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Getting a PSP before a business trip. What do I need to know?
Namrok
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Top questions I have are:
I see memory sticks everywhere. What do I even use them for? Do I NEED one in order to save my game?
I see lot of them on craigslist with hacked firmware. I'm A-OK with just the normal firmware. How would I go about putting normal firmware on them, and would I risk bricking it?
Old model VS new model, how important is it?
First game I'm picking up is Portable Ops. It's actually already on its way. I'm moderately tempted to pick up the God of War bundle. How decent a game is God of War on the PSP?
Hmmm, lets see, anything else.
Oh yeah, not really any sort of deal breaker, but how is the PSP -> PS3 connectivity? I hear about it every now and again. I know you can buy PS1 games or just regular PSP games off of PSN and load them onto it. Is that what the memory sticks are for?
I see memory sticks everywhere. What do I even use them for? Do I NEED one in order to save my game?
I see lot of them on craigslist with hacked firmware. I'm A-OK with just the normal firmware. How would I go about putting normal firmware on them, and would I risk bricking it?
Old model VS new model, how important is it?
First game I'm picking up is Portable Ops. It's actually already on its way. I'm moderately tempted to pick up the God of War bundle. How decent a game is God of War on the PSP?
Hmmm, lets see, anything else.
Oh yeah, not really any sort of deal breaker, but how is the PSP -> PS3 connectivity? I hear about it every now and again. I know you can buy PS1 games or just regular PSP games off of PSN and load them onto it. Is that what the memory sticks are for?
Namrok on
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You will need a stick for gamesaves. AFAIK they come with one. The size you need deends on what you're using it for. I have about seven games and I have a 128MB stick.
Your other questions I can't really answer, I'm afraid.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
My friend, who is a God of War whore, said that God of War PSP cramped his hand pretty badly. But he's got some pretty big hands (I didn't play it because I have no interest in the GoW series). What kind of games are you into?
Disgaea, Final Fantasy Tactics, Jeanne d'Arc, and Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core are all games I recommend if you're into RPGs/Tactical RPGs.
Oh yes the movies. I was able to pull off nearly five hours of South Park on this thing.
You might be better off buying the Daxter bundle if you can find it. It comes with Daxter, Family Guy UMD and a 1GB memory stick. GoW bundle doesn't come with a memory stick but you can probably get one for cheap anyway so.. well there yah go.
Remote Play on the PS3 lets you stream media and play games from your PS3. It only works with select games and even then the latency will probably kill any enjoyment.. but slower games, like strategy, rpg games, would work. I was playing Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1 disc) from the PS3 -> PSP while doing chores around the house.
You can also set audio output to PS3 or PSP. So you can use the PSP as a remote while listening to music. A feature I use quite frequently to save lamp hours on the projector.
You will not brick your PSP using official firmware. There are two ways to update: via software (i.e. a game) or via system update on the PSP menu. The best way to do this in my opinion is the system update in the PSP XMB (cross media bar). What you need to do is have your PSP attached to a wireless internet connection (a hotspot will do), click on the "System Update" logo on the far left and it will download and install the appropriate update from Sony's fileservers. You probably don't really need to worry about it for Portable Ops, but its definitely something you want to get eventually.
Get the Slim over the older model. Its lighter and I find the battery lasts longer. Plus there are the bundles.
Now, the bundles you need to consider. Everything I'm about to tell you is Canadian pricing, fyi. All these bundles are the slim PSP
169.99 - PSP Core -- Black system, charger
199.99 - Daxter Pack - Silver system, charger, 5 episodes of Family Guy on a UMD, Daxter (game), 1 GB memory stick [This is the bundle I have and its the one I recommend when anyone comes in the store buying for their kids or something because it has everything you ned to get you started)
199.99 - Star Wars bundle - White system, charger, Star Wars: Renegade Squadron
199.99 - God of War bundle - Red system, charger, God of War, Superbad UMD
God of War is a great game but considering you need to buy a memory stick anyways, buy the Daxter pack and look for God of War preowned down the line.
In terms of PSP -> PS3 connectivity, I'd say its limited at best. THere was a bunch of hype for the functionality between games but, like I said, its limited. THe only thing I would consider useful is the ability to download demos off of PSN and transfer them to your PSP. The PS1 stuff is really not that enticing for me especially since the PSP lacks an analogue stick and the L2/R2 buttons.
Not even if you are upgrading from hacked firmware to official?
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
You will need to remove the hacked and set it back to firmware 1 or 1.5 (if I remember correct) then update with official. For the most part they've got it unbrickable.
Edit:
Theres a utility for getting it to 1 or 1.5
There's a rom in the battery that'll boot factory firmware if it's ever corrupted or some such. I'll have to look it up again..
I have a PSP slim.
It supports TV output for games and other media.
So I follow the instructions in the manual and go out and buy the damn component cables. I hook it up to my monitor. I tell the system to output in widescreen, progressive scan. The menu shows up on the screen all right.
Then I load Daxter.
Is the game only supposed to take up about 45% of the center of the screen?
This is terrible. There's an enormous black border all the way around the gameplay screen. Enormous.
Is that just how it works? Is there any way to fix that?
Or are we stuck waiting for Sony to update the firmware to fix this? This sucks. I'm taking the component cables back, I think. $20. For huge black borders. Pfft.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
I'd get the Daxter pack, except I don't want Daxter and I do want God of War. Thanks for the input about the memory cards though.
Good info everybody, thanks.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Yeah that's what happens to me too. It's the resolution the PSP outputs at. It's not nearly as big as your TV. I was able to use the Zoom function on my TV to zoom in and get rid of some of the borders, but it made the picture look worse.
The PSP>PS3 connectivity is limited but cool. We've tried FF7 on it and it worked fine. If there were more PS3 games that supported it, I'm sure I'd use it more.
Good Lord.
My monitor is telling me that the resolution it's taking in is 480p, too. I'm guessing that the resolution of the actual gameplay screen is the same as that of the PSP, which is 480x272, right?
So it's outputting at 480p, but only 480x272 of that 480p resolution is taken up by the game.
Dammit.
I'm taking these cables back, this is ridiculous.
The sad thing is that there is custom firmware allowing for full screen tv output on the slim. And on composite, svid, component, or terminal at that, rather than just the latter 2 types.
I'd even be happy if my monitor would do the zoom or scaling for me, but it doesn't. I don't mind jaggies. I'm the one asking for a portable game on a large monitor, I know it's not going to look like a PS3 game. If jaggies or graphics on a large screen were an issue with me, I wouldn't have bought the output cables in the first place.
I'll take my $20 back and buy something fun in its place.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Presumably one hooking up a 272 screen to a large monitor understands the fact that there will be jaggies; it follows that one who proceeds, knowing that, doesn't care about jaggies. Me? Don't care about them at all. I've played PS1 games on this monitor, and PS1 games are even less resolute than the PSP. Heck, I have played a regular amount of Virtual console NES and TG16 games on a 42 inch plasma, and those are even less resolute than a PS1. Doesn't bother me. The blockiness is by no means out of control in my opinion. All I ask is that, at the 480p resolution it's outputting, it gives me the option to actually make it full screen; or at least nearly full screen. But right now, we're talking ~40% of the frickin' screen. That's unacceptable.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
I know you can download certain PS1 games off of PSN. I also hear you can insert a PS1 game into the PS3, and play it on the PSP using remote play.
Can you transfer PS1 games, either bought off PSN or inserted into the PS3, to a memory stick and play them without remote play, using legit firmware?
I think so, I kow you can do this from the PC version of the Playstation store.
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
If you only need a memory card for your gamesaves you can usually pick up a 32 meg one used at gamestop for $10 or less (I think 7.99 was the price I remember seeing). The 1 gig one is alright if you want a dozen mp3s and a couple tv episodes plus your game saves. If you want any full movies along with your other stuff, you need at least the 2 gig one. Those will run you around 30-40 dollars (again at gamestop or best buy, I tend to not buy a lot of gaming stuff online).
God of War looks really good, but as people have said, it's short. I would still recommend the god of war bundle over the daxter one. It's supposed to come with a superbad umd (if thats your thing) and a voucher for syphon filter or something silly off the psnetwork. Slims are so much better than the originals. Something like half the weight, tv out option (for what its worth...) and it just feels nicer. If you dont mind the heavy brick though, it'll do its job.
Another positive of traveling with a psp is that you will develop a sixth sense for ac outlets. You will develop a nerve in your brain that will hunger for the familiar hum of a wall outlet when you enter a room and mentally mark it down for the inevitable time when your battery dies. You will be sitting in a diner cradling the lifeless hulk of a gaming handheld, casting furtive glances at the waitress as your hand snakes under the table to plug into the wall and steal the precious, precious electricity within.
Oh, you might also want to invest in a second battery if you plan to travel a lot.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
The tv output thing still irks me to no end. Yes, movies output fullscreen, I think. But I don't care about that. I care about outputting the gameplay screen. Which is tiny.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
With that said, it looks like i'm going to have to get a larger memory card regardless, so I can get more movies on the stick.
All in all I'm very happy with my PSP. I'm finding I use it alot more than I did my DS, the LCD screen really does put out a beautiful picture.
Kind of a funny related story ... my wife started gaming thanks to the PSP ... she has been totally sucked into Crisis Core. She's never played a FF game before (any game really), I noticed Sephiroth in one of the cut scenes.
I asked her who the guy with the silver hair was.
She said with no hint of sarcasm "Oh he's one of my friends"
That poor, poor girl.