Sony PlayStation Portable/PSP hands-on review
posted December 20th 2004 12:50PM
We got our dirty mitts on a PlayStation Portable! Read on for a nice long review with plenty of pics:
Introduction
Ever since the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) was
announced at E3 in May 2004, we have been eagerly
anticipating the hottest console launch (sorry Nintendo DS) this year, even if it is only for the Japanese market
right now. We were fortunate enough to get a unit to test a mere five days after the Japanese release date and have
been playing with it all weekend. The Sony PSP features a large 4.3-inch 16:9 widescreen LCD TFT screen with a
480x272 resolution, button layout similar to the PlayStation with a digital control pad, an analog stick, circle,
square, triangle, x, and 2 shoulder buttons, USB 2.0 connectivity (via mini-USB), a Memory Stick Duo media slot, and
802.11b WiFi support. It uses Sony's proprietary Universal Media Disc, which stores up to 1.8GB in a format
reminiscent of MiniDiscs. The Japanese launch release date was December 12th and the first shipment of PSPs quickly
sold out.
The Box
We got the Standard edition PSP, which comes with the PSP itself, a battery, an AC adapter, and a manual, along with Ridge Racers and Minna No Golf Portable. (The Value Pack adds a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, a soft carrying case, and headphones with an in-line remote.) The box does not come with a sticker seal of any sort, which we weren't quite used to considering anything and everything comes with some sort of factory seal here in the US.
When we shook the product box, we could hear some rattling around. We weren't too thrilled about that, since the unit did come a long ways from Japan. Luckily, when we opened the package, the PSP fits snugly into the surrounding cardboard, the rattling we heard was mostly likely the power adapter cables. We noticed a lack of any type of demo disc included with the unit. Some PSP Value Packs apparently do come with a UMD Demo Disc, but we've also heard from a few people that got Value Packs without any demo discs inside as well.
The Unit Itself
When you first lay your hands on the PSP, you immediately notice the screen. The 4.3-inch display dominates the device, it looks like it takes up two-thirds of the real estate on the front fascia. In other words, massive. The unit feels expensive, and exudes sexiness, much like Apple's iPods (and you know how big of a fan we are of iPods). The unit feels perfectly balanced when held with both hands. It does not feel like a $200 console (Japan MSRP for console only) at all. We're sure Sony is losing a few hundred bucks off each unit sold as the PSP easily feels like it's worth $400 of gadgetry (when compared to portable video and audio players and the DS). We feel Sony could have gotten away with a $300 sticker price, but in an effort to destroy Nintendo's firm grasp of the handheld gaming market, they've set the price just $50 more than the Nintendo DS (which was released in both Japan and US markets just last month). It feels like an extreme bargain for two bills. The screen is immersive, drawing you in when playing videos or games and so big that you may not need your glasses to play. The black color fits well and matches the Playstation 2's color. The dimples across the top row of the screen reminded us of carbon fiber, currently the rage in import tuner cars.
When you pay for a new console, you expect it to be perfect. Alas, ours was not. We noticed two lit pixels (always-on pixels), one in the middle of the screen, about one-fourth of the way down, and one near the very right edge of the screen. So out of 130,560 pixels on the LCD screen, we got two defective ones. It's actually not too noticeable unless you look for it and we didn't notice until we played with the PSP in pitch black darkness. We could make a big fuss, but we'll just deal with it, and hope that Sony will be as honorable as Nintendo when fixing units with dead pixels for their customers.
Another complaint of the PSP so far has been the ejecting UMD problem in which the user in the video appears to flex the PSP quite a bit to get it to eject spontaneously. We're happy to report that we didn't have such problems with any self-ejecting discs and that our PSP is built rather solidly, though we didn't dare to twist the unit as hard as we could. We initially had some light squeaking noises when we pressed right on the directional pad, but after a weekend of use, the annoying sound has disappeared.
The PSP, with battery, Memory Stick Pro Duo, and UMD inserted, weighs 10.3 ounces, making it fine to put in a jacket pocket (with case or cover of course), but not exactly friendly in a pants pocket with its long form factor. We've heard of some Japanese folks wearing the PSP like a necklace (there is a strap handle at the bottom left section of the PSP), but as cool as that may make them look, we didn't think our necks could take the strain.
Unfortunately, with the fine glossy screen comes the problem of fingerprints and smudges. While we didn't use latex
gloves while handling the unit, we were very careful to try and handle it with the utmost of care. That said, there
were smudges around the control buttons within seconds. It's pretty much unavoidable to smudge the smooth front
cover, so we recommend a very soft cloth to wipe off smudges and smears, but make sure the cloth doesn't scratch up
the LCD. The back of the unit is textured plastic and does not smudge. Within an hour of playing some games on the
PSP and constantly wiping off smudges, there were some light scratches on the screen. We're hoping that Sony will
sell replacement PSP faceplates at a reasonable price.
The front of the PSP unit has the directional pad on the left side, and the analog thumb stick (looks like speaker mesh) below that. The analog thumb stick is quite a burden to use since it's so far down, as there is no thumb support from the unit when you use it. It was fine to play Ridge Racers with it, but after 15 minutes, we felt as if we were getting thumbitis with a sore thumb joint. To the right of the LCD is the standard circle, square, triangle, and x buttons any Playstation junkie has become accustomed to. The left and right trigger buttons are at the top of the unit and are clear, looking a bit like jewelry. All buttons on our review unit were easy to press and click fast if necessary.
The bottom edge of the PSP is raised ever so slightly, with buttons for Home, lowering and raising the volume, brightness, sound settings for various music genres, and Select and Start buttons. While Home, Select, and Start are quite easy to press since the size of the buttons are a good size, the volume and brightness and music buttons take quite a bit of effort to depress as the buttons are half the size of the other ones and further away if you use your thumbs to depress. Since you may use the volume buttons quite a bit, it's a bit of a pain and there seems to be enough room on the left bottom side to put in larger buttons for volume. But at least the volume buttons are not essential for quick pressing during gaming. For brightness, there are three settings, from Dim to Bright to Brightest (our wording), we found Bright to be the adequate enough. Since there's still not much sun in Seattle this time of year, we were unable to test the PSP in direct sunlight.
The left side of the unit has the WiFi switch, a quick flip up and the WiFi mode is set to on.
At the top edge is an infrared transmitter, a mini-USB connector and the Eject button for loading UMDs. Sony is planning an infrared remote controller for the PSP, and it looks like any future PSP add-ons will be plugged in up top, as there's two locking holes on each side of the mini-USB port.
The combined power and hold switch is on the lower right side, you can push the switch down for hold, and pushing the slider up turns it on. The button always returns to the middle after pushing it up, which we found a bit annoying. A simple On/Off/Hold switch would have been easier to handle. When you power it on, the PSP returns you to where you left off (like returning from a hibernation state in Windows XP, but without any delays at all). When you toggle hold during a game, the PSP buttons become disabled, and the game just continues. Hold is probably most useful when playing a video or a music album and you don't want any accidental button presses to interfere.
The bottom right is where the AC adapter plug goes in, which we find is quite an odd placement for it. When gaming with the power line plugged in, your right hand will feel the cord and plug. While it doesn't interfere per se, it would have been much neater if the power port was placed on the top edge of the unit. Not a huge knock, just a slight inconvenience. The left side is where the headphones plug in. When used, the headphone plug doesn't interfere with our movement as much as the AC adapter one because the headphones plug is on the bottom half of the PSP. Also at the bottom edge a sticker in a recessed area, with the product number and serial number in the middle. We don't we see it lasting after a few months of hardcore use nor do we see the point of this sticker, as there is actually an etched serial number in the battery compartment.
USB Connectivity
In USB Mode, if you have a Memory Stick Duo or Pro Duo inserted, you can connect a mini-USB cable to
the top of the PSP, and it acts like a USB drive, allowing you to access any folders or content on the Memory Stick.
Windows XP immediately recognized the device as a Removable Disk after we plugged in the cable. File transfers both
ways were incredibly fast thanks to the USB 2.0 support.
Universal Media Discs
The Sony PSP uses a proprietary 1.8GB Universal Media Disc (UMD) format, in part an effort to thwart
piracy and so they can control what gets released for their system. They are much like MiniDiscs (the actual disc
just slightly smaller), but with one serious drawback, a gaping hole in the back of the plastic case (no doubt for
the PSP to read in data). While we know some of you are very meticulous and careful when handling your disc-based
media, we also know quite a few people that have scratched up DVDs and games. We just don't get why Sony didn't put a
metal faceplate over the hole like they do for MiniDiscs.
UMD games are packaged in a plastic section which the UMD fits snugly into. But there is no small plastic case for UMDs (ala Gameboy carts) and one can not reasonably be expected to carry around the full game box when transporting extra games with the system. We're sure third party UMD plastic cases will be out soon enough, but for now, you'll have to resort to carrying the whole game box, as we don't recommend just putting a UMD in your pocket to carry around.
The UMD drive makes a whirring noise at times when loading games or levels (but not while actually playing). It's not too obnoxious and sort of sounds like a hard drive spinning up, but you do hear it. After living with solid state handheld games (cartridges), we had to get used to load times again. The original Playstation 1 had horrid load times for some games, but it did improve over time as programmers got to know the system. We hope the same will be true for the PSP as it took 19 seconds after selecting UMD to get to the Namco logo on Ridge Racers. During the game, it took 10 seconds to load the course after selecting all the options. For Minna No Golf, it took 25 seconds to get to the intro screen and 16 seconds to start playing from the menu. It's tolerable but an aspect that could use some improvement.
Targeting the Adult Market
While kids will surely be begging their parents for the PSP (my 4 year-old nephew asked his father for one immediately after seeing it), Sony is targeting a more mature audience. We don't see younger kids handling the UMDs with the open area well and we can just picture screen scratches within a day after little Jimmy has their hands on one. As a friend pointed out, this system is perfect for the Japanese audience, a country where they are known for cleanliness, neatness, and taking care of their electronics well. That, sadly, can not be said for the American audience (in general), we are just more rough with our gear. It will be interesting to see if Sony changes the PSP at all for the American audience and we're thinking the USA warranty should be at least a year. This may be one of those times where you will actually want to purchase the extended warranty program.
First Bootup
At first bootup we were greeted with the option to choose between Japanese and English. Next you can give your PSP a nickname (for network play) via cellphone type text entry (press 2 three times for the letter C, etc). Seeing how the PSP has plenty of room for a keyboard layout on the screen, we would have much preferred that. The Japanese are used to the phone keypad text entry system, so I'm sure it's not a big deal to them, but for the US release, we hope they change it. Another annoying interface aspect was when we entered our IP address for the PSP. We had to scroll up and down through 256 numbers (0 to 255), rather than manually entering numerals. It's not very fun to scroll for 16 sets of numbers.
After setting it to English the menus are pretty self-explanatory, the main options are Settings, Photo, Music, Video, and Game. Some of the options may not be available if you don't have a Memory Stick Pro Duo inserted.
Japanese Differences
As was the case with the Japanese versions of the PlayStation 1 and 2, the button you choose to select with is the Circle button not the X button (like in the US versions). The X button thus becomes the back or cancel option. When you're used to using X to select everything, there will be times you forget and accidentally hit the wrong button. The manual is in Japanese, not that we needed it at all for anything. Other than those two things, the PSP itself is very English-speaker friendly.
Battery Life
The PSP is powered by a 100-240V (5A) universal power adapter, which means you can use it anywhere in
the world practically. There have been reports of a weak two hours of battery life when playing complex 3D games. We
fully charged up our PSP battery and popped in Ridge Racers for non-stop gaming. We set the brightness to the middle
level and set the volume to 15 button presses from 0 (the max volume is 30). That level of brightness and volume is
adequate for the average gamer during gameplay. With no breaks in between, we played non-stop for 3 hours and 35
minutes. We also tried another Ridge Racers test, playing one game, then letting the system run through the replay in
an infinite loop. That test also resulted in a similar playtime of 3 hours and 31 minutes.
While not superb, 3.5 hours is acceptable and you can always buy a spare battery (~$45) if you need it. Cheaper third party batteries will show up sooner or later as well. We had really hoped the PSP could be charged via mini-USB, but unfortunately Sony did not include that support. But to be fair, our mini-USB cable was not able to charge our Motorola RAZR V3 cellphone either, though the phone is supposedly capable of doing so. So it may be that we have a bunk USB cable. If anyone has gotten their PSP to charge via USB, let us know. We'd also like to see a cigarette lighter power adapter for long road trips.
After 3.5 hours of nonstop gaming, the unit is just barely warm to the touch. I ejected the UMD and the disc felt just the tiniest bit warm too. So hopefully that's a sign of no overheating problems (which plagued the first-generation Sony Playstations, anyone remember turning it upside down to alleviate the problem?).
Memory Stick Duo
The Sony is hoping that the PSP will help make the Memory Stick Pro Duo a viable memory card format,
especially since the PSP does not take any of the older Memory Stick formats like the Memory Stick Pro. It only takes
the tiny Duo flash memory card, which is about 85% of the size of a Secure Digital (SD) card. We believe the highest
current available size is 512MB, retailing for $130 at stores (or about $85 shipped on eBay), and we have not seen
the 1GB version in stock anywhere. You will need a Memory Stick to save your games or if you want to play MP3s or
videos on it. The Ridge Racers save game takes up about 700K and Minna No Golf Portable needs about 769K.
After formatting your Memory Stick Duo or Pro Duo in the PSP, you get a PSP directory, and GAME, MUSIC, PHOTO, SAVEDATA folders within that. The game folder will eventually house downloadable games or demos from the Internet, music is for your MP3s, photo for your JPGs, and save data for your saved games. Video files need to go in a different folder which we will get into later this week.
Photos
For photo viewing, GIF, BMP, and PNG files aren't supported by the PSP, but standard JPG ones are. When you have a full-sized 4 or 5 megapixel JPG file, the PSP takes a bit of time for it to load, about 3 seconds for a 1.8MB JPG file. It automatically crops the photo (most photos are in the 4:3 format), leaving white space on the sides of the picture when it is displayed (see above).
For photos that you have cropped or Photoshopped to the PSP's native 480x272 resolution (say hi to my Yorkshire terrier, Yoda), the picture loads immediately and looks sharp with excellent detail. You can get file information (filename and file date), do a slideshow, or zoom in to certain parts of the picture. The photo gallery works much like Windows Explorer, showing a thumbnail of the picture, the filename, and date. You can also create folders within the \PSP\Photo directory in Windows Explorer to organize your photos. In the Photo section, when you press the Triangle button, you can delete folders or pictures, or get more information about a picture, including its full resolution and which camera took the shot by accessing the EXIF information within the JPG file itself.
Playing Music
The biggest knock on Sony in the past has been their insistence of using the ATRAC format, forcing you
to convert your beloved MP3s to their proprietary format before their players could play it. They have finally
listened to their users and done away with ATRAC only with native MP3 support in the PSP. Just drop files into your
PSP/Music folder and your PSP can play them directly. The speakers are at the bottom of the unit, and the two little
holes on the bottom produce good sound. We played a variety of MP3s just fine, including some variable bit rate ones,
but we're sorry to report that we didn't have any ATRAC files to test out.
Playing Videos
Videos look amazing on the widescreen. The picture is sharp and detailed, and colors are vibrant. While it's fine to hold the PSP in your hands when playing games or watching short clips, it gets a bit tiresome if you're watching something an hour or more in length (rest assured that Sony will be putting out a stand for the PSP).
WiFi Setup
Setting up the 802.11b WiFi is easy. Just name your connection (Home, Work, etc), put in the SSID access point name, a WEP key if any, and then setup IP and DNS addresses (or choose automatic if using DHCP). There's a network test when you are done, telling you your current signal strength and whether your Internet connection succeeded or not. Taking a page from Microsoft, you can also update the PSP OS via a Network Update. Our tech geekiness led us to try to update the system (it's less than a week old) before even playing games. Our system already had the latest version, as there were no updates from Sony.
The PSP in Public
Not that we expected anyone to, but no one noticed when we whipped out the PSP to wait in line at the post office (for a lousy 30 minutes!) to mail a package. But we were surprised when we started playing while standing in line at Best Buy (to get a Sandisk 512MB Memory Stick Pro Duo for a whopping $130) and got no attention, either (though we were only in line for about 10 minutes). The checkout droids didn't say anything either.
But when we took the PSP to the mall for a little tour (just outside a game shop), it was a different story. Within a few minutes a bunch of kids who looked to be aged 10 to 12 were asking questions about it, mainly where we got ours from and how much. (Kids these days must be on a different allowance scale than when we were kids, because when we said it would be just $200 come March or so, they were all over it and said they were sure that they'd get one.) Within 10 minutes we had gathered a small crowd of ten, all drooling over the gorgeous screen. With the Nintendo DS anyone looking over your shoulder may have a hard time to see what's going on, while the PSP is also a watch-while-I-play kind of system, and the people that were looking over our shoulders at the mall didn't have any problem seeing what was going on. We didn't stay too long, fearing a mob scene as people started calling their friends over.
PlayStation Portable vs. the Nintendo DS
We love the Nintendo DS, but it is bulky and feels and looks like a child's toy from the 1980s compared to the PSP, which is definitely one well-designed, slick little handheld. The DS weighs exactly 10 ounces with the thumb strap, battery, and DS game inserted (10.4 ounces if you add in a GBA cart), just slightly less than the PSP's 10.3 ounces. But two 3-inch screens does not beat one 4.3-inch one, at least not in this case.
The DS has a touchscreen on the lower LCD, which makes for more interactivity than the PSP, and the PSP would make for a great PDA if it had touchscreen functionality. While Nintendo is planning to add music and video to the DS for $50, the PSP has both features already, and video just won't be the same on a 3-inch DS screen, especially when compared to the PSP's 4.3-inch one. When we consider that the primary purpose of the PSP is to play games, the graphics of the PSP just blow away the Nintendo offering. The two powerful 32-bit MIPS R4000 CPUs overwhelms the Nintendo DS ARM7 and ARM9 processors. One direct comparison would be Ridge Racer DS vs Ridge Racers for the PSP, both created by Namco. The DS version has some chunky pixelated graphics (see above picture courtesy of GameSpot) and the lower touchscreen looks rather useless in terms of gameplay usage. The PSP's Ridge Racers is Playstation 2-like, with smoother graphics and more detail in the cars. The one redeeming factor of Ridge Racer DS is that only one copy of the game is needed for up to 6-player wireless multiplayer action.
PlayStation Portable vs. Creative's Zen Portable Media Center
The Creative Zen Portable Media Center (PMC) is a portable media player with a 3.8-inch 4:3 screen and
a 20GB hard drive, but beyond the hard drive (and perhaps 7 hour video battery life and TV output), it does not
compare too favorably with the PSP. Since we do not yet have the Sony Image Converter software, it is easier to
transcode video files to the PMC. But the PMC is a lot thicker and uses the 4:3 screen format, which in the current
age of HDTV is going the way of the dodo bird. Interestingly enough the Sony PSP AC adapter can actually charge the
PMC as well since the plug fits and both units use the same voltage power. Watching standard 4:3 size videos is okay
on the PMC, but when you go to 16:9 format shows or movies, you definitely notice the annoying black bars on the PMC.
In direct video comparisons, the PMC picture looks washed out (as you can tell in the pictures) and much grainier.
I'm not sure why the 4:3 video on the PSP wasn't bigger, but it's still more clear and detailed. In the 16:9 Shark
Tale trailer, I have no idea why the PMC didn't set the video to 16:9 format, as the original source was widescreen,
but again, the PSP handily wins that comparo as well.
The PMC has only one speaker (at the bottom right corner of the screen) for mono sound, whereas the PSP has two little speakers for stereo sound. The PMC has slightly better sound (even with only one speaker) and has a higher maximum volume, but when using a pair of Shure E3C earbuds to listen to some MP3s, we found audio fidelity to be great in both devices, with no noticeable quality difference.
PlayStation Portable vs. Apple's iPod photo
Apple's iPod photo handily beats the PSP in terms of the MP3 interface, ease of use, playlist creation, and storage space. We didn't have an standard iPod or iPod photo to do direct comparisons with, but we did do a listening test with an iPod mini. Again using Shure E3C earbuds, we found no discernable difference in audio quality between the PSP and the iPod mini, as both were equally superb with a variable bit rate MP3. When viewing JPGs, the 2-inch iPod Photo screen size just doesn't bode well for viewing pictures, plus you need to use iTunes to convert any JPGs into a format the iPod Photo can read. The PSP can directly read any JPG file (and fits the JPG onto the screen) and the pictures look gorgeous on the 4.3-inch screen, but the only downside of the PSP is that you can not listen to an MP3 file while browsing photos and it doesn't output the picture to a TV.
Is the PSP an iPod (or iPod Photo) killer? No, but could it be an iPod video killer (when and if that finally comes out)? Perhaps, but only if Memory Stick prices go down in price and storage sizes go way up. Or if Sony opens up the UMD format (we can hope, can't we?) and lets people write to their own 1.8GB UMD discs. We're not sure what Apple has in store in terms of a video iPod player, but obviously they'd have to make the screen at least somewhat comparable to the one on the PSP and loads better than the iPod Photo's 2-inch screen.
Games
Ridge Racers is definitely a hit, and we've yet to hear anyone buy the PSP without buying RR too. Just like the
original Ridge Racer was a success when the Sony PlayStation came out, Ridge Racers is a system seller. The intro CG
looks amazing, and when you play the game, you get a sense of speed, which you need in a racing title. There were no
graphic pop-ups, but you can notice jagged edges (jaggies) if you look close enough, namely the edge of the course
(the bottom of the side walls) as you are driving. It may be a little distracting to some, but we aren't that
critical to count it as a major flaw. The game itself has some intentional motion blur (we hope intentional at least)
when you see the computer controlled cars turning in corners, their brake lights will blur a bit on the screen. There
is some Japanese language in Ridge Racers, but overall, there's plenty of English and one can navigate through it
reasonably well without knowledge of Japanese. We had to tear the PSP unit away from our test group of gamers to even
try our other game.
Minna No Golf Portable (Everybody's Golf, or Hot Shots Golf in the US) is a good golf title. The graphics are solid, but it is golf, and we didn't experience anything spectacular from this one. We do find it weird that our character runs at hyperspeed immediately after striking the ball, and waits at the spot for the next swing, even as the ball is rolling to that point. You can put topspin or underspin on the ball, and you can also hook and slice the ball around trees. It uses the familiar old three click method for the golf swing, click once to start your swing, once to set the power, and once for accuracy. It's the same method that's been used since Links for PC has been around. The menus are heavily in Japanese, and while we were able to start a game by pressing the Circle button a few times, we had no idea what we chose. There may be guides or FAQs at GameFAQs by the time you read this.
Conclusion
The Sony PSP is a great handheld gaming console, one that could prove to be as revolutionary as the
original Nintendo Gameboy was, not only because it's basically a handheld PlayStation 2 with powerful graphics, but
because of all the other value-added features it comes with, namely the photo viewer, the audio player, and video
player. The most amazing thing, hands-down about the PSP is the large 4.3-inch widescreen LCD, which is simply
amazing to see in person, and at two hundred bucks retail, it's definitely a good value. There is no handheld gaming
competitor that comes close to it right now in terms of gaming power, and if weren't for the low storage capacity and
high price of the Memory Stick Pro Duo, it might even hold its own as a portable audio and video player. The photo
viewer is superb and sharp and the sound quality of the audio player is at least on par with the iPod mini. The
videos when played back from Memory Sticks are superb, there's no doubt that movies on UMD will look just as great on
the widescreen.
Now maybe the time to put in your pre-orders for the February or March 2005 US PSP launch, that is if you can resist importing a system (around $500+ right now, check our PSP price watch). We really hope Sony holds to their word of no region coding on PSP games (we don't mind so much if UMD movies are region encoded), because we'd rather not have to rip apart our PSP to install a region-free modchip (which will surely come if there is region coding for games). You will pay a bit of a premium for a PSP now, unless you know someone in Japan that can get you one. The question of worth is of course dependant on what your income level is and how much you value having the latest system.
Sony PlayStation Portable Price Watch
Dead or lit pixels will continue to be an issue for any PSP buyer (as it is for any sort of LCD screen) and it's the only main gripe of our system. We're more forgiving than most for the slow load times, as it is the first generation of software, so this should get better over time. The battery life isn't amazing, so another battery is a necessity if you plan on playing the PSP more than four hours a day away from an AC outlet, and we do wish that it could be charged via USB. Other issues: it'd be nice if Sony made text input in the menus a little easier, and we would have loved to have found an Internet browser within the OS, seeing how easy the WiFi was to setup and get working. Greater Memory Stick Pro Duo storage sizes at more affordable rates should come as the system matures, as the PSP would an amazing powerhouse with a cheap 4GB of storage.
A special thanks goes out to Siu-Wai Ho of Kicks Hobby in Seattle, WA for providing the Sony Playstation Portable unit to us a mere 5 days after it's Japanese release. Thanks!
Dan Wu's personal reviews and commentaries can be read on his personal site, http://www.wooba.com.
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Ye boi this made me get the psp. i love my psp really good every 1 that loves game get it! PSP WAY BETTER THEN SHIT DS! go psp. but i carnt wit if they make a mod-chip 4 the psp cuz the game r a fucken rip off! rige racer 4 $79 thats bull shit :( lolz ye but psp fucks up ds! UMD Rules!
Thanks alot you guys for the great review i indeed found it very helpfull; Just an afterthough of some subjects not covered is the region zones (the games are free but movies arnt apparently) and i also rekon itd be a good idea to have a AV out option
Chur
im getting a psp for my birthday in novemebr...
im soo exited and cant wait as im short of money i think im guna get grand theft auto until christmas when i can buy more games...
anyway i was wondering how good the internet acess is?
is it possible to use programs such as msn?
if you can help me please email me at
kimothy_89@hotmail.com
ah the psp is amazing. the graphics are such good quality all u people who have writen a comment and the person who made this reveiw are sad!!!!!!! and u need 2 get a life!!!!
right... PSP FOREVER o/
Hahaha. I'm not much of a gamer at all, but give me a console and I can kick ass, well at least those I've played against. The Nintendo DS console was really intriguing, I pretty much drooled over it when it was released, I first saw it when a senior carried it around in her hands playing a game at school. And yes, touch screen...That is seriously cool. But after touching the screen so much (in the department store, it had this Pikachu game on) it seemed to not be as finger sensitive anymore.
Playstation Portable. It even sounds good. I first heard about that when I was discussing the Nintendo DS to an old classmate of mine over msn, and then he introduced the PSP. Then, I really couldn't believe it, the PSP has everything and I want one! My birthday is in exactly one month, and I know what I've got my eyes on. I've got to agree with Dan here, Nintendo DS isn't going to be popular as the PSP. I know for a fact that at myschool, everyone has their eyes on that sheer piece of ingenuity than any other console. w000t!
PS. This review was the best I found on the net, even better than the ones you get from the -official website-, which aren't very detailed. Great Job!
How can people say its ugly, its one of the sexiest gadget ive ever seen!! I think it has great game play, the review is the best one i have read.
does anyone know why it would say that disc cannot be read?
i have been playing virtua tennis for a few days when it froze. i then turned it off to reset it and now it says disc cannot be read. any help appreciated. as in would it be the game ot unit?
does anyone know why it would say that disc cannot be read?
i have been playing virtua tennis for a few days when it froze. i then turned it off to reset it and now it says disc cannot be read. any help appreciated. as in would it be the game ot unit?
Hey, just saying thanks for the awesome review, I'm looking to know everything about the PSP before I buy one this holiday season.
I want to see what it is capable of before I make the switch from a do-it-all Pocket PC. I use it for video, music, tasks, and of course, some gaming, though I'm not fond of using touch screens all that often, I hate having to use screen protecters that get all those little bumps in it, and the prices of screen protecters aren't very attractive, twenty dollars for just five screen protectors. So, if the PSP could work well with Outlook and have contacts and tasks related things, which I have everything on my PDA, so I want functionality. But, I only survive on a 128MB memory card, and I do just fine, at about 60 song(around 500-600KB each) with some movies, and other stuff, I don't even use its built in 16 or so MB of memory(Toshiba e335 Pocket PC). Good system, freezes(system backup is a blessing, save everything to memory cards, not on built in memory, a hassle to do everything all over again.)
So, anyway, good review. And, to everybody that be dissin' on it, and the DS, and praisin it or the DS. They are about equal, it just depends on the uses, though the DS seems like something you give to your ten year old cousin. Me, I prefer something with style, which they both have, in a sense. And, with ease of use, long battery life, 4 hours does somewhat fine, in some cases, not on busy days though, coverting, synchronizing, updating, internet browsing(how much battery does that drain on a PSP? That is very useful info). Functionality is also another issue, why only JPG, I like all file types, especially PSD format, though not much can be read with that, and if anybody knows where I can find some good Audio/Video/Picture conversion programs, whether from one format to another, like Wav to MP3, or even windows to mac(I dislike macs very much, see them as good machines, just don't like 'em.) All in all, it depends on the person whom is buying the gadget, what are your uses, and what are your preferences, needs to wants, do the wieghing process thing, well, PSP has a B-A-U-tiful screen, while the DS is uh, big, bulky, oh, has a Touch Screen, wow, never seen one of them before. So, yes the PSP is my favorite right now, though, I wouldn't be able to even think about gettin one right now, I need thinking, hoping special packages come with, with you know, a decent warrenty, dropping happens to me all the times, the Toshiba e335 Pocket PC holds up pretty dang well, I recomend it for anyone, whether in business or not. But, I honestly think this will be one of the best battles ever, though, the PS3 360 battle will be good, this time they are both equal, and backwords compatibility is something that I practically don't give a damn about, this is for new games, I don't want to be held back just because some people want to sell their old system, just so they can get the new system. Thank you Microsoft for only doing selective backwords compatibility, though, does that mean that I have to buy Halo and Halo 2 again? Or, will the original work, and if they do, how come all games cannot be backwords compatible while they are at it, though I don't want to push it. And, I'm also pusing off the subject, and one more thing, a month to the B-Day of Halo 2, Halo, DOA 3!! and Xbox, and Xbox Live, which is a big deal. But, yeah, DS sucks, PSP blows, My mind that is. Anyway, peace out, and, thanks for the very persuasive review. I'm out. Sorry for the huuuuge waste of space, I go on and on, and that's what I'm doin now, I'll stop.
some people...
are really something
that guy
PSP RULES HAHAHA NINTENDOS getting oold now...the retro gamin with zelda n mario r cool (mario rules haha) butpeople want new..the psp is the thing that will give it to u...i got 1 its simply awesome..poeple r sayin it sucks (how u Kno? do u have 1? no prolly not so stfu u nintendo micro bargain hunntin faggots cuz psp is sick and it willl shut down nintendo) so many games now..and hundreds r coming!!! well ds is good i gotta admit (the warioware is a good use of the touchpad) but psp just better in everyway possible..smaller...big screen..graphics..movies...music...pictures....and its better so stfu peopel who tihnk it sucks or that nintendo is better cuz it aint...psp rules..nintendo will be gone in a couple years...nice to know ya cyaklata good bye good riddance....
PSP rules u all suck if u dont got 1...im bored so u go watch napolean dynamite on ur nintendo micro or DS..OH wait u cant hahahah i can i got a psp and napolean dynamite...hahaha! U SUCK hahHAHAHAHAHHAHAH( unless u got psp or want 1)
I just received my PSP and have played for a couple of weeks. It's amazing! BUT... If I were to add or change it, I would have a Television tuner accessory that could plug into the USB port. I also think that Sony should deal in music disks. Why not? They do DVD's. Also saves on the download time. Call me lazy. Oh yeah... and a "movie theater case that holds up the PSP for viewing and has a speaker setup. Thanks for asking...
Jerry
What a review!!!!!
I tried to buy one today and everywhere was sold out. Came home and decided to look for more info on one (as I was depressed lol)
What a review and what a great site!
Added to my bookmarks and will visit this place often.
Thx for a great review. Why buy a gadget magazine when I have this site. ;)
Sony PSP is the most retarted handheld ever. Plus the DS is kicking the crap out of the PSP! Sony cant believe that they could not take over the handheld market from Nintendo. If this keeps up the PSP will be no more just like what happened to the Sega Gamegear. Just because you have pretty graphics it doesent mean you will be the best system. The PSP has no freaking games on it!
Worth the money for the screen alone. I watched a movie on it for the first time today: the quality of the screen is higher than my 600 Samsung LCD TV.
first of all..
the review is very good. and give the guy that did the review a little respect. i been reading a few post from guys that disrespected him....plz dont.
and a reply to aaron (above)
the psp has sold more units on its first day then the ds (in europe).
the thing is. nintendo is always milking the cash cow. the first gameboy excists many years now. from there nintendo only made progress in very tiny steps. not even trying to make something completly new or better.
when they found out sony was making a handheld of their own, they got scared. and worked their butt off to create something they should of created years ago.
ok read this .... i own both machines.
the psp looks and feels better then the ds.
ds feels/looks kinda cheap compared to it.
yes and i know the ds is cheaper.
as for the girl above that made some interesting arguments some true and some not true in my point of view.
now a days the majorety wants consoles that can do more then just play games.
just like mobile phones people want extra things with it. most of them dont even use the full potential, but if isnt included, they would complain about it.
for consoles people want to watch movies, play music etc.
as for the handhelds. the option to listen to music, to watch movies is superb.
thats why i bought the psp. not only to play games but to do more things with it.
u cant do that (atleast not in the way it is ment to be) with the ds.
as for the touchscreen.... nice..clever option.
but it seems that it isnt used correctly. the developers seemed to have this option in top of their head. seemed like they made a game around the touchscreen and not the other way around.
just try to play ridge racer ds with the touchscreen....unplayeble.
psp is made for more mature gamers.
ds has a kind of kiddy feel to it. just look at the games.
the ds is just not apealing to gamers over 18y.o.
got a ds but i really love my psp.
playing pro evo5 wifi is amazing.
even got a aplication to remotly control my pc from my psp. opening windows and playing files on it. and i can internet in my living room with it.
patrick
First off i have just spent best part of an hour reading everyones arguments on psp vs. ds, and to be honest before yesterday i was completly sat on the fence as to which is better.
I say until yesterday as my friend bought a DS and i had a good play with it, first impression? pretty impressed, but after a while i kinda got bored the touchscreen idea as it pretty much put me off when playing cus it was constantly flashing/doing something which was making me look at it and not at the actual game screen.
Now i fully understand that it takes time to get used to, and going from the usual 1 screen to 2 screens is confusing at first (kinda reminds me of the first time i played using the anologue sticks on the PS1 which took a little geting used to) But i didnt like the idea
So what i did next was nip into my local Game store and play with the PSP they still had on show. And once again i was impressed with the first play. I played PES5 (winning Eleven in fact) which actually surprised me as i couldnt believe how good the graphics are for a handheld, yes the graphics are OK with DS as of date but nothing compared to the ones i saw on PES5. Now if they had included a spare battery (they regularly do now with mobile phones) and if they had released a hard drive with the PSP, at extra cost or not, then by far this would outsell most multi media players. I know you can get a H/D now from 3rd parties but i dont beleive Sony have released one yet, feel free to correct me if im wrong but if you spend so much on somthing your not going to want to use a second rate extra on your first rate equipment are you?
I can appreciate the difference in gamers preferance as to whether they are Nintendo freaks or Playstation geeks as they both hold there own on the global market, and both have top games to back themselves up with. But i truly believe Sony are onto a winner as i get the impression that Nintendo released the DS to delay the release of The Revolution, which will be pretty awsome if you believe some of the hype on net at the minute (i even read that when its released it will have a cd/dvd burner capable of burning games which authorises only that machine to play the back-up!) which also leads to me thinking that the DS is a stop gap for this machine.
I know some people, if not most, will not agree with my thoughts but my final opinion is that the DS wont last after the revolution is released and that the PSP will be its own machine well after the PS3 release.
And to add, i have just ordered my White PSP from Japan so i have put my money where my mouth is!
EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!
Somebodies a harry potter fan
me a harry potter fan?
yeah mate! do a google search on the "phrase" you wrote! if you didnt mean it that way what did you mean!
okay
there are funny people in this world
they make me laugh
hey im Bob Marley, i expect that everyone knows who i am, and my son Damien? I've tested the PSP and it rocks my socks, Rasta's and dude's everywhere, give it a shot and buy one love you all Bob xXxXx
I own a number of Sony products from a PS2 to a Clie' PDA, a Cyber-Shot digital camera, etc. as well as a number of Nintendo products (GBA, GB SP and GC).
In head to head game play, the GC is simply a better system (graphically, the overall cost of the console, built-in abilty for 4 people to enjoy a game together, etc.) than the PS2. Which do we play more (I also have 7 and 9 year old sons)? The PS2 has a better selection of games available than the GC.
I also agree that Sony has a habit of cramming proprietary things down our throats such as Memory Sticks, power cords that only work with their systems, the need to buy add-ons that arae standard in other equipment/systems and so on.
Having said all of that, do I care who has the better system or who will put who out of business - NOPE! Do I care that Joe Blow hates Sony or Blow Joe hates Nintendo - NOPE! I only care about what I care about and what I think is what's best for me.
If someone put a gun to my head and made me choose a portable system, I would choose the PSP because it has a killer display and looks as sharp as a tack. The DS does nothing for me and having been able to compare both systems, the PSP wins (in my book).
I still like my GC and all else Nintendo and I will still buy GBA games, GC games AND PS2 games because I own all the formats and enjoy them for what they are - ENTERTAINMENT!!
i think that the psp is the best handheld ever! its a ps2 pretty much but you can take it out! use it on a bus, in a car, on a train, waiting for a meeting, a friend anything!! those times that your really bored, the psp will be there to help the time fly by!! i am going to buy the psp and i would rather have that than the xbox 360. im from england and english take gaming seriously and i hope most people will follow my example and buy into the psp. also isn't the ps3 thats coming out soon supposed to be compatible with the psp??
*the best review written for the PSP guys, good job :)*
I think the PSP is alot more powerful, but i do aggree that it does not have that many origional games.
for all you people that think the DS graphics are better, must be just plain stupid.
i love how sony put all of the extras on the PSP, let-alone the graphics.
I am not a fan of Playstation, nor am i to Nintendo, but i have to say that Nintendo is falling behind, technology wise.
If you are just looking for a game system, and you dont mind what type of graphics it has, just how fun the games are, I say buy the DS.
but if you are looking for todays technology in portable gaming, go with PSP all the way.
good things about the DS:
the DS has VERY fun games including all of the nintendo origionals, and some new games that are only on the DS,
the DS also has pretty good battery life.
the microphone on the DS ads a unique touch to gaming, and the touch screen does too.
bad things about the DS:
it is VERY hard to use the stylus with the touch screen, at the same time as using the directional pad, and the A,B,X,Y buttons.
i do not like the fact that you have to be in the very same room as the person that you want to multiplayer with.
good things about the PSP:
the wi-fi connections are great, and the graphics are by far the best graphics on any portable gaming system made.
you can now listen to music, watch movies, look through your photo album, and play games with this system.
there are many good accessories out there for the PSP, including speaker system, cases, charging blocks,even a camera, and much more.
also, the PSP controls are the exact same as all of the other playstation systems.
bad things about the PSP:
bad battery usage, and really high prices.
really fragile, easily gets dirty (because of glossy finish on face cover).
and it costs to much to get a good memory stick (i.e. memory stick pro duo, sony magicgate 1GB memory stick.)
both of these systems are very fun to use, but i personally, think the PSP stands out to all of the other portable gaming systems.
if you plan on buying a PSP, i highly suggest buying a 1GB memory stick, because then you will be able to fit all of the music/pictures you will want, plus have ALOT of room for game storage.
thank you,
Yvoyn.
I agree with you dig dug. That was dumb to think that new GBA is the death of DS. Also, these game developers are not used to the touchscreen games using stylus. It should takes time for them to get better. No point in watching a DVD movie at lower quality with high cost. Cost so much to be MP3 player for PSP because you have to waste so much money on memory stick.
Wow. What's so great about the DS touchscreen? You can't use the touchscreen and the control pad at the same time. It is very sensitive and the joystick is much more responsive. True, the picto chat and such on the DS are nice, but do you reaize that the PSP will keep getting firmware upgrades with new features?
If you purchase a PSP, MAKE SURE YOU READ UP ON UPDATING THE OS!!! If you think your going to purchase it, rip games from your friends and store them on your PC to rotate them on a memory card so you can play any game you want, you may want to research how that is possible. The OS that most PSP's come with as of today is OS 2.0, you can only do this with OS 1.5 or prior. There are ways to go from 2.0 to 1.5 (search the web) but there is NO way (as of today) to go from any version from 2.1 or higher, DOWN. This also means if you have a PSP with an OS of 1.5, you do not have the web browser, and do not have the ability to play ADC video (AMAZING QUALITY!!) and the selection of games you can play is limmited because Sony is not making their newer games, like GTA, only playable if you have a current OS!!
Crazy, but it may not be for quite some time before the hackers beat Sony. :(
hey guys,
i want a psp for Christmas (lol who doesnt). im almost 15 and am kinda good with computers. i dont know how easy it will be to get movies, mp3's, photos, and games onto this thing. is there any way to get games of the internet or from a friend or anything? also, if i have a dvd on my computer... would it be easy to get it onto my psp? to do all of these things do i need to get the duo card? or can i do all of it right out of the box? thanks a ton for any help!
Why not just get both? That's what I did and I couldn't be happier. I enjoy PSP astounding graphics and features while at the same time, I enjoys all of the Nintendo DS's innovative fun games. Don't be a fanboy. Play games because they are fun, regardless of the console/platform.
Except Microsoft, Down with the XBOX. Lol
-Mark Bridges
ya my brother and I already have the ds and we like it. but i am really entrested in the capabilities of the psp and its graphics. im just worried about how easily you can get mp3's, videos, and pictures. i have wifi in my home also. how easy is it to set that up?
There's no way DS can compete with PSP. The PSP has tv quality screen. It can play movies, music, and games. DS sucks.
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i jus bought a psp yay and it kiks ASS i noe this is an ols thread BUT im 12 it was mi birthday on da 3rd the ds is okay but psp is the 1 for me!
im evil and a heathen
will :)
Uhh, if you like shit, i guess its ok... But if you like playing games with decent game play buy a ds, or even a micro for that matter
cool gadget! :)