European PSP release date

Hugh Hefner

I'd rather choose playing Ridge Racer on two screens. Thus, opening up new possibilites for playing the game.

You don't have to drive with stylus. You can configure the controls as you like.

Snaga

Personally my choice will probably be with Sony, purely because its got what I want, a large widescreen lcd, multiple media types, and video+mp3 playback.

Im sick of teeny little screens like the GBA (which I own). Adding a second one is not as good as one big one!

Now that said I will definitely be trying both before I buy, the DS touchscreen has some great possibilities, and 2 screens at once does again, make for some good possibilities...but they will need to be exploited BIGTIME to make up for the lack of sexiness it has compared to the PSP.

If I was to design my perfect mobile console, it would be a lot more like the PSP than the DS. Now I just hope that they can deliver on the battery life aspect, or else provide 2 batteries with the set, 4 hours is really the minimum id want out of a handheld, but I would be willing to swap batteries in the 4 hour period once I wasnt out of pocket.

Rew

yawnstretch wrote:

Its a simple question. Also - which would you prefer to drive with an analog stick or a stylus?

Analog Nub, it aint even half a stick

Retr0gamer

You're the one with the unsupported figures. Im the one with official information - PSP developers are well quoted as saying that it will at minimum be able to show an entire full length movie with battery life to spare.

Official figures are reliable? They are the worst figures you can base any argument on. You just have to read any 'official' magazine and evne they aren't the worst. You should read press releases from games and console manufacturers. 99.9% of the content is utter bull.

For me the DS is the much more exciting machine. It has the potential to do things that can't be done on other consoles and the potential to create whole new genres. The PSP is basically a scaled down console with video and mp3 playback. Don't expect any mind blowing games just reworkings of existing games.

I'll be getting both but I think the DS is really something that could be special.

yawnstretch

Dont you mean 'could have' been? Im sorry but the DS is the dissapointment IMO - a pencil case is more ergonomic and the screens are too far apart. Its awkward to hold and it is nowhere near as powerful as the PSP.

"Don't expect any mind blowing games just reworkings of existing games".

There is not a single port from the playstation 2 so far and what was the DS launch game? An N64 port. Well done - Mario 64 for your launch game - now thats original.

Retr0gamer

And sure you actually used and played the DS for any amount of time? It hasn't been out a month yet and your saying that its a disappointment. There are only 8 games released so far.

And have you seen the PSP launch line-up. I'd be hard pressed to find one game there that i'm actually interested in. Ridge Racer has gone dramatically down hill and Gran Turismo for me is Pokemon with cars except not as much fun. Racing games aren't exactly the most original.

yawnstretch

"And sure you actually used and played the DS for any amount of time? It hasn't been out a month yet and your saying that its a disappointment. There are only 8 games released so far."

Ive played the DS a good bit and I didnt need a month to know it was a dissapointment - I knew about 6 months ago when I had the latest info - as I do with the PSP.

Sounds like you havent even watched a RidgeRacers video yet and if its Pokemon you're into then you should be ok with your DS.

koneko

Wow, a fanboy for a console that hasn't even been released. Super!

yawnstretch

Best argument ever there. Fanboy!

I've an SP and a Gamecube - so I dont qualify as some sort of Nintendo basher. Nintendo have made some quality stuff in the past. Theyve also made sh*te.

Personally I think even the VirtualBoy was a better design than the DS - look at the SNES, the NES the GB the Cube: DS is without a doubt their worst creation.

Peteee

I've not seen PSP thread not degenerate into either something about battery life, or a PSP Vs DS

Bloody sick of it.

They both have good and bad points, but buy em both if you want to (afford to?)

steviec

I've got my DS in the post at the moment, will probably buy a PSP too before too long. I didn't realise the PSP was region free actually woulda had it pre-ordered if I knew that!

My main reason for buying a DS is actually the backward compatibility, getting a GBA has been on my 'to-do' list for waaay too long, and then I figured I may aswell hang on for the newer hardware that's only a little more expensive. From my experience with a Sony-Ericsson P800, touch screen gameplay was very dodgy and uncomfortable to be honest, but obviously Nintendo will do better things with the technology than a mobile phone did.

As for the PSP, I'm a big Gran Turismo fan so would get it for that for starters. Even if battery life is as low as three hours I think I could live with that to be honest. And it's so hard not to be impressed by what I've seen of the screen and the graphics.

Khalim

must...resist...PSP...

seriously, the PSP is a beautiful games machine. I for one welcome the PSP just to break Nintendo's monopoly on handhelds. A little competition is a welcome thing.

Now, battery life wouldn't hamper much on the decision of average gamer, the most likely of Sony's target market. Its about, how good it looks, and the launch titles. I'd probably buy one, but most likely after the price has settled down for both systems.

the Nintendo DS is also a great piece of hardware, but I cannot see the launch titles helping it sell more than the PSP. On the plus side, is the backwards compatibility with GBA games which might help it shift a few extra units - same way as the PSOne titles helped support the Playstation2 launch.

just my 2 cents.

Rew

Lik-Sang have a first impresion up:

http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3545

Loading time and battery life seem to be the big factors which decide about the PSPs success or failure in many gamers eyes right now. While we can't comment on the battery life as of yet

Retr0gamer

None of the on-line games stores are posting about the battery life. I've a feeling its because its as bad as suspected and they don't want it to affect pre-orders.

Peteee

Retr0gamer, i think you might be right, they all say 'we'll have a detailed analysis of battery life soon'

How long does it take to measure battery life??? (90 minutes for a PSP

tck

Rew wrote:

Lik-Sang have a first impresion up:

http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3545

look at those loading times

Retr0gamer

And with 32MB of Ram some types of games are going to need to stream from the UMD quite a bit. Don't expect GTA on the PSP to last more than an hour on the battery.

Cake Fiend

Batteries for a high-powered handheld, eh...

...anyone remember the Atari Lynx?

yawnstretch

Yeah and back in 1989 when the Lynx was out most people had to pay for the 6 AAs every few hours too.

It's 2004 - ever heard of lithium ion? A hint: your phone has one. Remember phones back in 1989?
Neither do I; I was 7.

Jim

Still though, big difference in phone battery quality.

I get a day out of a Nokia after a year.
I get a week out of my Sony Ericsson after a year.

[btw, psp ****.thats all i know or care about, its not open to discussion]

Muff Master

[nicK] wrote:

battery problem? it's a beast of a machine.. that's why it has a battery problem!
so keep your gameboy advance if you want to play games that won't eat up your battery life.

also, a spare battery pack can be bought for feck all these days.. and with the growing number of places available to charge batterys (cars, pc's etc) who cares if you only get 2hrs playing out of a quality game.. you can charge it up on the move or stick in your spare battery!

this whole *battery problem* won't be causing any trouble for sony.
well, it won't be stopping me from eventually getting mine anyway!

Well said man.

Gizzard

Hugh Hefner wrote:

I'd rather choose playing Ridge Racer on two screens. Thus, opening up new possibilites for playing the game.

You don't have to drive with stylus. You can configure the controls as you like.

have you seen ridge racer on DS its ****e, the psp versions is beautiful

Ciaran500

Why was this dragged up again?

i_am_dogboy

Ciaran500 wrote:

Why was this dragged up again?

Because some people like pointless arguments about consoles where suggestion that a certain machine isn't good is taken as a personal insult....

Rew

Ciaran500 wrote:

Why was this dragged up again?

Dont know, ask Muffy the newbe...