I loved my PSP. I played so many games on that little handheld. Countless hours spent in Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core, The Third Birthday, Disgaea, J'eanne D'Arc and many other classics. One game I thoroughly enjoyed was Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony.
Some time in the past, I got rid of my PSP and several of the games that I owned for it, but I kept a few of the above titles - but, I got rid of Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony. I can't remember if I sold or traded it in, and it certainly can't be purchased new anymore.
I could press my luck forever at the local op shops, scour the second hand video game sections of pawn shops, but the likelyhood that I'd find the game locally would be next to zero.
I checked some retro-game retailers, they all came up nought.
Where else could I look? The Facebook Marketplace? (Here in Australia, we're not a subscriber to the likes of Craig's List) - we have Gum Tree, which is owned by your friendly neighbourhood online marketplace called ebay.
Nothing on Gum Tree. Nothing on the Facebook Marketplace. Nothing anywhere where I could concievably get the game locally, and for a decent price. (Decent here, being anything under $20AUD) - the most I'd be willing to pay for a game on a defunct console.
I still have a PSP (after re-purchasing one when I was keen to replay some other titles on the platform, and I wanted a physical copy of this game, as it wasn't circulated in great numbers to begin with - and its a niche part in the history of a game franchise that I loved a lot.
So I searched eBay - the last resort I use for games. Sort, cheapest to most expensive - and the first item is in stock from a store with around 9,500 positive reviews.
Where are they based? In a suburb 10 minutes up the road. They don't seem to have a physical storefront from what I can see, but who knows - might I be getting the same copy of Dungeon Siege I once owned back into my hands?
In any case, I can't wait for this title to arrive - and I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts about the title as I progress through my alphabetical play through of Steam games (and the curiosities that surface from their related games).
I may even write a retrospetive about the joys of being a PSP owner - from the vast library of games, its impressive hardware credentials, and how the homebrew community tore the console apart with brilliant ports and amazing additional functionality.