SCEE's Phil Harrison PSP talk

[Guden Oden]

Would the battery-bitchers like some cheese along with their whine? Jesus guys, it's months until the thing will go on sale and you bitch like you're in heat!

Just cool your horses and it will all be made clear, mmkay? Besides, 10 hours for NDS, is that with or without WLAN? Why don't you guys start bitching about that too to show you're not just out to rag on Sony?

 

[-tkf-]

Would the battery-bitchers like some cheese along with their whine? Jesus guys, it's months until the thing will go on sale and you bitch like you're in heat!

Just cool your horses and it will all be made clear, mmkay? Besides, 10 hours for NDS, is that with or without WLAN? Why don't you guys start bitching about that too to show you're not just out to rag on Sony?

Hey it's all about being critical!

My guess is that most people will get around 3-4 hours of gameplay from a charge, those that really needs extra power might buy the Battery pack. Anyway, considering the way the world works today i would say that 3-4 hours is more than enough, it's all about how long you are away from a power source were you can recharge. A few weeks ago i was at LeMans, i had a EOS 10D and Sony T610 and a CD Player with me. I recharged the 10D 2 times and the phone 2 times, the CD player never went dry. This was a 5 day trip. Did i find that problematic? no because i had access to power.

As i see the PSP it's something you use when you are away from your home (power source) either in public transport, at school or hell maybe even at work. I envy people that have more than 3-4 hours a day were they can play on this thing.

The only real place were i can see a problem is kids on the backseat of a car that has to spend 10 hours there.. better get a 12 volt car adaptor for those long trips

 

[PC-Engine]

I'm afraid the 2-3 hrs of gameplay is just going to make it a niche product for the majority of the consumers. That's what killed all the other more advanced portables while leaving the technically inferior processing-wise GB unscathed.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Again, if you're just listening to music with no visuals at all then it should last, as I said yesterday, about eight to ten hours just like an iPod would. If you are playing a game that is consistently cycling through and putting the CPU to good use, yeah, battery life is going to be shorter. Maybe about two and a half, three hours. That's why putting the range in there... because it's more difficult because it's got a wide range of applications to really pinpoint to say, "It's eight hours." Because it could be longer, or it could be shorter, and by dramatic margins up or down.

That quote doesn't say a game play time is going to be 2-3 hours.
It says

Again, if you're just listening to music with no visuals at all then it should last about eight to ten hours. If you are playing a game battery life is going to be shorter. Maybe about two and a half, three hours.

Which could just as well mean that it is 2-3 hours shorter than when listening to music, making it 10-3= 7 hours gameplay
So it is a bit pointless to declare the PSP as a failure because of the short battery life, as there is no data to base such claims on.

 

[-tkf-]

I'm afraid the 2-3 hrs of gameplay is just going to make it a niche product for the majority of the consumers. That's what killed all the other more advanced portables while leaving the technically inferior processing-wise GB unscathed.

Were these advanced portables "rechargeable" ?

 

[PC-Engine]

Which could just as well mean that it is 2-3 hours shorter than when listening to music, making it 10-3= 7 hours gameplay
So it is a bit pointless to declare the PSP as a failure because of the short battery life, as there is no data to base such claims on.

I think you're grasping at straws...

I'm afraid the 2-3 hrs of gameplay is just going to make it a niche product for the majority of the consumers. That's what killed all the other more advanced portables while leaving the technically inferior processing-wise GB unscathed.

Were these advanced portables "rechargeable" ?

No but you could use rechargeable AA NiCads.

As a matter of fact I bought a $300 TurboExpress at launch a decade ago and used rechargeable batteries too, but it wasn't too convenient. Only hardcore gamers like myself would put up with the inconveniance. Also at launch, the TE alreayd had a huge existing game library, but that still didn't help it against GB. You don't mess with Nintendo's GB.

 

[thop]

Which could just as well mean that it is 2-3 hours shorter than when listening to music, making it 10-3= 7 hours gameplay

It could just as well mean that if you stretch it to the moon and back, but it doesn't.

 

[-tkf-]

No but you could use rechargeable AA NiCads.

As a matter of fact I bought a $300 TurboExpress at launch a decade ago and used rechargeable batteries too, but it wasn't too convenient. Only hardcore gamers like myself would put up with the inconveniance. Also at launch, the TE alreayd had a huge existing game library, but that still didn't help it against GB. You don't mess with Nintendo's GB.

Rechargeable batteries are cheap now and their capcity is better than they used to be so they would seem more feasible today than a decade ago. I remember back when i was selling the Gameboy Color, customers wouldn't buy rechargeable batteries because they were to expensive (??) but some would ask if you could recharge the Gameboy.. yeah go figure

Anyway the only Company that could put a dent in the GameBoys armor is Sony. I think many people above 18 would prefer the PSP over a GBA SP/DS. Like myself i sold my GBA sometime ago and haven't really missed it, it was fun to play old games but only for so long.

 

[Snyder]

It's not bad at all, even ATRAC3, which is now several years old, is superior to MP3 in the quality-vs.-bitrate comparison.

Say again?
http://www.rjamorim.com/test/multiformat128/results.html

 

[-tkf-]

Say again?
http://www.rjamorim.com/test/multiformat128/results.html

Well it was better considering the low bitrate, but the other codecs have caught up haven't they 8)

But it looks like Sony isn't sleeping:

http://www.sony.net/Products/ATRAC3/tech/atrac3plus/index.html

I love when stuff like Lame beats the big guys

 

[marconelly!]

I'm afraid the 2-3 hrs of gameplay is just going to make it a niche product for the majority of the consumers.

Times are different now. People are used to constant re-charging of everything they have, as long as the device is the best they can get for their money. Those old handheld didn't even have rechargeable batteries in them, forcing you into an additional expense if you wanted NiCad batteries and a charger (not to mention that NiCad would give you a lot less playtime on one charge than already short living alcaline batteries)

 

[Guden Oden]

Say again?

They don't test Atrac3+, only the like three years old (maybe more) Atrac3 cocec.

Anyway, you think most MP3s out there are compressed using the latest version of Lame using highest quality switches?

 

[rabidrabbit]

Which could just as well mean that it is 2-3 hours shorter than when listening to music, making it 10-3= 7 hours gameplay

It could just as well mean that if you stretch it to the moon and back, but it doesn't.

What I meant was that nobody here who is constantly criticising the rumoured 2-3 hour battery time in gameplay, has evidence to back up their claims, except one sentence that can be understood in two ways.
That's why it is really moronic to declare PSP a failure just because of this one unconfirmed spec.

 

[thop]

It was already said on the E3 that battery time is between 2.5h and 10h. In your version they should've said 7.5h-10h so IMO it's a clear case here
Also do you really think the freakin huge display and all the horsepower in the PSP would only shorten the batter time by 25% as compared to just listening to music?

 

[rabidrabbit]

2.5 must then be with everything, such as WiFi, heavy disc streaming etc.
That would mean the average gaming time would be higher
Ok, I know sh*it about the PSP battery life, so I'll shut up now.

 

[StefanS]

2.5 must then be with everything, such as WiFi, heavy disc streaming etc.
That would mean the average gaming time would be higher
Ok, I know sh*it about the PSP battery life, so I'll shut up now.

Well, in an IGN preview they reported that their developer sources said that the gameplay battery life would be close to the lower number. So I guess 2.5-3hrs is quite accurate.

 

[cthellis42]

Which could just as well mean that it is 2-3 hours shorter than when listening to music, making it 10-3= 7 hours gameplay
So it is a bit pointless to declare the PSP as a failure because of the short battery life, as there is no data to base such claims on.

I think you're grasping at straws...

Not really, he's complaining about the ambiguity and potential misinterpretations which can come from the statements, which is exactly what I was complaining about. They have the machines, the machines have batteries, and they have games that can be played on the machines (final form or not)--that pretty much gives them a span they can directly mention to let us know what to expect from game playing, does it not?

The only way to make proper estimates is to have proper information, not be shown a worst-case and best-case example and let you wonder what fits in-between.

 

[j^aws]

Hell..., if we're discussing the PSP battery life again...

I'm going to wait for the new portable XBOX...

The ol ones r the best...

 

[PC-Engine]

Rechargeable batteries are cheap now and their capcity is better than they used to be so they would seem more feasible today than a decade ago. I remember back when i was selling the Gameboy Color, customers wouldn't buy rechargeable batteries because they were to expensive (??) but some would ask if you could recharge the Gameboy.. yeah go figure

They would *seem* more feasible, but in reality it's the same and here's why. It doesn't matter that today's recchargeable batteries have higher capacity than ten years ago if we're talking about gameplay TIME. Back then with rechargeables my TE would last 2.5-3 hrs which is the same as the PSPs while playing games. Time is time...period.

Regardless I didn't buy rechargeable batteries for the TE. I already had them for other devices so cost was a non-issue. We're talking about convenience not cost get it? 2-3 hrs of gameplay time will make PSP just like all the other portables before it that didn't succeed.

Times are different now. People are used to constant re-charging of everything they have, as long as the device is the best they can get for their money. Those old handheld didn't even have rechargeable batteries in them, forcing you into an additional expense if you wanted NiCad batteries and a charger (not to mention that NiCad would give you a lot less playtime on one charge than already short living alcaline batteries)

Read above. My TE got 2-3hrs just like PSP will.

Not really, he's complaining about the ambiguity and potential misinterpretations which can come from the statements, which is exactly what I was complaining about. They have the machines, the machines have batteries, and they have games that can be played on the machines (final form or not)--that pretty much gives them a span they can directly mention to let us know what to expect from game playing, does it not?

The only way to make proper estimates is to have proper information, not be shown a worst-case and best-case example and let you wonder what fits in-between.

Um why is it so hard for you accept facts???

Didn't I just give you a worse case scenario a few posts back? Gameplay IS the worse case scenario! They said 2-10 hrs. 2 is the worse case understand??? Read thop's post, he use good logic unlike some people.

Here, I'll even quote him for you:

It was already said on the E3 that battery time is between 2.5h and 10h. In your version they should've said 7.5h-10h so IMO it's a clear case here
Also do you really think the freakin huge display and all the horsepower in the PSP would only shorten the batter time by 25% as compared to just listening to music?

 

[rabidrabbit]

How long is the PSP battery time when you're playing a multiplayer game via WiFi then?
1 hour?

PSP battery time is going to be shorter than DS's, there's no arguing about that. It does have bigger and brighter screen, more powerful processor, disc based...

If it didn't have those features I'm sure some people would complain and say it'll flop because it's screen is not big and bright enough (or bigger and brighter than DS),
or that it'll fail because it has no real processing advantage over DS,
or that it is just a portable game playing device, and thus will not sell 'cos Nintendo already has that market covered.

2,5 hours average game time sure sounds little, and might have impact on sales. But I'm still confident most games will be more (4-5 hours).
If I think of myself as a potential PSP owner. 2,5h does not feel too little time for me. I know I'd use it mainly when travelling on a train (2-4 hour trips), at home (where I have electricity), or as a passenger on a car (it can be recharged in car). Everywhere I'd use it I'd have easy access to electricity. If I'd go hiking to some remote place, I'd most likely leave the PSP home, as I would my cell phone (well, maybe not my cell phone in case of emergencies), music player etc... only electronic gadget I'd take with me would be a digital camera (Sony T1, it has only minimum 80 minutes of recording time, still I have used it for days without need for recharging )

I have never owned a handheld console, so maybe I'm just not critical enough.