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.

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.

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).

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

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.

This but PS Vita*

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.

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

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!

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.

I should really get replacement batteries for my two PSPs.

I’m someone who played on Nintendo handhelds growing up, but I always admired the design of the PSP. It felt so much sleeker than the DS at the time, and it’s remarkable how impressive it looks even today.

What are the most interesting hacks and tinkering projects that you can get up to with a PSP or Vita today? I’m considering getting one now.

I've always wanted one. From when they first came out, to now. I just don't know which one I want to eventually get, or in what color.

Touching on the burnout section of the article, it's not quite as cool as the PSP but I've been playing a lot on my Switch 2 as a form of digital detox as well. I put limits on all the addictive apps on my phone, and downright uninstalled most of them, so when I'm itching for dopamine my phone can't give me it's nice to turn to a game console. The switch 2 also doesn't have notifications or egregious game updates. Currently playing through factorio and having a blast just kinda ... ignoring the state of the world.

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.