I'd buy the GP32II over the PSP for several reasons. Supposedly it's going to be cheaper than our current GP32(I spent about 250 total on the system, batteries, smart media card, and screen cloth... even though it was about the same as a PSP value pack or whatever it's called in the long run, I still went for the GP32 for the same reasons I'm about to state for buying the GP32II). If that's the case, then it will be much cheaper than a PSP. It's supposed to be the same thing as the GP32 but more powerful and probably with a different type of media storage device this time around, and it's supposed to be backwards compatible. That means we already have an assload of homebrew stuff at our disposal. As soon as the new system is released, all we have to do is buy it and transfer the programs to the new memory card, and we should be good to go. The reason I bought the GP32(and I've said this many times already, you should already know, but i'm gonna bore you to death by saying it again... buwahahaha!) is because it serves a purpose... it does EXACTLY what I've always wanted and expected out of a handheld system. I originally thought that the Nintendo Gameboy was going to allow me to play my favorite NES games when I didn't have access to an NES. There were a few decent ports, but a lot of my favorite games were missing, so I was very dissapointed. The GP32 allows me to do exactly what the gameboy didn't, and the games are actually in color now. In addition to that, it can play many other systems as well... it can even play MP3s, so it replaces my portable CD player, and it can play just about any movie I want to watch on it. I only wanted it as a portable emulation device, but it does so much more. The GP32 is the coolest thing I've ever purchased.
Aside from all that, it's not made by a big popular company. I have absolutely NOTHING against Sony, but I'd sooner support the little guy in practically every situation if the little guy deserves the support. The GP32 is an amazing machine. I'm sure the GP32II will be amazing as well, so it deserves my support much more than the PSP does. I LOVE SONY, don't get me wrong... but the games being made lately are just... bleagh... I hardly pay attention to the current gaming scene at all anymore because most of the games are just a damn graphics/sound quality show. There's hardly ever any decent gameplay or story... they're just not much fun to play anymore. I highly doubt the videogame industry will ever realize this, change their ways, and start making fun games again, or if they do, it will take a long time. So until then, I'll be playing my old favorites on a cool little handheld from Korea. Then we also have the factors that I can't vouche for myself, but I see no reason why anybody, especially people who LIKE SONY would lie about them... like the dead and stuck pixels... okay, not a huge problem, but still, wtf? The ghosting, and the crappy screen ratio... screw widescreen, and screw every other gimmicky BS that's labeled as some kind of awesome technological advancement and pushed on us. The only 2 games that look interesting to me on the PSP right now are the new Twisted Metal game that came out for it and the SOCOM game that's supposed to be coming out eventually. But I don't know how I'm gonna play SOCOM with only 1 analog stick and 2 triggers... Those 2 games aren't enough to warrant buying a PSP as far as I'm concerned. I'm gonna sit back and wait a good long while. Maybe one day the PSP will look good to me, and I'll have money to buy it. Only time will tell, but I highly doubt it.
And of course, the final reason... SONY appears to want to stop at nothing to keep programs that they have nothing to do with from running on their system, which is understandable. But the thing is... that sucks because that means that the people making these programs will have to keep updating every time a new firmware comes out. Somebody's eventually gonna get tired of it and just give up, and that'll probably be the programmers. And then if there's a new game that comes out that you want to play, but it requires a firmware update, and you have homebrew stuff on your system, what are you gonna do? you can't have both... it's either one or the other unless you buy 2 PSPs... screw that, I don't have 500 bucks to spare on a system I don't really even want anyway. With the GP32II, we won't have new commrecial games, but for the reasons I already stated, that's perfectly fine with me. But on the other hand, we also won't have to worry about programs not working because of a firmware update.
Oh yeah, just remembered something... in addition to the fact that GamePark is the little guy and that I like to help out the little guy, there's also the uniqueness factor of the GP32 and the GP32II. Even though it pisses me off how people can't tell the difference between a GBA and a GP32(they look so different... similar layout, but they're easy to tell apart), I smirk every time someone asks me what it is and thinks it's a GBA. Then I tell them what it is, and they're like "woah, that's freakin' cool!" Then I think to myself "buwahaha, that's right, it is cool... and you don't have one. =P!!!" And I like to have rare stuff anyway... so yeah... unless I see some awesome games that I simply can't live without on the PSP, I won't be buying one anytime soon.
( and 2 PSP's too )
