PSP Blogger - PlayStation® Portable Fansite

Finally that long awaited preorder arrives! You tear away on the annoying courier packaging, remove the plastic wrapper with you're grinding teeth, gaze at the front cover for a few seconds, flip open the casing, and finally slam the UMD in your PSP. This is what happened to most gamers who bought themselves a copy of God of War PSP.

The problem came in when they managed to complete the game the same day they purchased it. Fact is that most new games are relatively short (besides the odd RPG here and there). Replay value happens mostly in puzzle and multiplayer games but usually fails with single player action adventure titles such as GOW. Yeah the hardcore fans might replay the title to unlock every last item but for the average gamer this title will most likely be traded or sold. Another example is the relatively short Silent Hill: Origins. You play the game to see what happens in the end (aka story line) but after completing it you don’t really have anything else to look forward too, keeping in mind that SH can be completed in 2 hours.

(Nintendo moment alert) How many times did you play Super Mario Bros over and over or what about Contra or Sonic or even Adventure Island? What gave these games the excellent replay value they still have until today? Maybe it all comes down to choice.

At time when the NES ruled the earth and mankind had to play on blocky looking controllers there was no real competition. Simply put, everybody had NES and everybody had Pac Man. There were plenty of games available for the system but most people just ended up getting one of those 20000 in 1 cartridges (Famicon…hmm). Today you however have the option of getting a Wii, DS, PSP, Xbox, and PS3 or even PS2 (or like some people, all of them). You might like FPS based games, whereas your buddy might prefer RPG’s and this weird looking dude might worship RTS but strangely enough in the NES days everybody loved side scrolling platformers.

There are so many consoles, genres and games to choose from its insane. In the end it’s not the games that lost the replay flavor but more the subliminal idea of alternative choices. While playing GOW you might be thinking about how much (the already preordered) Final Fantasy CC is going to rock but after getting and enjoying FF you might already be thinking about the next big title that interests you (resulting in GOW ending up on the dusty shelf).

With so many consoles and games available, there’s always something else to look forward to and while the replay concept might not apply to multiplayer games or similar it does have an impact on story driven single player games.

As we all know, the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS are currently ruling the charts. The big question however is why.

Most gamers will jump up at this point and shout “It’s the price and portability factor you noob!” We do agree that portability does play a big role but we have to disagree on the price part. In most countries the PSP is actually more expensive than the Xbox 360. Yeah we know the Xbox 360 is pretty unstable (we just had too) but still the console provides much more than the PSP besides the portability.

Hey but wait, the Xbox 360 arcade edition is the only version that’s cheaper than the PSP correct? Next generation gaming consoles are very much like PC’s these days since you get different versions which offer well…different features. You can upgrade hard drives; add wireless adaptors, blah blah blah you know the rest. Another article we read the other day explained how customers got extremely confused with these new console features and revisions and versions and what not and most ended up walking out of the stores empty handed (probably to go do some more research). An employee from a local game store booked in a client’s new 40Gb PS3 for replacement due to the fact that it had problems playing PS2 games (yeah, read that sentence again).

Your Sega Genesis was the same as mine, and the next door neighbor and so fourth and this is how consoles have operated all these years. We love the PS3 but the fact that you have to actually install some of the titles (like DMC4) kind of takes away the whole tray and play factor don’t you think. For internet freaks like us these versions and upgrades are pretty easy to understand but for the end user it’s not always the same story.

Here’s an example: Jack wants to upgrade his PS2 so he runs down to the local game shop to buy a next generation console. Firsts he looks at the 360 only to be informed by the sales person that due to RROD they discontinued sales and are still awaiting new and more stable units. He then spots the nice looking PS3 to once again be informed that the 40GB version won’t run his PS2 games and that the 60GB version is discontinued. Next on the list is Wii which does not really have any titles he likes such as MGS and Gran Turismo available and the graphics seem to be on par with he’s old PS2 as well. He’s not having such a nice day and obviously the fun has been taken out of buying a console. He might end up deciding to go the PS3 route but due to the pricing he will most likely end up going home empty handed.

Gone are the days of just connecting your console to your TV with standard RCA cables. It’s all about surround sound, HDMI, LCD resolutions, wireless, storage capacity, card readers, etc. and even though these features are nice to have they can get confusing to some.

It’s not “Dad, I want an Xbox 360", it’s more like “Dad, I want the limited Xbox 360 Mongoose Edition or Pro Value Edition or Elite Edition but just not the Arcade Edition".

If you wanted a Sega Genesis you simply just had to grab any one off the shelf, but lately people tend to ponder for weeks on what console version to buy and even sometimes end up waiting for later versions to be released with the hope that new features with be included. Now that the PSP can also connect to a television the purchase is just so much easier. “Dad, I want a PSP”….Done.

Gamers are active, gamers are mobile and as we all know people want things easy in life. Handheld console purchases are just so much simpler.

It’s true that not everybody who runs custom firmware on their PSP’s uses it to play pirated games but some people prefer to just stick with official firmware anyway. We use official firmware ourselves believe it or not and you might have also noticed no homebrew related articles appearing on our site. There are hundreds of websites already covering the homebrew scene so we rather decided to focus on the official side of things.

So boys and girls, what else can you do with official firmware (higher that version 1.5) besides the usual stuff? Well to be honest, not much really. Yeah we know, it sucks but there are some simple things you can do to maybe spice up your PSP a bit. Let’s see what’s available on the menu.

Note: This list will be updated regularly

PSP Themes

If you’re sick of your standard XMB theme then now is the time to do something about it. Themes don’t just change your PSP wallpaper but the icons too. It’s not much but at least you’re PSP will look unique (software wise that is).

Click here to download PSP themes

PSP Flash Games

Yeah we know that most of the PSP flash games are pretty weak but there are some nice ones lurking around. We can’t really complain either since they are free you know. A quick Google search should give you plenty of options. Be sure to let us know if you find something nice.

Windows for PSP

This software allows you to run a very basic version of Windows on your PSP through the integrated web browser (you don’t have to be online). You'll have access to a few windows games and applications so you might just want to check it out.

Click here to download

Please note this list is still under construction. Feel free to mail us with any ideas you might like to contribute.

Besides the recently released action adventure game God of War: Chains of Olympus, the PSP has been mostly overwhelmed with Puzzle and RPG titles. Even though Puzzle games such as Loco Roco and RPG’s such as Monster Hunter and Final Fantasy are fantastic games, it still doesn’t really fill out the missing PSP games gap.

There are plenty of titles available for all genres on the handheld but very few of them actually make it into the top spots. Let’s look at survival horror for example; Silent Hill Origins seems to be the greatest title for the genre but on the other hand it’s the only survival horror title on the PSP. Platform adventure titles are also currently in the low with Daxter and Rachet & Clank being the only really worthwhile candidates. RPG fans however are really overwhelmed with great titles (Final Fantasy, Gurumin, Monster Hunter, Tales of the World, Star Ocean) and a pretty much never ending list of games to look forward to. Same thing also applies to puzzle gamers still jamming it out with Lumines and Loco Roco. If we look at the titles we played on the PSX/PS2 and then at the ones currently being played on the PSP you will immediately notice the change.

Even though the PS2 also had plenty of RPG and Puzzle titles, other genres were just as blooming with great titles. All over the web you’ll find gamers literally begging for PSP releases of titles such as Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Hitman, Gran Turismo, James Bond, Max Payne, Legacy of Kain, Shadow of the Colossus, Timesplitters, Die Hard, Dino Crisis, The Italian Job, Onimusha, Rez, Okami, ICO, and even Red Faction for the handheld. What you’ll however notice about this wanted list is that almost none of these games are RPG’s. The RPG and Puzzle titles crossover between the PSX/PS2 and PSP has been pretty much filled but genres such as action, adventure, stealth, racing, strategy and even FPS are the ones still most asked for.

Looking at IGN’s upcoming PSP release list you’ll however discover that all this should be remedied in the near future since half of the upcoming titles are action, adventure and platform based. Just hope that some developer will hear the cries of horror survival fans.

Reviewed by DarCowAlways

This game has been notorious for its abstract simple and enjoyable gameplay since it was first created as a playable game on the creator's website. Since then, it has undergone a port to the PS3, and now has come to us PSP owners with great results.

This is a seamless game with amazing graphics, and the aliasing issues are all to do with the difference in resolution. The music is very calm and relaxing and keeps you wanting more, while not getting in the way of the game or becoming annoying.

The gameplay itself consists of you, a microscopic organism, feeding off of other such creatures to grow and become more powerful. This happens through either eating tiny creatures directly, or defeating other very similar organisms by eating their health orbs. You yourself have these orbs, and can see at any time how much health you have through them. Once you have eaten these orbs, the enemy will break into several tiny creatures which can be eaten to either restore health or make you grow, depending on the type of creature.

Each of the six organisms you can control over the game has different abilities, different looks, and different levels. Some move fast, others lure in enemies, and others yet poison them. This adds enough variety to the game to keep you going strong through it.

The game is extremely self-explanatory, with a very simple yet fleshed out system for moving though levels, changing organisms, and playing locally with friends. There is one screen with a very limited set of basic instructions when the game starts- but thankfully, that is all you will need.

Once you beat the levels (by eating red orbs to get to deeper layers) with one organism you are given the option to play as that organism in their evolved form giving you a new, arguably improved creature to play with.

As you progress through the game the background changes from a light blue to a dark and cloudy black with lighting effects, and several various effects in between. There are different backdrops for each creature you play as, so if you find one boring, the next will definitely change things up for you.

The game itself when you eat all of the creatures, is about 4.5 hours long. Further enjoyment can be found replaying levels and playing with friends over ad-hoc.

If you have a little patience, flOw is a very immersive and rewarding game.

This title can be played directly or downloaded onto the PC (free) from here.