So today’s article I wrote is just me plodding along wondering out loud why the Sony PSP has become so popular again all of a sudden.
I mean, clearly “so popular” is an exaggeration in the grand scheme of things, these are no-doubt extremely small numbers compared to other handhelds available. Scrolling social media really has shown a lot of them on feeds for me in 2026.
If you’re interested in why I think they’re showing up more lately, then read on with my article. I go through a reason in each ‘section’, but If you’ve got your own ideas, I’d love to hear them below here. Oh and if you’re thinking:
“hey there’s no in-depth investigative journalism here, it just looks like they wanted an excuse to write about the PSP!!!”
…you’d be right. I’ve been obsessed with them lately. This is my 4th PSP article in a very short time. I do so love them!
Anyway, if you want to see some old PSP TV ads, some nostalgia, and want to chat about PSPs (plz do), then here’s the link:
Whaaaat? The PSP had a great collection of games, you might be thinking of the Vita that had barely anything in it. You got Tekken, God of War spinoffs, Patapon, lots of racing games, metal gear solid, lots of JRPGs, among other things.
Its main issue was the lack of a right stick so many 3D games either didn’t get ported or had horrendous controls (monster hunter…)
Ugh I do NOT miss all my hours of THE CLAW in MH and MH 3rd… but I do miss getting together with all my friends as teens/young 20ses to smoke the devil’s lettuce and hunt all day.
I have no idea how people put up with it, my hand starts hurting 5 minutes into playing MH on the psp. I played maybe 20 minutes total, said “nope”, and never played it again.
I can doooo it… I just… yah nope you’re totally right, I can’t do it anymore. When they released the N3DSXL I bought one INSTANTLY for Monster Hunter, and bought a Circle Pad Pro for my partner… no way to go back hahaha.
Then realized the circle pad pro was dope and the C-nub on the N3DSXL is complete garbage, so I ripped the C-nub out with a knife and popped a PSP joystick from my spare PSP onto my DS… works incredibly. Snapped in like it was MADE for the N3DS!
I wonder if my Vita’s second stick works in old PSP MH games in Adrenaline? I can’t imagine it does, but I’d kill to play through MH 3RD (Eng patch) again with two sticks…
One of my favorite, unexpected gems was Kenka Bancho. You’re a bancho (high school delinquent badass) and you have 7 days during a school trip before graduation to punch other school banchos into submission to prove you’re the best of all banchos. A real shame that only one game got localized, there are several others in the series.
I was also sad that Maverick Hunter X didn’t get sequels, so it became the sole 3D remake of Mega Man X, but it’s really good and you can even play as Vile. Speaking of Capcom, you could also play Monster Hunter 1, 2 or 3 on your PSP. I spent a significant amount of time on 2 and got nowhere near the mid game. I kept getting my ass handed by some bosses. Kushala Daora became my arch nemesis. On the other hand, beating Basarios was a piece of cake with bow and (piercing) arrow
Criminally underrated console… especially now, hacked, it can play all PSP games, hold shit tons of games on an (until recently oh god) WAY cheap SD card, and emulate tons of old consoles on its magnificent OLED screen.
Only complaint is the PSP’s D-pad is way better for my favorite PSP/Vita series, DJ Max Portable. Buttons too, but I modded my PSP’s buttons and D-pad to make them hair-trigger sensitive (most terrifying mod I’ve ever done and I’m so proud of it)
it had quite a few gems. The WipEout games were some of the best in the series, the God of War games were very good. Battlefield II on it was great. Final Fantasy Tactics and Crisis Core. Jeanne D’Arc was one of the best tactics game ever. Ys Seven, Megaman Powered Up, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Ape Escape, the Killzone game on it was very good, LocoRocco 1 and 2, Final Fantasy Dissida, Monster Hunter, Daxter, Special Agent Clank, and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.
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PSP is such a cool console but had the worst lineup of games.
There were some decent games. What killed it for me was the layout. Constantly bumping the power switch mid game. It happened so often.
Whaaaat? The PSP had a great collection of games, you might be thinking of the Vita that had barely anything in it. You got Tekken, God of War spinoffs, Patapon, lots of racing games, metal gear solid, lots of JRPGs, among other things.
Its main issue was the lack of a right stick so many 3D games either didn’t get ported or had horrendous controls (monster hunter…)
Ugh I do NOT miss all my hours of THE CLAW in MH and MH 3rd… but I do miss getting together with all my friends as teens/young 20ses to smoke the devil’s lettuce and hunt all day.
I have no idea how people put up with it, my hand starts hurting 5 minutes into playing MH on the psp. I played maybe 20 minutes total, said “nope”, and never played it again.
I can doooo it… I just… yah nope you’re totally right, I can’t do it anymore. When they released the N3DSXL I bought one INSTANTLY for Monster Hunter, and bought a Circle Pad Pro for my partner… no way to go back hahaha.
Then realized the circle pad pro was dope and the C-nub on the N3DSXL is complete garbage, so I ripped the C-nub out with a knife and popped a PSP joystick from my spare PSP onto my DS… works incredibly. Snapped in like it was MADE for the N3DS!
I wonder if my Vita’s second stick works in old PSP MH games in Adrenaline? I can’t imagine it does, but I’d kill to play through MH 3RD (Eng patch) again with two sticks…
I had a ps2 so every PSP game just felt lile a really bad scam version of the games I liked.
Welcome to the NES/Gameboy experience.
One of my favorite, unexpected gems was Kenka Bancho. You’re a bancho (high school delinquent badass) and you have 7 days during a school trip before graduation to punch other school banchos into submission to prove you’re the best of all banchos. A real shame that only one game got localized, there are several others in the series.
I was also sad that Maverick Hunter X didn’t get sequels, so it became the sole 3D remake of Mega Man X, but it’s really good and you can even play as Vile. Speaking of Capcom, you could also play Monster Hunter 1, 2 or 3 on your PSP. I spent a significant amount of time on 2 and got nowhere near the mid game. I kept getting my ass handed by some bosses. Kushala Daora became my arch nemesis. On the other hand, beating Basarios was a piece of cake with bow and (piercing) arrow
Excellent, thank you for the recommendation! I have to re-learn how to get games on Adrenaline on my vita—Kenka Bancho sounds awesome.
Ace Combat! Ratchet and Clank!
Star Wars Battlefront!
Gah, I forgot about that! It was so much fun in singleplayer.
I’ve been so enjoying racing games on mine lately! Gran Turismo and WipEout have been such wonderful time-sinks for me :)
Such a huge variety of games on there!
If you’re into racing, also check out Midnight Club 3. Great game.
Remember the touch panel on the back and the games that used it?
That’s the Vita.
Criminally underrated console… especially now, hacked, it can play all PSP games, hold shit tons of games on an (until recently oh god) WAY cheap SD card, and emulate tons of old consoles on its magnificent OLED screen.
Only complaint is the PSP’s D-pad is way better for my favorite PSP/Vita series, DJ Max Portable. Buttons too, but I modded my PSP’s buttons and D-pad to make them hair-trigger sensitive (most terrifying mod I’ve ever done and I’m so proud of it)
Sony has gotten so good at developing excellent gaming devices and then letting them languish. Speaking as a PSVR early adopter.
Good catalogue is a must. I’m excited to see if Steam Frame will do it, and if can afford one.
I wouldn’t say “the worst” but the phrase “squandered potential” looms large.
it had quite a few gems. The WipEout games were some of the best in the series, the God of War games were very good. Battlefield II on it was great. Final Fantasy Tactics and Crisis Core. Jeanne D’Arc was one of the best tactics game ever. Ys Seven, Megaman Powered Up, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Ape Escape, the Killzone game on it was very good, LocoRocco 1 and 2, Final Fantasy Dissida, Monster Hunter, Daxter, Special Agent Clank, and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.
Don’t forget both Death Jr games! Absolute fucking bangers!
The PS Vita would like a word