The PSP-Opinions?

Personally, I don't see it going anywhere. From the specs, it'll have to be the size of the average hardback, which is hardly convenient. Although the games currently confirmed for development are original licenses, I can see them being lost in a flood of PSOne ports within a year, and even the original titles are nothing worth shouting about. Compare this to the Nintendo DS, which is summarized very well in this thread, and it's pretty clear that Sony's biting off more than it can chew.

Of course, I'm sure that millions of PS2 owners will rush out and buy it, regardless of quality. Sony's reputation may help this to shift units. However, Nintendo's already commanding position, coupled with their potentially outstanding new handheld, are going to make it incredibly difficult for Sony to compete.

What are your early impressions of the PSP? Are you likely to buy one? And do you think that the machine will be an overall success?

I think it'll do some good for the Sony Market. I mean I've always wanted to play a Metal Gear Solid game whist on the road.

Hmmm... I saw the PSP at E3 (though not playable), and it has several things going for it... mainly the hardware. This thing is not a shrunken down PlayStation... it's a shrunk down PlayStation 2... yea. The hardware is AMAZING. Metal Gear Acid was running on the PSP hardware (not a video), and was looking awesome... easily as good as Metal Gear Solid 2. Also, the videos they were showing were clean, crisp, and free of particles, halos, etc, etc (of course, it's a little hard to tell with the smaller screen). The LCD screen is widescreen, and pretty damn big for a portable. The viewing angle isn't that great (you need to look at it pretty much head on the get a good view). Also, it feels really good in your hand. I mean... it's very very comfortable to hold... The buttons are placed in a natural position and the analog nub is also pretty cool.

But what you're probably right about is the ports... I predict a ton of PS2 ports coming to this machine... but of course, ports aren't always bad. The GBA had tons of ports of SNES and NES games, and they all did pretty well. But the GBA also have has a ton of great, original games. I think the PS2 will have a lot of ports, but also a lot of good, original titles as well.

What do I predict for the future of this system? I think it might have a hard time getting off the ground at first... I think the pricepoint of this thing will be probably around $300, which is too high for a portable, in my opinion. The thing does too much (play movies, listen to music, play games)... I'd rather have a simple machine that just plays games. This thing is gonna go head to head against the DS and the price point is what's going to hurt it the most. The portable market is mainly geared at kids who cannot afford the expensive consoles or for parents to give their kids something to do on plane/car trips. It seems like the PSP is trying to push handhelds into console territory, trying to make it a 'cool' device that teens and adults will pick up as well. The N-Gage tried to do this and failed miserably (of course, the N-Gage is ugly, cumbersome, and feels wierd in your hand). The PSP, though, has the advantage of the PlayStation brand. This is it's strongest advantage against the DS. The PS brand has a built in consumer base of millions and it's likely that these people who live by the Sony name (or know no other) will get the PSP and dismiss the DS as 'for kids'. I think after a price drop to maybe $200 or so, the PSP will really pick up. Ultimately... it's hard to tell who will come out victorious... PSP or DS. I really think the DS is a great, unique, peice of hardware, but the PSP has the PS name, superior hardware (in terms of graphics and such), and more features. As for me, I'm going for the DS first and maybe wait for a price drop before I get a PSP. I'm definitely going to get one sometime, but not right when it comes out... but if any handheld can dethrone Nintendo as the handheld king, it's going to be the PSP. It's gonna be an interesting year when they come out.

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Originally Posted by BatChao

The thing does too much (play movies, listen to music, play games)... I'd rather have a simple machine that just plays games.

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I agree completely, multiple functions simply add to the price for those who want a simple games machine. It's good to see that Nintendo has decided to do without DVD capabilities etc.

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Originally Posted by BatChao

Ultimately... it's hard to tell who will come out victorious... PSP or DS.

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I'd rather see neither come out on top. Nintendo has a strong position in the handheld market right now, and if they were to lose that it could be potentially disasterous. However, I don't want to see the PSP fail. It would be nice to have a choice of portable systems for a change, but I wouldn't like either to dominate completely.

I wouldn't mind some sort of music storage/player to be an option on this hand-held. Music and games is all you really would want, although my jack up the price a little.

Im not sure about the DS, I mean touch screen and voice activation are all nice but it seems a little unneccesary.

But I think BM121 was being a little harsh on the PSP, its smaller than a hardback and I can see as many N64/downgraded GC ports appearing on the DS (just look at the GBA). And the most launch games for DS look pretty bad. Who wants to turn their handheld into a PDA anyway?

Im sorry if this post seemed a little anti DS but I am backing the PSP on this.

Anyway, arnt their like a hundred topics on this already?

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Originally Posted by Maxico

But I think BM121 was being a little harsh on the PSP, its smaller than a hardback

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I was exaggerating, but to support CD/DVD formats, it'll have to be large than a Sony Discman, which isn't something I want to have to carry around with me all the time.

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Originally Posted by Maxico

Anyway, arnt their like a hundred topics on this already?

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Strangely, no. I searched the fora for similar topics before I posted, and I couldn't find any.

I'll be loyal to Nintendo, as always.

I'm just biased. :D

PSP any day!

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Originally Posted by Black Mage 121

I was exaggerating, but to support CD/DVD formats, it'll have to be large than a Sony Discman, which isn't something I want to have to carry around with me all the time.

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Actually, the PSP doesn't support CDs/DVDs... it has it's own type of disc called a UMD (Universal Media Disc). They are about the size of a GameCube disk. The PSP itslef is actually a little longer than an original GBA and a little bit thinner, and fits comfortably in your hand, so size really isn't an issue.

Having seen recent pictures of the PSP, I had to admit that it looked fairly compact, though the publication in question didn't give any dimensions, so it wasn't clear exactly how big the product would be.

I've just done my research, and if the PSP is going to be running UMD's, that means I'll have to re-buy/replace my entire CD/movie collection on the new format. This effectively destroys the appeal of the system as a multimedia product to me, and presumably a number of other consumers, too. The PSP is, for the most part, going to have to compete as a games machine alone, and so I hope that the titles in development are up to scratch, or the PSP could be in trouble.

Black Mage 121, so you wouldn't like it if it had small CDs but you wouldn't like it if it had normal CDs? As far as I'm concerned, it does not matter what I have to insert in it, just so long as I can make it play FF7.

It has never been confirmed or eve hinted at that you will have to buy your Movie collection on UMD. In the specs for the machine it says that it can support Mpeg4 media files (which can play at near DVD quality) and that it will allow sony memory sticks to be inserted (some of which are pretty big). So as I gather that you will get the file onto some kind of platform that can write on these (PC or PSX) then insert it into your PSP. I have no idea how much the sticks or the hardware you'll need to write on them is going to cost though.

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Originally Posted by ZeZipster

Black Mage 121, so you wouldn't like it if it had small CDs but you wouldn't like it if it had normal CDs?

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Pretty much, yeah. :D

All I'm saying is that Sony isn't doing itself any favours by utilizing the UMD format. Whether I like the idea or not is irrelevant, but I don't think that the majority of buyers are not going to want to fiddle around with replacing their DVD collection with UMD's/Memory sticks, which could be harmful to the PSP's chances of competing with the DS.

PSP is good for me!
DS can kiss my @$$!