It’s $400 CAD for one, I won’t be taking mine mobile when I get one either. One drop and you’re screwed.
Back on the PSP after a fairly long absence. Picked up Star Soldier on UMD a couple of years ago and never got round to playing it…until now. I’m having a blast with it. The stages never outstay their welcome and the bullet and enemy patterns are often fun to weave around. TATE mode is handled perfectly too as far as I’m concerned.
There’s also the PS1 Classics release of Umihara Kawase Shun which I’m playing while I look for the DS port. This is probably the best game in the series since the level design and alternating paths feel more organic compared with the SNES original, yet the fishing reel grapple/swinging physics are faster than the latest game on 3DS. Furthest I’ve managed to get is stage 35, and I can’t defeat the stage 24 boss…
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But no one has an issue walking around with their thousand dollar phone.
I’ve seen them but it’s rare. Even saw one dropped on pavement in NYC by a guy running with his bag open.
He was kind of a d-bag so I laughed.
Good point, but I feel like the solid body, and high brow metal build quality of modern phones means you can put a $10 case on it and not have to worry.
With a switch, even with a case on it, I wouldn’t trust dropping it.
What kind of monster puts a case on their phone ?
I agree that it’s truly much nicer without, but I tend to drop my phone about once every few months. I want 2 or 3 years+ out of my phones, so I kind of have to.
Currently rocking a Note 5 that’s turning 3 in a couple months. It’s in immaculate shape, still.
To join the fragility discussion, I wouldn’t worry too much about the Switch. Its form factor is pretty different to previous handhelds. I’ve had it since launch and I tend to use it more like a tablet - keep it in the official case (which holds two wrist straps and 5 game cards) and take it out when I’ve got on the train or bus. At home, it lives in the dock.
In the last (almost) two years of having my Switch I haven’t come close to dropping it, even then it’s used as a tablet in tabletop mode for single or local multiplayer. Its larger size means you tend to hold it with two hands as well when you carry it around (and most the time it’s in its case, which is in a bag).
I think the Switch is uniquely built in a certain sense. It’s very easy to destroy its finish, crack its plastic, or scratch the screen.
But insane difficult to actually break. Mark my words: if you drop it from a normal handheld height (even for someone as tall as @Socksfelloff) none of its functionality will be damaged from the impact even if it hits concrete.
The plastic screen, chasis, and joycons/rails may not look like it, but they can take a beating. The only fragile thing about the Switch is its cosmetics/finish.
Agreed with all the above. It’s a solid piece of hardware without a doubt.
Im not so sure about the switch actually but without ever dropping mine here’s my current issues.
Both of my launch joycons no longer stay clipped on the rails
There’s a small chunk missing out of the bottom. I have definitely never dropped it.
The panels are separating at the top of the switch by the fan vent.
Quite often when I pop in a cart it says it can’t be read.
To stay on topic to this thread I’ll say I don’t think it’ll last as long as my psps, umd drive not included.
Bummer. Not all switches were made equal it seems.
It’s a good thing I bought 2 at launch lol
How do you move it around? Is it typically in a case?
Mine has some scratches on the screen protector, but otherwise it’s fine and I do take it to work or it travels on trips, etc. It’s always in a case or the dock unless we’re playing it though. I also have a Pro Controller so the joycons usually are attached unless it’s being played vertical.
It’s held tight in a padded “camera bag” that I bring to work each day and I store it with the joycons attached. I’ve had the orzly tempered glass screen protector on it since launch and there’s not a scratch on it !
A few months ago I was tidying up and collected some papers to be recycled, on the way out to the bin I picked up my sons switch to tidy it away (multitasking) I was in a world of my own and ended up throwing the pile of papers & the switch into the empty wheelie bin, it was thrown in and travelled about 4 feet and hit the bottom of the bin and to my surprise it was no worse for wear.
Since I last posted here I decided to give the 3000 another shot, despite the interlacing style effect to the screen. And well, it’s nowhere near as bad as I remember. The screen looks better than any other PSP and the unit is pretty damn light too, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I’ve sold it again now because I’ve doubled down on only having Nintendo handhelds (apparently) but if I were to buy another it would be a 3000 again.
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The 3000 is great - glad you tried it again. I managed to find a brand new aqua blue unit for sale almost three years ago(!, it feels like yesterday).
It still feels high quality and the screen holds up almost as well today as the IPS DSi LL display does. Great colour gamut (looks almost like sRGB to me) plays well with PS1 classics, though it does oversaturate some older PSP titles. Luckily you get the choice to switch to the old gamut. Battery life is surprisingly good, too.
The 3000 makes the PSP go seem like a bad piece of kit by comparison. Before I had a 3000 I only had a EUR launch 1000 and the go. But the 3000 really highlights the go’s poor ergonomics, shallow face buttons/D-Pad, proprietary USB and shoddy build quality (you can make the inside plastic flex very easily) are all big steps down from the 3000 model.
My only problem with the 3000 is the battery and AC adapter reek of cost cutting. The former arrived swollen in the box - and my official replacement has poor battery retention typical of PSP batteries. The AC adapter, on the other hand, is just laughable compared with the long 3 metre PSP-1000 one. It’s a short cable with a box plug that also makes a high pitched sound after it’s been plugged in for a few minutes. It’s almost strange how the DS and PSP went in opposite directions since they launched - each new DS iteration became more lavish while every new PSP iteration, while improved in some ways, also felt like an exercise in cost cutting.
Love the 3000 though! It’s currently my go-to for playing PS1 games portably. Native resolution for most games, perfect emulation, wonderful memory card management (PS3 has that awkward virtual memory card thing) and a vibrant display.
Was looking for an original DS charger earlier on and was in the storage box my launch (Canadian) PSP 1000 was in so I thought “well why not” and here we are after almost 10 years of it sitting unused in its box.
Thoughts:
- colour blur when things move! Wow.
- heavy little thing
- speakers are rubbish
- very easy to CFW and update
Going to keep it out for a while.
Though a yellow 3000 would be lovely to have.
I have a strange issue with my psp 2000, if i use the dpad a lot eventually i get a message saying the memory stick cannot be read. I end up having to eject and reinsert the memory stick and that usually fixes the issue. Still, its kind of annoying and i end up using the analog stick. Anyone else have this issue?