Sony's new PSP



The following is a compilation of my postings taken from a thread I started at SPUG on the Sony PSP. With very little editing, I present them for your information, warts and all. You may also want to read my write of Emulators for the Sony psp: an overview of the best at the gadgetter.

On 12th May 2005, I joined the gamers in Singapore in standing in line for a Sony PSP - the most advance portable gaming device. I also own a Gameboy, GameGear, Game Park 32, Zodiac... but nothing compares to the PSP.




Although there is a great thread on PSP at SPUG already, I thought it will be good to start a new thread especially since the renewed interest and get back on the subject as that thread has wandered far and sometimes off topic.

If there are enough interest, great especially from the PSP community games, emulators, movies etc....



The PSP is smaller than I thought, very thoughtfully designed and looks very bit the class act that it is. To call the PSP a gaming device is like calling a PDA a calculator. It is definitely much, much more.

It overtakes any portable gaming device eg GameBoy Advance with its internet connections and ability to use UMD disks.

It is better than the Apple Ipod since it can not only play MP3 but also videos and movies as well.

And it is a step above the Protable Media Players like Archos as it not only play photos, videos and MP3 but games as well.

When the emulators and other third party software are released, the PSP will be an awesome device that is capable of most things the active PSP community is already dreaming up.

Singapore launch today

The PSP was released in Singapore and Hong Kong today, following its release in USA a month ago, and Japan early this year. The basic device costs $455 with a full year's warranty. Courts has a special offer of $599 for the PSP, plus bag, screen protector and one game. Sony Square has a better offer of $580 for the PSP and 2 games of your choice. I went for this offer and got a third game. The store promises to give me a free screen protector when it comes in.

Although the PSP is capable of many things, I purchase it just to play games - and I was not disappointed. The screen is bright and very highly defined. Sound is good and the buttons intuitive.

Games

Puzzle Bobble Pocket is a great game pak with a variety of bubble popping games. Some years back I got a SNES system just to play the first Puzzle Bobble game. My, how things have progressed since.

Space Invaders Pocket is just wonderful for the retro gamer that I am. For just 50 bucks, you get several versions of this classic, including Super Space Invaders, my favorite arcade game.

I was very doubtful about the golf game, but it turn out to be a really graphically stunning game with great animation. Although in Japanese, I was able to play, save and continue my game without refering to the manual. In fact, I have yet to refer to the manual.

Great little device this, the cost of a Palm PDA.





1. name of game - Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee (Japanese Version)

2. where and how much i purchased it - sony square @west coast road (opposite ginza) one of the 2 free games i chose with $580 valuepak

3. why i recommend or do not recommend it - i recommend it because of the super animation and easy game play

4. my rating and comments - 8/10 - kinda addictive

for single player, there is the challenge mode and the new putter golf ie play 10 holes on the putting hole japanese games come with english leaflet





Useful links:

Saved games

mobilesquare has used games for sale

extremegamer has games for rental

well informed game shop



2nd Mini Review: Namco Museum (Jap) code 2

here goes my second review of psp games

as a diehard retro fan, namco museum is a must-buy on my list although the shops i visited doesnt have this title i saw 2 guys selling off this game at sgpsp

i sms-ed both, only one bothered to respond and within 2 days, i've got this umd for $50 couldn't be more pleased with it



the pak consist of 6 of my favorite namco classic games Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Dig-Dug, Rally-X/New Rally-X as well as a remade of Pac-Man, Galaga, New Rally-X and Dig Dug (which are really quite fun but not as pristine)

my first impression was it was like the MAME emulator but pressing the start button allows you to fill up the screen and is quite playable

although a japanese umd, all the menus are in english and allows you a choice of easy, normal and difficult settings

really a gem of a game pak

btw the us version will be released later this year it will have more games; 20 altogether, including Xevious, Bosconian, Mappy, Tower of Druaga, Dragon Buster, Grobda, Dig Dug 2, and King & Balloon

i went ahead to get the jap version as i didnt care much for any of the additional games i dont feel that they were in the same class as the likes of Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian... also i dont want to pay more for extra baggage that i probably will not take more than a curtsey look



every day the psp community grows and more homebrew games and emulators are released



so far, gb/gbc, nes, snes, ngpocket... are out plus games like tetris, pong etc but so far most work with jap firmware 1.0 1.5 patch has a protection against unauthorized games so unless you have f/ 1.0, no go

it is a simple process of copying the eboot.pbp file in a folder on your ms /psp/games

more info at psp hacker

files at holy bell



USING PSP FOR OTHER THINGS INSTEAD OF GAMING

although i got the psp just to play games today i decided to take the other features for a spin and see how well they perform

1. photos are rather straightforward just pull the jpg files into /psp/photos the image is really sharp and clear although the navigation is a little bothersome

2. mps are also pretty much a no brainer just pull the mp3 files into /psp/music the sound is pretty good and clear although it is no ipod as far as playlists etc goes

3. videos is rather a pain in the neck unless you got the converter (free with ms promotion) how does anyone knows that the mp4 files goes to \MP_ROOT\100MNV01. videos are quite good, but the conversion sucks

4. ms games are now limited to the first jap release ie firmware 1.0 unless the western world starts to get busy here still nuthing to play around

the archos 420 does everything from 1-3 with less effort so while these are good to have imho it is really no big deal good only to impress the weak-minded



here's another helpful link - psp crazy



besides hot shots golf (jap) and namco museum (jap) that i have reviewed earlier on this thread, my other 2 games are

space invaders pocket (jap) - menus in english. great compilation including super space invaders where i spent a fortune on at the arcades

puzzle bobble pocket (jap) - menus in english, better than the original snes version with lots of options - endless hours of mindless bubble busting fun

i am in no hurry to bury these favorite games of mine with a lot of other games that i dont really care for

pity e3 didnt come out with many of my fav games but the midway classics would be something to look forward to

i like board games like scrabble, monopoly
sports games like bowling, pool and mini-golf
arcade classics like arkanoid, tetris

dont know if any developer will work on these games although games like 'go' is already released

more than likely, some of these will be home-brewed eg tetris already out for japenese firmware 1.0

i will be testing out these games for the psp but since they are jap versions unless the menu is in english (quite unlikely) or easy enough to navigate, i will probably pass them by

slots (jap) - would be fun for a quickie
derby (jap) - horse racing and more
mahjong (jap) - several available, but i dont like japanese mahjong. taiwanese version not bad, but hongkong is our local version



just returned from fareast plaza and got my 5th psp game - tiger woods tour from mobile square

great service, good number of used games and it is so nice to have my first game in english booklet, cover etc.

i love the way tiger woods uses the joystick to play more like real golf and with the saved games from the links already provided, everything is unlocked

hot shots golf in its default easy mode now looks more like mini golf - click - click - click. it is faster, more animated and less delays; more fun but not as authentic



after playing with it a little more, this game is really growing on me

party game is my favorite option because i can play with another and even if i am playing alone. the first person serves as my get-to-know course shot and the second person is my real shot even get to play with the likes of vijay singh!

super!



got my jap PSP firmware 1.0 today, and started playing some games on the ms. here's my take of the best

1 Arkanoid - sound, full screen, thoughtfully rotated multi-level - probably the best game yet

2. Go - sound, full screen, only 2 player at this time

3. Puyo Puyo - sound, quite fun

4. Tetris - no sound as yet

5. Pong - quite nice if you like reto stuff

6. RIN - gameboy emulator - sound and all; great

7. InfoNes, NES, Famicom - NES emulators with sound Famicom is fastest; maybe too fast

8. SNES emulator, very nice, a tad slow

9. Just out - Pocket Neo Geo, SMS/GG emulators

10. A sprinkling of apps like text reader, calendar etc.



i never thought i will live to see the day when i will rave on and on about a gaming shop

i have dealt with seow choon at the jurong west branch for more than a dozen years, and probably purchased several thousands dollars worth of stuff. it is a good game retail shop always with the latest and pretty good prices. i've purchased from them, gameboys to neogeo etc and lots of games... what great times i had, but i never thought that their service was extraordinary until this week.

after i went to s power house and mega multimedia at tampines then to sim lim in a fruitless search for a jap PSP f/w 1.0. when i was alerted by johnnie from sgsps of a seow choon branch at pioneer mall of such a psp, i dropped by at lunch on thu to take a look. they had some jap PSP consoles, but all were f/w 1.5 except for the display (not demo) console. after some persuasion, they decided to sell it to me at what i thought was a hefty price of s$388. but being really desperate for a jap psp f/w 1.0 i got a new screen protector and left with that prized catch

i was so excited that all the emulators and games work that it was not until i got home from work, that i noticed one button was rather sluggish and the entire console feels kind of creaky-like - you know, used a lot

the next afternoon i had a dental appointment at bukit batok so decided to swing by there to ask what they can do about the button. i fully expect them to say they had to send it to japan but instead they call their hq at jalan besar found a brand new jap f/w 1.0, got me a card with the name of the guy to see and they replaced it foc with brand new set with screen protector as well.

that's great service - with a wide smile too



i like emulators

check out my writeups on

palm emulators

ppc emulators

gp32 emulators

pc emulators

here's my take on PSP emulators you can get them from psp hacker but only works with japanese psp f/w 1.0.

1. RIN is better than the original gameboy/gbc as it has a bigger screen, higher resolution, better sounds runs all roms from public domain ones to the latest hi-mem games

2. There are 3 NES emulators - NES, infoNES & FamiContest FamiContest runs a tad fast; the rest a tad slow but you can always adjust the frame skip great - as i can now play battlecity on the psp

3. The PCE emulator for the nec turbo grafx 16 runs most roms and do a splendid job at it - sounds and all

4. The sms/gg emulator is the most unpolished of the above still no sound, may have to wait for v4 but runs games in full speed

5. the snes emulator runs rather slowly but you can speed it up by circling the analog joystick to increase the frameskip.

6. there is also a neogeo pocket emulator but since i never owned one i'm really not interested in this one

7. then there is hitbit emulator running msx roms since most of their games are polished up by nes it is not really worthwhile even though i had tons of msx roms

enjoy!



NEW GAMES COMING TO A PSP NEAR YOU

imho GP 32 has the best pinball game on any handheld but i cant wait for hudson soft to release their pinball game pre-release screenshots are just wonderful from hudson soft



another game that is coming is payout poker and casino by namco. according to ign, this game includes Texas Hold'em, Blackjack, Baccarat, Slots, Roulette and much more!

and of course there is midway arcade treasures. this game for gamecube has 20 titles including SpyHunter, Defender II, Gauntlet Joust, Paperboy, Rampage Marble Madness, Robotron: 2084, Smash TV, Joust 2, Bubbles RoadBlasters, Blaster, Rampart, Sinistar, Super Sprint, 720 degrees Toobin', KLAX, SPLAT!, Satan's Hollow, Vindicators

hmmm...



actually if you have the jap PSP running f/w 1.0 lol - you can already play all these games

eg the snes emulator run quite a few pinballs pinball dreams is almost as good as the one in GP32

i checked the sms/gg emulator and it has casino, rampage, etc

the pce emulator has lots of classic games running smoothly with sound

why wait... play it now





imho the success of the psp is due to its large, sharp screen that makes games look great, pics hi-res and even videos delightful there isnt any portable device that even come close

just the device to read comics. grab the eigoMANGA's free psp pak issue 1 60 pages of free comics manga



my take on the homebrew games running on the PSP (f/w 1.0) is that the only game that is up to par is arkanoid and if you are a diehard retro fan, pong is not too bad

otherwise stick to emulators. gameboy is good, sms/gg still do not have sound, there are now 4 NES emulators! the best of the lot are the PCE and SNES emulators as the games are of much better quality and content. the new version 002 of the snes emulator is just out and is now running up to speed which makes this my current favorite

i took a look at the web and here are some of my type of snes games that i like

Shooters <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Aero Fighters
Galaxy Wars

Puzzlers <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Bust-A-Move
Cameltry
Tetris Attack
Super Marioworld

Gambling aka IR <<<<<<<<<<
Casino Paradise
Derby Jockey
Derby Stallion 2
Horse Racing 2
Mahjong 3
Mahjong Club
Majang 3
Casino B-S.D.L

Classics <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Arcade Classics (Nich.)
Castle Wolfenstein 3D
Supermario Collection

Sports <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Championship Pool

Pinballs <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Pinball Fantasies
Pinball Pinball
Battle Pinball
Super Pinball
Pinball dreams



using the PSP as a teaching tool

with its large, bright, hi-res screen the psp is the perfect teaching tool

check out my illustrated tract


and download it for your PSP at Church of Christ



buying a umd movie is extremely ex eg spiderman costs $80, esp compared with vcds and dvds

one way to save costs is to get a large ms and convert the movies over with pspvideo. i did an half hour show of the simpsons - took roughly 259mb, but plays very smoothly, clearly and sounds good

now there's a commerical converter for dvds and vcds



according to the good guys at psphacker.com:

"PSP Movie creator is a program that lets you create your own PSP movies in easy steps. Convert DVD and various video formats for optimized playback on PSP. Its ultra fast DVD to PSP conversion speed plus advanced editing features cannot be found anywhere else.

PSP Movie Creator also acts as a powerful PSP video management tool. It has very nice features designed for dummies. You can use it to maintain your video library, capture video thumbnails, change video title, etc. Support most comprehensive video formats: DVD, DivX/XviD, avi, wmv, mpg, mpeg, dat(VCD), rm, rmvb, etc."

You can download a free personal version that can convert normal files but not dvd or vcd from or purchase the full version (US$34.99) from them.

btw these guys also have a dvd/vcd to palm converter



here's a very helpful tip from psp crazy that you can actually make folders for your PSP videos:

Originally Posted by VietOne - Dunno if u guys know this or not but you can have multiple folders for psp video like

100MNV01
101MNV01
102MNV01
103MNV01
104MNV01


I do this now and organize my videos in folders. On the downside PSP Video 9 does not see any videos that are not in the 100MNV01 folder but the psp does.

So in fact you can store videos with the same name on the psp. They will just show up in the order of the folders.



using the PSP as a teaching tool (2)

here's another illustrated tract i wrote - in colour

check out this tract, Joy of Christianity at



and download it for your PSP at Church of Christ

btw the full text to these graphics are at the same site




well MAME, the multi arcade machine emulator has already appeared for the psp

looks like most of these homebrew stuff are from japan (naturally), with some apps by mac users (eg pdf 2 psp etc)





it is work in progress, running omega fighter right now but i expect now that work is started, more progress will be made in the coming days/weeks more info at xmame and psp hacker



when i was playing with my gp32 (gamepark) handheld i was invited to contribute to the first issue of a gp mag that actually works on the handheld



the psp with its large, bright screen is also ideal for such so log on psp mag and download your first free issue.

these guys really put in a lot of work - top shelf stuff





i was bemoaning that the only passable homebrew game for the psp is arkanoid. now here's another - hilo available by guyfawkes at emuboards.



it's a great game of chance with nice graphics although the spelling of lose turns out to loose but who cares?

i came to know guyfawkes when i was playing with the gp32 now he has promised to port some of his games over to the psp. super. btw guyfawkes runs a progaming competition at www.gbax.com a great place to get really nice homebrew games



bible on your PSP

you can d/l the text of the new testament at my church site, the NT



and use cn reader from http://www.psphacker.com/ to browse through it

Version 1.0 of the CN.Reader 0.99 for PSP was released by “Bed under the Moon”. It is said to be the best text reader out there by one of our users.

Features:

1: Use CJK,unicode code support chinese ,japanese?korea and english TXT file view

2: TXT file view list , you can choose the file you want.

3: Book Mark,for each one book you can use 50 book mark.

4: Support chinese Song style font.

5: High speed view.

6: Easy to change the txt when view.

7: Easy to come back to the menu of psp

8: Txt file size support to 8M

How to use:

1: unzip and put the EBOOT.PBP in the folder of ms0:/PSP/GAME/cnreader

2: save your book of txt file in the folder of ms0:/PSP/GAME/cnreader

3:Key Detail Function:

up ---- Front a line

down ----Back a line

left ---- Front a page

right----Back a page

L ----Front 1000 lines

R ----Back 1000 lines

? ----load book mark

? ----save book mark

X ---- back to the txt file list

HOME --back to psp menu



if there is enough interest, i'll zip an old testament file as well as a complete bible file