Yes. Phone gaming just doesn’t really satisfy me. I’ve played a few good ones but in the end, nothing has compared to Persona 3 Portable or Super Mario 3D Land.
I realize the difference isn’t worth hundreds of dollars to a lot of people, but it is to me.
I’m certainly not buying one at launch. My price threshold for a portable gaming device is around $125-150, tops. IIRC, they want, what, $250-300? Fuck that. Also, launch games nearly inevitably suck. If they can pull together a convincing library at a price I’m willing to pay, then sure, someday. But given how anemic the PSP wound up being, I’m not convinced they will.
Also, I have zero interest in playing most genres of game using finger-touch controls only, like I am forced to do on iOS, so the iPhone (or rather, my iTouch) will not be a viable threat to any dedicated handheld gaming device anytime soon.
Since one of the only types of game that my wife and I truly enjoy playing together are action RPGs, I might consider getting one for Ruin… er, Warrior’s Lair, or whatever they are going to call it.
But that’ll probably happen a year or two down the road when I have more money/time. I’m a pretty late adopter in general, I only just got a PS3 about 6 months ago.
anemic the PSP
wait what?
You must be thinking of DS, but there are tons of great games on PSP, there are actually a few threads on QT3 listing the games you should get.
Launch library of the PSV is weak, yea. But the PSP’s library is actually pretty fantastic…
I know. I would still categorize its library as anemic. Especially compared to the DS. And a substantial number of the best games for PSP originated on other platforms.
Compare to ds, where 80% of their games are crap, literally crap that got pooped out in 5 weeks development cycle(my friend worked at black lantern working on some of the shittiest DS games ever!!!)
if anything PSP have a lot more quality games compare to the DS.
There’s a ton of shitty shovelware for DS, yes. The majority of the DS library, even. But the DS library is so much bigger than the PSP library that there’s still substantially more quality, original gaming for DS. At least for my tastes.
Consider:
Oldschool dungeon crawls:
DS: 3 Etrian Odyssey games, Dark Spire, SMT: Strange Journey.
PSP: Class of Heroes.
Original Shin Megami Tensei games:
DS: Strange Journey, Devil Survivor, Devil Survivor 2
PSP: None, but let’s count Persona 2: Innocent Sin just because it never had a US release on any other platform.
Visual novel/adventure hybrids:
DS: Like…five Ace Attorney games, 999, Time Hollow (which wasn’t great but was mildly enjoyable), Hotel Dusk, Again, Last Window, arguably Suda 51’s bizarre Flower, Sun and Rain.
PSP: Um…none? I dunno, I must have missed 'em if they exist.
Metroidvanias:
DS: Three original Castlevania games in this style, plus a handful of others I’ve no idea of the quality of.
PSP: A port of Symphony of the Night.
Roguelikes:
DS: Two Izuna games, Shiren the Wanderer, several other Mystery Dungeon titles, possibly others.
PSP: None as far as I can tell.
Notable (non-port/remake) JRPGs:
DS: Mario & Luigi (a couple), Dragon Slime, Radiant Historia, Golden Sun DS, Infinite Space, the SMT games, Sonic Chronicles (the forgotten Bioware game), The World Ends With You, Contact.
PSP: Z.H.P., Half-Minute Hero, Cladun, Valkyria Chronicles II.
Etc. Do I regret buying my PSP? No. Does the DS have a bigger, better game selection in the areas I care about? Fuck yes.
They’re pretty much even for my money. And you really tipped the balance by coming up with a bunch of arbitrary standards as to what kind of games you’d consider worthwhile (who cares if the PSP has ports when many of them haven’t been released in English or otherwise haven’t been widely available, and make significant improvements to the original), yet still managed to include a bunch of dubious stuff (Sonic Chronicles, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Again, five by-the numbers Castlevanias, etc.) which makes the point to me that the good stuff really is obscured by a sea of crap on the DS whereas it’s obscured by being too niche on the PSP.
The PSP has a stronger identity in my mind. It feels like a “gamer’s” console. It has a sense of history. When you deride the system for only having a port of Symphony of the Night, you fail to mention that it comes attached as an extra to its prequel, Rondo of Blood, a Turbo CD game revered among series aficionados in the know, but otherwise obscure and never before released in English. It’s been lovingly remade in a 3d engine and plays great, but includes the option to play the original and it’s much better-known sequel. All that for $15. The PSP is full of stuff like this.
The PSP is also defined by games with sharp, colorful 2-d visuals that look great on it’s screen like Patapon, Loco Roco, Mega Man Powered Up, and Patchwork Heroes. It’s also an RPG deconstruction machine with games like Z.H.P. (which is a roguelike, btw), Half-Minute Hero, Cladun, and No Heroes Allowed!
To me, all these games have epitomized the notion ofbite sized hardcore: they’re games that address me as a gamer but still respect my time, and as a result I’ve found myself gaming on my PSP more than any other device over the past year.
Wait what?
The DS has quite possibly the best game library of any console ever. There’s a lot of crap, but that’s because there’s a shit ton of games period. It"s like the PS2 in that regard.
Visual novel/adventure hybrids:
DS: Like…five Ace Attorney games, 999, Time Hollow (which wasn’t great but was mildly enjoyable), Hotel Dusk, Again, Last Window, arguably Suda 51’s bizarre Flower, Sun and Rain.
PSP: Um…none? I dunno, I must have missed 'em if they exist.
too bad you can’t read japanese, because there are an insane amount of visual novel for Japanese audience on PSP.
Original Shin Megami Tensei games:
that’s a strange category to use a measurement, because I can said
PSP -every single monster hunter games
vs
DS - zero…
Notable (non-port/remake) JRPGs:
Jeanne D’Arc, Wild Arms XF, Brave Story: New Traveler, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness(also a dungeon crawler, new feature as well as etna mode which is new storyline, Popolocrois, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, Riviera: The Promised Land , FF crisis core. Phantasy star Portable 1-3(not remakes, both dungeon crawler + ARPG).
not mentioning persona 3’s female character play different than the male ones.
here is a list you can use to compare.
PSP RPG master list
DS RPG master list
basically nintendo are better at porting their games to the west compare to sony.
PSP has 92 RPGs in the west, with additional 88 in japan only, while DS has 133, and they pretty much port everything.
it actually takes an effort to put out a game on PS2 compare to putting out stuff on DS now.
PSP average score 69.9 vs 3DS’s 63.4 or DS 65.4 that’s for 2011,
PSP also beat DS in 2010 as well as 2009.
They both have more good games than I’ll ever be able to play, so this debate is kinda pointless.
Anyways … What size memory card should I get for the Vita?
Me too. And I’ve never had a PSP, so I’m excited to catch up on those games! But then, this is Sony, so they’ll probably won’t drop their price.
The best kind!
If you didn’t know, to make the 3G model more attractive they’re packaging it with an 8GB card, an as yet unnamed PSN game, and a voucher for some amount of free network service or something - for the same $299 as the regular 3G model. Because no one would buy one otherwise.
I don’t plan on buying the Vita upon release and to be honest I don’t know whether I ever will. That said, 95% of phone “games” are not games at all, merely distractions that are only worthy of being played in 3 minute stints while waiting in the grocery line. Ive got a shitload of games on my iPhone and the only one I ever play is my euchre game. I don’t even play angry birds anymore as there is only so many times you can fling a bird before insanity starts to set in. If I am truly “on the go” and I want to play a game then I would want something with a little depth and a nice big screen and actual tactile controls.
I plan on getting one, but it’ll probably take a few months of saving. I’m really excited for the platform’s potential and since I only have an iPhone 3g which is incompatible with almost every iOS game these days, that’s not a viable alternative.
I’m am hopefully that a lot of those popular, quirky platformers that have come out for iOS get at least PS Suite ports so they can be played with proper controls. I’m never going to spend money to play with a virtual d-pad and buttons.
The arbitrary standard is “stuff I personally care about”. So yes, it’s arbitrary. But I said repeatedly “my tastes”, “that I care about”. Also, I wouldn’t deride the PSP for any of the games I list. They’re awesome. I was just making the point that there aren’t that many of them.
FWIW, you’re right about ZHP being a roguelike, though. My bad.
Fair enough. Your Castlevania comparison, in particular, just kind of rubbed me the wrong way because it seemed to emphasize how overstuffed the DS library was while I thought you were selling the Rondo of Blood/SotN on PSP far short. I get defensive about stupid things, I guess?
If you’re curious about VN games on PSP, there’s a couple I can think of including Disgaea Infinite, Fate/Extra (in which you participate in a supernatural tournament aided by mythical and historical figures like Nero and Gilgamesh), and the awesomely titled Corpse Party.