TheMightyPuck
Newcomer
Astroshock said:
If this is the case then the PSP suddenly starts to make sense.
PSP - is it worth it?
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If this is the case then the PSP suddenly starts to make sense.
maybe this is not the right thread buy does anybody of you, guys, have any remotely-sound theory why a psp-type* of device comes out only now? what prevented the viability/avaibility of such a device one, two, or dare i say, three years ago? not from sony or somebody in particular, just from anybody. thanks.
* a versatile handheld enterntainment device, game-wise on-par with the prev-gen of home consoles.
* a versatile handheld enterntainment device, game-wise on-par with the prev-gen of home consoles.
darkblu said:
I'm guessing technology and cost. Until now, it wasn't feasible to build such a small device with so much functionality and power. And the costs would have priced this way out of the mass-market range.
But really... it just wasn't going to happen until Sony was ready to do it. There just wasn't another company with enough experience and "street cred" to come in and build a new portable system that would garner widespread developer support.
I think Nintendo could have if it had wanted to, but the company doesn't seem interested in building a device with features beyond gaming. And as the market leader, it's apparently seen no reason to push technology beyond what it already has with the DS.
BigGamer X
Newcomer
???When I first used my PSP I coulda sworn my screen was green on the setup, video, photo, ect. screens. Now it's kinda pink? What is the color of everyone else's PSP MP3, movie, photo, mem card, ect. screen? Also, can it be changed manually?
gokickrocks
Regular
it changes color im guessing monthly
back on topic...i had my psp for awhile now and imo, dont really think its worth it at the moment...
for those that wanted it to replace their mp3 players, dont even bother, its no iriver...its multimedia is lacking due to the contraints of the memory stick
as for games, i have lumines, wipeout, and twisted metal...
lumines: overall nice puzzle game, although vs the cpu on level3 is too insane
wipeout: good music, sluggish controls, long loading times that reminds me of my ps2
twisted metal: controls arent sluggish, but they just dont feel right to me (i guess its because of the flatness of the controls, ie: doesnt mold to my hand)
...i play lumines the most, wipeout is just getting irritating with its loading times, and twisted metal i play once in awhile
the web browser update, when sony decides to officially release it, will be a nice bonus
back on topic...i had my psp for awhile now and imo, dont really think its worth it at the moment...
for those that wanted it to replace their mp3 players, dont even bother, its no iriver...its multimedia is lacking due to the contraints of the memory stick
as for games, i have lumines, wipeout, and twisted metal...
lumines: overall nice puzzle game, although vs the cpu on level3 is too insane
wipeout: good music, sluggish controls, long loading times that reminds me of my ps2
twisted metal: controls arent sluggish, but they just dont feel right to me (i guess its because of the flatness of the controls, ie: doesnt mold to my hand)
...i play lumines the most, wipeout is just getting irritating with its loading times, and twisted metal i play once in awhile
the web browser update, when sony decides to officially release it, will be a nice bonus
Kolgar said:
my original reason to ask this question was based exactly on the opposite-to-the-above premise that it was technically and cost-wise viable to come up with such a product 8) (A)
i agree with your point about sony being a potent contender. but, given (A), wouldn't it have been better for, say, ms to attempt at the (then vacant) highend handheld sector rather than going against sony's bunker in the living room?
yes, their stance is understandable. they had zero incentive to move.
BigGamer X said:
dude, you've got a deffective unit!
or.. it's just that pink is psp's interface color of the month; it changes monthly.
darkblu said:
Before Xbox, Microsoft had no experience with console gaming of any kind. Hence, no street cred and an uphill battle in the portable market.
Besides, Microsoft wants to own the living room. That's where the really big money is at. They had no choice but to take a shot at the home console market first - before Sony gets a permanent lock.
P.S. Yes, the PSP background color changes every month. April is pink.
P.P.S. Long load times in Wipeout? Maybe when you first boot the game. Otherwise, I thought it was fine.
Ive got Wipeout, and Twisted Metal. I just sold my PS2 yesterday, and I think the graphics are as good as the PS2's. Its hard to judge fairly since its a much smaller screen, and some games can do 1080i on the PS2 (GT4 looked great in it).
The demo disk had a lot of games too, and they all looked really good.
The demo disk had a lot of games too, and they all looked really good.
blakjedi
The biggest difference I can see, so far, between PSP graphics and PS2 is in geometry. PS2 seems to push a lot more polygons.
I'm no game programmer and I'm not even very familiar with PSP's spec sheet, but from having played Wipeout Pure and Twisted Metal: Head On, it seems to me that PSP's polygon output is closer to that of Dreamcast than PS2.
The biggest difference I can see, so far, between PSP graphics and PS2 is in geometry. PS2 seems to push a lot more polygons.
I'm no game programmer and I'm not even very familiar with PSP's spec sheet, but from having played Wipeout Pure and Twisted Metal: Head On, it seems to me that PSP's polygon output is closer to that of Dreamcast than PS2.
In regards to the question on why this hasn't done before, I would say that it has. The Turbo Express, Lynx, Gamegear, and to a less extent the Gameboy were all more or less graphically equal to the previous generation, (in TE and GG, they WERE the previous generation). I think, though, that right after that generation you first saw the FMV and then the 3D explosion. With FMV, storage space was a problem to replicate on a portable device. With 3D, it's taken off so fast that it took more than a few years for portables to even begin to implement it, much less bring it up to decent levels.
blakjedi said:
Well, in theoretical terms, peak polygon performance of the PSP is half that of PS2, though PSP has some features that PS2 lacks in hardware. On a small screen like PSP's one, things tend to look much better than they would on a big TV.
So when people said PSP is more powerful they were either (1) stupid, or (2) speaking in relative terms, PSP some games might have the chance of looking better than some PS2 games, as they run on a smaller screen.
Kolgar said:
Yep. That's how it seems to me too. It'll be interesting to see if this can be improved in the future.
I got a PSP on midnight of launch day at Wal-mart. Only got Wipeout Pure, but for Easter my wife gave me Lumines. Both very good games, Wipeout Pure brings back the series in a huge way, and Lumines is a fantastic puzzle game with great style and music. I'd recommend the system on these two games alone.
The good-
The hardware outclasses the DS and definitely the GBA big time. Although the poly counts aren't quite Ps2-level, it looks several times better than the pixelated DS 3d. Like was said a couple times in the thread, it's a very sexy handheld. The screen is wonderful, no real issues with ghosting, and good contrast. It's small and quite comfortable, the sound through headphones is fairly good, and the analog buttons have a solid feel to them. Best of all, mine has zero dead pixels
The bad-
Mine already has some small scratches on the face. It's always got fingerprints around the edges, no way to avoid that. The analog nub takes some getting used to; in fact, I'm still not happy with it.
Overall I'm pleased with my PSP. Even at this early stage it's obvious that this is going to be THE handheld. Sony just needs to work on getting the software library to the high Playstation standard that we're used to.
Nick Laslett
Regular
I have had my PSP since the Tuesday before Christmas last year.
As an adult I've never owned a handheld system, but as a kiddie I did have two Game and Watch devices.
With nothing to compare the PSP against it is hard to access it's strengths and weaknesses.
Battery - The battery life is amazing, on all the trips I've taken with the device it has always lasted the course. But on any one journey I'm never going to use the thing for over 5 hrs. In January I went on a shopping trip to New York and used the PSP in the airport and on the plane. No issues with the battery. I've take a couple of 4 hrs car journeys to watch football matchs and again had no issues with the battery. Went to Norway recently skiing and it was an 8 hrs journey. No issues with the battery. So far my real world experience is that the battery is not a problem. This is contary to my experience with my 3rd generation 40gb iPod. The battery on this thing rarely lasts the journey.
Convergence: I went and got a 512mb MS and a 1gb MS straight away to use with the device. I have a Sony Viao laptop for work and my wife has a Sony digital camera. The PSP makes a great picture viewer. We take the memory stick straight out of the camera and view the pictures on the PSP. On the flight back from our skiing holiday we spent 30 mins looking at all the pictures we took. I have 50 odd family pictures on the PSP which I show friends and other family members. This for me is a real useful piece of functionality. The screen is so good that it makes this viable. The is no need to print all these digital pictures out when you can carry them around and view them instantly.
The 512mb MS can hold one movie, the 1gb stick can hold 2. But what I did was put all of my daughter's favourite movie scenes on the 1gb stick. This helped time pass on the ski holiday journey. On the plane and the train she was quiet as a mouse watching her favourite clips. Watching movies off the stick seems to use very little power. It is very easy to put movies on the memory sticks. It helps that I have a VAIO, but I found the conversion software very easy to use.
Games - I have Lumines, Ridge Racer and Everybody's Golf for my PSP. These are 3 excellent games and would recomend them to anybody. I've also played the Ape Escape mini-games compilation thing and even in Japanese this game is a lot of fun. I will be picking up WipeOut Pure & Twisted Metal in the near future. There are a lot of exciting games on the horizon. I'm looking forward to Mercury and Infected.
Music is the only aspect of the PSP I haven't really used. This is because I have an iPod. But I could see how non-iPod owners would use this functionality. With a 1gb stick you can have a lot of songs. Once a 2gb stick comes out this will be great because you will be able to have photos, songs and a film all on the same stick.
The PSP gets an A+ from me, great device.
As an adult I've never owned a handheld system, but as a kiddie I did have two Game and Watch devices.
With nothing to compare the PSP against it is hard to access it's strengths and weaknesses.
Battery - The battery life is amazing, on all the trips I've taken with the device it has always lasted the course. But on any one journey I'm never going to use the thing for over 5 hrs. In January I went on a shopping trip to New York and used the PSP in the airport and on the plane. No issues with the battery. I've take a couple of 4 hrs car journeys to watch football matchs and again had no issues with the battery. Went to Norway recently skiing and it was an 8 hrs journey. No issues with the battery. So far my real world experience is that the battery is not a problem. This is contary to my experience with my 3rd generation 40gb iPod. The battery on this thing rarely lasts the journey.
Convergence: I went and got a 512mb MS and a 1gb MS straight away to use with the device. I have a Sony Viao laptop for work and my wife has a Sony digital camera. The PSP makes a great picture viewer. We take the memory stick straight out of the camera and view the pictures on the PSP. On the flight back from our skiing holiday we spent 30 mins looking at all the pictures we took. I have 50 odd family pictures on the PSP which I show friends and other family members. This for me is a real useful piece of functionality. The screen is so good that it makes this viable. The is no need to print all these digital pictures out when you can carry them around and view them instantly.
The 512mb MS can hold one movie, the 1gb stick can hold 2. But what I did was put all of my daughter's favourite movie scenes on the 1gb stick. This helped time pass on the ski holiday journey. On the plane and the train she was quiet as a mouse watching her favourite clips. Watching movies off the stick seems to use very little power. It is very easy to put movies on the memory sticks. It helps that I have a VAIO, but I found the conversion software very easy to use.
Games - I have Lumines, Ridge Racer and Everybody's Golf for my PSP. These are 3 excellent games and would recomend them to anybody. I've also played the Ape Escape mini-games compilation thing and even in Japanese this game is a lot of fun. I will be picking up WipeOut Pure & Twisted Metal in the near future. There are a lot of exciting games on the horizon. I'm looking forward to Mercury and Infected.
Music is the only aspect of the PSP I haven't really used. This is because I have an iPod. But I could see how non-iPod owners would use this functionality. With a 1gb stick you can have a lot of songs. Once a 2gb stick comes out this will be great because you will be able to have photos, songs and a film all on the same stick.
The PSP gets an A+ from me, great device.
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Definately a nice post Nick, just a straight "This works for me cause i can use it for this, this and that and i love it". Need more of those and less of the "But we don't need one device for all those things, but the battery won't last long enough, but the screen has dead pixelz, but this but that" kind of crap on this forum.
If you want one, and need one, u will buy one and be very happy with it. If not, your loss.
If you want one, and need one, u will buy one and be very happy with it. If not, your loss.
