As a PSP owner myself, I’m always looking out for interesting products or accessories to go along with it, namely protectors and accesories. Here are my personal top 10 picks for PSP products which you can easily find from Play-Asia. They provide free delivery to major countries.

Capdase Luxury Hard Case
This is by far my favourite casing for the PSP.  It’s light, covers the entire PSP and provides two slots for your memory cards. You can check out my review here.

XCM Multi-Consoles Component Cable V3
If you own a couple of the current generation game consoles along with the PSP,  you might want to consider picking this up. It is a lot cheaper compared to buying separate component cables for your game consoles and best of all it works on the Xbox360, PS3 and Wii. One cable to rule them all?

Dissidia: Final Fantasy
If you are lucky the game will be out by the time you read this post. Definitely one of the most anticipated game for 2009. You might want to check out the Asia version as they are cheaper compared to the US version. Don’t worry the game will be in full English.

Hori Full Protection Filter Portable 3
I think no PSP owner should miss this product. Think of it as something similar to screen protectors except that it covers the core areas of your PSP, preventing scratches. Couple it with the capdase casing and you will have a full-fledged protection.

Sony Traveler Case for PSP
The Sony traveler case looks very similar to Logitech’s PlayGear Pocket and provides a good overall protection. Guess it just depends whether you prefer Sony or Logitech.

Logitech’s PlayGear Pocket
PlayGear Pocket was the first PSP protector I have purchased for the Phat PSP. In terms of protection, I would say the PlayGear Pocket offers better security than Capdase but it’s a lot heavier. Regardless it’s still a good protection casing.

PSP GPS Receiver
What can I say? GPS is a must have device today, especially those on the go. Save yourself a couple of hundred bucks by purchasing this baby only at USD$60.

Hori Car Stand for PSP
If you plan to use the PSP GPS for navigation, you will probably need this car stand.

After 4 months since the arrival of Street Fighter 4, Play-Asia finally has Madcatz products in stock along with some arcade joysticks from Hori.

At the time of this post, the products posted below are available in stock. If you haven’t pick up any arcade joysticks, here’s your chance to do so now.

Links Updated 22nd August 2009

Xbox 360

Hori Blazblue Fighting Stick (available)

Hori Fighting Stick EX 2 (pre-order for September 2009 restock)

Madcatz Street Fighter IV FightStick Tournament Edition (available)

Madcatz Street Fighter IV FightStick (available)

Madcatz Street Fighter IV FightPad Ken Edition (available)

Madcatz Street Fighter IV FightPad Blanka Edition (available)

Playstation 3

Hori Blazblue Fighting Stick (available)

Hori Real Arcade Pro Stick 3 (pre-order for August 2009 restock)

Hori Fighting Stick 3 (pre-order for September 2009 restock)

Madcatz Street Fighter IV FightStick (available)

Madcatz Street Fighter IV FightPad Ryu Edition (available)

Madcatz Street Fighter IV FightPad Chun Li Edition (available)

Madcatz Street Fighter IV FightPad Ken Edition (available)

King of Fighters XII Arcade Stick for Playstation 3

Joytron The King of Fighters XII 3in1 USB Pro Stick (White) (available)

Joytron The King of Fighters XII 3in1 USB Pro Stick (Black) (available)

Exar The King of Fighters XII USB Stick (available)

Other Playstation 3 arcade joysticks that might interest you (cheaper than Madcatz or Hori)

Mayflash Universal Fighting Stick, Saulabi 4k Arcade Joystick, R4 Ready4 Fighting Stick

For the past few months I have gotten a few things but couldn’t have the chance to write reviews about them. Therefore on this post I have decided to write short reviews of each item to save time and avoid putting anyone who reads this to sleep.
Okay let’s get the ball rolling …

Hori Nintendo Wiimote Silicon Cover

If I were to compare this with Capdase’s Wiimote silicon cover, I have to say both have their pros and cons. The pros of Hori’s cover is definitely the design. It is made in such a way that you can easily unlock the back part of the cover to allow easy exchange of batteries. The cons? I feel that it is a bit thin and the grip feeling isn’t as good as Capdase’s, but hey that’s just me.

Conclusion : If you have delicate hands who itches for comfort, get Capdase. If you hate taking and putting off condoms each time when reloading, get Hori.

Click here to view other ranges of wiimote covers from Play-Asia

Nintendo Original Component AV Cables for Wii

There are plenty of component cables available for the Wii now as compared to the early days when Wii was just launched. To be honest I was having a hard time deciding whether to get 3rd party ones or just go for the original from Nintendo. Even after going through the usual “been there, done that” searches on the internet, the answers were still unclear. In the end I decided to go with Nintendo, despite the deep cut it will leave on my wallet. But heck at least I know that original cables will work without any problems (usually).

The difference in picture quality between component and composite cables are definitely noticeable. Fonts are sharper and the graphics looks less blurry. I don’t know if component cables make a difference on the old 4:3 tvs but on widescreens, it is good enough to put your old composite cables to eternal sleep. And if anyone is asking, Virtual Console games work without any problems for me. I tried Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Pokemon Snap.

Conclusion : Works great but a bit too pricey. Other alternatives can be considered.

Buy Official Nintendo Wii Component AV Cables (compatible with US Wii)
3rd Party Component Cables

Altec Lansing MX5020

Having used to listening musics, movies and games through 5.1 speakers, it can be a bit hard to reduce yourself back to the basics. I have that problem during the first few months but things gotten better after a while.

Anyway the MX5020 is a great 2.0 speakers in both price and sound quality. The bass and treble can be adjusted easily through a nice control panel on the bottom of the right speaker. I only face one problem tho and that is with the bass. Some songs sounded really good but there are few which causes an annoying “WOOOOOM” sound. To make things worse it doesn’t sync with the music. However I hooked them up on my Wii and Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess never sounded better. It is definitely a huge improvement over TV speakers. More review can be found here

Conclusion : Good price, slick design, great sound quality.

Wait I only bought 3 things? I thought I had more .. oh well

I actually bought this product about a month ago but totally forgot to do a review on it. At that time I was too anxious to try out the V-box for the Nintendo Wii, thus it was “placed” aside until recently. To put it simply, this leather cartridge holder is to, well to hold your NDS game cartridges. The material is made of leather which in my opinion is cool. Leather don’t get dirty easily and its easy to clean too. Other than that, I can feel that the overall product is pretty tough, thus the protection of your cartridges are well assured.

On the inside, you will see 2 slots to put in stylus, 6 slots for NDS games and 2 slots (behind) for your GBA cartridges. This is a pretty generous amount as most people would play between 4 to 6 games during a LAN party meeting.

The size of the cartridge holder is roughly around the same as the NDSL, just slightly longer but it’s very light. Combine that with its toughness and you have a cartridge carrier like no other. Sure the R4 can store a lot more games compared to an amount of 6, but hey whats better than showing off your arsenal of original games during a meetup?

I can say this product is pretty hot as PlayAsia is always out of stock but the brown color model is still up for purchase. Grab it now!

I give this product a rating of 4.5 out of 5. Kudos to Hori for another magnificent product.