"Greatest Hits" coming to PSP

by Blake Snow { Jul 25th 2006 at 3:00PM }

Sony announced today that a "Greatest Hits" collection is coming to the PSP with titles being re-released in shiny new plastic and a budget price of $19.99. Starting today you can get Wipeout Pure, Twisted Metal: Head On, Ape Escape: On the Loose, ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails, and Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee on the cheap.

The company also said that third-party "Greatest Hits" titles will come later this year including Lumines, Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade, Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, and Star Wars Battlefront II.

You say "Greatest Hits" but the only thing we hear is "discount" baby.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DG @ Jul 25th 2006 3:03PM

So if Sony's doing it for PSP, when will Nintendo do it for DS? $20 is a much better price for Nintendogs and Mario 64DS.

Jody Anthony @ Jul 25th 2006 3:03PM

but wasnt GTA:LCS one of the psp's biggest sellers? how come it's not included?

Chris @ Jul 25th 2006 3:04PM

At Least it wont be a huge library then. Worst System i ever played.

duscrom @ Jul 25th 2006 3:12PM

Wow, that makes PSP games, cheaper then DS games... as there are no quality titles that is beloy $30.. since Nintendo dosen't lower prices on their games.

KingOfGods @ Jul 25th 2006 3:12PM

Question is will they make you upgrade the firmware to play these older games......

Ken @ Jul 25th 2006 3:12PM

The sad thing is, even at $20, I still don't care. Thank goodness the PSP does so much, because its current game librabry sucks so bad Hoover might sue them for patent infringement.

I'll keep playing VP: Lenneth until we get more news about Final Fantasy VII or Jeanne d' Arc.

In defense of the PSP, I do actually use it regularly. My DS gets no love at all. It's collecting dust until Final Fantasy III releases.

Clint @ Jul 25th 2006 3:13PM

Great! Don't forget that Tekken is also out today!

Lorben @ Jul 25th 2006 3:13PM

Unfortunatly any of those I wanted to buy (Lumines, HSG, Wipeout) I already did.

Thomas Crymes @ Jul 25th 2006 3:16PM

"but wasnt GTA:LCS one of the psp's biggest sellers? how come it's not included?"

Probably because it is still a big seller. Generally, companies release titles as "Greatest Hits" or whatever because their sales have fallen and they want to try and squeeze a little more out of them before putting them to pasture.

Mike @ Jul 25th 2006 3:16PM

"You say "Greatest Hits" but the only thing we hear is "discount" baby"

Joystiq is officially run by 5 year olds.

Congrats.

Retro @ Jul 25th 2006 3:18PM

"Question is will they make you upgrade the firmware to play these older games......"

DEVHOOK Baby!!

jabbertrack @ Jul 25th 2006 3:19PM

I'm with Ken.

Oddly enough I use my PSP all the time for movies, but that's a total niche functionality. Lots of people have no use for that in their lifestyle.

However if you are looking for some decent games check out Mega Man and Field Commander.

But really the kick in the butt for the PSP will be the PSOne titles... FFVII being the biggest kicker.

Zeldathebest @ Jul 25th 2006 3:22PM

"Greatest hits" are u kidding me more like greatest hit which was gta thats it.So many titles to choose from lol ape escape and tony hawk i guess the psp really does have no good games.

Andrew C @ Jul 25th 2006 3:36PM

[
"You say "Greatest Hits" but the only thing we hear is "discount" baby"

Joystiq is officially run by 5 year olds.

Congrats. ]

I disagree, it as that reason alone that might make me get a PSP. I also planning on getting an X360 once it has a Platinum Hits list as well. Saving $30 on 10+ games is a good amount of money saved.

-Andrew C

blahblahblah @ Jul 25th 2006 3:45PM

so they slap a "greatest hit" any games and people think it will be worth their money? I've bought many greatest hits for my ps2 and most of them i regreted.

Doug @ Jul 25th 2006 4:04PM

Tanner over at awkbomb.com does a great write up for the Sega Master System, definitely worth taking a look if you like the idea behind the PSP:

http://www.awkbomb.com/2006/06/22/retrogaming-sega-master-system/

Pii3 @ Jul 25th 2006 4:14PM

Where might I find these discounted babies?

Erik Novak @ Jul 25th 2006 4:15PM

Joystiq does seem quite biased against the PSP. Tekken is one of the biggest releases for the system this year and they buried it under small releases and said that nothing was coming out for the week. Also, these games are top sellers, so there's nothing wrong w/ the "Greatest Hits" moniker.

One more thing...Hot Shots Golf for PSP is the best one of the series and is the greatest portable game I've ever played. The replayability is rediculous and there's always more stuff to unlock. In contrast, I blazed through Mario Golf for GBA in a week.

Shagi @ Jul 25th 2006 4:16PM

AS far as I'm concered hand-held gaming is in a crap state reguardless of weather you like the DS or the PSP. Besides Hot Shots golf there hasn't been 1 title I've been interested in for either portable.

I find it hard to believe that except for when on the road anyone would choose any of those gaming experiences over anything available in their home. To me that implies that the handheld market if weak.

Now I know that all the little nintendites are going to claim they have more fun with their DS than with their home consoles, but I've played the same games your playing and they all made me yawn.

I'd take the PSP over the DS any day of the week. You talk about a library of games but theres NOTHING on the DS im interested in. At least the PSP had Hot Shots Golf.

Mark Nielsen @ Jul 25th 2006 4:19PM

What, no Dance Dance Revolution?

WizarDru @ Jul 25th 2006 4:20PM

"Wow, that makes PSP games, cheaper then DS games... as there are no quality titles that is beloy $30.. since Nintendo dosen't lower prices on their games."

That's only true if you happen to think that Brain Age, Big Brain Academy, Break 'em All, Sudoku Gridmaster, American Sk8land, Sims 2 and others as not being of much quality, which is up to you. But seeing how the first two alone have sold huge numbers, I'm not sure everyone agrees. They certainly aren't action intensive, but I personally think Big Brain Academy is a gas and I'm reasonably sure that I'll dig Cooking Mama (which debuts at the same price) later this summer.

student @ Jul 25th 2006 4:36PM

Erik, you're looking too deeply here, I'm sorry. What joystiq is saying is basically... who cares what you call it, as long as there is a discount, it sounds good to us. They're not insulting the games hit status, they're celebrating the drop in price. Sheesh. People need to chill, joystiq isn't conniving to kill your mother or anything.

Brock @ Jul 25th 2006 4:41PM

What's funny is that the PSP can emulate nintendo, super nintendo, Gameboy, gameboy advance, sega, N64, AND DS (obviously only the games that have an option for both the stylus and the D-pad. Animal crossing anybody?

It's also getting ready to emulate PSOne games as well as play movies, MP3's, internet, etc. etc. etc.

I currently play GTA, Daxter, Syphon filter, VP Lenneth, Breath of Fire 3, getting Tekken, Lumines, both Metal Gears, Burnout and Loco Roco.

If all those games suck then you aren't a gamer plain and simple. The library started out weak but is very strong now and will get even stronger with upcoming games (looking forward to FFVI Crisis Core the most).

The argument that the PSP has "the crappiest slection of only one game to play" doesn't work anymore.

crono141 @ Jul 25th 2006 4:46PM

Whoever said there is nothing worth playing on the DS is neither a casual gamer, a hardcore gamer, or a gamer at all.

blahblahblah @ Jul 25th 2006 4:47PM

i'm pretty sure they'll never get to emulate the n64 or ds. they still have trouble emulating sega games lol. and you know how long it took to emulate the n64 for the pc since the n64 came out? I say about 11 years and they still haven't fix everything. heck it couldn't even run on a computer with 256 MB of ram and 700 MHz I doubt it will run on a psp.

Not even gonna start with the ds when they don't even have a working emulator for pc yet.

don't dis my ds @ Jul 25th 2006 5:11PM

check out the DS's fall awesomenessesness

Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games(TM)
Oct. 16: Nintendogs(TM) (Dalmatian)
Oct. 23: Magical Starsign(TM)
Oct. 30: Pokemon(R) Ranger
Oct. 30: Children of Mana(R)
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents(TM)
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island(TM) 2
Dec. 4: Custom Robo(TM) Arena
Dec. 4: Kirby(TM) Squeak Squad

I just might break my awesomenessesness DS stylus (super cool free included with system).

Reaper man @ Jul 25th 2006 5:17PM

you forgot Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin you insensitive clod!

Lee @ Jul 25th 2006 5:44PM

Sigh, gets harder to defend the PSP when there are already masses of people trying to and sounding like idiots.

Emulate DS? Gah.

Though N64 emulation has actually come a long way on the PSP, a typical emulator is probably impossible, but game-specific emulators (as one programmer is doing) seems like it will offer playable games.

When questioning the PSP's ability to do it, you gotta realise it only has to render it at a measly 480x272 (most games being 4:3 I'd guess probably 320x240).

And that fall lineup looks like BS, maybe Yoshi's Story, but mainly this fall my DS is gonna be dedicated to FFIII.

Phipscube @ Jul 25th 2006 5:49PM

You had to get the last comment in eh? Whats wrong with the games lineup? They are as I recall all best sellers (Well here in Europe they where). Thats exactly what Sony do with Platinum on PS2. Give the bashing a rest now.

How come we arent seeing multiple news posts about how cool Loco Roco is on here? much like we did with New Mario Brothers? You know, reminding us every hour that New SMB was coming out with screens and all that crap.

Come September the 5th you Yanks are gonna get a suprise.

I'm sat here playing possibly the best hand held game ever and there is NOTHING on here about it, no hype or anything.

Completely original, and addictive. This game really suprised the hell out of me. I expected it was good, but not THIS good. I don't normally go for cute games like this (aka Nintendo) but its really amazing.

I'm hard pushed to find a review anywhere on the net. Users all over Europe are giving it flat 10 out of 10 mostly with lowest score being 9.3.

So Sony have made one of the most original games of the year so far and everyone here goes quiet about it.

Carry on playing 20 year old games with flashy GFX.

Oh, and don't forget to put the DS down now and then to add even more useless Nintendo related "news" items.

You should just combine Joystiq with Wii Fanboy and call it Wiistiq fangirls. Dump all the offspring sites, they are badly out of date with all news and full of crap sarcasm. Then you can all concentrate on what you all do best. Talk cack about anything and everything Nintendo ;) hee hee!

Clint @ Jul 25th 2006 5:49PM

"Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games(TM)
Oct. 16: Nintendogs(TM) (Dalmatian)
Oct. 23: Magical Starsign(TM)
Oct. 30: Pokemon(R) Ranger
Oct. 30: Children of Mana(R)
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents(TM)
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island(TM) 2
Dec. 4: Custom Robo(TM) Arena
Dec. 4: Kirby(TM) Squeak Squad"

Yeah...I'm sure my 10 year old nephew will love this line up since he's 10, but get real! That's as kiddy as it comes!

llfauntleroy @ Jul 25th 2006 9:37PM

"Wiistiq fangirls" - now that's a blog i would read.

32_footsteps @ Jul 25th 2006 10:28PM

Damn, I must have forgotten - I'm supposed to hate all games that don't have blood, cursing, or sex in them the second I turned 15. That's a dozen years of my life wasted because I didn't spend them playing games with a bare minimum rating of T.

Agent X @ Jul 25th 2006 10:58PM

I'm excited about the arrival of Greatest Hits for PSP. I've already got a few of the titles already mentioned, and am considering picking up at least one or two others now that they're even more affordable.

One thing a lot of people are forgetting is that Sony obviously planned for this to occur on PSP at some point in time (which just happens to be now). The introduction of Greatest Hits on PS1, and later on PS2, was a key part of their strategy to sell their video game systems to the masses over the long term. They are able to take games that have proven themselves at retail, give publishers of these games a break on licensing fees as an incentive, and relaunch these games at an affordable price to attract new waves of customers. Producing games on inexpensive, high-capacity optical disc media (as opposed to expensive, low-capacity cartridges) makes it all possible.

Pal @ Jul 26th 2006 2:31AM

Looks like someone's not a fan of the PSP. Well, that's what separates a blog from a news site, eh?

I'll definitely pick up Hot Shots Golf and WipeOut Pure. Been wanting those forever, but been too cheap. Thanks Sony!

Rootbeer @ Jul 26th 2006 12:18PM

Nintendo dosen't lower prices on their games.

They don't? I could have sworn that I saw shelves full of older GameCube titles for 19.99 at the store last night...

I try not to get into the PSP-vs-DS fan wars but I honestly can't see the point in arguing that the PSP has a better game library because you can void your warranty and hack it to illegally emulate games released for other consoles. Can't we limit our comparisons to the game titles that are explicitly designed FOR the device? Compare the DS library (not even the GBA library) against the PSP library?

Lee @ Jul 26th 2006 1:21PM

Rootbeer, firstly, it doesn't void your warranty running homebrew, remove the memory stick and it's a standard PSP, free to do anything a normal PSP can do, and the hardware remains untouched (unless you get a modchip, but that's only neccessary if you bought a PSP yesterday or so).

The PSP has a fair library, not as large as the DSs, but possibly better depending on the games you prefer.

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/25/impatient-add-gps-to-your-psp-the-hard-way/1#c1793222

It's all about what YOU want. There's no point DS boys bragging that their library is "better" and larger, when the people they're bragging to may just prefer the library of the PSP. And there's no point in PSP boys putting down DS games as being kiddy, as Nintendo have always given their games a setting that enables them to be accessible to a younger age group, which has been their target age group since day 1.

32_footsteps, say what you will about how you perceive Clint to be ignorant of games like those, but the truth is, I'm mostly inclined to agree. Not because they lack "Teen" ratings or whatever, but the truth is these games tend to more often than not simply offer little challenge. That can be argued about any game, but Nintendo's have been notoriously easy over the past few years, especially the DS titles.

There's always exceptions, but just pointing out his criticism isn't that unfounded. Though to be honest, even if it was as you interpreted, the visual theme of a game can be very important, and some people just don't like the colourful motifs, toony characters, and weak story of games like those, games aren't JUST gameplay.

Evan @ Jul 26th 2006 1:34PM

Sony's criteria is: the game must have sold 250,000 units. That's all? 250,000 units on any other platform would not be considered a "hit". The DS has 13 games that have sold over one million. The PSP only has 3 games over the million mark, so Sony appears to be stretching the definition of "hit".

storl @ Jul 26th 2006 1:49PM

Some of these are already out. I picked up the Battlefront II GH edition at Fry's this weekend for $18. Not as good as the console games due to the control issues, but not bad at all for $18.

Lee @ Jul 26th 2006 2:08PM

Evan, it's all relative. The DS has sold more units, of course the sales are going to be higher.

Besides, like Joystiq say, it's less about them being good games, and more about the price reduction.

Night Elve @ Jul 28th 2006 2:59PM

I dont understand why some people still insist that PSP library sucks.

We have great games right now:

- Ridge Racer.
- Wipeout Pure.
- Lumines.
- Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth.
- Tekken Dark Resurrection.
- Metal Gear Acid 2.
- Untold Legends: Brotherhood Blade.
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.
- Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror.
- Daxter.
- Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix.
- SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo.
- Burnout Legends.
- Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee.
- World Tour Soccer 2 (Even this Demo looks good).

Just to name a few of them :)