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Sony Portables (Games)

PSP-Slim Hands On 121

Posted by Zonk from the lite-vs.-slim dept.
fistfullast33l writes "PSPFanboy, a Joystiq blog, has a great closeup of the new PSP redesign. Photos show the old PSP and the new PSP side by side. Modifications include adding more RAM (up to 64MB), extended battery life, a new UMD loading door, removal of the IR port (Sony really hates infrared), and a redesigned headphone jack to support video output. Sony confirmed that you will be able to play movies and games through the video out, but the games can only be viewable via component, not composite cables. Also, 0okm has some nice pictures of the new PSP internals as well as a manual snapshot showing button layout (the wireless switch was moved) and TV out information." Gamasutra has the news that the slim-line is due out on September 20th in Japan.
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PSP-Slim Hands On More

PSP-Slim Hands On

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  • All signs are pointing to the PSP-2000 being locked down so as to prevent homebrew (or Linux) running on it.

  • Video out (Score:2, Interesting)

    by 68030 ( 215387 )
    It would be nice to see some sort of standardized, low-range, wireless digital video transfer protocol, then let the receiver worry about composite, component, HDMI, etc. I've noticed the references to the terrestrial digital video streams in Europe and the like... Sure would be nice to stick a powerful computer (or in this case console) in another room and a dongle on the DVI out and have a set top box that lets me switch streams like channels, without having to run wires.

    Somehow I doubt that would work we
    • I think UWB (ultra wide band) is going to be doing this.
    • Well, if you're doing it at home you could always leave the PSP charging while streaming.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by donaldm ( 919619 )
      With the new PSP it is supposed to be possible to view your game or movie via component video cables to your HDTV or even SDTV (if it takes component cables. The downside of this is you have to have a cable connecting your PSP to the TV which sort of defeats the purpose of a hand-held device. Having wireless connectivity would be the logical way to go.

      My son has a PSP and he can save movies on his memory card. He can then connect up the PSP to the PS3 via a USB cable and display the movies via the PS3 and

  • No IR? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Chouonsoku ( 1009817 )
    How the hell am I going to screw with people's TVs and them not know it's me if I don't just look like I'm playing a video game?

    WRONG MOVE SONY!

  • No composite video for games?? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by physicsnick ( 1031656 ) on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @12:04PM (#19888515)
    What the hell? Why not?

    Around where I live (Canada), I've never even seen a TV that takes component cables. Don't virtually all older TVs in North America take only composite? I thought the point of this was to make it into a sort of portable console; what's the point if you can't just plug it into any TV?

    This is so incredibly frustrating. I was all excited [slashdot.org] about the new PSP, and now I find it won't even work on my TV. Why didn't they tell us this in the presentation? Did they think we weren't going to notice?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by nomadic ( 141991 )
      They do make component-to-composite converters.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Go to FutureShop, all TVs have had those for years.

        How many years? We're not all rich, and we don't all own new HDTVs. I live in a college house with 6 guys, and there are three TVs in our house; none of them take component.

        For it to be a portable console, it should work on any hand-me-down TV. If I'm going to have a TV in my room, I would expect the TV-out to work on it. It's no good if it only works on the new TV in parents' living rooms.

        Mostly I'm just pissed off that Sony lied to us again. For once I was excited about their products, but between

        • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

          by GeckoX ( 259575 )
          Getting a wee bit pissy just for the sake of being pissy aren't we?

          a) composit component converters are cheap...good chance the unit will even come with one and
          b) where the fuck did they lie to you? Hmm?

          You're taking this awfully personally, it is after all just a hunk of plastic, chips and wires. Don't have a heart attack mmkay?

          • a) If these do exist, please, link. I searched online and I could not find one; what I did find however is a lot of other people looking for the same thing.

            b) They said several times throughout E3, in their main presentation and in various interviews, that it would support TV-out gaming through composite. It does not. They flat out lied.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Retric ( 704075 )
            A cheep DVD player or VCR does the same thing for 20-50$.
          • Actually, the fact that the cables will not be included with the unit, as well as the fact that they are supporting both, and thus are likely to be selling both themselves, makes it unlikely that they will be including a converter with the PSP unit itself OR it's add-on cables.
        • I bought a brand new 27" HDTV with component for 300 bucks... if you can throw down 200 bucks for a portable gaming system a tv with component you can grab a new TV. If you're all about hand me downs, maybe you shouldn't be picking up bleeding edge tech?
          • If I can afford a $170 portable gaming system, I may as well pay triple that to replace my TV along with it? Sure, that makes sense.
        • I'm still pissed off that the RF adapter for the NES would connect to my grandparents' 9" Black and White TV from the 50s! Also there's no interface between my toaster and my keyboard, how dare Logitech not provide that functionality!!

          If you want TV output on your PSP 2.0, go buy a component-to-composite adapter. And stop whining.
          • Your NES didn't advertise being able to output to your black and white TV. Sony IS avertising the fact that their new PSP has composite out capability.
        • Uh, my 4 year old P.O.S 27" tube TV, from Futureshops inhouse Prima brand, has component and composite inputs.
          My new 40" Samsung LCD has plenty of both

          The OP is either trying to make Canada look behind in tech for some reason, or just is clueless to the world around him.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tepples ( 727027 )

          For it to be a portable console, it should work on any hand-me-down TV.
          Doesn't a hand-me-down TV have only RF input, not even (baseband) composite video input?

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by KDR_11k ( 778916 )
            My hand-me-down has a SCART port.

            • My hand-me-down has a SCART port.
              Yes, SCART is a European standardized connector that carries RGB video, and from everything I've read, a SCART connector is more common on TVs in PAL-land than component video connectors are on North American TVs. My comment related to TVs owned by people stuck in North America.
    • I'm pretty sure you're confusing composite or component with coaxial.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by CastrTroy ( 595695 )
      I live in Canada too, although I find that there are many TVs with component video. However, there's a lot that don't, and even when they do have component cables, they're located in the back of the TV and hooked up to the DVD player. Moving the TV to get to these cables, and then rehooking up the other device when you are done can be really annoying. Meanwhile, most TVs have composite on the front for easy access. I can't even think of why they would need component cables for the PSP. It's not like th
      • I'm not sure why specifically component for games, but the UMD movies are encoded in DVD quality 480p (RTFA), so there might be a reason to allow a higher quality cable connection.
        • Does anybody actually buy UMD movies?
          • I have a couple, and the biggest knock against them was that you could only play them on the tiny PSP with no video out. Sony has decided to rebut that by giving people video out. Now they just need to add some special features and drop the price to an average of $10 and they'll probably attract more attention.
            • You know, Sony screwed themselves over with their designs.

              In a perfect world, they would have included a UMD slot on the PS3. Why didn't they? Because they were trying to sell Blue-ray. Fine, then. What would have been included was a program built into the PS3 that will downconvert a Blue-Ray disc to fit on a UMD. Add digital rights control so you can only copy the same movie onto one UMD at a time. Pop it in, pop in a movie, hit copy, go make a sandwich and come back to take it with you. The PS3 won
      • However, there's a lot that don't, and even when they do have component cables, they're located in the back of the TV and hooked up to the DVD player.

        If you have a spare component in on the TV (far from guaranteed) wouldn't you hook the cable up to the TV and then leave it tucked behind somewhere until you wanted to pull it out and play the PSP?

        On the other hand if you only have one component in (much more likely) and you are a gamer you already have a $20 component switchbox [ebay.com] with easily accessible in
    • Umm.. I live 'in Canada" and I don't even think I know a single person whose "main TV" does not accept component.

      Pretty much any 25" or larger TV made since 1998 has component inputs.
      • See that's just it, I don't want to use it just on my "main TV". Why can't I play games on the TV in my room?

        • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward
          1) Grow up
          2) Move out

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Pojut ( 1027544 )
        You apparently are confusing "component" with "composite"
      • How many of you have bought a TV since '98? I don't know, but I was under the impression that TVs had a operational life of over 10 years. Especially the larger units. Having a composite out isn't too unreasonable. Heck, I think iPods can be fitted with an S-video output via their docks.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Sparr0 ( 451780 )
        "since 1998" is a big caveat. Plenty of people that I know (not in canada) have pre-1998 big screen TVs. My 50" and 60" rear projection screens (both "only" capable of 480p) from circa 1995 are still going strong, I don't plan to replace them any time soon. They have only composite and s-video (and rca chroma/luma on the 50"), no component or hdmi or dvi. The most "advanced" display I own takes its HD content via BNC, component can't even compare.

    • Re:No composite video for games?? (Score:4, Informative)

      by ZakuSage ( 874456 ) on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @12:47PM (#19889199)
      Component is required because progressive scan is required for games. Whatever reason they have for necessitating progressive scan, I don't know...

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by MobileTatsu-NJG ( 946591 )
        "Whatever reason they have for necessitating progressive scan, I don't know..."

        The LCD on the PSP is not interlaced...?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Reapman ( 740286 )
      WTF? "Around where I live (Canada), I've never even seen a TV that takes component cables" Where the hell do you live, Inuvik? My friends 5 year old TV does component. And yes, I live in Canada. We do have TV's that were made past 1990 up here. That's your big complaint? Buy a freakin converter man. I hope I misread what you said....

    • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Holy crap there are a lot of confused people. Half of you don't know what the difference between composite and component even is and/or you're confusing the two.

      Maybe it's a Canadian thing but I have never once in my life seen a TV with composite input on the front. That's a little bizarre because by the time manufacturers were thinking about being able to easily plug stuff into the front everything was using component cables.

      Component output is much easier to do, especially on something like a PSP where

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Detritus ( 11846 )

        Composite output requires a RF modulator and all sorts of RF crap (shielding and such) which takes up a lot more room.
        No, it doesn't. Composite is baseband video. It is not modulated on an RF carrier.
      • Maybe it's a Canadian thing but I have never once in my life seen a TV with composite input on the front.

        Probably. I've had a TV with a (mono) composite input on it, another with a stereo, another with stereo on the side, VCRs with inputs on the front. Hell, last dozen times I've been to a hotel they've had a TV with front inputs. My current TV has side composite + S-Video, which isn't much of an improvement but no complaints from me. Hell, my audio amp has front optical and 3.5mm on the front, too!

        I swear
      • Maybe it's a Canadian thing but I have never once in my life seen a TV with composite input on the front. That's a little bizarre because by the time manufacturers were thinking about being able to easily plug stuff into the front everything was using component cables.

        Pardon? My Toshiba has three sets of inputs -- two composite inputs in the back and one in the front. A friend's Sony TV is the same. I have come across many, many TVs here in Canada with composite inputs on the front and it makes plugging you
    • You can get cables that switch form component to composite without much problems. Although it does add more wire and one extra step to dilute the signal.
    • Coming soon... Sony PSP + TV with Component Input! Only $1200 US.

      (Component video cable not included.)

    • Around where I live (Canada), I've never even seen a TV that takes component cables. Don't virtually all older TVs in North America take only composite?

      This isn't very helpful for you, but in Europe, pretty much every TV built in the last 10 years (and a large percentage before that) supports SCART [wikipedia.org] and component video over that connection. (For those not aware of it, SCART basically bundles together a whole load of different audio and video signals- both input and output- onto a single 21-pin connector.)

      I'm still pretty surprised that SCART is confined mainly to Europe. It's far from perfect, but for general use, it's a good idea. Partly because it's co

    • You've got to be kidding me. I live in Canada -- New Brunswick specifically -- and I've owned a Sony WEGA with component input since 2000 having purchased it for myself as a graduation gift. It was even a last-in-stock floor model!

      I do agree that not having composite output is a bit of a drawback. As you said, many TVs have front component jacks which would have made plugging in your PSP a simple procedure. However, this is really a value-add feature that was not available on the old PSP, so if you can'
    • There will be a composite cable for the PSP, but it only supports video from the UMD or Memory Stick.
      • I know, that's kind of my point. They're essentially lying to us in telling us that it has TV-out through composite. I wonder how many people will buy a new PSP with a composite cable, then return it to the store because it doesn't work.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nbahi15 ( 163501 )
      If you have component, you can convert to composite or s-video. Third-party manufacturers will love it.
      • +1 informative for the parent

        This is what I was going to say, it should be trivial to convert from component to composite with a cable adapter that just combines the 3 signals (Luminance, red difference and blue difference) into one wire (composite) or two wires of Luminance and Chroma(S-video). ...but IANAEE (I am not an electrical engineer)

        I have the needed RCA and S-video adapters somewhere in storage, this may be fun to try...
    • I'm not sure where you live exactly but every new TV I've seen in years (in Canada) has had component input except the very cheap variety (since its a great cost-savings measure to remove it). Mine has two component and one HDMI input, most of my friends complain about only having one component input.

      Sure, older TVs won't have component of course, its a relatively new connection for TVs that really only took off with HDTV but it still existed on older high quality TVs to bump the picture quality up over S-
  • Am I the only one who doesn't see any difference between the two devices shown in those pictures? I mean when Nintendo redesigned the DS it constituted a major redesign in form. The PSP really hasn't lost any body weight. Or for that matter gained any good games. I'll stick with my DS lite.

    • Re:No difference? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fistfullast33l ( 819270 ) on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @12:36PM (#19888997) Homepage Journal
      The PSP really hasn't lost any body weight.

      If you're going to bash a redesign, at least read the article in the summary:

      The most immediate thing we noticed was how light the system is: the original was in no ways heavy, but the new handheld is certainly much lighter, without making it too feathery.

      Granted, maybe you actually attended E3 and held the device and this is a matter of opinion, but that seems like a pretty dumb statement to make if you haven't.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ch0ad ( 1127549 )

      Am I the only one who doesn't see any difference
      maybe that's because they didn't make it look any different? the ds phat really needed a redesign, the psp didn't (aesthetically).

      the weight and size reductions are minimal... you can notice it if you look carefully but its no where near as in your face as ds -> ds lite

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      The new PSP is 20% thinner, it's 30% lighter, the UMD hatch has been redesigned, it has a TV-out, it has more built-in memory for caching, it has a faster UMD, the battery life has been extended. The front-on form factor might look the same but plenty has changed.

      As for games, it has plenty of excellent titles [neogaf.com].

      Stick with your DS if you like it, but get your facts straight.

      • That being the case, the pictures didn't show any difference. Probably more an inditment of the cameraman than the PSPs.
  • removal of the IR port (Sony really hates infrared),

    Saying Sony hates infrared is like saying my new flatscreen hates buttons because 95% of them are only on the remote.

    Another technology has replaced it. Why have two means of remote communication on a device?

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by fistfullast33l ( 819270 )
      Well, seeing as the IR port was useless on the PSP (except for some homebrew that figured out how to turn the PSP into a universal remote), I can see why Sony removed it. But on the PS3, it drives me crazy when trying to use it as a DVD/Bluray player. I can't use my TV remote (Sony also) to control the PS3 because it doesn't have an infrared port. Even worse, the bluetooth remote that Sony makes doesn't have IR on it, so it's only good for hte PS3. It's rather annoying.
      • I've been using RF remotes for years (including a universal receiver/blaster) and everytime I pick up an infrared remote I feel like I'm in a time warp because I actually have to point the damn thing.

        I can see how it would be frustrating to have two remotes. Hopefully within a few years everything will be off IR or you'll be able to get programmable RF remotes although that sounds a bit questionable.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      Perhaps the original plan was for the PSP to be an IR remote or something but I haven't heard of anything which uses the IR port. It seems a given that they got rid of something that wasn't used. It's too bad they didn't stick in bluetooth or similar, since it might have been better for ad hoc play in some circumstances, as well as sharing pictures / music etc.

  • how did they do it? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by grapeape ( 137008 ) <mpope7 AT kc DOT rr DOT com> on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @12:39PM (#19889071) Homepage
    The battery shown so far has been a 1200mah one while the one in the current PSP is 1800mah. If thats the case and it still gets a longer battery life, they have achieved quite a bit. Anyone know exactly what changed to get such a huge bump?

    • Re:how did they do it? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @12:54PM (#19889305)
      The added RAM means less time spinning the UMD looking for data. The biggest energy sapping system in the PSP is the UMD Drive. With 64mb of RAM, that means you don't need to look stuff up on the disc as often...

  • Summary (Score:5, Informative)

    by suv4x4 ( 956391 ) on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @01:00PM (#19889393)
    That was a boring article:

    We're very excited.

    The new PSP is much slimmer than the original, but the original is slim too.
    The new PSP is much lighter than the original, but the original is light too.
    The new PSP is much shinier than the original, but the original is shiny too.
    The new buttons "feel better".

    We'll talk a bit about the infrared and composite, but won't test it, or give you our feedback on any of this.

    We're very excited (again).

    The new PSP is much better than the original, but the original is good too.

    THE END

  • RAM eh? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Floritard ( 1058660 )
    What good is more ram anyway? New games certainly can't require more ram than was on the original PSP. Are old games going to know they can use more memory when loading content on a new PSP? Apparently you can't use the PSP for homebrew so really, why bother with more ram?

    Also, the fact that they didn't have tv-out in the first place is probably 90% of why UMD movies were such a stupid idea (you know, aside from having another proprietary format for no reason). And it's especially cute that they call this t

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by ch0ad ( 1127549 )
      apparently the new ram will be used to cache data from the umd to speed load/reload times.... or something like that. also (this is just speculation) i expect it will be used in the web browser to avoid so many "out of memory" errors.
    • Interesting. Is Sony going to prevent new games from making explicit use of the extra RAM? Will new games developed with the new PSP in mind run poorly or not at all on the old PSP? Apologies if this were mentioned in TFA - since this is slashdot, I did not RTFA beyond opening it up and seeing that the pictures are blurry.
      • No actually it doesn't say in the article. I was thinking, this is just another instance where a vendor puts out multiple versions of the same platform, but it isn't really a platform if there are big differences in specs between different models. The so called crippled or gimped 360s and PS3s, the cheaper models, this is all indicative of companies that are trying to sell you on a platform, but haven't even got a solid idea of what their platform is. Thing is, the whole point of a console or a handheld is
      • Yes they are :( All games to run on the new PSP, must also run on the old PSP. In fact you aren't even allowed to determine which kind of PSP you will be running on. There's just so much other more important stuff they should have fixed but didn't. Namely, hardware clipping for the guardband (developers have to do this in software), an alpha channel, and a real data cache (there's no hit under miss). For games, the new PSP will be just as handicapped IMO. The extra 32Mb UMD cache is of debatable benefit,

  • Focus! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by riffzifnab ( 449869 )
    "Close up" indeed. Some one needs to tell them about the macro function on their camera. Cripes.

  • I'm most disappointed by the fact that you still appear to be stuck to the limit of 4GB memory sticks.

    4GB and over cards are coming down in price and it would be great to put one of those big things into this device. To be fair though, it would only be really useful for homebrew (which Sony hates), piracy (which Sony really hates) and movies (which Sony would rather you bought the UMD).

    Still a shame though. Especially when you consider that by the end of this year you'll be seeing £100 mobile phon

    • (as an aside, does anyone know whether you can buy anything that'll allow you to use standard - and significantly cheaper - storage with the memory stick pro duo? I don't own a PSP, but if I do, I'd far rather not pay through the nose for Sony's inflated storage medium)

      Not really sure what you mean...but SanDisk makes a memory stick pro duo for about half the price. I've seen the card used in Sony's cameras and you can find slots for it on HP printers, so the card does have some reusability.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by dorix ( 414150 )
      Replying to your aside...

      Google for "Double Expand Memory Converter".

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by tepples ( 727027 )

      and movies (which Sony would rather you bought the UMD).
      But does UMD have a decent selection of movies from studios other than Columbia Pictures and the last two decades of MGM? What about television series?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      Sony doesn't hate homebrew. It hates pirates who use "homebrew" as their stock excuse to hack the firmware and install iso loaders and so on. You only have to look at any torrent site to see why Sony has a vested interest in patching the firmware to prevent exploits - because no games company will support the PSP if piracy is rampant. Genuine PSP homebrewers (all 3 of them) probably don't play into it at all.

      If they hated homebrew they wouldn't have bent over backwards to support it in the PS2 and PS3 to

  • Appealing... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MaWeiTao ( 908546 ) on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @01:30PM (#19889925)
    I have been thinking about getting a PSP for some time. I have a DS and while I think it's great there are some things that have always bothered me. As much as I like sprite-based 2D games I can't get past the fact that 3D graphics on the DS are generally crap. The games for the DS that are good are great, but some genres in particular are quite lacking. And to this day I still don't like the two screens. The functionality it allows for in some games is great, but it still feels gimmicky. I would much prefer it had a single large screen, and coupled with the touch-screen functionality it would be truly great.

    This updated PSP makes the console particularly appealing. Of course, this is still Sony we're talking about. So I still have some reservations.

    • I would much prefer it had a single large screen, and coupled with the touch-screen functionality it would be truly great.

      Yes, it's a pity the PSP doesn't have a touch screen.

  • I know we're not talking about huge production budgets here (or any production budgets for that matter) but really, how hard is it to take a clear picture of a STILL OBJECT? Two pictures have camera shake, one is overexposed and one is out of focus. Seriously.
  • The only thing I'd ask them to do was fix the retarded loading times. Any word on that at all?
  • ...took out the UMD and put in something like an iPod hard drive, with some sort of firmware hack to make the PSP think it has a huge UMD drive yet? I'd love to see that. That would be hilarious.

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