10~12 out of 32MB of PSP RAM not accessible to the devs!
- Thread starter Shogmaster
- Start date
Tagrineth said:
Yes I touched on that topic awhile back in my thread regarding design possibilites for a disc-based GBA2. Keeping a disc constantly spinning doesn't draw a lot of power as can be seen in MD players that can last 40+ hours assuming it doesn't spin at high RPMs. It's the constant accessing that drain power. This is where my proposed disc-based GBA2 design will have a HUGE advantage in power since it calls for 512MB of RAM onboard so that most if not all game data could be loaded at startup. You wouldn't need to wait for all 512MB to be loaded before playing just the EXE which should only take a few seconds. After all the 512MB is filled the drive could be powered down for extended lengths of time.
However, one aspect that I'm not really sure about is the amount of power 512MB of volatile memory would drain. It might just be better to use 512MB of nonvolatile Matrix ROMs with the option for flash media. Of course if SONY was smart, they'll include a feature where you can buffer UMD data onto high capacity Memory Sticks.
They probably do--or shortly to come. Or developers would do it anyway. There's no reason to NOT tap everything that's available--and tapping MS for more than just save spots in games certainly makes hella-sense.
I don't think the MS will be allowed to be used as a buffer.
That would mean there is no more a standard PSP, as someone might have an empty 256MB Memory Stick, while another might have a 32MB stick full of data.
That would mean there is no more a standard PSP, as someone might have an empty 256MB Memory Stick, while another might have a 32MB stick full of data.
No, there wouldn't be a "typical size" but they could still have it move adjustable amounts of data depending on the size of the MS in the slot (and the room left on it). Offhand, I can't imagine that being a beast to implement, since we're only talking about extraneous enhancing anyway--no game is going to come with it required.
that would just complicate and confuse things, I don't think that's the way Sony's going to go with PSP.
They've clearly been very strict in the configuration and modificationability of their products, there hasn't been upgrades to (computational) power in PSOne or PS2, I don't see why they'd change it with the PSP.
They've clearly been very strict in the configuration and modificationability of their products, there hasn't been upgrades to (computational) power in PSOne or PS2, I don't see why they'd change it with the PSP.
Come on folks, it is very far fetched that PSP would have Memory Stick caching feature. It is obvious that MS will be used purely for static storage.
There's no need to bring up features you know won't be in the final product, just so that you can bash it for not having that 'feature'
Edit: and by the way, isn't there already memory inside the PSP, can it be not used similary as a cache :? why need a memstick too for that, unless the PSP memory is considered way too small for anything (which i'm sure it is for some )
There's no need to bring up features you know won't be in the final product, just so that you can bash it for not having that 'feature'
Edit: and by the way, isn't there already memory inside the PSP, can it be not used similary as a cache :? why need a memstick too for that, unless the PSP memory is considered way too small for anything (which i'm sure it is for some
)rabidrabbit said:Come on folks, it is very far fetched that PSP would have Memory Stick caching feature. It is obvious that MS will be used purely for static storage.
There's no need to bring up features you know won't be in the final product, just so that you can bash it for not having that 'feature'
Edit: and by the way, isn't there already memory inside the PSP, can it be not used similary as a cache :? why need a memstick too for that, unless the PSP memory is considered way too small for anything (which i'm sure it is for some
Although i do agree with you, we have to remember that Sony are the ones who made the HDD as a separate feature of PS2. Same for the Network Adaptor.
So, i would not be surprised if they made MS a "feature" to be used to enhance the games, much like the HDD is for a few PS2 games.
MSs are quite cheap nowadays (depending on the size), and they will only get cheaper, so i just would not be surprised if we saw "Enhanced for use with MS!" on games boxes.
The HDD and NA are a bit different, as adding one brings very predictable features to an excisting hardware.
A Memory Stick cache on the other hand would not be predictable per console; as one would have say 8 MB free Memstick cache while the other would have 256MB faster PRO stick, thus more and faster cache.
This would bring too much discrepancy amongst PSP owners, making the public image of PSP less focused.
A Memory Stick cache on the other hand would not be predictable per console; as one would have say 8 MB free Memstick cache while the other would have 256MB faster PRO stick, thus more and faster cache.
This would bring too much discrepancy amongst PSP owners, making the public image of PSP less focused.
There's no need to bring up features you know won't be in the final product, just so that you can bash it for not having that 'feature'
Actually I didn't bring it up to bash it. I brought it up as a way to lesson the PSP's mediorcre battery life.
Of course it wouldn't be required, just enhanced like LB mentioned for those people who already have MS. For those who don't it would be an incentive for them to go buy one which I'm sure SONY would love
This was originally my idea for a disc-based GBA2 anyway. I just figured since PSP already has a flash media port, it would be trivial. If SONY doesn't implement this, it doesn't affect me because I'm gonna be buying a DS anyway. It would be a good feature for a GBA2 though.
BTW different size MS isn't going to impact the actual game at all. For example more memory will give you more battery life. If you don't have a MS then the software will just ignore that.
I might have missed something, as I haven't bothered to read this thread from the beginning....
but why isn't the memory already inside the PSP suiteble for this kind of battery-saving-disc-rotating-minimising caching :? :?
How much memory do you PC-Engine think would be needed for such a feature? (I have no idea)
but why isn't the memory already inside the PSP suiteble for this kind of battery-saving-disc-rotating-minimising caching :? :?
How much memory do you PC-Engine think would be needed for such a feature? (I have no idea)
rabidrabbit said:
Well, the fact that some people might have a faster 256MB PRO stick doesn't rule out those who have normal 32MB ones.
It would be crap, but i wouldn't be surprised.
After all, we have different size memory cards, and HDD, a NA to choose from on PS2, together with all other sorts of add-ons.
A simple MS won't do PSP much harm. All they would have to specify is what size is needed to have the "enhancements" for a single game and off they go. If u have it, better for u, if u don't, u'll still be able to play the game.
rabidrabbit said:
Adding flash RAM to PSP will increase the cost tremendously. Forcing everyone to pay for this luxury is not a good idea considering PSP is already expensive. It's a better idea if this luxury can be purchased separately. For example if you have MS great the software will use it. If not the software ignores it. Having it built-in will be expensive.
No, I don't mean separate flash ram, but the DRRDRAMwhatever is to be inside the PSP so that it can runt those games in the first place, a portion of that same memory.PC-Engine said:
That's irrelevent though. Flash RAM or DDR or whatever will still add to the overall cost. You think SONY wanted only 32MB if they could add more cheaply? Heck the original spec was only what 12MB until developers started complaining. If they got away with 12MB of eDRAM, that would mean no external memory and lower overall costs. If they could've made the chip with 32MB of eDRAM they would've saved much on costs as they can shrink eDRAM along with the chip overtime. But since they don't have the tech they had to go offchip increasing costs.
Everything seems to be super related. As we can see disc access will deppend a lot on the final amount of memory to put game data available to the developer.
The less it is, the more access we will have to do.
I hope all this RAM thing is just a case of the first games/demos, meaning that they need a very robust OS for their needs (debugging, crashing...) and that at the moment is not very optimized.
I hope developers will have much more memory available and that they have the right to choose what path do they want:
-Easy development + huge abstraction.
-Full Costumizable development.
Regarding streaming of audio I think that Sony has enough experience in the ATRAC3 field to just make all the soundtracks available on memory without the need to be constantly streaming. That would save a lot of power as some of you hinted.
The less it is, the more access we will have to do.
I hope all this RAM thing is just a case of the first games/demos, meaning that they need a very robust OS for their needs (debugging, crashing...) and that at the moment is not very optimized.
I hope developers will have much more memory available and that they have the right to choose what path do they want:
-Easy development + huge abstraction.
-Full Costumizable development.
Regarding streaming of audio I think that Sony has enough experience in the ATRAC3 field to just make all the soundtracks available on memory without the need to be constantly streaming. That would save a lot of power as some of you hinted.
Similar threads
- Locked
