Posts filed under 'Portable Gaming'
SLAPPA have announced the launch of the newest additions to their PSP product line, the SLAPPA HardBody PSP Complete Case and a new version of their already popular SLAPPA HardBody PSP Daily Case.
The HardBody PSP Complete Case offers a storage capacity capable of carrying a gamer’s full PSP collection. A hand sewn UMD storage page holds 6 UMDs, while separate Velcro secured scubaprene storage bags are provided for protecting and storing PSP, extra UMDs, headphones and remote separately.
The white and silver edition of the HardBody PSP Daily Case was created in response to the very well received black model, which was released in the fall of 2005. This case is ideal for the gamer-on-the-go with a storage capacity capable of toting the basic necessities to get any gamer through the day.
Both cases feature a sleek graphite and patent PVC outer design on the xEVA HardBody shell, which provides tough protection without the rigidness of hard plastic. Cargo storage nets for extra accessories, Velcro secured storage dividers, rainproof zippers and dual SLAPPA logo rubber pulls complete these cases, making them a highly protective and smart solution to storing your PSP gear.
“We designed the new SLAPPA line of PSP cases to be the best of both worlds—tough protection and a look as sleek as the PSP itself,” says Dustin Garis, Director of Marketing for SLAPPA.
The SLAPPA HardBody PSP Complete Case is now available for preorder for only $19.99. The SLAPPA HardBody PSP Daily Case in white and silver is now available for preorder for only $19.99. Both are available at www.slappa.com and will ship to customers on January 25th.
January 10th, 2006
Game: Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Platform: PSP
Publisher: Rockstar
Price: £29.99 (Amazon.co.uk)
Reviewer: Jay Neill (TechSmec.com staff)
The GTA series is obscenely popular (in fact some would say just plain obscene after the Hot Coffee scandal), but even the most hardened fan would have to admit that since GTA 3 it’s been a case of same-old same-old. However, this new installment really is a case of deja-vu as we leap back to Liberty City where it all began for a PSP-exclusive dose of Mafiosi action.
Set in 1998 GTA: Liberty City Stories sees you take control of Tony, a Mafia heavy who returns to the town after laying low following a big job for the Don. He immediately falls back into his old ways and the crime spree commences.
The general format hasn’t changed. Steal a car (or a bike - that’s the new innovation for GTA:LCS) and head over to a gang-land boss’s hideout. He’ll give you a job and off you head to complete it by whatever means necessary. If you’re successful you’ll get some cash and move up the underworld ladder of badness. Screw up and you’ll end up busted, or worse, dead. However, this being GTA, even death won’t keep a good (bad) man down and you’ll show Lazurus-like abilities at the local hospital. The only permenant effect is a dent in your wallet.
In and around the main career path are a variety of mini-games; taxi driving, working as a paramedic, crazy driving stunts. All will earn you cash, or at the least, kudos.
Once again, you’ll find your immersion into the world of Liberty City is complete. The place feels lived in. It’s a pleasure just to steal a car and cruise around town. If the weather’s good, we’ve even taking to strolling along the sea-front.
The graphics are the best yet on the PSP and really push the handheld to the limits of its abilities. In a way this almost feels a shame as it’s hard to believe that there’s anywhere to go from here for the device, but for the moment just forget that you’re looking at a 3.5 inch screen and drink it all in.
If you thought the graphics were immersive, wait until you hear the sound. The ambient sound is remarkably detailed - cars passing, people arguing on street corners. The radio stations, which play whenever you get in a vehicle, are back but there is less variety than before. Even so, most of the DJs will have you in stitches the first time you hear them. Even once you do get bored, the ability is there to import your own playlists, adding even more to the feeling that you really live in Liberty City.
The only area where GTA:LCS is a let down is the controls. As a gamer I was brought up on the PC, not a console, so I’ve never been a fan of mouse-less gaming. Even allowing for my own deficiencies, the analogue stick makes steering, walking and even fighting a bit of a pig. More often than not you’ll end up going in the wrong direction as the camera pans wildly around. However, this is more of a flaw with the PSP in general than in the game, so there’s not much that Rockstar could have done to improve things.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is the standout title on the PSP so far and if you haven’t bought it yet then get yourself a copy before you do anything else.
Graphics
The best yet seen on the PSP. Good textures, good frame rate, great visuals - 9/10
Sound
Fantastic ambient sound and (as usual) an entertaining soundtrack - 8/10
Gameplay
As fun as GTA ever was, but the difficult controls just stop us awarding a 10 out of 10 - 9/10
Verdict
A “must own” game for all PSP fans. The fact that it’s exclusive to Sony’s hand held is certainly going to shift a lot of devices and we can find very little reason to doubt that it will stay a benchmark game for months, if not years, to come - 9/10
January 3rd, 2006
If you’re desperate for some PSP wireless goodness, then you might like to look at WiFi MAX for PSP, a no frills solution for creating an internet WiFi access point in your home.
WiFi MAX is a dongle that plugs into a USB port on an internet-connected PC. You can then connect to the internet and play online-enabled multiplayer games with PSP gamers from all over the world. WiFi MAX supports up to five ‘local’ PSP gamers at a time, so you and your mates can all play online at once.
As well as multiplayer games, WiFi MAX also lets you organise your media files and download them to your PC using our exclusive MAX Media Server software. Transfer MP3s, images and video files from your PC to your PSP from anywhere that’s within range of your new WiFi network.
Now, onto the downside. £30 isn’t expensive, but it’s not markedly cheaper than a full-blown wireless router which provides a lot more features. Worst of all, we could find no mention of any security features so for all we can tell, WiFi MAX might be opening up your PC for the whole world to look at.
It certainly looks easy to set up, but for the moment we will be sticking with our tried and trused wireless router.
You can read more (or even buy) here…
December 20th, 2005
Hauppauge has announced the release of its new ‘Wing’ software, enabling consumers to record TV shows on a personal computer for playback on the PSP, video iPod, and other portable video players. Wing can also be used to convert existing TV recordings to the PSP and iPod format.
Wing is sold as a $24.95 accessory to Hauppauge’s PC-based WinTV-PVR personal video recorders. Live TV shows can be recorded with a single click and played on a PC or TV set as well as a portable video player. Wing records in H.264, MPEG-4 and Divx formats, and also will record directly to a recordable DVD disk.
The Wing application comes with three components: a plug-in for the popular TitanTV internet based electronic program guide for automatic recording of TV shows, a plug-in for Hauppauge’s WinTV Scheduler for manual TV record scheduling, and an off-line recorder which will turn MPEG -2 videos into any of the formats supported by Wing.
Hauppage’s Eskape Labs division is also developing a version of Wing for the Apple Mac using the myTV.PVR, the Eskape Labs Mac-based personal video recorder . That product will be released in early 2006.
Wing is available directly from Hauppauge at: www.hauppauge.com/wing
December 20th, 2005
Game: Need For Speed Most Wanted 5-1-0
Platform: PSP
Publisher: EA
Price: £29.99 (Amazon.co.uk)
Reviewer: Jay Neill (TechSmec.com staff)
Need For Speed has made its long awaited debut on the PSP and let’s get one thing straight from the off - it doesn’t disappoint. Falling neatly into the category of ’semi-authentic racer’ Need For Speed Most Wanted 5-1-0 delivers a tasty mix of arcade thrills with handling authenticity and it’s the first title we’ve seen on the PSP that actually ‘fits’ on the handheld. Of course, we’ve been reviewing NFSMW alongside Grand Theft Auto, so it’s all the more amazing that it remained a firm favourite in our main PSP even with the stiff competition from Rockstar’s magnum opus.
Followers of the Need For Speed series won’t need any introduction to the concept. Take a variety of cars that you could buy from the forecourt of your local garage and take them onto the streets of a fictional city, racing against like-minded underground racers. If you find success you’ll win the cash to start to upgrade your car, both in terms of performance and visuals. If you do really well you’ll start to unlock new cars which you can start to pimp up all over again adding ridiculous body kits and go faster stripes.
What makes NFSMW different is the addition of the cops. Other street racers, such as Burnout, see you cause complete destruction to whole city blocks without ever attracting the attention of the boys in blue. NFSMW is different. Every piece of agressive driving - breaking the speed limit, driving in the wrong carriageway, running cars off the road - sees your ‘heat level’ increase. At first the police will give chase in a fairly half-hearted way, but as the heat level rises, so does the interest of the law and before you kinow it you’re being chased by high-powered cop cars (and even vans) trying to run you off the road. They’ll try to make you stop, or get so far ahead that they can mount road-blocks or throw tyre-shredding stingers across the road. If you are stopped you’ve got three seconds to get going again or you’re busted and that’s the end of the race. At the very least the attention of the police slows you down and you’ll often find a winning position can get turned into last place in a matter of seconds thanks to a carefully placed roadblock.
The core of the game is a career mode which sees you start on the bottom rung of the illegal street-racing ladder. Win four events (there’s a variery of formats - time trial, race, tournament and heat challenges) and you’ll get the right to challenge the ‘boss’ racer above you in the ladder. See off the boss and you unlock a new level which might see new tracks and new challenges. There are fifteen levels in all and the difficulty level increases as you advance.
As a racing game, NFSMW doesn’t miss out in many areas. The tracks are interesting and have a myriad of shortcuts and alternative routes. The feeling of speed isn’t quite as intense as, say, Burnout, but then NFSMW is a different animal as it strikes a balance between arcade fun and realism. The compromise is just about perfect.
The controls are adequate. Although you can use the analog stick, we found it easier to use the direction buttons to steer. Accelarating and breaking use the right control buttons. Alas, applying the nitro for extra speed involves simultaneously holding down the accelerate and o buttons which requires a remarkable bit of finger-contortion. At the end of a long session we had index-finger ache. Despite these complaints you certainly feel part of the car and the difference in handling between vehicles, and even after applying new suspension upgrades, is noticeable.
The graphics are sub PS2. There’s no getting away from the fact that you’re looking at a handheld device, but they do the job. Lighting effects are nice and the cars are well rendered, even if a long way off photo-realistic.
Sound is a little tinny. The car engines tend to sound like buzzing bees, especially through the PSP’s built-in speakers. The typical EA rock soundtrack plays in the background throughout and actually adds to the game for once. Street racing and pumping bass seems to fit with boy (and girl) racers, but you’ll need the headphones to get the best out of it.
We heartily recommend Need For Speed Most Wanted 5-1-0 to anyone looking for a great handheld racer. It has technical failings, but on a pure gameplay level, it’s a winner.
Graphics
About as good as you would expect on a handheld, but not as good as GTA: Liberty City Stories has shown they could be - 8/10
Sound
Tinny sound effects, but nice tunes - 6/10
Gameplay
It’s just a racer, but an excellent one. The driving is fun and intuitive and the career mode is just difficult enough to provide a challenge while keeping the interest alive - 9/10
Verdict
The best racing game on the PSP to date, with enough variety to keep you coming back for more again and again. If only they could have slightly improved on the graphics and sound, this would be a handheld classic - 8/10
December 13th, 2005
Struggling to get watch TV programmes on your PSP? The StorVision miniVCR is a compact low cost solution to record videos suitable to be played on handheld viewing devices such as the PSP, Epson P2000, Nintendo GameBoy Micro, or the iPod Viewer.
The miniVCR enables you to record directly from your television onto a memory card, which you can then simply place in your PSP and watch the recorded programme of your choice. This means that you can record onto Memory Stick Pro Duo Gaming edition and Compactflash/Microdrive memory cards (other type of flash cards via an optional adapter).
With the MPEG4 personal video recorder you can store your favorite movies onto a memory card and watch it anywhere.
Any programme which is shown on TV can be recorded onto the memory card; classic movies, your favorite soaps, football matches, etc…
Equipped with two memory card slots, the miniVCR accepts Memory Stick Pro Duo for Sony PSP, Compactflash / Hitachi Microdrives, or any other type of memory card via an optional Compactflash 5in1 adapter. The miniVCR records under digital MPEG-4 (ISO simple profile) video format to the inserted memory card.
Simply connect the miniVCR to your TV or satellite set up box using the supplied Audio/Video composite cables (you may need a SCART adapter), and record via the supplied remote control your favorite TV programmes and movies. The remote control will also give you the controls to play / pause / rewind / fast forward your stored videos. Both NTSC and PAL TV standards are supported.
It also has a convenient timer for recording along with an enhanced interface for quick timer setup, auto record and scheduled recordings, which means that you will never miss what you want to watch.
The encoder can handle video content in both QVGA (320×240) and 368×208 pixel resolution (16:9 screen ratio) for the Sony PSP and in VGA (640×480) for other uses.
The miniVCR combines an MPEG4 movie player, MP3 music player and JPEG photo viewer in the same compact unit.
You can use the miniVCR to play MP3 music through your TV, view photos stored on your memory card, giving you the ability to share various types of media easily.
December 1st, 2005
Game: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Platform: PSP
Publisher: EA
Price: £29.99 (Amazon.co.uk)
Reviewer: Jay Neill (TechSmec.com staff)
The Harry Potter phenomenon is one that you either love, or hate. There is the obvious division along age lines - if you’re under 15 you probably think that the spectacled junior wizard is the best thing in English literature. However, it’s not always that simple with a lot of adults guiltily confessing that they preorder the next tome from Amazon for themselves and not just for their children. Can you apply the same profile to Harry Potter gamers? Well, whereas the books have a charm that cuts across the generations, the tie-in video games have, until now stayed locked firmly in the genre of ‘kiddy platform puzzler’.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the first film in the series to be released since the advent of the PSP and as such is the first game to get the handheld treatment. The movie’s director, Mike Newell, freely admits that such a doorstop-sized book had to be mercilessly cut to fit into a 2 hour timeframe, but surely the game, without any such time restrictions will cover the full range of the JK Rowling’s intended plot? Er no.
The game kicks off with a whistle stop summary of the Quidditch World Cup that forms the primary focus of the first few chapters. Before we know it the campsite is under attack from Death Eaters (followers of Lord Voldemort for the un-initiated among you) and Harry, Ron and Hermione are thrown in at the deep end, with the task of getting out of there. This opening level forms a gentle introduction to the gameplay to follow. Choose a character to control and set off down a predetermined path casting spells whenever you need to. At this stage two particular spells come in particularly handy - the Jinx and Carpe Retratum. The first is a simple weapon that makes the various beasties that come your way turn up their toes, the other allows you to pull various objects out of your way - rocks, tree trunks….more rocks. There’s not much of a challenge here, especially as the two non-playing characters do a lot of work for you and this is a theme that continues through much of the game. We would be surprised if you have any difficulty getting through the first level in one go and that’s the cue for another dramatic fast-forward through the book to Hogwarts while a husky voiceover fills you in on the plot that is being skipped past at full speed.
If you’re expecting some variety in gameplay then this is the point at which you start to doubt if this game is for you. The variety of spells and charms at your disposal increases, but the basic gameplay principles remain the same - run around, remove an obstacle, ‘kill’ a beastie, run some more. This is a departure from earlier games in the HP series which were strictly exploration / puzzlers. However, Harry is growing up and he likes to show this by dispatching salamanders and other nasties in a variety of entertaining ways. No doubt conscious of the fact that the game is aimed at children the developers have retained a healthy puzzle element, but in the early stages they aren’t much of a challenge, particularly as the solution is often printed up on the screen for you to read. There’s also little chance to get creative with casting spells. With only four spell-casting buttons to choose from the game decides which are available to you at any time, so approach a rock and you’ll be able to pull it out of the way. Walk up to a fire and you’ll be forced into casting an Aqua Eruptus to put it out. This lack of decision-taking tends to make you feel removed from the game and is a shame.
The visuals are good, in fact they are indistinguishable from the PS2 version. However, one of the PSP’s failings is that character detail is often too small to make out and the Goblet of Fire suffers from the same problem. We often found ourselves holding the screen right up to our noses in an attempt to make out what was going on. However, the day is saved by the quality of the environments which manage to defy the small size of the PSP screen and somehow envelop you while you play. The Hogwarts Exterior levels in the early part of the game are particularly good and you get a feel for the immense scale of the school. Cut scenes are cinematic to say the least and really show off the quality of the PSP screen.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a solid, yet unspectacular game which brings nothing new to the adventure/puzzle genre. The action never takes your breath away and the puzzles never make you rack your brains for too long. It is a kid’s game and that has to be borne in mind, but adults won’t find much here to get excited about.
Graphics
Good environments, but characters too small to score top marks - 7/10
Sound
OK, but unspectacular - 6/10
Gameplay
Repetitive action / puzzler. Controls are sluggish and the spinning camera sometimes makes it hard to work out where you’re going - 6/10
Verdict
Your kids will love it - adults may find that their interest wanes after a few levels. Harry Potter fans will probably make this an essential purchase, but we say there are better examples of the genre out there - 6/10
November 25th, 2005
TiVo has announced an expansion of its TiVoToGo service to include PSPs and iPods.
The move will be welcome news for TiVo users who own one of the popular video playback devices. Up until now, moving video from a TiVo box to a PSP or iPod, involved a complex chain of conversion software to get files into the required MPEG-4 format. Now the conversion will happen natively as part of TiVoToGo.
The TiVoToGo service was rolled out earlier in the year and allows TiVo recordings to be played back on compatible devices such as Portable Media Centers. However, the process is still a little cumbersome. Firstly the recording has to be moved to a PC which happens in realtime. Then the transferred recording is synced with the playback device, which happens a little more quickly. It could still take over an hour to get a one hour show from TiVo to a PSP.
TiVo officials said shows recorded via TiVoToGo will have digital watermarks. The extra encoding will follow the copied program wherever it goes, giving TiVo the ability to trace the origin of a transferred program that might get posted freely onto the Internet.
The PSP and iPod service is available now as a beta to existing TiVoToGo users, but will be rolled out to new users in January.
Source: MediaCenterPCWorld.com
November 21st, 2005
iSkin has announced the availability of its iSkin neo PSP Case, designed specifically to safeguard and showcase your lovely PSP.
The iSkin neo PSP Case is constructed out of genuine lambskin leather, presenting a smooth, soft, and stylish exterior that protects the user’s PSP from the elements and external environment. The iSkin neo PSP Case has a flip cover that snaps to protect the PSP screen when not in use, and offers a hands-free, “kickstand” mode that allows users to watch movies and other media content without having to hold the device.
In addition, the iSkin neo PSP Case assures easy access to both hidden UMD storage, as well as to the PSP loading tray. All controls are easily accessible, and the iSkin neo PSP Case comes complete with content media management software called jumpPSP allowing users the freedom to convert, load video, music and other content directly onto the PSP, available for both Mac and PC.
The iSkin neo PSP Case is priced at $49.99, and is available in a variety of different colors from iSkin directly at http://www.iSkin.com .
November 11th, 2005
Getting your music and video files from your PC to your PSP has not been an easy process, but that is all about to change with the launch of PSP Media Manager.
The PSP Media Manager allows users to take full advantage of the PSP’s ability to display various types of multimedia content by leveraging its capabilities as a portable music device, digital photo album, and movie viewer. With PSP Media Manager software, users can transfer videos, music, and still images, all via a USB-cable connecting their PSP system to a personal computer. A download-only version is immediately available for US $19.95 at www.sony.com/mediasoftware.
The boxed version, which will include a 6-foot USB 2.0 cable, sample media, and five free song downloads from the CONNECT music store (www.connect.com), will be available online at www.sony.com/mediasoftware or www.sonystyle.com on December 1st with an MSRP of US $29.95.
The PSP Media Manager software provides quick navigation and thumbnail previews to easily identify photos and videos to move from the PC to PSP system, and even lets users select among different quality settings (bit rates) for the transferred media. The PSP Media Manager application supports most popular video and audio formats, and also makes it simple to locate and subscribe to a variety of RSS feeds including podcasts, video blogs, and PSP- formatted magazines for automatic downloading to the PSP system. The software also provides a one-click option that lets users back up game saves, images, videos, and music files from the PSP system to their PC.
“With more then two million PSP systems sold in North America as of September 2005, the PSP system has established itself as the preeminent device for mobile entertainment and gaming. Now, with the release of the new PSP Media Manager software, we’re providing Sony technology that lets users easily optimize and transfer their content from the PC to their PSP system using a familiar drag-and-drop interface,” said Dave Chaimson, vice president of marketing, Sony Media Software. “Whether your source is 16:9 high definition video footage, a collection of photos from your latest vacation, or a PSP formatted publication, this new technology lets you view and share it anywhere you and your PSP system go.”
“Since its inception, the PSP system has quickly become the device of choice for portable entertainment. Whether it’s games, music, movies photos or Internet access, no other portable media device provides as much functionality and entertainment as the PSP system,” said John Koller, senior product manager, Sony Computer Entertainment America. “PSP Media Manager software enables consumers to easily manage and move their favorite media from their PC to their PSP. The PSP system, coupled with the new PSP Media Manager software, provides a complete solution for truly enjoying the PSP system’s portable entertainment capabilities.”
PSP Media Manager Features
General
Extensive video, audio, and image support
Easy drag-and-drop transfer to PSP
Photo and video thumbnail preview
Background processing
Video
Video support for .mp4, .avi, .mpg, .mov, .wmv, and more
High quality, Sony AVC (H.264) video encoding
Customizable target encoding settings
Music
Automatic album name folder creation
Audio support for .mp3, .wav, .wma, and other formats
Gracenote CD album identification
Customizable bitrate options for encoding and playback
Images
Automatic photo album name folder creation
One-click transfer of entire PSP-formatted magazines
Image support for .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif, and others
Feeds
Built-in directory of popular RSS feeds including ACIDplanet.com podcasts
One-click refresh to get the latest podcast episodes on the PSP
Feed subscription, import, and export
Game Saves
Back up game saves on your computer or PSP
Move game saves between Memory Stick Duo media
November 4th, 2005
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