Holiday buying guide: PlayStation Portable
This is the final installment of atypicalgamer's weekly buying guides; previous posts cover the DS, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. Note that while I've tried to be objective, these posts ultimately represent my own personal opinions. Links take you to Amazon.co.uk, although it's worth pricing against other online retailers such as HMV.com and Play.com. 
Sony's first real handheld games machine was always going to be an event, and the PlayStation Portable
did not disappoint. Arriving in the West in 2005, it was a stunning piece of hardware, less a handheld gaming device and more a sort of minicomputer, with a price to match. It was soon overtaken in sales by the DS, however, despite offering numerous extra functions.It has just one screen, but a superb, sharply defined screen – as you’d expect for a machine built as much for watching movies and slideshows as for playing games; the buttons and controls fade out discreetly around it. Originally rather heavily built for a pocket gadget, the third and latest version is much more streamlined.
Should you buy it?
If you want a do-everything gadget (music, photos, video, games), then the PSP is a decent choice. It's an excellent way to watch films on the move, either via store-bought UMD disc, or ripped to a memory stick from your computer, while games look and sound just as wonderful. If that's not enough, then there are numerous attachments you can buy, to convert it to a phone, a GPS system, and even a Sky TV. Despite coming in a number of colours, it’s not huge on child-appeal and that goes for its games, too, although there are now plenty of original PlayStation games to download. It’s a favourite of the hacker community, who have managed to get it do all do all sorts of things it wasn’t designed for.Summary of pros and cons
+ Games look and sound fantastic+ PlayStation Store, accessible from the PSP or PS3 or PC (not Mac), where you can download demos and old favourite games from the PlayStation era.
+ Watch movies and other video in astonishing clarity
+ Store and use photos and music files
+ Wireless online play both ad hoc and via the Internet, plus web browsing
+ Remote play - if you’ve a PS3 you can view the media stored on it remotely
- Not so many original games on disc as some other formats
- Hassle of converting your own DVDs to watch on it
- So many functions can seem overwhelming; but you don’t need to use them all
Ten games to buy
1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
2. God of War: Chains of Olympus
3.Lumines
4. LocoRoco
5. Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core
6. FIFA 09
7. Burnout Legends
8. Tekken: Dark Resurrection
9.Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
10. Patapon
Other stuff to consider
Some bundles come with more accessories than others, so check before forking out what you’re buying already. And of course there's a number of official functional add-ons, which you can check out at Sony's site). But you might want some of the following, always checking they're for the right model of PSP.Hard acrylic case
Additional Memory Stick Duo - it doesn't have to be Sony branded, but check it's compatible with a PSP
AV cable if you want to plug it into your TV
© Kate Berens, 2008
, to be superseded next year by the DSi. Its enduring appeal to the younger generation is demonstrated by the fact it comes in a rainbow of colours.
is now the oldest of the current generation of consoles. As the first “next-gen” machine, offering High Definition gaming, and cheaper than the PS3 was projected to be, it sold out instantly on launch in November 2005, a full year ahead of the PS3 and Wii, its success bolstered by the Xbox Live online gaming service. This PR dream was only tainted by the so-called Red Ring of Death: a serious fault that caused early models of the machine to conk out with their normally friendly green lights turning red, leading Microsoft to issue an apology and extended warranty in 2007. Recent models use different components.
with twice the space. An 
comes without the hard drive, but the disadvantage of this is not worth the cost saving. Unlike the PS3, it doesn’t have a Blu-ray drive, Microsoft choosing instead to back the doomed Toshiba HD-DVD format with an add-on drive. It does have the benefit of an excellent online gaming service, on the other hand.
for online play
if you want a wireless connection
is aimed at sophisticated gamers and movie-watchers; it couldn’t look any more different from the Wii. This successor to Sony’s industry-changing PlayStation and PlayStation 2 was announced with no little fanfare in 2005, but ultimately limped into the market in November 2006 (March 2007 in Europe), long after the Xbox 360 had cornered the “next-generation” market. At first, its only vocal fans were film buffs delighted with the PS3’s Blu-ray disc-playing function; but since then its reputation has been creeping upwards, with help from significant price cuts. But Sony plays the long game and is, albeit slowly, delivering all the features that were promised in 2005, making the PS3 genuinely a multimedia, Internet-connected giant in the living room.
rather than the Sixaxis), and contain motion-sensors, although these are rarely central to the gameplay as they are for the Wii.
, nine years on, has many times more games available and remains ridiculously popular and good value. You can download some older games originally designed for the PS as well as newer, simpler (and cheaper games) than you can buy in the Blu-ray disc format. The PS3 also offers online gaming and has all the functions you’d expect to go with it, including messaging and voice chat.
add-on allows you to watch and record Freeview digital TV through your PS3.
is the easiest system for beginners to get the hang of. Available games include dozens of family-friendly titles as well as old Nintendo favourites, many using the motion-detecting remote in conjunction with your TV. The Wii was launched two years ago, in November 2006, round about the same time as the PlayStation 3, a console it deliberately set out not to compete with. It doesn’t look like a piece of high-tech audiovisual equipment and nor does it try and act like one, its non-confrontational design ethic making it accessible to anyone, right down to the Wii remote, which looks like a cross between a standard controller and a fat TV remote. No wonder teenage boys aren’t as impressed by it as their Mums are. Just as revolutionary at launch was the price, exactly half of the PS3. The problem was that they couldn’t manufacture it quickly enough to keep up with demand. Hopefully it won’t be a problem this Christmas, even if the price is now no longer the lowest of the bunch.
, possibly an extra Nunchuk (the analog stick attachment that comes with the remote).
