So who here at Civfanatics is planning on getting this system? I probably will pick one up but I'm a little strapped for cash right now. Just curious on what you all think about the PSP.

$250. Yea rite... Not until I get a job will I even think about it.

I'm too poor also!

Have they improved on the battery life?

Have they improved on the battery life?

I've read about a lot of people making claims that battery life is too short and then others have mentioned battery life of 5 - 6 hours. I'm not sure who to believe but if the battery life is indeed somewhere between 5 - 6 hours I don't see what the problem is.

How long can anyone actually sit for 5 straight hours and play?

While 5-6 hours is decent battery life, that is only in low impact games. I heard some reports that battery life can be as short as 2-3 hours when playing a graphics intensive game.

That said: I am excited about getting my hands on a PSP. :D

Ive heard ridge racers (currently the most power demanding game) played and max volume/brightness gives you just over 5 hours. Some of the simpler games played at lowest volume/brightness will give you over 7 hours.

Nintendo fanboy not like PSP! Nintendo fanboy urge you to get "Puppy Times" for DS!

omg omg!!!!!11!!!1

Nintendo fanboy not like PSP! Nintendo fanboy urge you to get "Puppy Times" for DS!

omg omg!!!!!11!!!1

:lol:

Too late for me anyway. I got my PSP!

It seems far too expensive and too plagued with problems to really catch on... besides who wants to wait for loading times on a handheld?

What is it?

What is what?

Obviously, I'm against the PSP, as expected from someone like me. Half a year ago I actually considered picking one up for myself, but the more news I heard about it, the worse it seemed. The PSP simply has too many hardware problems.

First, the good. The PSP has really great graphics. Close to PS2 quality. And that screen is amazingly huge. The system looks slick, and sound quality is great. Feels quite comfortable in the hands, as well.

However, that's about all that system has going for it. First downfall is the price. $250 for the PSP, various accessories, and a Spiderman 2 movie. Games cost $40-50. Considering the DS costs only $150 and its games cost $30-40, the PSP will cost quite a sum.

Battery life is another issue. Roughly five hours of battery life for most games, around eight for music, and only three for movies. Then less than two hours when using Wi-Fi. That means a lot of charging time, which gets inconvenient REAL fast. In contrast, the DS is 8-10 hours, and the 8 comes from its wireless capabilities.

The PSP's multimedia features are useless. Movies are NOT watched on DVDs. It uses UMDs. So you have to pay whatever the price for a movie that can ONLY be watched on the PSP. Not your big-screen TV, not your computer, just the PSP.

Music is also worthless. The PSP works fine in terms of music quality, but it's the storage space that becomes a problem. The PSP comes with a 30 megabyte memory card. 30 Megs. That's like, 7 mp3's. If you want to use the PSP for music, you'll have to buy a much larger memory stick, which will skyrocket the cost in the hundreds real fast. Might as well get an iPod, as it will actually be cheaper, smaller, and much better music quality.

Then the PSP is riddled with even more hardware issues. The Square button is sticky due to a design flaw. The CEO of Sony actually refused to fix the problem until recently. Also, if you twist the PSP in a certain way, the UMD will shoot out like a gun. Add in the fact that the Sony Playstation doesn't have the best track record in terms of durability, I wouldn't be suprised if the thing broke after dropping it two times.

Oh, and let's not forget loading times. Handhelds are made for five minute bursts when commuting. I, for one, don't want to spend four of those five minutes staring at a loading screen.
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All this and I haven't even gotten into the games. The game libraries for the DS and the PSP are both, at the moment, lacking. The PSP mostly has games that are exactly the same as their PS2 counterparts, while the DS has games that are too short and could have benefited from more development time. However, the DS has a much brighter future. With announced titles ranging from Final Fantasy III, Katamari Damacy, Advance Wars, and even Age of Empires, I personally think the DS will be the clear winner of the handheld race.

I forward the motion stated above. When I first saw the $250 price tag I was astonished. Those flaws mentioned above are very noteworthy, especially the UMD movies one in my opinion. But that hasen't stopped millions from being sold.

You Nintendo fanboys are just worried about your precious handheld market share. :p

What is what?

The PSP or whatever its called. Well obviously its a game system, but whats so great about it?

You Nintendo fanboys are just worried about your precious handheld market share. :p

You're right, the PSP is SOOOOOOOOOO cool! In fact, it- *battery dies*

The PSP or whatever its called. Well obviously its a game system, but whats so great about it?

Graphics.

Beyond that, I have no idea. I just don't see why someone would pay $250 for a portable PS2 and another $50 for a game that's exactly the same as the PS2 counterpart. They must be really itching to play the super-cool METAL GEAR ACID, that has awesome turn-based stealth action... with cards! Or maybe they just love graphics. It's human nature to be a graphics whore, so I don't blame them for it at all.

Then the PSP is riddled with even more hardware issues. The Square button is sticky due to a design flaw. The CEO of Sony actually refused to fix the problem until recently. Add in the fact that the Sony Playstation doesn't have the best track record in terms of durability, I wouldn't be suprised if the thing broke after dropping it two times.

The Square button is no longer an issue. It has been fixed.

It doesn't have the best track record in terms of durability? My Playstation broke once in the several years that I had it. My ps2 is yet to break, and I've had it for a few years.

I saw the list below on some other forums, and decided I'd get a DS over a PSP though.

Dragon Quest
Full Metal Alchemist
Animal Crossing DS
Pokemon Diamond
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Final Fantasy III
Pokemon Pearl
Xenosaga DS
Mega Man Battle Network
Shin Megami Tensei
Baten Kaitos DS
Vandal Hearts
Monster Farm Jamboree
Seiken Densetsu
Lunar Genesis
Rakugaki Oukoku

I want most of the games on this list. :love:

I believe that the package costs $250 (which includes charger, games, etc) the PSP itself costs $150.

I can't decide between the PSP or DS...:(

Hm.. Well instead of looking entirely at graphics, I think most people would have their minds made up if they looked at what each does in terms of games. Since not mch else matters (buying PSP movies specifically for it... ya rite... and holding 7 songs on the built in hard drive) DS has more games, and is backwards compatible with several other handhelds. Also, much longer battery life, no loading times, and stuff saves in the cartridge!!! No discs and separeate memory cards (which can cost a fortune for those with a reasonable amount of games.

I plan on getting it sooner or later, battery power won't be a worry for me, sense I doubt I'll play it for more than 5 hours, and when I'm not playing it, it'll just be plugged into the charger.

Anyway, I'd choose the PSP over the Nintendo DS anyday. A few weeks ago, my PS2 broke. Called up Sony and the Represenative told me that it was the result of old age and usage. I've owned it for more than 2 years, maybe even pushing on 3 years, so the warrenty is long gone on the thing. Guess what though? I paid shipping and handling and they fixed it for free, not only that, but replaced both controller ports which had a "design flaw" in them and cleaned out the inside. All for free.

Meanwhile, my old Gameboy color which broke only after having it for about 6 months (the screen starting screwing up, shifting colors and all types of weird crap), is still sitting around broken, because Nintendo not only refused to fix it, they don't even fix there systems for a fee.

The Sony rep recognized my problem immediantly, and gave me a solution very quickly. Add in that it was someone I could understand, and not some foreigner who keeps switching languages on me, and really and truely Sony's customer service department is excellent.

Meanwhile Nintendo blamed the entire problem on me and recommended I go out and buy a new gameboy.

Meanwhile, my old Gameboy color which broke only after having it for about 6 months (the screen starting screwing up, shifting colors and all types of weird crap), is still sitting around broken, because Nintendo not only refused to fix it, they don't even fix there systems for a fee.

I don't know what you did to it, as I've seen the GBC dropped onto solid concrete from two stories above and still work fine. Hell, I heard someone lost his in the snow during wintertime. Three months later after the snow all melted, he found it again, and the GBC still worked!

I've seen a video where the Gamecube was literally dragged on the back of a car, and still work perfectly fine. The PS2 dies from just sitting there. Most people have had to get their PS2's replaced after a few years. Granted, there are plenty of people who have had theirs since launch and still work fine, but that does not change how many people have had to get theirs replaced. A friend of mine was on his third PS2 before he finally gave up.

A few months ago Xplay did a test between the three major consoles for durability. The PS2 was out the very first round after a weight was dropped onto it. The Xbox died after being dropped from a second story as its power switch fell off. The Gamecube, despite having a bent cover, managed to survive and still work fine, making it the strongest of the three consoles.

I don't know what you did to it, as I've seen the GBC dropped onto solid concrete from two stories above and still work fine. Hell, I heard someone lost his in the snow during wintertime. Three months later after the snow all melted, he found it again, and the GBC still worked!

I've seen a video where the Gamecube was literally dragged on the back of a car, and still work perfectly fine. The PS2 dies from just sitting there. Most people have had to get their PS2's replaced after a few years. Granted, there are plenty of people who have had theirs since launch and still work fine, but that does not change how many people have had to get theirs replaced. A friend of mine was on his third PS2 before he finally gave up.

A few months ago Xplay did a test between the three major consoles for durability. The PS2 was out the very first round after a weight was dropped onto it. The Xbox died after being dropped from a second story as its power switch fell off. The Gamecube, despite having a bent cover, managed to survive and still work fine, making it the strongest of the three consoles.

Does it really matter how durable it is, when sony will repair or replace it for free anyway?

Sony only started repairing them for free due to a lawsuit. Nintendo always repairs things for free as well. I know you got screwed over by Nintendo, but just as many people got screwed over by Sony reps. No company's perfect, so I'm willing to call the issue a moot point.

But I think the best case scenario is were you don't have to bother with the repairing part at all. The PS2 is a flimsy console. Sony repairs them for free, but the point stands. So naturally, the PSP won't be all that tough either. Especially Sony's losing enough money as it is (they're spending roughly $400-500 on the hardware), I don't think they're going to spend even more money making the thing extremely durable. Handhelds are meant to be dropped. I'm confident that the PSP will definitely survive one fall, but beyond that...

I'd rather have the best game library than a console that can withstand a nuclear blast. :D

I'd rather have the best game library than a console that can withstand a nuclear blast. :D

Very true. I was at the brink of getting a PS2 for myself at one point. Forgot why I didn't, though...

And I thought you were too busy to post until summer. :hammer:

I'm busy most of the time.

I did get a PSP for my birthday, however. :D

One of my friends brought his PSP to school and got it taken away before he could even turn it on! :lol:

I have no interest in these things however.

I'm busy most of the time.

I did get a PSP for my birthday, however. :D

Cool bro :goodjob:

What games did you get? I'm waiting for MVP baseball but now I have Dynasty Warriors.

I just got myself a PSP. I agree that it is expensive but I travel a lot and I don't own a PS2 so I thought that it would be worth it. I have never been a big fan of Nintendo and the whole idea of the touch screen does not seem appealing to me. I haven't gotten the time to play it yet or anything, as it is still charging so I can't comment on the battery life or anything like that but the system itself sure looks good.

When I first saw the picture of the analog stick I thought it was like a speaker because it barely protrudes from the PSP and nothing identified it. It looked just like a circular speaker but when this kid in my biology class got one and was playing it all throughout class I noticed it was an analog stick. It's pretty cool but he got it as a birthday present, as did all the other people I know that have one... Thing is, he already paid more than it should because of the starting jumbo package with pointless crap (Spider-man 2 UMD) and he bought 2 games and an $80 memory card. Come on... It's just not fair saying it's cheap at all when you can't even play without much memory like the DS.

BTW you don't have to use the touch screen on the DS, and i have heard bad bad things happening to PSP's, and going by how flimsy PS2's are, i wouldn't disbelieve them. On anothert note, my brother's PS2 broke (i was sensible and got a GC :p, although i do like some PS2 games...) and Spny wouldn't repair it- even with the warranty. He had to buy a new one... that started to play up, then it was stolen. He then got a new PS2 off of insurance, it worked fine for a few days... and then broke! Sony wouldn't fix it.

Back onto PSP... I think it's a bit overpriced and i wouldn't buy one, but if you want one, it's your money ;).

Cool bro :goodjob:

What games did you get? I'm waiting for MVP baseball but now I have Dynasty Warriors.

I've got Dynasty Warriors right now. I'd like to get Wipeout Pure soon, and am waiting for Death Jr. to come out.

Right now I'm torn between getting 989's MLB or EA's MVP baseball. Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition is due out in a couple of weeks too and I'll probably pick that one up as well.

WRT PS2's breaking down. I bought my PS2 (the big fat one not the new skinny one) 2 years ago and never once did it give me any problems. Maybe I'm lucky but I'm happy with Sony.

When PS3 comes out that's the system I'm getting. ;)

I'm suprised none of you got Lumines, considering how much critical praise its gotten.

I'm busy most of the time.

I did get a PSP for my birthday, however. :D

I'm hurt. :( ;)

PSP's are fine, but back when I was young (2 years ago) gameboys ruled the world. :mischief:

Hey, it's the Mosstrich! :)

Gameboys STILL rule the world! If the average consumer wasn't such a graphics whore, people would realize that 16 bit sprites with 2-D gameplay can be just as good, if not better than their 3-D counterparts with blocky polygons.

I mostly just posted that paragraph because I'm too scared I'll be modded by Legend for spam... I'm not used to the strict spam laws around here.

@Silverflame I must agree with that. Too many people buy the new games for the graphics but if people would buy games for the goodness they wouldn't have to go by new games every weekend. That's why Nintendo games were great. Not wasting $50 on the graphics, but spending it wisely for the gameplay.

WRT PS2's breaking down. I bought my PS2 (the big fat one not the new skinny one) 2 years ago and never once did it give me any problems. Maybe I'm lucky but I'm happy with Sony.

When PS3 comes out that's the system I'm getting. ;)

Same here. ;) Had my ps2 for several years, and never had any problems with it.

I've never had problems with mine but maybe that's because I really haven't used it much... I like computer games, with the mouse, being on a computer not tv, easy internet play, and the burning, and yea it's much better.