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Ok, so it's not a PDA, notebook or a perfect fit for any of our family of sites, but the Sony PSP is a mobile device that is extremely popular, so it's our duty to play several hours of games to tell you if it's a worthwhile purchase. And given Sony's departure from the PDA world, we're frankly quite starved for any tiny computing device with Sony's name on it. Lastly, there are plenty of rumors that these mobile gaming devices will ultimately include PIM and other productivity oriented applications. All excuses to buy a PSP and a few games aside, how does the PSP perform and does it stack up well against the Nintendo DS? Read on!
Read the full content of this Article: http://www.notebookreview.com/notebookreview/sony-psp-first-thoughts-review-pics/
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Nice review!
It's funny how left out i feel as almost all my friends own one, and 3/4 of my Communication Technology class has one, even the teacher. But I know why.
The screen is beautiful, and everything you mentioned was right on. And it is a bit too quiet, the sound I mean, I've had it for about 1-2 hours, and i couldnt play without the earbuds(I used my own so i dont know about the ones provided). And the oily casing doesn't bother me as much, but because of the black it's pretty noticeable. Also, maybe because the only handheld I've ever owned was a gameboy pocket, the PSP was kinda heavy for my wrists(either that or I'm a weakling[
]) so I had to rest a couple of times every 30~ mins, and rest my elbows on a table. I didn't get it for long, so i didnt have time exploring the features, since i was busy with that block game(Dont remember the name - I just know it as the addictive as hell game), and I wasn't sure of the battery life.
But overall, It's probrably worth all the money.
I wonder if different colours will be availiable, but i doubt it, black is the Playstation's trademark color [8D]
Nice review Brian!
remember, DON'T LEND IT OUT TO YOUR FRIENDS! You'll have to pry it from your friend's grasps! Like what my friend did, he had to tackle and wrestle the PSP free[]
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Handhelds are for people who don't have the time to sit at home and play for extended periods of time is rubbish. Per your words, speak some pure logic. Handhelds are primarily for mobile use; it is for the people who commute on the bus and subways and can't take the PS2 or Gamecube with them.
Then explain the general slant of the games for handhelds.
Why are the console ones generally more "epic", whereas games like Warioware and puzzle games (Or games with "fights" like Pokemon) are more popular on the handheld.
Loading time is a moot point, just like when people complained about moot time being a problem when PS1 was a concept. Don't tell me it's ok to sit at home and waste time waiting for a load screen but it's not ok to sit on a bus or in a boring class and wait for a load screen. What's the relevance?
I speak as someone who it matters to, and thus I speak from experience. Sometimes I barely have the time to play quick races in Mario Kart: Super Circuit. I know that Loading times would cut into that even more, making my already short play time shorter.
You cannot speak objectivly for everyone, people's cases vary, and for me and my schedual, it is a bad idea. You cannot argue this, as you'd be arguing about my life. I am stating that to some, yes, it does matter. It would for me, and as I said, you cannot debate this.
So just understand that to SOME of us, who don't always have the time (I.E Playing a quick game before an eyeglass appointment.), and respect that.
#1. I drop a dozen eggs still in their container, and I drop a dozen eggs one by one naked. Guess what, they're all going to break. The PSP comes with a neoprene case and either way, no one is going to want to sit on a DS or a PSP. We're talking about small delicate devices, the DS isn't that rhinoceros you're trying to make it out to be.
I said "less prone to failure", not that the DS is a rhino. Skipping to conclusions is a bad thing.
You never know what will happen to a handheld until you take it outside, so it's best to get something that can take the punishment instead of something that may not.
Plus, that closed formfactor is inherent to the design of having dual screens, the PSP is what is it. Not sure why you hold it against Sony.
Kindly explain the GBA SP.
#2. Wow, a UMD reading optic laser track is that much more of a moving part and so prone to failure. I wonder how the market ever supported the portable CD player for so long. You want to talk about moving parts in portable devices, how about HDD mp3 players such as the iPod and the flash based ones.
Actually, a better comparison would be IBM's glass platter technology for HDs. But I disgress...
I don't understand why you brought up the IPOD- anyboy with a decent technical background would be able to tell you a normal hard drive, being magnetic, would likely be less prone to breaking than something with a glass (or quartz) lens if it sustains a substancial drop.
We all know how delicate hard drives are but no one ever made it out to be a problem. iPods did not fail because it used a HDD that also sucks up so much more power than flash based players or a HDD that could lose it's track if dropped while loading a song into its buffer. Hmm so what gives? You still want to rely on that argument?
Hard Drives are frail...? Aluminum platters, with a metal head... they usually can take quite a large non-operational shock. They can also live through high temperatures. Theoretically, glass and quartz wouldn't quite stand up to the same punishment, operational or not. Also, the quality of a drive's tracking motor and lazer head can be of suspect. Sometimes they're even plastic, in comparison to the general metal make of a Hard Drive. How is that supposed to compare?
It would be a fair comparison if it was IBM's Glass platter technology (but not early on in the Deskstar series. More like their recent models), but your comparison downright confuses me. It isn't logical at all.
(And for the record, I have had 4 hard drives in this computer for 3 years, a 5 year old HD in another, and 2 extra 6 year old ones.
However, I've gone through 3 walkmen, thanks to breaking them via a drop.)
If you can, kindly explain how on Earth a Hard Drive is less durable than a CD, especially considering you can take out a CD's media and scratch it.
No it's not pure logic. No one I repeat talks about Nintendo machines being built like tanks. Like I said, these aren't washing machines and these sure aren't automobiles. Laptops, cell phones, PDA's and handheld game devices are all delicate machines and all need to be taken care of the same way. Not everything is going to be a clamshell device.
Are you saying it would be wrong to expect a considerable ammount of durability from something you will be constantly holding in your hands (as opposed to even a laptop, which would be resting somewhere) while playing a game (and possibly getting excited).
And even if you dissagree there, are you saying that it wouldn't matter if the item was durable enough to "protect your investment" better? (I.E make sure your item lasts) Like I said, it is better to expect the unexpected, and get something rugged than something you'll have to treat gingerly- it is, above all, a device that will be taken outside. Even for the above you mentioned, durability is an issue to consider.
Lastly, I never said it had to be a clamshell: I simply said the DS has points going for it when it comes to durability due to it's clamshell design.
Haha the Virtual Boy was a TIC cheap shot. And come on, are you still stuck in the 80's? Were you even born in the 80's? Nintendo did revive the industry back then but don't even think for one second they are the ones sustaining it.
I was born in the late 80s. And no, I am not stuck in the 80s. I am stating that the fact that they had created the Virtual Boy is a drop in the bucket in comparison to the fact that they revived the industry.
Even Sony has came out with the Pocketstation and PSX. No company is without it's failures, and Nintendo at least had the sense to cut it off before they lost too much on it. (As opposed to Sega, with the 32X) The Virtual Boy isn't quite mockable considering Nintendo's history, and how they've remained mostly profitable. Knocking ONE company for creating a failure when almost all of them have (Ignoring Microsoft here, but they're new.) is ignorant at it's best.
If you mean that you mentioning the Virtual Boy is a cheap shot, then you are right.
If you think Nintendo alone and their sparse closely knit 2nd party developers could create an industry that rivals the movie industry, you have got to be kidding me.
I was unaware that the VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY became the movie industry.
Plus that last comment is borderline fanboyism. Look, I don't hate Nintendo and I didn't come into this discussion as a Nintendo-hater. I do have respect for them but I came in here to compare the PSP and the DS mano y mano. Face it, the DS lacks the support the original Gameboy has because the DS is goign to tank. Wait all you want but that's all Nintendo gamers have been doing.
Fangirl. Get it right... but even if you where to call me that, it'd be an incorrect statement.
And I severly doubt the DS will tank: The support is considerable so far, and the PSP's sales in the US aren't exactly strong despite it's AAA lineup. (Admitedly, the story is different in Japan) While that may change, the DS is also getting more games.
And anybody who has brought the DS not knowing they would wait is a fool: the release list was available before the console seen the light of day in the states. It is your job as a consumer to do research.
So while I know that I'll be stuck playing Mr. Driller, Mario 64, Feel the Magic, Wario Ware, and Yoshi Touch & Go, I also know the future holds Castlevania DS, Harvest Moon, Megaman Battle Network, Viewtiful Joe, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart and Nintendogs.
Oh, and Touch! Kirby, Metroid: Hunters as well as NFSU and Meteos, etc. Possibly Bomberman. Likely Katamari Damacy... Crap, almost forgot Pac Pix...
In the meantime, I'm also using the GBA compatability to play GBA games (mostly Metal Slug and Mario Kart: Super Circuit).
You need to do some research: I wouldn't say developers are dropping the DS. On the contrary, Katamari was only recently announced. As was the Shonen Jump-Superstars game (which I want as well, because I like Zoro. ;p)
They waited years before someone even bothered to make a sports game for the N64 much less an RPG and that cycle repeated with the Gamecube. Nintendo does not meet the needs of the multifaceted gamer and as I said before, I'll bet you that a majority of Gamecube owners also have one of the other systems but it's not going to be the other way around.
You're right that some of us GC owners own a second console. I have a PS2, an X-Box, Dreamcast and a Gamecube.
And I got them all during launch.
Your point has failed, as I had to have gotten the PS2 (And Dreamcast!) first. (I also have a Saturn, N64, PS, SNES (ver 1 and 2), Genesis (versions 1, 2 and 3), Sega CD, and an NES (ver 1 and 2). Handhelds include a Wonderswan, Neo Geo pocket color, 2 Game Gears, Original Gameboy, GBC, GBA, GBA SP... you should be able to guess the rest of the systems). As of writing, they all work.
For this generation, I do most of my gaming on the Gamecube. However, for the previous generation, it was equally N64 and PS (Thank you, Jumping Flash!, Klonoa, Gran Turismo, Megaman games, etc.). However, I liked the Saturn more (Virtual-on, Virtua fighter 1-2, Fighter's Megamix, Daytona, Sega Rally, Panzer Dragoon (And Zweii), Virtua Cop, NiGHTs...)
I even own a Virtual Boy, but unlike most of my systems (which are usually "launch" or "near launch", I brought it as a little Kid from Blockbuster after I heard that they where being sold for 30 dollars from GamePlayers.)
I got the Virtualboy to decorate my room. I actually have no games for it...
So despite the fact that you may think I'm a baised Nintendo fangirl, you cannot be further from the truth.
My issue is that I think your post has some baseless speculation.
Listen to yourself: Much less RPGs?! The GC has Skies of Arcadia, Baiten Kaios, Crystal Cronicles and Tales of Symphonia. It's not a ton, but they're mostly AAA games- I wouldn't scoff at that... It won't be the other way around? It depends ENTIERLY on a person's taste (as seen with me).
Some people could get along fine with just a GC. Some with just a PS2.
Let's just see what happens, time will tell but developers are sparse for the DS and no software kills hardware no matter how much innovation and crap you put into it. Ask Sega. But if you're willing to wait for the DS to fulfill Nintendo's philosophy of what true gamers want, then wait all you want; just don't get a PSP while you're waiting []
That's funny... I could have sworn the GC is keeping afloat despite the fact that you just said it lacks support. Like you said the DS will.
Also, as for Sega, it's death was in LARGE part due to very poor management: Look it up. That's far from the case with Nintendo.
And oh, I'll get whatever the hell I want: I collect consoles and portables.Last edited by a moderator: Jan 29, 2015
Sony PSP First Thoughts Review (pics)
Discussion in 'Notebook News and Reviews' started by srdhkl, Mar 24, 2005.
