Crisis Core loads infinitely faster on PSP-2000
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Sep 16th 2007 at 9:15AM }
The PSP-2000 didn't produce improved load times for us, but it looks like new PSP software, like Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, will fare differently. As showcased by this user video, this action RPG runs quite smoothly on the new hardware, but chugs along at an almost painful pace on the PSP Phat. This demonstration is quite possibly the most convincing we've seen that the PSP-2000 is a worthwhile upgrade for old owners. But, are you ready to buy a new system? Or will you simply wait it out?
[Thanks, J!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jamma @ Sep 16th 2007 9:51AM
unless i see the same with GoW, syphon filter and Star Wars :Renegade Squadron as well, i'll stick with the phat.
It's not worth buying a new PSP for the sake of one game loading faster. If those above did however...
Tim Parsons @ Sep 16th 2007 10:17AM
OMG that end battle Victory music just gave me a Hard-On ,... Damn I can't wait to get my hands on this, if I knew Japanese i get it right now LOL,. Come on sqaure is it really gonna take till March to translate this to english SPEED IT UP!!!!!!!!!
ryan @ Sep 16th 2007 10:22AM
Thank goodness I already have one
Tim Parsons @ Sep 16th 2007 11:02AM
@1 i'm iwlling to bet all those mentioned games will take advantage of the hardware specifically memory improvements.,. makes me Glad I didnt bother gettign a PSP until now
Alien @ Sep 16th 2007 11:15AM
I am ready to upgared , but where the hell can I buy it here in middle Europe ( Romania ) Sony ? Im looking for its for days , preordered it from 2 places , but still nothing :(
Amazing loading differences BTW :)
kingofwale @ Sep 16th 2007 11:18AM
Absolute lies!
I have played 14 hours into the game on my 1 year old PSP and it NEVER loaded that slowly, it's not even comparable. the first 20 battles or so, I often forget to move right after the battle is over, as there's no load time AT ALL.
I question if the guy's running the game via memory-stick on old PSP vs new PSP running UMD.
Tim Parsons @ Sep 16th 2007 11:21AM
@5 have you tried the Europe Amazon site? Will they ship to you it's in stock there here's the link;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/PSP-Slim-and-Lite-Black/dp/B000TV12Z2/ref=pd_bbs_3/202-2898676-1146254?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1189955895&sr=8-3
Tim Parsons @ Sep 16th 2007 11:23AM
hmm the picture certainly looks better on the slim to not that anyone pointing it out.
Tim Parsons @ Sep 16th 2007 11:25AM
@6 maybe this guy doesnt have the processor at full 333Mhz speed,. maybe he dont evne have a firmware recent enough to support 333Mhz,. who's knows,. guess it's his word agaisnt yours i guess,
Saigon @ Sep 16th 2007 11:25AM
Interesting. I'm curious to see if GoW will run smoother on the 2000.
But I'm still not ready to buy the new system yet. My next major purchase is going to be for an ipod touch. My poor creative zen is on the brink of death. *sobs*
Kspraydad @ Sep 16th 2007 11:33AM
Does PSPFanboy not have the resources to test this themselves so that we might have a bit of faith in the results? You have SLIMs in the office right? Did no one buy FFCC or give you a copy?
I'd much rather PSPFB did this kind of testing.
kingofwale @ Sep 16th 2007 11:35AM
>9. @6 maybe this guy doesnt have the processor at full 333Mhz speed,.
actually, both ran smooth, so I don't think it's a processor speed. We should ask Annoyed, he played on his friend's PSP (d/l version).
although this video is hardly scientific. I was just outraged because my PSP never ran this game that slowly, CC is one of the fastest loading game I've ever played on PSP.
ryler @ Sep 16th 2007 11:47AM
I'm using the old psp-1000 for the new FF7CC, and haven't noticed the "big" difference. In fact my old one acts the SAME as the new one shown in the video, i really doubt whether this "test" is tweeked to boost new psp sale.
Jetspike @ Sep 16th 2007 11:46AM
Yeah, I have to second the motion that the game does not run slow on the 1000s. I got my PSP back in May and it runs smoothly on it. Never did I think "Damn is this running/loading slow." I thought that alot playing through the crap port job Square did of FF Tactics with the abundance of slowdown. And imo, even that didnt cripple the game or anything like that. In other words, if you werent gonna upgrade before, dont let this misleading analysis trick you into doing so...
Tim Parsons @ Sep 16th 2007 11:56AM
@12 oh well i only got the new Ice Silver slim so don't matter to me if it do great,. if not well obviously dont matter lol,. I just can't wait to get my hands on it when it hits NA,.
@10 GoW:CoP is still six months away so you got no rush either way
Jonathan @ Sep 16th 2007 12:17PM
I didn't care for the new psp until I kept hearing about how unbelievably light it is. Now all I keep thinking is how heavey my PSP is, even though it seemed barely noticable to me before.
Yeah, so ever since I found out that the new Star Wars game is bundled with the nice white slim, I decided to get that bundle. I was going to buy that game anyway, so seeing it in a bundle just makes the temptation that much sweeter.
I wish I wasn't like this. And I doubt the loading times are that significant(anyone think that the level had been loaded pre-recording time on the slim? That would cause a fast load as well). But I'm a sucker and give huge greedy corporations my money.
I just wish it looked a little different design wise.
Brandon @ Sep 16th 2007 12:21PM
I think i will stick with my phat for now. Most of the best games (the games worth playing) on the system already have pretty short load times. In fact I havnt had a game in a while thats taken a considerable time to load.
Saigon @ Sep 16th 2007 12:46PM
"In fact I havn't had a game in a while thats taken a considerable time to load."
Same here. The last game I played that had serious load times, was Spectral Souls. I'm real glad I got that used.
Necro_Deadite @ Sep 16th 2007 1:03PM
can you guys test old psp games on the slim to see the if the slim improves loading times, like spectral souls and breath of fire 3. and please keep us posted on new games coming out that will have terrible load times on the old psp.
Jordan @ Sep 16th 2007 1:13PM
I'd be interested in seeing a comparison of CC being loaded off a memory stick, on both systems.
That is a real test, IMO.
pjtmanzano @ Sep 16th 2007 2:17PM
i have 2 phat psp's one is almost 2 years old and the other is about 6 months...the older one loads slower than the new one on a similar umd game so i got the conclusion that my older psp's lens is somewhat the problem and i ive have a feeling its the same as the above video...
TioSolid @ Sep 16th 2007 4:03PM
Since we need custom firmwares for MS loading, I guess this test is not going to happen ;/
Hashbrown_Hunter @ Sep 16th 2007 3:11PM
@ pjtmanzano: What you're saying could be true. It depends how old that person's original PSP is because apparently in the older, launch versions of the system, the UMD disc reader could become worn out enough for there to be a difference in read times.
So you're probably right, but I'm still glad I'm picking up a PSP Slim.
PSP_Amigo @ Sep 16th 2007 3:15PM
21. I wonder if your 2 yr old PSP if the umd lens could be cleaned? I have never researched it but I would imagine after a certain amount of time that the UMD needs a cleaning? Can anyone confirm if this is something that has to be done. My PSP is 20 months old and seems to load just as fast but it's not like Ihave timed loading a game that I got a year ago.
cafecito @ Sep 16th 2007 4:17PM
I don't care bout the new PSP. I love my classic one.
Besides, I don't care bout the TV out... I have my home consoles for that. Oh, and I hate following trends.
Ratchet the Lombax @ Sep 16th 2007 4:46PM
Well I got a slim once the CFW was released and I took it back the very next day. I wasn't impressed with it that much I thought it would be better than it was. I usually run my (legally ripped) games off a memory stick so the loading speeds didn't matter to me. What I as looking forward to was the TV out and increased memory. But after trying the TV out thing I found it to be no better than my PSP2TV adapter that I have installed on one of my fat PSPs. Plus with that I can use my wireless ps2 controller on the PSP which is great. As for the memory I guess it's good for the web browser but since I don't use that I couldn't care less. I did find it to be lighter than the original PSP but I never had a problem with the weight of the PSP to begin with. Maybe I'll buy a slim again one day but right now I'm happy with the original one.
Andrew Yoon @ Sep 16th 2007 6:41PM
Unfortunately, we can't test this out quite yet because our resources are sorta spread out at the moment! (I'm on vacation, and we're all getting ready for TGS! We'll try to do our own testing once things settle down!)
B1gC72 @ Sep 16th 2007 11:07PM
holy shit in a bucket thats fast! my PSP now takes ten forevers to load. i was gonna upgrade eventually anyway (probably around winter break) but this is definitely help to affirm my decision.
LAZoftheTamarinds @ Sep 17th 2007 12:04AM
I never actually played a Final Fantasy game(Gasps!) but the way crisis core is looking I might buy it. Still I am not buying psp 2000 for faster load times. My launch psp Phat is still kickin!
MercyfulFate @ Sep 18th 2007 8:04PM
I was on the phone with Sony, since I had a question about my PSP, and I dare tread into asking the guy what he thought of the new, anorexic version. He said he had no intention of upgrading his psp, that the only difference was size and the tv-out.. which was a 'kinda nice' feature(his words), but nothing he saw upgrade worthy of. He also said he felt that new games would probably run the same on the older models, and that too many people have them for Sony to simply start neglecting them. (But it's Sony, so you never know.)
So maybe that will give us all some food for thought...