Nintendo GameCube Console 4 Store Offers from $150-$200
Newbie Review by Philip P Daniel
Alright, now I know that I have been known to freak out in the past over
things like the new version of Everquest, the latest card deck upgrade of
Magic the Gathering, or even hearing that William Shatner was going to film
a new movie in my hometown, but all of these things pale in comparison to
what has just been given to the world by those man-gods over at Sony. If you
ever wanted to buy a handheld video game system, but thought that the Nintendo
GameBoy was suited far to much for children with bad eyesight, or ever wanted
a device that would let you play games, listen to MP3s, compete against other
players online, watch DVD quality movies, view and store pictures, or just
make you look like ten bajillion times more bad ass, then your prayers have
finally been answered in the form of the new mobile entertainment beast…the
Playstation portable!
Called the PSP for short, this beast is literally a jack of all trades. Games
and movies are formatted on mini DVD like devices called UMDs that can each
hold up to 1.8 GBs of information. Just to put that in perspective, the Nintendo
DS’ carts can hold roughly half of the amount of information stored
on one UMD. Because of the large storage capacity and powerful engine that
runs the system, movies look DVD quality and games have the graphic prowess
of their PS2 counterparts. Couple all of this with the fact that unit can
function as an MP3 and MPEG4 player using the proprietary Memory Stick Pro
Duo format and the unit is on par with portable media players such as the
Archos and the Lyra. As if all of this weren’t enough, the unit has
built in Wi-Fi technology that allows users to not only battle others in close
proximity, but also through wireless hotspots. There have already been hacks
created that let users surf the net through the PSP, and Sony has also talked
about firmware updates that will make this practice much easier and legitimate
in the future. With Sony so fully behind its newest baby, there is no reason
to be afraid of the rather steep price tag associated with the unit.
In all my years as a professional geek, I have never seen a new device that
has been so polished and capable of so many things then the PSP. If I had
to wager my life savings (which amounts to a first edition of Green Lantern
#1, a picture of William Shatner autographed by Patrick Stewart and an unopened
Darth Vader in an error package) I would say that the PSP will have a long,
fruitful life and you would be dumber then a Wookie’s uncle if you didn’t
drop what you are doing and run out and buy one right now! RIGHT NOW!!!!!
