It's PSP Day in Japan

[NFG]

Today is PSP day in Japan.  12/12, a Sunday, the first really cold day of winter so far.  Some Bic Camera stores were opening up at 6:55am instead of the normal 10 o'clock, but the nearest one to me was a half hour train ride away.  Better than Akihabara, at least, which is a full hour off.  The wife was informed and plans were made and at 5:30 in the morning I dragged my ass out of bed (and the wife's) and she drove me to the train station.

Note: there's no one on the platform at 6am on a Sunday.  The train was about 5% full.  Lots of seating.

I arrived in Omiya on schedule, and was in line for a PSP by 6:35, twenty minutes early.  I was handed a card and asked which PSP bundle I wanted, and given a list of accessories and software on which I could tick off the things I wanted to buy.

I was 159th in line.  



By the time I reached the cashier there were nearly as many people behind me as in front when I arrived, so I reckon three hundred people lined up for their PSP this morning.  None were disappointed as near as I can tell (at least until they opened the box I'm sure).

For a very long time people were going into the store and not coming out.  I emailed Zumi and asked if she thought maybe they were being killed.  She surmised a giant cow was eating us all.  This added to my worries of them not liking my filthy foreign Visa card, and I waited nervously in the cold.  It got colder, and then colder still.  By the time I reached the door to the store it was a frosty 200 degrees below zero, but the mood was cheerful as they had finally turned on the loudspeaker blaring the store jingle.  "Biku, biku biku bik-camera!"

No one behind me got the sheet of paper on which to write their 'order', so there was some concern until someone remembered that, as an electronics shop, they had more than a few copiers, scanners and printers with which they could create more.  Supplies were replenished and there was joy afoot.  I ticked off the Value Pack, and two games: Lumines, the puzzler from the REZ guy, and Ridge Racers.

After nearly two hours I neared the front of the line.  A guy behind me had pulled out his DS and was playing Feel the Magic.  Or at least I assume he was.  For a time he was scribbling furiously on the pad, and then he was blowing on the microphone.  If he'd pulled his DS out earlier I'd have challenged him to a smashing game of Picto-Chat, since I had my DS in my backpack also.

Finally it was my turn.  The cheerful sales drone didn't bat an eye at my Visa card, though he did try and slip me a HotShots Golf instead of the Ridge Racers I deserved, so I had to politely tear him a new one.  Then, finally, I was off!

After training back to my city I had breakfast at a local restaurant that opens early and serves a delightful Japanese dish called "Sausage and Egg McMuffin".  I warmed myself up while I waited for the local shops to open, then walked a couple of blocks to the first one.  The door was open five minutes early, so I eagerly sprinted to the games department.  Three kids in front of me were buying PSPs, but apparently they were the last ones.

Off to Toys R Us then!  I saw kids riding bikes with PSPs in their baskets, eager little emotionless faces betraying their eagerness to be eager.  Having walked over four hundred miles so far today I was sure to succeed, for I had paid my dues!  Dozens of parents were in the lineup to pick up their new PSPs for screeching kids, and I saw many an adult with PSP purchase tags clutched in fist, but as I arrived to the PSP department a horrible little man was applying a "sold out, sucka" sticker to the display.  Again, they sold out right in front of me.

The next shop didn't have any, and the last shop on my list sold out weeks before I arrived.  

It wasn't all bad, I had a PSP and two hot games!  I caught the bus home and eagerly asked the guy for whom I bought the stupid thing if I could open it and try it.  He granted permission, but lo!  My thumbs were too cold, and the games were for someone else, and the fucking PSP is so damned shiny and smooth you can't even breath on it without leaving a scratch and a fingerprint.  I put the thing back in the box with great care, leaving only six prints and a gouge on the ridiculous front face.

So yeah, it's PSP day in Japan.

[benzaldehyde]

Soooooo....

How's that battery life? Did you get to play longer than the time it took you to acquire the little thing?

What would you say is better? Q-tips (don't wear out that DS screen!) or surgical gloves (eek... teh smudging...)?

[dhau]

PSP - yahoo! I'm already tired of DS, I need something new! And after PSP I want Xbrick (a portable new handheld from Microsoft Xbox division the size of a football)

[benzaldehyde]

Just commenting on your review. I agree with everything you write (as usual). I was shocked to see the fundamental design errors you found, though. I mean, it's like Sony sabotaged the damn thing. I think I'll be sticking to questing for a DS, and waiting patiently for online Pictochat.

[NFG]

Just commenting on your review. I agree with everything you write (as usual).

I find this oddly frightening.

Someone was telling me today online pictochat is a reality.  I am all for this, I think it's time I bought a wireless a...  oi, the wife's laptop has built in wireless!!

/me ponders.

[kazamatsuri]

I just read your review of the system and I'm going to have to disagree on a couple of things.

First off, you're right about looks of the system.  It's simply gorgeous.  I got mine on launch day as well (though I pre-ordered from playstation.com so all I had to do was wait for Sagawa to deliver it) and occasionally I play it on the train or bus.  I _always_ get looks from people and I hear whispers of "Look!  He's got a PSP!"  It really attracts attention.

Also, it picks up fingerprints like a mug.  But I've had mine since launch and have played it for hours everyday and I have yet to scratch it once.  Not once.  No where.  The screen looks quite tough to me.  I can't imagine getting much in the way of scratches on it.  As for the fingerprints, I use one of those cell phone screen cleaner things that you can find easily here in Japan and that cleans it right off.  Again, my screen is as clean and scratch-free as the day it came out of the box.  It all depends on how you use it.

Also, as for the problem with the d-pad/square button and LCD screen, I think that might be just your system, because I have no problem at all like that with mine.  When I first got it, the d-pad did squeak a little when pushed to the right, but now it doesn't.  I've never felt it catch or stop on anything or give way.  The square button also has always depressed as far as all of the other buttons and I've never had any problems with it in any of the games I have.  I've never had a button-push not register.

As far as the magic eject twist, I've never experienced, but I'm certainly not going to try to twist my PSP to get it to happen.  I think as long as you're not a spaz, you'll be all right.

I'm also not sure how you can say the PSP does harm to the PS brand.  First off, the fact that you've got almost PS2 level visuals in a handheld is impressive.  If nothing else, it's a testament to Sony's engineering ability.  Second, as you stated, the thing is great to look at.  Third, the games, while admittedly not a step forward in gaming, are still solid, fun-to-play games.  Minna no Golf Portable is just as addictive as the PS2 version, if not moreso because of the new features.  Lumines is equally as addictive and Ridge Racers is certainly something to show off the power of the new system, just as the original RR was at the launch of the PS1.

I don't understand why the system is a failure if the games are not revolutionary.  As long as they are fun, isn't that enough?  Isn't that what the system is for?  Your sentence

Unlike Nintendo's DS, which includes two amazing - or gimmicky, depending on your viewpoint - features with the touchscreen and dual-screens, Sony's done nothing but shrink their PlayStation hardare into a portable format.

could easily be re-worded to "Unlike Sony's PSP, which includes one amazing - or tired, depending on your viewpoint - feature with the PS2 level visuals, Nintendo's done nothing but add an extra touchscreen to a Game Boy Advance" and it's equally as valid.

(In the interests of disclosure, I don't have a DS and have only played the Metroid demo in the stores, but none of the games, with the exception of Feel the Magic, have any interest to me.)

Also, the UMDs are not meant to be removed from the case in the way you describe.  You're supposed to push down on one of the lower corners and the opposite side will pop up for you to grab.  I saw this on a Sony site somewhere and while it's certainly not intuitive, it does work.  Try it.  (That said, I would feel a little more relaxed if they did put a slide on the UMD.)

Finally, I don't have any problem with my thumb sliding across the d-pad.  Maybe it's just me.

In the end, I realize a review is simply one person's opinion, and I have no problem with that.  It's simply that some of the items mentioned here are stated as pure fact (the buttons/LCD screen "problem", the scratches and smudging) and I don't find that to be the case with mine at all.  I just wanted to provide a small counterpoint.

[NFG]

Thanks for the response.  Now, to have a look at your counter-assertions:

1. Glossy surfaces are bad for controllers, this is essentially cardinal law.  I can't remember ever seening a shiny transparent controller in my entire life.  There's a reason for this.  Sure, you can use expensive (compared to, say, paper towel or your shirt) celphone cleaners for your PSP, but should you have to?  It would have been better if Sony'd made it a textured surface.

2. d-pad + square button: As mentioned the unit I had did not have square-button problems, though I think I only pressed it twice as Lumines didn't use it and RR used it only for downshifting - and who goes SLOWER?  Even if it is an uncommon problem it's common enough that lots of people complain about it, and it's certainly far more common than it should be.  There shouldn't be this kind of variance in a modern system.

3. The twist thing is good for show but unlikely to occur during regular use.  On the other hand it's obvious that it happened to someone during play or it wouldn't have been discovered.

4. " If nothing else, it's a testament to Sony's engineering ability."  Or lack thereof, I agree.  The PS1, PS2 and now PSP are totally unreliable, even considering the numbers sold there are too many broken ones.  Dead Super Nintendos?  Dead GameCubes?  Unpossible!  Even the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast had far better success rates.  Without hard numbers it's hard to prove but I'd be willing to bet the stats wouldn't work out in Sony's favour.

5.  Your comment about rewording what i wrote seems to be a knee-jerk retort from a biased standpoint.  Sony shoehorned a PS2 into a portable, just like Nintendo did SNES->GBA or NES->GB, or PCEngine -> GT or Genesis->Nomad or MasterSystem->GameGear.  Sony's got the advantage of time and progress, but Nintendo added something never before seen.  In this point, if not others, your argument doesn't stand.

You're right, the DS has no good games.  Lumines is incredible, I want it bad, but I held off on the PS2 since release because the hardware was so shitty, and I think I can wait until v2 of the PSP.  I don't want to, I want it bad, but FFS it's completely broken.

You may be right about the UMDs but the half-covered disc caddy concept is unforgivable.  Make all the excuses you want, Sony dropped this ball.  If your media isn't robust the system isn't portable.  Try shoving a UMD in your pocket with some change, I dare you.  When that 1yen coin gets lodged in there scratching your precious games to ratshit then I think we'll all be on the same page.  =(

The sliding d-pad goes back to textured vs smooth: it's easier to slide a thumb across a bumpy surface than a mirror-smooth one, that's why curling rinks are pebbled.

The concepts I presented in the review aren't opinions, they're facts, provable beyond doubt.  What IS opinion is how much these flaws matter to the buyer.  For me they're a deal-breaker several times over.  For you, clearly, it's not a big deal.

Thanks for the post.