The Sony PSP Takeover

PSP: 1 month after release

It has been one month since the North American release of the Sony Playstation Portable. One month since I wiped the drool from my mouth and ended what was months of anxious anticipation as I waited for the day that handheld gaming would be changed forever. So now that the OOB (out of box) experience has been savored and the initial excitement of taking my new toy out of the packaging for the first time is long over, how do I feel? Let's just say that when I first saw the concept photos of the PSP, I knew that this would be something special. My expectations were high like many gamers out there and of course the promise of this machine being the complete entertainment solution had me thinking if this was going to be one those "Jack of all trades, master of none" devices. Often times, people who have thought about making the decision to invest in the PSP have asked me, "What's it really like? Does it live up to its hype?" and to all of you who still ask that today...read on.

"The Psp will elevate portable entertainment out of the handheld gaming ghetto, and Sony is the only company that can do it. We actively accept the challenge, and dare I say....the baton has been passed."---- Kaz Harai, CEO, Sony.

Hmmm, remember those bold words? Well, let's just see if Harai San's confidence was justified.

Normally, being the techie that I am, I always get excited whenever I see a cool new gadget come out on the market. Digital cameras, pdas, portable media players and especially gaming systems make me feel like a kid in a candy store, or in my case, the Lik-sang.com warehouse. But like many kids with new toys, that lovin' feeling eventually fades once you get used to all the bells and whistles or when something new and better comes along. The PSP has something different, though. I can truly say that everytime I look at at this machine, I take time to admire its design. I keep my cleaning cloth handy so I can wipe the glossy face each time I take it out. I hold it for a moment to feel the ergonomically designed case and even balance as it rests in my hands. Sounds obsessive doesn't it, and thats all before I turn the thing on.


Those little discs:

As a former owner of a Nintendo DS, I can honestly say that the lacklustre selection of launch titles broke the deal for me. When you compare the DS' 6 titles back in November to the PSP's 17, it's obvious to see that Sony wanted to make their portable debut historic. Not only that, but they went the extra mile to release a small selection of UMD movies as well. If you were fortunate enough to get "Spiderman 2" with your PSP, you would probably know that the quality is nothing short of spectacular. Now that Sony has started to open up its proprietary hold on the UMD format, it will be curious to see how companies will be utilizing this 1.8gb wonder (that's 17 times the storage capacity of the Nintendo DS game card). Bandai has already announced that they will be releasing DVD/UMD packages in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled. Will I pay an extra 8-10 dollars for a dvd/UMD package? For convenience sake, probably.

The total package:

With a fantastic selection of games, UMD movies, JPEG, MP3 support and the added ability to convert your own video content for use on a memory stick duo, you will never be short of things to do with your PSP. Don't forget the hidden browser feature you get with "Wipeout Pure" which enables you to surf the web in a limited, but cool capacity and chat via PSPirc. In addition to all these features that would make any geek's head explode with pure bliss, the evergrowing legion of fan support and the anxious caffeine-fueled homebrew community is making the Sony Playstation Portable a true next gen handheld. With the impressive hardware specs that this machine has, its only a matter of time until you'll be playing your favorite emulators.

So, with one month behind us and the initial buzz now over, how do I feel? Did Sony lead us out of the 'hood with the highly stylish, often referred to as 'sexy' piece of hardware or am I feeling the regret of buyer's remorse? This gamer says, yes, my exodus from Marioland is complete. My disposable income was well spent and the month I spent eating instant ramen after buying it was well worth the enjoyment and excitement I still feel today.

[b]Jason del Corro[/b]

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Amazon has listed the PSP to go on sale on the 24th of June, this could very well be the offical UK launch date but no offical word given by Sony themselve. It seems the UK retail price for the device will be £180 for value pack.
This seems abit harsh when you can at the moment buy the handheld on the standard package for £135.
I expect that the price will drop soon after the release here, If it does half as good as it did in the US with half a million units sold within 2 days that'll be good enough considering the population differences.
:-)

Okay,
I know this is old but alot of people don't know that Sony have been holding back the power of the PSP!
Thats right holding back.
The processor anyway, Why would they do this I hear you say? Well this has been done so that battery power isn't absorbed fast, I mean its bad enough at the moment so no wonder Sony have decided not to go the whole 9 yards just yet.
Hopefully in future Sony will create games that take full advantage of the hardware, This will only be done once the battery on the PSP has either been upgraded or the firmware has been updated making it more efficient.
At the moment the PSP games use 222MHz not to the full potential of 333MHz, thats a whole 111MHz of power untapped.
Just imagine what can be done once that power is tapped into by game software developers.
Thats a whole third of power which would allow so much more for the handheld.
I would estimate this would still be a number of months away to a year of waiting.
Sorry Guys.

We've known since E3 that Hudson (or should we call the company Konami now?) had in development a PSP version of Bomberman. We just didn't have any solid details on the game.
Today, we at last have our first bit of information about the game: its name. The first PSP entry in the Bomberman series is titled, in Japan, Bomberman Panic Bomber. It will be released to Japan on 6/23 carrying a lower-than-usual price tag of 3,800 yen.
Yes, we're aware that this doesn't tell us much about the game, but at least a release date that's not so far off in the future suggests that we won't have to wait too long for further details. Stay tuned to IGNPSP!
Source:IGN


[b]Mariofan14[/b]

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