Playstation Portable: Dec 18, 2009

PSP 3000

PSP 3000 Limited Edition Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines Entertainment Pack- White

By John A. Klaesius - reviews

I'd like to say first off before you buy this, the PSP itself, is SPARKLY white! Its not a flat white, it is a glittery white. Just glad I got it for my wife. So if you have a wife or girlfriend that wants one, then you should get them this one. More then likely she will give you the assassins creed game. Which is win win! My wife loves the PSP, and all the other stuff it comes with! Unfortunately, the PSP wifi doesn't work with my N wireless router. That is my wife's only complaint. Other then that, this would make an awesome gift! Everything is already in 1 package!

Friday, December 18, 2009

PSP Super Travel Case With Pockets

By lerakha "lrk" (MD, USA) - reviews

I just got my psp and needed a case, so this one came in very handy. it fits the psp and up to four games. it keeps the screen protected. i like it a lot.

Sonic Rivals 2

By Lisa Shea "LisaShea.com" - reviews

Sonic Rivals 2 lets you play as different teams through a story mode, or enjoy free play. You get to experience the familiar Sonic world on your PSP in casual adventure fun.

Be Sonic & Tails, Shadow & Metal Sonic, Knuckles & Rogue, or Silver & Espio. Each character has her or her own personality, special abilities and look. You can test them all out in free play mode to get the hang of their talents and see which one is the best fit for you.

People new to the Sonic world might find this game a bit challenging. where most games have an easy ramp-up level or two where they say "press X now to attack", this game simply drops you into a level and expects you to know everything. The plot comes at you staccato with references to people and places you might not recognize at all. Really, the plot means nothing - but again it might be frustrating to a newcomer. They feel like they're missing what is going on in more than one way.

Still, once you get the hang of the buttons and accept the plot problems, the game is arcade fun. The maps have a lot of tiny details that add interest, far more banners and mossy areas and ivy trails than were necessary. The graphic designers obviously had some fun here. There are high roads and low roads and hidden roads - there's a lot of incentive to play and replay a level. the first few times through a level are just to get the sense of its general layout. It's only after a number of times through a level that you really start to explore all its paths.

The sound is what you'd expect from an arcade style game. Upbeat, stereotypical voices, jazzy pop music, appropriate brrrrings! and "Yeah, let's do this!" calls. It adds a boost of fun to your zooming around in loop-de-loops.

The controls are responsive and get you where you need to go. They've really got that aspect of Sonic games down.

Highly recommended for Sonic fans who want yet another handheld way to spend some time in mindless fun while they ride a bus or wait in line. There's no multi-hour RPG puzzles here, nothing to tie you up if you have to hit pause. It's perfect for filling in the quiet times of day with something fun and engaging. If you're new to the Sonic series, though, I'd recommend starting with Sonic Rivals 1. That way you get at least some grounding in what is going on.

For parents, this is good clean fun. Little characters are racing along roller coaster style racetracks and trying to gather gold hoops. It's rated E for everyone.

PSP USB Cable

By J. Coffey - reviews

When I hooked my psp to my computer I was confused when my computer wouldn't detect my psp. In order for the connection to be usable you need to to the system menu of your psp and select usb. Then the system will become connected to the computer and you can save files from your pc to your memory stick. Also if you download sony's media manager for the psp it becomes much easier to transfer files back and forth. The downside is that you have to pay for the media manager.

God of War Chains of Olympus

By blackaciddevil (in the USA somewhere.....) - reviews

Sad but true, I've never played God of War before. I've heard so much about the game and, considering it has David Jaffe's involvement in its' history, you'd think I'd have already played it. Alas, I haven't. Yet, I see the commercial on tv for this game and hear rantin' & ravin' from my friends about the game, I decide to get the PSP installment. Man (or Woman, whatever the case may be..;)), I was missing out on this for this long?? This game blew me away. It's exciting, addictive and challenging. God of War: Chains of Olympus is simply put 'the best looking title' on the system, bar none, yet. I've never seen graphics look quite this good on the system. Honestly. If graphics can get any better than this on the PSP, I'll be amazed. The environments were simply breathtaking, nothing like I've seen before. Course, Ready At Dawn made Daxter visually appealing for its' time.

For an action game, this game truly delivers. Especially where the story is concerned. Makes me wish some developers would make portable versions of some of my favorite games(like Shadowman, Bloodrayne, Legacy of Kain or Devil May Cry).

There's plenty of bonus content in the game that makes playing through a few times more appealing but I have a problem with the game's length. It is just too short for this kind of game. I managed to get through it in a little over 8 hours. It is, however, a portable game so I have to take that into account. Memory restrictions and whatnot, withstanding, it should be understood.

God of War: Chains of Olympus is a remarkable achievement on the PSP. It's a 'must-have' purchase for all owners of a PSP. This game just goes to prove that Ready At Dawn is a force to be reckoned with in the handheld world. I'm expecting great things from this bunch on their next game.

Sony PSP-1001K PlayStation Portable (PSP) System (Black)

By Ellen Safir (NYC) - See all my reviews

I purchased this PSP for my son, with money he saved up to buy a psp. I was a little concerned about buying a used electronic game device over the internet but I was pleasantly surprised. It looks like new, it works perfectly and he is very very happy. So thank you for making sure the quality of the products you advertise is good.

Ellen Safir

PlayStation Portable (PSP) Value Pack

By D. Keh "Electro-wireless Gadget Lover" (OC, CA, USA) - reviews

I ordered the Sony PSP way before Dec. 14, 2004. The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was the shining, crystal clear, liquid-like 4.5" screen! If you cover the control pad and buttons to reveal just the screen, you might think this is a tiny Plasma screen you're holding!

I also own a Nintendo DS, so I am being very fair here; the dual screens is a nice touch; my wife loves to play ZooKeeper using the stylus; but compare the screens to the Sony PSP's screen, it is not as sharp as the PSP.

The menu on the PSP is pretty intuitive, easy to navigate. Control pad and buttons are layout just like a regular Sony PS2 controller, except the joystick on the PSP, it looks like a round tape covering a hole or something, and I almost thought it is something I should remove. The analog pad is a little hard to use when playing any game requires precised movement, like Super bobble pop type of game, or shooters using cross-hair; but once get used to it, not a problem. The WiFi connection is easy to configure - switch it on and search and connect. I am getting a US verson next month to play wireless game with my wife.

People who has seen and played the PSP will tell you, the graphics are awesome! (yes it is a over-used word, but you'll agree with me if you own one.) I showed it to the guys at the cellphone store while playing Ridge Racer, immediately they formed a line and took turn to play with their jaws dropping to the floor!

I also tried some MPEG4 video playback using a 512MB MS Duo, now this is what a portable AV player should be! It's like watching a DVD movie on a plasma tv, smaller of course! No wonder Sony is going to including SpiderMan 2 movie for the first 1 million PSP shipped in the US. Watch it and you will see what I mean.

This is really a nice portable entertainment system, and yes, it plays MP3 nicely. It is larger than Apple IPod, but I love that big screen! Don't forget to get a screen protector and a carrying case, you want the screen look good.

PSPgo - Pearl White

By Christian Bullock (Portland, OR) - reviews

This review is from: PSPgo - Piano Black (Video Game)

The PSPgo is an interesting device. It would appear to many that this hardware revision seems to have taken one step forward (sleeker design, bluetooth capability, built-in memory) and two steps back (no UMD drive, price, purchases tied to the PSN Store). I'm here to say: I love my PSPgo.

First, a little bit of my background: I was an original adopter of the PSP-1000 system. I love the PSP platform and feel as though the hardware itself as well as many of the platform's games are severely unappreciated.

I want to provide some commentary for what kind of customers might be looking into purchasing a PSPgo:

1) The Gadget Geek

It's obvious, even from the customer images and official product images, that the PSPgo is one slimmed-down, sexy device. If you're into gadgets, the PSPgo will not disappoint: this is a much more portable, sleeker device than the PSP 1000 / 3000 systems. This handheld will fit where the old PSPs won't, that's for sure. The sliding-open of the controls is addicting; it mimics many of the cell phones that have this kind of mechanism.

2) Someone who is looking into purchasing their first PSP system

It's a tough call to truly recommend the PSPgo for those who are looking into purchasing this as their first PSP system. Personally, I would. Many probably wouldn't. As of right now, the PSN Store does not have all of the best PSP games available to download. However, they do have a fantastic current selection that includes Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2, LocoRoco 2 and more. As of today, they do not have several fantastic games on the PSN Store (Dissidia and Crisis Core, to name a couple). I can only assume, in time, these will be available.

The other consideration is buying used games at stores such as Gamestop. As a new PSP owner, you probably want to buy a lot of older games that you have yet to enjoy. These probably come in at fairly cheap used game prices at stores. If you have a PSPgo system, some of these prices are comparable; some are not.

If a first-time PSP owner does decide to purchase a PSPgo system, they don't want to worry about purchasing additional memory right out of the game, which is a nice little bonus.

3) Someone who currently owns a PSP 1000 / 3000

If you have the financial means, I think purchasing a PSPgo to compliment your PSP 1000 / 3000 system is a great idea. This is the kind of customer I am. I was able to use Amazon's video game trade-in program to knock the price down for the PSPgo system. I still have my PSP 1000 system around in case I want to play any of the games I have on UMD. And, not surprisingly (or maybe surprisingly for some), I have yet to have a hankering to go back and play any of the UMD games I own since owning a PSPgo. And I have some fantastic games on UMD that are not offered as a digital download currently on the PSN Store!

And I think this is where the PSPgo system gets a LOT of hate: the whole discussion about not being able to play any UMD games you may currently own. My thought on that is this: I think before owning a PSPgo, this might be a concern. But when you have one, you don't have a drive to play any of your UMD games. I have plenty to play in terms of PSX / PSP games I've already downloaded and have downloaded since owning the system. I don't know, maybe I'm just a special case or something.

Conclusion

I absolutely love my PSPgo: it's sexy, it's incredibly portable and I love having a whole smattering of games available right there on my system. The price may be a tad bit high, but if you can swing it, you'll love the PSPgo system. Since owning my PSPgo, I have not wanted to play any of my current UMD games on my old PSP system. There's a lot of currently released titles on the PSN Store to satisfy my needs.

PSP 3000 Limited Edition Gran Turismo Entertainment Pack - Silver

By A. Dent "Aragorn" (Minas Anor, GD) - reviews

We've been a PS3 household ever since the 60GB version came about so, with two pre-teens in the house, we were ripe for a PSP adoption. We actually bought the Ratchet & Clank Pack some time ago because one of my kids was a fan of the game. The Hannah Montana bundle followed shortly after because our 6 yr. old was Hannah Montana's biggest fun. But we have 2 boys and junior maxed out on the GT Prologue on the PS3 and he 'lost' the 3000 we got him a few months ago at school so... here comes the PSP 3000 GT pack.

PSPgo - Piano Black

By Terry Mesnard (Bellevue, NE) - reviews

Ignore my score for a moment, please, because it doesn't really mean much. Looking at the scores already here on Amazon.com, I completely understand and can agree with most of them. As such, it's hard to really place a score on this new device. Honestly, I don't think there's been such a contentious electronic device launch like the PSP Go in...well, recent memory. Having refreshed the PSP what feels like a hundred times already, Sony, presumably feeling the sting from Apple's success with the iPhone/iTouch as a digital gaming device, decided to refresh the PSP yet again. And herein lies the problem.

The Go gets rid of the UMD feature of all of the previous PSPs and embraces the digital world in a remarkable way for a gaming device. Without getting too far into the "owning versus not owning debate" (let's keep this civil), a lot of people have flocked to the iPhone's bite-sized, digital-only gaming and Sony's new direction is pretty much inevitable. If a way of presenting games is making money, a company will always follow suit. The problem is that with the lack of a UMD drive, Sony's faithful who've purchased at least one PSP in the past are left high and dry. For individuals who have a nice UMD collection going, this move can only be met (and has understandably been met) with vitriol, with calls of "why are you ignoring us?" There was talk, at one point, of having a UMD transfer system that would allow gamers to somehow turn their UMD into a digital purchase. This was scrapped in the USA even though, from the sounds of it, Sony Europe still has a program for some games. Then there's the issue of the price. Buyers can easily purchase the slightly older PSP-3000 for about $170, $80 less than the PSP Go's $250 price point. To make matters worse, any of the digital products being released for the PSP Go will work on prior models, as long as they have a memory stick. Yikes.

All of this history going into today leaves the question is the PSP Go worth it? Well, that kind of depends (with one huge caveat I'll mention in a bit) on the consumer. The Go is about 16% lighter and 35% smaller than the PSP-3000 (more so for the original PSP) and has a slick sliding system that hides the keys. When closed, it's roughly the same size as an iPhone, a tad longer, wider and rounder but almost the same size. Unlike the other PSPs, this one does seem a lot more portable. It also does look and feel like a nice expensive piece of electronics. I remember when I first held the original PSP in my hands and it felt like an expensive system; this brings back memories of that day. While it doesn't have the UMD drive, it does come with 16 GB of storage space (which could cost you $60ish to get the same amount of space on the PSP 3000). One of the bigger new features, though, is the Bluetooh technology. The latest firmware update (available today) will allow tethering to your cell phone, which, if your plan allows for it, will allow you to use your cell phone as modem if you don't have Wi-fi available. It's a nicety and one I won't be able to use (thanks AT&T) but somehow I don't think a cell phone, even 3G, will be strong enough to consistently play online or be quick for downloads.

Not much comes in the box. You get a cell phone-like charging kit, based on a new framework for charging. It's kind of a "one jack fits all" multi-purpose plug-in. The cord has a USB connector on one side and the cell-phone-like plug-in for the PSP. This same jack will be used for other purposes like TV out, etc. This means that any of your old accessories won't work on the new system. It also comes with a voucher to download the PSP Go version of Rock Band Unplugged; this version is free to start out and comes with five songs ("Buddy Holly," "ABC," etc.) and then you just buy additional tracks à la carte. The demo for Patapon 2 comes pre-loaded, as well. The final thing, besides the manual, is the Media Go software which you can also download from the internet, to purchase games on your PC to transfer to your PSP. Nothing fancy. As a quick update, I've had more time to mess around with it and have started using the Media Go to download files. Like a cell phone, you can plug the PSP Go into your computer through it's power/USB jack to charge the phone. Media Go acts like iTunes (and has a similar skin) so you can download games through Media Go, directly to your PSP Go. It's a lot faster. As an example, it took me around the same time to download/install God of War (over 1 GB) via Media Go as it did Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (200ish MB) via the PSP Go 802.11b Wi-fi. The synching process will be familiar to anyone who's used iTunes or Zune software and is actually a bit easier and quicker, even if it takes an additional step.

So, again, is it worth it? This brings us back to that one caveat: the price. If you're not a current PSP owner, have embraced digital-only gaming and don't mind dropping $250 (as a comparison, you could get an Xbox 360 or a Wii for that price or less; or, for $50 more, a PS3) on a "new" gaming system that is technically about four years old in terms of games (meaning, not a "next generation" PSP), then yes. The PSP Go is a worthy purchase. It's still the same PSP, a strong, powerful device that has a good assortment of fun games. Even when the most angry at the product, you have to admit that. It's just a great device, whatever version you buy. But it's just not as well-rounded and consumer-beneficial as the older, cheaper models. So, if you're not that person above, either keep (or upgrade to) the PSP-3000 and you have the benefit of not only getting all the new digital games and "minis" available today but also play UMDs.

I like mine and am glad I purchased it. I love the portability of it and the lack of UMDs. But, I'll be honest, the PSP-3000 is still a cheaper and more well-rounded option.

PSP 3000 Core Pack - Black

By J. I. McGyver - See all my reviews

The all new slimmer PSP 3000 comes in with a couple of new upgrades over the 2000 model. Primarily for the Skype functionality, a microphone is onboard along with a reduced glare 4.3" screen. Its a given that fingerprints will still be a continued issue for the PSP line. Thankfully, the age old problem of ghosting has yet to appear on my new PSP 3000.

One of the sweeter features now is an upgraded (AV) video output support. Owners can now operate their systems with regular (NON HD) TV. I suggest buyers pick up a good composite or component cable. With the usual collection of great games, improved graphics is a major plus.

As with all previous models, control buttons layout are very much like the classic Play Station. One area of concern is that load times for the UMD (Universal Media Disc) seemed to drag a bit. Its a given that purchasing the kit which includes the proprietary MS Duo Card is more cost effective in the end. Its obvious that Sony missed the boat when it went with its own proprietary format instead of the more widely used and less costly SD standard.

Even though Wi-fi capable, the unit is outfitted with possibly the slowest version (802.11b) on the planet. It powers up via a 5 volt ac adapter or USB. Video playback is great as long as you copy your favorites on the memory stick Duo Card. Going any other way is definitely a slow dragged out process. When it comes to television, Sony's own version of Slingbox allows for free tv viewing.

This PSP won't get confused with your IPOD anytime soon but music play is generally good. Another added feature is that it will even support music art. If one is going to display photos on the PSP I strongly suggest compressing your files. Photo display can be via slide show or singles.

Of note, the PSP is also a web browser. However, its hit and miss for flash. Streaming internet radio via Shoutcast is a freebie. PSP offers a regular schedule of firmware updates. As with the earlier editions, via a network or the internet the unit can pick up audio, video and photo files that are stored on a PS3. The PSP 3000 comes with the standard 1200 mAh rechargeable battery. Battery life runs almost a full 5 hours whether one is gaming or watching a movie.

Necessary accessories such as the Memory Stick Duo card, protective screen cover, headphones and a carrying case are not included. Not all PSP headphones are compatible with the PSP 3000. When purchasing headphones read the specs carefully.

Even without the included accessories, the PSP 3000 still brings it on. I would definitely recommend this model as a gift or as a personal purchase. After all, it is Play Station.