New PSP slimline

[scotty.]

Sony has finally let it slip that a new version of a PSP is in the works. (Although no date is confirmed.) A few changes apart from it's slim design, it will have 8gig internal flash memory, sony are negotiating with amazon to allow downloads of movies and music etc. improved buttons, faster loading and a built in camera, brighter screen. possibly a ds style. (2 touch screens)

[Adamaniac 791]

All of this is pretty old news.

However I have never heard it mentioned that two touch screens will be added, and I severely doubt this is true either. Such a change would only happen with a "PSP2", and considering how the PSP is supposed to last for 10 years I doubt we will be seeing the next generation PSP very soon. Besides which that would make the PSP too similar to the DS and people would be annoyed about how Sony would have copied Nintendo. I'd put this whole business about two touch screens being added as a rumour.

A revised PSP with a camera, 8gb internal flash memory and a slightly altered profile is highly possible, however Sony wouldn't do anything that would really screw over existing PSP owners and prevent them from playing new games, they want your money after all. Existing PSP owners could buy the PSP camera and an 8gb memory stick and be in pretty much the same position as owners of the updated PSP anyway, and although an updated PSP may be more comfortable to use than an "old" one they will still be able to do all of the same things and play the same games.

It'd be like how the updated slimline PS2 was in relation to the big old chunky PS2, it was smaller and had a built in network adapter but otherwise was the same system. You could buy a network adapter for your old one to play online games though, so you could still have the same functionality with an old PS2.

[Steph]

I honestly don't see any need for them to make it slimmer: it's thin enough as it is. And decreasing the width would mean the screen would have to be a little smaller because there's not much there to trim. I would mind a cover of some sort so it's a bit like the GBA SP; it would be useful in preventing scratches, but i can't imagine how that would look. Screen protectors are good though when applied properly, so it's no big deal.

My friend's waiting for this redesign before he gets a PSP, but i'm happy with what i've got. I can get (and have just ordered) a 2gb stick for under £20, or i could get a 4gb for £15 more. I could get the camera for about the same price too, if i wanted it, and that would be all the improvements i'd want. On most games the loading times aren't too bad: i could see the faster loading times making a slight difference on a game like The Sims 2, but it wouldn't save Smackdown vs. Raw 2006.

The only thing they need to do now is bring out more original games, games that actually challenge the system and bring something new, and stop with the ports of old games that no one wants.

[Adamaniac 791]

I honestly don't see any need for them to make it slimmer: it's thin enough as it is. And decreasing the width would mean the screen would have to be a little smaller because there's not much there to trim.

I agree, to be honest I don't see how they could possibly make it any smaller without decreasing the screen size (which Sony have maintained they aren't going to do). Plus it is already slightly uncomfortable to hold, it would be made worse by making it smaller or thinner.

On most games the loading times aren't too bad: i could see the faster loading times making a slight difference on a game like The Sims 2, but it wouldn't save Smackdown vs. Raw 2006.

If the developers know what they are doing the load times can be very short, for example Metal Gear Ac!d 2 and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror are great quality games with decent graphics and sound and yet have very short loading times.

The only thing they need to do now is bring out more original games, games that actually challenge the system and bring something new, and stop with the ports of old games that no one wants.

I agree wholeheartedly. Games designed for the system from the ground up tend to be much better than those that are ported (or titles where the game engine has been ported), that's why titles like Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror are so much better than multi platform games that also appear on PS2.

Making an example of Dark Mirror it has one of the best control methods conceived for the PSP, some of the best graphics on PSP, some of the best sound effects on PSP and gameplay that although has been cut into portable friendly chunks the action is in no way cut down because of it. And to top it all off it runs very smoothly with little to no slowdown at all.

Compare this to Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, a title that although not technically a port has a game engine that was ported from Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (a PS2 game). As MGS3 (and the 3d camera from Subsistence) was designed around a PS2 controller the controls of Portable Ops suffer from the lack of buttons and no second analog stick due to the PSP controls. Whilst the graphics and sound effects are top notch and the load times are very short when a lot of stuff is happening on screen (e.g. when you are spotted and lots of enemies are on screen) there is some slowdown. Also again whilst the story is very well done and the voice acting is absolutely fantastic the gameplay feels slightly sub par thanks to some repetitive missions that seem too short even for a portable game. Don't get me wrong it is a very good game but I just feel that if Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima had a more active role in the game's development it would be a more focused game rather than an erratic one with both good and bad parts.

And that last bit of the last paragraph kind of shows my opinion on PSP games as a whole, most studios seem to be/have taken the idea that they can do a "half assed" entry into one of their key franchises in order to make a quick buck out of PSP owning fans that they know will buy the game. What they really should do is create games specifically tailored to the PSP console and take advantage of the hardware whilst being fully aware of its limitations, much like how the developers who created Dark Mirror did.

[Dr Zaius]

And that last bit of the last paragraph kind of shows my opinion on PSP games as a whole, most studios seem to be/have taken the idea that they can do a "half assed" entry into one of their key franchises in order to make a quick buck out of PSP owning fans that they know will buy the game. What they really should do is create games specifically tailored to the PSP console and take advantage of the hardware whilst being fully aware of its limitations, much like how the developers who created Dark Mirror did.

Yes, there are some unscrupulous publishers out there who are simply trying to make a quick buck and don't care about quality.

[JohnStar]

Yep I've already pre-ordered it, I hope it's as good as it's cracked up to be