Topic: My mini PSP review...slightly opinionated

[Ages]

The PSP.  The handheld we've always wanted...or is it?  Sure the PSP has amazing graphics, but at the cost of battery life, you'll tend to play it more at home than anywhere else.  And while your at home, why dont you play your PS2?  Sony has built this system on the expectations that consumers will buy the same product twice.  Most of the launch titles, though very well developed..i'll give the system that, are ports, or near ports of console counterparts.  I dont know how many people I know that'll pay 50 bucks for GT4, then another 50 for GT4: Moble.  Same goes for it's movie capabilities..asuming they get a decent movie library on the system.  I cant name one person that'll buy the same movie twice, when for less than 200 bucks now, you can get a portable DVD system with a screen twice the size.

One thing I fear with the PSP is that it'll kill off 2D gaming as we know it.  With Sony's emphasis on graphics, 2-dimensional gaming my finally end.  It seems that Sony has missed what portable gaming is all about.  The games are meant to be quick diversions; a way to kill time while waiting for a bus to pull up or waiting for your next class to start.  That's not saying there shouldnt be long games on the system like RPG's, but most of the PSP games seem like a game more suited to the confines and free time of at home gaming....which apparantly is what Sony wanted.

In essence, the PSP is an amazing piece of technology, but its not what portable gaming needs. It also completely defeats its own purpose in the fact that it's battery life will restrict it to home gaming almost exclusivly.

[Djunknown]

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With Sony's emphasis on graphics, 2-dimensional gaming my finally end.

I doubt 2-d gaming will go away in the significant future.  To be fair, Capcom's Darkstalker's anthology is one of Sony's concessions to 2d. See Lumines also. They'll make it the exception, not the rule, but it won't be disposed of.

After getting my mits on it, its definately smaller than I expected. It does weigh more than the DS, demonstrating that they put a lot under that brick.

I have normal adult hands, and it my thumbs felt a little big on both ends. The D-pad is the typical Playstation one, as well as the face buttons. So if you didn't like it on the console, you may not like it on the portable. The psuedo-analog felt alright, and the ridged surfaces makes sure my thumb doesn't slip. Volume, brightness adjust (yes you can adjust the back light, though it has 3 or 4 settings), and other quick functions are on the bottome of the screen.

The BIOS has the typical features such as date, time, options, etc. You can turn off the the wireless if need be, and save some battery. Speaking of which, it has a utility that shows you how much you have left in percentages and in hours, so you can gauge you gaming/movie watching/MP3 listening accordingly. A small extra is that the background color changes with the month.

The screen if huge, as many other reports say, and its gorgeous. However, that means, more screen to protect. You'll proabably want to invest in some of sort protection/cleaning.

As far as the games, we'll wait and see if its just a dumping ground. As with any systems, the key's in the exclusives.

That's the actual system itself. Pretty much, you'll have to treat the the PSP as your baby, quite literaly. This is not something you want to just leave lying around. If you got the wallet and the interest, pick it up, and throw in Lumines for good measure. Otherwise, you're not missing much right now.

[darknight06]

"The screen if huge, as many other reports say, and its gorgeous. However, that means, more screen to protect. You'll proabably want to invest in some of sort protection/cleaning."

Man, am I missing something here?  Save for the resolution I saw nothing truly special with that screen when I played it.

[foolish03]

You say this as though nintendo will not come out with future handhelds.  Im sure plenty of 2d games will still exist on nintendos handhelds.