What are our thoughts on the PlayStation Portable? We have mixed feelings about it. Sure, it can do movies and music and
the homebrew scene is taking off a bit, but it's still a bit too chunky to be truly portable and the games are mostly poor PlayStation 2 ports.
However, a recent redesign may half those problems for us and tempt us to pick the new, improved PSP Slim up to replace our much loved DS Lites. Unveiled at E3, the PSP Slim is slimmer and lighter than the standard model with redistributed buttons and a series of much-needed tweaks to make it more comfortable to use.
As
Kotaku point out, it's not a major revision to Sony's attempt at handheld gaming, but more a series of much-needed smaller adjustments.
The Wi-Fi switch has been moved to the top of the PSP and the speakers have been placed above the buttons and D-pad. The D-pad itself has been replaced with a proper, better feeling pad which feels more responsive and reassuring to use. The casing, meanwhile, has seen a coating of DS-alike finish which makes the PSP Slim look even better than before. There's still no indication of exactly how much thinner and lighter the PSP Slim is compared to the original model, but we're expecting this to be revealed soon.
However, many gamers are of the opinion that the adjustments are long overdue and not enough to fight back against the DS Lite, which has been a stormer for Ninty. The DS has reaffirmed the company's place as the lord of handheld gaming, a title it has held ever since the original Gameboy was released.
As for us, well we're still on the fence regarding the PSP - but its hard to deny that Sony's portable gamer just got a whole lot more attractive.
Do you homebrew? Which handheld do you prefer to game-on-the-go with, PSP or DS? Let us know
in the forums.
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