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PSP Controller Layout, New Details Revealed
Thanks to IGN Pocket for their article discussing new PlayStation Portable (PSP) details revealed at Sony's Gamers' Day in San Francisco. The article discusses the PSP's controller configuration, which is "...now confirmed to consist of the four face buttons we all know and love (triangle, circle, cross, and square), a digital directional pad, two shoulder buttons (left and right), start and select buttons, and one analog joystick." It also reveals that "Sony compared the 3D prowess of the PSP to be more akin to the PS2 rather than the PSone", and other details emerged - the system's battery life was "...said to be comparable to other high-end devices (roughly 3-6 hours)", and GameSpot's Gamers' Day round-up relays that "a prototype will be unveiled at E3 2004... [and] currently, 10 first-party titles are in development for the new platform."
I remember when Sony first talked about the portable Playstation back in 1997.
The problem with Sony's directional pad is that it's four distinct buttons whereas the directional pads on Nintendo's controllers (for instance) is a single 'rocker' style pad which makes it a lot easier to transition from one direction to another. It's a minor thing but it drives me nuts. If it wasn't for that, I would consider the Dual Shock to be perfect controller.
This doesn't seem like a lot to me. I did a quick Google search and saw that the official stats on the GBA SP give it 10 hours light on/17 hours light off. Now that's three times longer than the PSP. That's pretty significant. They'll have to definatly increase batterly life before I'd look at getting one of these.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
When Sony says "3-6 hours" for other "high-end devices" (like their laptops), in reality it's more like an hour or two. The problem is, this will hurt the PSP. It's one thing to carry a power brick with your laptop; it's entirely another to carry one for your pocket game device.
The GBA SP, with light on, easily gets 10 hours. It seems like I rarely ever have to charge mine. If I had to charge every three hours, this would be much different.
It won't stop me from buying one, since I do most of my gaming at home, and it'll probably have a boatload of great games---the main reason for investing in any console---but if they really want to succeed, they should take a good hard look at this.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
I seem to remember from way back that Nintendo had patented the design of it's D-pad.
A quick search turned up this note of the history of the NES controller:
Yokoi designed something simple that evolved into what is known as the D-pad. Nintendo then proceeded to patent the design of the D-pad.. As a result, a dispute rose up between Nintendo and Sega when Sega used the D-pad design in their Genesis console
This explains why Sony and Microsoft are unable to copy Nintendo's D-pad design - they'd have the stuffing sued out of them. Instead:
Sony hid the middle part of rocker underneath the case. Unfortunately their design makes your thumbs bleed after using it for an hour or two.
Microsoft came up with the circle-with-raised-compass-points design. Unfortunately it's error--prone in that you often hit the diagonals when you don't mean to.
FYI, my ideal controller would have:
* Nintendo's D-pad
* Sony's analog sticks
* Sony's buttons
* Sony's DualShock control layout on the front-face (the controls are placed about perfectly for me).
* Microsoft's Controller-S case and extra-long cable (I find it the most comfortable to hold for long periods of time - just not the best to USE).
Are we gonna be able to play PS1 games on it? Or are they gonna have to port games to it?
DUKEY!
One of the reasons that Neogeo and Sega's handhelds failed was because of battery power. Not lack of games, not lack of graphics (because both looked sweet), but lack of battery power. Hasn't Sony learned anything? 3-6 hours (read: 1-2 hours) is absolutely nothing. They've gotta do better than this if they want to compete with the gameboy.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
...and one analog joystick.
I wonder how far this will protrude and if durability will be a problem. I would hesitate to put this in my pocket (or even in a bag without a case) for fear that the joystick would wear unnecessarily.
As with the sun's light
My mom was magnificent
Unquestionable
I hope they do a lot of 'extended play', I'm worried about 3D games in small screens, especially after reading gamindustry.biz's hands-on review. Check it out here:t ion_name=new&aid=2233
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?sec
Or just plain poor communications between departments?
Am I alone in thinking it a little strange that Sony announced this device more than a year before they intend to show even the physical shape of it?
In fact, it seemed that the initial announcement was more of an excuse to show off a new storage medium (which also won't be available for about a year).
Don't get me wrong: I'm pretty excited about the PsP, and all the possibilities it could offer. I'll probably buy one, but then again, I have a Game.com and every game ever commercially available for it.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
Let's all pay the $$$ to Sony for this great device, so they can turn the profits into protecting their music and movie piracy witch-hunts.
On a more non-flameworty subject... battery life of 3-6 hours is pretty weak compared to the GBA SP's 10 hours.
MORTAR COMBAT!
If it weren't Sony making this, and you showed me the specs, I'd swear it's about as likely to come out as the Phantom.
As it stands, I'm sure it will come out, but I'm pretty sure there will be some searing defect...
Philip Sandifer's academic website
By the time this device comes out - if it ever does in the USA and Canada, I figure 2006 at the latest - Nintendo will already likely have their next generation handheld out on the market.
And if it's anything like the past - Nintendo's next hand-held would sport N64 quality graphics.
You must master your joystick like a fisherman masters bait! - Gimpy
Does everyone really love the naming convention of these buttons? It drives me nuts to say "OK, to do this move, press left and the Triangle plus Circle, then Square" when I could say "press left and A B, then X".
Am I missing out on some lingo here to reference the psx buttons a little more easily?
I'll have something intelligent to add one of these days...
I can't for the life of me understand why Sony wouldn't use the same layout they've always used. I thought one of the good things about this system is that they'd release a lot of the original PSX games on the PSP so you could play them on the run. However, if they don't put the exact same button configuration, then they're asking for trouble. I'm not saying that I like the PSX layout (four shoulders buttons? Buttons labelled with geometric shapes? What the hell?), but in this case, they really should stick to what has worked for them.
Similarly, I still haven't a clue why Nintendo didn't put X and Y buttons on the Gameboy Advance... it would have made all the SNES ports a hell of a lot simpler! Best I can figure is that they assume the majority of GBA owners are too stupid to deal with more buttons, which I personally consider insulting.
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
It seems that the only way to go up against Sony is to either figure out how to copy their Hype Machine marketing style effectively, or to release competing systems at the exact same time. If your system comes out earlier Sony will convince everyone that theirs will be better and you shouldn't waste money on it. If yours comes out after theirs, well, they've got a much larger install base and more games, so you should clearly go with them.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
does it run linux?
So......I give it a week before it's compromised. Any other guesses? Seriously, Sony's hardware/software is a LOT easier to mess when compared to M$. 1 week, tops.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
If it doesn't fit in my pocket, and I can't play it on a plane from New York to London without it running out of power, then why bother? They need 10hrs or more, badly. Or go the way of the gamegear.