Hi all,
I was given a PSP a few weeks ago, and I'm trying to find some games 
for it that I can get on with. The biggest hurdle I've had so far is 
trying to actually use the controls; the analogue... thing is just 
horrible and really makes my thumb hurt after just a couple of minutes' 
use, it's one of the most unergonomic pieces of hardware I've ever used.

So far I've tried:
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow - Impossible to control and so dull I 
couldn't be bothered to get far past the tutorial.

Gitaroo Man Lives! - Best game I've tried so far, but let down due to 
its reliance on the analog thing.

MGS: Portable Ops - Better controls than SF, but still fiddly, and 
seems rather dull so far.

Loco Roco - For a game that's designed to be casual-friendly and easy 
to pick up and play, I find this incredibly fiddly and frustrating.

Exit - Completely unresponsive controls, stopped playing before the 
tutorial ended.

What PSP games are there that you can actually control easily? I want 
to get Patapon, but I haven't picked it up yet, how are its controls?

What can people recommend?

On Mon, 6 Oct 2008 23:03:00 +0100, Fry  wrote:

>Hi all,
>I was given a PSP a few weeks ago, and I'm trying to find some games 
>for it that I can get on with. The biggest hurdle I've had so far is 
>trying to actually use the controls; the analogue... thing is just 
>horrible and really makes my thumb hurt after just a couple of minutes' 
>use, it's one of the most unergonomic pieces of hardware I've ever used.

This is truth. You must simply resign yourself to only playing half
hour sessions on any game that forces you to use the analogue stick.

>Loco Roco - For a game that's designed to be casual-friendly and easy 
>to pick up and play, I find this incredibly fiddly and frustrating.

Blimey. I though it was dead simple to work, as well as absolutely
excellent.

>What PSP games are there that you can actually control easily? I want 
>to get Patapon, but I haven't picked it up yet, how are its controls?
>
>What can people recommend?

Things that don't require the analogue nub, mostly...

Patapon is supersplendidgreat, and only needs the
circle/square/triangle/cross buttons during the action.

Every Extend Extra is good fun, and less thumb-breaking than it should
be.

Katamari is a Katamari game, uses buttons not analogue so it's a bit
trickier to steer than it should be.

Crush is rather lovely, if you like having your brain bent.

Puzzle Quest, if you haven't been addicted to it on another platform
already.

Final Fantasty Tictacs is reputedly a fine FFT game.

	Cheers - Jaimie
-- 
 I love VoIP. You don't get people phoning up to complain that the
 network is down.                            -- Peter Corlett, ASR

Fry wrote:

> What can people recommend?

Loco Roco (yes, you're doing it wrong), Patapon, Final Fantasy Tactics. 
  I have a million issues with the PSP's controls, but had no real 
problems with these three.

deKay
-- 
  Lofi Gaming - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk
  Gaming Diary - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/diary
  Blog - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/blog
  My computer runs at 3.5MHz and I'm proud of that

> Patapon is supersplendidgreat, and only needs the
> circle/square/triangle/cross buttons during the action.

Will definitely be getting this.

> 
> Every Extend Extra is good fun, and less thumb-breaking than it should
> be.

I have Every Extend Extra Extreme on the 360 and I find it incredibly 
easy; I played it for ages once and got well over a billion points, at 
which point I forced myself to Game Over. Is the PSP one any different?

> Katamari is a Katamari game, uses buttons not analogue so it's a bit
> trickier to steer than it should be

I think I'll stick to the dual-stickked versions then!

> Crush is rather lovely, if you like having your brain bent.

Will give it a look!

> Puzzle Quest, if you haven't been addicted to it on another platform
> already.

I'm waiting for the iPhone version.

> Final Fantasty Tictacs is reputedly a fine FFT game.

Might give it a go, but I have a completely untictactical mind :-)

>> What can people recommend?
> 
> Loco Roco (yes, you're doing it wrong),

Two against one, I'll give it another go! The problem I always had with 
it was jumping reliably and accurately.

Fry wrote:
>> Patapon is supersplendidgreat, and only needs the
>> circle/square/triangle/cross buttons during the action.
> 
> Will definitely be getting this.
> 
>>
>> Every Extend Extra is good fun, and less thumb-breaking than it should
>> be.
> 
> I have Every Extend Extra Extreme on the 360 and I find it incredibly 
> easy; I played it for ages once and got well over a billion points, at 
> which point I forced myself to Game Over. Is the PSP one any different?
> 

I /think/ it's a bit closer to the original Every Extend in how it's set 
up as opposed to E4, which is a bit of a slog in the untimed modes.


-- 
[ste]
gamertag: stefcha

On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 08:02:38 +0100, Fry  wrote:

>> Patapon is supersplendidgreat, and only needs the
>> circle/square/triangle/cross buttons during the action.
>
>Will definitely be getting this.

It was as addictive as Puzzle Quest for me. 

>I have Every Extend Extra Extreme on the 360 and I find it incredibly 
>easy; I played it for ages once and got well over a billion points, at 
>which point I forced myself to Game Over. Is the PSP one any different?

Close enough not to bother with. Likewise Katamari.

>> Puzzle Quest, if you haven't been addicted to it on another platform
>> already.
>
>I'm waiting for the iPhone version.

*shudder* having just updated to v2 software last night, I hadn't
considered that. I'm going to have to be careful if that happens.

>> Final Fantasty Tictacs is reputedly a fine FFT game.
>
>Might give it a go, but I have a completely untictactical mind :-)

Me too, which is why I haven't gone for it myself.

	Cheers - Jaimie
-- 
Unix was written to play Spacewar and cheat at Scrabble, but Linux was
created merely to prove that it booted.                     - AdB, ASR

On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 08:03:19 +0100, Fry  wrote:

>>> What can people recommend?
>> 
>> Loco Roco (yes, you're doing it wrong),
>
>Two against one, I'll give it another go! The problem I always had with 
>it was jumping reliably and accurately.

Be fair, you are tilting+bumping the entire planet - small scale
accuracy is tricky!

	Cheers - Jaimie
-- 
In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create
the universe.                                        - Carl Sagan

Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
> On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 08:02:38 +0100, Fry  wrote: 
> 
>> I have Every Extend Extra Extreme on the 360 and I find it incredibly 
>> easy; I played it for ages once and got well over a billion points, at 
>> which point I forced myself to Game Over. Is the PSP one any different?
> 
> Close enough not to bother with. Likewise Katamari.
> 

Oh, as in it's closer to E4 than the original?  Well, that's one less 
reason to consider the PSP!

-- 
[ste]
gamertag: stefcha

On Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:28:14 +0100, "[ste parker]"
 wrote:

>Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>> On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 08:02:38 +0100, Fry  wrote: 
>> 
>>> I have Every Extend Extra Extreme on the 360 and I find it incredibly 
>>> easy; I played it for ages once and got well over a billion points, at 
>>> which point I forced myself to Game Over. Is the PSP one any different?
>> 
>> Close enough not to bother with. Likewise Katamari.
>> 
>
>Oh, as in it's closer to E4 than the original? 

Dunno, I've not played the original. It's pretty close to E4,
certainly. I can't do a side-by-side comparison since my 360 is away.

Some Extend fanatic will probably follow up to detail the *incredibly
large* differences between them, which largely revolve around the
change in rate of increase in numbers of the enemies over time or some
such.

	Cheers - Jaimie
-- 
If you own a jackhammer, every problem looks like hours of fun

"Fry"  wrote in message 
news:6kvg8kF9t2csU1@mid.individual.net...
> Hi all,
> I was given a PSP a few weeks ago, and I'm trying to find some games for 
> it that I can get on with. The biggest hurdle I've had so far is trying to 
> actually use the controls; the analogue... thing is just horrible and 
> really makes my thumb hurt after just a couple of minutes' use, it's one 
> of the most unergonomic pieces of hardware I've ever used.
>
> So far I've tried:
> Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow - Impossible to control and so dull I 
> couldn't be bothered to get far past the tutorial.
>
> Gitaroo Man Lives! - Best game I've tried so far, but let down due to its 
> reliance on the analog thing.
>
> MGS: Portable Ops - Better controls than SF, but still fiddly, and seems 
> rather dull so far.
>
> Loco Roco - For a game that's designed to be casual-friendly and easy to 
> pick up and play, I find this incredibly fiddly and frustrating.
>
> Exit - Completely unresponsive controls, stopped playing before the 
> tutorial ended.
>
> What PSP games are there that you can actually control easily? I want to 
> get Patapon, but I haven't picked it up yet, how are its controls?
>
> What can people recommend?
>

Lumines...

still the only decent psp game, and one that isn't dependant on hardware. 
shame it never came out on the DS

the_niner_nation wrote:

> "Fry"  wrote in message
> news:6kvg8kF9t2csU1@mid.individual.net...
> > Hi all,
> > I was given a PSP a few weeks ago, and I'm trying to find some
> > games for  it that I can get on with. The biggest hurdle I've had
> > so far is trying to  actually use the controls; the analogue...
> > thing is just horrible and  really makes my thumb hurt after just a
> > couple of minutes' use, it's one  of the most unergonomic pieces of
> > hardware I've ever used.
> > 
> > So far I've tried:
> > Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow - Impossible to control and so dull I
> > couldn't be bothered to get far past the tutorial.
> > 
> > Gitaroo Man Lives! - Best game I've tried so far, but let down due
> > to its  reliance on the analog thing.
> > 
> > MGS: Portable Ops - Better controls than SF, but still fiddly, and
> > seems  rather dull so far.
> > 
> > Loco Roco - For a game that's designed to be casual-friendly and
> > easy to  pick up and play, I find this incredibly fiddly and
> > frustrating.
> > 
> > Exit - Completely unresponsive controls, stopped playing before the
> > tutorial ended.
> > 
> > What PSP games are there that you can actually control easily? I
> > want to  get Patapon, but I haven't picked it up yet, how are its
> > controls?
> > 
> > What can people recommend?
> > 
> 
> Lumines...
> 
> still the only decent psp game, and one that isn't dependant on
> hardware. shame it never came out on the DS

It would sound like shit given the DS's audio capabilities, and music
is a substantial part of the experience IMHO.

-- 
qt

"[ste parker]"  wrote in message 
news:6l0o4jF9lqpnU3@mid.individual.net...
> Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>> On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 08:02:38 +0100, Fry  wrote:
>>> I have Every Extend Extra Extreme on the 360 and I find it incredibly 
>>> easy; I played it for ages once and got well over a billion points, at 
>>> which point I forced myself to Game Over. Is the PSP one any different?
>>
>> Close enough not to bother with. Likewise Katamari.
>>
>
> Oh, as in it's closer to E4 than the original?  Well, that's one less 
> reason to consider the PSP!

No, it's more like the original. EEE is good, EEEE is rubbish and broken.

> What can people recommend?

...

Thanks all! I picked up Patapon and now struggle to put it down! :-)