Gaming Column: Make way for PSP

andPOP Staff — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 23:59:15 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

I haven?t dedicated any time towards talking about the PSP and now that I?ve owned one for a few months, I think it?s a good time for it.

For the most part I have been very happy with my investment in the PSP and most people I know who own one feel the same way. This gadget seemingly does everything: it plays movies, music, games, and on top of all that, with its wi-fi card it becomes a web browser and makes many of its games online compatible. However, to really take advantage of all these features you need really deep pockets.

It comes with a 32MB card and that obviously doesn?t make for holding very much ? especially music and video files. All you need to move files over is a USB cable.

I?ve had a really hard time finding a file converter that can make video files, such as mpegs for example, playable on the PSP. I already had the software to convert music files into the type that Sony favors because I used to own a mini-disc player but this still begs the question as to why Sony would make it a tad tedious to play music and movies. I mean, why not just make PSP compatible with MP3?s and choose a more common video file format? I suppose the developers thought that people were not smart enough to realize that UMD-movie discs are not a worthwhile luxury.

If you don?t have a wireless router at home for your internet connection you won?t be playing any online games, nor will you make use of the web browser. I actually have one and I must say it?s pretty neat being able to stroll wherever I wish at home and surf the net but I?ve been disappointed in the PSP?s online gaming aspect. For some strange reason, for whatever game I want to play online there always seems to be one, or no people in the rooms! It feels like there are two people who own a PSP sometimes!

Despite all these condemnations however, I am still in love with the PSP.

Visually, every game looks amazing with beautifully smooth resolution, colors and graphics. And although I mentioned those UMD-movie discs are expensive, I always notice a look of amazement on the faces of the people leaning over my shoulder on the subway trying to catch a glimpse.

PSP comes with a stylish pair of headphones with remote so that you can listen to music. Now as I mentioned, the memory card it comes with only holds 32MB, which gets used up fast, however if you can afford to shelve out a hundred dollars and hunt a 1GB card off ebay you?ll soon have lots of space. Sure it?s no ipod, but it?s still a great feature.

You can view photos and luckily this doesn?t require any bothersome file converter. I don?t know how much use people in general will put to this feature but I imagine if someone owns a digital camera it?s a nice option. Personally, I like this feature because it makes it so that I can have a wallpaper of my choice at the main menu screen.

Compared to the main competitor, which is Nintendo DS, to me, the PSP stands on top?so far. I am of course fully aware that we?re going to see the release of an online Mario Kart for the DS soon but man-oh-man Nintendo has been taking there sweet time to really take advantage of their hand-held. When Nintendo starts to get the ball rolling with the DS, don?t be surprised if I?ve switched sides ? and, of course ? don?t be surprised if that never happens.

I also chose to talk about PSP is starting to really build up a good selection of titles and I didn?t think it?d be a good idea to start critiquing them unless I put out my two cents with regards to the system itself. If you?re curious, the games I?m talking about are X-men Legends II, Star Wars Battlefront II and Grand Theft Auto; oh yeah, it?s that crazy.

andPOP » X-men Legends II

Gaming Column: Make way for PSP