Portable Gaming

Play games, download movies, and keep yourself entertained for hours. Sony sold 80 million units of the PlayStation Portable in its 10 years on the market. It no longer connects to the store, though, so we should really bid it farewell.

Luis' PSP, broken stick and homemade cover

Madeline Strum Photography

Luis: I used to love the PSP. I would play the basketball game a lot on long train rides, so it was Madden and 2K were the only games I played. I don’t think they had a baseball game.

Madeline: Why did I make a new cover for it?

LV: I’m not sure. I think it had a tear in the cover or something.

MV: I don’t know if it was foam and it was just fl aking apart it... It feels extra squishy, but I wasn’t sure.

LV: I loved that PSP. Betty’s excited to turn it around, but I’m like, Dude, the only thing I have for it are sports games. It’s not like I have anything fun. I played that thing so hard that it used to have a pad on the analog stick, and I broke the pad off because I would play it so much. I was legit playing it probably two hours a day when I had a commute. Like if I was coming from Brooklyn into Manhattan, that’s like an hour. If I was going from Queens into Brooklyn which was the case...

MV: Come on. That’s the reason you bought it. You went from three steps from the northern end of the N to four steps from the southern end.

LV: So I needed an entertainment device, and the PSP became it. But it’s also—it’s like the graphics were far superior to anything the GameBoy had released at that point and I would argue that the graphics probably still hold up right now to this day because I know they released the PS Vita after the PSP, but I don’t know that it was that much of an advancement in terms of the graphics over what the PSP was. I really liked the PSP.

MV: And then you stopped using it?

LV: Um, we just started living together, I think, at a point, and then I needed my PSP less, so, yeah.

MV: Because you had me to talk to on the train, right?

Megan wanted a DS for her birthday or Christmas that year

Madeline Vega

WISHLIST ITEMS

“She wanted that thing so badly,” according to her dad. He can’t think of a gift she wanted, received, and enjoyed more from him.

Opening the DS before opening the games and accessories

Madeline Vega

SCRIBBLENAUTS

developed by 5th Cell, published by Warner Bros. Interactive

Players can write anything and solve everything. This game came out in 2009 when Madeline was suffering from pregnancy brain, so she did not enjoy this puzzle game at all. It took her back to computer games that consisted entirely of black screens with glowing type where she and her friends couldn’t fi gure out what the game wanted them to say. Meg played it mostly by herself except to ask for suggestions. There are Unmasked versions that features 2,000 DC comics characters, but Luis claims he hasn’t thought to get it because he might have been the only person who liked Scribblenauts. —MV

COOKING MAMA

developed by Majesco Entertainment, published by Nintendo

“Prepare foods, combine raw ingredients, cook the meal and present your culinary masterpiece to Mama for your fi nal score.” Martha Stewart promoted it on her show because she said you really do learn to go through the steps of producing 15 recipes before unlocking dozens of more complicated recipes. Madeline was extremely suspect of Martha’s opinion because she actually cooked a lot back then and was unimpressed by the game. Madeline needed to relax. It’s fun for a video game. —MV

More games later

Madeline Vega

BRAIN AGE

developed and published by Nintendo Originally purchased to give Meg a more fun way to do math, Madeline became obsessed with its challenges—not only fast math, but also shouting things out and matching. It’s the only DS game she cares about when sorting the collection. —MV

Madeline Vega

Megan opens the Nintendo DS, games, and accessories in 2008 and 2009 for her birthday and Christmas.

Madeline Vega

Madeline Vega

MY FASHION STUDIO

developed by Ubisoft, published by Nintendo

Players start as an intern and work their way up to opening their own studio. Challenges include ironing, hemming, and so on. All the controls in these DS games are bascially the same whether you’re washing a dog or ice skating. It’s a chance for make believe. —MV