Also my observation is that nothing that ever appear trendy on tiktok, instagram or youtube ever translate to real life. There are just an awful lot of super niche trends happening at the same time that only those in their respective algorithmic bubble are aware of.

As an aside, I really liked the brief time I got to work on PSP software. From what I remember it was a fixed function GPU and a decent enough CPU that all felt really balanced for the time. After working on things like Gameboy Advance and a little bit of Nintenod DS, it felt like an ocean of possibility compared with those two. I'm sure if I was to go back to it now it would feel claustrophobic but at the time it was pretty comfy.

It was(/is) a great device for playing ps1 and snes games. It doesn't seem so special now that there are so many emulation focused handhelds, but at the time it felt really awesome to be able to play games like that on a plane.

Not out of any particular nostalgia for the device itself, nor because I’ve seen anyone else with one. I just had a sudden hankering to play a Ridge Racer, and it turned out my PS3 is stuck in some kind of update loop.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well it’s held up. And by that, I mean this specific unit: over 20 years old, left in the back of a drawer for at least the last 10, but seemingly as good as new. The screen is obviously a bit dim by modern standards, but the battery still holds a charge for hours. If I treated a smartphone like that, I’d be afraid of it swelling to the size of a football and setting fire to the building.

By contrast, the DS Lite I found in the same drawer no longer recognises anything in either cartridge slot and the screens have developed a brownish gradient running top to bottom, although the clock had only drifted by ~40 minutes.

For me, that era of portable gaming coincided with a lot of travel for work, holidays, gigs and music festivals. I’ve probably spent more time playing games on those two consoles than I have on every mobile device released before or since put together.

It’ll probably end up back in the drawer sooner rather than later, but I had a fun Saturday evening working my way through a shoebox of UMDs, checking out save files mostly timestamped 2006-2008. And maybe I’ll finish another run through Jeanne d’Arc first.

I still have my original PSP 1000 which worked well until my daughter dropped it a couple weeks ago...

"It's not just this, or this other thing, it's another thing."

"It’s not always about playing through a full game, it’s about the object itself, what it says, how it looks, the feeling it gives off."

"Not as a replacement, but as an alternative."

"It’s not just a handheld. It’s a self-contained beautifully designed little bubble"

"You’re not browsing a library of endless options, you’re watching something because you decided to put it there."

"It’s not just nostalgia, and it’s not just retro collecting."

I don't think these fluffy statements contribute to the overall thesis, and it could be trimmed down a bunch. Not every blog post needs to be Jony Ive waxing on about the purity of the iPod. No shade, I appreciate the attention given to the device and community, but it's just a bit padded imo.

The PSP sits nicely in the middle of timing, or at least it feels like that. Way more modern, easier to find games for, and way cheaper as well (more stock). It feels like the PSP was one of the last handhelds that you could use offline, without having to mod or hack it.

A used Vita would be a good modern replacement (and not even that much more expensive) but even in their afterlife I guess it's still doomed to play second fiddle to PSP.

You can commonly see it in major fashion adv campaigns, with models using anachronistic Sony CD Players, digital cameras and recorders.

I recently freed mine and have been having a great time with everything it had to offer while being so much more portable than anything mainstream sold now as portable.

I recently got a PSP (along with a special cable that I can use to hook it up to my TV); there is a pretty strong aftermarket ecosystem for them.

I have huge respect for the folks who spent countless hours freeing devices like the PSP from the control of the corporations that wanted them locked down. I think we'll need a lot more of that spirit in the years ahead...

Pair that with a 30-40$ controller extension like the Razer Kishi and you have a really powerful retro gaming device.