Why the PSP is the best gaming device of the past 20 years.

[idillicah]

Now, before you fly off the handle, this is my opinion. And I might be completely wrong about this.
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The PlayStation Portable is, in my humble opinion, the best gaming device of the past 20 years, and here's why:

1. Portability and Features: The first point is a seemingly obvious one at first, but hold your horses. Obviously, the path to mobile gaming was opened by the original Gameboy a couple of decades before the PSP was on the market. But it's a completely diferent situation, and here's why: Even though the PS Vita was heralded as "console experience on the go", that was really the PSP. You had a portable gaming device with on-board storage, online store, online play, and PSX.5 power for a couple of hundred bucks. The design was fantastic (one-analog-stick-haters-FPS-fanboys aside), it had a gorgeous screen, it had sturdy construction and it wasn't even that big.

2. Power: I touched on this above, but I cannot really stress this enough: The PSP is one hell of a powerful device. While most of this was seen later in the life of the PSP (with the God of War titles, and later on with some of the CFW emulators), even in the early days you could see that the PSP was head and shoulders above the (much loved by everyone, including myself) Nintendo DS. The power was critical in some respects to the PSP, namely in that it allowed a distinction between itself (the new kid on the block) and the loveable bully, the DS (what? Nintendo not a bully? Look up the monopoly on 3rd party devs at the end of the 80s, early 90s). God of War (both of them), Tekken, The Last Birthday, Silent Hill, SOCOM, LittleBigPlanet, Call of Duty, the list goes on and on and on. This distinctive catalog was possible in large part due to the power of the device, and it help cement the success of the PSP within a (not-so-small) audience of gamers looking for a more "mature" experience on the go.

3. Backwards Compatibility: Now, I know this is not strictly 100% true (can't stick a PS1 disk in there, can you?), but long before the advent of the (even now quite poor) Nintendo Virtual Console, the PSP provided access to a wide library of PS1 titles. This meant that you no longer had the insatiable hunger to play home console classics on the go. Of course, Nintendo offered re-makes of the most popular games (Super Mario Bros Advance series springs to mind), but often with significant changes. With the PSP, the backlog remained untouched (for better or worse). Final Fantasy IX on the go? Not a problem. Hard not to love that, innit?

4. Customization: Now, this is a sore subject within the gaming community, and for good reason: custom firmware on gaming console allows for gaming pirates to play games for free, therefore leaving the developers out of their hard-earn cash. But leaving the morality of the issue aside, the fact remains that custom firmware on the PSP is the gift that keeps on giving: not only can you play the complete PSP catalog and most of the PSX catalog, but you can also use emulators to play just about all the gaming consoles (big or small) up to the N64 era (just). That means the residual value of the PSP is greater than that of Steve Jobs, a Ferrari and Buckingham Palace put together. Is it right to do this? It's not for me to say. But the fact that it can do it at all is not only something to wonder at, but also a huge source of simply... pure nostalgic love.

Obviously, the PSP isn't perfect. The very issue of customization and CFW can be said to have caused a big income drop for devs. The memory was very expensive (thankfully, the Vita continued in the same steps /sarcasm). First-party game development was negligible, and it always lived in the shadow of the Nintendo DS, which had a much wider appeal (and commercial success).

At the end of the day, however, very few consoles can boast most of these achievements, and I think none other can boast all of them.

That's why, if I had to choose one gaming device to last me the rest of my life, it will be the PSP. It's quite simply, for me, the best gaming device of the past 20 years.

 

[Lifewish]

I will say one thing to refute your statement and win this war for those that disagree..

1. The PSP only had one analog stick, making almost 3/4 of the games unplayable.

End of discussion.. I win.. the PS1 and PS2 defeat you.

 

[Jacky]

I love my psp, much more then the vita. More to do, more fun, better games, and no hassle.

 

[Borshay]

I actually would put the Vita.... (all my opinion... obviously)
To me all around it has the best selection of games available, it has the best of the PSone (with some missing), the best of the PSP (... again with some missing), some great PS2 games as collections (although not as good as the originals), and the Vita games which I love. I would gladly sacrifice a Sony executive to get a native PS2 emulator like the PSone and get access to the PS2 classics.

It has the 2nd analog stick that makes some of the PSP games that were chores to play... enjoyable. Customizable controls for the classics (I like to use the touchscreen to emulate L2/R2).

This is a big reason why the Vita got me back into gaming. I'm not the biggest fan of the PS3 era outside of a few games.

 

[idillicah]

I will say one thing to refute your statement and win this war for those that disagree..

1. The PSP only had one analog stick, making almost 3/4 of the games unplayable.

End of discussion.. I win.. the PS1 and PS2 defeat you.

Haha, I don't particularly see this as a war, more... a friendly argument. And I don't really see how this is relevant, and I mentioned it in my original post. It's a feature that is not present, and games were developed with that in mind. Aside from a few FPS games, it was completely unnecessary, at least in my experience (and I've played the PSP extensively), because games were developed with that into consideration (much like the N64 controller, or even the 3DS).

Also, the PS1 had a (relatively) limited game catalog, and no portability. I actually love the PS2, though, because it's the closest thing to the PSP on a home console.

I actually would put the Vita....

The only reason the PSP wins over the Vita for me is the custom firmware. I know it's not "morally right", but being able to play games from my Atari days on the go is a priceless feature for me.

 

[Borshay]

The only reason the PSP wins over the Vita for me is the custom firmware. I know it's not "morally right", but being able to play games from my Atari days on the go is a priceless feature for me.

I totally understand that. I've rarely used CFW. I think I booted up Crisis Core for like 30 minutes, same with Kingdom Hearts. I used it as more of a demo system lol. I liked using the GBA emulator to play through FFs1-X before I jumped on Dissidia 1.

The only retro game I had to have on it is Shining Force 1/2. Love those games. I would probably kill to have a native version on the Vita. (Why Oh Why doesn't the Genesis Collection have them!?!)

 

[idillicah]

I totally understand that. I've rarely used CFW. I think I booted up Crisis Core for like 30 minutes, same with Kingdom Hearts. I used it as more of a demo system lol. I liked using the GBA emulator to play through FFs1-X before I jumped on Dissidia 1.

The only retro game I had to have on it is Shining Force 1/2. Love those games. I would probably kill to have a native version on the Vita. (Why Oh Why doesn't the Genesis Collection have them!?!)

My first Pokemon experience was with CFW and GBA emulator. I played Emerald and fell in love immediately.

I had a very checkered history with videogames, and after my Sega Mega Drive, I didn't have any type of gaming device until my PSP a few years ago. So I had a lot to catch up on, haha.

 

[Heath]

I love my psp, much more then the vita. More to do, more fun, better games, and no hassle.

This, this, a thousand times, this.

Doing anything with the Vita is a pain in the ass. Content Manager is clunky and stupid, the memory cards are stupidly expensive with no third-party options to reduce some of the cost, the thing is too big to stick in my pocket and take advantage of its MP3 player functions (whereas PSP could serve as a nice backup for that.

Its net browser sucks, which again, is not its main function (or one I need very often), but when it's there and it's part of the advertised functionality of the system, you expect it to actually be above terrible.

When it comes to games, the PSP was ignored by Sony after a time, but I feel it got overall better support from the company and third parties. Vita has been abandoned much more quickly, and it's a crying shame.

I love my Vita. Love it. But there are a lot of problems, and I don't feel like it's quite the PSP2 I was hoping it would be. I give the nod to PSP.

 

[Lifewish]

I just look at games like Dissidia that would have been awesome with two analog sticks. .but instead was a complete mediocre game because of the lack of a 2nd stick..there were plenty type of other games that to me were the same.. so even though games were developed for one stick, they still weren't very good because of the 1 stick.

 

[idillicah]

I just look at games like Dissidia that would have been awesome with two analog sticks. .but instead was a complete mediocre game because of the lack of a 2nd stick..there were plenty type of other games that to me were the same.. so even though games were developed for one stick, they still weren't very good because of the 1 stick.

I'm sorry, but that's just shoddy development to me. Plenty of great games with one stick and no stick (on and off PSP), so if you make a game that would have been better with a feature that the platform you're developing doesn't offer, that's your problem as a developer, not the hardware's fault.

It's a bit of the same story over at the 3DS corner. A lot of people say that it would benefit from a 2nd stick (and there is such an offering, after market, mainly for FPS), but the truth is, games that were smartly developed to make use of the hardware as it is are thriving.

If they can make God of War as great as they did with one stick, it shows (to me), that the hardware was capable of fantastic gameplay.

EDIT1: I forgot to mention: Dissidia was fantastic for me. But if it hadn't been, I would not have blamed the hardware. I've seen what it can do, and even in 2014 it is pretty impressive.

 

[Heath]

The single-stick posed a slight issue with Final Fantasy Type-0 and Monster Hunter. You had to use "The Claw" control method, but eh, it worked overall fine for me. I agree that a second stick would have helped, but the lack of it didn't diminish the experience very much. Even if FFT0 remained a PSP game forever, it would still be on eof my favorite Final Fantasy games (...especially if we're talking modern-era, but that's...that's a whole other can of worms....)

 

[idillicah]

I agree that a second stick would have helped, but the lack of it didn't diminish the experience very much.

Other than a few games (The 3rd Birthday and MoH and CoD come to mind), I have to say the same. And considering how vast, rich and fantastic the rest of the catalog is and plays, as well as all the other stuff in my OP.... I stand by my choice.

 

[ltn2150]

I would have to say the Game Boy Advanced would be my favorite and personal best gaming device xD Super Easy to use and the games

MegaMan, Mario, Sonic, Pokemon, Digimon, Medabots, etc. Those were some fun times :/

 

[idillicah]

I would have to say the Game Boy Advanced would be my favorite and personal best gaming device xD Super Easy to use and the games

MegaMan, Mario, Sonic, Pokemon, Digimon, Medabots, etc. Those were some fun times :/

Definitely a close contender. I think if it wasn't because of the CFW, the PSP would not have been my choice.

 

[stolenxnametag]

(thousandth post!!)

I would say Sega Dreamcast because of VMU, native support for backups and emulation (I totally wrecked 10 or so SNES rpgs on that thing one summer without having to mod it!), and it introduced me to web browsing via game consoles.

For portables? I'm a Vita lover. I love arguing with @Lifewish as much as anyone does, but the missing analog stick on the PSP was a damnable offense. Even the original DualShock controller had that. Plus, I don't need CFW to enjoy the games I get from PS Plus, the games I've already bought for PSP on PSN, or the PS1 classics. The touch screen helps add functionality for the PS1 games that need to use L2 and R2, I can backup saved files on the PS Plus cloud in the event that I need to free up space to download another game (that offsets my desire to buy any memory cards bigger than my 16gb). Remote play with PS4 is a great feature, too, since the remote play for PSP is permanently gimped by Sony's lack of interest without the use of CFW.

I'm not a huge CFW proponent. I don't even root my Android phones. I've gone the CFW route before with lots of devices, but it's annoying. I loved the Vita and Dreamcast because their features work / worked without having to spend a shitload of time making them do something that might or might not be justifiable. The CFW for PSP was awesome and all, but I don't have time for all of that anymore. Having to flash new firmware onto a device is too inconvenient for me to justify the steps needed. I would rather buy a new device if my already-purchased devices don't do what I want them to do.

 

[Lifewish]

(thousandth post!!)

I would say Sega Dreamcast because of VMU, native support for backups and emulation (I totally wrecked 10 or so SNES rpgs on that thing one summer without having to mod it!), and it introduced me to web browsing via game consoles.

For portables? I'm a Vita lover. I love arguing with @Lifewish as much as anyone does, but the missing analog stick on the PSP was a damnable offense. Even the original DualShock controller had that. Plus, I don't need CFW to enjoy the games I get from PS Plus, the games I've already bought for PSP on PSN, or the PS1 classics. The touch screen helps add functionality for the PS1 games that need to use L2 and R2, I can backup saved files on the PS Plus cloud in the event that I need to free up space to download another game (that offsets my desire to buy any memory cards bigger than my 16gb). Remote play with PS4 is a great feature, too, since the remote play for PSP is permanently gimped by Sony's lack of interest without the use of CFW.

I'm not a huge CFW proponent. I don't even root my Android phones. I've gone the CFW route before with lots of devices, but it's annoying. I loved the Vita and Dreamcast because their features work / worked without having to spend a shitload of time making them do something that might or might not be justifiable. The CFW for PSP was awesome and all, but I don't have time for all of that anymore. Having to flash new firmware onto a device is too inconvenient for me to justify the steps needed. I would rather buy a new device if my already-purchased devices don't do what I want them to do.

I really hate agreeing with this guy but everything he said was pure fact and further adds to the already overwhelming win of this discussion for those opposing the PSP.

For those PSP lovers, i give you this.

 

[Jacky]

This, this, a thousand times, this.

Doing anything with the Vita is a pain in the ass. Content Manager is clunky and stupid, the memory cards are stupidly expensive with no third-party options to reduce some of the cost, the thing is too big to stick in my pocket and take advantage of its MP3 player functions (whereas PSP could serve as a nice backup for that.

Its net browser sucks, which again, is not its main function (or one I need very often), but when it's there and it's part of the advertised functionality of the system, you expect it to actually be above terrible.

When it comes to games, the PSP was ignored by Sony after a time, but I feel it got overall better support from the company and third parties. Vita has been abandoned much more quickly, and it's a crying shame.

I love my Vita. Love it. But there are a lot of problems, and I don't feel like it's quite the PSP2 I was hoping it would be. I give the nod to PSP.

Even AFTER the psp is discontinued, the games it had are still popular and available thru the UMD pass, giving the vita additional games. The vita needs PSP games for backup

 

[Heath]

I really hate agreeing with this guy but everything he said was pure fact and further adds to the already overwhelming win of this discussion for those opposing the PSP.

For those PSP lovers, i give you this.

Maybe not intentional, but your word choice and your series of posts here make it sound like if someone likes one, they can't also like another.

You probably didn't mean it like that, but that's how it feels/looks.

This is the kind of line-in-the-sand fanboyism that I dislike.

I feel like the PSP is more convenient to use than the Vita and found I was more satisfied with it than I am with the Vita. Labels and imaginary dividing lines seem like a bit much.

I've got, in the house, a Super Nintendo, N64, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, Dreamcast, Saturn, Wii (BC with GameCube), DS, 3DS, PSP, Vita, and a gaming-capable PC. These systems all have something great to offer. I can pick favorites of favorites, sure, but that doesn't put me on like, some opposing side of freaking war.
Eventually I'll have a Wii-U, but after the price drops again (because I don't want to support region locking!) People can like multiple things without having to RAWR PICK ONE SIIIIDE OR YOU'RE WROOOONG!

 

[Jacky]

Maybe not intentional, but your word choice and your series of posts here make it sound like if someone likes one, they can't also like another.

This is the kind of line-in-the-sand fanboyism that I dislike.

I feel like the PSP is more convenient to use than the Vita and found I was more satisfied with it than I am with the Vita. Labels and imaginary dividing lines seem like a bit much.

I've got, in the house, a Super Nintendo, N64, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, Dreamcast, Saturn, Wii (BC with GameCube), DS, 3DS, PSP, Vita, and a gaming-capable PC. These systems all have something great to offer. I can pick favorites of favorites, sure, but that doesn't put me on like, some opposing side of freaking war.
Eventually I'll have a Wii-U, but after the price drops again (because I don't want to support region locking!) People can like multiple things without having to RAWR PICK ONE SIIIIDE OR YOU'RE WROOOONG!

Every system has it's pro's and con's, some more so then others.
In case like this, neither side is actually wrong in every way, nor could they ever be.

 

[idillicah]

(thousandth post!!)

I would say Sega Dreamcast because of VMU, native support for backups and emulation (I totally wrecked 10 or so SNES rpgs on that thing one summer without having to mod it!), and it introduced me to web browsing via game consoles.

I find it interesting that you'd give the PSP the hatchet for having only one analog stick, and choose in its place a home console that has only one analog stick, haha.

I completely understand, though, and like I said, it's my opinion. And a lot of it has to do with nostalgia and me just being piss-poor for most of my teenage years / early adulthood, haha.

And @Lifewish, no need to give me a standing ovation for loving the PSP. The love I have for the PSP is reciprocated, that's why I love it so much. It can give me so much more than Charlie Sheen ever could (not including drugs).

EDIT: And of course it's not a fanboy-ism war, or at least I didn't intend it to be. It was just a sort of essay, a love ode to a system that has given me many hours of joy.

I have no intention of or right to sway anybody to agree with me. We are much more united by the love of games, stories, gameplays, and fantastic fantasy lands, than we are separated by the preference of one piece of hardware over another.