12th December 2004, 4:52 PM
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/12/...14909.html
Quote:Q: How long does the PSP's battery last?
A: The short answer is that it depends on what you're doing. The longer answer is that Sony has stated that the battery should last around six hours. With simpler-looking games like Lumines or Mahjong Fight Club, that definitely seems to be the case. But with more graphically intensive games, like Ridge Racers, the battery doesn't last quite as long. Based on our estimates and a few battery-draining tests, Ridge Racers seems to last somewhere between 90 minutes and three hours. Playing with the wireless networking switch flipped on will also further reduce your battery life. The system has an auto-sleep function that stops the wireless drain, but that switch is there for a reason. Turn it off when you're not using it.
Video and audio will likely drain the battery differently, depending on where the content is coming from. It's less power-intensive to read from the memory stick slot than the UMD drive, though without any audio discs and only one demo video disc full of short game and movie trailers available now, it's difficult to actually put a number on this. Considering that the screen will black out if left unattended, it seems reasonable that you should get a good amount of battery power out of the system when listening to audio.
Quote:Q: Are there long loading times in every game?
A: After years of cartridge-based handhelds, it's a little difficult to accept the concept of loading times on a portable game system. Yes, PSP games need to load, just like any other disc-based system would. Those load times vary. Lumines loads up new graphics and music when you change stages, and during this load, all of the game's audio--all of which is tied to the music--stops. Ridge Racers loads for about 15 seconds up front, and from there, getting into or out of a race takes another 10-15 seconds. Vampire Chronicle seems to be the worst offender so far, as it has 15-20 second load times when you get into or out of a match. In the game's tower mode, where you only fight for one round, this becomes pretty noticeable. But for the most part, the loading times aren't that noticeable. When you put a number on them, it sounds worse than it actually is. Ridge Racers doesn't feel like it takes forever to load. Vampire Chronicle can be a little frustrating, but that's about it.
Quote:Q: What's the deal with the PSP's control disc? Is it analog or not?
A: We've heard reports from the development side of things that the control disc on the PSP isn't a "true" analog device. After playing a few games that use it, it's difficult to tell the difference. The disc definitely allows for more than eight directions of motion, and works fine for, say, making slight turns in Ridge Racers. That said, the disc seems to have a fairly large dead zone, and it's difficult to get very slight movements out of it. But above all, it seems to work well for driving games, at least, and shouldn't be a problem, regardless of how, exactly, it works under the hood.