My PSP: A Retrospective

Hello folks, DarcSeven here with a brief, yet special entry into Gamestalk. Today, I wanna talk about this guy:


If you've been following me on twitter or otherwise, you probably already know that I really love my PSP. I've had it ever since it was released here in the U.S. and I never once thought about selling it or trading it.

It all started when I first moved back to Texas. At first we stayed at my grandparents house. My parents bought me a PSP for Christmas and I got Twisted Metal: Head On a little later. And it was good. It was a real, complete Twisted Metal game in my hands. Later I would get Wipeout Pure. I never played a Wipeout game before, but I was blown away. I generally dislike racing games, but this was amazing. Later I would get Wipeout HD and it's now my favorite racing game, with Mario Kart DS as a close second.

When we actually got to my new house, we found out that our things would not be arriving for at least two weeks. The only source of entertainment I had was my PSP. The problem was that Twisted Metal kept corrupting it's own file, and Wipeout Pure's UMD broke open.

I may love the PSP, but even I have to admit, these kinda suck.

Bad luck I guess. I was pretty screwed...until I got Darkstalkers Chronicle. Holy shit, this game was amazing. It was like Street Fighter Alpha on crack. The amount of characters and game types that I had to master pretty much help preserve my sanity until we finally received all of out furniture. From that point, my PSP and I were inseparable.

Freakin' Awesome!

Over the years, I have gained what I feel are a substantial amount of games for the system. Here's the list of games I have in my possession at the time of this article:
Twisted Metal Head-On (Download)
Fate Unlimited Codes (Download)
Darkstalkers Chronicle
Capcom Classics Collection Remixed/Reloaded
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max
Power Stone Collection
SNK Arcade Collection Vol. 1
Tekken Dark Ressurection/6
Guilty Gear Accent Core
Persona 3 Portable
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony
Dragonball Z Shin Budokai-Another Road
Megaman Powered Up
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Mortal Kombat Unchained (It's Deception with the Gamecube Extra characters)
Sega Genesis Collection
Metal Slug Collection
And the addition of a few PSOne Classics!
Lunar was the last UMD I bought and it will probably remain that was since I've decided to go digital from here-on-out so that they'll be playable on the Vita.

Tekken Bowl on the go? Nothing better, folks!

My final thoughts on the PSP are that it is a criminally underrated system with a lot of fantastic games (Although I admit, I have a thing for retro collections and ports) and it was a good system to get after the Gameboy Advance, which is my favorite handheld system. They're both pretty similar in how the both had great original games and ports in just about every genre. I think the PSVita and the Nintendo 3DS will be just as entertaining for me in the next few years.

Top Ten Games of 2011

2011's in the books. Overall I really like the games for the year. Actually, I think there may have been too many good ones this year, or at least within that small fall period. The companies behind the games, however...Ugh. Capcom in particular became disgusting. Sony got hacked, but tried to make up for it in some capacity. EA and Microsoft got hacked and they still haven't fessed up. It was a mixed year for the industry to say the least.

My Game of the Year is one of those "Will not be on anyone else's list" picks. I have chosen Ska Studios's Dishwasher: Vampire Smile. I had a smile on my face the entire time I was playing it and I still am. It's one of the best 2D action games I've ever played.

The runners-up are Batman Arkham city, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Mortal Kombat, and Infamous 2. Batman absolutely floored me with it's atmosphere, Deus Ex showed me how First Person games should be done, Mortal Kombat revived the whole series and is the best it has ever been, and Infamous 2 is just electrifyingly awesome. (Pun intended. ;))

The worst game of the year is Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One. I cannot believe Insomniac made something so shitty, pandering, and half-assed. It's Castlevania HD all over again. It makes Ratchet Deadlocked seem like a brilliant idea.

I haven't had the chance to play Uncharted 3, Rayman Origins, and Zelda: Skyward Sword in full, but I'm looking forward to it. My most anticipated game of 2012 is Bioshock Infinite. Just check out that really long gameplay demonstration and you'll see why I'm pumped for it. Skyrim...*sigh* We don't get along. It won't be on any list of mine. And now for the lists in full:

Best Runner-Ups (For one reason or another)
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns
I was really considering putting FPR on the list. My newly found ability to import saves increased the playability of this game by tenfold. If I could go back in time to 2007, I would easily make this it's game of the year instead of being second to Call of Duty 4. It's become my favorite wrestling game of all time. I'm still awaiting for a follow up to the series, but now I'm not in much of a rush anymore.

Metal Gear Solid HD
This collection is simply awesome. Metal Gear Solid 2 wasn't affected by much since it was already in 60 FPS, but MGS 3 has become epic thanks to the face lift. There is no going back to the PS2 version. Peace Walker has also been improved now that you have two analog sticks and a pause function to work with. If your a fan of Metal Gear Solid, this is a must-buy.

Streets of Rage Remake
While it's not an official release form Sega (Sega actually stopped its distribution entirely and tried to make up for it by putting SoR2 in iphone. Bastards.) it's one of the most amazing fan games I've ever played. This is sidescrolling beat-em-up nirvana. Multiple routes and options allow you to play the game the way you want. If you get the chance to play this game, do so.

Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword
Disqualified from this year's list since I haven't finished it yet. It's eligible for next year, though. I'll talk about it more another time. I've really enjoyed it so far.

Dead Space 2
Didn't quite make the cut, but damn it's fun. While I'm not really creeped out by it, it's still a compelling game and worth a playthrough...if you've got the stomach to play it...

Crysis 2
One of the few good shooters to come out this year, Crysis 2 provides a more open route to a lot of the current first=person games on the market.

Portal 2
I need to finish it. It was cool from what I played and I liked that dork, Wheatley. I'll just need more time with it.

Top Ten of 2011
10.Bastion
Bastion will also take the award for best soundtrack. Old-school game that brings an excellent story ans setting along for the ride.

9. Resistance 3
This was the biggest surprise. I don't like any of the previous games in the series, but for some reason, this one clicked. I'm going to need to remember to buy this one later.

8. Guardian Heroes
Oh man, this was completely worth the wait. Guardian Heroes was that game I always wanted to play, but never got the chance to. I'm happy to say I was not disappointed with it. Five characters, a bunch of levels, and a great combat system gives this game the #8 position.

7. Gears of War 3
I fully expected this game to fall short like MW3 and BF3 did. But nope! It's actually really good. I've always liked the Gears and the combat, and while the campaign was a little long, it kept my interest the whole time and I found it satisfying. The multiplayer was also fun...since it has bots...I have no shame about that being a huge plus.

6. Saints Row The Third
How freaking crazy was this game. I have never been a fan of the Saints Row games (Largely due to their awful progression system), but this game got it right. Refined controls and gameplay also help the the experience of the insanely crazy adventure. Also, this game is better than GTA 4. (Trololol!)

5. Mortal Kombat
BEST. MORTAL KOMBAT. EVER. Take the style of MK2, refine the actual fighting mechanics that can stand up to the best fighters of the industry, add in a large amount of content and you have a really awesome fighting game. Why Capcom and Namco insist on half-assing the single-player content instead of following Netherrealm Studio's example, I'll never know.

4. Infamous 2
Infamous 2 improved where it counted the most. While its predecessor failed in the story and characters, this game got that right, along with general gameplay improvements. It's one of the best superhero games in all of video games.

3. Deus Ex Human Revolution
Deus Ex came damn close to being my GOTY. All it needed was New Game Plus (which would have extended the replayability) and it would have won easily. Other than that, the game was damn near perfect. It was truly a game that allows the player to play however they wanted to. Cyberpunk at it's best.

2. Batman Arkham City
Remember when I said Infamous 2 was one of the best superhero games ever made? Batman Arkham City IS the best superhero game ever made. The atmosphere of the world is stunning. This is a Batman fanboy's wet dream. It plays wonderfully, as well. Do not miss this game!

1. Dishwasher Vampire Smile
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know none of you will ever take my opinion seriously ever again. I just love Dishwasher that damn much. Maybe I'm just some sort of emo that the "Goth" game Won my (Probably now completely useless) Awards of the Year...BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH. For this game, it's all in the gameplay. Now to be honest, Deus Ex almost won this award, as I do think it really was the best game of the year. But it hurt itself like Red Dead Redemption did before it, by being a one-shot. Dishwasher: Vampire Smile does not have that problem.

I hear-by award the DarcSeven Game of the Year Award to Dishwasher: Vampire Smile. Congratulations to Ska Studios. You guys kick ass.

Problems with Game of the Year 2011 List

I think I'll have to classify 2011 as the year where I can't pick the best game. There were too many equally awesome games this year. If I have to give it to a game that stood out from the rest, it would be Fire Pro Wrestling Returns. Ever since I discovered how to transfer files in order to have the rosters of multiple real-life companies without having to do it myself, the game became epic. I've actually had FPR be the runner-up before, with it losing to Fallout 3. I couldn't transfer files back then, otherwise it would have won. FPR before and after file transfers feels like the evolution between a demo and a full game. I'm just now playing it at it's full potential.

I feel like this is cheating, though. I think the biggest problem is that I can't choose between Batman Arkham City and Deus Ex: HR. Both of those games keep alternating my GOTY spot. I think if Deus EX had New Game + it would have definitively won. But that didn't happen. Then I ended up playing Gears 3 and Zelda SS so close to the deadline, and both of them are fighting to get a spot on the Top 10 list. There is a huge list of games that I have to consider, and I may actually make the list bigger than 10 games this time.

Here is the list of 16 games under consideration in no particular order:
Gears of War 3
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Batman Arkham City
Mortal Kombat
Infamous 2
Resistance 3
Saints Row the Third
Guardian Heroes
The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile
Bastion
Metal Gear Solid 3 HD (Yes this counts. The HD version is that good.)
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns with File Transfer
Streets of Rage Remake
Dead Space 2
Crysis 2

Now some of these won't make the top 10 for some reason of another. The remaining six will be ranked honorable mentions.

I'm going to end this post for now. There's more to talk about, but I don't want to blow it in one entry. Next time: Where are Skyrim and Uncharted 3? See you then!