Sony's Portable

[Cloud121]

Sony's Portable

I watched a video presentation of Sony's handheld last night, and that thing looks fucking slick as hell! They complete ditched the old design (THANK GOD!), and if you look at it now, it's very impressive. Before I was pro DS, but now I'm split between the two. I have a gut feeling this is gonna like the PSX all over again. Which is a GOOD thing, and here's why:

The reason why the PSX is so much better than that of the PS2, is because of it's game library. The PSX has much better exclusive titles than that of the PS2. Simply due to the Disc vs Cartridge format. The PSX was able to have more exclusive titles, because most games wouldn't fit on an N64 Cart (although Angel Studios managed to squeeze RE2 + Battery Backed Save Memory onto one cart....). With the PS2, there are many good games, however, most of them, post-2001 releases, are also on 'Box and/or 'Cube. And when I talk about a console's game library, it's always about it's EXCLUSIVE titles.

With the PSP (it was painful typing that...) will have more GOOD exclusive titles than the PS2, simply due to the UMD vs DS Cart. I'm very impressed with the initial batch of games for it (Metal Gear Acid, Gran Turismo 4, Hot Shots Golf, and a few others whose names I can't remember right now...). Same with the DS (Metroid Hunter, Animal Crossing, Super Mario 64x4, I believe there's a Mario Kart as well...). However, I just hope Sony's handheld doesn't end up like the PS2. In that, the best games for it, are first-generation titles.

A few problems I have with it though. Once sgain, $ony is going for a complete thing. As in, movies, music, games, etc. Why can't they just focus on games? That's what made the PSX so great! Same with the 'Cube and 'Box (well... the 'Box to an extent, until you shell out for the remote).

 

[Sundance_2]

Sony's Portable

I'm equally impressed with the quality of the product.

I have some concerns about the battery life though (See article below). Graphically intensive games right now are rumored to have 1 to 2 1/2 hours of battery life. What does this means for later games which push the envelope even more? I'm not sure.

At least the battery is rechargeable.

http://psp.ign.com/articles/513/513734p1.html

 

[racketboy]

Sony's Portable

my main concerns are

1) battery life (I see it as Game Gear part 2)

2) fragile -- looks like it will shatter if dropped much more so than GBA and DS

 

[schi0249]

Sony's Portable

I have to agree with racket. I travel alot and my GBA is always with me. Its very durable. I have dropped it a couple times and it has yet to break. The DS has a similar fold down design. Which is great for protecting the screen. The PSP looks very fragile. And i am sure the screen is going to be sensitive. But I am also concerened with the price. If the rumors of $200+ are true, this will be way to expensive.

 

[Sundance_2]

Sony's Portable

For $150 to $200+ dollars, I hope it comes with a nice carrying case (similar to what you would find for a PDA). Or a sleave/jacket/etc.

 

[Alexvrb]

Sony's Portable

I don't know where Nintendo is headed with the DS, especially since they're not positioning it as a direct successor to the GBA. But the PSP does look interesting - too bad the price tag is probably going to be pretty high.

 

[Pearl Jammzz]

Sony's Portable

PSP looks excellent. Only prob. I have is that I believe it's gunna be just a PS-mini so to speak. Playing good looking games on the go is fun yes, but for 200+ bucks, 50 bucks for a game, and 2-3hrs of battery life really kinda spoils it.

Another thing is that it's gunna be just like the games I have been playing for the last 7-8 years, nothing new. This is where the DS appeals to me the most, it's not just another console, it's sumthin completely different and new. It's either gunna rock hardcore, or be a total bust. I doubt it'll be a bust though.

Hopefully the PSP will be 150 bucks at launch, with 35-40 dollar games MAX, and have 8-9hrs of battery life. If this is done, I see great things for the PSP.

 

[Sundance_2]

Sony's Portable

It seems that you'll also be able to take AV cables and jack your PSP into your TV (in case your at home and don't feel like playing off the small screen).

 

[Alexvrb]

Sony's Portable

Originally posted by Sundance_2@May 30, 2004 @ 09:16 PM

It seems that you'll also be able to take AV cables and jack your PSP into your TV (in case your at home and don't feel like playing off the small screen).

That's useful.

 

[Cloud121]

Sony's Portable

How about an AC Adaptor with it at no extra charge?

 

[Sundance_2]

Sony's Portable

It may seem odd, but there are people that like it.

Given the graphic quality approaching PS2 levels and over one gig of storage space, hand-held games are going to approach the level of modern consoles (with the possibility of full installments of well-established series appearing on a hand-held platform). Looking at this, people may want to play the hand-held games on a television (regardless of whether it defeats the purpose of a system being hand-held). Look at Nintendo, who in the past has had to come out with seperate devices in order to allow for the GameBoy to be played on a television. Clearly there is some sort of market for it (however small it may be).

For the users who like enjoy these capabilities, it a benefit to be able to play on the television right out of the box (instead of waiting considerable amounts of time or having to dish out money for a seperate device) and may influence thier buying decision. Given the fact that the PSP is also looking to be able to play movies which are stored in a UMD disk, it makes even more sense to have AV in and out capabilities.

 

[Alexvrb]

Sony's Portable

Sundance, I wasn't being sarcastic. I actually meant it was useful.

Now, the UMD movies... that's an entirely different story.

 

[Sundance_2]

Sony's Portable

Sorry about that.

 

[schi0249]

Sony's Portable

I think the whole UMD is gonna flop. It's going to be Beta/DAT/Mini Disc/ etc. Sony creates proprietary media and they try to establish them as standards. I'm sure the console will do well as will the games for it. And I am sure that Sony will release major titles as UMD music or movies. However, I don't see other studios signing on to support it.

 

[Alexvrb]

Sony's Portable

Sony does this sort of thing all the time.

 

[Dud]

Sony's Portable

Personally, I could do w/o portable videogames altogether. I'm hardly ever away from a game console, and when I am, my hands aren't holding a Gameboy--if you know what I mean. :yum

 

[Alexvrb]

Sony's Portable

Originally posted by mountaindud@May 31, 2004 @ 05:58 AM

Personally, I could do w/o portable videogames altogether. I'm hardly ever away from a game console, and when I am, my hands aren't holding a Gameboy--if you know what I mean. :yum

Too much of that and you'll go blind!

 

[it290]

Sony's Portable

It's going to be Beta/DAT/Mini Disc/ etc. Sony creates proprietary media and they try to establish them as standards

See, the thing is, all of those formats were successful. Not in the home markets, perhaps, but they all did become standards professionally (and DATs and MDs are still in use). Also, from what I understand, the UMD is pretty much based on MD technology.

Although standards don't really matter when it comes to video games, anyway. You have two consoles using DVDs now, but that's about it. Joystick connectors, cartridge ports, etc... those things have never been standardized.

edit- unless you count the C64/Atari/Amiga/Genesis/SMS type ports I guess.

 

[Sundance_2]

Sony's Portable

I really dont see UMD formats reaching outside of Sony given:

1. It's patented and use would required license fees.

2. Sony has said that they will be the only ones capable of producting UMD disks (and plan on keeping that way). Apparently they are not even going to be selling or producing UWM writer devices for even third-party developers. While this may work for just the PSP developers, the movie and music industry would not be adjust to this very well (especially since many companies in those buisnesses compete against Sony).

 

[it290]

Sony's Portable

Heh yeah, Sony competes against themselves when it comes to the music/movie divisions versus the consumer electronics divisions. Actually, that may be part of the reason they don't want to hand over the tech; fear of piracy.