PSP Opened up and Exposed 308
Pascal writes "After delivering some classic first impressions of the PSP last Tuesday, including some interesting loading time tests, the happy thugs at Lik Sang have now respected their tradition by opening up the PlayStation Portable. If you ever wanted to know how Sony puts such a powerful hardware inside such a small casing, there is a huge picture gallery of the guts over at Lik-Sang.com"
Overheard (Score:4, Funny)
If you .. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:If you .. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:If you .. (Score:2)
I had a biology teacher that pulled that joke with a birth video. Half the class needed counseling.
Still no indication of battery life (Score:5, Interesting)
However, the deciding factor for many would-be buyers (myself included) is still the battery life, and not one article says anything about it.
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:4, Informative)
http://forums.gamespot.com/gamespot/show_messag
Batter
What will the battery time be?
4-5 hours for Video watching through UMD.
4-6 hours average for gameplay through UMD.
4 hours with headphones and 50% volume, no WIFI and highest screen brightness (180 cd/m2).
6 hours with headphones and 50% volume, no WIFI and lowest screen brightness (80 cd/m2).
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:5, Interesting)
4-5 hours for Video watching through UMD.
4-6 hours average for gameplay through UMD.
4 hours with headphones and 50% volume, no WIFI and highest screen brightness (180 cd/m2).
6 hours with headphones and 50% volume, no WIFI and lowest screen brightness (80 cd/m2).
It has been my history that manufacturers usually exaggerate and say that the battery life of anything is double what it really is. This is true for gameboys to flashlights. With that little piece of knowledge, this battery life is not as good as everyone thinks it is.
I would say that I would be taking a book along with me as well, just in case.
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2, Interesting)
Still, when you also factor into that preliminary figure of 4-6 hours of game play the 10-20 seconds of load time, various other second of load time (game menu, etc), and in between game load time, the actual time you get to control the acti
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Not neccesarily, one thing that people forget with handhelds is that because of the small screen things like textures don't need to be the same quality as they do for TV consoles.
Battery life not the deciding factor at the moment (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Battery life not the deciding factor at the mom (Score:2)
Re:Battery life not the deciding factor at the mom (Score:3, Interesting)
Remember that the Dreamcast had a good head start over the PS2 (I bought mine on release day and have a bright-orange T-shirt to prove it), and ultimately it was for naught.
But then again, Nintendo has had a long history of supremacy in the portable arena. Their dethroning from the console top-spot isn't as telling as you might think -- the SNES and Genesis had a long-fought, bitter rivalry.
I know who I'm cheering for, but admit that the victory is up in the air. Could
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:5, Interesting)
That taken in to consideration, this is where I really start to get worried about heat. If we take the 4-6hour battery life at face value, we'll say that the PSP runs about half as long as the GBA SP. But when we also take in to consideration the battery differences, we're talking about the PSP effectively burning though power at (2x3=6) times the rate of the GBA SP. Obviously there's a huge difference between the two with that large LCD(so not all energy leaving the system will be heat energy), but still, doesn't all this energy it's burning through have to go somewhere? I doubt Sony has created a hand-held laptop in terms of heat, but after an extended play session, are we going to have to worry about the PSP being warm to the touch(i.e. will it be warm enough to discourage long play sessions)?
As someone interested in buying a unit later on, this has me seriously concerned that the PSP is going to be the first mass-market portable game device where heat is a concern.
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:3, Insightful)
Can we? Have you played all the PSP games?
Why I'm getting the DS instead of the PSP: (Score:5, Interesting)
1) Better battery life (10 hours vs 4 hours in game)
2) Game cards (Who wants to spend extra money on a memory card, and who wants to carry a bunch of disks in their pocket? I perfer to be able to save to the game media)
3) Touch screen. Without joysticks, how can you possibly play FPS on the PSP? The DS has the touch screen, which works like a mouse on Metroid Prime: Hunters (near-perfect control- I love the touch screen).
4) Cost. DS is $150, PSP is $200. Add to that the cost of the memory stick ($30 minimum) to the PSP, and the fact that an extra battery costs $50 (to equal the DS's battery life), means you get a much cheaper system with the DS.
5) Stability. That exposed screen must be very easy to damage. The flip-open DS design is a good protection. Plus, the PSP has a CD drive, you know how easy it is for those to skip with a little bump, and break with a good drop.
6) Nintendo games rule
Just my opinion. I've done some research into the topic.
Point 3 invalid, you are blind. (Score:2)
http://forum.lik-sang.com/other/psp-release/psp - re lease8.jpg
That's not a little extended speaker below the D-pad. That's the analog stick. First handheld to ever have an analog stick (the 8-way DPAD on the NGPC doesn't count), and you shirk it for that!
This thing is going to fail because it goes from 2/3 to 1/3 charge in 2 hours, not because it doesn't have a joystick. Sheesh.
I think you also underestimate the Sony fanbois who don't know what gaming is a
Re:Point 3 invalid, you are blind. (Score:2)
I've played hundred of hours of first person shooters on computers. I've played several hours of first person shooters on XBox and the PS2. I played about a minute of Metroid Prime Hunters on a store demo, in an uncomfortably low position (I'm a tall person).
I'd rather play on the DS than the PS2 or XBox any day. It worked like a charm. I'm honestly flabbergasted that Nintendo was able to make it so I could just pick it up and pull of sophisticated shots; it t
Re:Point 3 invalid, you are blind. (Score:3, Informative)
I almost forgot about that. But every review I've seen says that the mini-Joystick was a nightmare to use.
Re:Why I'm getting the DS instead of the PSP: (Score:2, Flamebait)
2) UMD vs Game cards
3) The PSP has an analog stick. The touch screen will be fated to be a bad approximation. AND, you can actually use both hands to hold the device
4) A memory stick is included. For a system based on a PS2, vs one based on an N64 (8 years old!!), $50-$100 more is well worth it.
5) The PSP comes with a case. But, the
Re:Why I'm getting the DS instead of the PSP: (Score:4, Informative)
(7) The PSP is a brick. Honestly, the thing is really heavy, I felt like I'd need weight training to use it for any length of time. It feels bigger than it looks.
(8) The control scheme is kinda sucky, despite the presence of an analogue joystick. The analogue joystick seemed poorly placed (rammed way down in the lower corner), and very touchy to use. Furthermore, since the controls are clearly not directly compatible with the dual-shock anyay, my god, why on earth did they retain the same enormously crappy digital pad they've been using since the PSX, and why did they give the digital pad the "prime" location?!?!? It's not just annoying to use, it's downright painful after extended use.
The screen is definitely very nice (especially the amount of unit real-estate devoted to it -- makes the DS look almost primitive), and it's clear that Sony is really pushing the the technical envelope with the PSP, but it's also starting to seem like they forgot to include good user-design among their list of criteria for the PSP. It's pretty dissapointing to see a market-leading company with so much money -- and so much to win/lose -- making such silly mistakes.
Graphics yes, games not yet (Score:2)
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
On record, Sony never had a failed console or system. They plan to keep it that way. Though this strategy probably won't affect 1st generation PSP games.
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Two generations of one console (PS1, PS2) isn't enough of a track record to judge from - yes, they stormed the market with the Playstation 1 and 2, but the same could be said of Nintendo with their early machines. Nintendo didn't have their first failure until the virtual boy (NES>Gameboy>SNES>N64>Virtual Boy>GBA>Gamecube>DS). Not that I'm saying that means anything, I just don't think it means much to say Sony haven't failed yet.
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Also, I think people are really overestimating how much battery life people need. The iPod's original 8 hour battery
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
No, not at all. This is Ridge Racer DS. [yimg.com] *This* is Gran Turismo. [com.com]
Notice the enormous difference in image quality? The point is, the PSP may have lower battery life when playing graphically complex games, but the DS can't play such games anyway, so it's not a fair comparison. The games on the PSP that have the same level of quality as DS games won't tax the hardware as much, and should result in much better battery life.
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Games? That's up in the air. There's far more I'm excited about on the DS than the PSP.
But I've already said this multiple times so why don't I shut up already.
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
Display a scene on one screen, save a framebuffer of that and keep showing it there, then display on the other screen on the next frame. It'd be choppy, but could work on both screens.
Metroid Hunters: First Hunt also shows cinemas that split between the screens, so apparently video is possible on both.
But it seems obvious that the designed intention was 3D on one screen and 2D on th
Re:Still no indication of battery life (Score:2)
just think... why bother releasing on UMD to target barely 500,000 people who will be tech savvy enough to have a DVD player anyway?!
Removable Wireless Antenna (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Removable Wireless Antenna (Score:2, Funny)
That all depends... How long does it take you to build a pigtail?
I've stopped predicting things (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I've stopped predicting things (Score:5, Interesting)
therefore if you buy someone the DS and there are no DS games available for them they like they can start playing it the second they open the box with their advance games.
and yes, the advance games on the DS are much smoother and certianly more playable.
super monkeyball in particular is much more playable on the DS. it almost seems that the game is taking advantage of the higher speeds to give me smoother gameplay. I can finesse the ball with greater accuracy now.
and yes, I instantly yanked the cartridge out and ploped it in my SP... there is a definite playability difference between the two.
the PSP has a ton of distance to catch up to the DS. they did not come out of the gate with hundreds of games that will work on the unit from the older platform.
my SP is now deligated to playing my old gameboy and gameboy color carts.
the only thing I pray for.... they do NOT bring the nightmare that is pokemon to the DS.
Re:I've stopped predicting things (Score:2)
Re:I've stopped predicting things (Score:2)
Oh, and then there's the GP32 - awesome little machine, and it's carved out quite the niche for itself in homebrew, emulation, etc.. it's not really in competition with the gameboy though.
Price Hike (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Price Hike (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Price Hike (Score:2)
However, I would say that there are a handful of games which might be remembered. Halo pretty much made the XBox launch -- I daresay people will remember Halo long after they forget the XBox.
Re:Price Hike (Score:2)
Economists take the actual value of a product to be what people are willing to pay for it. If someone is willing to pay twice its suggested retail price to get it, then its value is twice SRP for that person.
This suprises me. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:This suprises me. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:This suprises me. (Score:2)
I thought Sony makes small LCD panels too but maybe they decided to outsource that part. It is also possible that Sony and Sharp panels are being used. I'm sure there are a lot of trade-offs used to decide
Re:This suprises me. (Score:5, Informative)
List of consoles sold at a loss: Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Xbox
Re:This suprises me. (Score:2)
For example: add to that the Gamecube and Playstation 2. Nintendo themselves revealed (at Spaceworld 2001 [64.233.161.104] - not the best link, but I am sick of wasting my time digging up great links for all you liars with no links that don't know what you are talking about) that the Gamecube was sold at an initial loss and is back to selling at a loss since it became $99 [game-science.com]. S
Re:This suprises me. (Score:2)
Initially, most game hardware is sold at a loss. However, massive cost-reduction is going on throughout the life of the console. In addition, so is price-cutting. At certain times in a console's life, it is sold at a loss, and at other times, it's sold at a profit. The final picture is never clear until all the chips are counted.
Servers these days: no respect for Slashdot... (Score:4, Funny)
Seriously though, kudos to the guys at lik-sang.com for having not folded like a house of cards in a hurricane as soon as this story was posted here. I always wonder when people take apart these toys if they ever manage to put them back together in anything like working order.
Re:Servers these days: no respect for Slashdot... (Score:5, Funny)
I do, but there's always exactly 2 screws extra. No more, no less. Oh, and maybe an extra gear (like when I took apart my Perfection game when I was a child).
They always still work afterwards, though. I wonder if engineers add a few extra screw just so people like me can remove them.
The extra screws hold the magic smoke in (Score:2)
Battery Life and the Such (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm also considering buying one of these [thinkgeek.com] to charge the thing if it'll work properly. Will need to look into this.
Re:Battery Life and the Such (Score:2)
Re:Battery Life and the Such (Score:2)
Re:Battery Life and the Such (Score:2)
Pricewatch:
SANDISK - Memory Stick PRO 2GB $275, $289 $309 for the cheapest three dealers.
Sandisc compact flash 2GB $135.91 and up, remember, CF cards are considerably larger in volume.
The closest equivalent is SD card is 1GB, there is no 2GB version.
Re:Battery Life and the Such (Score:2)
I didn't think so either until a web search yesterday yielded this 2GB SD card. [pricegrabber.com]
Amazing to me that a company would release such a product without any declarations about how badass they are...
Regards,
Ross
Re:Battery Life and the Such (Score:2)
Some "Value Pack" (Score:2, Funny)
This is a pretty cool little device though. MP3 playback and JPEG support should allow for minutes or even hours of quality jackage.
Re:Some "Value Pack" (Score:3, Funny)
I won't be buying one. (Score:2, Insightful)
Nice to see other people looking at the portable market, shame Sony got it so very, very wrong.
Re:I won't be buying one. (Score:2)
Yeah, isn't this the mistake Sega made with the GameGear? Technically superior but too bulky so it lost out to the technologically crappy GameBoy.
Re:I won't be buying one. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I won't be buying one. (Score:2)
Re:I won't be buying one. (Score:2)
How is it a format that doesn't travel well? It's thin and narrow --- precisely the format that travels well. The DS, in contrast, is very bulky.
The DS and PSP are virtually exactly the same size. Look at the pictures in the original article comparing the two.
PSP: 170 x 74 x 23 (mm)
NDS: 147 x 82 x 31 (mm)
The NDS is significantly shorter, but a tiny bit wider and fatter. But if you consider 1/3 of an inch extra in 2 dimensions "very bulky", something's really wrong with you.
Re:I won't be buying one. (Score:2)
The DS is about 30% larger overall in volume. That is significant. The biggest problem with the DS is that extra 30% is in the height and depth. I own both an iPod and and a Rio Karma, and they differ in volume by the same amount as the DS and PSP (ie: the Karma is 30% larger). However, while the iPod is more than an inch longer, it is *far* more pocketable because it's 1/3 of an inch narrower and 1/3 of an inch thinner. Form factor is enormou
Re:I won't be buying one. (Score:2)
While that sort of density definitely gives it an air of "quality", it's not very practical for use I think.
Ideas to think about in the new "Portables War" (Score:5, Interesting)
-Sony has won the adult part of the portables market with its sleek styling and functionality... question is, is there even an adult market for these things to begin with?
-Do we need yet another proprietary media format? When can we burn on it? When can we buy it?
-Are audiences really going to want to buy their media on a proprietary format when a portable DVD player is so cheap these days, and works with your home disks? Saying that smaller is better was important in the 80s... I don't think that holds today. Matter of fact, is anyone going to buy a movie on this thing? Will they be offering anything besides FF:The Spirits Within and Akira for the otaku?
-The interactivity of the DS is well known, the interactivity of the PSP not so much, why?
-It's obvious that Nintendo knows where it is going, but I am not so sure about this. Their primary point is that it is "sleek." I am not sure that being sleek is my main desire to having a portable.
-I am not really excited about a disk drive anything in my carry around equipment. It may be an unfounded fear these days, but still, it is there.
From what I have seen from both Nintendo and Sony, they are trying to make a quantam leap in the portables market, and right now, my money is on Nintendo. Still, they need to do something before I buy either one. They both have side features, but shiny and features is a seriously Japanese thing, and Nintendo has held its own with their focus. So I go with 'Tendo.
After all, who uses their Xbox to play movies? Anyone? Who will use their PSP to play the ten songs that their memory stick can hold or look at digital pictures when the camera already has a screen, and shows them without running it through a PC? Picto-chat? Honestly Nintendo, if you are close enough to picto chat you are close enough to chat for real. That is more fun.
Some of these things on both machines make no sense. Maybe they make sense if you are Japanese. I don't know what some of these things are for.
"proprietary media format" (Score:2)
Actually it looks like UMD is a no show so far [com.com]:
Meanwhile Sony
Re:"proprietary media format" (Score:2)
Hrm, really? How are developers expected to test their software on anything but development software, then?
Re:"proprietary media format" (Score:2)
Re:Ideas to think about in the new "Portables War" (Score:2)
-Sony has won the adult part of the portables market with its sleek styling and functionality... question is, is there even
Re:Ideas to think about in the new "Portables War" (Score:2)
Re:Ideas to think about in the new "Portables War" (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't think so. I am a HUGE fan of games, but being an adult, I have a real job. I drive to work. Unless I took public transportation (which doesn't exist to the place I go), I don't have time for this. I have a PS2, Gamecube, Dreamcast, and various older platforms. I have a GBA (1st generation with front light installed), but I hardly EVER play it. On the rare occasions that I get to go somewhere and not drive, I have a laptop I w
Re:Ideas to think about in the new "Portables War" (Score:2)
I hate to say it but you're on the ball with that remark.
The working title I've heard for their next console is Nintendo Revolution. At this rate, it damn well better be. It would be cool if they had some super-deluxe new DS-style gimmicks included with it. Remains to be seen what they actually do with it.
Re:Ideas to think about in the new "Portables War" (Score:2)
Seriously if I can pass this off as a PDA in the office I will buy one
Re:Ideas to think about in the new "Portables War" (Score:2)
Re:Ideas to think about in the new "Portables War" (Score:2)
Re:Proprietary format ? You mean like the Nintendo (Score:3, Insightful)
I wish everyone would stop beating around the bush and just say "I'm not going to buy it because I can't pirate games". Giv
Re:Proprietary format ? You mean like the Nintendo (Score:2)
And I really wanted to buy those nice Psp games
Re:Proprietary format ? You mean like the Nintendo (Score:2)
Most unlicensed game companies made their games by making their cartridges deliver little shocks to the 10NES chip in
Re:Proprietary format ? You mean like the Nintendo (Score:2)
Well if it isn't proprietary, where is the standard defined then? Where can I find pinouts, electrical specifications, mechanical diagrams, protocol info for Nintendo cartridges?
Re:Ideas to think about in the new "Portables War" (Score:2)
Prices were reasonable before all the hype (Score:3, Informative)
Long story short, I managed to snag me one for just over $200US (and $25US shipping to Canada, which I find is fairly reasonable). The same unit on eBay as we speak is going for $600-$700US. I guess it pays to find these things out early
Even retailers, such as Lik-Sang are taking advantage of the demand by jacking up prices. They claim it is "out of their control," although Sony still claims to lose $250US on each unit (eep).
A couple weeks ago before I managed to snag the eBay auction, I had going around trying to find short pre-order lines (or finding unethical ways of cutting in line). Everyone has their price, right? After several emails back and forth from goldenshop [goldenshop.com.hk], I found Ronald's price was $400US for the value pack. I told him I was interested, only because it may have been my only chance to get a unit before Christmas. We agreed upon $29 shipping, and things seemed to be settled. Well, that was until yesterday. I guess Ronald got quite a few of these "deals" once customers found out how limited the supply was. His "Buy-It-Now" price (so to speak), is now US$635 (followed again with the "this price is beyond our control" line). I immediately refused the offer. Only minutes later he responds back, telling me if I wait a bit, he might lower it. It sounds like a reverse-eBay method, starting high, and seeing how low he has to go before he can sell them all. Not a bad idea at all, but why not just auction them on eBay? For a slightly lower price, for around $584, you can get the Standard Pack from success-hk [success-hk.com].
If you don't mind waiting a bit, I highly recommend play-asia [play-asia.com]. Even with all the pre-order hype, they had a very reasonable price (around retail). When they found they were accepting more orders than they could handle, they promptly closed their pre-order lines. They also had the very first review [play-asia.com] of the PSP, even though it was a bit stingy on many details.
Shortage leads to hoarding and price gauging (Score:2)
I was in a KayBee Toys yesterday at the local mall. The lady in front of me asked about getting a PSP and the guy working the counter said there was a great shortage and that they were going for over $500 on eBay. He said he was glad that he grabbed the 2 he got the moment they came in and is thinking about selling them for big bucks eBay because he knows that pe
Re:Shortage leads to hoarding and price gauging (Score:2)
Is this your local mall in Japan?
What you do is not be such a big baby that you have to have yours NOW! You wait until it's a price you want to pay, and then you buy it. You've lived your whole life up to this moment without it, and will actually surivive a few
Re:Shortage leads to hoarding and price gauging (Score:2)
No, actually I have no interest in getting a PSP at this time, probably won't ever get one. I was just upset at this guy's
Re:Shortage leads to hoarding and price gauging (Score:2)
Yeah, that'll solve all my problems.
Besides, my left hand is on strike and I don't trust my right as she has cheated on me before.
Re:Shortage leads to hoarding and price gauging (Score:2)
It's douchebags like that clerk whose greed makes the whole capitalistic system look like a big goddamned joke designed to bring out the worst in people.
Hey, capitalism is all about taking advantage of opportunities where you find them. Everyone has opportunities, some just see them better than others.
If the poster wasn't interested in the PSP:
a) He wouldn't have even been listening to the private conversation ahead of
Re:Shortage leads to hoarding and price gauging (Score:2)
Write a nice letter or call and they might toss in some coupons when they apol
how do they fit all that power in there? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:White earbuds (Score:2, Funny)
Already on ebay- (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Battery Life (Score:3, Interesting)
A recent public showing of the PSP (at TGS) had Sony reps being caught swapping batteries on the PSP every 2 hours to avoid the battery warning light coming on.
Well from recent history, Linux? (Score:2)
If people can run Linux on a iPod then a powerfull system like this should be a cakewalk.
It will be more intresting to see what sony will have to say about it. They did put Linux officially on their big console. There is apparently some support for running games from memory sticks. Is sony going to allow or even encourage home grown software?
On the one hand they have a locked in control of the data media. Extra sales of memory sticks couldn
Re:CPU ??? (Score:2, Informative)
MIPS R4000 32-bit core
128-bit bus
1-333MHz (1.2V)
8MB eDRAM main memory
2.6Gbps bus bandwidth
FPU, VFPU (2.6 billion flops)
3D graphics extended instructions
I Cache, D Cache
Re:PSP - huh? (Score:2)
Re:Slashdotted (Score:3, Funny)
PSP [wa.gov]
BTM