PSP FAQ: All You Need To Know to Start Using a Playstation Portable

I have a confession to make.

I adore the PS Vita in all its shiny glory and potential. Yet the PSP was something I missed out on, due to lack of funds and a love of Pokémon over JRPGs. But then I started to hear whispers.

"Final Fantasy VII is in the Playstation Store," the whispers said. "You can get the old PS1 games for the PSP, all of the ones that cost 100+ nowadays."

"But the Vita is $300," I replied. "I can't afford it and the new computer that unfortunate circumstances resulted in my getting. The frequent bluescreening, the inability to play new games... I couldn't deal with my old computer, and that means no PS Vita until its price lowers."

"FFVII... FFVII...." The internet tempted me, but I prevailed.

And then came Black Friday, the blackest of all Fridays, the one where the lure of material things rises from the depths of Hell to seduce the weak.

I knew the PSP would have a major sale on this day, since it is on its way out the door now that the Vita is on its merry way. So after frequent, daily searching and scouring, I finally managed to land an extremely good deal on a PSP. It arrived in the mail, and I russled up a rare hard copy of Persona for it thanks to my friendly neighborhood GameStop, and then it occurred to me that Xmas is only a couple weeks away.

"I should probably wait," I muttered grumpily, and closed Media Go, Playstation's version of Steam, on my computer. I put the PSP materials in a box, and will be waiting until Xmas.

Along the way, I learned a few facts about both the Vita and the PSP that bear discussion, since it required lots of googling and different sources for me to figure them out. There was never one handy source for them, and that's my intention: to make one source for all the necessary information.

PS Vita Fact of the Day: UMD is not supported. This means that the PS Vita will not play your UMD movies or games. In other words, keep your PSP. Although the Playstation Store is good for game downloads, it's not comprehensive. Sony plans on offering a way to transfer UMD to their new format, but it will cost you. Have fun paying twice for your games, kids. Much better to keep your PSP.

Now, for a few PSP basics:

1) The PSP does not have a hard drive. For some reason, I was always under the distinct impression that it did, but this assumption was wrong. Like the PS2, PSP requires a memory card to save games. What the PSP uses is a Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick Pro Duo. Both Sony and Sandisk make quality products for this. Do not get them in an actual store; they are far too expensive. The best deal is to get the Sandisk 4GB or 8GB from Amazon. If you have extra cash, go for a higher GB size, especially if you plan to download lots of games or store movies/tv shows.

2) The PSP does not come with a USB cable. To download anything from the Playstation Store, you will need a USB cable. The PSP must be attached to the computer while downloading and must have a Memory Stick Duo in at the time of download. The PSP uses a camera cable, with standard USB on one end and smaller USB on the other. I have a Sony e-reader USB cable; this works perfectly.

3) You will want headphones. Though the speakers are excellent, headphones are still the way to go. This is true of pretty much any gaming. Invest in a pair of Skullcandy Chops Buds for super portability and durability. All headphones will break eventually; Skullcandy's warranty is excellent and they will replace them, no questions asked, the moment you send them in.

4) The PSP is extremely prone to pick up fingerprints. I only handled mine briefly to put in the memory card and set it up, but it still bears the scars of my touch. Thus, you will probably want something like a silicone cover as well as a carrying case to keep the screen from scratching. Beware with the silicone cover that I linked-- although I don't mind the things warned in the reviews, you might, so read the reviews first. The crystal case or aluminum case might be more your thing. The PSP 3000 is also extremely light, so anything to give it more bulk is welcome.

And that concludes everything you need to know to get your PSP up and running! Enjoy your new portable gaming lifestyle.

I named the system Cherubim, to match my desktop Seraphim. What'd you name yours? :)

Picnics and Games: Tips and Tricks

It's Memorial Day on Monday, which means that over the weekend, many gamers will be forced into the sunlight to enjoy the company of their family. One tip: wear sunscreen. We all know that we gamers burn like toast when somebody left the toaster on setting 6.

Beyond this general tip, gamers, I have a few other suggestions. Memorial weekend is a big cook-out weekend, involving BBQs and pot-lucks. Popular foods are macaroni salads, doused in salad dressing and filled with fresh vegetables; meats (in my case, it would be tofu) soaked in savory-sweet marinades; potato salads full of potatoes, eggs, and smooth mayo, touched up with mustard. Now I've made myself hungry. Anyway. One thing that all of these foods have in common is that it's incredibly difficult to game while eating them.

Your main rules are as follows:

• Phone and iPod games are your friends. You're going to be touching those two things anyway, so who cares if they get smudgy?
• Another friend is your DS or PSP. You can bring it with you, it cleans easily, is practically made to be smudged, and is beloved.
• Avoid the computer. If you aren't in love with your computer, I'm not sure you're a gamer. Do not let soda near it-- and all picnics have soda. Do not keep it out in the hot, sunny picnic area. Leave it at home and miss it fervently, but still leave it.
• Use a fork whenever possible. If necessary, skip the bun on the hot dog and/or burger and eat the damn thing with a fork-- wherever you physically hold a piece of food, there is a greater possibility of covering yourself with sticky ketchup and being forced to *gasp* put down your game.

These are your main rules to live by in a picnic setting. Additionally, I've heard of this retro thing that people do on Memorial Days sometimes. They play games on the yard, with horseshoes, or this game called cornhole which involves throwing a sack of corn into a hole for points. There's also this... badminton thing, which suspiciously resembles tennis from the anime Prince of Tennis. Someone is obviously ripping the Prince of Tennis people off. Anyway, your family might want you to play these... games. Are they still games if there isn't a microchip involved? I am not convinced. Try them and let me know what you think of these... non-video games.

What a strange concept.

Holiday Gaming Tips and Tricks

Now that the holidays are approaching, people are going to be forced to leave the comforts of their computers and Playstations to go out into the world and visit relatives, whom are probably going to have screaming children, or at least want their family gamer to *shudder* socialize. So I have a few tips and tricks that might-- just might, mind you-- enable you to survive the holiday season.

• If your relative has a child, they might have a Wii. This is good news. It means that you can bring along an awesome game and throw out their (likely) boring ones. Oddly, playing a Wii when in a group of people is often considered sociable, even if you're playing by yourself. Win-win. 
• A DS or PSP is your friend. Don't bring the cases of the games-- just the cartridges. And bring as many as possible, including at least one Mario/Kirby type of game, so that you can snatch in a few minutes of gaming between avoiding your family. If you can't entirely avoid them, offer to sit with any small children-- small children are often fascinated by handheld game consoles, and will generally be quiet to watch you play. If you have a DS, bring at least one GBA game with you, already in the game so that it doesn't take up extra room. It provides a safe escape if your normal DS games begin to bore you.
• If you have unlimited room, for the love of the Gaming Gods, bring a Playstation or X-Box. I'm a Playstation girl, so I'm tempted to say bring a Playstation regardless of whether you have one. Wii games often aren't as good as the games of other consoles, but are better than nothing. PS2 or X-Box games, of course, pwn Wii.
• You're probably out of luck on the PC games front. Consider playing online games, such as Robot Unicorn Attack or any of the host of MMORPGs available that are more or less strictly online. This is if your relatives have internet access. They might not, but take a deep breath, and possibly a Valium, and you may survive. Godspeed.
• Last, but not least, do NOT let your precious game collection, whatever you might have brought of it with you, fall into the hands of your relatives, their children, or their random friends they've brought with them. They will likely break it and you likely will not not get it back. Beware of open water-- children like to drop things into it.

On this last, cautionary note, happy holidays!