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117 Comments
- DarkStalker, on 10/12/2007, -3/+48Seriously now, can we please stop the "Will it blend?" posts?
- Iknockstuffdown, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29No.
- Tony611, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21here's the full list...
Street Riders
Published by: Ubisoft
"Word up, dog: there's trouble in the hood. Time to flip some wigs back, you dig?" Ho ho ho. Duff dialogue aside, it's the underlying repetitiveness of the action and uninspiring ambition that ultimately guns Street Riders down. While the embarrassment of hearing in-game hero Dupree telling you to "spray that hot heat in their ass" (or similarly eloquent words to that effect) is assured, the real awkwardness comes from knowing that you could and should be playing something far more rewarding.
(Score 5/10 Full review)
TalkMan
Published by: Sony
A brave idea – get your PSP to do translations for you via a big blue chicken – that proved more bird-brained in practice, TalkMan won't be the Walkman of the globalised 21st Century. Early Walkman players were big and ugly, but they worked. TalkMan doesn't really. It's as if the Walkman debuted as a fridge-sized ghettoblaster that randomly played tunes you didn't want to hear.
(Score: 5/10 Full review)
The Sims 2 Pets
Published by: Electronic Arts
Without the slow load times, this would be a commendable if condensed version of an enjoyable franchise. Facing facts, though, EA might as well fill the box with wasps for the amount it'll sting anyone handing over good money to buy it. Every year we're told that pets are for life and not just for Christmas, but when the beast is a shambling, wheezing wreck such as this, putting it down seems the only humane thing to do.
(Score 4/10 Full review)
Gangs of London
Published by: Sony
A common reason for the onset of a mid-life crisis, it's generally accepted, is a feeling of deep disappointment at how things have turned out. Alas, it's a feeling players of Gangs of London will soon know more intimately than they'd wish to. Initially promising, many expected Sony's release to deliver the goods – a reasonable assumption given that the company has a mostly enviable in-house track record. A shame then that Gangs of London is one hell of a turkey. Decent darts mini-game, mind.
(Score 4/10 Full review)
Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
Published by: Ubisoft
"Play as Man. Play as Kong," says the back of the game box. "Don't bother," say we. It's possible the game's developer was trying to induce a sense of disorientation following your character's awakening on a rock after another landed on your head, and if so the intention is well and truly realised. A game that severely falls short of its ambition, it wouldn't be fit to be associated with the local zoo's chimp, let alone the greatest of great apes.
(Score 4/10 Full review)
Taito Legends Power Up
Published by: Xplosiv
Quite why half the titles in this compilation were afforded 'legendary' status – when Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Island and Operation Wolf/Thunderbolt are nowhere to be seen – isn't clear. Perhaps the presence of two Taito Legends collections on home consoles could offer a clue? Cynicism aside, you might think that ten or so arcade legends on one disc isn't exactly bad going. Sadly you'd think wrong, for the lesson on offer here is a scientific study into how bloody difficult old skool arcade games can be.
(Score 4/10 Full review)
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
Published by: Electronic Arts
The thing about super-heroes is that they can do virtually anything. Which is why Rise of the Imperfects is quite possibly the most frustrating and disappointing game we've yet encountered on the PSP. Like some comic book super-villain, the game has concocted a nefarious scheme to limit the superhero's powers and simultaneously drain all the fun from some promising ideas. An aptly titled fighting game that'll have any unwary comic book fans who buy it beating themselves up.
(Score 4/10 Full review)
Astonishia Story
Published by: Ubisoft
The plot makes no sense, the fights are rubbish, characters are called things like 'Man 2' and 'Soldier 1', and to round off what is already a broken and shallow package, the game concludes abruptly, end credits punctuating what seems like a subplot deviation rather than a final, spectacular denouement. It adds up to a weak, tired and tiring game, trampled down by a shoddy translation, made worse by the fact it arrived a full 12 years after its inception when all the competition has long moved on.
(Score 3/10 Full review)
Dave Mirra BMX Challenge
Published by: Crave Entertainment
It hasn't come out in Europe yet. Let's pray it doesn't. A game so poor that even the higher-marking US review sites have given it sub-4/10 scores, from what we've seen it is like a half-finished game somebody found lying around from five years ago that they put into a disc-shrinking box to get it on the PSP's UMD.
(We haven't reviewed it yet. Fingers crossed we won't have to).
KAZooK
Published by: Xplosiv
Crap name, crap game. KAZooK is, allegedly, a party game. We can't really imagine any party that KAZooK would enliven, save a gathering of the Communist Party of China, and only because it might provoke fisticuffs about the People's Republic sliding into Western decadence. Because if KAZooK is fun, comrades, then joylessly burning books in slate grey jumpsuits would be the ultimate high. Avoid at all costs.
(Score 3/10 Full review)
- Zoids, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18The blending jokes are really getting old now. Please stop.
- pathy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15I've got to give some advice to anyone that's looking to get a PSP...
You've got two real options.
You can buy a PSP from a store - and hope that it's < 2.81, and downgrade it...
Or you can get a 1.5 from eBay.
The PSP is a fantastic device, without a doubt, but hefting around multiple UMDs is a pain in the ass. It's much better to carry around a memory stick or two with some ISOs on, and ROMs.
Get a chunky Memory Stick, 2GB or more, they're fairly cheap now. Get your PSP down to 1.5 Firmware (The 2.71 Downgrader is the safest to use, by the way), then install the 3.03 OE-A Firmware from Dark_Alex, then upgrade it to OE-B.
From then, you're set. Right now, I've got Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Xenogears(PS1), Discworld 2(PS1), about 20 Genesis ROMs, 5 GBA games, a app called PiMP Streamer that lets me stream pictures/music/video from my PC on to the PSP, as well as a few more general things. eBook Reader, a program to let me listen to Shoutcast Radio, etc.
With the custom firmware you can also use plugins, one of the best being an mp3 plugin that allows you to listen to mp3s whatever you're doing - Browsing the net, playing games, etc.
It's really a great device - You just need to have a custom firmware on it.
Oh, by the way, my mouse is recharging right now - so I'm using my PSP via WiFi to act as a mouse for my computer. Woo. - pathy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Actually, the N64 emus for the PSP aren't that great.
They'll open the games, and run them (without sound), but the frame rate is horribly low. Very unplayable.
That being said - If you get a PSP that is below 2.81 Firmware, you can downgrade and get it upt to 3.03 OE-B, and you've got without a doubt the best gaming portable, and random program container around. It makes a pretty good eBook reader as well. - sphinx13, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17Withe Dark Alex's firmware you can play virtually any PSX game, NES game and N64 games as well as psp isos.
If you don't want your PSP then you can send it to me. - WasabiBomb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I think it's pretty interesting that the Dugg article is the one that lists the "10 worst PSP games so far", but there's no mention of the "Top PSP games of 2006" article linked at the bottom. Kinda typical, actually.
- pauleku, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I just bought one and put dark alex 3.03-a on it and am playing final fantasy tactics, gran turismo 2, and snes roms as well as my killzone umd. Love my psp, couldnt be happier. There are lots of goods games for it. I agree when it first came out it was lacking, but now i cant say i regret buying it.
Lumines 1/2
Killzone
Socom 1/2
Metal Gear Solid
Etc.
Id highly recommend getting one. Lots of good stuff coming for it this year, including gran turimso 4 (mobile). - crazybrit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9They're funny when they make sense. Here... no.
Also, SAYS THE GUY WITH THE ORLY OWL FOR AN AVATAR! LOL - KVargs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7come on, lets get the good definition from urbandictionary.....
"Skeet" is actually a form of birth control practiced by the African-American tribes of North America near the beginning of the 21st Centruy. Visionaries of the time (such as Lil Jon and Nelly) recognized the inevitable and everpresent danger of overpopulation in their land and decided to take action. They discovered an ancient form of birth control used by their ancestors that involved "pulling out and shooting" (much like skeet shooting) during sexual intercourse, as to not impregnate the female, or "biatch". The visionaries spread the word the only way they knew how: rap music. People would listen to the songs of the visionaries during ritual smoking ceremonies and chant "skeet skeet skeet!". Every tribe of their kind in the land listened to rap music and the idea of skeeting quickly gained in popularity. Soon, the entire African-American tribe had done its part to offset the effects of overpopulation through generations of skeeting on the women that they did not wish to impregnate. However, the other tribes of the land (most notabley, the Whites and Mexicans) did not support the "Skeet Movement". They continued to grow in number until the Whites eventually ate the Mexicans. The Whites, however, refused to eat the African-Americans for fear of sickle cell anemia, so they all got on a very large boat and went back to England.
"Excuse me, I didn't catch your name, but would you mind if I skeeted on you? Seeing as how we just met and all, I am not fully convinced that you would make a good mother, so I am electing not to ejaculate inside of you. Let me go get you a towel." - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11http://duggmirror.com/gaming_news/The_10_worst_PSP_games_so_far/
has a nice cache of the error page in case you missed it. - PathDaemon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7boo. Someone just post the list text...
- LilyFoxglove, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Surprisingly I have only played two of these ("Astonishia Story" and "Sims 2")
Sims 2 is actually quite playable (no load times) with the files on the MS, hell maybe Sony should consider allowing MS caching as a legitimate option.
I believe the JP version of Final Fantasy X for the PS2 offered a HDD caching option with similar effects.
I mean seriously, they launch 8GB cards next month, I think we can spare the room. Just make the file unreadable if the original UMD isn't in the drive. What could happen? It would be pointless to crack with people already loading .iso files off the MS. - Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I say we start BLOCKING the people who ask the blend question...
- KyotoWolf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6the people at pocketgamer are bastards.... BUY MORE BANDWIDTH
caps lock is really cruise control! - WasabiBomb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"yeah, i couldn't get over the horrible controls"
Um... you know that you can change them, right? And that most reviews said that the controls, while having a bit of a learning curve, were actually the best implementation for a PSP shooter? - shyguy01, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6There are officially no mirrors... no duggmirror, either coral 80/90 or google
Anyone got a browser cache they can shove somewhere? - atarix64, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5http://www.gnull.com/sites/1168598219_53670/
- caddyalan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I love old console RPGs, but I stayed away from Astonishia. I don't think I've heard a single good thing about it...
- Lamtd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@pathy: "Actually, the N64 emus for the PSP aren't that great."
I only tested it with Mario 64, and while I was impressed to see it running, I have to agree that it's far from playable. Hopefully they can keep on improving it, though N64 emulation has never been all that great even on the PC to start with, so I wouldn't expect much.
But apart from that, there's a lot of other systems for which there is perfect or near-perfect emulation, including NES, Super NES, GBA, Master System, Genesis, Neo Geo, MAME CPS2, and of course, PSX. - pauleku, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4got mine 2 weeks ago from FYE and it was 2.50 t-082. Downgraded and then upgraded to 3.03-a. Easy as pie. Well worth it.
Edit: Gotta look up that PIMP streamer. sound nice - jedikd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7PSP is the best portable system period if you know how to use it.
- WasabiBomb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I'm curious- did you play Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror?
- johnhummel, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Well, I wouldn't quite say "All of them", though I sit here playing on my DS while reading this.
That said, it seems that the biggest problem with the PSP is threefold:
1. UMD medium: Moving parts are bad for batteries, bad for load times unless you constantly cache - which is bad for batteries. This is a portable system.
2. Big screen, lovely screen - and scratches like hell if you breath on it. Clamshell should have been build into the design from the beginning.
3. Evolutionary, not revolutionary. If you compare the DS with the PSP, on specs alone, the PSP should win. But what happened is that the PSP is really a Game Boy Advance on steroids - bigger, badder, more beautiful. But the DS is truly different - microphone, dual screens that lends itself to being held like a book (Brain Age), stylus so instead of telling people "Push X to hit and B to jump" - they get "touch that". Allows for the same old games that the GBA had with some oomph (such as "Megaman ZX", the Castlevania games), as well as truly new and cool ideas (like "Elite Beat Agents", "Cooking Mama", and others).
Sony had a good idea with the PSP, but I think they were so in love with the idea of a "one all, be all" media device they lost site of the idea of a portable *gaming* platform. Sales are good - but they could have been better. Perhaps by switching to a hard drive only (saves on battery life over UMD) and deciding if they want a gaming platform or a media platform, they'll do better in the future. - Peynis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3that link is so dead :(
and duggmirror wasn't fast enough x_x - pathy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's not an iPod killer.
Luckily for me, I wear what I like, not what's "in", so cargo pants have plenty of large pockets. :) - tomvendetta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I have Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, and I was used to the Socom FTB controls, getting used to the SF:DM controls took only a day, and now that I am used to them I would never go back.
- PureGamer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Duggmirror didn't catch it :(
- alx242, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@themastersb:
Yeah currently playing:
FF7, FF8, FF9, Silent Hill, Crash Bandicot, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night, Spyro The Dragon, Gran Turismo, Future Cop LAPD, Syphon Filter, Rollcage, Pandemonium, MDK, Armyman, Hot Shots Golf 2, Biohazard, Parasite EVE, RE1, RE2, RE3...
And all the thousands other crappy games...and enjoying the hell out of it incidentally! - ChiSoxFan77, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Kind of sad that out of the 10 WORST games on this system that their scores ranged from 3/10 all the way up to 5/10. Why even have a 1-10 rating system if the worst of the worst can still get a 4 or 5? I'd hate to see how bad a game would have to be if it got a 1 or 2.
- se1zure, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2THe psp has alot of good games, and is, in essence, a Virtual Console you can carry around.
The DS is good, I guess, if you like mini games... - KosherInfidel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Uh, Syphon is one of the highest rated games, SOCOM did well, Star Wars Lego was hot, and Burnout kicks ass. You go by boxart? Odd, but it could be your thing.
And I get dugg down because I tell the truth of an encounter? Silly. I don't make that ***** up. I would NEVER have dreamed that the PSP is a losing horse after more than a year out the gate. - pathy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Lamtd,
There are talkings that Square are interested in creating another Final Fantasy game for it... Not Crisis Core... There's also Valkyrie Profile, which is fantastic, but sadly just a port of the old game. - shadus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I got one for christmas and honestly if you're buying it for the UMD games/movies sony supplies, you'll be disappointed.
If you're willing to goto 3rd party firmware (3.03OE-A') and buy a big memory stick, you'll love it. There are a ton of fun apps written for it... just gotta have one that you can control the upgrading/downgrading on. - PunishedOne, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Indeed. 1.5 FTW.
- Zoids, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Try Socom:FTB. The single player is good, but the online play is great, well, if you can stand the 12 year olds on there...
- alx242, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Gotta twist it so the fanboys still digg up info they don't want to see...:P
- se1zure, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It wasn't funny the first 15 times people said it... what makes you think it will be funny now.
Of course it has games, it's a gaming device.
Welcome to my block list. - Lamtd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5I don't think that any other portable system comes remotely close to having that many games available for it (through emulation, mostly). Even the GP2x is far behind.
Granted, not all the native games are great, there's quite a bit of lame ones, or at least not worth paying for, but there are also a lot of cool games, that will keep you hooked up for days.
Now if only they could make some really great RPG for it, that'd rule... Tales of Eternia sure is nice, but doesn't use more than 20% of the system capabilities. - shadcrkd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Such a beautiful error pic ;(
- DarkStalker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yep, the games on the list are all pretty horrible. Good thing we've been getting a good amount of great games lately.
- cyberghost232, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Don't forget about the top PSP games like Metal Gear Solid Einhander and Gran Turismo to name few. Now thats a portable playstation.
- Lezlee798, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3ARGH!!! SHUT UP!!!
- johnhummel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@Darkstalker: and that's why Nintendo doesn't need you anymore - they want my wife, for whom I had to buy her own DS because she liked Brain Age so much.
- evanlive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I love my PSP and the tony hawk games but most of the other games suck for PSP. I use the web browser more than anything else
- xxNIRVANAxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Gangs of London was one AWESOME game. I don't know what the ***** the author was on. Did he by chance go into the pub and play the mini-games (other that darts)? They are an excellent and welcomed edition into the game!
- tomvendetta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I agree, I think it could be an ipod-killer, the reason it is not an ipod-killer is all Sony's fault.
- alx242, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The PSP has definitely become my most used gaming system since the 3.03 (hacked) release (thanks Dark_Alex).
I just can't stop playing it nowadays...I thank my gut feeling for not falling for the DS and going with a better hardware all over, it did pay of! Mind you, it did lay pretty much unused (except for encoding movies for it) in the beginning. - jordanlund, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I find that most people that rag on the PSP have never played it. Check out the real story:
http://fanbusters.blogspot.com
Are you going to judge the DS platform by the 10 worst titles? (From Gamerankings)
1. Elf Bowling 1 & 2 12.3%
2. Sudoku Mania 21.5%
3. Monster Trucks DS 24.4%
4. ATV: Quad Frenzy 25.7%
5. Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie 26.0%
6. Dino Master DS 28.8%
7. Ping Pals DS 29.0%
8. Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects 31.1%
9. Crash Boom Bang! 33.0%
10. Superman Returns: The Videogame 33.8%
It's interesting how the worst of the DS library is actually much, much worse than the low end of the PSP library.
1. Reel Fishing: The Great Outdoors 21.0%
2. World Series of Poker 38.8%
3. Dave Mirra BMX Challenge 40.4%
4. Pocket Racers 42.2%
5. The Sims 2: Pets 43.5%
6. Street Supremacy 43.6%
7. Bliss Island 45.6%
8. KAZooK 45.9%
9. Smart Bomb 48.4%
10. Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory 48.6%
If one were to combine the two lists and come up with a "Worst 10 Portable Games" you would find that only one PSP game is bad enough to be ranked with the DS titles. The other 9 are all for Nintendo and they can have them. -
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