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...from the screenshots it looks a LOT like War of the Monsters that came out for the PS2 a little while back.

It has also been used by PR agents with great success to utilize b/B. I.e. Sony Playstation One was marketed with 8Mb Video RAM and 16Mb Main RAM in Norway back in the good old days. Sony has of course changed this to Mbit on their current website http://www.us.playstation.com/consoles.aspx?id=1/i nfo/415007665.html

You don't need to fit it into RAM on a PS2, it has huge amounts of memory bandwidth for that reason.

It took a while for developpers to truly take advantage of the high bandwidth memory pipeline though. See God of War PS2 if you need a comparison in graphics quality.

"When was the PSP ever marketed as a handheld-PS2?

"When was the PSP ever marketed as a handheld-PS2?

"When was the PSP ever marketed as a handheld-PS2?

"When was the PSP ever marketed as a handheld-PS2?

"When was the PSP ever marketed as a handheld-PS2?

"When was the PSP ever marketed as a handheld-PS2?

For the Moment we are upgrading out server due to the load from here, so PLEASE go here: http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/ message?board.id=pspnet&message.id=56036

I enjoy my PSP, a lot, but...disclaimers follow:

I owned a PSone with screen and battery packs for it. My favorite game to play on it when in wating roms and the like was the PSone port of Diablo, due to the save at any time feature of that game.

Let me tell you that thing got attention. The large bright screen, the same games you can play at home. People would ask where they could get a screen and packs for their PSones. I told them, and also told them the price, which caused people to wince.

And now there's the PSP. People marvel at that screen and the games and what it can do, but when you tell them the price they wince. To me it's a steal, $250 for what it does. But non-geeks, they don't realize that, and SCEA's marketing hasn't helped much.

1. The games cost too much in many people's eyes. Thanks to Nintendo, people think portable games should cost $29.99 or less. And Sony thinks that by telling people that the PSP's games are almost PS2 quality that customers will pay more. But... people are resisting that.

2. To get the most out of your PSP you need a PC and a wireless connection. A lot of people don't have that.

3. The PSP "looks" fragile and delicate and some people worry about it. (It's really not that delicate)

4. Sony hasn't done a good job of explaining what the PSP can do. (Even the PSP manual is lacking in this respect) Making the best use of a PSP requires computing literacy and frankly a lot of people seem to be lacking in that department I was very much surprised that the PSP did not ship with SonicStage and ImageConverter on disc for ones PC. Heck I'm surprised that Sony isn't offering a SonicStage for HD equipped PS2's.

5. UMD movies cost too much. I'm willing to buy them, but not at the current prices.

6. I"m not complaining about the lack of games because I'm old and don't have lots of time. I also own the Diablo-like Untold Legends which keeps me happy hacking and slashing. But...if I was one of those teenagers or college kids with lots of summer free time I'd have burned right through my games and would be wanting more. Right now there are only two other games in the PSP's in store lineups that I'd like to own, those being Lumines and the Hot Shots Golf game. But as stated above the 39.95 price is somewhat discouraging.

7. Downloadable games. Even if Sony wants to discourage emulation of a competitors older hardware, they could approach the people who port things like Nethack http://virtuamunstaz.de/nh/ or that VNC client and say hey, we'll "sign" your binaries so they'll run on any PSP and host them on our site

There are some encouraging signs though, they've got that new portal that you can get to from a preset bookmark in the 2.0 browser. http://psp.us.playstation.com/ (go to psp.connect.com/ with a PSP too)

Personally I think judging the PSP a "failure" is a bit premature.

Yeah, and so does whatever the PS2 contains, but information about getting linux on your PS2 is pretty sparse.

Ummm... how about just buying a kit straight from Sony?

Sony has already said they will have something similar for the PS3.

  -Charles

Sony PSP 2.0 Firmware upgrade instructions http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP.aspx?id=software update
Sony PSP 2.0 Manuals
http://www.playstation.com/manual/psp/

Sony PSP 2.0 Firmware upgrade instructions http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP.aspx?id=software update
Sony PSP 2.0 Manuals
http://www.playstation.com/manual/psp/

I think you're right - it takes a while for developers to feel out the potential of a new platform.

Looking down the current PSP games list, there's mostly ports, with PSP-specific improvements. The DS games scene is healthier at the moment largely because of the innovative uses developers have come up with for the dual-screen and touchpad (Wario Ware, Kirby, Trauma Centre).

I'd expect the PSP to gain steam with the release of GTA:Liberty City Stories - if it lacks anything as a system right now, it is a killer app of the Grand Turismo ilk to fire people's imagination.

That said, I'm not sure that the FA is right to criticise an average release rate of one PSP game a week since launch. Even travelling by British Rail I couldn't finish a game a week :)

Sony's official PSP site only recognizes 40 released games, and it lists several games that haven't been launched in America.

Maybe you didn't notice that 1up is an American media company. They are reporting on the state of the PSP in America. If a game can't be found in Best Buy or Target, 95% of American gamers won't care about it.

Black Rhino Linux
Official PS2 Linux kit

I doubt the HD exclusion in the slim consoles was a result of people modding, but rather a marketing decision or a way to produce the consoles more cheaply.

No, it was called the "PSOne"

...is a pretty impressive series of Flash movies, although I had to resort to IE to get it to work nicely.

The ESRB has done a fine job so far. However, bland "T for teen" or "M for Mature" ratings can only convey so much. Even the more specific stuff, such as "suggestive themes" or "nudity" doesn't really tell parents that much. For example, "God of War" was rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Nudity, and Strong Language. (game site here).

The violence primarily consists of killing monsters and an occasional civilian in an extrememly brutal way. (One boss dies from being impaled through the roof of the mouth, with the lethal stake coming out the beast's eye socket). So the violence and blood and gore count is dead on. But the nudity merely consists of a few bare breasts (mainly in a few cutscenes), some on female civilians, others on female monsters. All this is done in a natural context; no strippers, no hookers, just a style-of-the-time kind of effect. So its there, but not emphasized. As for "Suggestive Themes" there is a 30-second sex minigame (with the bare-breasted female civilians) amounting to a few moans and an offscreen bouncing bed. I have no idea where the strong language came from. There is no profanity (aside from Hell and Damned, both used in a literal sense). There are some death-threats and battle taunts ("This city will be your grave"; "I have taught you many ways to kill a mortal"), but little other than that. The thematic elements are definitely not for children, though i can't go into that without spoiling some plot twists.

The problem with the characterization given by the ERSB rating is that the M definitely came from the violence, not the nudity. However, without playing the game, one would look at the rating and think "hmm . . . intense violence, nudity AND suggestive themes... must be one of those rape-and-pillage games" instead of a more accurate "ultra-violent, brutal monster bashing with some bare breasts and a tiny sex scene on the side."

So how do we get parents to actually know what they're getting before they buy it? Fewer buzzwords, more specifics. Let them know that the brutal violence is throughout the game and far outweighs the sex. Let them know exactly why the game was given the specific rating. Let them know the full extent of all buzzwords used by the rating.

My rating would go something like this: Rated M for intense violence directed primarily at monsters. There is extensive in-game as well as cutscene bloodshed and gore. There are also cutscenes and in-game sequences containing bare-breasted women in a non-sexual context. There is also a brief, implied scene of consensual sex between adults. This scene is heard but not seen. There are also some plot twists involving brutal violence not appropriate for children. The language is coarse but not profane.

On a side note, I would say that it is the parent's job to check up on the stuff their kids play, but that has been done to death. Also, the US really needs to get over its Puritan heritage and realize that sex between two consenting adults is not necessarily a bad thing. And this fixation with topless women is only going to end up badly . . . but again, thats another rant for another day.

It's not really the pixel nipple that's the issue, though. For instance, God of War has much better pixel nipples available early in the game with no hacks, and you don't see that game being yanked off the shelf.

(Huh, huh, I said, "yanked".)

Does Apple have a clear lead here? hmmm. I'm not so sure. Have you seen this?

The interface is beautiful and simple. it plays videos flawlessly, and I think it displays photos, as well... and the screen is EXACTLY what you are proposing.

Maybe Sony should work on it's target audience with the PSP...?

I solved that problem

And it's still cheaper than keeping a gaming rig up to date, and less worrying than having some inane copy protection toast any of my non-game data.

Here's a link to Sony's Greatest Hits games... I don't know if it's the same as the UK Platinum games, but I doubt they're too dissimilar.

Jan-Bart: Yeah, it's basically a representation of the look and feel of the game we're trying to make.

Yeah, you're right, a handheld video player wouldn't make sense.

... who are not martial arts experts, cannot set up a special room and shell out mucho dinero for the equipment but still want some immersive fun, there's Eye Toy.

UMB = 1.8 GB
miniDVD dual-layer = 1.5 GB/layer = 3 GB

"PSP adopts a small but high-capacity optical medium UMD(TM) (Universal Media Disc), enabling game software, rich with full-motion video and other forms of digital entertainment content, to be stored. The newly developed UMD, the next-generation compact storage media, is only 60mm in diameter but can store up to 1.8GB of digital data. A broad range of digital entertainment content such as music video clips, movies and sports programs can be provided on UMD. To protect this entertainment content, a robust copyright protection system has been developed which utilizes a combination of a unique disc ID, a 128 bit AES encryption keys for the media, and individual ID for each PSP hardware unit."

The only advantage I can see going for the DS right now is the fact that you can play a huge catalog of GBA games. But if you're going to do that, why not just get a used GBA SP and save $90? I'm sure they will go back in forth, both with huge releases in the coming months. It won't be for a year or so that we see either one emerge as the true "winner".

Straight from the source:

What is UMD? UMD (Universal Media Disc) is a new, proprietary, high-capacity optical medium enabling game software, full-motion video and other forms of digital entertainment content such as movies and music, to be stored. The newly developed UMD is the next-generation compact storage media and at only 60mm in diameter, can store up to 1.8GB of digital data, making it perfect for a portable entertainment player like the PSP system. UMD stores a broad range of digital entertainment content including games, music, movies, and more.

We have the Metreon Playstation store :)

UMD (Universal Media Disc) is a new, proprietary, high-capacity optical medium enabling game software, full-motion video and other forms of digital entertainment content such as movies and music, to be stored. The newly developed UMD is the next-generation compact storage media and at only 60mm in diameter, can store up to 1.8GB of digital data, making it perfect for a portable entertainment player like the PSP system. UMD stores a broad range of digital entertainment content including games, music, movies, and more.

Sony officially DOESN'T sell the Linux kit to North America anymore. Sure you can dig them up. A quick look on ebay shows 2 auctions, with the one closest to finish being up at $178.50. Nice price for a 40GB hard drive, USB mouse and keyboard.
Also good luck with a new slim PS/2 - no room for the hard drive in there. No real room for a mod chip either.
Sure you can softmod an Xbox just as you can with a PS/2, hard mods tend to be more reliable and offer more options.
75% of games work off the HD? I've only found one Xbox came I couldn't install on the HD.
More memory and a bigger hard drive (I put a 160GB drive in, but you can go bigger) gives more room for programs. More memory (64MB helps when running later arcade games in MAME. And yes you can mod the memory higher if you really want to go crazy (CPU too).
For connectivity, things like XBMC (Xbox media center) work via FTP or even Windows (Samba) shares over the network. You get DIVX, XVID, MPEG, MP3, OGG etc. playback just fine.
I'm sure there is a ton of PS/2 homebrew stuff just as well as on the Xbox. Kind of scares me when the first search result for keylauncher brings up a page noting "warning, this release has been confirmed to damage your HDD, use at your own risk".
The Xbox has great dashboard replacements such as Avalaunch that handle organizing and launching home brew programs and HD installed games.
So yeah, screw the Xbox frat guy Halo player as stereotyped by Penny Arcade. I really have no interest in how MS markets the Xbox. It annoys me too. But, wahoo - it sure is a nice cheap toy for me to play with and who cares about the official games.

It's sad to see such a great pasttime die out. With the advent of super slick console gaming systems the industry has really fallen apart. It doesn't help that the best pinball manufacturers make a lot more money developing slot machines than pinball machines.

(P)lay(S)tation (P)ortable

You want some real devine irony. If you bought the bundle with the Napster gift cards you couldn't even play the songs you purchased on your PSP.

Take a look at the specks page...

http://www.us.playstation.com/consoles.aspx?id=4

The only music formats it can play are MP3 and Atrac3Plus (and PCM via UMD). So those fine Windows Media Format files from Napster won't even work on a PSP, talk about a deal!

It is deffinately not sensitive. I currently work at Best Buy Canada, while looking for a real job. There is a known issue that the button is not lined up perfectly with the pad underneeth.

I bet if you took apart your PSP and left those 4 buttons off when putting it back together you'd see the sensor pad is off centre of the hole for that one.

What's weird is listening to the sales staff offer the PSP on their PSP

To sum up your quote, they didn't patent force feedback, they've patented having a sensor to make sure that your force feedback doesn't push too hard. And this is not a logical extension of force feedback because...? Just because it uses intentionally complicated language doesn't mean that the concept isn't simple.

That's probably not what they're fighting over, though. It's probably one of the volumes of other patents that Immersion has recieved. Let's look at a random one, shall we? 6,563,487 describes using force feedback on the D-pad of a controller. It doesn't describe how this is any different than using force feedback on a button, but there it is. There is also force feedback for a knob (6,636,197) and the terrible idea of the vibrating touchpad (6,429,846). I guess that compliments their vibrating Laptop (6,822,635).

Hey, here is one... (6,693,622) a patent for a vibrating mass inside of a controller, granted on February 17, 2004. 2004? Was the patent examiner in a cave? Every console shipped with vibrating controllers years before this, in exactly the manner they describe.

There is mounds of prior art for a lot of this. The kickback in the guns in POW. Battletech centers. The wheel feedbacks in arcade and home games such as Hard Drivin', etc, etc.

The patent system is broken. This is not just /. rhetoric. Some of the things they've patented are obvious extensions of the existing idea, and some have just mountains of prior art. Most are of the "with X" kind of patent, where they patent pretty much daily activities "with force feedback."

We need to stop allowing patents of ideas, not implementations. A battery would be the perfect example of a classic patent, as one would have listed out the copper and various other ingredients that went into it, the chemical reactions that take place, and so on. These days, it would just be listed as "a device that stores electrical charge," and left at that to sue everyone who makes batteries, capacitors, carpets, combs, and anything else that happens to eventually fall under that umbrella.

Heck, they patented force feedback over a computer network (6,859,819), last month, 2005. Isn't this what cybersex was supposed to be all about? Wasn't there already teledildontics at that point?

Though maybe I'm just bitter because I work at a company which made on one of the games on the list. But these patents ring bogus to me, and I applaud Sony's efforts to fight on everybody's behalf.

I'd also like to point out that just because someone has bought a license from SCO doesn't mean SCO has the right to sell a license. Just because Nintendo didn't fight against this doesn't mean that it is valid. And quite frankly, even if it is valid and holds up in court, it's still downright questionable. I'm guessing Immersion just set the cost of licensing the patents at a number smaller than the cost of fighting the patents in court.

Sony won't be replacing systems with dead pixels, they do not feel they are a manufacturing defect, no matter how many there are, while the manual doesn't actually come out and say this it is implied (I checked), here's the relevant link: http://www.us.playstation.com/hardwaremanuals.aspx It's in the manual on page 13 under the section for LCD screens. And the text:
Red, blue or green spots (bright spots) or black spots (dark spots) may appear in certain locations on the LCD screen. The appearance of such spots is a normal occurrence associated with LCD screens and is not a sign of a malfunction.

and there is also this e-mail:
"DEAD PIXEL WARRANTY AND TESTING...

We have just been infomned by Sony that they will not be warranting any dead
pixel units. They are only warranting hardware defects ie broken buttons,
malfuction with drive and so on. Dead Pixels are not considered a defect by Sony
of America and will not be warrantied."
Here's the link for that one:
http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/4461/

I didn't actually call Sony to check on this, but until I hear otherwise, I won't be buying a PSP if I cannot get a system with dead pixels replaced. Though it is nice to see that the warranty has been increased to one year out of box from the usual 90 days.

...unless they were using the money spent for time played to keep it running smoothly and cheater-free; I'm not a big MMOG player these days so I'm not quite keen on if it has an effect versus games that don't charge you for time played, like Counter-Strike or SOCOM II. That said, SOCOM II is teh utter sux in reliability.

And who buys from the competitors.

There is a lan option, according to the gran turismo 4 web site, and on the xlink kai site they list gran turismo 4 as being supported. Basically, this is tunneling software that let's you play the LAN mode over the internet.

They did... it's called the PlayStation2. If you look closely, you'll see the main memory is Rambus RAM. Which makes sense, because the PS2 is really more of a graphics engine than a general purpose computer.

I believe the Playstation 2 uses a 128-bit MIPS microprocessor. In fact, I know it .

Also, the Nintendo 64 uses a 64-bit MIPS microprocessor and co-processor.

So we're already a long way from 32-bit, Dorothy. It just goes to show you, it's not all that much different than Kansas after all.

The common misconception is that more bits equals better. While it can help to some extent, it really only gives you a few things depending on other architectural decisions. 1) Longer opcodes meaning more different opcodes (not necessarily an important thing; there are only so many ways you really need to add binary numbers). 2) More addressable memory space - which for consoles is a long way from the 4 gb a 32-bit processor affords you. 3) Higher native floating point arithmetic accuracy - most games probably don't need to know the significant digits beyond 32-bits of accuracy.

So there you have it. 32-bit, 64-bit, 128-bit, it's really not that big of a deal. "But, but.. the bits," you say? Well fine, don't believe me.

The Official GT4 web site. I don't think the car list is very complete. Hopefully, our friends in Japan will have sites with the true car list.

Okay, okay, let's clear the air here. We don't need to start a fight here.

1. The PlayStation Pocket has a better resolution than the Nintendo DS. (480 x 272 compared to 256 x 192 per NDS screen [totaling 256 x 384 for both screens]). The PSP wins the graphics category.
2. A) Nintendo DS replacement batteries only cost US$15 (http://store.nintendo.com/...) as opposed to US$46.54 (http://www.jp.playstation.com/Item/4/6170173.html (Japanese); (Google translation))
   B) The battery life is an issue. The PSP has terrible battery life compared to the NDS. Don't act like it's not important.
3. It is a nice bonus to have a free media player in the PSP, but the Image Converter software should be free as well. Plus the NDS media player is compatible with the GBA/GBA SP. The PSP wins this category, but Sony really could've done a better job.
4. With the horrendous battery life of the PSP, a manual wireless switch is a must. (It still sucks, but it must exist.) As far as I can tell, the NDS narrowly takes this category.
5. Both systems have a sleep function, which is very useful. (Kamalot took this spot to take a cheap [but not uncalled-for] shot at the PSP's battery life.)
6. See #3 for media player info.
7. Of course Sony has more 3rd party support, but Nintendo's 1st party games have their own unique crowd. It's just a matter of personal preference here; no clear victor.
8. $150 < $185
   That's all there is to it. NDS wins.
9. The PSP's screen may suck compared to a >$1,000 monitor, but it's not bad. Graphicswise, the PSP wins this category, but when we factor in the touch screen, the NDS takes this category easily.
10. "Announcements are coming very soon"
    Of course the PSP and the NDS both will have new and maybe even exciting peripherals. Obviously Nintendo still has a few tricks up their sleeve, and we can also expect more from Sony. (Don't forget Nintendo and Sony are working on their new consoles.)
11. Poor design choices? The disc vs. cartridge dispute is in the forum down the hall. Yes it sucks that you need a $50 memory card for the PSP, but if you already have one for your digital camera, it's a nice feature.

I know I haven't covered everything, but I don't have that kind of time. (Who am I kidding? I have no life, I just don't feel like researching this further.)

By the way, Mike Hawk, anyone who posts in an online forum isn't too far away from a fanboy.

I'm not going to call you ignorant, because I myself have noticed be a bit of acronymic presumption on the part of Slashdot editors...and it seems to be especially common in gaming-related stories. I've lost count of how many stories concerning the "DS" or the "PSP" (products that have barely been released) have been posted that fail to actually mention what they ARE.

Now I can understand not defining "PHP" or "RIAA"...but not everyone stays on the cutting edge of game technology. Anyway...

DS
PSP

Sony is marketing this new PS2 as portable... their engineers should be ashamed!

As well, Sony does have a true portable PS2 coming out next year (I heard mid 2005... it keeps getting pushed back). Here are some pictures.

What will sell me on the PSP is how developers will harness the capabilities of it. Supposedly, there have been prototypes for a GPS, and a DVD player as well. Being able to dock my PSP in my car and use it for in-car navigation (hey Delorme - hint hint), or some other useful utilization of its capabilities besides games will sell me.
I was disappointed at the lack of innovative uses for the Playstation 2's USB (and on earlier models, IEEE1394). Thankfully, Sony released Linux for it, which have allowed me to use it for watching movies, a file server, etc.. I certainly hope Sony will do it again with the PSP (can you imagine wardriving with a PSP?)

Well, actually, they could be SOL, as it's unclear whether or not that drive will work with the new PSTwo. Apparently, this drive was made in very limited quantities too, since few people wanted an external one instead of the cheaper internal one.

There's a lot of speculation on USB2 drives being made available for use with the new PStwo. There are more US PS2 FFXI users than I expected, so there's been quite a bit of talk in the FFXI community about the original PS2 which is compatible with the hard drive being discontinued in the US and being replaced with the PStwo that doesn't support the harddrive.