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More PSP Impressions, Loading Times Examined
ACTRAiSER writes "Lik-Sang.com once again took a close look at a new toy for gamers: the Sony PSP. The loading time for several games seems to be quite long." From the article: "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, latest reports from Japan about loading times on demo units that actually have access to the games are as follows..."
What the hell is a PSP?
So what are "chirurgical gloves" and are those Ipod earphones? Heck, muggers are going to be using those as a beacon of who to pick for years to come at this rate!
24 seconds to from power off to Title/Menu for a game seems a little extreme. The DS seems to gimmicky for me and the PSP seems like the system can't handle all the graphics powers making the games less enjoyable because you have crappy load time and battery life. I think I'll keep waiting for another portable system to come out (I'm looking in your direction Microsoft) **shutters**
-Dipster
...we're all going to buy one anyway. :)
"The Lik Sang crew actually wore chirurgical (sic) gloves during the whole process of testing the unit and while performing the photo session."
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.
Touching is bad.
with the prices of flash memory falling, maybe a future solution sony could implement is by creating a disk cache on the memory stick? then again these ARE first generation psp games, and much like first generation ps1 games, the load times will improve with better programming.
Better graphics: Game Gea (by far)
Backlight: Game Gear
Color Graphics: Game Gear
TV Tuner option: Game Gear
Battery Life: Gameboy (by FAR)
Overall Winner: Gameboy
(hint, hint, Sony...)
When offtopic posts are involved, everyone loses.
Posting as AC to avoid flames...
What makes this so different than PSX and PS2 load times? Some games seem to take at least 30 seconds to load.
This is thing I miss most about cartridge based games.
From power off to Namco logo and title: 16 seconds
From selecting car/track to start the race: 14 seconds
Exit the game back to car/track selection: 10 seconds
Dokodemo Issho:
From power off to PSP logo and title: 20 seconds
Starting game from title screen: 10 seconds
Going back to title screen: 5 seconds
Mojipittan:
From power off to title screen: 20 seconds
No more waiting time
Minna no Golf:
From power off to PSP logo and title: 24 seconds
From character selection to start: 19 seconds
Waiting between courses: few seconds only
That doesnt seem very long, hell DS has 5-7 second load times from poweroff to opening logo then title, and how much better are PSP's graphics? You should've expected some load time.
Only movie play back puts the PSP at an advantage over the DS in my mind, although the GBA movie player will work on the DS. Considering I alread have portable DVD player, I have no disire to buy all my movies again in a different format (Blu-Ray) and we all read the article (ha-ha) about every movie studio besides Sony pictures signing up for HD-DVD, I have no use for a PSP. Spinning optical media in a portable format has not reached a level of maturity high enough for me yet. I will pass.
The cancel button is your friend. Do not hesitate to use it.
Why can't any of the places comment on battery life yet? Gamespot said they can't either, and that it would come later. I don't see any reason for them not to mention it unless Sony told them they couldn't if they wanted to have the PSP early.
I can't help but feel that there's something to hide if that's the case.
I really want to like the PSP. I do. But I won't be able to like it if it has long load times and short battery life.
PLEASE DON'T SCREW THIS UP SONY!!!!
I fail to see how it's anti-PSP.
If Micro$oft made a handheld console it would be as large and heavy as a brick.
As for load-times, I've got to see those are ridiculous. It's great being able to start playing immediately with the DS (if you have it in Auto-start). Heck, the best thing about portables is being able to play them in a bus/subway ride...those load times are just too damn long!
With all that said, the PSP does look like a sexy, sexy beast.
I think you misunderstood him, feel proud for him, he decided to come out of the closet with a first post on slashdot.
A 24 second wait is a throwback to game design 20 years ago . So what gives?
:(
Sony wants you to throw more money at the problem. Let me explain.
When you format a Memory Stick with the PSP itself, you'll not only find it empty afterwards, there are some interesting directories on it. The existence of a games directory strongly suggests that Sony plans to enable users playing games directly off the Memory Stick.
So it would appear that the memory stick will be used for caching content, so the disk drive won't be needed as much. This makes sense since the PSP doesn't seem to have much RAM for a game system that can play with a more than a GB of data on a disk.
- UMD Transfer rate (read): 11Mbps
- Memory Stick Pro Transfer rate (read/write): up to 80 Mbps
So this will work? Yep, if you have a 512MB (or larger) memory stick on hand.
Seeing as how you (and developers) would like to cache as much of a game as possible, the prices on memory sticks are less than encouraging.
Combine that with an external battery pack, and you have a solid and expensive solution to making this thing usable.
Is definetily way too early to call a winner in this, I mean seriously, the psp hasnt even launched yet. And xmas will be the proving ground for the DS.
;)) is niche if they manage to sell ONLY to them sony still makes a profit and comes victorious.
Second. Load times, shmock times, minimal load times did no favours for the n64 against the psx (and the PSX launching titles load times were terrible) The system which has more and better games wins, period. I dont mind load times if I can play Final Fantasy, GTA, tekken, devil may cry or Metroid in a console.(unless they are annoying and in the middle of the game like in hl2)
Third. The battery is a problem YES but so it was anti aliasing for the ps2 and it still beat every other console it was against (which had better tech) Also they were eventually able to fix the problem trough programming. If you thought that would be the "finishing blow" think again, according to what Ive read you can make the battery last up to 4 times by simply lowering your brightness and using an extra light source (which is what I've done for years with my gba) Anyway, are you aware the PSP runs on rechargeable batteries and AC ? all you need to do is to hook it to the car lighter, problem solved.
Fourth(?) Simply stated the PSP is a console targetted at teens and young adults and weither you want to admit it or not, the DS is targeted at kids and teens. (how many "M" or even "T" titles does each console have now?) there is no "console war" the portable young adult market (non-geek like us!
No matter how intimidating it looks to have N and Sony swimming in the same pool, one is at the diving platform and the other is in the kiddie area as long as they keep their distance there wont be trouble.
. Oh and dont count on the American delay to rain in sony's parade either. My local shop is importing PSPs and they are getting sold out for xmas already. p.s. Where I live the DS is making parents look at the GBA sp. Is a lot cheaper and is a nice Portable which is what little timmy wrote in his xmas list anyway. (the DS is at $200 and the GBA is $90)
Go ahead MOD my day!
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Yes, well the OP has been posting anti-Nintendo trolls in games.slashdot.org for weeks now. He's the single upstanding warrior that will send Nintendo's reputation into the dirt. ...Or so goes the story he tells himself before going to sleep at night.
Actually, the Gizmondo portable console may be Microsoft's low risk (for them) answer to the portable gaming market. It was recently announced that they will be developing games for this console. Gizmondo is built around a powerful 400MHz ARM9 CPU and runs a version of Windows CE.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
Yeah, no load times for the N64 didn't win the war, but after the Sega CD, the Sega Saturn, the PS1, the Dreamcast, the PS2, the Gamecube, the Xbox and the PC; we're STILL bitching about load times which accompany the use of CDs/DVDs. If theres a system that can avoid load times, hell yeah I'm gonna support that as long as I can especially if I'm not gonna spend those load times on my couch.
The battery is a problem YES but so it was anti aliasing for the ps2 and it still beat every other console it was against
You're comparing battery life with graphics. What next? Number of buttons a controller has versus the processing power?
Ive read you can make the battery last up to 4 times by simply lowering your brightness and using an extra light source
In other words : Play at home where you can adjust the surroundings. I did the same with the original GBA (not SP) and I bitched about that too.
are you aware the PSP runs on rechargeable batteries and AC ? all you need to do is to hook it to the car lighter, problem solved.
Usually when I'm in the car, I'm driving. When I'm in the car with other people, I'm usually the driving anyway. And I'm not gonna sit in my car just to play a handheld.
You're comparing apples with orange trees. A handheld is a totally different battlefield compared to consoles. Its like comparing consoles with PCs, say what you want but any casual gamer can tell you they're just different.
Very back of the envelope, based on what we know about MiniDisc players. Everything very approximate.
Assuming UMD is no more efficient than MD, here goes:
MD is a mature technology ~ 150MB
For a modern netMD:
66kbps gives 50 hours on one AA battery ~ 2000 mAh
so
1.5 min / mAh
1 min = 9000KB uncompressed = 150KBps = 1200kbps
1200/66 = 18.18:1 compression
so throughput for netMD is 495KB / min (9000KB uncompressed/18.18)
which gives
742.5KB / mAh (495KB * 1.5 min/mAh)
on the equivalent of 2AA batteries that's ~ 4000mAh = 2.83 GB transferred on one charge.
Not shabby. Certainly enough to play games without the drive being the battery killer. Yeah, it's probably a best-case scenario, but at least it's a baseline grounded in something we know as fact. Anyway, we'll know the truth soon, so this is sorta irrelevant.
Looking at the style/hip look, features (MP3/MP4 playback), and given either a big enough flash card or the ability to potentially read burned PSP sized dvds, I think the PSP is more a competitor to Apple's Ipod.
Has anyone mentioned that the DS will play the games that the massive installed base of GBA/SP owners already have?
And that the huge library of good games available to it at launch might just win a few over?
And that Nintendo have a lot more experience in the market than Sony?
I'm sorry but I can't see the PSP shipping huge numbers and neither can sony as they have recently stated that they are not producing too many in the light of the flop the PSX was. They are instead focussing on knocking PS2's out - which do sell.
My ADHD brain rejects the concept of portable loadtimes. It seems contradictory to the appeal of portables: Instant Gratification. Someone mentioned the bus/waiting in line? Play for 3-10 minutes at a time and 15-30 seconds of load time will feel a lot longer than if you're spending your weekend on final fantasy.
And my dvd collection loudly protests! Buy all my movies again, are you joking? Buy a whole movie JUST for this stupid thing? If it was a movie I would never want to watch on a real screen I wouldn't get it, and if my selection was only movies I'd be ok with only seeing on a teeny LCD it's not worth my money! pfff.
But, if I do end up watching a movie on it, I hope it has a little built in prop to lean it on or something, since i don't really want to hold it in my palm/futz with propping it against a book for an hour and a half. If it did stay still, I really think the screen(its a really nice screen aint it?) is in fact big enough that I could enjoy video on it OK. As long as its widescreen. And without Subtitles.
Speaking of the gorgeous screen, someone mentioned how they hoped it holds up to scratches. Well Duh! You just have to spend 30 dollars for a back of 10 plastic screen protectors every few months. Along with the cost of the nice fat memory card and maybe and extra battery pack and some neat sleeve to protect the screen further from deep scratches in your pack and maybe the car adaptor so you don't get f*%&*d on your roadtrip and maybe some nice PSP format movies you already own on DVD for your travels, this whole thing is starting to resemble a wet dream. A dream where you're rich.
Not to seem like an exclusive hater, the DS is no dreamboat. I find the two screen thing gimmicky at first, although its function in Metroid sofar did extend the gamespace and make the game feel a bit fuller. The touching bit I think is awesome, but the screen does feel cramped, and using it makes it hard to remember to look at the other screen. The wireless, as I read on slashdot, isn't up to the PSP's level, and the hardware is generally less powered.
hat I DO like is the clamshell, it protects from scratches like the GBA SP. I really like that, my old gameboys always died because the screens were too scratched.
I want the Stylus capabilitie and some clamshell action with the PSP*cough*, it would be good for watching the little movies for both choosing options and viewing, and it would protect that gorgeous screen. And it would be fun to see people boot OSes onto it and use it as a PDA. THEN it might might might be worth my extra 50 bucks, even with the loadtimes. Heres hoping touching the screen wouldn't break it really fast.
Until then, I'll take the DS and its Already Extensive GBA library and excellent, loadtimeless performance.
The (apparent) battery-life problem can eventually be solved through better battery technology
Sounds like PSP version 2.0 is the way to go... I just hope this won't be too late for the PSP, like the improved 2nd version of N-Gage doesn't sell so well. Because once a console has the image of a "loser" it's difficult to get rid of this image...
I don't need a signature.
To be fair to Sony, I have an early Net-MD minidisc (about three years old) and I've beaten the hell out of it. It still works perfectly. The mechanism with moving parts in anything MiniDisc-based is a lot more durable than a $39 Koss CD player you can get from CostCo. We're all skeptical of moving parts because of products like that. I imagine that (in terms of moving parts), the PSP will do much better than most expect.
I worry about the screen though. No clamshell? It looks sexy, but it's worrying.
When I was buying Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Cima at Electronics Boutique, the sales-guy nentioned to me that he was surprised at how many RPGs they sell for the GBA, especially in comparison to the other consoles.
/Would take Suikoden 2 over 3 any day of the week
I speculated that perhaps the time not spent on 3D engines & fancy graphics (not that either of these titles look bad or feel unpolished, esp. FFTA) got put into making the games good.
Again using Final Fantasy as an example, look at how many copies of FF I&II have sold (PS/Wonderswan and will sell for the DS) considering that they are primarily the same games they were from the old Nintendo systems, with graphics overhauls (but still in 2D!)
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer
Does anyone know if the covers for the screens and buttons in the following pictures (1 2 3 4) need to be put on manually?
ie: To protect the screen and buttons do I need to carry those items along all the time?
I haven't found any information on them yet.
Chewie does not get a medal. Come on, George. Can a Wookie get a medal?
Ok I could repply to each of your answers. But considering you got +5 interesting just for bashing my post , I wont even bother. (its not your fault, everybody knows slashdot is a bit biased) but some points just for documentation and completion sake.
When I said you could put it in the cigarrete lighter, of course I meant to recharge it, not that you should play it always sticked to a wall, thank you for taking my answer out of context.
I know that the ds is supposed to be $180.00 I specifically mentioned "where I live" I dont live in the usa so I pay export taxes, you could check that on my profile you know? Instead you tried to make the entire post look fake for extra $20 in the price. nice.
You dont like tekken and you like metroid (me too) uh? well those are personal opinions, and they really cant do nothing against the fact that the nintendo 64 did worst than the PSX even with its "0" loading times, which was my point. And just FYI final fantasy VII DOES NOT have "loading times" each random battle, (unless your disc was really scratched) the "loading" screen was only shown when you moved from one map to another. (not even the in game FMV's had loading times that I remember) Im glad you picked up the number one most known PSX game to counter my point. But next time you should talk about a game you actually have played instead.
Go ahead mod my day!
Go ahead MOD my day!
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And Lynx? TurboExpress? NeoGeo Pocket/Pocket Color? The consumers seem to decidedly choose battery life and size over features and specs everytime.