OK, I recently took the plunge on one of these things and every negative I though I would encounter with the system has held true. This isn't saying much, it's not as if I'm dissapointed but gamewise I'm running the usual suspects here so far and in the future:

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Darkstakers 3: The Chaos Tower
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Mega Man X Maverick Hunter
Mega Man Powered Up
Mega Man Legends Value Pack (JPN)
Star Ocean: First Contact
Star Ocean: Second Evolution
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

Future Purchases:
Breath of Fire III (PAL)
Mega Man X/Powered Up Value Pack (JPN) [only if I can score the music CD, anyone have any leads?]
The Third Birthday (when it comes out)
Wild Arms XF
PSN downloads of old PS1 RPGs (does anyone know where I can find a list of what can be downloaded? Are multi-disc games smaller MB wise than the total data they are in their original form since some of the repeated data could be ignored?)

Not exactly anything too new. Can anyone recommend something that isn't of the same ilk above. Oh, and I'm kind of split on the recently released Lunar. Wasn't too big on the PS1 remake.

I admit I recently took a long look at the PSPGo in a Gamestop recently. The download-only philosophy is a major turnoff and I'm not sure if it's been hacked yet, but the control is perfect to me and much nicer than the PSP 3000.

Two games I plan on buying are relative sleepers are Prinny - Can I Be the Hero and Rock Band Unplugged. RB Unplugged is crazy that it switches tracks, making you play various parts of the whole song (I think forcing you to really learn the songs, so you know what parts to focus on) and was a lot better than I thought it would be. Star Ocean: First Departure is also at the top of my list (I almost bought a Super Famicom version of the cart to play, before emulators on the game were stable) The 3 Legend of Heroes games also finally saw stateside release and as a Falcom fan, I would definitely jump on that. Also Ys 7 I believe was PSP only so far (confirm? deny?). Other than that, Dracula X and stuff like the Capcom Classic Collections (for on-the-go fun) would be high on my list.

Here is the list of PSP games that I have:

Generation of Chaos (never played it; got it for the soundtrack)
Dynasty Warriors
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee
Gradius Collection
DJ Max Portable (a Korean rhythm game)
DJ Max Portable 2
PC Engine Best Collection (the one with Sapphire on it)
Jeanne D'Arc (so-so strategy game; I much prefer Disgaea)
Final Fantasy Tactics - The War of the Lions
Dracula X Chronicles
Tokimeki Memorial
Tokimeki Memorial 4
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure
Ys I & II Chronicles
Ys 7
Ys ~ The Oath in Felghana

I agree that if you are a Falcom fan, having a PSP makes a lot of sense.  You don't have to mess around with computer settings to make sure you can display Japanese properly, and a few English ports only came out for the PSP.

I'd say the PSP, on the whole, isn't really worth it.  I bought the system specifically for Dracula X, which is awesome, but now you can get it on Virtual Console for $9, so it's not really necessary.  But if you've already got a PSP, in addition to most of the games you've already listed, you should check out the two Patapon games, Half-Minute Hero, and the two What Did I Do to Deserve This My Lord? games.  All have free demos on PSN.

Well, I spend over an hour per day commuting to and from work (walking and public transportation).  For me, the PSP is my most-used system.

why do you have these but not Brandish

WHERE ARE YOUR PRIORITIES

Apparently this doesn't exist. I thought since they did III they would have ported IV since they did the first two on the GBA.

Found a list... the PSOne classics list is rather skimpy. Can barely break ten titles I want. Some of the games I'd get (SaGa Frontier, Brave Fencer Musashi) are only avaliable in Japan.

Don't do it! The PSP Go will never see Megaman Powered Up, as Capcom won't be putting it on PSN because they can't get the UMD-less version working properly. So going with the Go would preclude you from (what in my opinion is) the best game on the system.

Far as the PSP itself goes, I'd call myself a fan. It seems to have blossomed into a home for '90s-style RPGs and kitsch. Besides what's been mentioned, I'd add Gurumin (3D action-RPG with a light heart and platforming style that reminds me at times of Brave Fencer Musashi), Pangya (get behind the anime veneer and you have the best golf game since Toadstool Tour), and maybe Monster Hunter (interesting game with kind of a sharp learning curve). And I would actually recommend AGAINST playing Street Fighter and the like because the d-pad is ill-suited to that sort of thing.

Beyond that, though, experiment! One of the great unspoken things about the PSP lagging behind the DS is that you can often find tons of must-play stuff super-cheap in comparison, so you aren't out much if something's a dud.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! I'm totally thinking about trading in the fighters I got because of this. I can't pull of a dragon punch with anykind of consistany and OMG, Darkstalkers 3 is WAY too fast. I have some problems with "fireball fighters" on the PS1/2 as well. Can anyone tell me if Namco's Soul Caliber and Tekken 6 "tap fighters" work better on the PSP?

The d-pad on the Go is much better and makes SF very playable. Darkstalkers is still pretty tricky as they didn't seem to optimise that game for the PSP at all. Though, on both games, requiring the L trigger for me means I'll never be able to play them fully. Needs six face buttons or two right trigger for me.

The Go is a great system, obviously severly handicapped by its reliance on the PSN Store which still has some bizarre holes in it (Lumines jumps to mind).

Currently, I'm addicted to What Have I Done To Deserve This 2 (formerly Badman). I couldn't figure out the first one and I can't figure this one out either and yet I just keep on playing them. Over and over again. The sequel doesn't add much but it's absolutely hilarious.

Edit: Oh and Ashley, on Tekken and Soul Calibur, both are very playable and look gorgeous on PSP but I'd have a hard time recommending Soul Calibur due to the lack of modes, including a Story mode (which is just utterly bizarre to me). So much work went into making the game beautiful on the system which makes the lack of basic modes baffling. Looks great and also has Kratos from God Of War but still hard to recommend. Tekken 5 DR is the one to get if you're going UMD (it's not available on PSN). DR looks better, sounds much better and has much more modes. Tekken 6 was also slightly crippled with its modes, though not as bad as Soul Calibur and simply isn't as good a conversion.

It's disappointing to hear about the lack of modes in SC:BD since Edge Master Mode in SoulBlade and equivalent modes in the sequels were so instrumental in those games. Then again, knowing how much I threw my controller during some of those matches, it might be a good thing. Still, good to know control wise that they are friendlier.

Updated current/future games in first post.

Does FFI and II for the PSP bring anything different to the games as opposed to the GBA versions? (other than some better graphics?

Also I've heard of some slowdown problems with FFT: War of the Lions.  I also read that there's less slowdown in the greatest hits version of the game, but can anyone here with direct knowledge elaborate?

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Fina … ry_Edition

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Fina … n_Portable

surprisingly useful wiki, actually

I can't speak on the GH version, but the slowdown in the standard edition is pretty annoying - basically there's lag on anything that call something onto the battlefield, like summons, of Gaffgarion's blade-jutting-from-the-earth move whose name escapes me at the moment.
By all accounts the fastest method of play is having it installed on the Memory Stick via PSN, which apparently eliminates slowdown altogether. But if like me, you prefer physical goods, this isn't a solution at all.

Wouldn't the model of PSP have something to do with this as well? I've heard access times on newer models is somewhat curbed. The RAM was doubled from 32 to 64 after the 1000 correct?

Except that FFT on PSN is the original PS1 version of the game, and not the PSP War of the Lions.  After reading a little more into the issue, I guess the slowdown problem has never been properly addressed.

The model of PSP doesn't affect it unfortunately. Seems to be a software issue with the game.