firmware has all the Sony functions, and then some. You can play homebrew, emulate almost all older systems, play backups of your ISO (and they will load SOOOOO much faster and you can have several with you at once), plus much more.
Now you need to get the best games for the system. I recommend:
Jeane d'Arc (GOTY for me)
Final Fantasy Tactics (recent review said it was reason enough to buy a PSP)
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (9.5/10 from IGN this week)
Hot Shots Golf
LocoRoco
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
PuzzleQuest
Dungeons and Dragons Tactics (classic turn-based RPG, just like the pen-and-paper days)
Coded Arms: Contagion (mindless fun, got bad reviews, but I am loving it)
The two GTA games are great, Vice City and Liberty City Stories
God of War will be here in early 2008
DS
The DS is still ultra-popular, but the number of quality games has slacked off a bit. The latest Zelda is out, and is a BLAST, and Dragon Quest IX is coming soon. To get going with a DS, all you need to buy is a CycloDS (http://www.divineo.cn/cgi-bin/div-cn/nds-cevo). It is the Bee's Knees of DS homebrew. It lets you do EVERYTHING, and it requires no bizarre hacking, like other solutions. When I hacked my DS, I had to roll up some tinfoil like a joint, bend it in half, and stick it in two holes in the back of my DS, and if I hit the wrong contacts, I would brick the thing. Those days are over with the CycloDS. Pop it in, drag and drop your ROM's, MP3's, homebrew, e-books, etc... That's it. Once you get it going, check out:
The New Super Mario Bros.
Mario Cart DS
Trueswing Golf
PuzzleQuest
Final Fantasy III remake
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
BrainAge (I and II)
Advance Wars Dual Strike (and AW2 is coming soon!!!)
SimCity DS
There you go, I hope I get you guys interested in either or both of these systems. If you need help, post here or check out my favorite site for all things console and homebrew, MaxConsole (http://forums.maxconsole.net/).