Picked up the extended battery kit. The battery life on the slim with it is pretty amazing. 2 hours of MLB06 and I think the battery was still at 80%.

The new cover fits nice and only bulges out a little bit. Actually makes the grip a little better. Now if I can just find a case I like I will be all set.

Thats cool, I'm not that big on home brew anyway.

Yes, I finally finished Jeanne of Arc (well, the normal ending anyway, it just unlocked a new stage after the end). I swear, making an RPG portable or short (like Bioshock) is the only way to get me to finish one these days. On to FFTactics.

I'm in the last chapter of FF Tactics but also playing in between Ultimate Ghosts'N Goblins. The difficulty level in UGNG is insane and I'm just playing this in novice. I love the updated graphics on the PSP but the jumps, items searching and the enemies are totally ridiculous.

RSS on PSP
 

I am having trouble viewing rss feeds on the psp.

I've tried IGN.com and after adding and selecting it on the RSS section
it says "there is no item" what am I missing here?

I've only used it to download podcasts. Not sure if it works with regular text RSS feeds.

ok, how would i go about doing that
what else can the rss do?

thanks

For podcasts you can import OPML files from your PC or just click on the links for the RSS of the podcasts in your web browser. It will automatically ask you if you want to save the link to your RSS browser.

A very interesting tidbit for owners of the PS3 and PSP. From Joystiq.

That sounds cool.

PSP owners - should I dive in? I have $180 credit at gamestop...and no portable system. I used to have a DS, but gave it to the nephews because i didn't use it much.

I use my PSP more than my DS now, but that is mainly because no DS game currently has me very interested. I'm sure one will come along and dominate my time again.

I use my PSP a lot for quick games of Crush, MLB06 and I'm still playing FF Tactics. I use the multimedia stuff the most and that is the reason I would recommend it. If you want it only for games there may not be enough there to interest you in the long run.

The gaming would likely be secondary and mainly used while in transit or something.

Sony Teams Up With Skype For Free PlayStation Calling

HONG KONG - Following Apple’s success in converting its iPod music player into the iPhone, Sony is now transforming its PlayStation Portable into a handheld videophone.

Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) said Monday it has allied with Skype, the instant message and Internet voice platform owned by eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ), to enable users of its latest slim PSP-2000 to make low-cost telephone calls and free calls around the world via the Net.

Shares of Sony were up 0.7%, or 40 yen (37 cents), to 5,830 yen ($53.30) on Monday following the announcement.

After a system software update scheduled in late January, PlayStation Portable users will be added to Skype’s 260 million-member network. With a memory stick, a wireless Internet connection and a Skype-compatible audio input device, PSP players will be able to chat via instant messaging and make voice calls to other Skype users online for free and to call landlines and mobile phones anywhere in the world at low fees, Sony Computer Entertainment said.

The PSP-2000, Sony’s latest handheld game, released in September last year, is 33% lighter and 19% slimmer than the original PlayStation Portable models. But the burden it shoulders is substantial; Sony is counting on the new capabilities to counter the stiff challenge presented by its fellow Japanese rival, Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY - news - people ). After launching the Wii, a low-cost, stripped-down console aimed at neophyte gamers, Nintendo quickly became the insurgent favorite of investors and surpassed Sony in terms of market capitalization in May 2007, moving into the top 10 among Japanese companies.

Sony and Skype haven’t announced any special fee package for PlayStation Portable users. According to Skype’s latest rate schedule, it costs about 2.1 U.S. cents per minute to call the 30 most popular destination cities, including Australia’s Canberra and Sydney; Guangzhou and Shanghai in China; and Seoul, South Korea.

Skype was launched by Swedish entrepreneur Niklas Zennström and his Danish partner Janus Friis in 2003. The start-up was bought by eBay in October 2004, for a total upfront consideration of approximately 2.1 billion pounds ($2.5 billion).

Okay, this is one of those posts (be glad I didn't start a new thread), but I should be getting a PSP in the next few days, and since I haven't been keeping up on releases, I need some game recommendations.

My favorite type of game would be 2-D platformers, so Locco Rocco, and the two Mega Man games are no-brainers. Anything else along the same lines?

Hows the Ratchet/Clank game? Should I just get the Daxter-packed PSP, if I'm interested in that game?

Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins, Castlevania Dracula X

Sweet!

Keep 'em coming!

The Ape Quest demo is up, but I was not impressed.

I thought the idea of a turned based RPG from this series was weird, but the fact most of the battles are bad Mario Party type minigames is not winning me over. Don't think I will drop $20 on this one.

My personal suggestions would be Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles and Gurumin. Dracula X needs no explanation (but here it is anyway: the BEST classic Castlevania game), Gurumin is a cute action platformer from one of my favorite developers, Falcom. It's the best game I've played on PSP (even though I had the PC version years before). I think there's a demo of the Japanese version out there somewhere.

Since I'm playing it again.. I'd like to throw Riviera: The Promised Land out there. It's the most unique game I've played in a very long time. It's basically a hybrid of a Dragon Quest and Shadowgate (or not, it's really hard to explain). I think the GBA version is better based on how good it looks in the lower resolution, but the PSP version is fully voiced and has some extra scenarios I believe. Just a warning though: it's different, very different. That's what makes it charming, but I know some people cannot grasp how it breaks conventions of simple things like moving around on the map, etc. It's not meant to be a standard RPG, it's meant to be an interactive choose-your-own-adventure book with RPG battles.

Speaking on RPGs, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology is the game that got me to rebuy my PSP (that and how sweet the slim was). It's another game that isn't really a standard RPG though. It's more akin to something like Diablo where you'll be doing a lot of spelunking in the same levels where the goal is not to see a story unfold but to level up and find fat loot. The action based battles are ace as always.

Keep in mind that those Mega Man games are still the same games they were on the NES and SNES. There's some attempts to give the games some added replayability (especially in Powered Up) but you'll still burn through the main games in a couple of short sessions.

Maybe you could burn through them, but I am no where as skilled as I was when the original Mega Man came out.

As for recomendations, I would toss my 2 cents in the direction of Dead Head Fred. The combat leaves a little to be desired, but John C. McGinley is great as Fred (I actually thought it was Ed Begley Jr for the longest time), the story is really pretty good and the game overall was very fun.

Thanks Pixy - yeah, the Castlevania: DXC is another no-brainer, and thanks for the Gurumin suggestion - that's not a game I would've considered. But isn't it more of an action/RPG than a platformer?

BTW, how do the games look when you hook the PSP up to your TV?

No, there's nothing RPG about it. I'm not sure why the developer seems to think so (it's self labeled as a "Drill Action RPG"). It's a lot of fun though, it has charming characters, awesome voice acting and a killer soundtrack.

Are there any 2-D sprite-based action games on the PSP?

Dracula X Chronicles has the OG Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night.. but I'm drawing a blank otherwise. I know there's some 2D RPGs but most of them are ports and they just stretch the graphics, so if you're a true appreciator of 2D pixel art.. you'll be turned off by how bad it looks (that's why I mentioned Riviera looking better on the GBA, though that one handles it a little better than say, Valkyrie Profile, which is very painful on the eyes).

That's what I thought - it seems like Sony is taking the same stance it did with the PS1 as to discouraging developers from making 2D games and pushing the polygons instead. Though the Street Fighter Alpha looks pretty good. But I guess I can just whip out my DS for sprites...