Over the past few months, I've spotted something a little odd and unexpected happening to Sony's old PlayStation Portable. There's been no corporate push, no announcement of the truly portable Sony handheld we used to hope for (sorry, Portal). Instead, through something far less predictable, considering it's 2026, people are
  • PerfectDark@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    172·
    23 hours ago

    No better time than now to pick one up!

    I went from being amazed that anyone would opt for native hardware for older gaming (I am a huge fan of retro handhelds!) to being amazed anyone would not want one. There’s something to be said about the original games on the PSP, it just feels ‘right’.

    And they’re relatively inexpensive (if you buy from Japan) to get one in nice shape these days. I’ve got another on the way from Tokyo right now:

    • k0e3@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      18 hours ago

      That’s junk. It doesn’t work.

      Edit: wait, you seem like you know what you’re doing. $30, if you can get it to work, would be a great buy.

      • PerfectDark@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        9·
        18 hours ago

        The word ‘junk’ on Buyee/Japan’s online marketplaces doesn’t mean what it does elsewhere. It can mean anything:

        • Not having a charger on hand, so it can’t be tested
        • Literally just dusty
        • They don’t know how it works
        • …all the way to actual issues (which typically I’ve found are things like muck in the power switches which isopropyl alcohol fixes right up!)

        Junk absolutely doesn’t mean they’re broken! Listings tend to go into a little detail on what is wrong with the consoles :)

        I’ve bought a TON of handheld consoles through Buyee. DSi’s (I got a great DSi LL in box with all the bits, barely used for $52 AUD), GBA SPs, I even got a launch Switch to jailbreak from Japan!

        I actually wrote a article on a ‘junk’ PSP from Japan, you can read more on it here:

        https://gardinerbryant.com/i-bought-a-junk-psp-from-japan-heres-how-it-went/

        • k0e3@lemmy.caEnglish
          2·
          11 hours ago

          I live in Japan and when I go to a Hard Off or whatever, “junk” is usually just for parts so it’s good to know it means different things on buyee. Thanks!

    • muzzle@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      15 hours ago

      I don’t really care for most PSP games, but the system is a great platform for emulation of games from the 2d age, from the NES to the GBA, from the master system to the genesis and even the PS1.