When I was a little boy, the year the Nintendo Gameboy came out in 1989, I absolutely had to have it and then I got it for my birthday from my mom. It was the best, interchangeable cartridges and no permanent background scenery like those cheap Tiger Toys video games. GROUNDBREAKING - not perfect but definitely ground breaking. Then came gameboy color, turbo express, Sega game gear, Atari Lynx, gameboy advance/SP and even the Nintendo DS. All nice but not groundbreaking - less color.

Then the PSP comes along and the same feeling I got when I first received a gameboy all rushed back to me...and a complete package at that, (however, instead of a game, you get a full version spiderman 2 movie) none of this "core" system, buy your own batteries and earphones stuff. I mean everything you really need is included in there, except the USB to PC interface (but if you have a sony camcorder or other Sony products, you could use the USB connection that came with them, I did). I mean, this is literally a playstation in your hands, excellent graphics, memory slot, analog controls, and disc media, it is truly groundbreaking - first handheld that doesn't use cartridge. You can play head to head with other people via the built in wireless, gone are the days of lugging around a link (honestly, when you had a gameboy, did you ALWAYS have your link cable with you?).

It does a bunch of more things, not just gaming and watching movies. Go on the internet and you'll see people have found creative ways to utilize the potential of this system. One thing I was a little concerned with is the screen, it's huge...wow, but the finish is a bit sensitive that is real easy to get little nicks and scratches on your screen...definitely get a screen protector for it. Another kind of minor thing is the volume, brightness and start button are right underneath the screen and I have to play at night in bed (it's the only time I get a chance to) and you can't see these buttons, you have to feel around for them. Not a show stopper but I had to throw it out there.

By no means is this system perfect, (what new groundbreaking system is? Otherwise we would all still be playing our "perfect" monochrome 1989 Gameboys) with dead pixels (I made 2 returns before I got one with a "tolerable" dead pixel), weak batteries (it's not that bad......really) and people are saying to wait. If someone told me to wait when the gameboy with the green and grey screen came out, I would have missed all those great gaming memories waiting for color...glad I didn't. There will always be something better coming out if you just wait, but that's the nature of technology no matter what. So go ahead and wait, and wait, and in the end, you would have waited and came out with nothing. Live in the "now" man....if you have the means and capability to get this system and you're just waiting, you need a good "knock" of common sense to the noggin. Tomorrow's not promised and your circumstances can change, so go out and get this system if you're contemplating it and you think you want it. People really need to relax....everyone is so uptight about this system, sony, screens, games...whatever and are forgetting what game is really about. Have fun, that's what this system is meant for and I think it's doing a pretty damn good job of it (see my Wipeout Pure review).



Link: Sony PSP