News - PSP load times looked at
Posted by
Samuel Altersitz
at 02:41:53 AM EST on 12.8.2004.
Lik-Sang, popular Hong Kong retailer and exporter of electronics and games for importers, has published a little
hands-on with the load times for a few games, and how the unit stands up to minor handling.
The minor handling aspect, according to Lik-Sang, says that the areas where players will have their hands will get smudged with fingerprints, and quickly. In order to test the unit and produce good looking pics for people to see (click the link to the article for the pics), they wore plastic gloves--to prevent the fingerprint smudges. Most gamers probably won't care about smudges from fingerprints around the buttons and D-pad, though.
As for the load times for the games? Well, some of them were pretty long. The load times were taken from demo units set up in Japan, and describes the powering down of the unit and then powering the unit up with the demo disk of the appropriate game in it (most likely by a Lik-Sang employee in Japan). The results are as follows:
Ridge Racer:
• From power off to Namco logo and title: 16 seconds
• From selecting car/track to start the race: 14 seconds
• Exit the game back to car/track selection: 10 seconds
Dokodemo Issho:
• From power off to PSP logo and title: 20 seconds
• Starting game from title screen: 10 seconds
• Going back to title screen: 5 seconds
Mojipittan:
• From power off to title screen: 20 seconds
• No more waiting time
Minna no Golf (
Hot Shots Golf):
• From power off to PSP logo and title: 24 seconds
• From character selection to start: 19 seconds
• Waiting between courses: few seconds only
The
Hot Shots Golf demo's menu was apparently also not working correctly, but this might be attributed to pre-release demo software, and will hopefully be fixed in the final release version.
As we can see, though, the initial loading of the unit is between 20-24 seconds for each demo. While this is not indicitive of what the final games' loading times will be when powering on; it still isn't a good sign. Other loading times were as quick as under 5 seconds, to as long as 19 seconds.
The thing people need to remember, is each of these loads draws more power from the PSP's battery, as it not only spins the disk, but also moves the laser. As to how this loading will affect the battery life of the PSP still remains to be seen.
Source:
Lik-Sang, Slashdot Games
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radtad 12.9.2004 at 12:18:02 PM
Buy it anyways.
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pixy misao 12.9.2004 at 06:05:16 AM
Sony is not above criticism. From my point of view I've gone thru so many faulty Sony products that their current dominance in the console industry makes little sense to me. The same with Microsoft and their PC software. To balance the scales Nintendo has their problems, but I never have to worry even if I drop a Nintendo system.
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govan 12.9.2004 at 03:46:40 AM
Another negative Sony article? Why don't people wait for it to be released instead of judging times from a demo setup.
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hypothetically 12.9.2004 at 02:59:05 AM
Let's see, half an hour to kill. Might play my PSP -- oh wait! It takes 19 seconds to load. Well, I'm not gonna sit through THAT. *rolls eyes*
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pixy misao 12.9.2004 at 02:11:27 AM
For a comparison, I've played bad Sega CD games that loaded faster than that. 24 seconds is too long a wait for this kind of technology. There are dial-up internet services faster than that. And why is it so easy to smudge these new controllers and handhelds with finger-prints and dead skin nowadays? I never had a greasy SNES controller, what's going on?
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slayer 12.8.2004 at 10:11:57 PM
Sony always has loading times.
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kryian 12.8.2004 at 08:52:15 PM
That's...awful.
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eli 12.8.2004 at 06:33:53 PM
Hot damn that thing is sexy. Fingerprints? Who cares? I get fingerprints all over tons of stuff. So long as I can keep them off the screen I'll be happy. As for the battery, the likelyhood that you will have that many opportunities to play this thing for more than 3 hours without access to a plug is not that high. And load times, I know the main concern is battery life, but if anyone is actually concerned about the 19 seconds a game takes to load, they need to get over themselves. Their time is not that precious. LOL
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pojo 12.8.2004 at 03:17:45 PM
Ouch? :( Being a Nintendo fan, the DS is a must buy for me, but I'm still interested in the PSP. It needs to really impress me with some Final Fantasy action if they want me to buy it.
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shadow 12.8.2004 at 12:19:41 PM
Jesus, get a DS, plain and simple.
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soul4ger 12.8.2004 at 11:22:18 AM
OMGOOSE SEKUSHI!!11
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megatron1179 12.8.2004 at 09:33:05 AM
If I do get a PSP, I'll probably end up playing it at home or at a friends with it plugged into the wall. I'll use my DS as a portable.
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nation 12.8.2004 at 08:35:01 AM
Damn, that screen is NICE. It might suck the batteries like nobody's business, but it looks beautiful.
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proppat 12.8.2004 at 07:03:25 AM
Yup, waiting for the PSPee for sure...the 2nd generation that'll get more than 3 hours of battery life. The screen is awesome, but at that brightness you're gonna have to stay plugged into the wall...
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localboy8o8 12.8.2004 at 05:17:28 AM
man they must of have that screen brightness to max...
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the8bither0 12.8.2004 at 05:00:39 AM
great so half of the psp's battery will be gone before you even start to play the game, Im not overly excited about the PSP right now, its gonna need somethin like a new game in the Chrono series to make me want one.
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