Got some Christmas Money now i cant decide, PSPvsDS

UnscathedFlyingObject · Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:27 pm

Just tried the GBA emu and it runs very well. Only problems I've run into are some slight frame skipping and less than perfect sound. However, the games are perfectly playable.

By the way, can you run GB and GBC games on GBsp?

No_not_like_Quake · Post by **No_not_like_Quake** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:31 pm

My friend was cool enough to give me his old PSP after "upgrading" to a 3000. I quite like it but still have an urge to buy a DS. So basically, I want to own both.

Anyway, I don't think you can go wrong with either, so flip a coin or something.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:47 pm

The bottom line is that while DS is a clear winner, PSP is not an unworthy underdog. It's not like DS is a Playstation while PSP is a Bandai Playdia or a 3DO. It's more like DS is a NES, while PSP is an SMS. it may have fewer games, but the tech edge is on its side and those few around are indeed excellent stuff.

Buy both - you can always save money by not buying the current, awful home systems!

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 11:13 pm

Turrican wrote:
Buy both - you can always save money by not buying the current, awful home systems!

/Thread. I do most of my gaming on the PSP now. You can't go wrong with that advice if possible.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 11:31 pm

I've pretty much given up on console gaming in favour of my DS. It has old JRPG's, new SRPG's, point and clicks, visual novels, bemani and even a Cave STG, believe it or not.

In fact, there's so much coming out, I'm finding it quite hard to keep up on my shitty salary. Next up is Korg DS (which I'll possibly use as a serious instrument in my band) and Flower Sun and Rain, which I've been wanting to play for years.

Bootaaay · Post by **Bootaaay** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 11:54 pm

Another vote for get both - it may be pricey, but it's worth it imo. I get loads of use out of both systems, the PSP is just great for NeoGeo/MAME/SNES/Genesis emulation, whereas the DS has awesome games (Ketsui Death Label, Soul Bubbles, DQ9 etc) and is great for SMS/GameGear emulation, plus some guy (http://www.projectaon.org/staff/frederic/index.php) has been converting the LoneWolf adventure games book for DS - currently theres the first two books (Flight from the Dark & Fire on the Water) available and they're freaking awesome, highly reccomended.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 1:07 am

If you want to emulate, you MUST get an earlier model PSP, which pretty much is impossible to get brand new. If you end up getting a used one (which will save you money) try and get a service plan, just be sure.

boagman · Post by **boagman** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:55 am

Specineff wrote:If you want to emulate, you MUST get an earlier model PSP, which pretty much is impossible to get brand new. If you end up getting a used one (which will save you money) try and get a service plan, just be sure.

If, by "earlier model", you mean "not a 3000", then I guess you're correct, at least as of this very moment. I'm sure the 3000 will be fully cracked in short order.

That being said, it's still possible to find PSP-1000s new in the box...I just ran across some "C" boxed ones within the past month. But as far as I understand it, the 1000s and 2000s are both fully available for emulation.

Is that not correct?

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sat Dec 27, 2008 3:48 am

Yah, the 1000 and 2000 are crackable. I recommend the 1000 just 'cause I think they're better built. I like the rugged back and the front part is one piece and is just plain cooler. It's also more comfortable thanks to the bumps in the back and the bigger size.

Triple Lei · Post by **Triple Lei** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 3:55 am

For GB & GBC games, you can't beat MasterBoy - it completely obsoletes that Rin GB emulator.

And where were you guys when I had my (fully hackable) PSP-2000 up for sale in the Trading Section?? It's kind of on hold but I'll just as easily sell it to you guys instead for the low, low price of $120 shipped.

boagman · Post by **boagman** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 3:56 am

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:Yah, the 1000 and 2000 are crackable. I recommend the 1000 just 'cause I think they're better built. I like the rugged back and the front part is one piece and is just plain cooler. It's also more comfortable thanks to the bumps in the back and the bigger size.

Back when I bought mine a couple of years ago, I looked long and hard to find one of the original "A" boxed PSP 1000s (at the time, the 2000s weren't even out yet). I've never needed to buy another since then.

Sure video out would be nice, but without an HDTV, it doesn't really affect me, now does it?

I'm certainly no big old Sony fan, but they did a heckuva good job with this system, IMHO. The software support it's gotten hasn't necessarily been stellar, but the hardware itself is certainly impressive. I like what I've got quite a bit.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:41 pm

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:Yah, the 1000 and 2000 are crackable. I recommend the 1000 just 'cause I think they're better built. I like the rugged back and the front part is one piece and is just plain cooler. It's also more comfortable thanks to the bumps in the back and the bigger size.

Crazy talk, man. 1000's cross is so bad that it counterweights all the positive - you simply can't play or do diagonals with that stuff. Only go for a 1000 if you're playing rpgs or srpgs. Gradius, Dracula X, UGNG, Rockman require 2000. End of story.

indstr · Post by **indstr** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 3:05 pm

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:Just tried the GBA emu and it runs very well. Only problems I've run into are some slight frame skipping and less than perfect sound. However, the games are perfectly playable.

By the way, can you run GB and GBC games on GBsp?

No idea what you are talking about dude. For me with GPSP. the sound is perfect and it is at frameskip 0 always, fullspeed. Did you make sure you set the clockspeed to 333mhz? I run 333 on everything, even NES emulation.
Make sure you are running Exophase's official version of GPSP 0.9. There are some weird hacked versions by some Japanese guy and they might not be as good.

get this version
http://dl.qj.net/gpSP-v0.9-for-TA-082-H ... /catid/122

And no, GB and GBC games don't work on GPSP, but like somebody already said, Master Boy is a great emulator. Also runs Master system games as well.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sat Dec 27, 2008 4:10 pm

Turrican wrote:
UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:Yah, the 1000 and 2000 are crackable. I recommend the 1000 just 'cause I think they're better built. I like the rugged back and the front part is one piece and is just plain cooler. It's also more comfortable thanks to the bumps in the back and the bigger size.
Crazy talk, man. 1000's cross is so bad that it counterweights all the positive - you simply can't play or do diagonals with that stuff. Only go for a 1000 if you're playing rpgs or srpgs. Gradius, Dracula X, UGNG, Rockman require 2000. End of story.

Forgot not everyone modifies their systems... Dpad mod solves the issue.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 4:18 pm

I agree on the "get both" argument. Both systems have their pros and since they are so different in terms of game library and graphical power they are really a nice couple. I wouldn´t want to do without Bangai-O Spirits or Mariokart or Ketsui DL, but I also wouldn´t want to do without Ridge Racer, Lumines or Gradius Collection. It´s nice to have a solid little console without any loading times and nice 2D graphics, but it´s also nice to have a console that does good-looking 3D titles.

Oh, and you can´t beat the DS in terms of horse, bunny and puppy sims! THANKS UBISOFT!

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:22 pm

indstr wrote:
UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:Just tried the GBA emu and it runs very well. Only problems I've run into are some slight frame skipping and less than perfect sound. However, the games are perfectly playable.

By the way, can you run GB and GBC games on GBsp?
No idea what you are talking about dude. For me with GPSP. the sound is perfect and it is at frameskip 0 always, fullspeed. Did you make sure you set the clockspeed to 333mhz? I run 333 on everything, even NES emulation.
Make sure you are running Exophase's official version of GPSP 0.9. There are some weird hacked versions by some Japanese guy and they might not be as good.

get this version
http://dl.qj.net/gpSP-v0.9-for-TA-082-H ... /catid/122

And no, GB and GBC games don't work on GPSP, but like somebody already said, Master Boy is a great emulator. Also runs Master system games as well.

It's not perfect either. My PC runs games slightly better and neither are as good as running on real hardware. I tried Rhythm Tengoku and Metroid Zero Mission. I set the PSP emu to frameskip 0 and maximum clock speed. RT has this loading stutter before and after a game. There's also a barely noticeable difference in timing. MZM frame rate slow-mos for a fraction of a second when there's a bunch of enemies. Sound is close to the real thing and is not something that bothers me.

Now, the emulator is great and is very good (excellent if you want,) but it's not perfect.

indstr · Post by **indstr** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:46 pm

Agreed that Rhythm Tengoku is unplayable because of the sync issues. But I haven't had any significant problems with almost everything I've played with it. It's a fantastic emulator and probably the best on PSP.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 7:59 pm

At my local Target, they sell the cool Hori produced NDS Screen Protector that offers superb protection against scratches on both LCD screens and the like. Very good for the asking price of $9.99 USD. And the PSP's LCD screen scratches very easily as well. It needs an LCD screen protection film placed on it when first opened up from the factory box.

The general rule of thumb is to check for any "dead pixels" on both the NDS and PSP. Take 'em back and get another one if that is the case. I had to get a brand new PSP-1001 (the 4th one after contending with the 1st three with the dreaded "dead pixels issue") and it was well worth it back in Spring of 2005. Blame it on current manufacturing processes at the time -- there are bound to be a few bad apples in every barrel from time to time. ^_~

It's cool to have the ability to play Neo-Geo & CPS2 arcade emulation on a PSP-1001 handheld. Plus the fact that you can play JPN & EUR PSP game titles on a USA PSP with no regional lockout is a big plus. The only gripe is that one can only play UMD (Universal Media Disc) movies formatted for their respective country region only -- you can't play JPN UMD movies on a USA PSP and vice versa for a JPN PSP with USA UMD movies.

The PSP is a beast when it comes to being powered up by a lithium-ion battery back...had to upgrade to the optional PSP-280 2200mAh to get more run-time when playing emus with the PSP's CPU running at 333mHz -- well worth the additional cost over the standard PSP Li-Ion battery packs with just 1800mAh rating.

The Nintendo DSlite is cool...trying to source a brand new DSlite Web Browser for it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I had such fun playing against a fellow chap from Europe with the NDS game title of Space Invaders Extreme through Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. ^_~

Your best bet would be to get both a PSP and a DS. The best of both worlds when it comes to portable gaming handhelds. They've come a long ways since the early days of the original Gameboy and the Atari Lynx. ^_~

Metal Slug 7 on the DS is a great little action shooting game platformer that pays homage to the original Neo-Geo MVS Metal Slugs of lore. Pick it up while it is still available on retailer's shelves. At a mere $29.99, it comes with a cool mini Metal Slug 7 poster and a mini promo CD disc as well. Most USA region DS games don't come with such cool promotional goodies anyways but with MS7, it's an rare exception these days. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

mr_m0nks · Post by **mr_m0nks** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:17 pm

ARGH!!! the choice!

i think it comes down to 1 issue at the moment.

How easy is it to set up emulators on the PSP? do i need any extra stuff, (someone mentioned a battery?)

i had a good look in town today and it is a true 50/50 for new games, but if emulation on the sony is easy i think the PSP may have it.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:10 pm

The process isn't too hard. Google Pandora Battery and you'll find some instructions. There's even Youtube videos on the matter. There's more than one way but using a Pandora Battery is the easiest. If you still have no clue, I'm sure someone will be able to help you. I mean, there's a ton of people with hacked PSPs.

indstr · Post by **indstr** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:22 pm

Yeh it's not too hard. These days you will just need to do Pandora's battery. If you know somebody else with a hacked PSP, you will just need to use their battery briefly to downgrade yours. Then you can upgrade yours back to custom firmware and you're good to go.

JUX.Jaggsen · Post by **JUX.Jaggsen** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 11:12 pm

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:[...] trying to source a brand new DSlite Web Browser for it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Congratulations! You are a true Shmups.com Triple EXXXtreme IT-Masochist Applications Achiever.

@ OP:
You tech-savvy and able exercise what's known as patience? Give the OpenPandora portable a look as alternative to satisfy your emulation/media player needs and go Nintendo. You can still buy a PSP if an OpenPandora doesn't fly for you.

DS homebrew (emulation is a joke) has some pearls. I prefer the Cyclo DS Evolution cart over anything else as it never failed me and the support via their forums is excellent. Get another microSDHC card-reader, though; the included USB-model is the dog's dinner.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 12:07 am

I would definitely recommend that you get a DS Lite. You can play GBA games on it, and there are lots of awesome games.

Discounting import shmups, IMHO, there just aren't enough PSP exclusives to warrant a purchase. The battery life is also horrible.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 12:53 am

Bootaaay wrote:plus some guy (http://www.projectaon.org/staff/frederic/index.php) has been converting the LoneWolf adventure games book for DS - currently theres the first two books (Flight from the Dark & Fire on the Water) available and they're freaking awesome, highly reccomended.

Thank you man, you made my day - and I'll add these excellent Lone Wolf titles to this thread:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=22358

Triple Lei · Post by **Triple Lei** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:14 am

dave4shmups wrote:...The battery life is also horrible.

The 2000 and 3000-series PSPs are already more battery-efficient than the original 1000-series, and when you use the 2200mAh battery with them, you get some impressive "non-horrible" battery life.

Amazing how I'm reading all the same comments I read back in 2006!

indstr · Post by **indstr** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 4:52 am

Triple Lei wrote:
dave4shmups wrote:...The battery life is also horrible.
The 2000 and 3000-series PSPs are already more battery-efficient than the original 1000-series, and when you use the 2200mAh battery with them, you get some impressive "non-horrible" battery life.

Amazing how I'm reading all the same comments I read back in 2006!

Yeah I know for real...

And anyway I have a PSP-1000 and I really don't consider the 4 hours I get on my 1800mAh battery pack running at 333mhz "horrible". (Pretty not bad actually). Considering I never play more than 2 or 3 hours per day anyway, I just charge it every night. No big deal.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 5:13 am

Triple Lei wrote:Amazing how I'm reading all the same comments I read back in 2006!

Yeah, although a point could be made that the situation has worsened significantly since 2006. In sony shoes, I frankly would have addressed more serious issues than battery life in the meantime - like, software lineup.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sun Dec 28, 2008 6:18 am

Turrican wrote:
Triple Lei wrote:Amazing how I'm reading all the same comments I read back in 2006!
Yeah, although a point could be made that the situation has worsened significantly since 2006. In sony shoes, I frankly would have addressed more serious issues than battery life in the meantime - like, software lineup.

Srsly, they need to start bribing more devs. It works pretty well for Microsoft. I mean, if you ain't got the installed base give 'em some incentive to make games for your system.

If I was Sony, I would be readying my next system right about know and launch in like two years. It's a lost cause for them to try to compete with Nintendo right now. I really don't think the PSP will be around for 10 years like they say.

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:56 am

My main complaint about both PSP units I owned (one old model, one slim & lite) would be that the batteries discharge even when the unit is switched off. When I don't use my PSP for a while (even if it's only a couple of days) and then switch it on, the battery seems to be completely discharged almost every time.
So there's just no 'quickly stuff it in your pocket when leaving the house' with the PSP. I always have to plan ahead and make sure the batteries are charged before going on a trip. For a portable device this is a major design flaw.

I never seem to have the same problem with the DS (both fat and lite). Even when I don't use it for weeks, it's still fully charged and functional when I switch it back on.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:34 am

This may be a silly question, but you are switching it off properly, yeah? I've come across people before who complained that their PSP batteries were draining even when the machine was off, but it turned out that they were just switching the console onto standby.

The complaint about the PSP d-pad is meaningless now. Just pick up one of those dirt cheap discs that you stick over the top. It's a two-second job.