What is the PSP?
The PSP, or PlayStation Portable, is Sony Computer Entertainment’s debut entry into the portable gaming market, and potential competitor to Nintendo’s long-running Game Boy franchise of handheld systems. The unit plays disc-based videogames, and also has the capacity to play digital video and audio, as well as make use of other technologies via its USB 2.0 interface and Memory Stick port. Its wireless capabilities will allow free nearby Link Play as well as distance online play with a proper wireless network available.
The PlayStation Portable, or PSP, is a handheld gaming console developed by Sony. Introduced in 2004, the PSP is essentially a miniature version of the PlayStation console that weighs approximately .62 lbs (280g) and is 6.7 inches (17cm) wide by 2.9 inches (7.4cm) high by .9 inches (2.3cm) in depth. The PSP supports UMD, or universal media disc, game and movie titles. It also includes a CPU with 32MB of main memory, all powered by a lithium-ion battery. There are several game and movie titles available for the PSP, and the system displays 3D graphics on a 4.3 inch (10.9cm) widescreen LCD. The UMDs that the PSP plays are smaller than regular game discs or DVDs, measuring approximately 2.4 inches (6.1cm) in diameter. The game control functions for the PSP are similar to that of the PlayStation controller. Movies also have control functions, including stop, play, rewind, fast forward, and pause. Besides being a portable handheld game and movie player, the PSP displays digital pictures and
Also, the range of UMD-based movie releases has steadily been increasing over the past few months — there are now some quality anime titles available, as well as the localized translations of Hollywood blockbusters old and new, from Tron to Spider-Man 2. The big deal in the world of UMDs is, of course, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Cloud’s UMD cameo will appear next month, coinciding nicely with PSP Winning Eleven to give the console a needed boost into the holiday period. Another new feature in the PSP’s ever-expanding set is the reintroduction of Famitsu PSP. The magazine is a spin-off from the world-famous Weekly Famitsu games mag. The PSP version is an occasional bloomer, though. The first issue arrived with the console itself and came attached with a free screen cleaner (very useful if you are trying to play while dining at Mister Donut), while the new issue released last month trod some virgin territory: it came with a playable demo UMD! There’s no word on a repeat perform
In my local coffee shop on Kyoto’s Shijo-dori — where, Cheers-style, everyone knows my name — one of the hipsters at the counter asks about my work. “Ah, have you seen the news? The PSP is becoming Internet-enabled!” Yes, I concur. Yes it is. Then comes the punch line: “It’s big, though.” Coffee Shop Chap has a point. And he makes that point (without deliberation) by producing his keitai (mobile) and logging on to the Daily Yomiuri website. His point is, I assume, that the PSP is now equipped to do what most keitai can already do perfectly well. In other words, “So what?” Don’t get me wrong. I have been playing Minna No Golf on my PSP since day one. I love it. I love Lumines and Ridge Racer too. And the system, although big in comparison with a keitai, is ergonomically just shy of perfection. While Nintendo’s DS has been blessed with a constant stream of interesting new games, however, the PSP’s catalogue (especially in Japan) is lackluster. The next PSP game that Japanese players wi
