After a lifetime of ten years, and 80 million units sold worldwide, the Playstation Portable (also known as the PSP) was officially discontinued by Sony in 2014. Over that time, the console built a considerable fanbase and became the first handheld to seriously compete with Nintendo’s market domination.But what was it that made the PSP so great? Let’s take a look…
The Hardware
Whilst Nintendo handhelds tend to look and feel cheap, the PSP was very much a grown up console. Its aesthetic fit in perfectly with the Playstation home-consoles, with sleek black and silver casing, and with a modern eye it’s easy to see it wouldn’t look out of place with the stark ultra-modern designs of today’s smartphones. The PSP was ahead of its time in other ways as well, boasting a fully working web browser as well as exhaustive multimedia capabilities. Whilst the Nintendo DS played with gimmicky touchscreen inputs, the PSP stuck with traditional game controls and was all the better for it.
The Games
Over the years the PSP developed an impressive library of games, being home to some of gaming’s most famous IPs, such as God of War, Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy. But the console also introduced some of gaming’s most unique titles; Patapon was half RTS, half Rhythm Game and entirely charming, whilst the colorful LocoRoco was described as “the happiest game ever made”.It was this combination of classic titles, with new and bold ideas, complete with a serious and modern design that marks the PSP as the best mobile gaming console of all time.