Tag Archives: PSP

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Rise and fall of the Twisted Metal series

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Ah yes, Twisted Metal — the video game series that asked the all-important question:

“What if Mario Kart had a midlife crisis, bought a flamethrower, and started listening to Nine Inch Nails?”

🚗💥 What is Twisted Metal?

Imagine a demolition derby, except every car has rockets, machine guns, and deep emotional trauma. It’s vehicular combat meets psychological horror meets…a 14-year-old’s sketchbook full of fire and skulls. You don’t just race to win — you blow up an ice cream truck driven by a flaming clown while dodging missiles fired from a haunted hearse.
So… Tuesday in the ’90s, basically.

🧠 The Premise (yes, there’s lore)

Twisted Metal revolves around a tournament run by Calypso, a mysterious cryptkeeper-meets-used-car-salesman who grants one wish to the last vehicle standing. Sounds cool, right? Plot twist: he’s a genie with a legal team. Your wish always comes true, but in the most ironic, monkey’s-paw way possible.

You ask for eternal life? He buries you alive.
You wish to be famous? Boom — you’re wanted in every country.
You ask for peace on Earth? Everyone else dies.

Classic Calypso!

🎮 The Gameplay

Pick a car, get a weapon, and start wrecking people. Your opponents include:

  • A killer clown named Sweet Tooth, driving a flaming ice cream truck (soothing!).

  • Mr. Grimm, a literal death biker with a scythe and no chill.

  • Axel, a man fused between two giant wheels because apparently walking was too mainstream.

  • And other emotionally unavailable vehicles with serious firepower and even deeper issues.

Levels take place in beloved landmarks like Paris, LA, and the apocalypse. The controls are tight, the explosions satisfying, and the soundtrack pure early-2000s rage.

📉 What happened to it?

Like a rock band that peaked at Ozzfest 2001, Twisted Metal had its glory days on the PS1 and PS2, then sort of… spun out. There was a reboot on PS3, and now there’s a Peacock TV show, which somehow exists and stars Anthony Mackieand Will Arnett as a clown. It’s both baffling and completely on-brand.

Featured, Mobile & Handhelds

Good thing I opened this brand new PSP!!

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QUICK BONUS VIDEO: The Sony PSP battery—proof that sometimes, portable gaming meant “portable explosive device.”

In the mid-2000s, the PSP was the sleekest thing around. You felt like a tech god holding that black mirror of power. But little did we know… inside that shiny shell lurked a ticking time bomb disguised as a lithium-ion battery.

At First:
The battery was a loyal sidekick. Gave you a solid 3–5 hours of Lumines, God of War, or pirated UMD movies. You charged it, drained it, charged it again, and it always came back like a faithful puppy.

Then One Day…
You open the PSP case, and—WHAT IN THE POLYGONAL HELL IS THAT? The battery has puffed up like a marshmallow in a microwave. It looks like it’s trying to escape its own plastic prison. Your sleek PSP now has a weird bulge, like it grew a tumor from too much Monster Hunter.

The Danger:
Experts said, “Don’t puncture it.” So naturally, millions of teens went full MythBusters with a paperclip to see what happens. Spoiler: nothing good. At best, it hissed like a furious cat. At worst, spontaneous combustion. Congrats! You turned your handheld console into a grenade.

Sony’s Official Response?
“Oh, uh… yeah. If your battery swells up like a balloon at a kid’s party, maybe stop using it. You can send it in for a replacement!”
Cool, thanks, Sony—let me just find my 2005 receipt and fax you my soul.

The Aftermath:
To this day, PSP batteries are hiding in drawers across the world, slowly inflating like tiny chemical balloons of doom. If you hear a faint hiss coming from your closet, don’t worry—it’s just your PSP trying to take you out one last time.

It was the first handheld console that doubled as a gaming device and a potential fire hazard. Truly, the PSP was ahead of its time.

Featured, Metal Jesus Likes

The Rise and Fall of the SSX game series. 😢

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The SSX series is what happens when someone says, “What if we made snowboarding… but completely unhinged?” and then followed through with maximum chaos. Short for Snowboard Supercross, SSX first launched in 2000 and instantly turned the slopes into a gravity-defying playground. Forget realistic snowboarding — in SSX, you could launch yourself 300 feet into the air, pull off a triple backflip while grabbing your board with one pinky, and still have time to wink at the camera before landing perfectly. The game didn’t care about physics; it cared about style.

Every SSX game had the same core philosophy: snowboard like you have a death wish, rack up points, and look cool doing it. The characters were all basically extreme sports superheroes — like Mac, the lovable goofball who treated snowboarding like a rock concert, or Elise, who probably did double backflips just to grab a sandwich. The courses were pure chaos, ranging from death-defying mountain peaks to neon-lit night runs, and the soundtrack? Absolute fire. (Jurassic 5 while shredding a glacier? Yes, please.) By the time SSX Tricky came out, the series had achieved cult status, teaching players that if you’re not pulling off a mid-air worm while flying over a bottomless ravine, are you even snowboarding?

Featured, Travel, Recent Pickups

Is video game collecting as bad as they say?

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We’re heading to Columbus, Ohio, for TORG, the Ohio Retro Gamer Expo! In this video, I’ll focus on deals you can find at these events. I’ll ask vendors—who buy and sell games daily—what they think are the best deals today. I’m also working on my Sony PSP collection, and I’ll show you everything I picked up at the end.

The Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) is the cool kid who showed up at the party with the swagger of a console and the size of a big smartphone (back when phones weren’t that smart yet). It’s like the Swiss Army knife of gaming, trying to be your gaming console, your MP3 player, and even your Netflix (though streaming wasn’t quite ready to party yet).

The PSP flexed its muscles with a gorgeous 4.3-inch screen, boasting graphics that made you say, “Wait, this is portable?!” It had Wi-Fi so you could school your friends in multiplayer—if you could convince them to lug their PSPs around. And let’s not forget the UMD discs, those quirky little Frisbees that carried your games and movies. They looked futuristic but were basically mini-CDs with trust issues.

Sony even tried to make the PSP your entire life: it had a web browser (sort of), a photo viewer (but no camera), and music playback (for when your iPod forgot its place). The battery life was decent—unless you were watching UMD movies, in which case it gave up faster than a kid in a math test.

The PSP was like that overachiever friend who insists on doing everything, and honestly, it nailed a lot of it. Sure, the controls felt a little cramped, and the proprietary memory cards were pricier than gourmet coffee, but the PSP brought portable gaming into the spotlight, and it did it with style. Plus, it gave us Monster Hunter marathons and the ability to watch Spider-Man 2 on the go—what more could you want? (Except maybe fewer smudges on that glorious screen.)

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Why You Need To Put A Raspberry Pi CM4 Inside Your PSP Right Now!

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Something magical happens when you put a Raspberry Pi Into A PSP. In this episode we take a look at the PSPi 6 project from othermod. A really cool mod that turns the PSP into a beautiful emulation handheld.

The Sony PSP, short for PlayStation Portable, was a handheld gaming console released by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2004. It marked a significant advancement in portable gaming technology, offering a level of graphics and gameplay previously unseen in handheld devices. The PSP featured a 4.3-inch LCD screen with impressive color reproduction and resolution, providing a high-quality gaming experience on the go. It also boasted a wide range of multimedia capabilities, allowing users to not only play games but also watch movies, listen to music, view photos, and browse the internet. The PSP utilized a proprietary optical disc format called Universal Media Disc (UMD) for games and movies, but it also supported digital downloads and offered a Memory Stick Duo slot for expandable storage.

One of the key strengths of the PSP was its robust library of games, which encompassed a diverse range of genres from action-adventure to RPGs, and featured popular titles like “God of War: Chains of Olympus,” “Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions,” and “Monster Hunter Freedom.” The device also introduced features like local ad-hoc multiplayer, enabling players to connect with one another wirelessly for multiplayer gaming experiences. Despite facing competition from Nintendo’s DS, the PSP enjoyed a loyal fan base and contributed to the growth of the handheld gaming market. Its sleek design, powerful hardware, and versatile multimedia capabilities made it a standout device in the portable gaming landscape, leaving a lasting legacy in the gaming industry.

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Vloggin w/ the PSP Camera in 2023 – It looks better than you think! 😂

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I mean really folks the title is about as simple as it gets. I was at Retro Game Con this year in Syracuse, NY. You know I’m always on the hunt for games across PS1 games, Wii, GBA, CIB Pokemon, things like that. And I figured you know what. I’ve got a PlayStation Portable with the Camera accessory. I’ve got a YouTube Channel. I can do that whole vlogging thing, right? I’ve got what it takes, right? I do. So that’s why we’re filming video like it’s the 2000s.

The Sony PSP, short for PlayStation Portable, was a handheld gaming console released by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2004. It was a groundbreaking device that offered console-quality gaming experiences on the go. The PSP featured a sleek, portable design with a large, vibrant 4.3-inch LCD screen that provided impressive graphics for its time. It boasted a wide range of multimedia capabilities, allowing users to not only play games but also watch videos, listen to music, and view photos. With a powerful processor and ample RAM, the PSP delivered smooth gameplay and immersive graphics, making it a popular choice among gamers.

One of the defining features of the PSP was its UMD (Universal Media Disc) format, a proprietary optical disc that allowed for high-capacity storage of games, movies, and other media. This format gave developers the ability to create visually impressive games and provided users with a diverse library of titles to choose from. The PSP also supported online multiplayer gaming, enabling players to connect with others over Wi-Fi and compete in multiplayer modes. Additionally, it had a range of accessories and peripherals, including a camera attachment and GPS module, which expanded its functionality beyond just gaming. The PSP left a significant mark on the portable gaming industry and remains a beloved console for many gamers around the world.

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Good Games Stuck on PSP

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Stuck on what to play or what to buy? Join That Video Games Show as they list and discuss ten of the most over looked and obscure PSP hidden gems that are stuck on the Playstation Portable.

The Sony PSP, or PlayStation Portable, captured the hearts of gamers worldwide with its groundbreaking combination of cutting-edge technology and portable gaming convenience. Released in 2004, the PSP boasted impressive graphics and processing power for its time, rivaling the capabilities of some home consoles. This allowed for console-quality gaming experiences on the go, a feat previously unheard of in the handheld gaming market. The wide array of titles available, from popular franchises to unique indie games, provided a diverse gaming library that catered to a broad range of tastes and preferences. Additionally, the PSP’s multimedia capabilities, including the ability to play movies, music, and browse the internet, further solidified its status as a versatile entertainment device beyond just gaming.

Furthermore, the PSP introduced a social aspect to portable gaming through its innovative ad-hoc multiplayer feature. This allowed gamers to connect wirelessly with friends and engage in competitive or cooperative gameplay experiences, fostering a sense of camaraderie and shared gaming experiences. The system’s sleek design and high-quality display made it a pleasure to use, and its intuitive control scheme provided a comfortable and responsive gaming experience. Overall, the Sony PSP’s blend of powerful hardware, diverse game library, and social gaming capabilities made it an incredibly appealing choice for gamers looking for a portable gaming system that could deliver console-like experiences on the go.