New PSP owner: Cry for help!

Masume

Hola gang, need some help here. I'm a big DS stalwart with no real interest in a PSP, however I recently was given one (Darth Vader White) second hand along with several games. Now, I need some suggestions and input. Yes, pouring through google will help me later, but I wanted to get community input.

So, here's the thing I need to know...first off, games. Give me some top picks in a couple of categories if you would. RPG's, Fighters, some plain must have's. I know a lot of obvious ones, but name them anyways. I nabbed Patapon today on clearance for $10, it got decent reviews.

Second, the unit I recieved had no cables, only the unit and a rechargable battery in it, so what else is missing? I nabbed a USB cable for it along with a case today, it should (hopefully) work to recharge it like any normal unit.

Lastly, is it possible to clean or get new cases for UMD's? The games I recieved were beaten up, one even missing the backside of the UMD case itself. Some of the load times were obscene when I tried them, so I'm hoping that has to do with their beat up condition (I'm not holding my breath!)

Edit: Oh, almost forgot. Any site links that you recommend to get info on getting wallpapers, legal downloads, etc. I know there's homebrew, but that's a whole other subject.

Any help is appreciated!

Genji Gloves

Masume wrote: »

So, here's the thing I need to know...first off, games. Give me some top picks in a couple of categories if you would. RPG's, Fighters, some plain must have's.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy will be released in English sometime this summer.

Renzo

I don't think it's possible to get a new plastic casing for a UMD. I wouldn't use a UMD if it were cracked or damaged.

This is a good list of games: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showpost.php?p=8345896&postcount=4

Roxtar

Masume wrote: »

Hola gang, need some help here. I'm a big DS stalwart with no real interest in a PSP, however I recently was given one (Darth Vader White) second hand along with several games. Now, I need some suggestions and input. Yes, pouring through google will help me later, but I wanted to get community input.

So, here's the thing I need to know...first off, games. Give me some top picks in a couple of categories if you would. RPG's, Fighters, some plain must have's. I know a lot of obvious ones, but name them anyways. I nabbed Patapon today on clearance for $10, it got decent reviews.

Second, the unit I recieved had no cables, only the unit and a rechargable battery in it, so what else is missing? I nabbed a USB cable for it along with a case today, it should (hopefully) work to recharge it like any normal unit.

Lastly, is it possible to clean or get new cases for UMD's? The games I recieved were beaten up, one even missing the backside of the UMD case itself. Some of the load times were obscene when I tried them, so I'm hoping that has to do with their beat up condition (I'm not holding my breath!)

Edit: Oh, almost forgot. Any site links that you recommend to get info on getting wallpapers, legal downloads, etc. I know there's homebrew, but that's a whole other subject.

Any help is appreciated!

First off theres plenty of titles. The biggies that are universally considered good are GoW, Crisis Core, FFT, Patapon, Wipeout pulse. May be a few others. Other than that theres plenty of games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_Portable_games though there seems a glut of meh games, what system doesnt have a glut of meh games.

As far as cracked or messed up UMDs... Yea thats bad, I wouldnt be buying them in that condition. Granted the only read area is the little slot under the UMD I still wouldnt be buying them especially if pieces are missing. The PSP does have some nasty load times though, be sure to have the option of quick memory toggled on (not sure what its called exactly). What that will do is games with long load times will only have to load the specific times once, and then while you continue playing that session wont have UMD loads (at least not nearly as bad). It does work and does work well, it made my Spectral force game go from unbearable to just a bit annoying.

Senshi

I've got like

Patapon (Rhythm/Strategy)
WipEout Pulse (RACINGGGGGGGGG)
Crisis Core (RPG)
GTA: Vice City Stories (Murder simulator)
Riviera (RPG)

And they're all good.

Elementalor

Tekken DR is quite nifty for PSP

gvandale

I've had a lot of fun with the following games:
God Of War: Chains of Olympus - God of War, what more needs to be said?
Patapon - great game, you'll need the speakers turned up or a pair of headphones
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions - Much better then the PSX version
Jeane D'Arc - Very fun rpg (just got it last week and am about 1/4 of the way through)
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth - Fun PSX RPG that I missed back then and had a lot of fun with the remake
Disgaea - If you like level grinding in SRPG's then this one can be a real time sink!

p.s.
I absolutely HATED Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core.

Senshi

oh right, I've got Disgaea, too. That's boatloads of fun.

also you might be able to get Crash Team Racing off the PSN store. That's the best Kart racer ever made, period.

Rakai

Tales of Eternia is a good RPG as well (was originally released as Tales of Destiny 2 for the PS1 in the West). Star Ocean 1 remake came out recently and a port of 2 is coming out soon as well.

freakish light

We had a fantastic PSP wallpaper thread a while ago, I'm going to try and find it. Seriously, there were so many good ones it was mindboggling.

Elderlycrawfish

There actually are replacement UMD cases out there; I've seen alot of Gamefly PSP rentals that come in this clear plastic UMD shell. Pretty much the same size and dimensions as a normal UMD case, maybe a little thinner. Game played fine though. A quick google/amazon search brought up a few options under "replacement UMD case", seems like there's a brand called MMR that does most of 'em.

In terms of other accessories you may need, you didn't mention if there was a memory stick included. If not, definitely pick one up before you find that you can't save your game progress. You can get away with a small memory stick if you only plan to have game save files. Definitely consider picking up a larger capacity stick (especially if you find a good sale price) if you plan to put movies, music, or download PSN games.

As for charging, USB should be feasible, though my limited usage of USB charging didn't impress me much. At the time, it was really slow, and you couldn't play while it charged. Firmware changes may have alleviated that, but if you can find a cheap charger somewhere down the line, it wouldn't be a bad investment.

freakish light

Oh yeah, upgrade your firmware to the latest version. You can browse the PSN store right from the PSP and get demos, wallpapers, and purchase games that'll download directly over WiFi. It's really nice.

korodullin

Weren't there a couple of pics from 4chan that someone posted in a recent PSP thread that highlighted all of the must-have games for the time?

freakish light

I found it.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=35984

Masume

Elderlycrawfish wrote: »

There actually are replacement UMD cases out there; I've seen alot of Gamefly PSP rentals that come in this clear plastic UMD shell. Pretty much the same size and dimensions as a normal UMD case, maybe a little thinner. Game played fine though. A quick google/amazon search brought up a few options under "replacement UMD case", seems like there's a brand called MMR that does most of 'em.

In terms of other accessories you may need, you didn't mention if there was a memory stick included. If not, definitely pick one up before you find that you can't save your game progress. You can get away with a small memory stick if you only plan to have game save files. Definitely consider picking up a larger capacity stick (especially if you find a good sale price) if you plan to put movies, music, or download PSN games.

As for charging, USB should be feasible, though my limited usage of USB charging didn't impress me much. At the time, it was really slow, and you couldn't play while it charged. Firmware changes may have alleviated that, but if you can find a cheap charger somewhere down the line, it wouldn't be a bad investment.

Oh yeah, forget to mention, there's a 4 gig stick in there, so I'm covered. I saw somewhere that you could possibly rip the UMD games to the MS, that might help the problem of the discs being messed up, but I'll have to research that. I'll check on the MMR replacements otherwise. The unit is a slim with a USB charge option, but I'll check gamestop for chargers too. The ones I saw in Target were $20, and I'm not paying that kind of change for a charger.

Tried out Patapon already, lots of fun! Loads fairly well too, so that's good.

Thanks for the help so far guys, keep it coming!

Pooch

I know you can buy 3rd-party UMD case replacements, I'm not sure if Sony has any of their own. I had to get one and with shipping it came out to be about $11.

MinionOfCthulhu

Big List of Cool PSP Games:

korodullin

Yeah, that's it. It needs an update for good newer games like FFT though.

Einhander

Senshi wrote: »

also you might be able to get Crash Team Racing off the PSN store. That's the best Kart racer ever made, period.

Yes, yes. CTR is so awesome, but don't get it on PSN. Track down an actual disc copy and get some friends and a multitap over instead.

As for broken UMDs, a lot of game stores have a ton of old demo UMDs they will likely offload on you, and you could remove the case from one, put your disc inside, and then (carefully) superglue it back together.

Also, buying PSP games for cheap is nice when you're used to having your wallet raped by overpriced DS carts.

freakish light

I got Patapon for $10 new at Wal-Mart, no deals or sales or holiday nonsense or anything. I was pleasantly surprised.

cj iwakura

If you like music games, DJ MAX Fever comes out in a month, so there isn't much sense in picking up the import version yet.

If you're not sure if that's your thing, check the demo out.

For strategy RPGs, Disgaea, FFT, Yggdra Union, and Wild Arms XF are the best bets.

RPGs: Riviera, I hear Brave Story is good, Jewel Summoner seemed interesting, etc.
(And I enjoyed Crisis Core.)

SF Alpha 3's supposedly the best fighter on the system.

dantree

Lets see
Valkyrie Profile: Lennyth (RPG).
Final Fantasy Tactics (now a 19.99 greatist hits title) SRPG
FF Crisis Core(pretty fun action RPG)
God of War (Action)
Disgea afternoon of darkness(PS2 SRPG, with a bunch of extras, they have also anounced a port of Disgea 2, also with extras)
Castlevania the dracula x chronicals, where you can also unlock rondo of blood)

Also make sure to check out the Playstation store, you can access it from the PSP now, and buy games, and download demos to that 4 gig stick of yours, it may need to have the firmware upgraded. But there are a bunch of PSone games, as well as original PSP games that you can download.

There is a few of my reccomendations.

Masume

dantree wrote: »

Lets see
Valkyrie Profile: Lennyth (RPG).
Final Fantasy Tactics (now a 19.99 greatist hits title) SRPG
FF Crisis Core(pretty fun action RPG)
God of War (Action)
Disgea afternoon of darkness(PS2 SRPG, with a bunch of extras, they have also anounced a port of Disgea 2, also with extras)
Castlevania the dracula x chronicals, where you can also unlock rondo of blood)

Also make sure to check out the Playstation store, you can access it from the PSP now, and buy games, and download demos to that 4 gig stick of yours, it may need to have the firmware upgraded. But there are a bunch of PSone games, as well as original PSP games that you can download.

There is a few of my reccomendations.

Cool, I'll do that. I did hear though that upgrading your firmware is bad in some cases, if you ever want to putz around with homebrew?

I almost got SF Alpha 3, wasn't sure if it had online play though, but it was only $15. I heard Darkstalkers was a great purchase too, and Guilty Gear. GOW is an easy purchase, along with FF Crisis Core.

I grabbed a Psyclone case that seems decent, anyone have a case preference offhand?

freakish light

Masume wrote: »

dantree wrote: »

Lets see
Valkyrie Profile: Lennyth (RPG).
Final Fantasy Tactics (now a 19.99 greatist hits title) SRPG
FF Crisis Core(pretty fun action RPG)
God of War (Action)
Disgea afternoon of darkness(PS2 SRPG, with a bunch of extras, they have also anounced a port of Disgea 2, also with extras)
Castlevania the dracula x chronicals, where you can also unlock rondo of blood)

Also make sure to check out the Playstation store, you can access it from the PSP now, and buy games, and download demos to that 4 gig stick of yours, it may need to have the firmware upgraded. But there are a bunch of PSone games, as well as original PSP games that you can download.

There is a few of my reccomendations.

Cool, I'll do that. I did hear though that upgrading your firmware is bad in some cases, if you ever want to putz around with homebrew?

I almost got SF Alpha 3, wasn't sure if it had online play though, but it was only $15. I heard Darkstalkers was a great purchase too, and Guilty Gear. GOW is an easy purchase, along with FF Crisis Core.

I grabbed a Psyclone case that seems decent, anyone have a case preference offhand?

There are only a few very specific firmware version numbers that will let you downgrade. If it's been upgraded any time in the past two years it won't make a difference whether you update it or not.

To install hombrew, you need a Pandora battery and a memory stick. The Pandora battery is the sticky part, because you either need to a) buy a thing that will turn your battery into a Pandora battery b) know someone who has homebrew already or c) hardmod your battery, which involves cracking it open and soldering/desoldering.

The rest of it's pretty easy, there are tutorials all over the web.

Masume

freakish light wrote: »

Masume wrote: »

dantree wrote: »

Lets see
Valkyrie Profile: Lennyth (RPG).
Final Fantasy Tactics (now a 19.99 greatist hits title) SRPG
FF Crisis Core(pretty fun action RPG)
God of War (Action)
Disgea afternoon of darkness(PS2 SRPG, with a bunch of extras, they have also anounced a port of Disgea 2, also with extras)
Castlevania the dracula x chronicals, where you can also unlock rondo of blood)

Also make sure to check out the Playstation store, you can access it from the PSP now, and buy games, and download demos to that 4 gig stick of yours, it may need to have the firmware upgraded. But there are a bunch of PSone games, as well as original PSP games that you can download.

There is a few of my reccomendations.

Cool, I'll do that. I did hear though that upgrading your firmware is bad in some cases, if you ever want to putz around with homebrew?

I almost got SF Alpha 3, wasn't sure if it had online play though, but it was only $15. I heard Darkstalkers was a great purchase too, and Guilty Gear. GOW is an easy purchase, along with FF Crisis Core.

I grabbed a Psyclone case that seems decent, anyone have a case preference offhand?

There are only a few very specific firmware version numbers that will let you downgrade. If it's been upgraded any time in the past two years it won't make a difference whether you update it or not.

To install hombrew, you need a Pandora battery and a memory stick. The Pandora battery is the sticky part, because you either need to a) buy a thing that will turn your battery into a Pandora battery b) know someone who has homebrew already or c) hardmod your battery, which involves cracking it open and soldering/desoldering.

The rest of it's pretty easy, there are tutorials all over the web.

Yeah, it's version 4.05. If it's that much trouble I probably won't mess with it then, didn't think you'd have to mess with the battery, but I haven't dug into much info on the web yet. Thanks, I'll just update it and be done with it.

freakish light

Yeah, go ahead and update. PSN from the PSP is pretty sweet.

Putting homebrew on is kind of a hassle but IMO it's worth it. It unlocks the PS1 emulator from the few select titles they sell you to any PS1 disc you still have lying around. You can put Final Fantasy VII on that memory stick and play it wherever you want. Plus all the other benefits, playing games from the stick, custom apps, etc.

edit: by the way did you see the psp wallpaper thread?
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=35984&highlight=wallpaper

cj iwakura

Masume wrote: »

dantree wrote: »

Lets see
Valkyrie Profile: Lennyth (RPG).
Final Fantasy Tactics (now a 19.99 greatist hits title) SRPG
FF Crisis Core(pretty fun action RPG)
God of War (Action)
Disgea afternoon of darkness(PS2 SRPG, with a bunch of extras, they have also anounced a port of Disgea 2, also with extras)
Castlevania the dracula x chronicals, where you can also unlock rondo of blood)

Also make sure to check out the Playstation store, you can access it from the PSP now, and buy games, and download demos to that 4 gig stick of yours, it may need to have the firmware upgraded. But there are a bunch of PSone games, as well as original PSP games that you can download.

There is a few of my reccomendations.

Cool, I'll do that. I did hear though that upgrading your firmware is bad in some cases, if you ever want to putz around with homebrew?

I almost got SF Alpha 3, wasn't sure if it had online play though, but it was only $15. I heard Darkstalkers was a great purchase too, and Guilty Gear. GOW is an easy purchase, along with FF Crisis Core.

Alpha 3 isn't full online, but it is infrastructure(I think that's the right word, system to system VS).

freakish light

I think the term is ad-hoc.

greeble

If you liked the Metal Gear series at all then MGS: Portable Ops is a must have. (Don't get Portable Ops Plus its just an online expansion.)

Right now I'm quite enjoying Yggdra Union. Its a remake of the GBA version with obviously better graphics, but they also made other improvements. (tweaked some cards, new characters, battle speed up option, not as soul punsihsingly difficult, though you can still play the original difficulty mode if you want.)

Also custom firmware is definately worth it. You can play all your games off your memory stick and no longer have to worry about damaging or losing your discs, also much faster load time. If you don't want to spend any money, modding the battery is actually pretty easy. There is no soldering involved, the hardest part is opening the plastic case on the battery without damaging the inside. (Basically run an exacto knife or razor blade around the seem at a an angle a few times.) I modded my battery this way and it still works fine to this day.

Einhander

Back when I had my PSP-2000 I modded the battery using an Xacto knife and set it back to regular battery mode using a mechanical pencil when I was finished.

It's pretty easy.

My philosophy was that there was no way in hell I was going to pay $5 to $10 for PS1 games I already own.

Masume

freakish light wrote: »

Yeah, go ahead and update. PSN from the PSP is pretty sweet.

Putting homebrew on is kind of a hassle but IMO it's worth it. It unlocks the PS1 emulator from the few select titles they sell you to any PS1 disc you still have lying around. You can put Final Fantasy VII on that memory stick and play it wherever you want. Plus all the other benefits, playing games from the stick, custom apps, etc.

edit: by the way did you see the psp wallpaper thread?
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=35984&highlight=wallpaper

If I update though, I can't do homebrew, if I'm correct?

I found some custom firmware through poking around, I'm just worried about borking up the unit now. I mean, if the firmware sucks can you revert or re-update normally?

Edit: If someone has any trusted links, go ahead and PM me with them if you think they'll help.

baronfel

You can in fact install custom firmware despite any updates you may have done. The pandora battery you use is actually your insurance against bricking, but as long as you attempt flashing whilst plugged in to the wall socket, you won't have any issues.

Trust me, I'm from the internets!

The cool thing is once you upgrade to CFW, you can use the auto-updater that normally grabs the Sony firmware to auto-update the CFW instead.

Masume

baronfel wrote: »

You can in fact install custom firmware despite any updates you may have done. The pandora battery you use is actually your insurance against bricking, but as long as you attempt flashing whilst plugged in to the wall socket, you won't have any issues.

Trust me, I'm from the internets!

The cool thing is once you upgrade to CFW, you can use the auto-updater that normally grabs the Sony firmware to auto-update the CFW instead.

Where have I heard that before...gah. Is the updates the same as the firmware?

It doesn't look overly difficult but it will take some research/time when I get some. I need to buy a wall charger apparently, as well.

Alpha 3 sounds good, but if it's only ad hoc it means I'll be playing it solo the whole time, so I'm not sure if that's worth getting. Not because it isn't a good game, it's just that I've already beaten the game several times on a few different systems to death.

Thanks for the wallpaper thread btw, I have to nab a bunch of those. The PSP didn't like navigating to the page itself though, the memory dried up on it fast and it gave an error.

That DJ Max thing looks cool, I'll have to check it out!

Mugenmidget

Here's a place to buy the Pandora Battery + 4 GB Memory Stick for only $17.72 shipped: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12711

You can also get just the battery if you already have a memory stick you can use:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12472

Mugenmidget

Masume wrote: »

Alpha 3 sounds good, but if it's only ad hoc it means I'll be playing it solo the whole time, so I'm not sure if that's worth getting. Not because it isn't a good game, it's just that I've already beaten the game several times on a few different systems to death.

You could also try PSP tunneling to go online with it: http://www.pspworld.com/sony-psp/news/psp-tunneling-getting-your-favorite-game-online-005274.php

If you don't have a Linksys you want to ruin or some other supported card/router, I think you can find the WiFi Max adapters at Fry's/Wal-Mart that will let you do the same thing. The only trick then is finding someone else willing to get tunneling set up and play with you, I don't know if there's a community for that kind of thing. I've never tried it, so I'd be willing to give it a go with Alpha 3 or Power Stone.

greeble

Deal extreme is reputable, but dog ass slow. You might not want to buy your stuff from there unless you don't mind waiting a long while. (I've bought from them twice both times they were very slow)

Masume

greeble wrote: »

Deal extreme is reputable, but dog ass slow. You might not want to buy your stuff from there unless you don't mind waiting a long while. (I've bought from them twice both times they were very slow)

Thanks for the battery input. I'm in no rush really, so well see.

As for tunneling to play Alpha, not sure if it's worth it unless we get a lot of folks on here to go with it. Know any fighters with online capability?

For that matter, anyone know decent online MP games? I have the newer Battlefront game but I haven't tried it (In the stack of random games he gave me) so maybe that might.

Elderlycrawfish

Masume wrote: »

As for tunneling to play Alpha, not sure if it's worth it unless we get a lot of folks on here to go with it. Know any fighters with online capability?

Tekken probably does. I never really tried.

For anybody who has a PS3 and a PSP, you could try getting Ad Hoc Party (play PSP ad-hoc games online through your PS3) by creating a Japanese account; the guys in the Monster Hunter thread said it works pretty good for some PSP games. It sounds like Ad Hoc Party will be pretty solid once it's officially released.

For that matter, anyone know decent online MP games? I have the newer Battlefront game but I haven't tried it (In the stack of random games he gave me) so maybe that might.

Syphon Filter is an excellent game, online or offline. Probably one of the better shooters on the PSP. The original is probably pretty empty by now, but Logan's Shadow or Combat Ops (multi only, PSN downloadable) might still have some people playing. I guess SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo might be a good choice as well. And some people might be playing Killzone: Liberation still. I seldom get a chance to try my MP games online, so I'm just guessing.

edit: Portable Ops would probably still be played as well.

Roxtar

cj iwakura wrote: »

SF Alpha 3's supposedly the best fighter on the system.

Yea SFA3 is great if you like LAME! If your going fighter get Tekken DR, period. Other than that guilty gear or King of fighters.

Masume

Roxtar wrote: »

cj iwakura wrote: »

SF Alpha 3's supposedly the best fighter on the system.

Yea SFA3 is great if you like LAME! If your going fighter get Tekken DR, period. Other than that guilty gear or King of fighters.

Best SF ever, don't diss it!

Picked up Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions for $13, I figured I couldn't go wrong with it.

Mugenmidget

Elderlycrawfish wrote: »

For anybody who has a PS3 and a PSP, you could try getting Ad Hoc Party (play PSP ad-hoc games online through your PS3) by creating a Japanese account; the guys in the Monster Hunter thread said it works pretty good for some PSP games. It sounds like Ad Hoc Party will be pretty solid once it's officially released.

That does sound great, I need to look into getting a PS3...