December 15, 2004 - The fact that Sony has launched a handheld is a pretty momentous occasion. It's currently only available in Japan, but it's coming to the states March 2005 and this all marks an important change in the face of the videogame industry -- Nintendo is no longer the only major player in the market. So it's very interesting to see how Sony, a consumer electronics giant, has gone about designing a handheld.

In this article, Insider's editor-in-chief Fran Mirabella III gives his perspective on the launch of the new handheld and offers up a bevy of screenshots, side-by-sides with the DS, and even some video.

So, if you want to get up close and personal with the PSP, just join us here.

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Pretty. Sexy. Portable
When the PSP was announced, I expected a pretty slick product from Sony. From its plasma Wega XBR televisions to its VAIO computers it's always been very keen on style and making a consumer gadget that's flashy. Now that I've finally gotten the PSP in my hands, though, seen it with my own eyes, well I can't help but admit that I'm pretty taken with it. I'm speaking from a purely aesthetic point of view, but it's a truly gorgeous system.


The 16:9 screen is truly something to behold. It's level of brightness is adjustable by three levels, but regardless it's very bright, color is not washed out at all, and it really is a bit like holding a plasma TV in the palm of your hands. Eye-popping is a fair description. The rest of the casing, buttons, and ports are all integrated extremely well. The shiny black design is also very pretty, but it does smudge and collect dust extremely easy. If you're wearing a cotton shirt, though, you can easily wipe it down and it resists scratches quite effectively.



Overall, it's a really catching design. You don't look at it and think "Hey, this part is kind of ugly, it could have been better here and there." Instead, you're forced to appreciate the design -- mostly because it's just a black frame, some clear buttons and a huge screen that stares right back at you.



The profile is very slim, too. Somehow they've fit everything into it -- USB, the screen, the processors, the battery, the UMD drive, sound, and controls -- without making it too thick. It's very portable in that sense, although it's definitely long; this is partly due to the fact that the controls sit on the side of the screen and not below it like the GBA, for example.

In a nutshell, as I'm sure you can tell by now, I'm very impressed. At around a $200 price point the hardware is really impressive. I don't think the analog "nub" is very well implemented, though. It's pretty tight and "elastic" so it snaps back into place and this makes it less sensitive and accurate.

You can get some idea of this in the following video I made. This is mostly to show off the screen quality, but as I play Ridge Racers (with my head cocked to the side and breath held to keep glare off the screen and keep it in-frame) you'll see that it's quite useable, but it's not completely smooth. Please ignore me smacking into the wall, it was really hard holing my breath and all (honestly!) -- that's not the controller's fault, though.

Ridge Racers Demo

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Quicktime 640x480 (16MB)      [Right Click and "Save As"] 400x300 (10MB)      [Right Click and "Save As"]

Windows Media 9 640x480 (11MB)      [Right Click and "Save As"] 400x300 (5MB)      [Right Click and "Save As"]

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However, the point here is that the screen is really quite jaw-dropping. I don't mean to sound like I'm drooling hopelessly or without objectivity over it, but it really is impressive; you sort of smack yourself on the forehead and go, "Man, that's the way to do a handheld screen." Just take a look at this FMV rolling and tell me you're not just as taken aback by it.

Ridge Racers FMV

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Quicktime 640x480 (14MB)      [Right Click and "Save As"] 400x300 (8MB)      [Right Click and "Save As"]

Windows Media 9 640x480 (10MB)      [Right Click and "Save As"] 400x300 (5MB)      [Right Click and "Save As"]

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All right, aesthetics aside, let's turn the page and take a look at it next to the Nintendo DS just to get some perspective.