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PlayStation Portable

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PlayStation Portable
File:Sony PSP Logo.svg
File:Psp1.jpg
ManufacturerSony
TypeHandheld game console
GenerationSeventh generation era
LifespanJapan December 12, 2004
North America March 24, 2005
Europe Australia September 1, 2005
Units sold17.03 million units shipped[1]
MediaUMD
Memory Stick PRO Duo
CPUMIPS R4000-based; clocked from 1 to 333 MHz
Online servicesInfrastructure and Ad-hoc through 802.11b and 802.11g Wi-Fi
Best-selling gameGrand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

The PlayStation Portable (most commonly abbreviated PSP) is a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment. The PSP was first announced during E³ 2003 and was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference during E³ 2004. Its appearance is similar to the Game Boy Advance. It was released in Japan on December 12, 2004, the United States on March 24, 2005 and the European Union and Australia on September 1, 2005.

Variations and accessories

In all territories the PSP is available as part of the Value Pack or Core Pack, and in most territories it is also available as part of a Giga Pack. The Value Pack contains the console, battery, a 32 MB Memory Stick Duo, earphones with remote control, a slip-case, a wrist strap, and a Sampler Disc (in some territories), for USD $249.99, CDN $279.97-299.98 and even 229.99, GBP £179.99, JPY ¥26,040, €209, AUD $399.00 and NZD $429.99.

On July 21, 2005, Sony announced in an event in Tokyo, Japan that there would be a ceramic white version of the PSP. This PSP is the same as the black one except that it has higher, non-clear buttons. It also has an improved volume system. With the box of the white PSP you get: white PSP system and slip case now in white. It was released on September 15, 2005 in Japan and was later released in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia. It was released in Europe on May 15th, 2006.

On October 20, 2005, Sony announced the PSP Giga pack, which contains a 1 GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, a USB Cable, and a stand. It also contains all of the other accessories found in the standard PSP Value Pack, except for the hand strap. The suggested retail price is ¥29,800 in Asia, $299 in the United States, $349 in Canada and £214.99 in the UK.

The Giga Pack was released in Japan on October 31, 2005, in North America on November 3, 2005, November 17, 2005 in Europe, on November 16, 2005 plus in the UK. However in North America the deal was based on a holiday offer, and stopped production for North America on December 31, 2005.

A base unit package was available only in Japan at launch, although it was released on the U.S. and Europe on March 22, 2006,[2] with pricing points set at $199 U.S, €199, $329 AUD and £149.99[3]

Other optional accessories offered by Sony include: PSP headset, carrying case, extended-life battery, headphones with remote control, battery charger, car adaptor, accessories pouch and cleaning cloth, AC adaptor, and system pouch and wrist strap.

PSP features WiFi 802.11b networking capabilities (compatible with 802.11g networking as well) to interact with other PSP units nearby for ad-hoc multiplayer gaming or to share files, and to enable infrastructure (by using an AP) multiplayer gaming, surf the web, download demos and new content, make use of its LocationFree Player features and upgrade its firmware.

When Sony first released the PSP, the battery life was somewhat lower than other portable competitors. To combat this the majority of games run with the CPU at 222 MHz instead of 333 MHz, this increases the battery life slightly. The software itself can directly control the speed of the CPU, and the tool named Edison Carters Cheat Device for Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories allows CPU clock to operate at 333 MHz, resulting in a higher framerate and thus much smoother gameplay, at the cost of somewhat less battery life.

Some counterfeit PSP systems have been made, the major being "Pop Station". These counterfeit systems merely resemble the PSP in shape but cannot play PSP games and usually have their own built-in games, often simple ones.

Updates

The PSP requires system updates to properly run certain games. Older games, such as Star Wars: Battlefront II and X-Men Legends II, require a system version (for our purposes, we'll call it A). The newer games, such as 007: From Russia With Love, Splinter Cell: Essentials and Monster Hunter, use a different system version (for our purposes, we'll call it B). The newer games made for B will not play if your system version is A.

The current version ready for download is 2.71.

Features

Games

Main article: List of PlayStation Portable games

Controls

Despite its movie and music playback capabilities, the PlayStation Portable has primarily gaming-oriented controls (as opposed to the controls typical to television remotes or MP3 players): two shoulder buttons, the iconic PlayStation face buttons (triangle, circle, cross, square), start and select buttons, a digital 8-directional pad, and an analog input. There is also a row of secondary controls along the underside of the screen, for controlling volume, music settings (either switching the audio off and on in games or selecting different equalizer presets in the OS), screen brightness, accessing the system's main menu, as well as the standard Start and Select buttons.

The PSP's analog input, often called the "analog nub," is not a traditional analog stick, but rather a flat, circular disc whose surface is grooved to prevent the player's thumb from slipping during gameplay. It is used in the same way as the analog thumb stick of a modern console.

Demos

The first downloadable demo for the PlayStation Portable is the demo of LocoRoco. It can be downloaded from the Japanese PlayStation site and be booted directly from the Memory Stick Duo and requires firmware version 2.7. An English version of LocoRoco has also been released although it only requires firmware version 2.60.

Recently, however, several homebrew sites have released firmware 2.70 Demo Packs, which allow the English version of LocoRoco to run on 2.70. LocoRoco is now free to download from the PlayStation website (www.yourpsp.com in the United Kingdom and us.playstation.com in the United States).

UMD movies

Main article: List of PlayStation Portable movies

Because of the UMD's storage capacity (1.8 gigabytes) and the PSP's large display screen, some film studios have released feature films in the UMD format with pricing comparable to DVD videos. Studios releasing UMD movies include Disney, Warner Bros. Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Lions Gate Entertainment, Sony Pictures, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, and Anchor Bay Entertainment. Anime companies, such as Bandai, Geneon, FUNimation, and Viz Media are planning to release anime series, such as Trigun, and Gungrave, and movies, such as Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, the Ah! My Goddess movie, and Ghost in the Shell to name a few.

Most releases provide alternate audio languages and content, subtitles, and special features. (Japanese releases have been somewhat more eclectic, and include UMD/DVD combination packs[4] and pornography.)

Movies on UMD were first made available in April 2005. The initial North American releases included House of Flying Daggers, xXx, Hellboy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spider-Man 2, and Resident Evil: Apocalypse from Sony Pictures, along with Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Kill Bill Volume 2 (Miramax) and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl from Disney Pictures. On June 22, 2005, Sony confirmed that both House of Flying Daggers and Resident Evil: Apocalypse have both sold more than 100,000 copies each.

However, as of March 2006 at least two studios, Universal and Image Entertainment have stopped support, and others including Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Buena Vista are reconsidering their strategy about the format, as some observers consider that having released too many movies in a short period of time saturated the market, that the announcement of iPod Video was unfavorable to the format, and that users prefer "ripping content and sticking it onto the device" instead of buying movies.[5]

In an April 12, 2006 article on the website The Digital Bits, it was revealed that Warner Home Video has quietly cancelled their upcoming UMD Video titles.[6] Warner Home Video joins Universal, Paramount, and Image Entertainment as the companies that have dropped support for the UMD Video format.

Multimedia and codecs

MagicGate Memory Stick Slot
  • Audio
    • MP3
    • ATRAC3
    • WMA (requires firmware 2.60 and acceptance of license agreement to activate WMA playback capability via wireless Internet)
    • AAC (requires firmware 2.00. iTunes AAC files are compatible when renamed from .M4A to .MP4. This restriction was removed with firmware 2.70.)
    • WAV (Linear PCM)
    • MP4 (Container format)

The PSP is capable of displaying still image, movie, and audio files stored on the UMD disk format or a memory stick. The system supports MP3 (and Windows Media Audio for firmware 2.60) and Sony's ATRAC3 plus formats for audio, MPEG-4 for video on UMD discs, and JPEG images. The PSP also has the capability to decode MPEG-4 Part 2 and MPEG-4 Part 3 from the *.mp4 container, if located on the Memory Stick. The file(s) must be placed in the /MP_ROOT/100MNV01 directory on the Memory Stick, and be named in the following format: M4V#####.MP4 (where "#" is any digit). Since firmware 2.00, users can upload movies with a Sony proprietary AVC codec encoding, by putting them in the /MP_ROOT/100ANV01 Folder, and named as MAQ#####.MP4. A corresponding thumbnail image file (160x120 pixel JPEG files renamed with the .THM extension) with the same file name (besides the extension) of the movie file can optionally be placed in the same directory. Unlike UMD movies, resolution of movies on a memory stick is limited to 76,800 pixels (320×240, 368×208, 480×160, etc.), resulting in lower quality movies than UMD movies.

Sony has announced that Image Converter 2, a piece of PC software for converting video files to AVC for playback on CLIÉ PDAs, will be available before the end of the year, and may be used with the PSP. A preview version was made available shortly after the PSP launch. It can convert *.avi, MPEG1/2/4, QuickTime and *.wmv movie files to AVC, as well as the "Giga Pocket" and "Do VAIO" files used by VAIO PCs to record television. It will also convert most common still image files into JPEG format. Sony's SonicStage software can be used to copy *.mp3 and ATRAC files to the PSP as well.

Sony's software is not the only toolset for getting music or movies onto a PSP. A cottage industry has grown around offering useful tools for converting and copying files for use on the PSP. Some popular alternatives include Media Boss,[7] PSP Movie Creator,[8] PSP Video Express,[9] Xcopy9,[10] PSPWare[11]], iPSP,[12]PSP Media Studio,[13] PSP Video 9,[14] 3GP Converter and PSP Multimedia Extender[15] all simplify the task of converting and transferring files to and from the PSP's Memory Stick. Additionally, some FOSS programs, such as FFmpeg can be used to convert video into a properly sized and formatted PSP video file. Using these tools, nearly any digital video file (including movie files ripped from DVDs or digital video recorders like the TiVo) can be played on a PSP, after conversion to AVC.

Video file sizes largely depend on the audio and video bit rates. With reasonable settings (a resolution of 320×240, a video bit rate of 500 Kilobits per second, and an audio sampling rate of 22050 kHz) a 22 minute movie file is roughly 55 megabytes. (This is enough for a 30 minute television episode with the commercials removed) This means that a 512 MB Memory Stick can hold approximately nine of these files. A hundred-minute feature film can fit on a 256 MB Memory Stick.

Many movie files, both free-to-distribute and pirated, have been encoded for the PSP and are available on the internet. Game and movie trailers, in particular, are increasingly available, even from the studio's official site.

Sony released firmware 2.0 on July 27, 2005 in Japan and on August 24, 2005 in North America. It was also packaged in the retail product for European and Australian PSPs. The firmware update added the ability to play MP4 AAC audio files, ATRAC3plus audio files from a Memory Stick Pro Duo, MPEG-4 AVC video files (if encoded using a proprietary Sony encoding), as well as view GIF, Bitmap (BMP), and TIF image files. It also added the ability to send photos wirelessly to another PSP system and allowed owners to use an image as background wallpaper. It also added support for WPA-PSK wireless encryption.

On October 3, 2005, firmware 2.01 was released. This upgrade fixed the image overload buffer problem that allowed the PSP to be "downgraded" via a homebrew hack. After the 2.01 firmware version SONY released the new 2.50. Speculation states 2.50 was launched to attract users to upgrade: blocking any possible means of homebrew. It also included the LocationFree Player.[16] If owners own a LocationFree Base Station at home, they can play streaming movies, over the Internet, from anywhere in the world, on their PSP. Also added were the Korean character set, the ability to play copyrighted movies, form history on the web browser, and time and date synchronization via the internet. Recently the 2.60 update has been released, the main features include streaming of podcast audio directly from the web using an RSS feed; and also playback of the WMA audio format (this requires online activation). Although the update was supposed to fix all possible holes in the programming of the system, a bug, found in the game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, seems to have opened the door for homebrew once again. The Japanese release of firmware 2.70 has been released on April 25, and includes Macromedia Flash in the Web Browser, as well as upgrading the RSS feature. It is also possible to put album art in the music folders instead of embedding them with Sonic Stage. U.S. and European versions were released the same day.

Wireless networking

The PSP can connect to a wireless network through Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b which allows it to surf the web or connect to other PSP units for multiplayer gaming world-wide. Sony has also stated that the PSP will be able to connect and interact with its new console, the upcoming PlayStation 3. As the PS3 has only recently been unveiled, details on link-up features are slim, however Hideo Kojima has discussed the possibility of a link-up between Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Ac!d2. Use of wireless network features increases the power consumption and lowers the battery life of the system. Kojima has already confirmed the connectivity between Acid 2 and the new version of Metal Gear Solid 3, Subsistence for the PS2. It allows you to use the in-game digital camera in Subsistence to take pictures and then send them to your PSP via the USB-mini cable and view them in 3-D using Metal Gear Acid 2 in conjunction with the Solid Eye that comes with the Acid 2 game.

The PSP can access the internet the same way that a laptop does. It picks up the signal of a Wi-Fi unit that must be attached to a computer of some kind (not including laptops). If the signal strength is under 50%, then the PSP will not connect. Above 50%, then you can connect.

Firmware 2.0 was released on July 27, 2005 for Japanese PSPs, and August 24, 2005 for North American PSPs. The update included a web browser and support for connecting to networks with WPA and WEP encryption. Although the web browser works fine in most cases,it has many problems that need to be sorted out, this is mainly due to the use of Java Script and its inability to handle Java commands. Sony put Java Script on the PSP Browser mainly because it was uncertain that the PSP could handle normal java and because it could be used as an exploit to run unsigned code on the PSP.

Gamesharing

Some titles for the PSP support a feature dubbed "gamesharing", which facilitates a limited set of multiplayer features between two PSPs with only one copy of the game UMD. A reduced version of the game being shared is transferred to the PSP without a UMD via the PSP's Wi-Fi connection, whereupon it is loaded into RAM and runs.

Such "gameshare versions" of titles usually have their feature set reduced because of technical limitations. This is mainly due to load times since data for the game must be transferred to the second PSP wirelessly, at a rate of 11 megabits per second. Also, since the game data is stored in the PSP's RAM, there is a storage limit of 32 MB.

If there is interference present on the 2.4 GHz spectrum used by 802.11b, the time required to transfer the game image can increase significantly.

First party European titles Fired Up, Wipeout Pure and Need For Speed: Most Wanted 5:1:0 all have shipped with game sharing features. A few other titles have included this feature as well, such as Burnout Legends and Lemmings.

Ad-hoc networks

Ad-hoc wireless networking allows for up to 16 PSPs within range of each other to communicate directly to each other (typically for multiplayer gaming). The launch titles Ridge Racer and Lumines, for example, support this. One unit can act as the host for a game, which is available to other PSP units within that system's range, and appears in a list when the client PSP searches for available hosts. Hosting a game in this manner increases power consumption and reduces battery life by as much as thirty-five percent, depending on the complexity of data transfer. With the update of 2.0 or higher the PSP can use the Ad-Hoc technology to digitally send pictures from one PSP to another by use of the "send" and "receive" functions that will appear in the "PHOTO" menu when at version 2.0 or higher. (the maximum distance at which multiplayer gaming or transferring pictures is contingent upon the limitations of 802.11b wireless networking)

Infrastructure networks

Main article: List of PlayStation Portable Wi-Fi games

The PSP's main menu allows the user to configure the system for use across the internet or an intranet via a wireless connection, known as infrastructure mode. The PSP's menu can recognize protected and non-protected wireless networks within its range, and attempt to request a firmware update from Sony's servers.

Packet tunneling systems are in development by third-parties which allow any Wi-Fi game to operate across the Internet (see External links).

Use of infrastructure networks in PSP software began with a small number of titles at the U.S. launch, supporting online play. South Korean PSPs will ship with software providing web browsing and multimedia streaming features, but only through company-owned Wi-Fi hotspots, and with a monthly fee.

Sony's Location-Free Player allows users to watch television on their PSP over the internet. Through the Location-Free Player, users can view and control their TV from anywhere they have access to a wireless network. However, because of the Location-Free Player's high price ($400 US) very few PSP owners have been able to take advantage of this capability.[17] Users will also be able to connect to their PSP's wirelessly to the PlayStation 3 (PS3).[citation needed] The PS3 will act like a Location-Free Player, letting users access the hard drive with online support.[citation needed] You will be able to view photos, watch movies, and listen to music from the hard drive.[citation needed] It is reported that the firmware upgrade (3.0) for the PSP will be released in the fourth quarter of 2006 and will support this feature.[citation needed]

Infrared

The PSP features an IrDA port located on the top left of the device; however this is not currently used by any games.

There are homebrew applications which use PSP as a TV remote controller, such as PSP IR Remote, PSP Universal Remote, PSP Phillips Remote, Sony Wega TV Remote, iR Commander, iR Shell.

Other homebrew applications use the IR for other purposes such as:

There are currently several homebrew applications that are able to run on the PSP, taking advantage of its Wi-Fi capabilities, giving the ability, in example, to wirelessly stream files from a PC to a PSP.

Design and specifications

Technical specifications

The PSP was designed by Shi Ogasawara [小笠原氏] for the Sony Computer Entertainment company. Early models were made in Japan but in order to cut costs, Sony has farmed out PSP production to non Japanese manufacturers, mainly China.

The unit measures 170 mm (6.7 in) in length, 74 mm (2.9 in) in width, and 23 mm (0.9 in) in depth, and weighs 280 g / .62 lbs (including battery). The TFT LCD screen measures 110 mm (4.3 in) diagonal with a 16:9 ratio and sports a 480×272 pixel resolution capable of 16.77 million colours.

The PSP's main microprocessor is a multifunction device that includes a MIPS R4000-based CPU, hardware for multimedia decoding (such as H.264), as well as a vector unit dubbed "Virtual Mobile Engine". The MIPS CPU core is globally clocked between 1 and 333 MHz. During the GDC, Sony revealed that it has currently capped the PSP's CPU clock at 222 MHz. Its reasons for doing so are unknown, but are the subject of some speculation. The cap was previously set at the level of add-on software, not through the firmware (though the crossbar runs at 222 MHz). Unofficial software hacks can unlock 333 MHz operation, but Sony is not allowing any official programmers to use 333 MHz at this time. This has affected graphics, loading, and the amount of polygons along with other important things.

The system has 32 MiB main RAM and 4 MiB embedded DRAM. There is no memory management unit for the CPU. No evidence of a TLB has been found to date. The Coprocessor 0 that normally manages the TLB-based MMU seems to be a custom effort by Sony. It doesn't have integrated memory.

The 166 MHz graphics chip has 2 MiB embedded memory and through its 512 bit interface provides hardware polygon and NURBS rendering, hardware directional lighting, clipping, environment projection and texture mapping, texture compression and tessellation, fogging, alpha blending, depth and stencil tests, vertex blending for morphing effects, and dithering, all in 16 or 32 bit colour, along with handling image output. Specifications state that the PSP is capable of rendering 33 million flat-shaded polygons per second, with a 664 million pixel per second fill rate.[18]

Unlike Sony's PlayStation 2 console, the GPU (PS2 Vector Unit equivalent) is not programmable, meaning that many effects that the PS2 can resolve in hardware must be implemented in software on the PSP. Nonetheless, the implementation of a GPU in the PSP is still a significant technological advance, in that it implements robust hardware-rendering for 3D graphics in the handheld market. The PSP was preceded in this regard by the Nintendo DS, and the Tapwave Zodiac in 2004.

Power

The PSP uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power (an AC adaptor is included for charging and running from the mains). The system's manual states that the PSP is capable of three to six hours of gameplay, depending on the screen brightness or volume level selected, along with movie or game selection. On average the battery life is around 4 hours.

Battery life is heavily dependent on the game chosen; technically simpler games such as Lumines tend to extend the battery life of the system, with graphically advanced games (or games that frequently access the UMD drive) such as Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories tending toward shorter battery life. Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, has compared the system to the Walkman, in that battery life will be improved with each product revision, and has outlined some steps (switching to a different fabrication process, for example) which will be used to improve the system's endurance. Currently the PSP's CPU is fabricated using a 90 nm (smallest feature width) process, but eventually Sony will shift to 65 nm and 45 nm when the technology becomes available.

In practice, tests using 'Ridge Racer' have given between three and a half and slightly less than six hours of continuous gameplay, depending on screen brightness and volume. In one test,[19] this dropped to approximately two and three quarter hours when using Wi-Fi multiplayer continuously. The system is capable of approximately ten hours of MP3 playback from memory stick on a full charge and around half this for AVC playback. While full-length movie UMDs were not available for this test, a repeating loop of the demo UMD bundled in the Value Pack provided a little over four hours of playback on a full charge.

The PSP can estimate its remaining battery life. With full charge and the screen brightness on the lowest setting, estimates can reach 10 hours. With the highest brightness, the estimates (with full charge) are around 3-5 hours.

The PSP's battery is removable for replacement by the end-user. One is thus able to purchase extra batteries as an accessory; at the Japanese launch, they cost ¥5,040 including tax (around US$47, €37, £26, AU$62). A Sony high-speed charger is available as an optional accessory. There is also a variety of third-party batteries that have more than twice the battery life compared to the standard Sony battery. Additionally, in late 2005, Sony released a battery that has a 20% higher charge capacity. It is available in Japan, the U.S., and Europe.

The system ships with a multivoltage power supply for recharging the battery, allowing it to be charged in any country with the appropriate power lead. This multivoltage power supply is internally and externally similar to but not compatible with similar ones used with Sony's CLIÉ PDAs, and the power lead is a standard figure-of-eight cable similar to the power cable used with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. The PSU itself is a bit smaller then a deck of cards.

A number of companies are now offering other chargers for the device. These are typically either USB charging cables that allow the PSP to charge from any PC with a USB port or are simply a series of AA batteries with a voltage regulator. These are similar in concept to the cheap battery life extenders available for mobile telephones.

Interface

The PSP's main menu interface is the "Cross Media Bar" used by recent Sony TVs, the PSX (DVR) hardware, and the upcoming PS3. It consists of a horizontal sequence of icons (Settings, Photo, Music, Video, Games, Network (added in 2.0; features infrastructure-related features such as Internet browser) which, when highlighted, show a vertical sequence of sub-icons (for example, selecting Games allows the memory stick or a UMD to be selected).

The main menu system allows the user to, amongst other things, adjust settings such as date, time, and the PSP's nickname for wireless networking, play video or audio files from the memory stick, load games or movie UMDs, check on estimated battery life, and set the PSP into a "link mode" which makes the inserted memory stick available to a PC via USB. The OS may be accessed at any time in a game by pressing the "Home" button on the console.

Upon release, the default background color changed depending on the current month of the year, as follows:

File:Xbar1 0003.jpg
PSP blue Cross Media Bar
  • January – Silver
  • February – Yellow
  • March – Green
  • April – Pink
  • May – Dark Green
  • June – Purple
  • July – Aqua
  • August – Sky Blue/Blue/Dark Blue
  • September – Violet
  • October – Gold
  • November – Light Brown
  • December – Red

Firmware 2.0 and greater allows the user to manually pick a color theme (though you can still set it to change color by month) or specify a wallpaper from any stored photo on the PSP memory stick. For older firmware versions there are a number of homebrew programs such as PSPSet and PSPersonalise that allows to change the PSP's background image. However, unlike the official firmware wallpaper feature, the homebrew applications only allows to set a BMP image of a certain dimension, this is due to how the firmware handles backgrounds. Also, any wallpaper changes with such applications require a write to the firmware which may cause system failure in rare cases.

User skins for the UI may also be made available through online downloads or on UMDs as extras.

Firmware

The PSP's firmware is updatable via Wi-Fi infrastructure connection to a Sony server, by downloading the update application with a PC and transferring to the PSP via USB, or from a UMD disk (allowing games to provide the update so that the player does not need to download anything). While firmware updates can be used with PSPs from any region, Sony recommends only downloading firmware updates released for the corresponding region. The current firmware version is 2.71. Various updates have included WPA-PSK encryption; a built-in web browser; the ability to stream audio using RSS; Location Free player, keyboard input mode for Web input; AVC video playback from memory stick; audio switch function and 4:3 mode for memory stick video; GIF, BMP, PNG, and TIFF image viewing; AAC, ATRAC3plus, WAV and WMA audio playback from memory stick; the ability to set wallpaper; an image sharing feature and higher security for a recently discovered exploit in the Photo menu. Version 2.0 of the firmware was supplied on the demo disk inside the box of European PSPs with version 1.52 preinstalled on the unit.

On April 25, 2006 Sony Computer Entertainment Japan launched version 2.70 of their PSP's firmware, which includes Macromedia Flash Player 6 among other new features, including the ability to download from RSS Channels [1], previously announced at the PlayStation Briefing conference on March 15, 2006. Future updates are expected to add Video and Voiceover Communication via IP support, using the upcoming PSP EyeToy Camera. Other additions will include GPS and Camera support and additional language fonts.[20]

File:Coming Up For PSP.jpg
PSP Firmware Timeline

On June 1, 2006 Sony Computer Entertainment Japan launched firmware 2.71. This allows Game Demos to be downloaded from the Internet Browser and Saved onto the Memory Stick, also Video Output is now Displayed correctly with Location Free Player.

One of the main reasons for an increase in firmware updates especially version 1.51, 1.52 and 2.01 is to prevent "homebrew" or home-made programs for the PSP. The majority of these programs encompass emulators for older consoles such as the Nintendo 64 or the original Playstion, and while generally inconsequential to the profits of Sony, the threat of legal action from software developers has underpinned the elimination of homebrew support.

Region locking

The PSP supports region locking for movies, which limits what software may be played on each region's hardware. This scheme is based on the DVD CCA's DVD regional lockout scheme. However, multiplayer compatibility across regions is not preserved. A Japanese version of a game cannot be played against an American or European version of the same game. For example, a user running the Japanese version of Ridge Racer cannot play (via wireless) with another user running the UK version of Ridge Racer. Similar cases also applied to the games Coded Arms and Wipeout Pure.

Sales and competition

Sony PSP pictured above a Nintendo DS

The PSP's major rival, the Nintendo DS, is considered to be in the same market as the PlayStation Portable, even though representatives from both companies have stated that each system targets a different audience.

A lesser rival is the GamePark 2X (having sold only 30,000 units as of May 2006): a Linux-based homebrew console by GamePark Holdings.

As of Friday October 21, 2005, the PSP had shipped 10 million units worldwide. Sony was expecting a large boost in sales by the end of the year with the creation of the PSP Giga Pack, which debuted at the start of the holiday season. By hitting 10 million units shipped in 10 months it marked the "fastest penetration speed" of any PlayStation platform.[21] By December 31 2005 15 million units had been shipped.[1] At its E3 2006 press conference on May 8, 2006, Kaz Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America announced the company had shipped 17 million units. [2]

According to Mercury News Research, the PSP sold 3.63M in the US in 2005[22] compared to 2.58M by the DS in the same period (although nintendo had 66%, compared with sony's 35% of the handheld market including sales of the game boy advance, which outsold the PSP in 2005). It is estimated 3.43 million PSP units have been sold in Japan through to 2006 compared to 6.49 million by the DS, and 1.47 million by the DS Lite as of May 14, 2006. [3]

Since its launch in September the PSP sold 610,000 through to December 10, 2005 in the UK, with the UK having "performed better than any other European territory".[23]

Launches

Main article: PlayStation Portable launches

The PlayStation Portable was first introduced to the public at the Tokyo Game Show 2004[24] and released on December 12, 2004 in Japan. It was later released in North America on March 24, 2005 and in South Korea on May 2, 2005. Ten days later this was followed by a joint launch in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan on May 12, 2005.

The European and Oceanian launch took place on September 1, 2005.[25] Sony Computer Entertainment Europe had delayed the launch date originally set for March to meet demand from other regions. This resulted in PSPs being imported without authorisation, from Japan and the United States into Europe.

Sony Europe took legal action against small importers in the UK citing trademark infringement.[26] One such importer, Electricbirdland Ltd., claimed that they had sold several PSP consoles to SCEE staff.[27] The UK is the only European country in which Sony has taken any form of legal action against importers of the PSP prior to its European release.

Homebrew development

Main article: PlayStation Portable homebrew

In May 2005, it was found that PSPs using the 1.00 version of the firmware (meaning original, first launch Japanese-only PSPs) could execute unsigned code. What this meant in practice was that these PSPs could run homebrew software, as the mechanism for checking to make sure that software has been approved by Sony had not yet been activated. Later exploits have allowed for PSPs using later versions of the firmware to run homebrew applications, and development, both of new exploits to bypass restrictions and new restrictions to limit unauthorized programs, is ongoing.

Criticisms

  • In February 2005 Wired Magazine criticized the short battery life, use of expensive memory sticks and complained that loading MP3s to the device was "nightmarishly hard" but directly compared to Nintendo DS, PSP won score 4 and DS score 3.[28] In a later article, they criticized the expensive games and the controls (most notably the placement of the analog nub).[29]
  • In March 2005 G4TV reported that several of the initial units were shipped with dead pixels and defective square buttons. They also declared that several of the features of the PSP, such as mp3 playback, were weak offerings. Finally, they complained that the requirement of a larger memory stick to use the devices full capabilities was a large hidden cost.[30]
  • In March 2005 IGN cited battery life and load times as its primary criticisms of the PSP.[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware / PSP® (PlayStation®Portable)". Sony. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  2. ^ Jeff Haynes (March 15, 2006). "PSP Price Lowered to $199:New basic bundle for Sony handheld due later this month". IGN.
  3. ^ Chris Roper (March 14, 2006). "PS Biz Brief 06: New PSP Package, Pricing, More: US and Europe to see reduced-cost packages; more white PSPs in Japan". IGN.
  4. ^ Anoop Gantayat (April 18, 2005). "Bandai Bundles DVDs and UMDs:New anime to be released on DVD and DVD and UMD. Trust us, that makes sense". IGN.
  5. ^ Thomas K. Arnold (March 30, 2006). "UMD losing H'wood game". HollywoodReporter.
  6. ^ "My Two Cents". The Digital Bits. April 12, 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-13.
  7. ^ "Media Boss - Bring your PSP to life". Media Four. Retrieved 2006-03-16.
  8. ^ "PSP Movie Creator". PQDVD Software. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  9. ^ "PSP Video Express". PQDVD Software. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  10. ^ "Xcopy9". Xcopy. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  11. ^ "PSPWare". Nullriver. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  12. ^ "iPSP". Kaisakura. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  13. ^ "PSP Media Studio". Mayayama. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  14. ^ Sajeeth Cherian. "PSP Video 9". pspvideo9. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  15. ^ "PSP Multimedia Extender". Sourceforge. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  16. ^ "LocationFree Player". Sony. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  17. ^ "Online-enabled PSP to hit Korea in May". Gamespot. March 28, 2005.
  18. ^ Mark Hachman. "Sony Details PSP Chip Specs". Extreme Tech. Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  19. ^ "Hard Charging: PSP Battery Life - Stats and figures on exactly how long power will last on Sony's powerful handheld". IGN. December 20, 2004.
  20. ^ Anoop Gantayat (March 15, 2006). "Sony Outlines PSP Future - New peripherals, new updates and new games, straight from Japan". IGN.
  21. ^ David Jenkins (October 21, 2005). "PSP Worldwide Shipments Hit 10 Million". Gamasutra.
  22. ^ "Corrected Year End Sales Numbers: Fixing Bad Math Day". Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  23. ^ Ben Parfitt (December 22, 2005). "New milestones for Sony's PS2 & PSP". MCV.
  24. ^ "Tokyo Game Show 2004 (Sept 24-26, 2004)". Eurotechnology. Retrieved 2006-03-20.
  25. ^ "PSP European launch in September". BBC News. BBC. 2005-04-26. Retrieved 2006-03-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Nic Hopkins (June 17, 2005). "Sony issues writ in battle with retailers over parallel imports". Times Online. The Times. Retrieved 2006-03-20.
  27. ^ Ellie Gibson (2005-06-03). "Sony staff defy policy on import PSPs". Eurogamer. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ Chris Baker, Tim Rogers (February, 2005). "The Handheld Wars". Wired 13.02. Conde Nast. Retrieved 2006-03-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ Brendan I. Koerner (July, 2005). "Wired Test:Mobile Media". Wired 13.07. Conde Nast. Retrieved 2006-03-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ Shane Satterfield (March 18, 2005). "Sony PSP vs. Nintendo DS". G4TV. G4 Media. Retrieved 2006-03-20.
  31. ^ Chris Roper (March 28, 2005). "Sony PSP vs. Nintendo DS". IGN. Retrieved 2006-03-20.
Official sites
Unofficial sites
Reviews
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