I picked a PSP up as an impulse buy. I happend to be at Walmart at the time of the launch, I had some extra cash to burn, and I felt like the hardware alone was worth the price of admission. This is my first handheld purchase, and my first Sony gaming device purchase.
The Good:
The thing is beautifully designed. I think Apple and Sony are the two best hardware designers in that order. But this makes the iPod look outdated. The screen is really unbelievable. The first time I fired up Spiderman 2, I was amazed.
The games available at launch got rated well, with a ton more on the way. The graphics are a huge leap over any previous hand held offerings. It may not be PS2 quality, but its definately much better than the D.S. If you are racer or sports fan, the PSP has got you covered. I opted to get Lumines, which is a perfect example of a good hand held game. Its very accessible, can be played for 60 seconds or 6 hours at a time, and its addictive. It will be perfect for all the traveling that I do.
Like the DS the PSP has WiFi built in. I wish that it had a browser built in, but its a matter of time before someone releases one.
The controls are well laid out, and are responsive as well.
It can play movies, music, and display pictures, but I don't think that its going to replace my iPod or DVD player any time soon. But it will serve as nice backups. Also, 250 is a pretty good price for all that you get, in my opinion, but I could see how others would differ on this point.
The Bad:
Propriety Storage! I'm not going to purchase any UMD movies because the format is not versitile enough. I doubt that I'll use the system for multimedia purposes at this point. I bought the system for gaming, the other stuff that it can do is all gravy. I think that at some point, the PSP could be used for the ultimate portable system, but not everything is entirely in place as of yet. Sony needs to make converting video easier, and release some desktop software to assist in transferring files.
Also, I would have liked for sony to include some PDA functions. But, that may come soon.
The only issue that I have come across in regards to gaming is the load times. They aren't awful, but they aren't super fast either.
Overall:
The hardware is amazing. Its lightyears ahead of anything else I've seen. People go out of their way to glance at it when I'm out and ask me questions. The games look good, with much more on the way, and It will be a perfect travel companion for the long layovers.
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