Playstation Portable (PSP) System by Sony Reviewed by Mikaa (robbin12388@bellsouth.net) Released: March 23, 2005 (US) Battery Life: Approx. 6-8 hours on games, 10+ with music, 2-3 with UMD movies Colors on-screen: 230,000 onscreen at one time. Total Palette: 16.77 million colors. ROM Sizes: 1,024Megabytes (1GB) Runs off of Sony UMD proprietary disks. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Opening Snide Remarks: The ultimate way to write your first review: make a review of a rival portable for a GAME BOY site. One must wonder what would make me do such a thing in the first place. To be honest, I don't know. But I have to say that just before I purchased my PSP, I was completely against it as a GAME machine. The game library was pitiful compared to the Nintendo DS lineup, and only had maybe a couple must-own titles at launch. But the PSP has an identity crisis: is it a GAME device, a MOVIE device, a MUSIC device, or a STORAGE DEVICE? Let's have a lookie, shall we? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Impressions: The PSP is the fusion of a PSX controller with a Game Boy Advance SP. No, really. The system is held more like the original GBA (long-wise), features a control pad on the right-hand side, an analog thumb-pad just below, the now-standard L and R buttons, four action buttons, and the Start and Select buttons. Noteworthy buttons that are used on the PSP are the Home button, which takes you from a game to the PSP main menu; the Screen button, which allows you to adjust between the three screen illumination settings (four if you are linked to a power source); Volume buttons, which adjusts the volume, and an Audio button, for adjusting special options for the sounds. And, of course, the screen, which dwarfs any other portable screen that I have ever used on a gaming system. The screen's resolution is the best that I have seen on any system, and the detail possible is astounding. The digital controls are god-awful for diagonal movements, such as a Capcom Fireball move (Down, Down Forward, Forward) that takes five attempts for a possible chance of doing it right. Suprisingly, the analog pad works well, though I would have preferred a non-Sony issed D-pad. The action buttons are large and comfortable, and easy to use. The L and R buttons would have been far better had they been designed kin to the GBA or DS. They function, but that's it. The "specialty" buttons deserve their own section, for various reasons. First of all, for whatever reason, Sony opted to forgo using a traditional volume control, instead having "volume up" and "volume down" buttons placed below the Analog stick. This means that you must shift the system in your hands so that you can press the button for the desired funcion. Sadly, this is more of a nusance than anything, and one must wonder why Sony did not listen to the complaints against Bandai's Swan Crystal (which had a simmilar problem). There is a completely seperate "Audio" button that, when pressed for a few seconds, will kill the audio. Not bad, but I prefer the sound adjustment methods employed on the GBA/SP/DS. The "Screen" button toggles the brilliance of the screen between either from three settings normally or from four when hooked up to the PC or a power outlet. Holding the button for a short time will turn the screen off, but the speakers will still be running. There are additional settings in the main menu for adjusting the screen settings, including auto shut-off and other various goodies. However, it would have been nice to have an option to simply turn the light off yet keep the screen on, a la the GBASP/DS. Speaking of the screen, don't play under a potent light source; doing so will make it near impossible to see what you are doing, and heaven help you outside. Important note: DO NOT, AT ANY TIME, LEAVE YOUR PSP IN DIRECT SUN LIGHT FOR AN EXPENDED PERIOD OF TIME. IT CAN, AND WILL DAMAGE YOUR SCREEN. While the damage to mine (yep; forgot to close the screen cover at school while next to a window) is only noticable when I wear my sunglasses (I could see it for nearly an hour before it seemed to vanish), the fact that the PSP can suffer damage that none of my other portables have ever been hurt by is quite distasteful, especially when you factor in how much the unit costs. Now, the Analog stick. Er, pad. Whatever. Basically, you have a little thumb pad that you can move around in a manner kin to an analog stick. Don't expect any dual-analog function like you might have done on the PS2; if you have played either Goldeneye for the N64 or Metroid Prime Hunter's various controls (sans the touch screen), you have an idea what the PSP's solution is. If you can accept that, let me return to the analog pad. Most of the games I have played, oddly enough, focus on the D-pad rather than the analog, and in some cases, this is great, such as Lumines and any menu system. Even Wipeout Pure doesn't suffer from the digital, though it can use the analog. And yes, the analog actually WORKS. Try playing Dynasty Warriors - you'll quickly start using the analog for the combat. And here is where the PSP's designers need to focus their efforts: switching over to the analog nub. See, games like Rengoku work fine in theory, but, unlike the DS's nice D-pad, the PSP's digital controls are designed in such a way that you can easily double-tap one by accident, and, in the case of Rengoku, send you rolling five feet into trouble. This is one example, but developers need to learn to let us, the gamer, choose what kind of controls we need, and allow us to map them. Sorry for the rant, but it IS a problem that I have found with many PSP games. Oh, yeah. Games. Well, to be honest, there are many good ones, but only a few are worth keeping to play again (unless you can find someone else to play multiplayer, which I can't). Lumines and Wipeout Pure are the best games on the system in general, though a few others are good or bad, depending on tastes. Whether the games are good or not, however, is, unfortunately, related to how much care you treat them. See, the PSP's games run off of UMDs, a proprietary media format, which are encased within small plastic carts. And if you happen to scratch the disk through the little box that the PSP reads the disk through or damage the top of the case, your game has a high chance of goofing up. I had to return my first copy of Lumines because of a problem I had with the game not being recognized by the PSP. These are problems that one rarely has to worry with when dealing with carts, and if it wasn't for the fact that the system has great games (and other abilities), I'd stick with the DS. Other abilites? Oh, you mean the reason this thing is a multimedia device? The PSP can display JPEG (.jpg) encoded images that the user uploads through a USB connection with a PC, play MP3 music files, and allow you to watch MP4-encoded movies. While this all sounds good, you WILL have to go and visit a few web pages to get some must-have freeware to handle many of these functions. For instance, trying to store JPEGs can be annoying when the don't align up right, and you can not put BMPs, GIFs, and PNGs on there. But with a nifty program on one web site, you can create folders and put nearly any kind of image on your PSP in special folders. MP4 movies can be a pill to get coded right, especially given how odd the actual encoding can be. Several movie programs allow you to convert MPEGs, AVIs, and some WMVs into the right format; just make sure you have enough memory. Speaking of memory, if you have any intentions of watching movies or storing MP3s on your PSP, GET A MEMORY STICK PRO DUO OF AT *LEAST* 128 MEG OF MEMORY. The 32M card that comes with the PSP is ONLY good for game saves and a few images. I have a 256M card, and can run at most two episodes of Gundam SEED at tolerable resolution. Not bad. Liked: The fact that you can play games, watch an episode of Family Guy, read a book in JPEG form, and listen to One Wing Angel without having to move. Hated: VERY easy to damage, can't play with bright sources of light (read - flourecent bulbs and the sun), loading times on the go. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Improve: What to change, what to change... Let's see, first, some internal memory, which wouldbe more costly, but allow us to save our games so we can switch memory cards on the fly without having to try out six dozen ones to find that one save for Wipeout Pure. Second, the blasted D-pad. Third, the volume controls. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Final Words: The PSP's abilities to play music and movies, play games, and display images of almost anything, including being able to display books and magazines if one knows how, and the fact that it is an all-in-one deal, makes it a great system. Don't misunderstand; I love Nintendo, and I love my DS. But the PSP isn't a gaming system. It's a multi-media device that can also play games. Think the CD-i or 3DO of the mid-1990s. Or don't. Bad examples. Just get it, if only to read manga or look at your girl/boyfriend on the go. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Score: % 95.5 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Secrets: There are a few interesting notes about the main menu that one should be aware of: -The background color is relative to what month it is; March is a light green, and May is a dark green, while April is a nasty pink. I haven't seen what other colors are there, and am too lazy to adjust the calender to find out. Just suffice it to say that come April, change the month. Trust me. -There is a parental control program built in, but to access it, you have to enter your password. When you first access it, simply enter nothing and press X. Now set the settings. -There are 11 (!) settings for Parental Controls. Yikes. -The PSP Photo folder can hold individual images, and can also hold sub-folders with seperate images. Unfortunately, it will NOT hold any sub-sub folders. The Music folder will not hold any sub-folders, nor will the movie folder. -In order to store MP4 movies on your PSP, link up to a PC, and go to where it shows the PSP folder. Create a new folder called "MP_ROOT," and open it. Create a new folder titled "100MNV01." Store your movies here. -The Games folder supposedly houses downloadable extras for games. However, it is rumored that stand-alone games could be stored here. -On the main menu, there is an indicator that shows your battery life. Pressing the home button during a game will show you the indicator, as well as the volume level.