ResearchThe Sony PlayStation Portable - How's the New Kid Fitting In?
Ah, the handheld gaming console market. What better expression of consumer's demand to have it all? Long gone are the days when it was enough to have a monochrome display whose primary color scheme is pureed-spinach; these days a portable game console has to do much more than just play games. And Sony looked around in 2004, realized that they were missing the boat on the portable console market, and ran to catch up. The reviews when the PlayStation Portable came out ranged from saying it was revolutionary to saying it wasn't much that people hadn't seen before. So how's it stacking up now that it's had time to wear in?
One of the enduring points of commentary is the case. Sony, in an attempt to emulate Apple's philosophy of making devices look as good on the outside as the programs inside, designed a sleek, shiny, black, handsome hunk of a machine. Too shiny, many say. Do not leave this gadget at a crime scene if you're the perpetrator, because there will be a perfect record of your fingerprints on it which will be better than what they could lift at the CSI lab. The dimensions are unique; a screen size that rivals a portable TV, which, given that Sony is primarily a media company, is exactly what they had in mind. Wide-screen movies look comfortable on it's screen. To emphasize that point, Sony has bundled a movie disc with many of the console units. The case's bulk is unseemly in a pocket; even Mae West wouldn't think that you were glad to see her. It comes with a strap handle so that you can carry it like a handbag or wear it around your neck like a camera. But consider that it weighs over 10 ounces; a stress for all but the beefiest necks.
Personally, my attitude is the same as for a Mac: "Who cares what's outside, what does it do inside?" Here, Sony has modified the whole concept so that the PlayStation Portable is less of a game console than it is a palm-top computer or a smart cell phone. It has it's own built-in web browser and wireless Internet connectivity, for instance. If you can get online with your laptop, you can do it with a PSP! Not only that, but the large screen area helps it display full web pages just like a computer web browser would. Of course, web design being the exercise in torture that it is, don't expect every tricky CSS hack, Ajax integrated feature, or Javascript applet to work flawlessly. The PSP's web browser can't even drive Flash yet. However, you can enter text into the web browser's interface. In fact, I'm writing this article on one. Ha ha! Just kidding - the console's keyboard screen is just as dinky and fiddly as any cell phone's, and completely painful for anything but entering a URL - and you'll want to bookmark every entry you make, so you don't have to punch one in twice. Suffice it to say that visits from Sony PlayStations haven't exactly flooded the access logs of websites. But wireless browsing is still a big plus, as it also enables easy downloading. You can even view and save images on it.