Play station portable

[nidhogg]

So, the little mite, with a birthday looming, has decided that his deepest desire in the world (well, this week at least !) is, what after a garbled description and a bit of internet searching, a "play station portable".

So, given that all this world is a mystery to me, anybody have some pointers as to whether this is worth it (he had a game boy last year - same same or different?), what should I look for (i.e. to avoid something that is obsolete the second after I get it, so model? make?), as well as the biggie - what is this likely to set me back?

..and maybe is this a trip to pantip sort of thing?

Pointers greatfully accepted.

[mrsquirrel]

PSP is something that I've never bothered to get into.

It looks nice, it's easily hackable to play copied games and movies.

I just didn't see the point of it.

I got a DS I played it for six months and then put it down and never touched it again.

The whole portable gaming thing is a mystery to me.

How old is your sprog?

[nidhogg]

Going to be 8. He loves the gameboy thingy. Problem is, I have never been into any of this stuff (computer games, Xbox? playstations, gameboys etc). All a bit of a mystery to me!

[Travelmate]

PSP is the same as Gameboy. Just different platform.

[nidhogg]

Different games?

[baldrick]

different games to the nintendo gameboy.

bigger screen etc

ask the miggins , he bought his son a psp 3000 or something

I was never impressed with the idea of qvga graphics on that size screen , but the kids seem to think they are the ducks nuts.

it is probably a good idea once you have read up on them and have and have an idea as to how to do as miggins has done and get the hacked firmware on it and have many games , music , video loaded on the memory card

[melvbot]

I would skip the PSP and go for a Nintendo DS. The PSP is OK but unless you can get one thats modified to play copied games from the memory stick I wouldnt bother. I think the latest version is the PSP 3000, think its also called also the PSP Slim but I could be wrong. If youre happy paying for original games then they wont be obselete soon.
I have one of the early ones modified to play copied games and it works fine.

[melvbot]

PSP is the same as Gameboy. Just different platform.

No its not its completely different. The DS has 2 screens, 1 is a touchscreen used with a stylus/direction pad, the PSP uses a joystick/direction pad and has a different sized screen.

[Travelmate]

PSP is the same as Gameboy. Just different platform.

No its not its completely different. The DS has 2 screens, 1 is a touchscreen used with a stylus/direction pad, the PSP uses a joystick/direction pad and has a different sized screen.

Thank you.
Like I said different platform. Both play games.

[slackula]

I've got one, one of the older models I think.

It's OK, playing Tiger Woods 2008 while on the throne is a nice diversion from any gastro-intestinal issues one might be having. Internet connectivity is good too, people have even run web-servers off them, but only after installing firmware that Sony frowns upon. The included browser is pretty shitty, always runs out of memory and entering URLs with the interface provided is a real pain. I tried (briefly) to get my Mac to stream video to it but gave up, that's on a rainy day to-do list now.

What about a netbook or an OLPC gizmo? If your 'mite' is a fickle sort it'll give much more flexibility as his tastes/needs change and access to a myriad of online games. It'll play videos etc and if you get one with an SSD it'll be pretty robust.

[Bobcock]

psp'S NEW COST ABOUT 8000, YOU'LL NEED TO BUY ONE CHIPPED TO PLAY COPY GAMES AND AN 8gb sony MEMORY sTCK WHICH WAS ABOUT 1800 i THINK, BUT i FORGET. mY KIDS TAKE THEM EVERYWHERE.

tHEY CAN PLAY MOVIES, SURF THE NET AND REMOTE LINK THEM FOR 2 PLAYER GAMES

fuck caps lock...oh well...I ain't typing this shit again.

[melvbot]

PSP is the same as Gameboy. Just different platform.

No its not its completely different. The DS has 2 screens, 1 is a touchscreen used with a stylus/direction pad, the PSP uses a joystick/direction pad and has a different sized screen.

Thank you.
Like I said different platform. Both play games.

Daft response as usual. A tiger and an elephant are both animals but completely different.

If you go to Chinatown you can pick up PSP's that play copied games for around 4000bt, usually with a memory card and a few games, just make sure its with original parts as they sell ones with 3rd party chargers and batteries for less. 8000bt is way over the odds.

[Bobcock]

I'm just an out of date dad, what would I know?

It's not something you buy more than once, that's what they were when I bought theirs.

[nidhogg]

I'm just an out of date dad, what would I know?

.

Thats the bit for me. Seem my idea of a set of wooden blocks was pretty far off the mark.

I do appreciate everyones pointers, but I do have to admit my brain starts to blank out on the "chipped" modified or whatever bit. It was so much easier when happiness for them was a large cuddly toy and a bit of cake to smear around.

[Travelmate]

PSP is the same as Gameboy. Just different platform.

No its not its completely different. The DS has 2 screens, 1 is a touchscreen used with a stylus/direction pad, the PSP uses a joystick/direction pad and has a different sized screen.

Thank you.
Like I said different platform. Both play games.

Daft response as usual. A tiger and an elephant are both animals but completely different.

If you go to Chinatown you can pick up PSP's that play copied games for around 4000bt, usually with a memory card and a few games, just make sure its with original parts as they sell ones with 3rd party chargers and batteries for less. 8000bt is way over the odds.

They both play games on different platforms. As you have already mentioned in your first post. Well done.

Nintendo = Play games
Playstation = Play games

[AntRobertson]

They both play games on different platforms. As you have already mentioned in your first post. Well done.

Nintendo = Play games
Playstation = Play games

That's where the similarity starts and finishes though; the PSP is more advanced in every way (you can run a Gameboy emulator on a PSP but not vice-versa) and also plays TV, films, music, has an Internet browser, radio, RSS feeds, connectivity to PS3... The list goes on.

I've got one (a PSP) and I mostly watch TV shows/movies etc on it. On the rare occasions I do actually play games on it they're mostly either PS1 or Commodore 64 titles.

The Gameboy and PSP are about as alike as a bicycle and motorbike are.

[Bobcock]

Are you unbanned?

Oh shit...........

[AntRobertson]

Are you unbanned?

Oh shit...........

nidhogg,

One thing you should be aware of in regard to modding a PSP is that you'll almost certainly have to buy a bigger memory card for it as well. I think they still come standard with a 32MB card? I recently purchased an 8GB card for mine, B2,000.

Don't stress the modding part, it's not as difficult as it might sound - just take it to a games shop and they'll be able to do it in about 5 - 10min for B100 or so, maybe even free if you also buy some games, they'll be about B20-50 each (and around 500MB - 1.5GB hence the need for larger card). Of course with a modded PSP you can also download torrents for games for free (although, no offence, I suspect this would just be a further complication for you so not worth worrying about right now).

[Travelmate]

They both play games on different platforms. As you have already mentioned in your first post. Well done.

Nintendo = Play games
Playstation = Play games

That's where the similarity starts and finishes though; the PSP is more advanced in every way (you can run a Gameboy emulator on a PSP but not vice-versa) and also plays TV, films, music, has an Internet browser, radio, RSS feeds, connectivity to PS3... The list goes on.

I've got one (a PSP) and I mostly watch TV shows/movies etc on it. On the rare occasions I do actually play games on it they're mostly either PS1 or Commodore 64 titles.

The Gameboy and PSP are about as alike as a bicycle and motorbike are.

Excellent post.
Welcome back.

[AntRobertson]

Thanks mate.

[baldrick]

but I do have to admit my brain starts to blank out on the "chipped" modified or whatever bit.

as ant said and if you read miggins' story about his kids PSP 3000 , just take the young fella with you and get the tech who you buy it from to set it all up first and show the young bloke and he will sort it from there - you just have to pay the cash

[nidhogg]

- you just have to pay the cash

LOL. Yeah, funnily enough thats the only bit in the whole process I was pretty sure about!

[nidhogg]

OK. Thanks to all for the pointers. So to round the story out, saturday morning I headed off to pantip to have a shuftie round. A few shops sold them, including one that had seemed fairly ok on a previous visit for something else which I decided to go with.

So, the final deal I got was : PSP2 plus 8 Meg ram (is that right?) fully loaded with 7 or so games, plastic screen protector thingy and a nice carry case for 8,360 baht.

Much to my shock, the shop actually listened to the type of games I wanted, and they preloaded onto the memory chip thingy 2x Naruto, 2 x ben ten (classic and alien force!), spiderman and one or two others.

The young lad in the shop was pretty helpful, and seems the easiest way for me to do stuff is to down load other games onto my computer then load onto the chip (or connect directly to te PSP).

Considering the original games in the shop were selling for 1,500 each, I am pretty happy with what I got. And, god willing, I should be able to sort out the loading of new games in the future.

And sure the sprog is going to wet himself next week working out what to play first.

thanks all again.

[AntRobertson]

Good stuff nidhogg. I paid substantially more than that for mine, although that was when the PSP first came out.

For your next trick you'll have to learn about torrents and then you can download whatever game you want for free.

And then of course since the PSP is designed with PS3 connectivity in mind you'll have to purchase a PS3 - the same argument I'm using with my wife.

[nidhogg]

Good stuff nidhogg. I paid substantially more than that for mine, although that was when the PSP first came out.

For your next trick you'll have to learn about torrents and then you can download whatever game you want for free.

And then of course since the PSP is designed with PS3 connectivity in mind you'll have to purchase a PS3 - the same argument I'm using with my wife.

You are a little ray of sunshine there.

I did see a, I think, PS2 in the shop (big box thingy, goes on the TV?), which cost 4,000 or so. He nearly ended up with that.

Still, hoping I am done for a while. Gonna free up the game boy for the missus though - so two birds with one stone. Although what she sees in it is beyond me.

I reached my limit at tetris.