Sound & Vision

Thought the PSP was for kids and gamers? Read this and think again...

Sarah Kelly

“I'm hooked! I can’t leave home without my PSP!”

Now that the remodelled PSP has grown up, it's wasted on kids, says late-adopter Kathy Sweeney

Games might traditionally be the preserve of spotty teenagers, but now the PSP has had a makeover, it’s all grown up and wasted on kids. And I speak as someone who last played video games on a Sinclair Spectrum.

The new model is way better than the original. Sleeker and shinier, it looks as if it should be hanging off Darth Vader’s belt. Late adopters – like myself – will be pleased to hear that it has faster load times, weighs less and is of course thinner. But using it just for games is a waste. With the all-singing, all-dancing PSP you can watch TV and movies, surf the web and listen to music.

Satellite navigation system

There’s even an accessory that will turn it into a full and mercifully fuss-free satellite navigation system. As I was thinking about shelling out a few hundred quid on just such a device, I was anxious to get my hands on this.

It couldn’t be simpler – you load the disc, attach the GPS unit and you’re away. It works brilliantly, and doesn’t sound like a newsreader barking orders. Nor does it lose its temper while reading a map. I even disobeyed it a couple of times while driving in central London but it quickly recalculated the route without sounding annoyed, unlike some systems. Now I’m no longer late and stressed all the time.

Cinema-style screen

For our second outing, I used it to watch Spider-Man 3 on the bus to work. The PSP takes UMDs (Universal Media Discs), which are about half the size of DVDs and hold 2.8 gigabytes of gaming or movie goodness.

The first thing that hits you is how much of the surface area is taken up by the expansive (4.3 inches) cinema-style screen. Intensely bright and vivid, it can be easily viewed from any angle, as the commuters watching over my shoulder could attest, and is capable of producing quite astonishing graphics from within its tiny casing.

Helpfully, almost every major Hollywood studio is now releasing movies on UMD, which is perfect if your kids won’t shut up in the back of the car on the way to visit Grandma. Stick on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and enjoy the silence. Cartoons are a perfect fit for the system – South Park helps a short commute fly by. And not only those.

MP3 player

Next up: music. The PSP will only play MP3s, so tracks in different or proprietary formats will have to be converted, but thereafter it’s a simple matter to transfer the files to the memory stick, and you can consign your MP3 player to your sock drawer.

WiFi breakthrough

However, the PSP’s breakthrough feature has to be its WiFi receiver, which allows PSPs to link up for peer-to-peer wireless gaming. You can play the games solo, but you don’t get quite the same sense of satisfaction when the car you incinerate is operated by the computer instead of, say, your boss.

And of course you can surf the web. Nobody likes a show-off, but it’s undeniably fun retrieving my email while queueing for a sandwich. Checking my bank balance is also more exciting – or at least less depressing – while having a drink in the pub.

Proof is in the playing

But the proof of a system is in the playing. The PSP fits perfectly in your hands, with directional buttons and analogue stick positioned for the left hand, and the triangle, cross, circle and square buttons located for the right. It’s all quite intuitive, and I would think that if you’re familiar with the regular PlayStation controller, you’ll have no trouble with the PSP.

For my first foray into the PSP games field, I go for God of War, which conjures up the brutal world of Greek mythology with spellbinding believability. But like one Martini, one game is never enough, so I try LocoRoco, based on weird musical blobs that never stop singing – the sound is quite surreal. With Killzone: Liberation I shoot first, no need for questions.

Oh no, I’m hooked! The PSP is an amazing gadget and I won’t leave home without it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to Ratchet & Clank. I have some interstellar space combat to win, or I’ll be here all night. Later.

Kathy Sweeney is Deputy Editor of The Guardian Guide

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