The PSP is Sony's first foray into the world of portable gaming, and arrives with a bang: Jørgen Sundgot takes a break for just long enough to type up his review - and nurse his cramps.
Review summary of the Sony PlayStation Portable:
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 First and foremost, the PlayStation Portable is a superb portable gaming device. Raw graphics performance combines with an excellent screen, high-quality sound and good controls to deliver an immersive experience, and the ability to compete head-on with other players wirelessly is sweet, sweet icing on the cake. On the flip side, its prowess as a multimedia device is exaggerated; getting content onto the device is either pricey or needlessly complex, and once there management functionality quickly proves limited - despite performance being admittedly impressive. Release: March 2005. Price: $250.
Pros: Fabulous graphics; analog stick; excellent screen; versatile functionality
Cons: Multimedia potential not realized; Memory Stick Duo cards comparably expensive
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Full Sony PlayStation Portable Review:
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As most people would agree, Sony entering the world of portable gaming would just be a matter of time. Having gained the upper hand in the console market with its PlayStation, it only took two iterations of this platform before the company started considering which other venues its considerable expertise in electronics might be suited for - and apparently, the PSP is the brainchild of that brainstorm. And oh my, what an impressive first stab at portable gaming it is.
Well, hello there
Sporting a decidedly widescreen form factor, there is no escaping the fact that the PSP is quite a sizeable device at 170 x 74 x 23 mm and 280 g; chances are good it won't fit snugly in your jacket pocket - a slight disappointment given it being a stab at a portable gaming console, yet admittedly a reasonable trade-off for the kind of power and functionality offered by the device.
With regards to looks, however, we've rarely seen anything as sexy as the PSP. Its all-acrylic finish is a pleasure to behold, and although we're not entirely sure we appreciate whichever feature is granting it the power to magically conjure fingerprints if one so much as glances upon it, we certainly appreciate the added visibility it provides to the glorious screen.
Ah yes, the screen. Boasting a 16:9 aspect ratio, the 4.3-inch display is not only comfortably spacious; it is also visually stunning courtesy of its X-Brite technology, which joins a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels, 16.8M colour depth and maximum brightness of 200 cd/m2 - 180 when on battery - in rendering it the clearest display we've seen in a handheld device yet. Indoors performance is stunning, whereas outdoors use is entirely feasible in most conditions except for direct sunlight. We particularly like the ability to adjust screen brightness on-the-fly courtesy of a hard button; just one of many buttons flanking the display.
Which button do I press again?
Buttons in general thrive on the PSP, with a four-way directional pad flanking the display on its left side, just above the highly responsive analog stick; a first for portable gaming consoles, and a boon for the gaming experience. To the right of the screen, we find the well-known PlayStation array of action buttons arranged in a circle, whereas below the screen are hard buttons for adjusting volume and changing between equalizer presets; the aforementioned brightness level toggle; a 'Home' button for returning to the main menu; and finally the familiar 'Start' and 'Select' buttons.
Moving to the ridges of the PSP, large shoulder buttons grace its left and right upper corners just where one would expect to find them. Between these sit the Infrared and USB 2.0 ports of the device, as well as a slider button to open the back-mounted Universal Media Disc (UMD) bay of the PSP. In the lower left corner of the PSP, a slider button serves to activate the Wi-Fi module of the device, mounted adjacent to its Memory Stick Duo slot, whereas the opposite side holds the power button which lets users either power the device completely on or off, or set it to a standby mode which handily conserves the current state to let users drop in and out of even the most heated gaming session.
Finally, the bottom of the PSP holds its 3.5 mm audio connector which cleverly allows for the replacing of the bundled set of headphones either with our without the bundled inline remote, as well as the power input - both fortunately placed in such a manner that they do not get in the way of the gaming experience. On a general note, buttons are highly responsive and ergonomics are good, although, as expected, a few pauses here and there are needed to keep from cramping up.
A jack of all trades - or is it?
The user interface of the PSP is that of Sony's XMB, or Cross Media Bar, and is both intuitive and extremely agile as it lets users move around in a grid-like manner to rapidly access various features. At firmware version 2.0, not only is the PSP a portable gaming console which feeds upon UMD discs; it also plays back movies from the very same - proprietary and pricey - disc format, as well as from Memory Stick Duo memory cards through an overly complex transcoding process for which software isn't even included; a half-baked attempt at best. Furthermore, a USB cable doesn't come bundled with the device, requiring either this or a Memory Stick Duo compatible memory card reader as a separate purchase.
Similarly, the PSP moonlights as a photo viewer and portable audio player with limited success, although the feature sets of both will suffice for the majority of users - and thankfully, MP3 is supported natively. Perhaps one of the PSP's most impressive aspects, however, is its built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, which lets users square off against one another either in an ad-hoc mode or through an access point, or even online in the case of certain games. Capable of storing multiple configurations, the PSP supports both WEP and WPA encryption standards, and also includes a very capable web browser - although this particular feature is as of yet unavailable to Europeans, for whom the upgrade to firmware version 2.0 has yet to be published.
Speaking of Wi-Fi, heavy use of this feature shaves considerable amounts off the battery life of the PSP, which in our tests averaged close to a very decent 4.5 hours of game time with the screen set to maximum brightness. As could be expected, battery life depends heavily on the type of gaming being conducted, with Wi-Fi knocking in excess of 1.5 hours or more off total battery life; stay away from the wireless and play the simplest of games, however, and you could squeeze up to six hours of amusement out of the PSP. For longer trips, the 1,850 mAh Lithium Ion battery of the PSP is not only rechargeable but also exchangeable - perfect for those in need of more battery-powered game time.
Availability
The Sony PlayStation Portable is at the time of press shipping in North America and Europe, where its Value Pack sells for $250 USD and €250 EUR, respectively.
Price and availability
The Sony PlayStation Portable will start selling for $250 () in March 2005.
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