PlayStation Portable (PSP): Interesting all-purpose device with intense gaming capability
Written: Mar 27 '05 (Updated Apr 07 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Graphics, Power, Sound, Screen, Looks, early buyers get Spider-Man 2 movie on UMD, and more!
Cons: System price, no game or game demo included, MemoryStickDuo prices, game prices, mild ghosting, others
The Bottom Line: If games are the primary reason for buying the PSP, you will love it. If not, I would focus on something else. Rate 4 1/2 stars with current game lineup.
yusakugo's Full Review: Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) Console
I walking into my ToysRUs on Friday afternoon and picked up a PSP for $249 with 3% sales tax. This is the same ToysRUs I visited to get the PS2 when it released in the US and the XBox when it released. In fact, this ToysRUs still had hundreds of PSP in stock that it shocked customers who saw me purchase one at that ToysRUs. Yes, there is still hope for those of you who live near Elizabeth, NJ. Note that Sony released some numbers that indicate the PSP didn't sell as well as expected during the first week of release. Sony states that they sold over a half million unit with sales of $150 million during the first week. This suggests just over 600,000 PSPs sold in the first week. Maybe that Basic Pack will be coming out soon!
Regardless, the PSP is an amazing unit although not perfect... it does have flaws and it will NOT surplant the iPod as the MP3 of choice. However, the PSP is the most advanced portable game machine available that seems to be aimed at the late teenager and the 20-30s year old customer base. The price of the PSP, accessories, and games will push the customer base to an older base as well.
Short Take
If you have to say anything about the PSP... it is currently the most powerful portable gaming system available. The Nintendo DS is cheaper and may have a couple of more innovative features... but it does have a huge library of games to draw on which the PSP does not have yet. This is not to say the PSP doesn't have innovative features... but that the features sets of both machines are quite different in several areas.
With the PSP, Sony pretty darn near threw in everything but the kitchen sink. The PSP doesn't have a built in microphone or touch screen like the DS but contains a wealth of multimedia features, near PS2 graphics (yes... you read that right!), a bright high resolution screen, digital and analog control pads, 6 buttons, comfortable size and weight, UMD and Memory Stick Duo slots, and more.
The games look unbelievable... even better than the Metroid demo for the DS. The sound excellent and the controls responsive. Graphics were crisp and clear with minor jaggies and rare ghosting effects noted on a few fast moving scenes. Make no mistake, the PSP primary task is to play video games... all the other features seem more like afterthoughts but can be nice to have. The movie playback via the UMD discs was exceptional. MP3 playback was adequate... but it will NOT replace a dedicated MP3 player or even that on many PDAs (and soon cellular phones). Connecting the PSP via USB is a bit of a pain but acceptable. The photo viewing is above average to exceptional! I have yet to try lengthy video file viewing since I need to buy a bigger Memory Stick Duo card before I can do that.
The major downsides of the PSP is the additional costs. If you were lucky enough to buy one of the first 1 million US PSPs, you get a video demo disc (no playable games) and the full Spider-Man 2 movie on UMD. Otherwise, you need to purchase a game or two... and I think that the initial lineup is overall lackluster (at least the games I can find in stock!). UMD movies cost as much or more than their DVD counterparts. The costs of a Memory Stick Duo card with a decent amount of memory is extremely painful... if you're lucky, a 512MB card can be found under $70 at a reputable store. Otherwise, the costs are often $80-$100 for a 512MB card at a reputable store. There are also some quirks with using the non-game features of the PSP as well.
In the end, the PSP is a must for the serious gamer but not for people looking more at the PSP other features... there are better things for MP3 playback and movie viewing. As better games get released for the PSP, the PSP will be extremely hard to pass up!
Specs... Size comparison
Sony lists the PSP with dimensions of 6 3/4 x 3 x 1 inches (WxHxD) and a weight of 10 oz. with the battery pack but without the Memory Stick Duo or UMD disc inserted. I found this easier to compare to an iPod Mini... The PSP is about 3 1/2 iPod Minis in width, 3/4 of an iPod Mini in height, and 1 1/2 iPod Minis and depth. The PSP is not something you can throw into your shirt of pant pocket... not by a longshot!
The PSP looks great... it has a slim and sexy profile compared to competitors. It looks more like a high-tech fasion accessory than a portable game unit. The PSP is basically an all black unit with silver and clear highlights. There is no built in screen protector however and it is very easy to smudge or get fingerprints on the front of the PSP. Since the screen is so prominent on the PSP, I wish there was more protection for it as well. The PSP uses a removable lithium-ion battery (a 3.6V 1800 mAh battery).
The PSP is bigger than other portable gaming systems like the Nintendo DS or Game Boy Advanced SP but contains a much larger 4.3 inch 16:9 aspect TFT LCD screen. This screen is beautiful, bright, colorful, and vivid. This is by far the best screen I've seen in any portable game console or PDA... period! The official specs on the screen is a resolution of 480x272 and the ability to display up to 16.8 million colors. The only problems with the screen is a difficulty to read the screen in bright sunlight (not surprising since this is common on even PDA screens) and an occassional ghosting effect seen on fast motion events with high contrast (i.e. check the movie trailer Stealth and you will note quite a lot of ghosting on the screen). The Spider-Man 2 Movie had very, very few ghosting problems... and look quite good on the screen. The other problem is the high gloss plastic (clear polycarbonate?) cover is highly reflective (and makes a great mirror actually) and looks like it may scratch easily.
The PSP has built-in stereo speakers and outputs stereo sound through the speakers or the headphone port. The sound is crisp and clear. Even on MP3 playback, the sound was overall satisfying.
The current US PSP package contains the PSP, a white sturdy wriststrap, a thick neoprene slipcase, a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, a wired remote, short headphones, a microfiber cloth to clean the screen, an AC adaptor, a thick printed manual, the Spider-Man 2 Movie UMD, and the demo UMD (game/video/music/movie demos but no playable game demos!). Sony may release a more basic package later on. Most of the extras I could do without if the PSP package price would be lowered... or a decent game included with the $249 admission price.
The front of the PSP is mostly occupied by that gorgeous screen. The familiar D-pad and 4 action buttons are on either side of the screen. The D-pad and buttons are raised quite a bit over the surface of the PSP and very comfortable to use and press. Below the D-pad is a analog controller that is pretty flush with the surface but is easy to manuver because of the textured surface. Below the screen are several small buttons for the home menu, select, start, screen brightness, volume increase and decrease, and music equalizer settings. The bottom of the PSP has the power port and the headphone/wired remote port. The right side has the power/hold switch. The left has the switch to turn on the Wi-Fi capabilities and the cover to the Memory Stick Duo slot. The top has the two clear shoulder buttons, the infrared transmitted and received, the USB 2.0 mini-port, and the switch to open the UMD slot. The back holds the battery cover and the pop-up cover for the UMD. With all this, the PSP still looks cool!
Games... Games...Games!
The PSP is first and foremost a portable game machine. This is somewhat hard to comment on currently since I haven't had access to many of the games I would prefer to play yet. I was not impressed by the currently released sports games although they looked great on the PSP screen. There are times that it seemed the game developers tried to pack too much detail and left things like the shot clock hard to read... but the graphics blow away the Nintendo DS... PERIOD. However, Ridge Racer was extremely cool to play and felt like you were racing at an incredible speed with responsive control of the car. I am swinging the PSP around while trying to make a sharp corner like it will help the car turn in the game. Load times were short for Ridge Racer. For me, Ridge Racer was the only game that I was happy with for the initial lineup I could find.
I bought Ape Escape recently (for $19.99 + tax after a mail-in rebate from FYE!). Graphics were very clean and colorful. Analog control was good although I have to get use to the sensitivity of the analog "stick". Ghosting can be seen in very fast movements if you're looking (most obvious place is the feet of the running monkeys on the Now Loading... scenes). Load times could be excruciating... as in 10 to 30 seconds between scenes. Although these load times individually don't seem like much, add the bit and pieces of load times froms scenes within a stage and you lose many minutes to just load times. Another note is up to a 30 sec save/load time to the Memory Stick Duo for save games (this improves significantly if you buy a Duo Pro or Duo Pro High Speed card!). Otherwise a good game especially for the price I paid for it. The buttons were very responsive by the way.
I am waiting for NBA Street Showdown and trying to get a copy of Metal Gear Acid (or borrow it from a friend at this point). The system will only be as good as long as it has games that you want to play. I can't wait for Grand Theft Auto (as long as it's not a rehash) to come out to the PSP or Gran Turismo Mobile. Even Death Jr. looks like fun to play!
The only thing I can say about the PSP games is that the graphics are the best in portable gaming (I know that the Microsoft Pocket PC based Gizmondo is coming out... but I think the PSP is likely to still have better graphics than that) with excellent sound and a great controller setup. It's up to Sony and the third party developers to develop compelling and engaging games to play... and it looks like the PSP's future will be bright in this respect. About ghosting, it can be seen in very fast action games with a large amount of movement across the screen with high contrasting colors... like dark grey plane across clear blue sky from one side of the screen to the other. It is NOT seen in all fast action games... i.e. Ridge Racer had minimal ghosting in my opinion. I didn't note any in the sports games I played. I will note that the ghosting observation were noted most in particular movie trailers like "Stealth".
I am NOT going to go into individual games since this is a hardware review... the games themselves are personal choices on what you enjoy playing or desire trying. You should look for the particular game to get an idea of control and feel since the PSP control scheme seems to be pretty crisp and responsive under my use in several functions and games. Sluggish controls in some games may be particular to that game and the programming. Playing Ridge Racer has convinced me that the PSP controls are extremely responsive and exact.
Connect to your Computer!
The easiest way is to connect via a USB cable (you have to buy the cable since it is not included in the package!). Go to the system menu and select USB connection. The PSP is picked up by all my Win XP systems as an external hard drive (if you have a Memory Stick Duo inserted into the PSP that is). You treat the PSP as you would a USB flash drive. I was able to transfer 22MB in under 1 minute. I have to get a bigger Memory Stick Duo card to perform more accurate tests. By the way, this was done all on battery power.
UMD?
This is Sony's new Universal Media Disc which seems to be based off DVD technology but reminds me of Sony's MiniDisc technology. All PSP games will come on the UMD discs and Sony is selling movies and music on this format as well. However, only the PSP uses this format... so I wonder if the movies and music on UMD format will ever be successful... especially since the majority of music and movies will be Sony products. However with that said, other companies have announced movies to be released on the UMD format (like Terminator 2 and the such... which personally I don't see helping Sony expand the UMD format to movies with the release of "safe" and likely widely owned titles to UMD).
As per Sony, the UMD disc can hold up to 1.8GB of data. The UMD is housed in a rounded/curved casing with a portion cut out for the PSP to read the data surface of the disc.
Let me remark that you can hear when the PSP accesses the UMD disc... it is loud enough to be noticable and can be annoying! It definitely can be heard over low and medium volume settings on the external speakers.
By the way, the UMD disc does not pop out if you slightly twist or bend your PSP unit. Maybe under severe stress and twisting... but if your PSP is under those conditions, you should be handling a PSP at all.
Movies via the UMD
I am impressed with the movie playback feature via the UMD (Universal Media Discs that can be played back only via the PSP right now). The Spider-Man 2 movie came out very well although a few of the trailers looked horrible on the PSP screen (As I said earlier, the Stealth movie preview had too many ghosting problems on the screen while XXX had maybe one minor ghosting problem). Sound was crisp and clear and it was comfortable watching Spider-Man 2 on the 4.3 inch screen. The wired remote allows you to play/pause the movie, fast forward, reverse, move forward or backward chapters (the should buttons do this as well), and access volume settings.
However, UMD discs can only be played back by the PSP right now and costs more than the DVD version of the movie. The PSP does not have the ability to output to an external screen which further limits the Movie playing capability. UMD movies will be limited to those in Sony's own library as well. The Spider-Man 2 movie didn't allow for chapter selection like you can on DVDs (i.e. select a chapter from a menu) and sound is limited to stereo audio only. These limitations do hurt the Movie capabilities of the PSP.
MP3 Playback
First off, the PSP will not find any MP3 or ATRAC files automatically on the Memory Stick Duo. You have to create a PSP folder on the Memory Stick Duo then create a Music folder in the PSP folder. All your music files must go into this directory for the PSP to find and play it. The PSP will only play MP3 and ATRAC formatted files only. Regardless, the unit gives clear playback through the internal speakers or the headphone jack.
However, the MP3 is extremely basic and not intuitive. The PSP will play back the music files in alphabetical order according to the file name. The wired remote allows only basic options of play/pause, fast forward, reverse, volume increase and decrease, and hold. The wired remote will not jump start the PSP into music playback mode... you still have to manual select the Music option (or leave it on the music option when you turn off the PSP) first.
Playlists are not supported but there is a group option that can somewhat simulate a playlist. Grouping means establishing a new directory within the Music directory (which must be within the PSP directory) and placing the MP3 and ATRAC files that you want under that group... if you want it to play in a particular order, change the name of the file so it starts with a number or letter then a dash otherwise the PSP plays the files in alphabetical order as per the file name of the file. If you want a music file to appear in several groups, the file must be in each of those directories... a complete waste of space. Accessing the Shuffle, Continuous playback, and Continuous playback of 1 song can be accessed only after you start playing a song (press the triangle button during playback to access the playback menu). If you're looking for a MP3 player, the PSP doesn't substitute for a iPod or Zen Micro or other dedicated MP3 player... especially at the size of the PSP.
Also note that if you try to anything else while playing your MP3s, the PSP will stop playing the MP3 file. No multitasking... period... not even when showing slideshows on the picture viewer. I don't expect much in the multitasking department but music and photo viewing shouldn't be too hard for something as powerful as the PSP!
Photo Viewing
Actually quite robust... the PSP displays JPEG formatted files and with the PSP's screen. This is a strong point of the PSP if you can live with the more expensive Memory Stick Duo (Duo Pro and Duo Pro High Speed) card format. Same rules apply where you have to put all photo files under a Photo directory. The Photo directory must be in a PSP directory on the Memory Stick Duo. The unit will allow for zooming on the photos to the "true size" of the file. The analog stick is used to manuver on the zoomed images although it takes a second or two for the PSP to clean up the image after manuvering the zoom window. The PSP also allows for rotating the image and several slideshow functions. Again, most function are accessible after viewing a photo and pressing the triangle button.
Unfortunately, the PSP does not currently allow for outputing the pictures to an external display. Maybe a future peripheral for the PSP... the USB port could provide interesting opportunities.
Video Files via Memory Stick Duo?
I bought a 512MB Memory Stick Duo Pro which significantly speeds up access times for several features. I used PSPVideo9 to convert some anime file for playback on the PSP. I used episodes 11 and 12 of Initial D 4th stage for the initial runs and must say I was quite impressed. Quality is about as good as you'll get for a 4.3 inch screen with vivid colors, clean picture, good sound, and smooth playback. I could even read the subtitles clearly and even details and Japanese characters on some of the background signs and images. PSPVideo9 converted the files to a PSP viewable format with the appropriate file structure so the PSP can read and play back the file from the Memory Stick Duo. I would recommend gettings a Duo Pro or possibly the even more expensive Duo Pro High Speed format for video playback. I was quite pleased with this particular feature... now if I could only output it to a TV screen from the PSP... Sony are you listening?!
Wi-Fi
Flip a switch and Wi-Fi is active. It is pretty easy to setup and I have no problems with an old 802.11b Siemens SpeedStream router. Note that the PSP supports 802.11b protocol only and supports only WEP as a wireless security measure. This is known as Infrastructure Mode.
PSP can connect with each other for certain games. This is known as Ad Hoc mode. Unlike the Nintendo DS, there is no messaging capabilities or communication abilities between PSPs. As far as I can tell, the ability to communicate with other PSPs is strictly dependent on the software you're running.
By the way, I hadn't mentioned that once you set up an Network setting under the Infrastructure Mode, you can have the PSP download the latest firmware and upgrade itself via a wireless router. The PSP uses a 802.11b Wi-Fi signal so any B or G class should do (since most G routers are backwards compatible with B signals... either way the box should say compatible with b and g networks). I believe the Pre-N routers will support a b network signal as well.
Battery Life
Despite my worse fears, the battery holds up surprisingly well. At the lowest backlight settings, the PSP gave me two full viewing of the Spider-Man 2 movie and 30 minutes of MP3 playback and 20 minutes of JPEG photo viewing after being fully charged... and the PSP still listed 45% battery charge (Unfortunately, the PSP ran only 30 mintues of Ridge Racer at that point). Of course the battery life will change with what you use the PSP for... using the 802.11b Wi-Fi connection will lower the battery life and game playing (especially if there is heavy access of the UMD). I got a 5 hour battery life on average for video game playing from a full charge (This was mostly Ridge Racer playing mind you). You can check the exact battery life through the system menu under the system settings submenu under the battery information option. There is a battery indicator on the top right corner of the screen (1 to 3 bars to indicate approximate charge status) for your information.
The AC adapter is actually quite small as well... a similar to the power transformer used on the old CLIE PDAs that Sony discontinued last year. The AC adapter has alot of slack for comfortable AC powered gaming. Thoughfully, the AC adapter allows you to use AC plugs from 110 to 240 V assuming you have the proper plug for it. US units come with the cable for the standard 2 flat pronged plug.
Note that Sony states the battery is fully charged in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Things you may want to buy with your PSP
You have to buy games since you don't get any in the package. The games run $39.99 to $49.99 but mostly $49.99.
Consider an additional battery or a car adapter. If you want to access the other features of the PSP, a much larger memory stick is a must. Unfortunately, the Memory Stick Duo is one of the most expensive if not the most expensive of flash memory card options. If you're lucky, you can find a 512MB card for under $70... compare that to a high speed SD card used by any PDA and many digital cameras and computers which costs $90 for 1GB (1024MB!)... OUCH!
You may want a real case for your PSP as well! I am using the neoprene case with Pelican front armor. The Pelican front armor is a glossy unmarked black plastic cover with a thin neoprene inner lining. There are two screw anchors one on each side of the mini-USB 2.0 port where the front armor firmly attaches (screws into). The front armor is glossier than the front of the PSP and also acts like a makeshift mirror in good lighting. This set up adds a little bulk to the front and bit on the top of the PSP but the entire PSP with front armor fits into the neoprene case included with the PSP Value Pack.
Final Thoughts
In the end, the PSP is mainly a gaming machine. Although it has potential as a Movie player, the UMD is too limiting and I don't think other companies will port their movies or music to the Sony owned UMD format (think what happened with the MiniDisc) especially with the greater ease of use of DVDs. The same with music via the UMD disc... it is too limiting and likely too expensive an investment for most companies and almost all consumers. If the prices of the Memory Stick Duo come down, the PSP is a great picture (JPEG file) viewer and a somewhat decent MP3 player. The PSP should not be considered a primary MP3 player however due to its size and weak interface... if all you want is to play back music, look at a dedicated MP3 player like the iPods, iRiver music players, the Creative Zen and MuVo brands, Rio, etc. I will have to get back on Video playback.
Note that the PSP does not contain any PC software to help with the other features of the PSP. The manual should be read on how to access these other features but it is vague on the use and format of MPEG-4 video files.
The major drawback of the PSP is really the price. I don't care if you have a ton of disposable income... paying $40-50 for mostly mediocre games isn't worth it especially with an admission price of $249! That same $249 will get you a new PS2 with as many as 5 quality games if you don't need the portability. As far as my experience goes, there was only a gem or two in the current PSP lineup... and I don't think prices for the games will drop anytime soon. The Nintendo DS has access to DS games and Game Boy Advance games... many of them being extremely fun to play. Yes I know the PSP is in its infancy... but could Sony have released some of the better games with the launch instead of 2 or 3 months later? I want my NBA Street Showdown now! (I haven't played Metal Gear Acid or Tony Hawk Underground 2 Remix... but part of me isn't interested in those titles right now). As Sony releases more games, my opinion is going to change... but it is a bit hard to justify buying a PSP on eBay for double or triple the going price if you don't care for the currently available games for the PSP.
As far as innovative features, Nintendo has created some interesting games using the touch screen on the DS, the built in microphone of the DS, and even the gyroscope built on some game cartridges for the system. Games like WarioWare and Yoshi's Touch and Go were extremely entertaining using these altered forms of user input. I wonder how creative the PSP game developers will be... and only time will tell. In the end, I think the PSP is a more powerful machine but the DS has a few interesting features that Nintendo has been able to exploit in their game design. In the end, the PSP is an amazing piece of hardware but it really is all about the games... and that I'll see more games I want to buy and play on my PSP in the near future!
I would rate the PSP 5 stars on the gaming hardware. 2 1/2 to 3 stars on MP3 playback. 5 stars on photo viewing. 4 on Movie playback via UMD. 3 1/2 stars on the currently available game lineup. Price and need for accessories rates 3 1/2 to 4 stars. Overall, I'd say a solid 4 stars for the PSP... possibly 4 1/2 as the game lineup gets stronger. Multitasking 0 to 1/2 stars. Do I think the Nintendo DS is a better system... hardware wise absolutely not. Game software... currently yes just because the DS has more games (and some very innovative games) to draw on at this time... but this may change as the PSP releases more games over the year. If Nintendo says they are not worried about the PSP... they should be... they should be shaking in their plumber boots... the PSP's potential far outshines the Nintendo DS as a gaming platform if Sony has harness it.
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