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[mrklaw]

Hmm, just bought the Value Pack - will I need a special adaptor for European plugs or is everything included?

The AC adapter is universal, so it'll take 100-140V, 50/60Hz. You'll just need a radio lead with your local plug on the end (the little figure of eight thing like PS2 etc use). Plug that straight in and it'll work fine. Nintendo might have been in the handheld game for 17 years, but its taken Sony to show how a 'travel' item should be powered.

 

[u_neek]

The AC adapter is universal, so it'll take 100-140V, 50/60Hz. You'll just need a radio lead with your local plug on the end (the little figure of eight thing like PS2 etc use). Plug that straight in and it'll work fine. Nintendo might have been in the handheld game for 17 years, but its taken Sony to show how a 'travel' item should be powered.

Thanx, where can i buy this radio lead?

 

[mrklaw]

I just use the one from my digital camera charger (the usb cable for that also works for connecting the PSP to my PC - you don't get a usb cable with the pack). Or any hardware/electrical store. If you are in the UK I'd try maplins.

 

[kikonawa]

i you have a xbox or ps2 , try that lead you have with it

 

[duckroll]

The AC adapter is universal, so it'll take 100-140V, 50/60Hz. You'll just need a radio lead with your local plug on the end (the little figure of eight thing like PS2 etc use). Plug that straight in and it'll work fine. Nintendo might have been in the handheld game for 17 years, but its taken Sony to show how a 'travel' item should be powered.

Awesome, I was going to ask this myself since I blew the fuse on a friend's JP Saturn once for plugging it in directly (I'm in Singapore). My PSP should be here tomorrow, great to know it's universal. More power to Sony.

Btw, as long as I have a standard USB cable, what can I do after connecting the PSP to the PC? I would assume I can transfer stuff to the memory stick that way right?

 

[EGM92]

Hey guys, what's a good price to be paying for a basic PSP unit? I see some sites dropping realy fast in price I guess cause sony did a shipment of units? or maybe just that the xmas season is over. I seen one site that had it at 420$ non value pack and today I just checked and it was at 390$ good price? are there cheaper?

Also I know that the unit is region free... does that mean I'll be able to play all my US games when they are released? I'm scared of spending like 300$+ on a JP PSP and then when the US launch roles around I won't be able to use it. Are there plans to keep it region free for games? or is it up to developers to decide whether or not they want to lock the games or not?

Thanks for the help!

EGM92

 

[kikonawa]

yes
and
yes

 

[EGM92]

yes
and
yes

...Would you like to elaborate on that?

 

[mrklaw]

duckroll,

Its not a standard USB cable. PC end is standard, PSP end is mini usb, like you get with digital cameras etc. You don't get it in the PSP box so you'll need to buy one if you don't have one lying around.

You plug in and go to the settings menu in the PSP (left most menu on the home page). Then select USB mode and the PC will install the drivers. After that it'll just appear as a removable drive, and you can drag and drop files straight to the memory card on the PSP. Let the PSP format your memory card first to create the right files (and check earlier in this thread if you want to create the right folders for movies)

 

[duckroll]

duckroll,

Its not a standard USB cable. PC end is standard, PSP end is mini usb, like you get with digital cameras etc. You don't get it in the PSP box so you'll need to buy one if you don't have one lying around.

You plug in and go to the settings menu in the PSP (left most menu on the home page). Then select USB mode and the PC will install the drivers. After that it'll just appear as a removable drive, and you can drag and drop files straight to the memory card on the PSP. Let the PSP format your memory card first to create the right files (and check earlier in this thread if you want to create the right folders for movies)

Yeah I meant standard USB cable for peripherals. I have a digital camera so all is good. Thanks a lot.

 

[u_neek]

duckroll,

Its not a standard USB cable. PC end is standard, PSP end is mini usb, like you get with digital cameras etc. You don't get it in the PSP box so you'll need to buy one if you don't have one lying around.

Like this one, right?

Can you recharge your PSP through the USB cable?

 

[mrklaw]

? Maybe. The PSP end looks like a little trapezium.

Doesn't charge PSP.

 

[WhippinSean]

RR music lovin' in stereo:

http://s8.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=36HB01V51TY193F9DWJW9AC5AU

You should have ripped a new track... don't you guys know this song is from R: Racing Evolution?

 

[Chittagong]

I dropped an UMD to a full cup of coffee today! I was just demonstrating in the office how stupid the design of the format is with no lid covering and protecting the disc, and the UMD almost flew from my hand to the coffee cup with a big splash... luckily it was only Vampire Chronicles and not RR or Lumines!

The design makes it also pretty hard to dry, it showered it with some clean water but it seems to take ages to dry.

 

[mrklaw]

I dropped an UMD to a full cup of coffee today! I was just demonstrating in the office how stupid the design of the format is with no lid covering and protecting the disc, and the UMD almost flew from my hand to the coffee cup with a big splash... luckily it was only Vampire Chronicles and not RR or Lumines!

The design makes it also pretty hard to dry, it showered it with some clean water but it seems to take ages to dry.

Is it possible to take it apart, or is it welded shut? If its openable then it'll be easier to dry out, plus you could whack it in a DVD rom drive just in case its readable?

 

[TTP]

I dropped an UMD to a full cup of coffee today! I was just demonstrating in the office how stupid the design of the format is

And u got own3d by the UMD showing how stupid YOU are PPPPP

j/k

 

[duckroll]

Chittagong: Look guys, this UMD design is the dumbest thing ever!

Fellow workers: Mm hmm...

Chittagong: Yeah see here? There's no door, that's fucking dumb what if like for example.... FUCK WHOOPS!

Fellow workers: Hahahahahahah

Chittagong: Fuck the UMD is in the coffee! Damnit this is why not having a door is so STUPID!

Fellow workers: Well you obviously showed us what was the dumbest thing ever and something that was so STUPID, but we're not so convinced about the UMD design being at fault here. :lol :lol :lol

 

[Lord Error]

Somehow I doubt the door on the UMD would save you from the coffee accident. If anything it would make it even more difficult to dry out after you washed it (plus you would have to worry about the rust on a door spring)

 

[Mrbob]

I dropped an UMD to a full cup of coffee today! I was just demonstrating in the office how stupid the design of the format is with no lid covering and protecting the disc, and the UMD almost flew from my hand to the coffee cup with a big splash... luckily it was only Vampire Chronicles and not RR or Lumines!

The design makes it also pretty hard to dry, it showered it with some clean water but it seems to take ages to dry.

:lol :lol

This is irony striking back at you, dude! :lol Oh man, after all the complaining you have made about the UMD design, I'm just trying to imagine how a UMD disc goes flying out of your hand and into a coffee cup! :lol It sucks that your disc got sent flying into a coffee cup (WTF) and I don't think that is funny, but of all the people who this could possibly happen too it had to be you. :lol

 

[D2M15]

I'm just trying to imagine how a UMD disc goes flying out of your hand and into a coffee cup!

Were you twisting both sides of your hand, kind of like using a JogCon, Chitta? Because that'll do it.

 

[Defensor]

mashoutposse, rip the entire soundtrack please
You can do it better than me.

 

[Amir0x]

mashoutposse, rip the entire soundtrack please
You can do it better than me.

Hey, I liked your rips. I'm listening to some of them as we speak

 

[kikonawa]

...Would you like to elaborate on that?

280euro is a good price AT THE MOMENT so YES

and YES, it has been confirmed officialy that it will be regionfree
only suposedly umd movies and or music discs will be regionlocked, but honestly, who gives a shit about that

 

[mashoutposse]

mashoutposse, rip the entire soundtrack please
You can do it better than me.

I will never have the time for all that, bro :lol

You were doing a great job already, Def. I will re-encode the fan favorites in stereo based on the response from other members.

BTW, what are you using? You could probably get it done on your end, too.

 

[Defensor]

BTW, what are you using? You could probably get it done on your end, too.

Well, I need something that is for free and not some demo/shareware. Been using my good ol' wav recorder with my gold plated cables to record. Then I use wav->mp3 converter(demo) to convert to mp3. Help me out, as Reggie would say, " I GOT NOTHING!".
I would like to keep the mp3s at var. bitrate but I need a good recording program.

 

[Shompola]

welp play-asia dropped the prices aswell. 349USD for standard and 399USD for value pack. Can we expect another 50USD price drop in a week?

 

[kikonawa]

i'v heard that there are a lot of psps available in japan atm

 

[Chittagong]

It was a pretty embarrasing yet hilarious moment - I tried to hold the UMD up showing it like Kutaragi did but the damn thing is so round that it just slipped between my fingers - no corners to stop it. I'm still not sure whether it really helped my point of the bad design..

:lol

The coffee cup was really big too, a Swiss Military thermos cup (0.4L I think). The UMD has dried pretty nicely, there are some drying stains so I have to figure out what to use. I'm not sure if micro fiber is ok or not.

 

[Dsal]

What about rubbing alchohol or something like that? Or is that bad for media surfaces? I don't remember.

 

[ourumov]

I think it deppends on the kind of alcohol. Alcohol is abrasive and it isn't very good for optical surfaces...but I am sure there are certain kinds that can be used without problems.

 

[Argyle]

Some more observations...

I can't seem to launch UMDs from my machine. Maybe I'm not twisting hard enough (can you blame me for not wanting to twist it too hard?)...maybe the latch has already been fixed? (Unlikely, but this is a 2nd shipment unit...) What does the latch look like on your launch units?

It sounds much better with a decent set of headphones (that is, not the value pack headphones...)...I don't get the hum with real headphones, so I guess it was just a quirk of the value pack headphones?

 

[Lyte Edge]

welp play-asia dropped the prices aswell. 349USD for standard and 399USD for value pack. Can we expect another 50USD price drop in a week?

Where do you see this? I see $450 for the system and RR or $500 for the value pack and RR only.

I just told my co-worker to order from them and don't want him getting "ripped off."

 

[fugimax]

Is there a way to prevent the PSP from launching into a game if a UMD is inserted? Sometimes I just want to go to boot to the home screen, but don't want to take out the UMD..

 

[Shompola]

Where do you see this? I see $450 for the system and RR or $500 for the value pack and RR only.

I just told my co-worker to order from them and don't want him getting "ripped off."

The e-mail I got from them. Maybe it's for the moment only for people who pre-ordered?

 

[Lord Error]

Is there a way to prevent the PSP from launching into a game if a UMD is inserted? Sometimes I just want to go to boot to the home screen, but don't want to take out the UMD..

Have you tried holding a Home button while booting?

 

[fugimax]

Have you tried holding a Home button while booting?

I've tried holding the 'Home' button, yes

 

[mashoutposse]

Is there a way to prevent the PSP from launching into a game if a UMD is inserted? Sometimes I just want to go to boot to the home screen, but don't want to take out the UMD..

You shouldn't have to ever completely turn it off. Sleep mode draws almost no power and allows you to launch right back into whatever you were doing.

I've had mine for almost two weeks, and I've done a full shutdown only twice -- once when removing the battery for curiousity, and once to see the boot up process.

 

[DCharlie]

Piposaru academia initial thoughts....

hmmm... this ones a little weird.

Complete lots of Piposaru minigames and graduate each Saru "school year" to go on to new puzzles/hard versions of the older ones, which (other than the occassional overly simple ones) range from fairly entertaining to inane.

Graphically the game isn't bad , it has all the cute piposaru charm, but the music is strangely lacking - no Sarugetchu theme tune, just mildly cutesy generic music and some very annoying Saru squakks.

The biggest problem here is the load times. I'm a big mini game fan (Sando-R, Tanto-R, Made in Wario series, Gatcharok etc etc) , but the main point with those games is that it's mini-game after mini-game after mini-game without pause. PipoAcad though is - load for 8 seconds , chose game , load for somewhere between 5 and 15 seconds , play game that might last as short as 2-3 seconds, load menu for 8 seconds, chose game, load for somewhere between 5 and 15 seconds....

The PSP doesn't feel like a mini game machine. Playing Ridge for a 5 minute race then having a 7-8 second load time i can deal with , but with PA spending so little game time compared to loading time it becomes really obvious , and really old, very very quickly.

Further lameness is the 4 player wireless mode... yet again, as with Puyo Puyo, this is based on a wireless link between 2 machines, with 2 players on each of the two machines. I hope this isn't going to become a trend because there is no reason why we shouldn't be having 4 seperate machines for wireless link.

 

[Lord Error]

So, Pyuo Pyuo can be played with four people total (2 on each PSP)?

Too bad about Piposaru Academia, the game looked fun.

The PSP doesn't feel like a mini game machine.

They could have (and should have) made simpler looking mini games, so that they don't have to load all the time, or perhaps load the next game while you are playing current one.

 

[fugimax]

The PSP doesn't feel like a mini game machine.

Nope, not at all..

I think DS has PSP beat on this front easily. Mini-games are about interaction and not visuals...the DS' fast loading times + touch-screen make it a great platform for this genre.

I'm really hoping to see a collection of mini-games like those that would appear in Mario Party that are self-contained bundles of joy that you can play either vs. cpu or against others wirelessly.

As for PSP, the crispness of the screen could make for some great 2-D games. I hope SCEA doesn't start-up some stupid policy ala PS2 about 2D stuff. They should be encouraging it. Lumines is so pleasing to the eyes. Crisp text, crisp graphics -- everything is just so clean.

 

[mrklaw]

I'll skip then. Maybe the next one will be good (or is it just a rehash of the first game?)

DCharlie, you've mentioned wireless play on puyo and PA. Do either use 'game sharing' or do they both need two UMDs?

 

[Shompola]

I feel like it will take some time(a year or so) until we get some polished games i.e. games with insignificant loading times and so on.

 

[fugimax]

Is there any word on Sony utilizing the memory stick during gameplay to improve battery life and reduce loading times?

 

[DCharlie]

"So, Pyuo Pyuo can be played with four people total (2 on each PSP)?
Too bad about Piposaru Academia, the game looked fun."

Yup , 4 player total.

The game is fairly fun - that's the annoying thing - i'm just about to leave for work, and it would be ideal for the train journey (only 15 minutes) but in that time, i'm going to be spending 80-90% of the time loading the games.

For instance - there is a game where you have to skewer the right fruits with your sword wielding monkey. It's all fun, but it's all over in 2 - 3 seconds... but to get to have those two seconds of fun would take a good 20+ seconds for you to select the game from the mini game master board and for it to load , the a good 8-10 seconds to reload the select game screen after the game is finished, which is a shame as it seems the game could be fairly fun

re: Game sharing

i'll have to check - Piposaru does so much loading, i'd doubt it does - but you never know, there maybe specific "one disk" games....

 

[Marty Chinn]

Anyone find a place that has a 1 gig stick in stock?

 

[Lord Error]

Is there any word on Sony utilizing the memory stick during gameplay to improve battery life and reduce loading times?

There's been some talk about that on the last PSP presentation for european news reporters, but no concrete info. I would certainly like to see memory stick being used to speed up loading, for people who want to reserve certain amount of space (say, 20MB) on it.

 

[TTP]

Talking about memory stick... has anyone discovered what the MGS3 LINK in MGA is all about?

 

[Troidal]

Talking about memory stick... has anyone discovered what the MGS3 LINK in MGA is all about?

Spoiler

Stealth suit camo

 

[TTP]

oh, thanks.

 

[Mrbob]

There have been rumors of a Febuary release of the PSP in NA. This is interesting:

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/groups/psp/

Many of the games slated to come out Febuary 13. In fact, that is a TON of games on Feb 13. Games better be 30 bucks a pop if publishers want gamers to buy more than a couple! Early January can't come soon enough for SCEA to release final info!