Ah yes, the screen. It's certainly the most obviously remarkable aspect of the PSP. Apple shareholders must have loosened their collars the day the PSP was unveiled; MP3s certainly aren't all you can store on Memory Sticks, and not nearly all that the PSP can play.
For instance, you can view JPEGs (and convert PDF files to JPEGs); eBooks come in PDF format; while transferring your JPEG photo album (from, say, iPhoto) onto a memory stick will enable you to relive those memories of happy moments wherever you go. You can use your favourite picture as a desktop background. Even if you don't, the internal clock will change the the colour scheme of the PSP on the first day of each month. This type of attention to detail shows the amount of thought Sony has put into design and functionality.
Movie Player
Movies can also be easily converted on a PC or Mac to play on PSP, and you can take any movie on your Pc's hard drive and convert it to turn on PSP. The format it recognises is MPEG4, a high-quality, high-compression file - so you can easily get two two-hour movies on a 2GB Memory Stick, or even two on a 1GB Memory Stick if you don't mind a drop in quality (which can be tailored according to the amount of storage space available). Software packages are available for purchase or download that will do all the work for you and convert your movies into the best MPEG4 possible.
If you want top-notch (almost) DVD-quality movies - and without the legal ambiguity associated with pirating films - then you can already buy dozens of them on UMD, the 1.8GB optical format specifically developed by Sony for PSP. And it's not just Sony supporting the format, either; independent publishers are releasing new movies, as well as their back catalogues. Some early releases have slight frame-rate issuses resulting in a double-image effect (Spider-Man 2 loses focus during most action-packed scenes), and I've been disappointed by the quality of some back-catalogue releases (the seminal Akira is particularly weak). But many of the movies available looks simply stunning: the quality of the PSP's screen is so high, the image is so clear and the colour so crisp, that to complain to Sony about a few bad examples would be like complaining to God that people aren't building very many “Good” churches. Besides, some video rental chains have started stocking UMD movies giving the owners the opportunity to test the quality of movies before they buy them. It seems that because of Sony's pedigree, everyone wants to get involved with the PSP's success on the ground floor.
With this world of portable entertainment opening up to you it's easy to forget that the main funcation of the PSP is gaming. As a games console it rivals the PlayStation2 in terms of quality of sound, graphics and in the variety of games out now or coming soon. Graphics-wise the PSP is as powerful as the PS2. In fact, in some cases the PSp versions of Ps2 games are better looking - WipEout Pure and Ridge Racer not only look better than the PS2 but also play better. In fact, the launch line-up was the strongest yet for any console, with such games as Virtua Tennis, Everbody's Golf and Metal Gear Acid also available from day one. Since then, we've been blessed with Burnout Legends, Pro Evo and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and how many truly outstanding PS2 titles emerged within that console's first three months? Meanwhile, we got Gran Tourismo Mobile, King Kong and Tomb Raider Legends to look forward to, along with many others.
Wi-Fi Revolution
Of course, nearly all PSP games take advantage of the console's Wi-Fi functionality, making wireless multiplayer gaming a standard of the format. But thanks to a software update you can browse the internet from Wi-Fi hotspots, with a keyboard to save "typing" with a screen cursor. Many pub chains have already installed Wi-Fi hotspots in every branch, and the Wi-Fi logo is appearing in more places everyday. Pretty soon, if you've got a PSP you'll be able to access the web from pretty much anywhere in any major town or country.
The Great Wi-Fi Distance Test
- Open Air - Playing in a crowded street I stayed in sight of my friend and managed to get a best distance of around 50m. This is far shorter than Sony's estimation of 100m-300m
- Through Walls - Big stone walls seem to be a problem (I couldn't get a connection through the side of the bank) but the dividing walls of a house are fine. I played steadily through one of these at a distance of around 10 metres.
- Through Floors - This one varied greatly. The best I managed was two floors, but the connection seemed to be best through one.
And that sums up the consensus on Sony's new marvel - the company really has thought of everything it could squeeze into a handheld, and stuck to the highest quality at every stage of its design. By all means try before you buy if you don't believe me. As people go on the bus if you can look at their PSP; go into a game store and spend 30 seconds on a demo pod. I'll put good money on even the most hardened PSP cynics changing their mind entirely the moment they see GTA of Burnout Legends in all their stick glory. But that's the great thing about the PSP revolution: it welcomes anyone who wants to be part of it. Best of all, it won't ask you to admit you were wrong in the first place.
