Handheld Arguements, aka why the psp is the best handheld.

[Bolivar]

Cactuar, I'm sorry I left you stranded with our rude and stubborn friends

For me the Nintendo family is just more apt for a "pick up and play" style of gaming. I'd have to be gone away from home for quite a while to even consider a PSP.

I've seen a few of you saying that and this opinion is quite outdated. When the PSP started, it focused on console games that ran poorly and weren't fun. That's why I didn't buy one. But then something magical happened. They learned how to make console games fit the handheld experience. They made Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and Valkyria Chronicles 2 that play well on the PSP and can be consumed in 5-10 minute chunks. So Formalhaut, my friend, with all due respect,

I don't have any idea what you're talking about.

Now that's out of the way, we can set this off right.

First, I don't think it's disputable that, hardware-wise, the PSP is the better machine. I enjoyed walking out of my apartment, listening to music on my headphones as I walk to the shuttle. Once I was safely on, I'd unlock the system, stop the song, and boot up my save of Xenogears. I'd fight a couple battles, plow deeper into a dungeon, then once I arrived at the other campus, pause in the middle of fight and go back to my music as I walked to class. Finally, as I waited for a professor, I was able to get in a couple more deathblows and down a few more monsters before class began. You could also switch that up with comic books or videos, so a little Gundam Wing or Arrested Development is just as incredible as bite-sized Xenogears...

That's power the DS just doesn't have.

Now I understand some of you don't have commutes. I can't figure out why that matters. No one enjoys console games on a console more than me. I have my PS3 hooked up to a HDTV and digitally wired for surround sound. But I enjoy the small screen and some headphones just as much. Some titles even look and sound better that way. Getting in a good RPG session in bed just before going to sleep, with a glass of water on the nightstand, is one of my favorite ways to game.

Lastly we have the library.

I see almost all of you are really one-sided here. Either the PSP is meh or it's only good modded. There aren't any "it's an awesome system!!! I just like the DS better!"

Well, I'm not sure if it gives me a credibility advantage, but I really think both systems are awesome. I owned a DS for years and openly disparaged the PSP until it got its act together. It has some of my favorite games ever, in both original titles as well as remakes. I thought the stylus was nothing less than a stellar shake-up of what we thought we knew about gaming. The fact that a cache of products made it a legitimate and meaningful interface for memorable games is a testament to the enduring genius of Nintendo.

But I just can't think of a game that's better than Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The aesthetics are just too damn good. The themes make me glad I got a Political Science degree. And the gameplay? Kojima's first co-op game, and it's more fun than some of the western devs who have been doing it for years! Co-Ops and everything in MGS that revolved around it was innovation, and it was marvelous to behold on handheld.

I felt the same way with Valkyria Chronicles 2. Like Peace Walker, VC2 not only introduced co-op to a series, but co-op that in turn injected new ideas back into the gameplay. With charming characters, engrossing political intrigue, fresh gameplay, beautiful artwork, and the amazing soundscapes of the legendary Hitoshi Sakimoto, what more could a RPG fan want? Well, the addictiveness of the handheldization and sheer genius of the co-op makes it a game that's harder to put away than its console counterpart.

And I'm sorry, but ports and remakes do matter. Final Fantasy I-IX, Chrono Trigger & Cross, Xenogears, FFTactics, and Parasite Eve 1&2. These are some of the best RPGs ever made and they look and sound better on the PSP than they do on a TV. And I'll apologize even further - Tactics Ogre is possibly the greatest game I've ever played, and it's best version is only available on Sony's handheld.

The GameBoy Color is close, but the PSP is the best handheld I've ever owned.

edit: (I lost my limit break on edit, but Jowy literally just rep'ed me, saying: "wait xenogears on PSP?! tell me how to make this happen." lol