The PSP is retro gaming goodness!!

[bitblt]

I'd snag a PSP for $80-100 just to play some retro stuff. Especially the emulation.

I recently picked up an open-box PSP from Fry's for $170. The unit was perfect. I downgraded the 1.71 firmware to 1.50 firmware and then upgraded to 3.02OE-B firmware. To me $170 seems totally reasonable compared to the original $250 PSP price tag. The high resolution wide screen is simply beautiful.

[Jimi D]

Jimi what do you think of the Gottlieb Pinball collection?

I'm thinking of picking it up, seems the screen (sideways) would be perfect.

I love the Pinball Hall of Fame, I really do! I was a pinball whore throughout much of my misspent youth, and the tables seem very well modeled to me - the physics are great, and there's a nice feel of mass and a sense of the mechanical nature of the tables that I find I don't really get with a lot of console pinball games... That being said, playing with the screen turned sideways does leave your hands awfully close together, and I actually play an equal amount of time in a normal orientation with the camera in modes 3 or 4, generally... It's a killer game though, and there are lots of extras; and the mini-history and advertising flyer that accompanies the tables is a nice touch, as is the Gottlieb pictorial factory tour. All in all, a very nice package...

[Yodaporn]

I'd snag a PSP for $80-100 just to play some retro stuff. Especially the emulation.

Seconded. That is also my trigger point. I REALY want to try those two megaman titles, as well as the midway pack and the capcom pack.

[Womp]

I recently picked up an open-box PSP from Fry's for $170. The unit was perfect. I downgraded the 1.71 firmware to 1.50 firmware and then upgraded to 3.02OE-B firmware. To me $170 seems totally reasonable compared to the original $250 PSP price tag. The high resolution wide screen is simply beautiful.

Still $70-90 too much to me.

Besides even at $80 my wife would positively murder me if I brought another gaming device into our life. I honestly only got a Wii because she also wanted to play it.

[Alyinsanfran]

I love the Pinball Hall of Fame, I really do! I was a pinball whore throughout much of my misspent youth, and the tables seem very well modeled to me - the physics are great, and there's a nice feel of mass and a sense of the mechanical nature of the tables that I find I don't really get with a lot of console pinball games... That being said, playing with the screen turned sideways does leave your hands awfully close together, and I actually play an equal amount of time in a normal orientation with the camera in modes 3 or 4, generally... It's a killer game though, and there are lots of extras; and the mini-history and advertising flyer that accompanies the tables is a nice touch, as is the Gottlieb pictorial factory tour. All in all, a very nice package...

Sold! Cheers Jimi...

[Mordroc]

I have to say that the Midway collection was a disappointment to me. It was as bad as "Retro Atari Classics" for the DS. I am very picky about retro gaming ports. They must be perfectly emulated and presented for it to work. Stretching Joust (and other games from the Midway collection) across the 16x9 PSP screen is just plain wrong. Does the same problem exist with the Activision collection?

Who has the Taito collection? I'd be curious to hear a good review of it. It looks like it's only available in the UK right now. Is that true?

[Chris]

I recently picked up an open-box PSP from Fry's for $170. The unit was perfect. I downgraded the 1.71 firmware to 1.50 firmware and then upgraded to 3.02OE-B firmware. To me $170 seems totally reasonable compared to the original $250 PSP price tag. The high resolution wide screen is simply beautiful.

What is "3.02OE-B" firmware?

[Darksol]

Still $70-90 too much to me.

Besides even at $80 my wife would positively murder me if I brought another gaming device into our life. I honestly only got a Wii because she also wanted to play it.

What does your wife think about your avatar, hmmmm?

[Yodaporn]

Yeah, thats a good avatar. Where can we get the full pic?

[Jimi D]

I have to say that the Midway collection was a disappointment to me. It was as bad as "Retro Atari Classics" for the DS. I am very picky about retro gaming ports. They must be perfectly emulated and presented for it to work. Stretching Joust (and other games from the Midway collection) across the 16x9 PSP screen is just plain wrong. Does the same problem exist with the Activision collection?

Who has the Taito collection? I'd be curious to hear a good review of it. It looks like it's only available in the UK right now. Is that true?

I own the Midway Arcade Treasures Extended Play too, and I agree that it's a disappointment in many ways, though I think it's worth having if only for Klax and Defender (which stretches rather well, really). Stretching all the games by default with no option for playing them in OAR was a big mistake, but the collection suffers from a variety of other issues as well. There are no extras to speak of, and the Mortal Kombat games are pretty badly mangled in terms of control. The Activision Hits Remixed collection is worlds better in terms of packaging and implementation - it's a much, much better realization of what we want a retro gaming collection to be. Over-all, where the Midway collection fails, the Activision collection succeeds brilliantly, and I would not hesitate to recommend the latter to anyone who loves old Atari 2600 games... (aside: I spent more than an hour playing with Beamrider last night - I love[d] that game!)

I've seen the Taito collection advertised in UK gaming mags, but it hasn't hit the shelves here yet - it seems to be suffering from the same sort of micro-delay-itis that's plaguing Metal Slug - ie: no matter when you ask at EB or Microplay, the game's being released "next month"...