VideogameVagabond.com

My long-suffering PSP-2000 has finally bit the dust; I had it in my pocket when my boat nearly capsized at the dock at Webb Lake this past week. Despite a long drying-out period before trying to restart it, the Sony handheld, which was already showing signs of age since I first bought it in the fall of 2007, finally bit the dust.

Fortunately, I had the wherewithal to replace it with a shiny refurbished PSP-3000 without spending a ton of money. Yay! I did not opt for the slick PSP Go! because I hate the “Your UMDs Are No Good To Us, Buy The Games Again” business model Sony adopted with that platform.

So I now have a great, tidy PSP-3000 and couldn’t be happier with it. It charged quickly, the screen does indeed appear to be brighter and GameStop even had it updated with the latest system software. I’m ready to rock-n-roll again! Still, losing my old friend was a bit of an appetite suppressants for a couple days.

OK, I’ll admit that when I’m on the go, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness has been consuming mass quantities of hours on my PSP system. It’s an addictive game and after progressing to a considerably challenging point, I had to stop ignoring the Item World and start leveling up my weapons and armor in order to stand a snowball’s chance of getting any further in the game.

Trouble is, Item World is almost too addictive, like the appeal of setting money aside in a health savings account. I’ve leveled up weapons for all my party members, but in the process, found even better weapons that also needed leveling up along the way and, well, at what point does one say, “Enough’s enough! Let’s get back to the narrative already!”

Well, umm… I’m not there yet, even though I know I ought to be. After leveling up 2-3 rounds of weapons for my party members, I’m now starting on armor… OY, the endless power-up possibilities… I’ll never get past it to take on another Disgaea title!

What is the most overlooked PSP RPG?

That’s easy. As much as I love the two Disgaea titles on PSP, I’d have to say that the most overlooked RPG on Sony’s handheld system, the one least in need of stretch marks cream, is Shin Megami Tensei: Persona.

It’s so fun and so addictive and so loaded with gameplay and great music, that in the six months or so we’ve owned it, my wife hasn’t even let me go near it; that’s how much she loves playing it! And my wife is not normally a fan of turn-based RPGs, so that’s saying something.

Currently, I’m laboring away in Item World on Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, leveling up my weapons and armor endlessly so that I can eventually advance in the storyline. Fortunately, Item World is fun.

My PSP is showing signs of heavy use and general age.

The current unit I own is a second-generation PSP Slim, and while the PSP Go is available, I have no interest in giving up my UMD library, so screw that. Once this PSP Slim goes down, I will most likely go for a third-generation PSP instead, which is a PSP Slim on diet pills.

The Sony PSP has become a handheld favorite of mine due in large part to the heavy load of crap and kiddie titles that litter Nintendo DSi shelves, making it impossible to find the titles on that platform that I might actually like; PSP’s library may not be as massive, but there’s a lot more games I actually like and want to play on it.

I’ve owned two PSPs to date, not counting the two my wife has owned. I don’t necessarily look forward to shelling out for one again, but I use it so much, it’s to be expected. And since I chose iPod nano instead of iPod Touch this last time out, I’m in no danger of going app-crazy and forgetting my lovely PSP anytime soon.

8. The Sims franchise (PC, PS2, Mac, DS, PSP, iPhone, mobile platforms)

First unleased in January 2000, The Sims is a “life simulator” that allows you to control electronic people from the comfort of your real-world TV. Just entering its third official iteration, The Sims 3, the series has been a huge and consistent seller for publisher EA Games, even though they never really put it on a discounted sale.

That’s because the game itself is just loads of fun; too many people get sadistic pleasure, for example, out of forcing a sim to pee itself, or leading it into a room, then removing all the doors and windows and sources of food, water or cleansing and watching the little thing go ape until it “died.”

Once EA realized this, they of course nurtured it by offering even more amusing “torture your sim” animations and scenarios. Sure, plenty of folks play the game more straight-up, but that’s the beauty of the franchise; there’s no “wrong” way to play it.

18. The Madden NFL series. (Just about every platform, period)

Love it or hate it, there is no sports videogame that rivals it. Arguing against it is like arguing against using floor tiles in a kitchen: pointless. Hands down, it is the biggest money-making sports videogame in the world.

The biggest bump in the road came a few years ago, when EA announced it had secured exclusive rights to the NFL, NFLPA and NFLCA licensing. This, in effect, drove alternate NFL games like Sega/2K Games’ football game pretty much out of the running.

The big argument has been that without competitors, EA would slack on game innovation. That has not been the case, and in fact Madden NFL ’10 has seen a changing of the guard on the development team, including a re-emphasis on producing a serious, realistic simulation of football, rather than a pinball scoring-machine style of play where the game has typically fallen down, due to the inclusion of so-called “magic plays” that almost always work.

With plenty of innovation each year, the Madden franchise has proven that their biggest competition is… every other videogame out there vying for gamers’ hard-earned dollars in a down economy. People are buying fewer videogames now than they were at the start of the decade; but most are still keeping Madden at the top of their list every August.

Tonight, my wife and I bid farewell to our Nintendo DS units and all our DS games. My wife selflessly gave up her PSP a few months ago for some trade-in credit toward a new Xbox 360 unit, because her PSP was broke anyway. We both prefer the PSP library of games and finally decided to bite the bullet and give up our DS habit to get her back in a PSP.

Sure, we didn’t have the extra-fancy Nintendo DSi to trade in with all the bells and whistles and rackmount LCD. But with a chubby DS, a DS Lite and about 16 games, as well as a PS3 game we didn’t care for tossed in for good measure, I hoped we’d at least have enough to get her a PSP Slim.

Well, not only did we get her a PSP Slim for about $110, but we had enough left over to pick up Dragon Age: Origins for the PS3, as well as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona for the PSP, as well! Talk about a nice deal? For me, Dragon Age: Origins is enough to make me forget all about those DS games… Phoenix Wright who? I’m playing BioWare’s latest and greatest, baby!

One of my favorite RPGs on PSP is Level 5′s memorable Jeanne d’Arc, so you can imagine my disappointment when my copy of the UMD broke recently. I’ve been trying to find a replacement, but the game is currently harder to locate than legitimate health insurance leads.

I have the scent of one; if it remains unsold until Friday or so, I’m home free and can replay the classic to my heart’s content. But for now, I’m just sitting around waiting…

The catalog of PSP games for the next three months has some very attractive options in it; some of them even more exciting than discovering I can save $600 a year on my car insurance. (I jest, I jest.)

Anyway, listen up to some of these choices.

Out in a couple days is Gran Turismo PSP! If this game can live up to its console predecessors even remotely, this title will single-handedly improve PSP’s fortunes of late. Who wouldn’t want to drive this CarPG around on the go?

Then comes Obscure: The Aftermath, a survival horror title. I’m a sucker for survival horror if it’s any good at all. So my hopes would be set high for this one.

Speaking of survival horror, how about some Silent Hill? Shattered Memories is the latest offering from Konami and it’s on PSP as well as PS2.

Little Big Planet is also coming to PSP, as well as Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines.

Sure, as time goes on, the PSP Go may take the fun out of retail and make it a downloadable-only deal; but for right now, I’m certainly looking forward to dropping by my local EB just to browse all these excellent selections.

And come 2010, I haven’t even yet mentioned that XSeed is bringing Lunar to PSP in a fresh remake of the Working Designs classic.

My videogame budget’s gone on a severe diet over the past year; since I’m no longer affiliated with DigNews.com, I get a lot fewer reviewables to peruse. Still, there are upsides, like being able to finally play some of them through to the end before moving on to the next one.

One game that keeps me thoroughly entertained over time is Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 and its predecessor, both for the Sony PSP Slim. I’ll just say it: I love ‘em because they’re easy to pick up and play for a couple holes, and easy to put down if you have to stop what you’re doing suddenly.

Tonight I played about 72 holes waiting for my dentist appointment to begin, and it certainly took the bite out of a potentially nervous wait. There are a lot of other great games on the PSP Slim, but I’ve played more hours of these two golf games than anything else combined.

I know my PSP Slim has plenty of meaty RPGs, in-depth sports games and other pastimes, but sometimes I just want to play a round of golf. That’s why I love Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2. It’s challenge mode scales up quite a bit, but never drastically, and winning it all is quite a challenge.

But the best aspect is, it involves very little commitment. If you’re in the men’s room and only have a few moments, a couple holes can be satisfying all by themselves. It’s a great way to pass some time. Sure, it’s not like surfing free online auctions sites, but hey… not everything can be as blissful, right?

I’m saving up for a new PSP; it’s for me wife, whose previous one bit the dust a while back. This will be the second PSP she’s owned and it will likely be a third-gen PSP.

Of course, the danger is that Sony may soon release a proper PSP2 shortly after buying this one. That’s OK, I suppose; the PSP needs an update within the next year or so anyway. It’s trailing the iPod Touch, for heaven’s sake!

But really, let’s be honest: even the best diet pills in the world are not enough to make the current PSP compete with the iPod Touch while maintaining the current button configuration.

I can’t imagine a PSP2 without touch-screen technology. Can Sony?