Yesterday I discovered the Playstation Store for the first time. This is both fantastic and not good at all.
I suppose I knew that it existed. As I understood it though, it could only be accessed via PS3 and then the games could be transferred to your PSP. If that was ever the case, it’s not anymore. And now I have access to PSOne Classics, and my credit card bill is going to inflate dramatically.
I’ve already bought Breath of Fire IV, Tomb Raider and Gex 3: Enter the Gecko. BoFIV and Tomb Raider because the kids at Gamespite keep telling my how good they are and how I missed out, and Gex 3 because I remember playing and enjoying the N64 version as a whippersnapper. In retrospect, it’s a game that only a child should enjoy; a second-rate Banjo-Kazooie.
The most interesting thing about Gex 3 is that it’s just loaded with pop-culture references. And this was in an age before Family Guy. At least, Gex: Enter the Gecko (Gex 2) predated Family Guy by about a year, and it used the same schtick. After a little research, it seems like Enter the Gecko was actually released before Banjo-Kazooie, making my comment in the last paragraph a little backwards, but you’d think that Crystal Dynamics would have learned from the best for Gex 3. That is to say, the best for 3D platforming collectathons anyway.
I actually cannot wait to dig into Tomb Raider. I remember hating the demo with a passion, but I’ve heard enough people say that once you get around the lame controls and gunplay mechanics there’s a great adventure buried in there. I hope to excavate this supposed relic. Hyuk hyuk.
And Breath of Fire IV? I’ve played the first dungeons in the first two BoF games, and have delved a bit farther into Dragon Quarter (which I need to get back to…), but otherwise I have very little experience with the series. RPGs also seem better suited than complex action games to be played on a system that’s missing two buttons and an analog stick from the original controller. Also, I probably don’t need to buy a third copy of Final Fantasy VIII. Though I inevitably will. The idea of being able to play FFVIII anywhere is way too tempting. And when I can, I fear my 3DS and all other PSP games I own will become completely irrelevant. The only thing that’s really stopping me from doing so right now is the fact that my tiny memory stick is full and I don’t want to buy a new one.
In conclusion, I’m glad the most these games go for is $10 (sans tax!). That’s considerably less than people are trying to make me pay for used physical copies! Hooray!