PSP GPS - Japan map pack?

[MonkeyWrench]

I'm off to Japan in October and was looking at the Go! Explorer for the PSP, but I can't find the existence of a Japan map pack for it. Has anyone got one of these things, if so are they any good, and do you know if you can get hold of a Japan map pack? A google search just brings back a home brew GPS app which is no good for me.

[Darwock]

Japan is very well catered for in terms of GPS map software for the PSP.. there's minna no chizu (imo the best), Maplus, nihon de asoko blah blah blah... you won't get a go explorer pack though because that's software for europe (as far as I know)

[MonkeyWrench]

I'm going to take a wild guess here, but they're all in Japanese aren't they?

[Darwock]

Yeah, but a map is a map. Some of the more advanced functions might pass you by I guess, but the basic functions of a map are entirely visual after all.

Reading place names might seem like an issue, but it's exactly the same issue as looking at street signs you can't read. At least you can compare the kanji!

[MonkeyWrench]

That's true, but what if I need input a place name I want directions for? Which is the primary reason why I want it really. I was kind of hoping there was a Japan pack for Go! Explore as it seems to hold quite a bit of tourist information too, but it seems I'm out of luck. Looks like I'll have to kick it old school with a good old paper map!

[randombs]

I haven't really checked up on this, although when I was in Japan last Dec I was considering the GPS thingy (until I found out it didn't include the map software. Or did it?), but there's some homebrew map software floating around that uses the PSP GPS thingy:

http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/map-this-version-0-461s-beta-with-support-for-psp-290-gps-accessory-49838.html

I'm not sure how good it is or how well-covered Japan is (or even if it is at all) but I guess it's worth a shot. More likely to be translated, too.

Of course, the custom fw caveats apply, but I thought I'd just throw this out there anyway, just in case

[r3z]

Yeah, I've used the MapThis homebrew when I went to China in June and posted some impressions in this thread - http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread...hlight=psp+gps

As I mentioned there, it turned out the GPS data for the maps gathered by the download program were out by about 0.5km - in addition to the fact that the maps were in Chinese which I don't understand (although I can recognise characters which are similar to Japanese reasonably well), and that the maps are extremely basic with few visual indicators for landmarks/etc unless you manually store them - which made it quite tricky to use. In the end I didn't bother using the GPS unit (can sometimes be very difficult to get a signal anyway, and drains battery also so I tend to use it sparingly) apart from as a compass/to get my bearings and just browsed the maps manually most of the time which was good enough. I've not tried it for other countries, but I think perhaps it is just the Chinese maps which have the GPS info problem.

However, like Darwock I can definitely recommend Minna no Chizu 3 - very detailed and easy to use maps which have lots of icons and building outlines that aid navigation by landmarks/buildings and not just by text (although still probably difficult to use if you know none of the language at all). The useful search feature for finding out local facilities/touristy info like you want is also extremely handy, but wouldn't be any use without Japanese knowledge.. I think the download software for MapThis retrieves maps from Google Maps which has the same kind of detail/building outlines for Japanese cities, so for just getting the maps I would probably suggest just trying out that if you were able to get homebrew up and running.

[MonkeyWrench]

That's just it, I'm running official firmware so it's no good for me, but cheers for the info anyway. It's not the end of the world, just thought it might be handy to have.