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[Jasoco]

I was all ready to wait off on a PSP until a price drop..

Then I saw a video of Lumines in action. It was a 25 minute video. Damn did it look AWESOME.

So the very next day (Friday) I went to work at my store and bought one with Lumines. Best $300 I ever spent. Everyone thinks I am crazy for spending that much, but damn, it was totally worth it.

I got Twisted Metal as well the next day, but pretty much regret it. Wish I could return it. Don't want to just trade it in, but maybe I can try.

Next I plan on getting Ape Escape and Ridge Racer.

Anyone know if Mercury is indeed coming out on the 4th? I want this so bad, but I keep seeing faint date changes everywhere. Is 4/4 correct?

Games I really want US releases of:
Puyo Puyo
Puzzle Bobble
Mr. Driller

Yeah, I'm a puzzle freak. I love puzzles. And platformers. I hope to god one day they release a Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, Crash Bandicoot and or Spyro for the PSP. I'd be in heaven. A Max Payne, Beyond Good and Evil, Katamari Damacy, Ico and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit selection would give me a heart attack right then and there. This would be the perfect game library for me.

I didn't get one dead pixel. And after all the people complaining, I feel like I'm one of the luckiest people in the world. I'm actually shocked. And believe it or not, when I went to buy it, that was my main fear. (I got two stuck pixels on my DS. They weren't so bad that I had to replace it. But on the PSP, I would have freaked.)

With Sony's supposed 10-year lifespans on systems, I can see a LOT of fun games in the PSP's future.

Also, it's nice to see Sony caring about the Mac for this thing.

 

[Amir0x]

Katamari Damacy

Katamari Damacy was announced for NDS.

With Sony's supposed 10-year lifespans on systems, I can see a LOT of fun games in the PSP's future.

Yeaaah...don't count on this

 

[Shompola]

You people who got your exim protectors. When you removed that little sticker saying "REMOVE ME!", did it also remove the film protector with it? I was quite suprised today when I
removed the sticker and no film protector was removed or was even there in the first place.
I was hoping that the film protector was the one with the one million scratches but I was quite
surprised today when there is no film protector at all :lol
POS screen protector. Have had problems with this useless plastic since day one. dust, dirt, scratches and now no film protector. They must have really screwed up big time with this particular copy. Funny the EXIM people immediately said it must be a pirated product and not theirs :lol

 

[iapetus]

Yeaaah...don't count on this

The ten year lifespan, or the good games?

 

[fse]

Also, it's nice to see Sony caring about the Mac for this thing.

SOLD!! ^.^

 

[Amir0x]

The ten year lifespan, or the good games?

Good games are already there, my friend. All about the ten year lifespan!

 

[Alex]

I keep getting stuck at "I can hear the music in my soul" in Lumines. By that point the blocks have started piling up, and the damn timeline is moving slow as a snail, bah!

Edit: actually no, while I die in music in my soul stage, it's that stupid "Just..." map that leads to it. The blocks start going fast during that level, and by the time I adapt to the shape change of the blocks its too late.

 

[iapetus]

We thought you would like to know that the following items have been shipped to you today:

1 SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo - 1GB Shipped 29/03/2005

Just don't ask me how much I had to pay for it.

Actually not too expensive by UK standards (ie. a complete rip off by US standards), and it should be with me in the next couple of days. Worth every penny.

 

[mrklaw]

£99.95 by any chance?

Oh, and my memory stick slot cover is now loose from too much removal

So try and use USB where possible.

 

[iapetus]

£99.95 by any chance?

Plus £2.50 P&P.

But if it allows me to watch my Dogtanian DVDs on the way to work, it's well worth it.

 

[mrklaw]

absolutely. I paid about the same from digimem.

The only reason I spotted mobilefun is that I just ordered a couple of 256MB MMC cards for the 6630 - £50 each (which should make you feel a bit better

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Had my first experience showing off the PSP to non-gamers yesterday. I was showing it to a friend at the office, who is a gamer, and was drooling over it, when one of our other co-workers walked over to take a look. He was totally knocked off his feet. They both loved the screen and graphics. Two students (I work at a University) heard us talking, and got up from their computers to take a look. I practically had to fight them off once they saw it.

Then, the asked about the price. I told them it was $250 for the value pack, explaining what came with it, and they all thought it was a great price. By looking at it they thought it would cost $500-$600. It was interesting to get a take on the PSP from some people who really don't play games. They were amazed as we are with the it. It speaks well for the PSP's future.

 

[quetz67]

Had my first experience showing off the PSP to non-gamers yesterday. I was showing it to a friend at the office, who is a gamer, and was drooling over it, when one of our other co-workers walked over to take a look. He was totally knocked off his feet. They both loved the screen and graphics. Two students (I work at a University) heard us talking, and got up from their computers to take a look. I practically had to fight them off once they saw it.

Then, the asked about the price. I told them it was $250 for the value pack, explaining what came with it, and they all thought it was a great price. By looking at it they thought it would cost $500-$600. It was interesting to get a take on the PSP from some people who really don't play games. They were amazed as we are with the it. It speaks well for the PSP's future.

They probably thought it would cost $500-$600 because the dont know shit about stuff like that. And they are no gamers, so they probably wont buy one. If you explain to them they have to buy movies on special discs they can only watch on that tiny monitor or they have to pay extra money for a huge memory stick and have to encode their movies to watch them on the go, they sure wont buy one.

 

[borghe]

I am not poor. Just went to Disney World in Feb and going to Japan in Apr.. I make a pretty decent living..

but to you guys who are saying the PSP is a good value at $250.... wtf!?!?!??? It is only $50 less than a full console at launch... I don't care how good the graphics are, but $250 for a handheld system and up to $50 a game.... whoa..

the system is ridiculously priced and sony deserves the difficulty they are having with this launch. The DS may not have as good of graphics or sound, but at least someone besides a full time working adult can actually by the unit and games for it..

and this is after buying the system. lumines is the shit.. MGA is fun.. Wipeout pure is gorgeous... but $290 for a system and one game? a good deal? what reality-based community to you have to be apart of to think that?

 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Then, the asked about the price. I told them it was $250 for the value pack, explaining what came with it, and they all thought it was a great price. By looking at it they thought it would cost $500-$600. It was interesting to get a take on the PSP from some people who really don't play games. They were amazed as we are with the it. It speaks well for the PSP's future.

That's the same kind of responses I recieved. After going through all the features and showing off Ridge Racer and the Spiderman 2 movie, everyone seemed to agree that $250 was a damn good price for what you get. There were some that told me that they thought something like that would cost anywhere from $500 to $700. I think as soon as more people are exposed to this thing, the PSP is going to really take off.

From my experiences, everyone that touches a PSP loves it. It's pretty amazing to watch their reactions.

 

[mrklaw]

the system is ridiculously priced and sony deserves the difficulty they are having with this launch. The DS may not have as good of graphics or sound, but at least someone besides a full time working adult can actually by the unit and games for it..

and this is after buying the system. lumines is the shit.. MGA is fun.. Wipeout pure is gorgeous... but $290 for a system and one game? a good deal? what reality-based community to you have to be apart of to think that?

The community of full-time working adults Whats wrong with aiming a product at the people with money for a change, instead of the whiny kids pestering the adults. Let the grown-ups have some fun

 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

The community of full-time working adults Whats wrong with aiming a product at the people with money for a change, instead of the whiny kids pestering the adults. Let the grown-ups have some fun

Damn straight.

 

[DarienA]

They probably thought it would cost $500-$600 because the dont know shit about stuff like that. And they are no gamers, so they probably wont buy one. If you explain to them they have to buy movies on special discs they can only watch on that tiny monitor or they have to pay extra money for a huge memory stick and have to encode their movies to watch them on the go, they sure wont buy one.

Well that surely explains why the non-gamers I showed it to were still interested... I mean only a gamer would realize even when the instrument is placed right in their hands that a DVD disc is too big to fit in there... oh shit I forgot the non-gamers I showed the PSP to, I actually showed them the UMD of Spiderman 2 and the games I had... and they asked about the price of games and movies... holy shit non-gamers know more than I initially thought....

The community of full-time working adults Whats wrong with aiming a product at the people with money for a change, instead of the whiny kids pestering the adults. Let the grown-ups have some fun

Amen.

 

[quetz67]

The community of full-time working adults Whats wrong with aiming a product at the people with money for a change, instead of the whiny kids pestering the adults. Let the grown-ups have some fun

I think the FULL-TIME working adult is exactly the problem. I could easily afford the PSP and usually I am a real gadget freak. But I have no time to play it. I have a GBA SP which I love for being so small and convienient, but I dont have nearly enough time to even play the few games I have for it.

When I was at university 15 years ago I usally carried a discman (that first huge sony brick), a Lynx (which I imported at an ubelievable price for the time) and even some other gadgets.

But nowadays I just have the time to play at home on my PC or GC, when I am not at home (in my car or on my bike) I have my iPod. For longer train rides or hotel nights I have a nice notebook to play or watch DVDs.

Even if I get a PSP (which I might just because I get nearly all portable stuff) it wont get much playtime, I sure wont buy any UMDs and I dont think I waste the time or money to encode any DVDs on a memory stick.

 

[BuddyC]

Games I really want US releases of:
Puyo Puyo
Puzzle Bobble
Mr. Driller

You're getting two out of three. No Mr. Driller ...yet.

 

[DarienA]

I think the FULL-TIME working adult is exactly the problem. I could easily afford the PSP and usually I am a real gadget freak. But I have no time to play it. I have a GBA SP which I love for being so small and convienient, but I dont have nearly enough time to even play the few games I have for it.

When I was at university 15 years ago I usally carried a discman (that first huge sony brick), a Lynx (which I imported at an ubelievable price for the time) and even some other gadgets.

But nowadays I just have the time to play at home on my PC or GC, when I am not at home (in my car or on my bike) I have my iPod. For longer train rides or hotel nights I have a nice notebook to play or watch DVDs.

Even if I get a PSP (which I might just because I get nearly all portable stuff) it wont get much playtime, I sure wont buy any UMDs and I dont think I waste the time or money to encode any DVDs on a memory stick.

If full time adults can find time to sit at home and play a console... what makes you think we can't find time to play a portable whether it be on the go... or even at home?

 

[Lord Error]

They probably thought it would cost $500-$600 because the dont know shit about stuff like that

Haha, people think that it would cost $500-600 not because they don't know shit, but precisely because they DO know how much comparable tech, like PDAs (with lower specs than PSP) tend to cost.

 

[quetz67]

Why should I get a portable gaming machine to play it at home???

I know many kids do that, but I never really understood that and I dont believe many adults will buy a PSP to play it at home.

Most adults have a job, wife, kids, PC etc. and wont even think about shelling out $300 for something they really dont have the time to use.

 

[Shompola]

I showed the PSP to my parents today and they didn't really care much about it..
Not even commenting on the vibrant screen

 

[BuddyC]

Why should I get a portable gaming machine to play it at home???

I know many kids do that, but I never really understood that and I dont believe many adults will buy a PSP to play it at home.

Most adults have a job, wife, kids, PC etc. and wont even think about shelling out $300 for something they really dont have the time to use.

So the PSP doesn't appeal to you. That's cool man. To each their own. It's not for you. I can dig.

 

[quetz67]

So the PSP doesn't appeal to you. That's cool man. To each their own. It's not for you. I can dig.

It does appeal to me, it is a sexy gadget for sure. I might even get one, but thats only because I am an absolute gadget freak.

 

[quetz67]

Haha, people think that it would cost $500-600 not because they don't know shit, but precisely because they DO know how much comparable tech, like PDAs (with lower specs than PSP) tend to cost.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...64205-2224855?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846

This is about the price of a PSP with 1GB stick. Sure it plays no games (or not real ones) but it has 20GB instead of only one.

 

[DarienA]

Why should I get a portable gaming machine to play it at home???

I know many kids do that, but I never really understood that and I dont believe many adults will buy a PSP to play it at home.

Most adults have a job, wife, kids, PC etc. and wont even think about shelling out $300 for something they really dont have the time to use.

Well hell I must not be most adults... You know it's completely ok to say that the PSP doesn't fit with your lifestyle... that doesn't mean it does not fit in to other adults lifestyles. And I didn't say JUST at home... a portable can be played anywhere.. that includes those times when you don't feel like getting up to go turn on the TV grab the controller, or you're laying in bed not quite reading to get up... as well as on the train to work... on planes for business trips, in train, bus stations, airports, etc...

I showed the PSP to my parents today and they didn't really care much about it..
Not even commenting on the vibrant screen

There's only one conclusion.... <sigh>.... your parents are communists.... do you own a shotgun?

 

[mrklaw]

Why should I get a portable gaming machine to play it at home???

I know many kids do that, but I never really understood that and I dont believe many adults will buy a PSP to play it at home.

Most adults have a job, wife, kids, PC etc. and wont even think about shelling out $300 for something they really dont have the time to use.

Which is exactly the reason PSP works for me. I no longer have control over my TV, and so console time is limited. Its much simpler to pull out a portable.

 

[Rainbow L33T]

Or buying a second TV?

 

[quetz67]

Or buying a second TV?

Which is probably cheaper than a PSP, especially if oyu take the good one and buy a cheap one for your family *g*

 

[Lord Error]

This is about the price of a PSP with 1GB stick. Sure it plays no games (or not real ones) but it has 20GB instead of only one.

Aside from the HDD, that player has garbage tech in it compared to PSP (Screen, CPU, GPU...). Besides, most business people are familiar with PDAs, and the latest high end PDAs are always sold at a high price.

 

[DarienA]

Or buying a second TV?

Here's the thing that some folks seem to miss about being in married or long-term relationships(BTW we have 6 TV's in the house so my problem isn't the same as some other folks).

Sometimes you can't go AWAY to another room to videogame... because then the missus and children feel like you are being anti-social or don't want to be around them. SOMEtimes during your own "time" it's ok to be away from them and game, but other times they want you around them... I know that's a balance that I have to constantly maintain my time vs. our time... those situations make it convenient to have a portable... you don't have to have your attention focused on the missus or the children right at that time, they just want you there with them.

This isn't everybodys situation... just mine.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I plya my PSP at home becuase I can play it anywhere. I don't want a TV in every room. I don't want a TV in the bedroom.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Here's the thing that some folks seem to miss about being in married or long-term relationships(BTW we have 6 TV's in the house so my problem isn't the same as some other folks).

Sometimes you can't go AWAY to another room to videogame... because then the missus and children feel like you are being anti-social or don't want to be around them. SOMEtimes during your own "time" it's ok to be away from them and game, but other times they want you around them... I know that's a balance that I have to constantly maintain my time vs. our time... those situations make it convenient to have a portable... you don't have to have your attention focused on the missus or the children right at that time, they just want you there with them.

This isn't everybodys situation... just mine.

This is exactly my situation.

 

[Rainbow L33T]

Well,I've been 12 years with the same lady so far,and if I play in a different room with a console or with a PSP right beside her,it ain't gonna make a difference,she's not gonna like it either way

So the choice is mine when I want her to hate me

 

[borghe]

the psp certainly doesn't take the place of a console. the graphics are decent, but nowhere near a PS2... and that will be last gen probably in less than a year.

I will give the PSP credit for moving what we expect on a handheld device further. I feel nintendo would have taken us to the same place, just after a longer period of time.

I won't however kid myself that I am not still playing a handheld, with scaled down graphics and plenty of media size and physical memory limitations. I am also not a fan of the dangerous precidence that Sony has set with a $250 price tag. Sega and Sony did the same thing with an effective $300 pricetag on the saturn and PSX (saturn was $400 but included an extra controller, built in backup RAM, and a game). Hopefully Nintendo just dismisses it, like they did with the N64 and GCN, and still keep releasing reasonably priced hardware. I also don't like the standard $40 and up to $50 games of the PSP. Games never jumped above $40 for the GBA or DS(?), and for the GBA quickly settled in at $30 per game, and DS at $35 per game. If PSP games settle in at $35 for game then this point is moot. But if we start seeing $40 or even $50 games becoming standard... I will very quickly lose interest in the PSP.

I guess that is the crux of my problems with the unit. It really is an impressive piece of machinery. Don't get me wrong. Playing MGA and Lumines and getting that kind of quality out of the machine is pretty slick. But I am not paying full console prices, on both hardware and software, to play scaled back uglier versions of full console games. If the PSP hardware and software can quickly settle into a "hey, we aren't anywhere near as good as a console" price range, then I recind this entire post. But I frankly don't see that. Instead I see Sony using this as an opportunity to stretch the same pricing boundaries with their next system. A $350-400 PS3 with games retailing between $50-60 (which has already been all but confirmed). I guess only time will tell...

In the meantime.. I'll pick up any of the must have titles for the PSP (so far the only one in that category IMHO is Lumines) and maybe the odd title here and there... but I will hardly spend money on the unit like i do a typical handheld... it just isn't worth the price IMHO.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

The one complaint I have about PSP -believe me it's so minor it's barely worht mentioning- is what appears to low output of volume from the unit.

Even with the volume maxed out (with AVLS and Key Tone off) and in-game volume (Wipeout) maxed, it's underwhelming. I'm not looking to blow my ears out, but I would've like the option if need be. :lol

 

[borghe]

The one complaint I have about PSP -believe me it's so minor it's barely worht mentioning- is what appears to low output of volume from the unit.

Even with the volume maxed out (with AVLS and Key Tone off) and in-game volume (Wipeout) maxed, it's underwhelming. I'm not looking to blow my ears out, but I would've like the option if need be. :lol

are you using the included earphones?

I have been listening to some MP3s and also felt the volume was low. However I was listening to them on a pair of headphones. not great headphones mind you, but earphones tend to make my ears hurt (go figure). Just for kicks I replaced my headphones with the included earphones and the volume was actually much better...

 

[Shompola]

Is there a way to fast rewind/forward an mp3 without the PSP emulating a good damn cassete deck? I want it to fast forward/rewind silently without chip munk sounds.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

It might just be UMD games or something, as I haven't tried MP3's with it yet.

And I too thought it might be attributed to the pack-in earphones, but I use my nice studio headphones when I get home and while there is a slight increase, it's not what I was hoping for.

 

[Lord Error]

the psp certainly doesn't take the place of a console. the graphics are decent, but nowhere near a PS2...

If all you've been playing is MGA and Lumines I can see how saying that makes sense. Now try playing Wipeout, RR or NFSU, and saying that. 'Nowhere near' most definitely does not apply.

 

[Unison]

The one complaint I have about PSP -believe me it's so minor it's barely worht mentioning- is what appears to low output of volume from the unit.

Even with the volume maxed out (with AVLS and Key Tone off) and in-game volume (Wipeout) maxed, it's underwhelming. I'm not looking to blow my ears out, but I would've like the option if need be. :lol

Yeah, this is a bummer, for sure... Even with headphones, it doesnt get loud enough sometimes...

I think the reason is that those PSP speakers are tinny as hell (The DS's sound much better, I have to say, which is surprising given the multimedia aspects of the PSP). I imagine they would sound like utter crap if they were allowed to go any higher.

 

[Alex]

Isn't all current PSP software developed on underclocked dev kits as well? Something like 1/3rd of the clockspeed missing? If so, be interesting to see the improvements in future software.

 

[Rainbow L33T]

The real test for that Handheld in terms of capabilities to hold it's own against console will be when GT4 mobile hit store,of course all imo.Polyphony really got a lot of work ahead of them to pull this one out.

 

[Unison]

Isn't the PSP software developed on underclocked dev kits as well? Something like 1/3rd of the clockspeed missing? If so, be interesting to see the improvements in future software.

Yeah, that's true... That being said, to me it's kind of amazing that people are whining about the graphical quality of PSP games. Practically everything looks awesome by handheld standards.

If anyone bought into that Portable PS2 hype, they'ree a dope & it's time to get over it because it's not reality.

 

[Kingpen]

Here's the thing that some folks seem to miss about being in married or long-term relationships(BTW we have 6 TV's in the house so my problem isn't the same as some other folks).

Sometimes you can't go AWAY to another room to videogame... because then the missus and children feel like you are being anti-social or don't want to be around them. SOMEtimes during your own "time" it's ok to be away from them and game, but other times they want you around them... I know that's a balance that I have to constantly maintain my time vs. our time... those situations make it convenient to have a portable... you don't have to have your attention focused on the missus or the children right at that time, they just want you there with them.

This isn't everybodys situation... just mine.

I have the exact opposite of this situation. I got my wife addicted to the PSP, specifically Lumines. She thinks it is the coolest piece of hardware that she has ever seen. So now she wants to play it all the time and 'have me go and play my PS2 or Xbox' while she sits beside me playing PSP. So I am quite happy about not getting the recoil of playing games anymore. The thing that sucks though is I have Ridge Racer, Metal Gear Acid, WipeOut Pure and Untold Legends sitting in their cases collecting dust cause Lumines is always dominating the PSP play session.

Oh well, I guess it is time to crack at that winter backlog of games I had going... =)

 

[Rainbow L33T]

Well,the PS2 portable hype could very well not be just hype,hard enough to believe.The only things stopping it in the future could be budget size of game development and the handheld itself not lasting long enough on the market.

 

[Drinky Crow]

Here's the thing that some folks seem to miss about being in married or long-term relationships(BTW we have 6 TV's in the house so my problem isn't the same as some other folks).

Sometimes you can't go AWAY to another room to videogame... because then the missus and children feel like you are being anti-social or don't want to be around them. SOMEtimes during your own "time" it's ok to be away from them and game, but other times they want you around them... I know that's a balance that I have to constantly maintain my time vs. our time... those situations make it convenient to have a portable... you don't have to have your attention focused on the missus or the children right at that time, they just want you there with them.

This isn't everybodys situation... just mine.

It's the same here. My wife likes having me in the same room as her and our daughter, which is fine with me -- I like spending time with them. The PSP (and the GBA SP) have both been an elegant solution to that situation.

 

[borghe]

Yeah, that's true... That being said, to me it's kind of amazing that people are whining about the graphical quality of PSP games. Practically everything looks awesome by handheld standards.

If anyone bought into that Portable PS2 hype, they'ree a dope & it's time to get over it because it's not reality.

I agree that for a handheld the games look gorgeous. That I've already said. And no I never bought into the hype that the games would actually look as good as a PS2... but with the way some of the people are talking in this thread you would think they have not only bought into it but believe it.

Also, I only own Lumines and MGA. I have played Wipeout Pure (though not RR or NFSU). The games look gorgeous, for handheld games. They don't come anywhere near a console game though, and hence I don't feel deserve console type prices (hardware and software).