PSP
by Jeffery Mangrum
I recently got a PSP, so I shall now enlighten you as to why you should, or perhaps should not, get one of these lovely portable gaming machines.
For reference, the last portable gaming device I had was a Gameboy -- like the original one, version 1.0. So here, I return from the store with this sleek, sexy piece of technology, not even prepared for what I am about to unbox.
Eye-CandyThe machine itself is gorgeous: shiny black glossy plastic with mirrored surfaces and a very large widescreen, considering the size of the device. For anyone living under a rock, the PSP is unlike my Ye’ Ol’ Gameboy; instead of being portrait with screen on top and controls on the bottom, it’s landscape screen dead center, with controls flanking it. These buttons all seamlessly fit into the art of the device. Lines are clean; there aren’t odd breaks, just smooth glossy black. The screen is great and has a high level of contrast and brightness. Sadly my PSP is afflicted with two dead pixels, but I figure they’re tolerable since they’re only noticeable (if you’re looking) on a flat black background. Poor pixels. *moment of silence* Aside from that, it’s also responsive, with very little ghosting. (Oddly, I only see ghosting on some edges in Untold Legends, but not in a faster paced game like Darkstalkers. Go figure.)
ErgonomicsSadly, with its great looks, it fails in my opinion in the ergonomics department. It may just be my own unbelievably huge hands, or I COULD BE RIGHT. But, I have found holding the device and using the analog stick along with standard buttons to be a strain over long periods of time. Let’s define long periods of time, as my sense of such may be drastically longer or shorter. I found, in an average 3-hour session, my hands would begin to stiffen and ache, due partly to using my left thumb to both control the analog stick and support a portion of the device’s weight. Speaking of weight, it’s a hefty one. The weight of the device makes holding it in any other position than supported on something to be cumbersome after a short bit. That may also be exclusive to me due to my apathy-ridden MMO-playing husk of a body. Then again, I COULD BE RIGHT. So, in summary: for short playtimes, it’s great; longer, and it’s going to start to hurt. Enough of that.
CostAh yes, the other part that hurts. The cost. It’s expensive: $250 bucks for a portable system, while Nintendo’s DS is only $150. Even way back, the first Gameboy I got was $100. Of course, if I calculated it, the time-value of money might be similar to the PSP, but that’d require fetching my finance books, and I’m not about to do that. The cost was quite prohibitive to me – after all, here at Space-gun.com, we’re all starving college students. But, upon counting my DVD collection, I realized that I had enough to cover nearly the full cost, so I boxed up my collection and headed to Gamestop. I walked out with the PSP and two games for less than half the cost of the system.
GamesSo obviously you wonder, “Well, what games did you get?” Well, I’ll tell you my dear friend, I got Untold Legends, by Sony Online Entertainment. *momentary pause of respect* Because it’s an RPG, and well, EQ and EQ2 are awesome, so Untold Legends should be too! I mean, DUH. Anyway, all in all, Untold Legends is a good game. It’s a bit like Diablo, with a few EQ1 and EQ2 sounds mixed in, a pinch of story, and a hearty helping of hack and slash ass-kicking. The only thing that would make me like the game even more would be to have it set in Norrath. Aside from that, it satisfied my desires for a portable RPG. (Psst – here’s one negative, but keep it on the down low, cause SOE rules. But, the music sucks, bad. It’s repetitive and boring and 8-bit-sounding, giving me NES flashbacks. Where’s my mp3 quality soundtrack?!) Plus, it’s the PSP; I’m sure we’ll see some incarnation of an FF game on there eventually. I mean THEY GOTTA. Till then, it’s good.
The second game I got was Darkstalkers. This game is like the arcade game, and I guess home system game. (I kinda dropped out of the consoles scene from about the Sega Genesis (version 1.0) to the Gamecube sometime in 2003, so I never played Darkstalkers anywhere but the arcade.) As I came to find out, not only do I suck at the game as badly on PSP as I did in the arcade, but also, the combination of the directional keys not sharing a single unified disc control and my gargantuan thumbs made angled jumping or attacks difficult. I may just not be used to the system or even the game yet, but it looks pretty. I’m sure someone with skill could do magic on the game, but as for me, it’s just a title to have in case someone near has it and wants to one-on-one via the wi-fi.
OverallOverall score was calculated by averaging the contributing scores and rounding up. But, it also fits with my general feeling about the system. It’s great, it’s got a great company backing it, and if they can pull off the magic like they did on the PS2 – keeping it a viable and desirable system even when it’s grey beard grows – I have no doubt the PSP will be squeezed for every ounce of power the little system has. The pain of holding the heavy device for a long period of time is pushed off by the quality of the content on the system; you willingly put up with the flaring carpal tunnel just to finish that next quest, beat the next opponent or win the race. It’s a beautiful platform both in its abilities and its design. So I give it two swollen thumbs up. If you can afford it, grab one, if not, trade some stuff in till you can afford it.
