Portable PlayStation: No Longer a Dream

For many of us, ‘Portable PlayStation’ says enough about PSP to make it essential. Not just PSone, mind, we’re talking PS2 performance or thereabouts. Initial try-outs with the likes of Ridge Racer and Virtua Tennis will convince you of as much.

Around 30 PSP games are available from Day One in the UK, the best of them looking spectacular on the high-resolution, wide-screen LCD display. As mentioned earlier, all PSP games run solely off UMDs – so don’t expect your PSone/PS2 discs to slot into the back. PSP games will also be available as downloads in the near future, but Sony is yet to announce a list of titles. They may include adaptations of existing PSone/PS2 games, but unlikely to be identical ports because of hardware difference. PS2 has a PSone chip built-in to enable backwards compatibility, but PSP has different technology to them both.

Something else to consider regarding your gameplay experience is the PSP button layout. Although similar to what you’re used to on a DualShock, the interface is significantly different: just one analogue stick, situated on the left-hand side, and the number of L/R triggers reduced to two. Directional buttons and trademark ‘enter keys’ remain identical to DualShock. What this all means is that specialist set-ups in games utilising a second analogue stick and/or additional L/R triggers are not possible. However for the vast majority of games we expect this layout is all you’ll ever need.

Any perceived shortcomings regarding control are smartly countered by PSPs wireless network capability. This is a priceless commodity for today’s games, enabling cooperative or versus multi-player gaming – ideal for football, racing, and one-on-one fighting. Some PSP titles also allow you to exchange game data, such as acquired items and modified vehicles and characters, via wireless network. Expect departure lounges worldwide to be transformed from zombie enclosures to whooping sports arenas!

This year’s PSP highlights include Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Series, Metal Gear Acid, Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, and Burnout Legends – to name just a few. PSP has support from the world’s major game publishers, ensuring a wide range of choice for the foreseeable future. So as a games machine PSP already re-wrote the rules, but of course this is only part of the story.

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