Sony PSP Value Pack - Handheld game system

The Sony PSP arrived on December 14, 2004 amidst a flurry of press, rumors and excitement. If you've read any of my reviews on video games and video game systems, you will know that I'm a Nintendo enthusiast... always have been. My Nintendo excitement mostly stems from the systems (NES, SNES, N64, etc) - but I still have room in my heart for the gameboy lines and the Nintendo DS. That said - I gave the Sony PSP a 'fair shake' and am really impressed!

First things first - the Sony PSP is gorgeous. It screams for attention the way that the iPod line does. Slick design. Huge, brilliant screen that renders fantastic graphics. Browses the internet. Plays DVDs. And more.

The 4.3 inch screen is really the highlight of the PSP. Its beautiful. Whether you are playing a game or watching the Spiderman 2 DVD - its gorgeous and renders graphics wonderfully. So whether you are looking for a portable gaming system or a small movie player, the PSP is a great option.

The PSP is laid out similarly to a regular Playstation controller: the buttons, directional pad, analog stick, L button, R button... The menu and navigational systems are all intuitive and all very much Playstation.

While the video playback feature is super cool - there are a couple weak points. 1) Most everyone agrees that a large Memory Stick Duo card is a necessity to take advantage of the multimedia aspects of the PSP. 2) The multimedia aspects are not perfectly (or fully) developed. The MP3 playback is less sophisticated than some of the new Sony Ericsson cell phones... This is unfortunate because a truly excellent multimedia system would have made the Sony PSP nearly perfect.

The PSP Value Pack is an excellent entry bundle to the PSP - but listings on eBay include the Value Pack and games and/or DVDs for little more. The PSP Value Pack arrives with the PSP, an AC adapter, the battery pack, a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, earbud headphones, and case and a hand strap.

The PSP is a great handheld system, with a few drawbacks.

The PSP has a great screen size, and very good graphics. There are already games out for it that I'm hooked on, (Lumines and Tiger Woods Golf for example). There are also quite a few games coming out soon that look great too.

The PSP is a comfortable size, fits easily in your hands, and is not so small you'll get cramps easily (a problem I used to have with Gameboy Advance). Loading cartridges is easy and smooth, and the removable memory card is great not only for storing saved games, but can also be used for MP3s, which can be played through the PSP.

The PSP is also able to play movies, although normally the movies have to have been recorded to the PSPs proprietary media (the little mini DVDs that the games come on)

My biggest beef with the PSP is the sound. The sound is fairly good for games, but in my opinion leaves alot to be desired for movies and music. The quality is fairly good, but the sound volume is only moderate. My problem with it is if I'm watching an action movie, I want the special effects to be LOUD and in your face. Even with the ear buds, the sound doesn't go above a moderate volume level. This doesn't only hurt movies and MP3s, but there are some games that have an sound ambiance that really benefits at high volume.. and the PSP doesn't deliver that. I understand that it may be the best technology could pack into such a small package with so many other functions, but for me sound is so important.

I do enjoy playing the PSP, the games are great, the graphics are great, and I expect great things in the future. For portable movies and music, however, I'll look elsewhere.

I give the PSP a 4/5. It's a great system, and lots of fun.


Edit: Since writing this review, Sony has released upgrades to the PSP firmware that provides a volume booster. This has largely corrected the one thing that I felt was a downside to this product.

Easy to dislike the price, roughly $250 with nothing to play and a memory stick that holds about 30 songs.

If you get one, you have to automatically figure in $40-50 for a game, and an upgrade to at least a 540meg pro duo memory stick that will run $60-80.

Most of the games are good-great so far, and there are tons in development so the psp is here to stay. But there is so much more than the games.

Photos, offload video from your camera and watch on the psp, music of course, internet access (can be a bit tricky, need to check online for details), umd movies (mini dvds).

Quality of the screen is incredible, movies are crisp. Sound can be increased over what is shown as max by a quick change to your settings for movies. Some people complained about this, but once you make the change it is plenty loud.

Only drawback I can say is in games, the load time in some games can be a turnoff. Tiger woods 2005 you have to load between each hole, but as they get more efficient coding on the games, you should see the load times decrease.

Bottom line, if you have $350-400 to spend, you have a top of the line product with tons of games and movies to support it for some time to come.

I love the Sony PSP that features a large 4.3-inch 16:9 widescreen LCD TFT screen with a nice 480x272 resolution, the button layout is similar to the PlayStation with a digital control pad, an analog stick, USB 2.0 connectivity, a Memory Stick Duo media slot, and WiFi support.

I couldnt wait to buy this system and for the last month I have been in game heaven and I own about 8 games and the graphics, sound and game play are a pice of perfection in my eyes!

Mainly I love the way I can take it on the train, in the car and even at home I would be bored without it at times!