PSP Interest Thread.

[Stewart]

Alright lads,

Just wondering who either has or is going to have a PSP in the near future. Post here, let me know.

Personally, I'll be getting one as soon as you can get English language games, so if that's the US release then I'll get one then, if (as it rumoured) the PSP will launch world wide after the Japanese launch, meaning we get it at the same time as the Yanks, then even better, no need to import.

Either way, my credit card is waiting for March 2005 (Probable US \ World release date, excluding Japan of course, who already have it).

As for other preps, I've got myself some nice earphones to do away with the suposedly crapy offical Sony ones that come with it. Got some nice Bang and Oulfsen A8s.

Looking forward to Metal Gear Acid, Lumines, Hot Shots Golf, GT4 Mobile (amazing!), and Ridger Racers.

So, who else will be getting one next launch date?

[Stoo]

Depending on the prices I might well get one before the US/EU launch date, quite a few of the games already run english language options apparently..

[!nfil]

There should be an annoucement tomorrow during CES regarding the US launch of the PSP, below is some info:

"The first couple of weeks in January are always some of my favorites. This year we have CES at the end of the week, Sony's PSP launch event on Wednesday"

"There have been all sorts of rumors kicking around about the stuff at CES this week, especially the PSP announcement on Wednesday. The smart money is on a March 22 launch @ $199 with 10-15 games. If you're a subscriber to the wilder theories, Sony is going to surprise us all and announce that the thing will ship before the end of January with just 5 or 6 games. I'm not sure if I'm buying the last one, but it would be the grandest '**bleep** you' gesture that anyone would have given in the history of videogames if it's true. If supply is going to be limited anyway, why not get the thing out early? The rumor mill is being further fuelled by the reduced number shipped at launch in Japan. The conspiracy is that Sony could have launched with 500k, but halved that so it could surprise everyone in the States too. I dunno about that. 48 hours or so and counting..."

Source : http://jwhdavison.1up.com/

Personally I went ahead and imported one from Japan (Yes I did get charged), but indeed it was well worth it. The sheer size of it amazed me once I took it out of the box and the visual clarity was just something I had probably never seen before on handheld. There was about 30% residual battery life left (which was about 1hr 30ish of gameplay time for Ridge Racer). Though on average the battery lasts for about 4 to 5 hours depending on gameplay which in my opinion is more than enough. Moreover this will probably vary from game to game (i.e. Less graphics intensive games or cpu intensive ones).

I also bought a 512MB Memory Stick Pro Duo for it but I haven't had the chance to use it mainly because my brother took it with him on holiday.

Still though, if those price estimates are true then i'll probably decide to pick up another one at some point with a copy of Mercury (US Launch Title) and maybe RR for wireless battle fun.

Finally there also seems to be an issue with regard to the LCD screen that Sony will be using with batch being produced currently. Apparently they have switched from using SHARP LCD screens (Ones used in the first several batches) to Samsung LCD screens (Ones being produced from now on). Apparently this was mainly because production efficiency and cost factor. Still though the SHARP LCD screen is said to be a lot more better in comparison to Samsung one as the screenshot below shows:



Here is a translated version of the website from which this came from.

[Stewart]

Nice work mate. Very interesting post.

As for the Pro Duo memory sticks - what sizes can you get these in? Any gigabyte sticks knocking about?

Prices? Best place to buy?

[!nfil]

Nice work mate. Very interesting post.

As for the Pro Duo memory sticks - what sizes can you get these in? Any gigabyte sticks knocking about?

Prices? Best place to buy?

Well I picked my Sandisk 512MB Pro Duo (Pro Duo are the ones that work with PSP, don't get them confused with just pro or just duo) for £49 including P+P off ebay (The seller has loads in stock). You can pick up 1GB ones but they're pretty expensive iirc 200ish or so (mainly because they're Sony branded ones). I'd hold out until Sandisk produce them which should be in time for the PSP US/Euro launch I reckon (Edit didnt search too well, turns out you can buy them see Stoo's post below). They also produce 4GB versions but only in the PRO format but apparently this will move onto Pro Duo at some point or another.

[Stewart]

Ok, so its has to be Pro Duo, not either \ or.

50 notes for half a gig aint bad for flash memory stick either. Cheers for the link.

Are Sandisk 100% quailty products, just as good, reliable and fast as the Sony ones?

[!nfil]

Ok, so its has to be Pro Duo, not either \ or.

50 notes for half a gig aint bad for flash memory stick either. Cheers for the link.

Are Sandisk 100% quailty products, just as good, reliable and fast as the Sony ones?

Yes, Sony only charge the ridiculous amounts for them because of their brand name. The Sandisk ones are exactly the same.

[Marcos]

Funny , i just had a 17page debate on PSP vs DS on another forum. Good times

Im interested, but i dont have much spare cash at this point in my life so i probably wont buy one straight away. But if i had the cash now i had a year ago i'd have pre-ordered on already or maybe even imported.

In short, PSP has answered the prayers of console gamers all over the world by providing the handheld that Nintendo couldnt, and chose not to. The portable playstation, something I and every other gamer i've talked to face to face has wanted since we first played the original playstation. Finally here, finally ours

[Stoo]

Personally I went ahead and imported one from Japan (Yes I did get charged), but indeed it was well worth it.

Incidentally, what did it come to in the end?

[Stoo]

btw..

1 Gig MS Duo Pro Card - £95

[!nfil]

Incidentally, what did it come to in the end?

£275 for the Value Pack and Game, £60 Import Charge (£50 Insurance, £10 Brokerage).

And Yes I am Insane (To all those that would say OMFG why did you pay that much).

[Stoo]

Hmm, that's the same import charge I had to pair on a pair of shoes!

[Marcos]

btw..

1 Gig MS Duo Pro Card - £95

, something like over twice the cost of SD but what are you going to do

Still, nice to know its there for when they find a memory stick exploit and we start running emulators Could probably store several systems and their complete collection of games in one stick

[Aaron]

re Sandisk 100% quailty products, just as good, reliable and fast as the Sony ones?

Sandisk are actually better than the official Sony sticks, especially in terms of speed.

[Marcos]

Sandisk are actually better than the official Sony sticks, especially in terms of speed.

Wish they didnt generally look like cheaper kock-offs

[Stewart]

PSP launch in March for the US and UK, according to noise coming out of IGN.com