PSP ergonomics

[yuusen]

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thanks to the stallion job they did on the usability of the playstation controller, i have a lot of trust in sony regarding the physical shape of their gaming products, but...

how are we meant to hold this thing!? and play!? :o
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neGcon related concerns aside (will i snap it out of twisted habit?), i know a lot of people who are quite physical with their controllers, and some that cannot play without moving the controller in a sympathetic way to what is going on onscreen - especially when playing wipeout. not only does there seem to be very little resting space on the PSP for your hands, but all this movement could make it very hard to see what is going on onscreen.

any thoughts?
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[infoxicated]

I guess Gameboy users have managed to live with it for the last decade or so - I'm thinking the habit will be an easy one to shake off.

Either that or I'm in for a whole lot of motion sickness!

[G'Kyl]

Me too. I have been wondering this for while: How to play Wipeout with the need to turn and twist the controller while playing. Cause that's what I am used to. I better found solid insurance for Sony's new portable. ;)

[Asche XL]

That's why you should be able to plug a ps2 controller into it.
The psp should come with a stand or something so you can rest it down and use the controller.

see, they should hire me at sony

[zargz]

I used to move the controller aLot .. in the begining :D
do as the Jedi - relax! 8)
dont think thats gonna b an issue anyway .. ppl get used 2anything
i never played any portable game b4 but my guess is i'll manage :)

btw giving the psp a stand & ps2contr plugin/smthn_2connect_2tv
it wont b portable anymore :-?

[G'Kyl]

Also, I imagine such a solution to be either rather inconvenient or rather expensive. ;) Being able to play PSP games on a big screen IS a wonderful prospect, though. The big screen will just be a lot better to play on than the portable display.

Oh, and I'm sure I will get along with the new controller conditions. ;) Even though I just saw myself moving my body heavily in order to compensate for the lack of handcraft. ;-)

Ben

[Lance]

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i'd go with Asche on this one; i don't care about the portability; i want to see the game well and to play it with a good controller
.

[Asche XL]

btw giving the psp a stand & ps2contr plugin/smthn_2connect_2tv
it wont b portable anymore :-?

How wouldn't it be portable anymore? Just resting the thing down and playing it with a controller? You can do that anywhere. I don't see your point.

[zargz]

i was talking about a controller and a tv! :)
but even carrying arround a ps2 controller(on bus or airplane) with a psp i'd find a bit uncomfortable ..
u know a ps2 controller is pretty big.
4me portable is somthing u pick up from u pocket and play 8)
also the 'socket' (not sure about the word) where u plug in a controller takes aLot of space
and to rebuild the psp for 1 or 2 of them .. i just cant see it happen :-?

[xEik]

First of all I don't think Sony will provide gamepad connectivity.

However, I still wonder how much the power consumption would be increased by attaching a periferal like a Dual Shock.
If it were the case, vibration function would have to be disabled. That does take a lot of power.
But would usage as a normal controller drain lots of battery life? :-?

Just speculating for the fun of it. :P

[Rapier Racer]

Hmm I think your right, those duelshock controllers would use lots of power, especially if you’re partial to a bit of the old side scraping

[Lance]

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i was thinking that there would simply be a connection, a data link, so that the games would then be played using the PS2 controllers, video output to tv, etc. the PSP would just feed its disc data to the PS2 and that would be it. the PSP would just function as a disc reader or at most, would process the game while sending output through the PS2
.

[zargz]

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i'd go with Asche on this one; i don't care about the portability; i want to see the game well and to play it with a good controller
. i wouldnt bet my last credit on that(the controller part), lance! but! (is that even a sentence??:D )
as i remember reading somewhere there is some kinda 'out' soo it might b possible to plug in to a tv!
also some ir connection alowing multiplayer.
i saw (somewhere) woPure was gon b 4players!!! :o :o :o
did som1 else see that too or am i just daydreaming? :D

[xEik]

I hihgly doubt multiplayer is feasible for 4 players using IR which requires direct visibility. It would even be a PITA for two players (You can't barely move the console or you lose the connection).

I can see a posibility in 4-multplayer using something like Bluetooth, though. It uses radio signal so it doesn't require direct visibility. However, its drawback is high power consumption.

[zargz]

?PSP? will have an USB 2.0 port for further expandability and connectivity to other devices, such as ?PSP,? PlayStation 2 and many other systems, along with a Memory StickTM slot for network applications and data transportability in a wireless environment.also ..
PSP is a handheld video game system featuring cutting-edge technology. The unit offers superior graphics display performance and high-end sound reproduction (7.1 channel surround). Also built into the PSP are cutting edge network features; the system is equipped with wireless LAN as a standard. SEGA is devoted to the development of titles that will make the most of PSP hardware.and ..
We are presently developing Puyo Pop Fever and Project S (temporary title), and we will propose a new style of gaming and entertainment that maximizes the features unique to PSP, such as network communication battle via wireless LAN and the "face-to-face" system that utilizes the 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD.http://www.digitalbackspin.com/pspinfo.htm

[Rapier Racer]

Can't they just make some kind of cable that could link PSP's together?

[yuusen]

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"wireless LAN" suggests, to me, bluetooth.
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one of my original concerns was regarding the shape of the PSP.
infox: i hear ya, but the gameboy had about an inch of palm-space below the buttons and a larger area to place your unused fingers behind the screen. the PSP seems to have nada but a cm or so around the edge of the device and is a ver short device, vertically speaking. i envision myself having to play with my fingers closed together at the back of the PSP to provide a satisfactory level of stability. have you held a PSP or model yet?

i wonder if a 3rd party company will start to sell clip-on 'handles' that will recreate the shape of a classic playstation controller...
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[Asayyeah]

just read that (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/03/03/sony_confirms_psp_to_ps2/)
If we can connect a psp to a ps2 ( 6 monthes after buying the psp) , probably we could be able to play with our own TV and Neg....

If i have understood well this article and if this one is not a fake...the world would be better ( playing on a big TV and of course with my ' Neggie' :P )

[Ally]

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"wireless LAN" suggests, to me, bluetooth.
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one of my original concerns was regarding the shape of the PSP.
infox: i hear ya, but the gameboy had about an inch of palm-space below the buttons and a larger area to place your unused fingers behind the screen. the PSP seems to have nada but a cm or so around the edge of the device and is a ver short device, vertically speaking. i envision myself having to play with my fingers closed together at the back of the PSP to provide a satisfactory level of stability. have you held a PSP or model yet?

i wonder if a 3rd party company will start to sell clip-on 'handles' that will recreate the shape of a classic playstation controller...
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I don't think it's Bluetooth it seems like 802.11b
I've bought into Bluetooth big style so am a bit disappointed..

[yuusen]

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yes, or 802.11b. watch those batteries, mind.
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[zargz]

i wonder if a 3rd party company will start to sell clip-on 'handles' that will recreate the shape of a classic playstation controller... now That would b somthing! 8)

[yuusen]

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i finally found a shot of the psp that shows both sides clearly. it seems that there are handle-type lumps on the back of the device.

take a look (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=55507). (the little round thing under the d-pad is an analog stick. yipee!)
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[Shem]

Is that really an analogue ..uhmmm....gizmo (pad? stick? whatever?)? I dunno....It looks just like a speaker of some sort. It's far too small for an analogue stick. I mean if you look at the pic at the size its showed on that website that stick is just about the right size for an analogue stick. But when you shrink the pic, and see the PSP at it's real size......then the 'analogue stick' is as big as a button. What's the point of having an analogue stick of that size?
I wouldn't worry about the clip-on's which would make PSP feel like a regular PS pad. Bearing all the accesories for PS in mind - It's a question of time acctually. What worries me the most is PSP's screen. I wonder if the screen will remain the clarity of image at any time.

[Wiseman]

Sorry yuusen, but that's the speaker. ;)

[G'Kyl]

Hm, but then where IS the stick? ;)

Seeing those pictures I am still afraid it will be difficult for me to feel comfortable holding this thing. It appears to be too wide to fall into the "handy" category.

[yuusen]

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Sorry yuusen, but that's the speaker. ;)
ah, i see that the images are meerly thumbnails. ive now had a look at the enlargments.

i am still convinced that what we are seeing below the d-pad is an analog stick. if you look closely at the isometric view, you will see a shadow beneath the stick. on the front elevation, the grill (im assuming that you think it is a grill akin to those used on car speakers) looks more like a pattern of raised grips.

remember the concept image – there was a small circle in the centre of the d-pad. my friends and i had specualted for some time that this was the analog stick and that it had some sort of push-in-push-out mechanism (like the power switch on tvs) that allowed it to protrude when needed, with maybe a twist or two to keep it in place. complex i know but quite a clever way to put the stick away when not in use. i am guessing that, if my specualtion was correct, sony saw fit to move the analog stick out of the centre of the d-pad in order to avoid it being accidentally activated during play. this would justify the stick being placed below the d-pad. although it could still be activated with the thumb joint i feel that, due to the shape of the psp, the thumbs may result in being placed on the buttons from a more outside angle when compared to the holding position of the dual shock, avoiding contact with the analog stick.

the size of the stick does not bother me, i have used smaller on a dell laptop (the keyboard centred touch-mouse) to great success. the thing looks grippy enough to be moved easily and we have no way of telling what the force needed to move the stick will be, nor its range of movement.

unless you have a reliable source of information that states that that little round thing is certainly a speaker, i shall remain fixed in my perception.

in an attempt to quash any arguements like "so where is the speaker if i cant see it?" – my ipod does not have a visible speaker, yet manages to emit a clearly audible chirp or bleep when placed in its dock. if apple have the ability to create effectivel internal speakers for portable devices, i guess sony may do too.
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[infoxicated]

It's the analogue stick, not a speaker.

[yuusen]

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consider the reliable source of information officially found!

cheers infox :D
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[zargz]

wow! a stick!! :o hope it's as good as the n64 or Xbox'! 8)
now, does anybody know if the d-pad is 'analog' (3 steps) like the d-pad on the ps2 controller?