Pros: Great design, screen, early software is sound
Cons: Silly design flaws, occasional lack of focus
The Bottom Line: If you're reading this a few years from now and a lot of the info seems old...well, that's because you're reading this a few years from now.
awoolcott's Full Review: Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) Console
For 10 years now, Sony has practically owned console gaming with their PlayStation brand. It took the dominant player, Nintendo, off its perch. Its dominance forced Sega out the door and into the nigh-obscurity it leads today. It put so much fear into Microsoft that they rushed to make the Xbox so Sony wouldn't cut into the set-top box business and put a hurt on PCs. Love them or hate them, Sony has changed the shape of gaming. And now, with their 10 year dominance of the home console business grasped tightly in their hands, they're moving to another sector of gaming – portables. For 15 years or so now, Nintendo has been the only player in this side of gaming with the Game Boy line. There's been challengers, but all were flawed by either obscurity (the SNK Neo-Geo Pocket), a fading brand (Atari Lynx), and horrible battery life (Sega Game Gear). Sony is not these companies – they're a smart, tech-savvy company who invented the Walkman and forever changed how people listened to music. This is the same bet Sony is taking with the latest to the PlayStation name, the PlayStation Portable, or PSP for short. Not content to be just a game system (though gaming is definitely the focus), Sony is expecting the PSP to be a movie player, a competitor to the iPod, and, in time, a portable Internet machine that fits in your pocket. Are they spreading themselves too thin? Are they taking a stupid risk hoping people will buy specially formatted movies for the thing? Will it finally put Nintendo's portable dominance to rest? These are questions that we won't find out for a long time, but unquestionably the PSP is a unique, beautiful piece of hardware that's got the support and buzz to accomplish what it set out to do – revolutionize handheld gaming just like they did to console gaming when they released the PlayStation 10 years ago.
PSP: Pretty Sweet Portable
Bar none, the PSP is the most powerful piece of portable gaming hardware ever devised. Sony has pushed the system as a portable version of the PS2, and be damned if it comes pretty close to being just that. How they crammed a small and sleek little device like the PSP with so much under the hood is just one of those things that's hard to compehend. Though not bit-for-bit a copycat of the PS2, it's fairly close, somewhat of a mix of the top Dreamcast graphics with mid-gen PS2 visuals. Though amazingly, there have been some games that closely mimc the PS2 counterparts, and these are late-generation games by this point. Each game is stored on special, proprietary 1.8 GB UMD (Universal Media Disc – in other words, they want all PSP content on these discs, and likely will have a stand-alone UMD player one day for a TV or whatever), which are slightly larger than a GameCube disc. Thus far many of the earliest games lack the features and depth of many console games, but as developers learn how to maximize space on a UMD, the games will get bigger and deeper than you've come to expect from 'just' a portable game. The only downside is the whole deal with discs – reading a disc sucks up battery life, and with such power under the hood, the PSP's battery life is already, at least for now, a premium, with roughly 5-10 hours depending on what you're doing with it. Though this isn't 1993 with the Game Gear; because the PSP battery is rechargeable and can be played while being recharged via an AC outlet, the need for regular old batteries is removed, and thus is more cost-efficient. Sony has finally released extra batteries for about $45, and a wall recharge unit is due soon, to charge a battery without needing the PSP to be plugged in. PSP is wireless out of the box as well – using 802.11b wireless standards, you can connect to a hotspot and play games in either LAN-style or straight up online play against PSP owners across the country. This also comes in handy for downloading firmware updates, new content for games, and many other future concepts Sony has in mind as time goes on.
The system itself is one of much beauty – sleekly designed, yet small and compact, the PSP looks like a sexy piece of electronics. The PSP has almost every button a PS2 controller would, though there's only one analog stick and two shoulder buttons, which does make porting many PS2 games difficult (though I'm sure that was part of the plan). The analog stick is not really a stick at all, it's actually more like a nub, though really it's just an analog stick without the stick part covering it up. It slides around instead of 'moves' which might be odd for new players, though I found it very natural the first time I used it when playing Ridge Racer. There are a couple accessories that put an actual stick on top of the nub, but most of them are pretty ugly things that ruin the appearance of the system. The most vital thing, and the PSP's selling point, is the screen. After looking at this beautiful, clear screen the first time, you realize the vision Sony has for PSP. Portable games usually don't appeal much to me because the small screen makes my eyes hurt, but the PSP screen, though not massive, is large and clear enough that I tend to forget it's a portable system in my hands. There is a downside to the screen though. For one, early systems have had trouble with dead or stuck pixels, and dust that got under the screen during the manufacturing process. Sony has been a bit cryptic in dealing with these issues, and the 2nd generation of systems likely won't have this many problems – welcome to the world of owning a launch system. The other problem is the screen's weak protection – the surface can be easily smeared and scratched up, almost requiring a screen protector to keep the screen looking good. The PSP also has a slight problem with the special coating of the system face – while the back has a nice finish that keeps away fingerprints and smears, the front uses a glossy finish that leaves smudges and marks all over – substance over practicality. It makes keeping the system clean a pain when you have to wipe it down to get rid of smudges (and avoid putting scratches into your screen at the same time).
It's the durability issues that worry me the most – Game Boys can practically be run over by a semi-truck and work, and they're designed to handle the constant use. The PSP is a very durable machine considering, but unless you really baby your system it's bound to have some nicks and smudges and scratches that could have been avoided with a slightly better design to the face of the system. Granted, the PSP was not designed with kids in mind, and it has to have a certain look to appeal to the gadget generation, but it could have been accomplished with a bit more forward thinking and choices. Thankfully, in the nearly 3 months since I've owned a PSP, it runs great and has sustained much use and abuse at home, at work, and on trips to the local gaming establishments. Time will tell however, whether the PSP's were designed to last for years and years.
As of right now, the PSP retails for a hefty $250, though you do get more than a system inside the Value Pack box. Along with the system you get a battery, the AC adapter, a 32 MB memory stick for saving games (more than enough if games are all you're interested in, and spare 32 MB sticks go for $25 separately), a soft case to put your PSP in for travel, a wrist strap to protect you from dropping the thing to the floor (by catching it with your wrist), a handy cloth to wipe the system down (which you'll need often), a set of headphones, a remote control for movies and operating the system, and a UMD sampler that contains game video, movie trailers, and a few music videos. The first million PSP's came with a UMD version of the Spider-Man 2 movie, but finding one of those may be difficult now since the original million PSP's are in the hands of gamers around the country. With the release of many of these accessories individually in recent weeks, it's expected that a non-Value Pack may appear soon on shelves, likely between $150 and $175, though who knows what Sony will and won't include in the basic package.
PSP: Powerful Stuff, Playa
Upon first boot of the system you encounter Sony's XMB, or Cross Media Bar. This easy-to-navigate series of menus lets you access all the PSP's features with little hassle. Game information has its own area, as does movies and music; all of which have both UMD and memory stick functions. Using the Memory Stick Duo or Pro Duo variety, you can stick MP3's or ATRAC (Sony's format for music that's used with their iTunes offshoot SonicStage) files on a stick for listening on the go, iPod style, or stick MP4 video files on the cards. This is accomplished by hooking your PSP up to a PC, USB style, and transfering the files, or just putting the memory sitck into your computer or card reader and transfer from there. In the case of music, if you have SonicStage, you can actually drag and drop files from the program into the stick or PSP, though if you have protected ATRAC files purchased from Sony Connect, they only work in Duo sticks, not Pro Duo varities. Otherwise you do have to deal with a slightly clunky series of steps to get music on the sticks. In time, Sony hopes to allow connection to Connect.com through your PSP to actually buy and download music directly to a memory stick, but that may be a while from now. Movies are even more complicated. Since it only plays MP4 movie files, you have to convert other file types to this format, which requires a special program, though there are a few freebie programs like PSPVideo9 out there. Then you have to name them in a strange and puzzling way just for the PSP to recognize them. In short, it's a pain and probably just another way to make people give up and buy UMD movies for $20 a pop (though admittedly they're of much better quality than ripping a DVD to a memory stick, since UMD's are pre-formatted to work with the widescreen dimensions of the PSP). The PSP also lets you put photos on a stick and act as a portable picture viewer, though many savvy people have formatted many things to work, like comic strips, magazines, and in one case, pictures of naked girls, if you enjoy PlayboyStationPortable.
The XBM also lets you set up your Wi-Fi network connection, check the life of the battery, format memory sticks, check for system updates, adjust settings – things you'd expect, presented in a clean, easy to understand format. If you're going to have a system do so much, this is a necessity and Sony obviously knew this. In time the XMB will allow for the use of the Internet (and not just through the Wipeout Pure hack), and with that comes likely downloads of movies, music, and game demos/content directly through the browser, though you can still get many of the PSP's necessary content through a regular PC and transfer to a memory stick, if you don't have a wireless network, for instance. I certainly hope that the upcoming PlayStation 3 takes advantage of this XMB for its sure-to-be complicated functions, especially if the PSP and PS3 are to communicate with each other in some way.
PSP: Product Support Plentiful
Say, do you need accessories for your PSP? Never fear, there's so much stuff from various gear developers that picking out the good stuff is harder than finding things. With the need for a screen protector, many have leaped forward with protectors, be it merely things that cover the screen, or even a protector that covers the entire width of the system to protect it from smudges and also keeps the PSP's design perfectly flat without noticing the applied screen guard. If you need a case to carry the system in, seeing the case that comes with the PSP is useless at best, you can get products from Logitech, Pelican, Intec, and a ton of other companies that never usually get into gaming stuff. The best bet is the import-only Aero Case; it holds plenty of UMD's and the system is well protected inside it. There's docking cradles that let you charge up the PSP while you watch a movie, show off photos, listen to music, or maybe play a simple game that doesn't require holding the console. There's replacement battery packs, tons of memory sticks, car chargers, faceplates to cover the screen and protect it from sun (though the Logitech Playgear Pocket does the case and protection thing together). There's special UMD holders in many forms, file transfer software – including a piece of software that lets you save PS2 stuff to a memory stick; there's so much support it's not even funny. It seems like almost every day a new accessory comes out, be it cases, stands, whatever. People are gung-ho about giving the PSP support in this category.
PSP: Plenty of Software, Pal
And now we come to the most vital asset – software. Without games, and UMD movies, the PSP would be a gadget without a use, like your leftover Virtual Boy or that silly portable MP3 player that works only with MP3 CD's instead of files. Early on, many game publishers have signed up to produce games on PSP, and a great deal of them have been stunning accomplishments and otherwise solid games. Sony has used the PSP to reignite their struggling sports division, and has done a decent job, most notably with the impressive PS2-to-PSP conversion of MLB. They've also brought back old franchises like Wipeout and Twisted Metal back to prominence, and have brought some of their most popular PS2 franchises such as ATV Offroad Fury and Hot Shots Golf into the mix. Their Sony Online Entertainment branch brought hack & slash RPG action as well, with the very popular Untold Legends, one of the few original IP's in this launch era. Namco brought back memories of 10 years past, launching with the incredible Ridge Racer, in the same fashion they helped Sony debut the PS1 and PS2 in the past. Electronic Arts has thrown plenty of support around, with mostly reworked ports, but ultimately good titles like NBA Street Showdown, Tiger Woods Golf, and Need for Speed Underground: Rivals. Konami has used the PSP to take its beloved Metal Gear series in a different direction, with the card-based Metal Gear Acid. Puzzle games, a staple of portable gaming, are in full force as well, with the intoxicating Lumines, the quirky Mercury, and the challenging Smart Bomb competing for your gaming dollars. And that's just a small sample of the amount of games sitting around store shelves, waiting to enter your shiny new PSP. Few console launches have as much quality, and though many are ports or reworked versions of home system games, they're still good quality games and there's more than enough out there to build a solid collection right off the bat – a far cry from the clunky PS2 launch, a console that took about 6 months just to finally see a stream of kickass experiences. And of course, I'd be remiss to not mention that the PSP gaming side is region free (though UMD movies are region 1), meaning you can play any imported game from Europe (when it releases there anyway) or Japan without modifying the system. Most impressive.
Movies are the other side of the spectrum. Often controversial, UMD movies are slowly becoming plentiful after a bit of initial worries. Though expensive at $20-$30 a piece and tending to lack the extras of a DVD, they're good for portable movie viewing if you don't have or want a portable DVD player – though if you buy a PSP just for movies on UMD, you're out of your freaking mind. Anyway, after the initial batch of movies, which included films like Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Pirates of the Caribbean, xXx, and Kill Bill Vol. 1, became huge sellers (in some cases selling more than games which leads me to believe more people are out of their freaking minds than I thought), more studios have jumped on the bandwagon and at this point there's more movies than games out for the UMD format, with tons more to come – and not little nerd movies either – for all we know the Star Wars films may be out on PSP sometime too, though. Instead it covers all sorts of genres, though many initial titles are action flicks made for the built in early-adopter audience and show off the capabilities of the system.It's possible that eventually UMD will also branch out into music as well, like it has in Japan. Imagine typical music CD's with music videos, pictures, lyrics, etc...almost like a Dualdisc when you think about it. Though games are the focus of the PlayStation Portable, I'd expect movies and music to become a vital facet of the PSP model – creating a unified piece of hardware that supports every format on the go. Instead of carrying a Game Boy, an iPod, or a portable DVD player, it all goes into one system even if you have to buy specialized discs. Hopefully Sony will use their heads and make a UMD player for the home and give people reasons other than PSP to buy these fancy discs.
PSP: Psychics Sense Possibilities
While the present is very much looking good for the PSP, the future is a bit clouded. At the most recent E3 show, PSP support was minimal at best, with few games announced and most of them being reworked ports or straight ports. While I'd definitely expect many console games to be part of the PSP's immediate future as just another release on the calendar, the lack of original software as the PSP moves along is a necessary facet of survival, especially since its closest competition, the DS, is loading up with high quality original games that can't even be done on other systems. While stuff like Burnout Legends will be hugely successful, and likely a damn good game, it's still a Ridge Racer style 'greatest hits' version of the popular console franchise. There's hope, most definitely, most notably in the form of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stores, which could, if it's as good as the console versions, be the kind of game that becomes the killer app for the PSP as it fights off Nintendo's tried and true formulas, and perhaps draws the userbase necessary to get more original products to the handheld. There's nothing wrong with ports in moderation; there's a ton of great PS2 games I'd love to play on the go, but there must be some balance and high quality games that you can't get anywhere else, otherwise known as system sellers. Perhaps Sony was just too occupied with PS3 at E3 to focus as much on PSP, but if they wish to earn the respect in the portable arena that they've earned with the PS and PS2, they must prove they're out to break the rules of portable games, and all-new content is the key. The launch era, full of quality games even if they're not wholly original, is the grace period – now comes the time when you need to win over the rest of the world.
On the other hand, UMD movie support is really moving along and it's only a matter of time before some killer app hits that makes that side of things look good. However, I just hope Sony doesn't see this and begins to tout the PSP as less of a game machine and more of a movie player – a lack of focus is the kind of thing to run off developers and allow Nintendo to again keep their dominant, almost monopolistic run intact. Speaking of Nintendo, who knows what their future plans are to counter the PSP's power and support. The DS is considered their 3rd wheel, but it is a competitor to the PSP, and has a load of unique games out and coming soon, and their E3 show was very impressive in terms of their portable stuff. The Game Boy is getting about the 100th redesign with the Game Boy Micro, but eventually, if the PSP starts really gaining ground and cutting into Nintendo's portable sales, they'll have to upgrade their GB to a new level, whether it's the rumored portable GameCube, or something different. In many ways, the Sony vs. Nintendo portable war will answer a theory that has been brought up – do people buy the Nintendo portables because that's the only decent handheld system out there, and thus when the PSP hits its stride it'll fade off like their consoles, or is the Game Boy devotion for real? The next few years will be very interesting, even if it will undoubtedly be overshadowed by the future generation of home systems. Who knows, maybe even Microsoft will get into it one day and compete. They say no, but they also said they'd never make a game console either...
The Last Paragraph
Even if the PSP has an uphill climb and perhaps a good bit of unknown direction, at this point in time, the PlayStation Portable is a sleek, well designed device that has a few dumb design choices, but otherwise is a great portable that brings current generation technology into a realm that's usually a generation or so behind. The software lineup is pretty solid, there's a lot of support for it, and the extracurricular side of the system is faring well. All we need is more support for original titles, and less ports (though a few ports of classic games here and there is welcome), and maybe a little more focus on games from Sony and the PSP will definitely give Nintendo something to worry about, a feeling they haven't had in the portable end of gaming since the Game Gear died out. Barring a whole bunch of screwups and backwards stepping, the PSP has a bright future – if it all pans out, anyway. It's all a matter of potential, and whether Sony allows the PSP to live up to it.
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