Sony PSP: Am I mad?

Pac1Man

I was considering picking up a Vita either in January or maybe before Christmas if the right deal came up. Closer investigation made me realise that there are simply not enough exclusives to warrant a purchase given that a selection of the must-haves are also on the 3DS or PS3.

That made me surprisingly turn my attention towards the PSP. There is now a complete library of games to choose from, most of which are extremely cheap at the moment. It seems like a good time to pick up a PSP.

It was really Persona 4 which made me initially turn towards the Vita, however there seems to be quite a selection of RPGs to choose from on the PSP, Persona 3 included.

Am I correct or mad for thinking the way I am? Am I being unfair to the Vita?

penev10

The PSP has some great RPGs- Trails in the Sky, P3P, the Y's games, JEanne D'Arc, Tactics Ogre etc. You could always get a cheap PSP, get the games digitally and then upgrade to a Vita at a later stage and still have access to the games? I've picked up most of the above on sale on PSN for around a tenner each.

syklops

Pac1Man wrote: »

I was considering picking up a Vita either in January or maybe before Christmas if the right deal came up. Closer investigation made me realise that there are simply not enough exclusives to warrant a purchase given that a selection of the must-haves are also on the 3DS or PS3.

That made me surprisingly turn my attention towards the PSP. There is now a complete library of games to choose from, most of which are extremely cheap at the moment. It seems like a good time to pick up a PSP.

It was really Persona 4 which made me initially turn towards the Vita, however there seems to be quite a selection of RPGs to choose from on the PSP, Persona 3 included.

Am I correct or mad for thinking the way I am? Am I being unfair to the Vita?

Not mad at all. I love my PSP phat.

RedXIV

I think the big thing worth pointing out is that there is only a handful of games that aren't available digitally and therefore most of the games will work on the vita too. Vita is backwards compatible from a digital perspective, just can't play the UMD disks.

So unless there is a specific game you are looking for not available on the psn store (crisis core is the only one that comes to mind straight away) then you may as well get the vita for all the bells and whistles from a newer generation of games console

Pac1Man

RedXIV wrote: »

I think the big thing worth pointing out is that there is only a handful of games that aren't available digitally and therefore most of the games will work on the vita too. Vita is backwards compatible from a digital perspective, just can't play the UMD disks.

So unless there is a specific game you are looking for not available on the psn store (crisis core is the only one that comes to mind straight away) then you may as well get the vita for all the bells and whistles from a newer generation of games console

That's good to know but I always have a reservation towards digital downloads and would always choose the physical copy. Maybe it's my backwards thinking but will they still be playable in 20 years? (I suppose I could say the same thing about the UMDs)

I'm trying to work out whether the bells and whistles of the Vita is actually worth the purchase or maybe the PSP will fit my needs perfectly. I could pick up a lot of PSP games with the euros I would save by not getting a Vita.

Retr0gamer

Really love my vita and my PSP isn't getting as much use because of it. The vita screen makes PSP games look far nicer than on a PSP as well. Only negative is as someone mentioned some games are only available on umd. There's also a few PSP titles that are on the PSP shop but not officially supported on the vita but you can transfer them over with a PC or ps3.

Last thing to consider is that Sony shut the PSP digital shop so you need a ps3 or PC to buy digital games for a PSP.

Pac1Man

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Really love my vita and my PSP isn't getting as much use because of it. The vita screen makes PSP games look far nicer than on a PSP as well. Only negative is as someone mentioned some games are only available on umd. There's also a few PSP titles that are on the PSP shop but not officially supported on the vita but you can transfer them over with a PC or ps3.

Last thing to consider is that Sony shut the PSP digital shop so you need a ps3 or PC to buy digital games for a PSP.

Can I push you further and ask why you love your Vita? Is there enough exclusive content to warrant a purchase if I already have a 3DS?

My biggest fear would be to regret not buying a Vita if I went for a PSP as I definitely wouldn't be buying both. Missing out on Persona 4 would also be hard to take since I have never played it before.

Taltos

One thing I found a while back while browsing my "download list" on the vita was that games I had bought digitally on the PSP were also available and worked so far brilliantly.
For me - there is no comparison - although saying that I have not seen the new version LED one yet, only the OLED.
My PSP is upstairs somewhere - my vita is in use quite a lot - either playing some brilliant games or playing the PS4 remotely.

Retr0gamer

If you like RPGs like you seem to then the Vita really is a no brainer. It's getting lots of quality games at the moment. I found the 3DS this year quite disappointing and the Vita a lot better. Really the vita pretty much does anything the PSP can with a few exceptions like birth by sleep and crisis core.

Persona 4 is worth the price of admission. It's the best RPG of the last 10 years along with Persona 3 which you can also get as a PSP game on vita.

johnny_ultimate

Also worth pointing out the analogue nub on the PSP is a horrid little thing, the Vita sticks aren't perfect but many, many times preferable to the nub for all games. I'd almost put the improved controls above the visual upgrade :pac:

But yes, a Vita is IMO a no brainer if you're planning to get one down the line anyway. The discounts on PSP digital games are deep and frequent, and many are at low standard prices anyway.

Pac1Man

Ok thanks for steering me back on track!

One other thing though; memory card sizes. As I plan to download PSP titles, is a 32GB the minimum I should be looking at?

Retr0gamer

I've a 32GB for my US account and I've filled it already. I'd go as far as to say even 64 isn't big enough. Get the biggest you can afford is my advice. The one major minus of te system is the memory card prices which are insane. I suggest looking online and ebay for cheap cards. Even getting them from Hong Kong is ok since the cards security hasn't been cracked so you will be buying legit hardware rather than clones.

Taltos

I too have 32, would love a 64 but price is just a bit much for now.
You can always back up to a PC or delete and redownload.

Basically go as high as you can afford.

RedXIV

Pac1Man wrote: »

Ok thanks for steering me back on track!

One other thing though; memory card sizes. As I plan to download PSP titles, is a 32GB the minimum I should be looking at?

Definitely, I've a 16GB and its killing me

xmas pressie of a 64GB card on the way I hope

Pac1Man

Prices are crazy alright. Something to factor in when looking for a decent Vita deal.

penev10

Most of the PSP games are <1GB though. I have a 16GB card and it requires some deleting games when finished (especially with PS+) but its no big deal.