Researching for PSP

[Shinji103]

So, I have the cash now, and I've been doing research into how worth-it it would be to finally get a PSP, with some questions left to solidify.

Are PSP games language-changeable? That is to say, do Japanese-made games with US releases, like Star Ocean First Departure and/or Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, have the setting to switch to Japanese voice-acting? While I hope this is possible, my logical reasoning says no; despite PS3 games having Japanese dialogue options (Gundam Crossfire, Gundam Dynasty Warriors, Valkyria Chornicles), this is a handhled console after all, and I doubt it or its games have quite the RAM to store both English and Japanese dialogues, as awesome as it would be.

If no to the above; are PS games region-protected? That is, can I play Japanese PSP games on a US PSP? From what I've researched on the Internet and from experience with DS games not being region-protected, I believe the answer is no, but I'd like to hear it from someone who knows for confirmation. This would answer what I would do about Star Ocean and Crisis Core; if possible, I'd like to buy and play their Japanese releases for the JP dialogue. I find that a majority of US-dubbing is rather underpar for games. And I usually just like the JP voices better anyway. (Yukari Tamura voicing in Star Ocean First Departure, yespleasethankyouverymuch. )

After those questions, I have heard good, but over-general, things about some games that caught my eye and would like to hear some first-hand info on:

Resistance: Retribution (I actually haven't heard too much about this one yet, but I loved the PS3 games)

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Star Ocean First Departure (played all the others of the series except Second Evolution of course, and Last Hope, and loved them too)

Aside from all that, the decision is pretty much clinched for me; my research into JP games has pretty much solidified my determination to get a PSP between Evangelion Girlfriend of Steel, Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life, and Rockman Dash 1+2 Value Pack. (assuming the latter of those three is both of the PS1 RPG-style Rockman/Megaman games in one pack as I suspect)

[rg4619]

Are PSP games language-changeable? That is to say, do Japanese-made games with US releases, like Star Ocean First Departure and/or Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, have the setting to switch to Japanese voice-acting?

These things depend on the individual game, but by my (admittedly limited) experience, the answer is generally no. UMD space is just too limited.

If no to the above; are PS games region-protected? That is, can I play Japanese PSP games on a US PSP? From what I've researched on the Internet and from experience with DS games not being region-protected, I believe the answer is no, but I'd like to hear it from someone who knows for confirmation.

Correct, there's no territory lockout.

[plmko]

Only a select few games have dual-audio like Atlus's new Hammerin hero game.

UMD games do not have region protection, unless you intend to watch UMD movies which do have region protection.

Resistance: good game for single player (excellent graphics) and a well packaged multiplayer experience.

Crisis core: If you like FF7 then get this, if you don't then you'd probably be like "WTF is this shit?"

Those games that you have listed: Evangelion and Tomoyo after are pretty heavy in Japanese, I don't recommend you play those unless you can read some of it (especially Tomoyo after where by not selecting something earlier in the game will have dire consequences hours later)

In my experience, just get a PSP- 2000 and get it hacked, that way you can try games that you think might be good but arn't really, also you will never have any region problems.

[5cm.per.second]

I always wondered about the region coding too. Another good point is if you have a ps3, the ability to remote access it from a psp is kinda cool.

[Shadow Kira01]

If the game has dual-audio, then it has dual-audio. If the game doesn't have dual-audio, then no. However, I have yet to see a psp game with dual-audio. As to whether psp is region coded, yes and no. For psp UMD video, it is region-coded but games are region-free which should not affect you.

I don't have many psp games.. The ones you mentioned are pretty good. Star Ocean: First Departure and Second Evolution are recommended if you liked SO3. Crisis Core is an awesome game, as long as you haven't seen any fmv around. Even so, it will be a very interesting experience since a lot of the story is found in the club mails meaning that you might end up reading several hours straight without doing anything else. There is the Angeal Fanclub, Sephiroth Fanclub, Genesis Fanclub, Shinra mail, and others.. Last I played it, all I did was try out the free missions and read some mails. Pretty boring..

[jedinat]

Originally Posted by Shadow Minato

However, I have yet to see a psp game with dual-audio.

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness has dual audio. So does Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (unlockable... I just downloaded a completed save file so I could play it in Japanese from the beginning).

The PSP is fairly good as a portable manga reader, and that is how I find myself using it as often as not. This is helpful.
I'm hoping with this apparent advent of PSP 3000 homebrew I'll have access to an image viewer that actually caches the entire image at once.

[meh]

Unfortunately my PSP is an old one and has custom firmware. As I hear that the new 3000 models are quite different. So I can't say what they're like now.

But with regards to games...

Crisis Core: Incredible game IMO. Especially as a FF fan. Graphics are amazing. And while gameplay is on the easy side, it's fairly fast-paced and entertaining. Very typical FF. Good eye candy. Heavy does of story. And not exactly the most difficult game around.

First Departure: Okay game. It's basically the first Star Ocean game, which was released on the SNES in Japan, redone using the Star Ocean Second Story game engine. It's also sort of connected to 2nd story. But given that it's based on a SNES game, you can imagine that the plot/character development is on the thin side. Also high encounter rate. And if you've played SO 2nd Story, then you've basically played Second Departure. The latter is a straight port of the former.

[Shinji103]

Originally Posted by plmko

Crisis core: If you like FF7 then get this, if you don't then you'd probably be like "WTF is this shit?"

Played FFVII, the second PS1 game I ever bought, and my first RPG. Loved it. My favorite FF to date.

Those games that you have listed: Evangelion and Tomoyo after are pretty heavy in Japanese, I don't recommend you play those unless you can read some of it (especially Tomoyo after where by not selecting something earlier in the game will have dire consequences hours later)

Yeah I know; I can read Japanese, which is why I'm so into getting a PSP now after seeing those games up on Play-Asia. Heck, I got myself a JP PS2 just to have an easier time of playing JP games, and actually use those dang 2-disc games that won't work with Swap Magic Discs.

In my experience, just get a PSP- 2000 and get it hacked, that way you can try games that you think might be good but arn't really, also you will never have any region problems.

Does that mean that not all models of the PSP are region-free? (as in, some US models won't play JP games?)

Fyi, I'm talking about games; I know the PSP movies are region-encoded movies, but I'm getting a PSP for the games.

Originally Posted by meh

And if you've played SO 2nd Story, then you've basically played Second Departure. The latter is a straight port of the former.

Yeah, as a hardcore fan of SO2, I read about that and so won't really bother, except maybe for rent, or if I get to like the new animation movies. (which are clearly both greater in number and art)

[Sety]

I'm hoping with this apparent advent of PSP 3000 homebrew I'll have access to an image viewer that actually caches the entire image at once.

Far as I know PSP 3000 homebrew is at a deadend at the moment since nobody can figure out how to hack it due to them changing the motherboard and the battery. In fact there are newer versions of the PSP 2000 which are unhackable due to the same reason.

In my experience, just get a PSP- 2000 and get it hacked, that way you can try games that you think might be good but arn't really,

Have to agree with this mainly because theres only a few gems in a sea of crap for the PSP its best you try before you buy. Even the most anticipated games have a strong chance of dissapointing nowadays if they rub you the wrong way.

On top of that in truth the PSP's strength lies more in being a good homebrew machine, its heavily supported and easily customizable. Nobody I know gets a PSP solely for the games but for the vast wealth of homebrew it has and the games are a sidedish (which is a little sad but meh).

[jedinat]

Originally Posted by Sety

Far as I know PSP 3000 homebrew is at a deadend at the moment since nobody can figure out how to hack it due to them changing the motherboard and the battery. In fact there are newer versions of the PSP 2000 which are unhackable due to the same reason.

Hello World v2 TIFF exploit works on PSP-3000!
Homebrew on the PSP-3000 by Tuesday!
What can we Expect with a PSP-3000 HEN TIFF Exploit?

[Shinji103]

Color me computer-illiterate or just plain dumb, but I don't understand the concept behind homebrewing. What exactly does this do?

Originally Posted by Sety

Have to agree with this mainly because theres only a few gems in a sea of crap for the PSP its best you try before you buy. Even the most anticipated games have a strong chance of dissapointing nowadays if they rub you the wrong way.

I actually have a pretty broad acceptance range/tolerance for video games; I rarely ever find one I don't like. Pretty much the only times I've ever not bought a game that I've played is because I rented it from Blockbuster or somewhere, beat it, and don't want to fork out the 40+ bucks for it having beaten it already, rather than not liking it, lol. It also helps that I tend to stick to what I know I'll like; I love the Wild Arms series so I'll be sure to get WA FX, I loved both of the Megaman Legends games so I'll probably be getting the PSP ported JP versions, I'm a massive sucker for romance so JP dating-sims like Clannad for the PSP are easy targets, etc.

[MakubeX2]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Color me computer-illiterate or just plain dumb, but I don't understand the concept behind homebrewing. What exactly does this do?

Just a nicer way of saying "Pirate" and "Pirating" via "Hacking"

I'm actually one of the rare few PSP owner that refuses to go with the modding trend and just buy the games I like here :-



Call me weird and shit, but I just like the feel of holding a solid copy of a game in my hand.

[Jan-Poo]

Color me computer-illiterate or just plain dumb, but I don't understand the concept behind homebrewing. What exactly does this do?

It means that with a custom firmware you can download programs from internet and make them work on your PSP. For example you can download a program that allow you to read e-books on your PSP. You can also convert your PSX games in an EBOOT format and make them work on your PSP. And many other stuff.

Makubex it's not just for "pirating". With a custom firmware you can play your ORIGINAL PSX games on your PSP.

[meh]

Originally Posted by MakubeX2

Just a nicer way of saying "Pirate" and "Pirating" via "Hacking"

I'm actually one of the rare few PSP owner that refuses to go with the modding trend and just buy the games I like here :-

Call me weird and shit, but I just like the feel of holding a solid copy of a game in my hand.

You do realize that custom firmware provide TONS of benefits even without pirating, right?

Some of the things I personally use it for

1. Play PSX games on PSP. And some of these are games, like FF7, I bought 10+ years ago and the original disk is probably somewhere scratched in the corner of my old room. If it still exist.

2. Rip UMDs into ISO files for faster gameplay. Many PSP games run A LOT smoother off the memory card. In fact, some like Spectral Souls and Mana Khemia are virtually impossible to run on the old 1000 model w/o serious lag.

3. Play modded games. As I do know Chinese but not Japanese, I can play fan-translated games that have never been translated into English.

There are other things. But these are just what I use the system for.

[DragoonKain3]

Most people just pirate these same PSX games though lol.

Personally though, I homebrewed my PSP just for convenience sake. Despite me owning practically all English non-action RPGs for the system (even the REALLY crappy Astonishia Story), I still rip the umd and load it from the stick. No UMD changing makes me very happy.

Not to mention I don't have to hear that stupid UMD disc spinning... >_>

All in all though, I find the PSP to be quite lacking in terms of games, particularly RPGs. I'm of the opinion that the DS is the better gaming system.


As a side note, it was actually the lag from Generation of Chaos that prompted me to use homebrew. Oddly enough, Idea Factory got the lag fixed with Aedis Eclipse (which I only knew through reviews since I ripped it to stick first moment I got), but somehow they screwed up again with Spectral Souls lol.

[chikorita157]

My sister owns a PSP, but personally I don't own one. I only borrow it just to use remote play on my PS3.

PSP can remote play to a PS3 and it's possible to use Flash for websites like Youtube and Hulu to play online videos. Also, it can play PSX games remotely, if the game is inserted on the PS3 and also PS3 games that are remote play compatible. It can play any files stored on the hard drive, but you can't play DVDs or Blu-ray discs.

[Shinji103]

Lol, the only thing I really picked up in all that was that homebrewing allows you to rip PSP games and store them on a memory stick for better playing/loading speeds, and allows you to play PS1 games on your PSP. The latter, if I understood chikorita157 correctly can be done anyway without homebrewing via remote play with a PS3? (although how the PSP could play any PS3 games via remote play is beyond me; I would think the system capabilities would be beyond the realm of merely beiong "different")

Although so far I haven't really found any 2k models of the PSP around where I am, so until they for-sure hack the 3k model, it's a moot point for me anyway.

And just to make sure of it (I want to be dang sure, as I'm really looking forward to playing JP games), according to the Playstation.com technical specs page for the PSP-3000, it has a feature called "Region Code" under access control. This doesn't prevent you from playing JP games, right? Or is it just a control that can stop JP game play, but you can turn it on or off?

[Kid Ying]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Most people just pirate these same PSX games though lol.

Personally though, I homebrewed my PSP just for convenience sake. Despite me owning practically all English non-action RPGs for the system (even the REALLY crappy Astonishia Story), I still rip the umd and load it from the stick. No UMD changing makes me very happy.

Have to agree. Some umds have a gigantic load, with a rip, it's much faster, not that i'm defending piracy here, hehe. It just that sometimes i borrow a PSP with a friend and he got both umds and rips on his psp. The umd always loses in this field.

[MakubeX2]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

And just to make sure of it (I want to be dang sure, as I'm really looking forward to playing JP games), according to the Playstation.com technical specs page for the PSP-3000, it has a feature called "Region Code" under access control. This doesn't prevent you from playing JP games, right? Or is it just a control that can stop JP game play, but you can turn it on or off?

Just ignore that. PSP Games are all region free. Best example will be me owning a R3 Asian 3K set when my games consist of a mix bunch of American, Japanese and Asian release. Doesn't that tell you something ?

[HayashiTakara]

Waste of money, Buy a DSi instead.