Tonight, at 5:52 (PST), I decided to return to Half-Minute Hero with the intent of playing through more of it and eventually drafting a review. Alas, it was not to be. I flipped the switch to turn on the system, but nothing happened. The battery has simply given up the ghost. It will not accept a charge, and in fact the system has been plugged in for a few days now. The system is toast.

This is actually the second PSP that I had owned, following a first one that was briefly owned and sold at launch. I bought this one a year later or so, when more games were actually available for the system, and it has been a fun run.

At this point, I don't see the value in making an investment in a battery. If I get a working PSP again, it'll be a new PSP-3000 rather than another old 1000 with its terrible load times. That won't likely happen for awhile, though. I need time to properly grieve, and to build up resources for such an investment.

So long, brave PSP. I hardly knew thee!

Edit: $9.76 for a replacement battery (shipped) means I'm going to give that a shot first. My PSP may yet live!