this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2026
345 points (95.3% liked)

Games

47430 readers
1109 users here now

Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.

Rules

1. Submissions have to be related to games

Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.

This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.

2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil

No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.

We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.

3. No excessive self-promotion

Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.

This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.

4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts

This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.

We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.

5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW

Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.

No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.

6. No linking to piracy

Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.

We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.

Authorized Regular Threads

Related communities

PM a mod to add your own

Video games

Generic

Help and suggestions

By platform

By type

By games

Language specific

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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:

https://gardinerbryant.com/psp-in-2026/

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 68 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

I felt weird/guilty using mine in public, like staring down at a little rectangle was unsocial or bad for you or something…

Turns out, it’s more like digital detox! It would be cool these days.

Ugh, where is it!? I know I still have mine.

[–] grueling_spool@sh.itjust.works 43 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Staring at a little screen that brings you entertainment & joy: 😡

Staring at a little screen that fills you with anger, dread, and despair: 🤩

[–] jefferyjefferson@lemmy.org 2 points 3 days ago

One is shoving ads in your face and the other isn't.

[–] Feyd@programming.dev 11 points 4 days ago (4 children)

weird/guilty using mine in public

Some people would talk shit, but no one ever blinked an eye at reading a book. Now everyone is on their phones if they have to wait in a line for 30 seconds lol

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 17 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The Vita also rips (arguably more) ass, as it does everything the PSP does and more, it’s also the easiest console to hack there has ever been. I picked up a Japanese one for like 90 bucks and it’s one of the best all around devices there is.

[–] Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Hacking it also let's you swap O and X for canceling and selecting. To my knowledge, that's the only downside of getting a Japanese Vita.

[–] musubibreakfast@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

O is maru, X is batsu. Maru = circle for yes and X = Batsu for incorrect. Japanese people make the same gestures with their arms to signal if something is right or wrong. It's funny that they changed it for the west, I wonder what would've happened if they didn't

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Yeah, Japan was actually surprised when American game devs started using X for confirm. They never even anticipated that it would happen, because the X/O symbolism is so heavily engrained in their society that it was glaringly obvious to them that O was confirm. Their original intent was always to use the Nintendo layout for confirm/cancel, but then western devs misunderstood the buttons and swapped them.

To them, an O is like a checkmark or thumbs up emoji. Imagine if an American console maker developed a console with a thumbs up button, and Asian devs started using the thumbs up button as Cancel. The American console manufacturer would probably be pretty fucking confused by the decision too.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] popcar2@piefed.ca 34 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Last year I bought a PS Vita and I'd highly recommend that instead if you can find one for cheap! The Vita can natively run PSP games via Adrenaline, and you get the advantage of Vita games and homebrew (and a better screen).

That said, I'm a long time PSP Go lover. It's basically the PSP in a smaller, pocketable form factor. I would absolutely get that if you can get your hands on one.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 7 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Are there decent microSD to their proprietary card format adapters? Because there are plenty of cheap microSD-MSduo for the PSP

[–] popcar2@piefed.ca 14 points 4 days ago

Yeah, SD2Vita is the standard and are usually found for ~$6. You put an SD card into it, then slot it into the game card slot to expand your storage.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 18 points 4 days ago

Man, I gotta check how the battery for my PSP3000 is, and the microSD card on it. The internals work perfectly, those two things are the only ones that seem likely to give out anytime soon. My little buddy is 14yo now. I don't think I ever played any of the 3 UMD games that came with it, I immediately jailbroke it after purchase

It’s not “retro” in the same way a much older console is. It’s closer, more relatable, and maybe more importantly, more usable. It still fits into modern life without needing to be explained.

I think this is something extremely important. Looking at stuff from 20 years ago was much different when the current year was 2006 - we'd be looking at the mid 80s. Computers of the 80s and even the early 90s became obsolete fast, whatever you had in 2006, even if it was 4 years old at the time, felt light years ahead of anything from 1986 and would be internet capable.

Games from the 80s were also comparably "archaic", as the hardware limitations were much more significant and several then current games could never happen in that old hardware (NES, C64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga 500), and that's ignoring graphical complexity. Meanwhile, a number of current day games could exist in 2006, so long as the graphics were appropriately scaled down (Total War games being a perfect example).

[–] goodboyjojo@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Yeah I have a psp. It's an impressive little console that's almost like a ps2 on the go. Plus it's very easy to jailbreak. The funniest thing about the psp is the marketing video with one guy singing about wanting a psp for Christmas.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] PeculiarGoat@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (3 children)

This inspired me to go dig out my old PSP only to discover that I have no battery… I threw it out when it pillowed years ago and forgot about it. I’ll have to play on Retrodeck for now!

[–] Sophocles 2 points 3 days ago

Same thing just happened to me. I dug up my old psp from my childhood and the battery was crazy thick. I'm glad I caight it before it committed a Note 7.

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Have an uovote for mentioning my fav Steam Deck software! I love RetroDECK and can't stop recommending it!

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 16 points 4 days ago (8 children)

PSP is such a cool console but had the worst lineup of games.

[–] popcar2@piefed.ca 52 points 4 days ago (13 children)

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...)

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 13 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Ace Combat! Ratchet and Clank!

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Whaaaat? The PSP had a great collection of games

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!

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (11 replies)
[–] makyo@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Sony has gotten so good at developing excellent gaming devices and then letting them languish. Speaking as a PSVR early adopter.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] tobz619@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago (8 children)
[–] wavebeam@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

Vita means life

[–] Katana314@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

Yeah, I'm confused most nostalgia veers towards the PSP, when the follow-on was fully backwards compatible. Weirdly enough, some of the best AAA blockbusters I played on the Vita were first written for the PSP.

I'm an oddity in that I never jailbroke mine. I just really enjoyed playing indie PSN games on it, since most teams releasing on PS3 and not driving a graphical powerhouse could just do a side release there.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] lath@piefed.social 9 points 4 days ago (3 children)

PPSSPP because I can't trust second hand dealers anymore.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Scotty_Trees@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (4 children)

EVERYONE is getting one? Bruh, that is simply not the case, don't make stuff up just to sensationalize for clicks and engagement just because your TikTok algorithm started showing you more PSP stuff. You're literally just spreading your TikTok garbage over to here now trying to "make fetch happen." Be better man, you're doing their work for nothing. For real.

[–] SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 15 points 4 days ago

Everybody was not, in fact, kung-fu fighting.

[–] traxex@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don’t think people who say “everyone” ever literally means “everyone”. It’s a niche and the hype around old devices is real so the author is just commenting on it. I get hating sensationalized titles but this really isn’t as terrible as you are making it out to be.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Designers Republic art detected.

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Neat. Took me a while to make out the title, though.

[–] reboot6675@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 days ago

Oh man I loved my PSP back in the day, I played a ton in it. I had a modded one and I also installed PSX and GBA emulators.

I remember that when I bought it, it came already modded but it wasn't a permanent mod. To activate the mod after rebooting I had to navigate to the images folder and load up a PNG (I think?) image that was called Chicken or something like that. The most annoying part was that it didn't work consistently, so often times it would cause the console to hang and I had to try again. It always blew my mind how an image could trigger the hack like that, looking back I guess it was a malicious payload or something and some race condition somewhere idk.

If I remember correctly, after a couple years I was able to change the mod to a permanent one. I sold it like 10 years ago

[–] Flamekebab@piefed.social 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I should really get replacement batteries for my two PSPs.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Dzheyk@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I went down this rabbit hole last year. Modded PSP is/was great, but modded PS Vita is SO much better..and easier.

[–] nocturne@slrpnk.net 1 points 6 hours ago

I keep my PSP in the drawer under my cash register in my shop, and play it from time to time when I have people who are looking with no intent to buy anything, but the screen is too small, and too low resolution for my old eyes to use for anything serious.

I have never owned a vita. Can they play PSP games?

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Dzheyk@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That is just... gorgeous 😍

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So beautiful!

The new Anbernic RG Vita Pro! They sent me one to review, and I've been having such a wonderful time with it :)

[–] LavaPlanet@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

I love my old psp! I still enjoy playing it. I feel like, in a time where things aren't made to last, things that do hold up, really deserve reverence. So even though I've never stopped loving my psp, I gain more respect for it over time.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Funny. Just today I installed a CFW on a PSP Phat. Not for personal use, though; I've never liked what was available on the PSP, and I have a Steam Deck I can emulate on.

But my younger brother bought a second hand PSP.

load more comments
view more: next ›