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Portables (Games) PlayStation (Games)

Prelude to the PSP Launch 73

Posted by Zonk from the she'll-be-comin-round-the-mountain-when-she-comes dept.
Josh writes "Because the Japanese Launch is quickly coming upon us, we at PsiNext decided to put together an editorial which talks about the important events in getting to the final product release for the PSP. It is a good chance for those who are just getting into the PSP to catch up on what has been happening for the past 18 months." From the article: "The dream of a portable gaming unit began many years ago for Sony, around the time Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) was preparing to release the PS2 to the world. Work began in 1998 under the codename "E.T." and it was to be Sony's first stab at the portable gaming market to try and take down the then industry leading Nintendo with their GameBoy."
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Prelude to the PSP Launch More

Prelude to the PSP Launch

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  • Uh... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Firehawke ( 50498 )
    Can you say "utterly worthless article"? This goes into only moderate detail on the good points and COMPLETELY skips the bad points! (battery life, anyone?)

    This is HARDLY the kind of article that should be reccomended to someone who hasn't heard of the PSP-- this is fanboy press, pure and simple.
    • Yep, it's a typical article linked to on Slashdot. The editors have an amazing skill for picking articles from (sub) High School level[1] writers on fan-sites.

      But I wish people would keep on guessing the battery life on a product not even out yet. Now that the price isn't the astronomical price predicted, people keep on going on about the batteries instead.

      The batteries do look problematic, but I think the developers will've know that, and will probably be writing there software so it doesn't drain the ba
    • You might have a valid point if it weren't for the fact that this clearly isn't a review.
  • Does the PSP have the ability to phone home?

    Or perhaps the engineers' have low expectations for its success, like a previous E.T. [wikipedia.org] in the videogame industry?
  • To throttle the release of the product. If it's any good this is only bound to increase demand, the platform gets more time to garner support and gain titles from game publishers, production costs will go down over time and with a relatively small first run they won't risk losing the sale of a ton of units in warehouses should production-related defects turn up.

    Does anybody know if this super storage disc format will be housed in some type of protective cartridge? I hope they don't look like Gamecube di

    • I'm sure developers are looking forward to breaking even if the PSP takes off. Seriously though, if you're gonna launch a portable, launch a portable. Don't try risk adverse techniques; they screw early adopters and the market share. Every PSP that could have been sold but wasn't is a loss, a customer that every game developer just missed a chance on. If I were a developer, I'd be either pissed or sceptical, depending on how committed my own company was to the PSP.

      UMD is relatively small, somewhat smaller
    • It is not smart. If the whole point is to increase demand, there has to be a way for those who demand to be supplied. You want the product to be scarce not unattainable.

      If the demand is so great, why isn't Sony increasing production? The DS is going to have 1.5-2 million more users than the PSP by years end, and that advantage may only be because Nintendo made more units. So where is the benefit of this demand?
      • I listed more points than simply increasing demand, but the product is hardly unattainable. The first run as announced is almost certainly below demand, but what if they produce more than they announced on the first run (or do a 'second run' of a million as the first are coming off the line)? Regardless, you've got people grabbing them off the rack because they think it's the last one the store's going to stock for a month, or doing pre-orders online to try to get it in their hands as soon as it's availab
    • >

      From looking at pictures (pictures of UMDs first appeared alongside pics of the early flat-buttoned PSP prototype, and pics of actual (or mockup) game discs have appeared), UMDs look a bit like more rounded MiniDiscs, they have a protective case as part of the disc, so they should be reasonably durable. Although I'd hope they come in some sort of outer case (like MiniDiscs) to help protect them a bit more when not in use.
    • UMD SUCKS! Its basically a MiniDisc and I respect and love the technology but MiniDiscs had a full protective cover and a sliding cover which was opened only inside the machine. UMD is a cheaper version with a permanent open slit in the case! It's just asking for dust etc. to pile up in itself! Whoever came up with the idea of a partially open covered disc needs to be fired! At least with an open disc you could clean the dust if there was any, with the UMD, its that much harder to get rid of dust that has a
  • Personally I can't belive this

    all their consoles have been MIPS based even the PSP
    Methinks that IBM is the FAB...
    IBM rock at this very few other fabs have SOI and 90nm working as nice and they are looking at 60nm and 45nm real hard apperntly

    has somone got arch specs and not just the normal Cell patents ?

    regards

    John Jones
    • The xBox Next and the next Nintendo Console releases have already been stated to be multicore PowerPC based.

      The PS3 is using the new cell processor as noted in many articles here recently and in the past.

      However as there is some similarity in processor desings. The Cell has been desgined to be a processor that is able to take adavantge of other cell processors connected to it through various means.

  • ET? (Score:1)

    by Khuffie ( 818093 )
    I've never heard of this ET thing. Sources? Info? At least a link to a respectable gaming site that has something about it?

    Sony will begin to produce over 700,000 units a month, with a year 2005 ending total of 10 million PSPs worldwide. Those are numbers that Nintendo has never faced before and could spell the downfall of a once great portable gaming empire at the hands of the PSP.

    I like this part. Nintendo has never faced large numbers before? Wow, what about the PS2? And the GBA's install base is fa

  • Nobody wants to hear it but this HAS to be a paid slashdot post.

    Most media (specially print magazines) is really just outsourced PR. It was really only a matter of time before Slash did the same.
    • I don't know. I mean it's an okay theory, but most of us on Slashdot are quick to stomp on any technology. Yeah, we're like that old guy sitting on the porch yelling at the kids going by. But with technology.
  • "The dream of a portable gaming unit began many years ago for Sony, around the time Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) was preparing to release the PS2 to the world. Work began in 1998 under the codename "E.T." and it was to be Sony's first stab at the portable gaming market to try and take down the then industry leading Nintendo with their GameBoy."

    And about two weeks ago they started working on the batteries...

  • That will surely bring good memories to the old gamers! It will bring a lot of luck!
    --
    Wiki de Ciencia Ficcion y Fantasia [uchile.cl]
  • Anyone else realise that today is the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Playstation?

    Computer and video games have a small article here [computeran...ogames.com]. It'll be interesting to see how they compete with the DS as the last ten years have shown they are rather good at this. Personally speaking i wouldn't touch the PSP, the screen is begging for a good scratching and i seem to recall battery life (and size) where what killed the sega game gear. I still love Sonic 2 though.
    • I love the story [gamespot.com] of how the Playstation came to be. It was going to be a peripheral for the Super NES, but... if you keep reading the story, Nintendo gave up on it due to to costs, Sony wanted to revenge, and now it has most of the market share.

      And about the PSP, it's too much like a console to be portable. Why watch FMV clips on a handheld? I want a simple game and this is too fancy. The DSs capabilities are just right IMO, though I'm not keen to two screens (and that ryhmes).

      Battery life [gamespot.com] is 4-6 hour
  • the then industry leading Nintendo

    How about try 'The then, now, and forever more industry leading Nintendo'
  • I really don't see the PSP succeeding beyond the realm of the tech savvy young adult who needs everything, and the curious spoiled child. Portable gaming is a completely different world.

    • Re:PSP (Score:3, Insightful)

      by swat_r2 ( 586705 )
      I agree to a point. I mean there's absolutely no doubt the games look amazing. But the battery life issue and UMD movies are the kiss of death. It's almost emberassing how bad UMD movies are going to fail. I don't like to speculate much as anything can happen, but making people buy the DVD and UMD is insane. The only way I can see UMD succeeding is if the discs cost 1/4 of what a DVD costs, or they are given away for free in magazines, etc. Like promos.

  • Heat issues... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dfj225 ( 587560 ) on Friday December 03, 2004 @03:08PM (#10990546) Homepage Journal
    I wonder, how is it that the PSP stays cool? It seems like it is very similar to the PS2, so wouldn't it require some kind of active cooling or at least a good passive system? To me it looks like there is no way for heat to escape the unit.
  • It cannot be denied that Sony is the behemoth of the gaming world, but why is it ignored that Sony hardware is plagued with bugs. Defective drives, compatibility issues, less than rugged design. These are issues that were common to the PS2 and will probably be multiplied on the PSP. The thing looks too delicate, and I agree that screen is beggin' for a scratch. Also, if that thing get dropped, look out screen and disc drive. While sony does lead the industry in anti-skip technology, we all know that it eve
  • This is a very small number compared to the demand for this item, but with production costs rumored to be twice the asking price, Sony can't afford to let one PSP sit in inventory.

    If everything goes as planned, and the PSP has a successful launch, Sony will begin to produce over 700,000 units a month, with a year 2005 ending total of 10 million PSPs worldwide

    Ok! Lets do a little bit of math here
    10 million psp units...
    each costs $200...
    Cost to produce rumored to be twice as much as cost to produce...

  • Very intresting indeed.

    Nintendo, Former 5x Heavyweight Champion of the Portable Gaming world, squares against Sony, in the most technologicaly advanced fight of the Millenia.

    Who when will win the heart of portable gamers around the world? Who will claim the covent title of champion in this no holds battle of buttons and screens?

    LETS GET READY TO...PLAY!!!!!

  • Whats the battery life on these anyways? These things must take a lot of juice from batteries. It would probably be a wise idea to invest in some good alkaline batteries and not skimp out with those cheap heavy duty ones is what I'm thinking. Anyone know for sure?

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