Apples to Oranges

For about the last 6 months now I have wanted a PSP. My original reason for wanting it was I figured my only real expense was the initial start up costs of the system, a Pandora battery, and a memory stick. At the time I was looking at spending only about $100 total for all 3 things. I figured since I paid almost nothing for it I could take the risk of cracking the system and download my games for free. If I fuck it up it isn’t really a big deal to waste another $40 and get a new PSP 2000. But since my hookup got fucking shit canned at Gamestop, I am now looking at paying about $120 - $150 for a PSP 2000 system alone. So what do I do now?

Well since I am paying full price for the system I have to take a few things into consideration. Do I want a 2000 or a 3000? Both are one in the same with a few minor differences. One thing I do know is I don’t want a PSP Go because it just looks fucking gay and it has a smaller screen plus you lose the UMD slot. Also with the system sliding open, I can see it being more prone to break. The 2000 has the Darth Vader special edition PSP, which I can get for $120 used at Gamestop. But the 3000 has the Gran Turismo limited edition bundle right now for $199.00, which comes with the system, Gran Turismo, and a 2 GB Memory Stick. To me this seems like a decent starter package at a good price. Plus I would also be getting the system brand new instead of used, yet another plus. I guess the deciding factor would have to be whether or not I want to crack the system.

After long hard consideration of this I have decided that cracking the system isn’t worth it. Here is why:
• I eventually will end up with too many games, so many that I do not know what to do with
• With a huge library of games I can never focus on one from start to finish
• I can emulate on my computer and DS; so do I need to emulate on the PSP
• I will have to use outdated firmware
• Games are affordable because I would be happy with buying older games since I do not intend on using my PSP for other than playing single player games (not too worried about online play)
• I would not be allowed to play downloaded games from the PSN store without an extreme amount of work to do so if the system were cracked
• PSN’s store has an amazing library of download content for the PSP that I do not want to miss out on. Plus it is cheap.

Considering all of this I am going to go legit on the PSP. Now it is just a matter of which system. And to be fucking honest I really don’t care. They are both quality products. The only real difference is that the 3000 has some better hardware and technical features over the 2000, for example the display.

I would like the 3000 but I wouldn’t complain if I got the 2000. I would really like to know everyone else’s opinion on which system I should get, and why. Comment back with what I should do.

-Brian R.

first blood

Alright people, I've got some random game-related thoughts. I'm having trouble thinking of a blog because I can't seem to focus on one particular topic right now. I just got the new Game Informer in the mail and I'm inclined to write about the random shit I'm reading about. First of all, the new layout fucking sucks. I hate it. It reminds me so much of a 90's game magazine, but not in a nostalgic way - in an outdated way. For example, the reviews sections reminds me of if you stuffed EGM and Gamepro's review sections in a blender and pressed LAME. I'm not a fan. But whatever...I'll get used to it and I'm sure I'll be fine with it in no time.

I keep getting more and more pumped on Heavy Rain. I enjoyed the hell out of most of Indigo Prophecy and have a lot of faith in Quantic Dream. It would seem that Sony has quite a bit of stake in this title and the long devolpment time leads me to believe that there will be a lot riding on it. I'm sure Sony is doing everything in their power to ensure that Quantic Dream are able to make the game they are promising us with these trailers. I really hope that this game doesn't do what Indigo Prophecy did and ruin an amazing story and fantastic character development by becoming completely retarded when you hit around the 80% mark in the game. It really seemed like Indigo Prophecy was rushed toward the end and it just completely fell apart. Hopefully with Sony's money backing this, this team can create a mind-blowingly unique gaming and storytelling experience with Heavy Rain. I've got my fingers crossed.

All of the Metal Gear content on the PSP is really making me wish I had one. After all, it was in fact MGS 4 that pushed me over the edge to finally get a PS3. Speaking of the PSP, what is with all the awesome PSP shit in the Playstation Store? I was browsing through the PSP demos and decided to take a look at all of the content available for Sony's underrated/overrated handheld. The awesome Capcom support alone blows my mind. Powerstone 1 and 2. Darkstalkers. Street Fighter. Mega Man. Capcom Classics Collections. That's just off the top of my head. I really, really, really (emphasis on really) like the idea of being able to own a portable gaming system where I never have to step foot into a store and I can still get awesome games and demos on a constant basis. From my house. In my room. In my bed. I definitely need to get a PSP this holiday season...maybe I'll get lucky and snag a Black Friday deal.

Holy Shit. Black Friday is 3 and a half weeks away. Hopefully all of the ads start to leak this week and I can start planning my holiday game shopping accordingly. I went shopping early on Black Friday for the first time last year and saved so much money getting stuff for other people that I was able to guiltlessly snag some awesome video game deals for myself as well.

Anyway, the last random thing that's on my mind is...when the fuck are we going to get a new Rambo game stateside? After the success of last year's Rambo, and the official announcement of Rambo V, now is the perfect time. I'd love to see a first-person shooter where you get to play as Rambo very much in the style of Call of Duty. I'd also love to see a 3rd person shooter ala Gears of War. Imagine Rambo getting the Gears of War treatment by Epic...awesome. Hell, even if it was like MGS3: Snake Eater, that would be sweet. What kind of a Rambo game would you like to see? Comment or tweet back.

-Brian T