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PlayStation Portable

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File:PSP Value Pack.jpg
The finished PlayStation Portable, and a variety of accessories.

The PlayStation Portable, officially known as the PSP, is a handheld game console and a product of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. The PSP was first announced during E³ 2003 and was unveiled on May 11th, 2004 at a Sony press conference during E³ 2004. First released in Japan, its official retail release date was December 12, 2004. It will be made available in North America on March 24, 2005. A European release has yet to be announced, but is expected in the second quarter of 2005 [1].

The PSP is intended as an entertainment platform and is currently positioned to play videogames, video content, and digital audio, as well as displaying digital photos. It supports Sony Memory Sticks (PRO Duo) and "Universal Media Discs" instead of traditional solid-state ROM cartridges. Other notable features of the PSP include its WiFi wireless networking support, its rechargeable and removeable battery, its 4.3 inch LCD flat screen, and its sliding flat panel analogue stick.

Games

A variety of first- and third-party games are in development. The PSP's inputs are geared for gaming rather than multimedia, with two shoulder buttons (triggers), the iconic PlayStation face buttons, (triangle, circle, square, and X buttons) start and select buttons, a digital 4-directional pad, and an analog input. There is also a panel of secondary controls along the underside of the screen, for controlling volume, equalizer settings, screen brightness, and accessing the system's main menu.

The PSP's analogue input is not a traditional stick, but a sliding flat panel; its odd placement originally led to speculation it was a speaker. Concerns exist regarding the practicality of the input (its position requires a slightly asymmetrical grip on the unit to adequately use, with the left hand being lower than the right), although reports from E³ and the Tokyo Game Show have been fairly positive, mostly stating that it is responsive and comfortable in placement.

Launches

Japanese launch

The first shipment of 200,000 PSP units were made available for purchase in Japan on December 12, 2004. All units were sold out within the first two days. Some users have reported problems with the launch units, including dead pixels (discolored squares) within the LCD screen and game discs ejecting abruptly if the system is twisted. Sony are offering to replace PSPs under warranty as normal, however they have stated that they do not consider a display to be faulty unless four faulty pixels are within 1cm of each other. It is unclear whether the American and European branches of Sony will take such a stance on LCD quality.

Currently, two sales packs are available. The basic package contains the console, battery, and AC adaptor for 20,790 yen including tax (around US$193, EUR 148, £106). The "Value Pack" contains the console, battery, AC adaptor, 32MB Magicgate Memory Stick Duo, headphones w/remote, slip-case and wrist strap, for 26,040 yen including tax (around US$245, EUR 192, £133).

Japanese launch games

North American launch

The PSP will be released on March 24 in North America (the USA and Canada). The only package on sale is the Value Pack, identical to the Japanese release save for the inclusion of a UMD of preview videos, for US$249.99 or CND$299.99. Sony claims they will have one million units available for sale in these territories by the end of the fiscal year (March 31, 2005). This first million units will include the movie Spider-Man 2 on UMD, free of charge.

North American launch games

Note that the following titles will be launched during an undisclosed "launch window"; there is currently no indication of which titles will be available on the PSP's US launch day.

  • Ape Escape: On the Loose (Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCEA)
  • ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails (SCEA)
  • Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (Capcom)
  • Dynasty Warriors (KOEI)
  • FIFA 2005 (Electronic Arts)
  • Gretzky NHL (SCEA)
  • Lumines (Ubisoft)
  • Metal Gear Acid (Konami)
  • MLB (SCEA)
  • MVP Baseball (Electronic Arts)
  • NBA (SCEA)
  • NBA Street Showdown (Electronic Arts)
  • Need for Speed Underground: Rivals (Electronic Arts)
  • NFL Street 2 Unleashed (Electronic Arts)
  • Rengoku: Tower of Purgatory (Konami)
  • Ridge Racers (Namco)
  • Smartbomb (Eidos Interactive)
  • Spider-Man 2 (Activision)
  • Tiger Woods PGA TOUR (Electronic Arts)
  • Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix (Activision)
  • Twisted Metal: Head On (SCEA)
  • Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade (Sony Online Entertainment)
  • Wipeout Pure (SCEA)
  • World Tour Soccer (SCEA)

Design and specifications

Technical specifications

The unit measures 170 mm (Length) x 74 mm (Width) x 23 mm (Depth), and weighs 260 grams including the battery. The most noticeable element of the PSP is its 4.3" 16:9 ratio TFT LCD screen sporting a 480 x 272 pixel resolution capable of 16.77 million colors.

The PlayStation Portable's CPU is a MIPS R4000 (32-bit) CPU, split into two cores each operating between 1 and 333 MHz; the system has 32MB of main RAM and 4MB of embedded DRAM. The primary CPU core is responsible for traditional game processor functions; the secondary core, dubbed the "Virtual Media Engine", is responsible for decoding multimedia, for example the h.264 decoder.

The independent 166 MHz graphics chip provides hardware polygon and NURBS rendering, clipping, morphing, texture compression and tessellation, along with handling image output. Specifications state that the PSP is capable of rendering 33 million flat-shaded polygons per second, with a 664 million pixel per second fill rate.

Unlike Sony's PlayStation 2 console, the GPU (PS2 Vector Unit equivalent) is not programmable.

Multimedia

The PSP is capable of displaying still image, movie and audio files stored on the UMD disk format or a memory stick. The system supports MP3 and Sony's ATRAC-3 plus formats for audio, AVC (H.264) for video, and JPEG images. Sony is reportedly in talks with various studios with regards to producing their content on UMDs; such content is not expected until some time after launch.

Sony has announced that Image Converter 2, a piece of PC software for converting video files to AVC for playback on Clie PDAs, will be available before the end of the year, and may be used with the PSP. A preview version was made available shortly after the PSP launch. It can convert AVI, MPEG1/2/4, Quicktime and WMV movie files to AVC, as well as the "Gigia Pocket" and "Do VAIO" files used by VAIO PCs to record television. It will also convert most common still image files into JPEG format.

An arguably more elegant solution was created by a third party vendor with the creation of iPSP, which allows Macintosh users to quickly convert and queue iTunes and iPhoto, and Macintosh video formats, for use on the PSP. A PC version of the software is said to be in development.

Third-party software has been available for some time which is capable of converting video files into the required AVC format, and early PSP adapters have already been able to play back converted video files from memory stick.

In January 2005, Sony announced the creation of software that allows for watching television broadcasts via WiFi which will be released for the PSP, as well as Sony's portable television sets. Sony plans to add the functionality to PSP in the first half of 2005.

In addition, Sony has unveiled an iTunes-like download capability to be added in the near future to the PSP. Users will be able to use the online component of the PSP to buy songs or albums and listen to them on the PSP, with a similar pricing strategy as iTunes. Downloadable content for games (tracks and vehicles for WipeOut Pure, for example) as well as playable game demos are also promised.

As the system firmware is upgradable, Sony has not ruled out support for other audio and video CODECs in the future; these would have to be decoded in software rather than hardware (just as AVC, MP3 and ATRAC decoding are). It is also technically feasible for a third party to release a disk of decoders (on UMD format) to play back unsupported video files (from Memory Stick).

Wireless networking

Wi-Fi support allows the PSP to connect to wireless networks, other PSP units for multiplayer gaming, the internet, and according to several industry insiders, Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3.

Ad-hoc networks

Ad-hoc wireless networking allows up to 16 PSPs to communicate with other units within range, directly, typically for multiplayer gaming. The launch titles Ridge Racers and Lumines, for example, support this. One unit can act as the host for a game, which is available to other PSP units within that systems range, and appears in a list when the client PSP searches for available hosts. As expected, hosting a game in this manner increases power consumption and reduces battery life.

Infrastructure networks

The PSP's main menu allows the user to configure the system for use across the internet via a wireless connection, known as infrastructure mode. The PSP's menu can recognize protected and non-protected wireless networks within its range, and attempt to request a firmware update from Sony's servers.

A handful of titles, including three US launch games and an as-of-yet untitled MMORPG, have been announced which use this wireless network functionality. Packet tunneling systems are in development by third-parties which allow any Wi-fi game to operate across the internet (see external links, below).

Sony have confirmed that it will be possible for hosts of games to transmit playable game files to PSPs lacking that game (listed on the main menu as "Game Sharing"), in a manner similar to one-cartridge Game Boy Advance or Nintendo DS multiplayer. While a Namco Museum title has been demonstrated sending single-player games to other systems using this feature, no multiplayer functions have yet been revealed.

Wired networking

The USB connection allows the PSP to connect to the PS2 or PC. Armored Core: Formula Front for example allows players to connect their PS2 and PSP versions to share information, such as parts and AI configurations, between the two. Also, users can connect their PSP to the internet via a USB or wireless connection to a PC, and copy their vehicles temporarily to other players' PSPs, in order to compete.

Power

The PSP uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power (an AC adaptor is included for charging and running from the mains). The system's manual states that the PSP is capable of 4-6 hours of gameplay on average, or 4-5 hours of movie UMD playback on average, depending on the screen brightness or volume level selected.

Battery life is heavily dependent on the game chosen; games such as Puzzle Bobble are expected to greatly extend the battery life of the system, with graphically advanced games such as Ridge Racers providing shorter battery life. Sony Corporation COO, Ken Kutaragi, has compared the system to the Walkman, in that battery life will be improved with each product revision, and has outlined some steps (switching to a different fabrication process, for example) which will be used to improve the system's endurance. Currently the PSP's CPU is fabricated using a 90-nm process, but Sony has 65-nm and 45-nm technology available.

In practice, tests using Ridge Racers have given between three and a half and slightly less than six hours of continuous gameplay, depending on screen brightness and volume. In one test[2], this dropped to approximately two and three quarter hours when using Wi-Fi multiplayer continuously. The system is capable of approximately ten hours of MP3 playback from memory stick on a full charge and around half this for AVC playback. While full-length movie UMDs are not available, a repeating loop of the demo UMD bundled in the Value Pack provided a little over 4 hours of playback on a full charge.

The PSP's battery is removable for replacement by the end-user. This may be a response to the criticisms which the Apple iPod has received regarding its battery. You are thus able to purchase extra batteries as an accessory; at the Japanese launch, they cost 5040 yen including tax (around US$47, EUR 37, £26).

Various third parties are providing options for extending the PSP's battery life. For example, carry cases with built-in batteries and charging connectors to the PSP are in development, and one case aimed at movie fans integrates a battery, PSP stand, and speakers.

Operating system

The PSP's main menu interface is the XMB ("Cross Media Bar") used by recent Sony TVs and the PSX hardware. It consists of a horizontal sequence of icons (Settings, Games, Music...) which when highlighted show a vertical sequence of sub-icons (for example, selecting Games allows the memory stick or a UMD to be selected).

The main menu system allows the user to, amongst other things, adjust settings such as date, time, and the PSP's nickname for wireless networking, play video or audio files from the memory stick, load games or movie UMDs, check on estimated battery life, and set the PSP into a "link mode" which makes the inserted memory stick available to a PC via USB. It may be accessed at any time in a game by pressing the "Home" button on the console.

The default background colour of the menus is blue, however it may change colour depending on the time of year, or user skins made available from game publishers within their game disks.

The PSP's firmware is apparently updateable via WiFi, or games. There are rumors, backed up with some early firmware evidence, that the next firmware upgrade will incorporate support for a web browser, email, scheduler, voice recording and word processing and spreadsheet software.

Region locking

The PSP supports region locking for titles, which limits which software may be played on each region's hardware. They have announced in interviews that the system will adopt the DVD regional lockout scheme; Japanese PSP hardware already has a R2 logo on its box. However, support for regional lockout does not necessarily mean it will be used for all software.

According to Sony, games for the PSP will at first be encoded as region-free. There will be no limitation as to what country's model can play what country's version of the game. This will open up the "portability" of the handheld, as well as enable gamers who buy a PSP game on holiday to play it on their native PSP. There has been some confusion over this, however, as the Japanese releases of titles such as Ridge Racers carry a Region 2 logo. It is traditional for handheld games consoles to carry no region locks; for example, the Nintendo Game Boy lineage.

It is expected that movies for the PSP will be region-locked, much as DVDs are.

See also

Sony PSP and Nintendo DS
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