วันอังคารที่ 19 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2554

Need for Speed ProStreet Review

      The Need for Speed series takes a giant step backward with ProStreet for the PSP.


เขียนโดย iPSPexperts ที่ 07:45 0 ความคิดเห็น

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Review

        The well-designed levels in The Forgotten Sands do a good job of sucking you into this 2D world, but minor control issues and lame combat distract from the fun.

The Good

  • Clever level design  
  • Lots of interesting platform-related puzzles to solve  
  • Collectibles make replaying levels rewarding.

The Bad

  • Issues with object targeting  
  • Fighting is not fun.
The prince's acrobatic exploits have been brought to the third dimension in recent years, but he started out leaping across pits and shimmying up poles in a two-dimensional world. The PSP version of The Forgotten Sands brings the most agile member of the royal family back to his 2D roots, and this iteration captures the imminent danger and exhausting relief that made its forebearers so memorable. Deadly traps impede your progress at every turn, and you need sharp reflexes and strong determination to make it through unscathed. Unfortunately, control issues sometimes get in the way of your fun. It's tricky to use your time-manipulation powers on the fly, and certain sections require you to coordinate these abilities with your jumping prowess, which leads to many aggravating deaths. Because of the sometimes unfair difficulty and boring combat, this is a fun but frustrating entry in the long-running series.


Sand geysers give you a helpful lift



                       
                Why are fire demons so ill-tempered? The prince is out to stop an angry creature intent on killing his family, but the story takes a backseat in this game. The only important element comes in the form of a companion you meet early on in your adventure. A kindhearted fairy named Helem is on a quest to save her spritely sisters, and you two combine your abilities to rescue those you care about. Thankfully, though Helem is very small, she is brimming with power. She can speed up and slow down time, and you take advantage of these abilities to make your way through these danger-filled levels. Unlike in previous games, the prince is not directly affected by these powers. Rather, you use them to manipulate the environment. For instance, speeding up a fountain of sand can create a geyser that's strong enough to move a rock blocking your path, while slowing the trickle down freezes it into an ice cube you can push to reach higher ground.
Much of the game is spent figuring out how to take advantage of your newfangled abilities, and it's a lot of fun to tweak the environment until it conforms to your needs. Unfortunately, it can be tricky to use these powers because the targeting is so inconsistent. Any object you can manipulate can be highlighted, but the game does a poor job of autotargeting. For instance, you may need to slow down a swinging spiked club to jump over it, but you may automatically focus on the stream of sand right next to it instead. You can toggle between your targets using the analog nub, but this is a clunky solution. It can sometimes take a few seconds of fiddling before you can target the right object, and though that's fine when you're standing still, there are many times when you have to manipulate objects while moving.
Even with some control issues, The Forgotten Sands is usually fun because of the well-designed levels. This is not a game where you can turn off your brain and just run through levels with childlike glee. There are small puzzles scattered throughout the stages, and just figuring out how to reach the next section takes a bit of thought. In the early going, you should be able to make your way through most levels without too many problems, but the difficulty ramps up significantly later on. In a lot of ways, the harder levels are more fun than the simple fare of the initial stages because it's so satisfying to get by a particularly tricky section. Unfortunately the checkpoint system can lead to frustration during some moments. You have a finite number of lives, and once you run out, you have to go back to the previous checkpoint. But that respawn point is sometimes quite a ways behind you, and replaying a tough section just to have to face the same daunting challenge that stumped you earlier is a real pain. This problem doesn't crop up too often, but when you factor in the tricky controls, it adds a layer of aggravation that clashes with the fine level design.



The prince rarely has two feet on the ground



           Aside from the platforming action, there is some combat thrown in to give the game diversity, but this are sadly the weakest portions of the game. It is simply not any fun to fight enemies. You can defeat most of your foes by jumping on their shoulders, tossing them to the ground, and hacking at their soft spots before they can stand up. There are a few that require you to use your magic abilities, such as flying creatures that must be frozen, but combat destroys the smooth flow of running, jumping, and problem solving that makes up the bulk of the game. The few boss fights are just as tedious. It's certainly enjoyable to figure out how to damage these demonic beings, but once you learn their weak points, it's just a matter of repeating the same basic action over and over again until they finally die.
It's a shame the combat is there to distract you from the jumping portions, because most of The Forgotten Sands is quite fun. There are also collectible orbs in every level, and it's worth replaying previous levels to find them all just because the levels are so well designed. And that's really the most important aspect of this game. Even though there are control issues and unforgiving checkpoints, the stages have a diverse array of obstacles that require you to tread carefully in order to pass them. This leads to a satisfying experience that never lets you rest. The fighting and controls certainly get in the way of your enjoyment at times, but this is largely an enjoyable game with many interesting platform puzzles along the way.

เขียนโดย iPSPexperts ที่ 07:35 0 ความคิดเห็น

Redesigns


 
PSP-2000

             
            The PSP-2000 (marketed in PAL areas as "PSP Slim & Lite" and still marketed as PSP in North America, Japan, China, India, Italy, and Portugal)  is the first redesign of the PlayStation Portable.
At E3 2007, Sony released information about a slimmer and lighter version of the PlayStation Portable. The new PSP was announced to be 33% lighter and 19% slimmer than the original PSP system. The model numbers were changed to PSP-2000, following the previous region-based numbering scheme (cf. the PSP-1000 numbering scheme of the "old" PSP model).
It was released on August 30, 2007, in Hong Kong, on September 5, 2007, in Europe, on September 6, 2007, in North America, September 7, 2007, in South Korea and September 12, 2007, in Australia. On January 8, 2008, built-in Skype Wi-Fi Internet phone service was added via firmware updates.



                      

PSP-3000

            
               In comparison to the PSP-2000, the PSP-3000 (marketed in PAL areas as "PSP Slim & Lite (with enhanced screen + built in microphone)" and still marketed as PSP in North America and Japan) has an improved LCD screen with an increased color range, five times the contrast ratio, half the pixel response time to reduce ghosting and blurring effects, a new sub-pixel structure, a microphone, a new disc tray design, new button designs and logos, and anti-reflective technology to improve outdoor playability. It can also output all games by component or composite using the video out cable.
In its first four days on sale, the PSP-3000 sold 141,270 units in Japan, according to Famitsu. In October 2008, the PSP-3000 sold 267,000 units in Japan, according to Enterbrain.


เขียนโดย iPSPexperts ที่ 04:35 0 ความคิดเห็น

วันพุธที่ 6 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2554

TV output and accessory port

          Sony added TV output to the PSP Slim through Firmware update 3.60. It can output in a conventional aspect ratio (4:3) or widescreen (16:9), and offers a screensaver if the PSP is inactive for a set amount of time. It is able to output games, videos, and other media. To achieve TV output on the Slim model, Composite, S-Video, Component (YPBPR) and D-Terminal (YPBPR) cables are sold separately by Sony. PSP format games are output as a progressive scan signal, which can be carried only by the Component and D-Terminal cables, and displayed on televisions which support progressive scan. They are also rendered at the 480 × 272 resolution of the PSP screen, rather than the 720 × 480 resolution used for output, and are not upscaled meaning they are displayed with black windowboxing when viewed to an external display. This can be overcome on some TVs by using built-in zoom functionality. Although the user needs component cables and a TV that supports 480p (mainly found in HDTVs) to play PSP format software, a homebrew plugin called "FuSa" allows anyone with a Slim PSP to view their games on any SDTV or HDTV using Composite or Component cables. The plugin is also advantageous to those with TVs that do support 480p because it allows a full screen (1:1 ratio) viewing of games. The maximum resolution through TV output is 720 × 480 pixels and composite video uses NTSC color encoding (no PAL composite signal is available; European TVs must be NTSC compatible to be used with a PSP via composite). The old PSP-1000 model is not capable of this feature due to a slightly different port. As a result, original PSP accessories (using the connector) will not work with the Slim and the Slim's accessories will not work with the original PSP.Sony confirmed a GPS Accessory for the United States at Sony CES 2008. The GPS is to be retailed for the new Slim PSP models. It will feature maps on a UMD, and offer driving directions and city guide.


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เขียนโดย iPSPexperts ที่ 08:26 0 ความคิดเห็น

วันอาทิตย์ที่ 3 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2554

Hardware





A ceramic white PSP-1000.
The shoulder buttons are on top,
the directional pad on the left
with the analog 'nub' directly
below it, the PlayStation face buttons
on the right and a row of
secondary buttons below the screen
       The PlayStation Portable
uses the common "slab"
or "candybar" form factor, measures approximately 17 x 7.3 x 2.2 cm (6.7 x 2.9 x 0.9 in), and weighs 280 grams (9.88 ounces). The front of the console is dominated by the system's 11 cm (4.3 in) LCD screen, which is capable of 480 x 272 pixel video playback with 16.77 million colors. Also on the front are the four PlayStation face buttons (Triangle, Circle, X, Square), the directional pad, the analog 'nub', and several other buttons. In addition, the system includes two shoulder buttons and a USB 2.0 mini-B port on the top of the console and a WLAN switch and power cable input on the bottom. The back of the PSP features a read-only UMD drive for movies and games, and a reader compatible with Sony's Memory Stick Duo flash cards is located on the left of the system. Other features include an IrDA compatible infrared port (discontinued in PSP-2000 and later series), built in stereo speakers and headphone port, and IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi for access to the Internet, ad-hoc multiplayer gaming, and data transfer.
The PSP uses two 333 MHz MIPS32 R4000-based CPUs, a GPU with 2 MB onboard VRAM running at 166 MHz, and includes 32 MB main RAM and 4 MB embedded DRAM in total.The hardware was originally forced to run more slowly than it was capable of and most games ran at 222 MHz. However, with firmware update 3.50 on May 31, 2007, Sony removed this limit and allowed new games to run at a full 333 MHz.
The PSP includes an 1800 mAh battery (1200 mAh on the 2000 and 3000 models) that will provide about 4–6 hours of gameplay, 4–5 hours of video playback, or 8–11 hours of audio playback.Official accessories for the console include the AC adapter, car adapter, headset, headphones with remote control, extended-life 2200 mAh battery, battery charger, carrying case, accessories pouch and cleaning cloth, and system pouch and wrist strap.


เขียนโดย iPSPexperts ที่ 06:49 0 ความคิดเห็น

วันเสาร์ที่ 2 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2554

Technicial Specification By... PSP Experts

           

The main CPU, PSP Media Engine
and the NAND flash for the System Software
  
The Wi-Fi Module with the Serial
and Headphone Jack


    General
    -Dimensions                 
    Width: 170 mm                  
     Height: 74 mm                   
    Depth: 23 mm  
                    -Widescreen TFT LCD                  
                    4.3 inches                  
                    480 × 272 pixels (16:9 Aspect Ratio)                
                    24-bit Color 16.77 Million colors)                             
                    Four Brightness Levels (200, 180, 130, 80 cd/m2)
                      -Data communication     
                      Wireless LAN 802.11b             
                      IrDA               
                    เขียนโดย iPSPexperts ที่ 10:02 0 ความคิดเห็น

                    What is PSP ?

                           






                              PlayStation Portable officially abbreviated PSP is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation  Development of the console was announced during E3 2003 , and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004. The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in the PAL region  on September 1, 2005.
                    The PlayStation Portable is the first handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), as its primary storage medium. Other distinguishing features of the console include its large viewing screen, robust multi-media capabilities, and connectivity with the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, other PSPs, and the Internet.
                    After the release of a remodeled, slimmer, and lighter version of the PlayStation Portable, titled Slim & Lite, in early September 2007, sales quadrupled in the United Kingdom the following week and increased by nearly 200% in North America for the month of October. The PSP-3000 had a minor redesign including a new screen and inbuilt microphone, and has since been followed by the PSP Go.


                    เขียนโดย iPSPexperts ที่ 07:52 0 ความคิดเห็น
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