New PSP Details

[steve_dynamic]

Sony have announced new details on the PlayStation Portable, which will clear up some of the rumours about the new handheld PlayStation.

With the new system, you'll be able to control your characters with a digital directional pad and an analogue stick. It'll also have the recognisable pad buttons (triangle, circle, cross and square) found on the regular Dual Shock controller. Only two should buttons will be on the machine plus a Start and Select button.

Connectivity wise, you'll be able to connect your PlayStation Portable to your PlayStation 2 as well as another PlayStation Portable. You'll also be able to connect the PSP to a PC for music and movie downloads. Don't expect to be able to duplicate music, movies and games since the Universal Media Disc has features that will prevent piracy.

The bad thing about the machine is it will only last between 3 to 6 hours at a time, but will come with rechargeable batteries. It is unknown whether they will be using built-in Lithium Ion batteries that the Game Boy Advance SP and laptop PCs uses.

The great thing about the machine is that the graphics will be more like a PlayStation 2 game rather than a PSone game. This is because some of the chips used on the PSP are from the PlayStation 2. This means there's a good chance you'll be able to play PSP conversions of Tekken and Gran Turismo.

Game developers will soon receive a PSP emulator kits for preliminary development with actual hardware development kits arriving to their doorsteps around the winter period.

[steve_dynamic]

ah bugger.. its already been done.... ft:

[Lyris]

The bad thing about the machine is it will only last between 3 to 6 hours at a time, but will come with rechargeable batteries.

Hmmm - OK, it's gonna be REALLY interesting to see how the public reacts to this.
Maybe the casual gamers won't use them much and it won't bother them?

[choddo]

Closer to 3 I suspect since it has a ton of power and a GBA with afterburner lasted about 10 hours on a set of AAs and that wasn't too bad. The GBA SP seems to last me 12-14 hours on a charge which is much more like it.

[nonny]

Hmm.

The control scheme sounds fine, I would of liked twin analog sticks but whats there is more than functional to bring a variety of decent games to the system.

The battery life is a little more disheartening mind. Personally I would mark 10 hours down as being the bare minimum acceptance for battery life, anything less is a just a little too short... 3 hours is just pathetic.

As with the GBA/SP though Im sure you can expect battery packs galore when this releases, hopefully with beefier performance but it remains to be seen.

[iloveannie]

Let's not kid ourselves here, this machine is gonna sell like hot cakes and put the GB into last place. It has Sony on the case, will look the muts-nuts and every 20/30 something that has a vague interest in gadgets will snap it up. And let's not forget how we would have recevied the console when we were 10 years old. The schoolyards will go potty with it.

[Magnakai]

3-6 hours?
CRAP
No way am I getting this.
Well. Probably.
Maybe.

Anyway, with Sony's typical exagerration, it's more likely to be 10 minutes.

[scottcr]

There's a few things that are going to be vital here... remember.. not *Everything* that Sony sells turns to gold...

Firstly, the size... there's a lot of gubbins in there... I heard somewhere that it'll have a 5" screen... so it's pretty big. Are we talking about a belt mounted dvd drive with a handheld screen and input device? Does it fit in your pocket? Does it fit in your briefcase easily? Is it simply pick up and put away.

Secondly.. the cost. Again, that's a lot of gubbins. I've already heard mentioned that it's a "high end consumer" device. It's not a toy. It's got a lot of features, it's not going to be cheap. I suspect, although this is finger in the air stuff, is that it'll cost more than 200 quids. I'd love to be proven wrong.

Thirdly, the focus. It's a multimedia device.. and that can lead to consumer confusion. I still can't understand the wisdom of a proprietary disc format for watching movies. That means re-purchasing any of the movies I have on DVD to watch on my PSP. Is handheld movie watching really *that* desirable? I've got a portable DVD player, because when I bought it, I did a lot of air travel... but, do the majority of regular joe's need such a device?

It's an MP3 player... but it's going to be quite big... I'm hoping that the screen and input "parts" can be disconnected when you want to use it as only an MP3 player.. say, in the gym, out for a run, or sitting on the bus.

Mass-market. The GBA-SP has high battery life and is tiny. It couldn't really be any smaller without the screen being too small or it being too difficult to use. It has no moving parts, so it's resilient... it's pick up, play and put away. I have the impression that the PSP is not the same kind of device.

The games.. ok.. so it's powerful, it has 3d graphics, however, as shown with the N-Gage, this does not guarantee success. A handheld device is very focussed.. the games should be accessible, easy to play (particularly when moving) and easy to look at. The best handheld games also happen to be amongst the most simple and accessible. Focussing more on versus play and pick up and play gameplay (pokemon, tetris anyone?)

The PSP will certainly be a device like no other, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it looks... but... right now... I'm not sure. I'm sure it will look great, hell.. I'm sure I'll buy one... but, I suspect it will be less mass market than we think, and more high end, niche consumer electronics.

Nintendo, when it comes to the handheld market, aren't stupid.. they've almost certainly got something on the backburner...

It's going to be interesting.

[scottcr]

btw.. lookswise.. I'm think something like:

http://www.shoplifestyleonline.com/dv841.html

[Ginza]

Which New PSP details thread should i post in ?