July 03, 2006

My PSP

I have not owned a portable console since the original Gameboy. And I’m talking about the “original” Gameboy - the big bulky one - not the redesigned slimmer version. I never owned a Gameboy Color, Gameboy Pocket, Gameboy Advanced, or Nintendo DS. No Gamegear, or that TurboGraphx 16 Portable system. And obviously, no PSP until now.

I have played all of the above for short periods of time, either at a friend’s house or a store display, but I never really sat down to “play” a portable game since the original Gameboy games I owned.

With all that being said, I am completely floored by the PSP. I own two games, Daxter and Lumines. I have not even tried Lumines yet, because I cannot put Daxter down. I think I am just in shock that a handheld game can look this damn good. Maybe if I would have kept up with handheld gaming I wouldn’t be as awestruck, but wow, Daxter looks absolutely gorgeous.

The PSP itself is a fantastic looking piece of technology. It looks high-tech and I don’t need to mention that the screen is absolutely beautiful. I hear many people complaining that there aren’t as many good games for the PSP as there are for the DS and I would have to agree with them. It seems every developer out there has used the PSP as a portable Playstation (hell, that is the name of the system isn’t it) but that is not a good route to take. Portable gaming is very different from sitting on your couch in front of your tv. You have to cater games to a portable systems’ strengths, and even though the PSP is one powerful little system and can put out practically PS2 quality visuals, that does not mean that every game that works in its big brother will work in the PSP. I mean, the thing has only one analog stick!!!

Recently though, it looks like developers are realizing this and are doing more than just porting over PS2 games. Titles like Syphon Filter show that a dual analog type control scheme can work in the hand-held if developers take their time and do it right. The new Metal Gear game (sequel to Snake Eater) looks to take advantage of the PSP’s abilities as well. And then there is Loco Roco. I just downloaded the demo and I cannot get enough of it. It has the charm of Katamari Damarcy and gameplay that is just as unique. This is the type of game that the PSP needs. I hope it sells a gazillion copies so companies can take notice. The game is fun, looks great, is easy to pick up by anyone and can challenge even the most hardcore gamer at the same time. I can’t wait to pick this one up. And neither can my girlfriend.

I am anxious to try the PSP’s other abilities, such as movie/music playback and storing pictures in it. However, I am having one hell of a time getting it to communicate with my computer. For some reason I can’t get the computer to recognize the PSP. I’m trouble shooting the problem and hope to have it fixed soon, because my 2GB memory stick should get here in a few days and that sure is going to be a lot of wasted space if I can’t get it to work. 2GB worth of game saves? I don’t think so.

So, I’m very happy with my PSP. Since I jumped in late I already have a bunch of quality games to choose from. Up next, Syphon Filter. I also want to check out Exit and the Mega Man remake. Oh yeah, I hear Lumines is pretty good too, I should try it out . . . once I beat Daxter of course.

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