Sony's competitor to Nintendo's deathlike grip on the handheld market has landed - the PlayStation Portable. The ever-vigilant b2, currently living in Japan, tracked one down after going from one sold-out store to another and from his reports its quite the neat little toy, so might be worth keeping your eyes out for - unlike the Nintendo DS it can play movies and music in addition to being a gaming platform. Lik-sang have a stack of photos of the device, including the innards.

Update: b2 has done a post with a bit of an overview of the PSP!

Nintendo need to realize that a gaming console needs to do more than just play games.

Also saw this article on slashdot.org about the PSP battery life, basically these guys have written a journal to record thier activities against the battery life, so far they were able to get 4 hours and 45 minutes out of the PSP full charged battery (presumably new battery too).

Read it here

Can you change the battery? Like, could you have multiple batteries if you were going on a really long trip? I can't think of too many instances where almost 5 hours of battery would be a problem, but if it was a really long road trip for example it could be handy to have extra batteries.

Yeah, what Khel's said I think is rather important. Ive heard reports that the battery life in PSP is crap, but if you can replace the battery, what's the problem?

For example, I have 3 batteries for my ipaq - each will last between 6 and 10 hours between charges. Heaps if I have all three of them with me, I often go a week (sometimes two) without having to put it on the cradle.

Granted, the figures for PSP I've heard are closer to 1:45-2:00, which okay, is a bit short...

From this pic and this it would seem to me that it's removeable, very good to see.

Edit: Also the ign.com article also maintioned this at the end of it:

Keep in mind that we avoided charging the system a number of times that we could've easily plugged it in (in particular, as we slept). Unless we plan on playing games for more than five hours in a row, the battery seems like it'll be okay to us. Of course, for long trips, we may find ourselves picking up a spare just in case (they're about $40 at retail).

So yes definitely replaceable/removeable

last edited by Opec at 13:46:25 14/Dec/04

Im picking up my Jap PSP today afterwork alongside my DS. should be interesting!

Can do other things besides game? What like inbuilt wireless card and a f***ing huge stack of features. I don't think you or trog quite know the features of the ds.

Nintendo need to realize that a gaming console needs to do more than just play games.

Sony need to realise that most people want to play games for more than 90 minutes.

Nintendo need to realize that a gaming console needs to do more than just play games.

Yeh! Like Nokia did with the N-gage

Why does a gaming console have to do more than just play games? Isn't that the idea? you play games on your gaming console?

Try and tell that to a modded xbox

Why does a gaming console have to do more than just play games? Isn't that the idea? you play games on your gaming console?

If everyone thinks that way you'd still being using your PC to do your accouting, cracking ze German's cypher or simulating atomic bomb explosion and not to play music, games, browsing the 'net, watching pr0n etc.

I mean really, because, that's what Computer were originally build for. ;).

last edited by Opec at 15:15:02 14/Dec/04

With the N64, Nintendo refused to switch to CD, costing the company its grip on the console market.
Developers didn't like the high costs and development problems associated with cartridges. So they jumped ship to Sony (along with Nintendo lack of support for 3rd party developers and the high difficulty coding for the 64).

Consequently the N64 couldn't play music (Could the playstaion 1 play music? cause I got a 64).

Again with the cube, no DVD movie or CD support, and a poor attempt at an online market.
Add to this poor marketing and nintendo's kiddy attitude (how many 8 year olds would rather a gory shooter with attitude, then a bubbly platformer, regardless of the gameplay).

People would rather buy a console with a mature image and a hundred extra features for the same price, even if the games are better on the cube and they will rarely, if ever use those extra features. Most people who own an Xbox or PS2 would have a DVD player or a sound system, so the need for DVD and music playback is not needed.

I love the games on my cube, and to date there has never been another game on another console, that I've wanted to own, that hasn't been released on PC. Halo, GTA...
But some good online action would have made it a dream.


But the ability to play your music from your handheld and use it like a mp3 player, coupled with the games is a great idea, and a worthy extra. Less stuff to carry around and everyone wants an mp3 player. Sounds like it will cost way less than an Ipod.

How many people own a mp3 player that can play movies and games?

I agree that a home console doesn't need DVD support, but it would be a handy extra.

All of my consoles have been Nintendo's, and I'll still buy the DS over the PSP.
But mp3 support is mighty tempting...

... i take it you've never used a modded xbox?

I've played the Xbox and PS2 once or twice, but they hold no appeal for me.
It's PC and the occasional cubing for me.

I'm talking about a modded xbox

How many people own a mp3 player that can play movies and games?

A lot more if they're cheaper. I don't think the problem is the fact that the machine could do more but the price. But like any technologies they either come down in price due to competitions or fade away.

Innovation is good, for without it we'd still be playing solitaires with a deck of cards.

All of my consoles have been Nintendo's, and I'll still buy the DS over the PSP.
But mp3 support is mighty tempting...

There you go. You just answered your own question.

^
^That would mean no

last edited by Lynx at 15:26:15 14/Dec/04

I wonder how the GP32 is still going.

But mp3 support is mighty tempting...

That would mean no

Possibily for you. But you're a Nintendo fan so that's fine. But my point is that it got you thinking about the possibilities. So you're saying it wouldn't be cool if your DS supports MP3?

Exactly my point opec, the DS would be way cooler then what it already is if it was an mp3 player as well.

looks pretty nice, I think kids these days have it better than us, when the game gears and first gameboys come out. lucky barsteds!

i cant find any specs for it, how much on board memory does it have?

f*** it, "Sony aims to price this comparable to a GBA", and if the DS plays like an N64, and the PSP plays like a PS one, the choice is easy.

but it would be nice if it had some hdd space? any know ?

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Jul/gee20030731021096.htm

sorry about all the postin'

http://playstation.about.com/od/psp/a/PSPSpecs.htm

but i think it has 32mb onboard memory which sux balls, whats the point of mp3's on memory sticks, thats uberlame.

i think the graphics are between psone and ps2. yer its 32 onboard

Translated from Sony Japan site.

Doesn't look like it has any HDD space. So I guess it relies only on Memory stick for extra memories.

Unless I'm wrong and they're not publishing that info.. but from looking at this Lik Sang photo it doesn't appear to have HDD anyway.

Im picking up my Jap PSP today afterwork alongside my DS. should be interesting!

kaygen you'll end up selling it within a week for half price.

Also i'd presume it'd be pretty useless if you couldn't change a dead battery. I mean what are you meant to do gawk at a blank screen ?

last edited by Booyah at 17:27:09 14/Dec/04

^^err recharge the battery maybe? u can recharge the battery and play at the same time.

Batteries dont last forever you know, even when constantly recharged.

http://www.classicgaming.com/vcsp/
^^
rofl

Batteries dont last forever you know, even when constantly recharged.

u should have said that originally

last edited by ravn0s at 17:56:12 14/Dec/04

erm ... what ?

Communication breakdown ++

when u said dead u should have said dead as in when they stop working alltoigether and not just out of juice

I picked up a PSP on Sunday and have had nothing but good times.

The screen is incredible, and the graphics capabilities of even the launch titles was very impressive, can't wait for the next bunch of games.

People have been complaining about the battery life but i haven't really taken it on long trips yet so i'm not sure. I did some testing and if you put it on full brightness you can play 90+ minutes of ridge racer :) otherwise if you're playing mp3s you're supposed to be able to play for 6hrs or so. The PSP has sleep mode as well, which is cool, cause if you're in the middle of a game, just turn it off, eat dinner/change battery/whatever, turn it back on and you're back in the middle of the game! very useful.

It has the ability to update the os over the wireless network as well. You set up a network to connect to, in my case, my home wirless network, and set it to check. An update hasn't come out yet obviously but i'm pretty sure it saves it to the memory card and then you choose to update it, it's definetly not a compulsory update system.

Oh yeah, the memory card that came with mine (value pack) is a 32 meg sony duo stick. You can plug it straight into your computer like you would a camera (has a usb2.0 port) and it mounts as a hdd (in XP). You can then copy mp3s/photos/movies to the memory card. You can also see your save games but theres supposed to be some protection against just hex editing them, but doesn't seem like it will be hard to get around. There is also a game directory on the memory card when you format it which is supposed to be for downloading content/demos/whatever off the internet, and hopefully allow for some homegrown fun (no rockape, not like that)

There has been a lot of claims about dead pixels and dust inside the cover and stuff, I don't know if it's true but i definetly don't have anything like that.

The movie feature is pretty good, but it has to be in mp4 format H.264, so you're limited on what you can use. Sony released one yesterday but i haven't got it yet because 398472934 other people are trying to download it it seems.

The drive is UMD which is the 1.8 gig Uber minidisk. Hopefully we'll see some burners come out soon for it so i can back up them games!

It has an infrared port, no idea why, maybe they'll release a television remote or something for the psp :)

today i found another use for my psp, one the way home from work i was scanning for wireless networks and found a couple unsecured networks.

Erm, anyway, instead of rambling, feel free to ask questions or whatever

edit:
i should say however that they went for downloading to memory instead of streaming, to save wear and tear on the drive, so there are some load times, but it's better than GTA and the ps2 constantly chugging away

it's really only the initial load time as well that is a problem so if you use sleep mode then that problem goes away, it's only when you're swapping games when it got annoying

last edited by b2 at 18:40:47 14/Dec/04

Hey b2, so does it have HDD? It appears not ? Is this correct?

Also what's the deal with anti-skipping like? I don't mean if you just sit there and shake the damn thing but you know the usualy walking, bump on the road etc?

Also some photos with diff. games etc running on it would be awesome thanks ;)

no hdd, just memory stick, and of course the UMD drive

as for anti shake, stuff like mp3s read off the memory stick, so like, there is none :)

haven't played any movies/music from umd yet cause i don't have any :)


as for movies of the psp check out http://www.playstation.jp/psp/ad.html

or of course: http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&lr=&q=sony+psp

this also sums up my thoughts on psp vs DS:
<_DiGiTaL_> DS is a genuine handheld
<_DiGiTaL_> the PSP is a damn small media center

Nintendo need to realize that a gaming console needs to do more than just play games.

Youre so right, so very right. What nintendo needs to do is change a console to a... PC. Thats perfect. Hey consoles dont only have to play games, they can act like servers or an actual computer, or mod it so that it has a bigger hard-drive so you can put illegal games on it. GREAT THATS A WONDERFUL IDEA! YOURE SO SMART.

Idiot. When a console is modded so far that it can act like a server, then it is no longer a console but a PC.

I like to believe that nintendo has stuck to the turn form of consoles, unlike other companies.

last edited by G.B at 20:49:37 14/Dec/04

Who the f*ck are you?
You don't even know what your talking about, do you.

All the latest gen consoles can act as servers, given the right game.
A PC will always be a PC, and a console will remain a console regardless of its server capabilities!
What Nintendo need to consider, is pushing in the direction of the complete home entertament system, along with its competitors.
So shutup, and piss off unless you know what your talking about!

psp went with nice graphics and extra functionality
ds went with innovation what with their touch screen and two screens and all that

it's not really even fair to compare them

DS is comparable to a GBA or something, psp isn't

I agree.

I note that on any blog/news site do they worry about any aspect of the DS, battery life, games etc. Nintendo are still making profit and actually pushing the boundaries of gaming coming up with a completely unique idea.

While the psp is unsuprising its what was expected from sony. Both consoles are going in different directions and will appeal to different people.

But its still sony who has something to prove here to the avg consumer, not the other way around.

After reading a number of user reviews it seems both machines are good at what they said they'd do. In which case I want both!

Here are some psp gameplay / interphase movies (armoured core = cool)

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-17-71-7o-74-ox.html

Wow.. GG Sony!

I sure can't wait to buy a PSP now!!11!!shift-oneshift-one!!

heh, Im not trying to defend sony in particular or anything but things do get broken in transit.

[quote]Video 2 of UMD popping out when unit is turned/twisted (Quicktime, 1.2MB). [/quote]

haha serves him right for twisting the machine, i hit mine with a hammer and it got a scratch, i blame sony

luckily Ive had no problems with mine :)

Quick question: what kind on media does the DS use, Mini DVD or cartridge?

it uses a 'UMD' which is a mini dvd i spose, has 1.8gig storage and flies out when u twist the system.

well since i've been talking on another forum extensively regarding the PSP vs. DS(http://forums.hyperactive.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=17874&start=60) i've decided to compile some links here for those of you interested in the PSP. b4 asking questions, visit them first.

Battery Life:

http://forums.gamespot.com/gamespot/journal_entry.php?board=909092203&topic=18017788
http://psp.ign.com/articles/572/572563p1.html?fromint=1
http://psp.ign.com/articles/572/572563p1.html
New Stock Release Dates:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/10/news_6114830.html
System Descriptions:

http://sungame.mods.jp/index_01.htm
http://psp.ign.com/articles/572/572548p1.html
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/12/news_6114909.html

Video Playback:

http://psp.ign.com/articles/572/572697p1.html

basically, regarding the battery life (the PSPs most talked about "problem"), GameSpot and IGN had the following to say respectively:

"Extra batteries are running somewhere around the $30 range, I believe. While I wouldn't normally indulge in something like extra rechargable batteries for a handheld system, the flight from Tokyo to San Francisco is around nine or ten hours in length. So yeah, I'll need at least one spare. As for you, the question to ask is... do you really play portable games for over six hours in a stretch? I rarely do... this flight is one of the few exceptions that puts me without a power outlet for an extended period of time."

"Keep in mind that we avoided charging the system a number of times that we could've easily plugged it in (in particular, as we slept). Unless we plan on playing games for more than five hours in a row, the battery seems like it'll be okay to us. Of course, for long trips, we may find ourselves picking up a spare just in case (they're about $40 at retail)."

which means that in terms of practicality, the 4-6 hours of game time should be enough for anyone. the battery is changeable, so buy another one and you should be set for most journeys. Ridge Racer, currently the most graphics intensive game, kills the battery between 90 minutes and 3 hours. 90 minutes is the extreme case so i wouldn't use that as a benchmark. in IGN's Battery Test, they chopped off 11% of the battery after an hour of Ridge Racer and Vampire Chronicle...which i think is a pretty good indication of how much power you will use. playing video can kill the battery within 4 hours and 45 minutes which is okay by me.

a few little facts:

1. An interesting and ultimately novelty feature is that the PSP will automatically change background colours at the beginning of each month. Currently in December, it is red, but will change to a variety of other colours as the months progress: http://sungame.mods.jp/information/information_041209.htm

2. The capacity of a 512MB Memory Stick - able to fit the following items into the 512MB memory stick:

* Movie: Mean Girls (96 minutes and 50 seconds). Format: MPEG4 29.97fps/s 768kpbs. all up, it amounted to 236M.
* 3 MTV music videos
* 5 MP3 albums
* and finally...an almost limitless amount of pornographic pictures which can be downloaded off the net...ahem

to put movies onto the PSP, first you must convert your movie file into a PSP recognisable mpeg 4 format (it's a specific type of mp4). you can use Xilisoft's 3GO Converter or the newly developed Image Converter 2 Beta by Sony (check one of the links above). after that, the GameSpot's Q&A site tells you how to load it into the PSP.

As for the region locking, you can play games from any part of the world on any PSP without worries, so those with an imported machine can feel safe. however, the region locking applies to UMD movies, so if you bought a Japanese PSP, you cannot watch Australian bought UMD movies. my uncle lives in Japan, and will buy me a PSP as soon as the next wave of stocks arrive :D

Domino wrote:

"f*** it, "Sony aims to price this comparable to a GBA", and if the DS plays like an N64, and the PSP plays like a PS one, the choice is easy."

err...the PSP is better looking than a Dreamcast and sits much closer than a PS2 than you think. anyways, who cares about the specs when it comes to this sort of thing, they act differently to a console/PC. if it runs well and looks good then great! a 512MB Memory Stick Duo Pro (non-Pro is slightly slower) is around $120 in Australia, and it can fit a s*** load of MP3s plus at least one movie. you can't compare the PSP to a straight HDD based MP3 player on its MP3 function alone since it does so much more.

The PSP - a beautifully large LCD screen, delicate DVD drive mechanisms/disks and a large, heavy, finished build. $500+

I'd be too f***ing scared to take it anywhere. What's the point of handheld gaming that you can't just dump in your pocket and forget about on trips, between long periods of sitting down and doing arse-all? I'd end up just treating it as delicately as a laptop, in which case I might as well have a laptop.

Handheld gaming my arse.

why does people insist on naming the price tag $500+? it's already proven that the PSP is cheaper than expected. the value pack is only 26,000 Yen which is just a tad over $300AUD...the non value bundle would be around $230

Fine. Whatever. That's what I heard.

your choice of words was quite interesting. do you really "dump" something into ur pocket? i didnt know pockets were so big that you can basically throw something in there.

I could put the gameboy pocket, colour, advance and SP in my pocket for easy transport when they weren't in use. I wouldn't keep them there for every extended periods, but it was handy.

and whilst we're on the topic of size, the DS is heavier and thicker than the PSP when folded.

Since when was my arguement pro DS? Do all conversations about a specific console turn into a console war for you fanboys? I see the DS as similarly unsuitable handheld gaming hardware.

anyways, if you're doing "arse-all" then what are you worried about? how could any harm reach ur PSP if you are performing no action whatsoever?

Reread & comprehend please.

everything you have said could apply to a pair of spectacles or sunglasses. they too are very delicate, and require you to take care of them. when ur not using ur sunglasses, you can put them in your pocket, but if you're worried about squashing them, you can take them out and place them in a safe area.

When deciding between pairs of sunglasses, durability would be a major issue for me. Sunglasses would also easily fit in top pockets, and if you lacked one of those, your forehead would suffice.

if people are scared about breaking them b/c they're too careless

I'm not scared about breaking it because I'm too careless -- if anything I'm worried about being too careful, making the PSP a chore to take with you on the train, or the bus, or work.

anyways, with all advanced technology, you are required to take good care of them, b/c the more advanced they are, the more delicate.

No. What they've done is gotten ahead of themselves. They're trying to make handheld consoles too advanced and high-end, sacrificing portability and durability, when they should really be building less advanced hardware, using fixed mediums and trying to create over-all smaller packages.

buy protection if you're scared, like CDs and CD cases.

Further removing portability. Seriously, if I could be f***ed porting that around with me I'd rather have a laptop, playing better games.

Synopsis: The new handheld generation is trying too hard, sacrificing everything that makes handheld gaming worthwhile.

I think with these 2 handhelds out, its up to us as gamers what we prefer.

Do we want a machine with nice graphics just under PS2 specs on the run and each game, to get our $$ depends on what graphical quality and sound quality it is, rather then worrying about how fun it is.

Or

Do we want a fun machine where the games are fun, graphics and specs dont even come into it, its how fun it is.

I own a DS, went out and got one down from work. I was lucky enough to play a PSP for a few hours, and in all honestly GRAPHICALLY the psp is superior, but i havent put down my DS since i got it!

so we are assuming that all PSP games are not fun just b/c the graphics are so good? the only significant difference hardware wise is that the DS has two screens with lesser graphical quality whereas the PSP has one screen with superior graphical capabilities. now all home consoles atm only allow the player to play off one screen...so is that no longer fun? if so, then the current and next generation of consoles is stuffed and everyone should look into creating double screens...or triple screens!

no, you go work in a retail gaming store and customers come up and ask about a new game, 90% of the time the first question is "What are the graphics like"

The other 10% are the ones that want to know how it plays. It was a general comment used loosley.

Try it, theres plenty of people that wont even pick up a game if they think the game "looks" crap/normal/nothing new

i don't understand you...protection for something like a PSP would probably add only 15% onto the PSP's original size. it's just a little bag...you're saying you'd choose a laptop over that? it's both much heavier and takes up much more space.

Once it's outside your pocket, it might as well be a laptop. They don't weigh much more and they're similarly carried.

remember the original Gameboy? it was truly a brick, no where near as portable as the PSP or DS. did people complain then? nope. b/c it was a revolution and there was nothing with the same capabilities b4 it.

You're right, I've been spoilt, but there's simply no excuse for us to take a step backwards into the realm of awkwardly large machines. Once upon a time, people walked almost everywhere until, suddenly, people started riding in horse-drawn carts, which were slow, time-consuming to harness up and required you to feed and sustain the horses - did people complain? Nope, because it was a revolution and there was nothing with the same capabilities before it. Screw cars and all that hoobub.

ha fanboy. notice my sig? does it say Xbox? and here i am, defending a Sony product. and just in case you were wondering, i don't have a PS2, but i DO have a GCN.

I was more addressing the fanboy mentality you're adopting with the PSP than your allegence to said companies.

anyone would've thought that you were pro DS since the problems you mentioned is shared by both systems.

It doesn't matter what angle I look at it, I don't see that as a reason to consider my arguements pro-DS. If anything? Quite the opposite.

that's like the battery life arguement. people say that they find it annoying putting the machine on the charger every day...and i say boo hoo. do you find it a chore brushing your teeth or washing your face two times a day?

I would if I hadn't had to do it for 6 years.

Both companies are overstepping hardware limits, building embarassingly large, heavy machines in order to corner the market Kaygen's referring to.

What's worse is that the market's lapping it up like the pigs over a trough we are.

Edit -- Quoting is done like so:

<quote>Textage</quote>

It's best not to line-break (enter down) before the <quote> or after the </quote>, because anything between them is taken to a new paragraph (ala <p>) and you'll just be inserting extra line-breaks.

last edited by Hashy at 22:12:11 18/Dec/04

What do you think of PSP compared to DS with its two screens? And QD with better connectivity?

Been reading up on it all...

Nintendo DS
Huge user base, 2 screens, uses common accessories, $200US

Sony PSP
Crap battery life, disk ejects during gameplay, Better screen, expensive accessories $500US+

Nokia QD
good graphics, battery life, phone, $AUD360

hmm...

i think, while the psp is full of features, it really comes down to- do u want another piece of hardware or a system that gives great quality games. i think the nintendo ds, along with most of nintendos products, have great games and excellent gameplay, and have lower prices than the still overpriced, and definately aged ps2. i mean, does anyone here who used to own a ps one, or still does, play music on it? no, thats what a sterio is for. do u use your game boy as an mp3 player? no u dont, thats what mp3 players are for. do you want your game console to play dvds? while its a cool feature, it drastically ups the price of the conosle, which will be the same deal with the psp. its gonna turn out like an N-gage...no one buys it coz theres a game boy advance, which is cheaper and u dont look like an idiot when u put a mobile phone to ur ear that looks like a f***in taco. ds will blow the psp out of the water, coz it will be more accessable to people such as us, who love to play games, and not want to watch movies on a handheld GAMING CONSOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations for reviving an old thread.