Ask PSP Fanboy: Volume 45

by Justin Eaton { Nov 22nd 2008 at 10:00AM }

It's the end of the week, which calls for a new volume of Ask PSP Fanboy! Each week we'll collect your questions, and each weekend a new volume of Ask PSP Fanboy will appear on the front page. If you've got a question, send an email to justin.eaton @ weblogsinc .com with the subject "Ask PSP Fanboy."

Q. Will Sony fix the problem in PSP-3000 screen with a new revision of hardware?
A. It's likely that some form of hardware revision will be required to fix the interlacing issues, as we discovered the scan lines are 100% related to the PSP-3000 screens. Sony hasn't addressed the issue yet.

Q. Will the PSP ever support WPA2 wireless encryption?
A. Currently, there is no hardware restriction in the PlayStation Portable that would prohibit the use of WPA2. Sony simply needs to add support in a future firmware upgrade.

Q. Is Mega Man 9 in the PSP Store?
A. Sadly, no. Mega Man 9 was released for the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3.

Q. I've recently purchased a PSP-3000, my first PSP. I was looking forward to taking it with me on a long trip to Asia both as a gaming device and as a replacement for my mp3 player. However, after filling it with mp3s, I was disappointed to discover that the audio quality was, in my opinion, sub-par (compared to say a Creative mp3 player). I switched from the PSP headphones to my very high quality Grado headphones - same result. Is this what you meant about Sony failing to improve the PSP multi-media experience?
A. While the PSP may not support the various audio formats that other players may support, the PSP still supports high quality audio files. As long as your music has been ripped at a higher bit rate (Ex: 320 kbps), the audio should sound clean and crisp. Volume may be a factor, although I do find that the PSP can get quite loud, particularly while using headphones.

Q. Do you think the PSP will move on to the future like Apple thinks of its iPhone? Because I wonder if the PSP2 or PSP-4000 will have a touch screen including touch buttons and hopefully more controls, I see it as a success much like NDS touching.
A. While touch screen is certainly the technology of the present (and future), it's hard to tell if such technology would make its way to the PSP. While a touchscreen might be manageable, playing online games in realtime with touch controls might be difficult. As an iPhone user myself, I can say that some games work beautifully, others flop pretty hard. Only time will tell.

Q. I was wondering, do you need to have Resistance 2 on PS3 to play Resistance Retribution with the DualShock/Sixaxis?
A. Yes, Resistance 2 must be running on your PS3 while your PSP is attached, in order to play Resistance: Retribution with your DualShock 3.

Tags: ask, joystiqfeatures, psp

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

McDoobie @ Nov 22nd 2008 10:17AM

"A. Yes, Resistance 2 must be running on your PS3 while your PSP is attached, in order to play Resistance: Retribution with your DualShock 3."

Hmmm, Sony's finding pretty good ways to make you buy their products.

Hashbrown Hunter @ Nov 22nd 2008 10:36AM

Sony's also finding some pretty good ways to make you waste even more electricity.

McDoobie @ Nov 22nd 2008 10:46AM

Hahhahahaha, yea.

Christopher @ Nov 25th 2008 7:30AM

Yah, except, you know, putting out more games for the PSP. The second coming of PSP games best be coming next year like they promise, or they'll likely have a lame duck in NA.

YOYO @ Nov 22nd 2008 10:50AM

i wonder is it better to buy a psp2000 or a psp3000, cause i want to buy one..like now...

Danny F. @ Nov 22nd 2008 3:42PM

Honestly the 2000 is a better choice. I tried the 3000/brite and the scanlines were definitely annoying to me that I ended up getting the original black slim/2000.

But try it out in a store if you can and see it for yourself just incase.

wem003 @ Nov 22nd 2008 10:56AM

Just because the psp can play mp3 and other codecs doesn't mean it has great DACs (digital to analog converters) or even good on board amplifiers. A dedicated device like a Creative player or iPod would surely have better components than our beloved psp which has to cut costs somewhere to give us all that hardware for the price.

wem003 @ Nov 22nd 2008 10:58AM

One more thing - loud doesn't equal quality. For the poster with the Grados - great choice. I have them too with a pocket amp and they are amazing with an iPod. I don't use the psp for music so I can't compare.

DJEuthyphro @ Nov 22nd 2008 4:01PM

Very True. Whatever opamp that is in the psp is definitely not going to sound as good as a dedicated music player like an ipod or creative device. Also, Grado headphones pretty much need a headphone amp to be driven properly from a low power source like an mp3 player or psp. They are designed to be used with stereo equipment, so the grado guy should look into headphone amps. Also, if you are using anything better than earbuds, the music codec is pretty noticeable. Flac and OGG Vorbis are lossless and sound WAY better than even high bitrate mp3's. But I think stock psp's can't support those codecs. CFW would help with that.

lorddshadow2 @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:51PM

well guys, that's why you legally hack psp's...

wem003 @ Nov 24th 2008 12:30AM

Hacking a psp won't replace cheap hardware components. It may open some codecs for you, but that's it.

Barry32171 @ Nov 22nd 2008 11:42AM

Audible content? Sony, come on, make this happen... No reason for this not to be a reality.

Saigon @ Nov 22nd 2008 12:52PM

Does anyone else think that it should be possible to do Adhock Party without a ps3? Isn't the ps3 basically acting as router for psp? Maybe I'm not understanding something.

falcon 7 @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:49PM

Thats a good point.

If you find out can you e-mail me at 7brady@live.ca ?

I really wanna know for monster hunter online ! !

Xenos @ Nov 22nd 2008 2:04PM

i dont see whats wrong with the psp 3000

ive got one and i dont notice any issues with it what so ever, matter of fact im glad i got a psp 3000 model.
Though then again it is my first PSP.

Lars @ Nov 22nd 2008 3:06PM

I just got Jeanne D'Arc off the PS Store... I gotta say, I'm disappointed. It's like a weak FF Tactics clone with the occasional cool anime cutscene thrown in. Am I missing something? Does it get better after a while? I hate the way the 3D characters look (like 5 year olds), especially when compared to the 2D versions.

Also, I wonder how bad the PS3K is... it can't be as bad as people are making it out to be since I doubt it would have even made it to release if it was as "unplayable" as people are saying. I'm going to get one myself sometime soon. I use my PSP more often for Skype, webcasts, and music than games. It's a great gaming machine, don't get me wrong, but I use my computer or console for gaming when I'm not travelling.

Lars @ Nov 22nd 2008 3:06PM

Lars @ Nov 22nd 2008 3:07PM

oops, PS3K = PSP 3K

Danny F. @ Nov 22nd 2008 4:00PM

1.) Yea Jeanne was 'okay' but not the greatest, I felt like it could offer more and the story felt empty near the end and in other parts. Gameplay was good but more could've been done really.

2.) The PSP 3k isn't that bad as ppl make it to be, though I tried it out on a few games and you could definitely see the scan lines horribly. To me it was really annoying, to some it didnt bother them at all. Though I rather with my now newly purchased psp slim 2k then the new brite. You have to see it to believe it honestly.

oldmanpip @ Nov 22nd 2008 11:45PM

I got it and it looks amazing - people are just whiny little girls. :)

Conda @ Nov 22nd 2008 10:29PM

that was fine with me, I'm horrible with SRPG's and Tactics was kicking my butt seven ways to Sunday. Jeanne d'Arc seemed more of a beginner SRPG with a more gradual learning curve. never finished it though so don't know how it got later.

Jacksons @ Nov 22nd 2008 6:06PM

Anyone else wish Kingdom of Paradise 2 would come to the US? Am I the only one that enjoyed the first one?

Dr Haisook @ Nov 23rd 2008 5:28AM

I'm playing the first one currently. It's great so far. Probably the best RPG I've played.

aj @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:53PM

I haven't played it, but I've seen it everywhere and on the cheap. I should check it out.

cafecito @ Nov 23rd 2008 4:38PM

No you're not the only one. I've got the euro version of the first one (lucky for me, cuz it has an option for japanese voices), and it's really sweet. I love action RPGs. And yeah, I've known for a while now that there's a sequel in japan, so all we can hope for is for someone to bring it over =(

TM @ Nov 22nd 2008 10:51PM

I wish (horror of horrors) that sony and nintendo would agree to let, NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube games be sold on the Playstation store.....never happening. That would be better than having to use homebrew

Dr Haisook @ Nov 23rd 2008 5:34AM

And Touching is NOT Video-gaming.
Video-gaming = BUTTONS first and foremost.

I regard the NDS as an interactive multimedia device, not as a gaming device.

Jeremy @ Nov 23rd 2008 6:00AM

I really don't like the DS (I have one), but mostly because it has a small screen and lousy graphics.

The touching part can be annoying, like when they make it mandatory in a game where traditionally no touching is needed. (Like racing games or RPGs, though some, like Etrian Oddysey do add useful features, like the map drawing)

OTOH, for games that really need a mouse pointer to play (like Adventure games), it's really great.

Saigon @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:35PM

"And Touching is NOT Video-gaming"

Why is that? I'll always prefer button controls over the touchscreen, but with some games the touchscreen works really well and makes the game extremely fun to play. Two of my favorite DS games: Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword and Elite Beat Agents, make great use of the touchscreen. Neither of those games could ever be done on psp.

I really hope the next psp has touchscreen controls. Yeah, it would be ripping off the ds, but who cares.

SourceJR @ Nov 24th 2008 3:41AM

Video - Gaming = interactive game with video. like when you use the sixaxes or those crazy analog sticks that happen to NOT be buttons.

Acteon @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:20AM

Jenne D'Arc is pretty good IMO, but Wild Arms XF is better as an SRPG. Though you should really try Disgaea if you want the best in the genre. Sadly only the latter is available in the UK (thanks Sony...)

I like my DS but rarely use it - not because I don't like it, I just always seem to have a game on the PSP I want to play more - this month it's been Macross Ace Frontier and Gundam vs Gundam. At some point I want to play The World Ends With You though, as that's pretty awesome.

Wilsondm2 @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:14AM

Maybe its just my older eyes, but I love the PSP3k. The blacks are much deeper and the colors more true. I don't notice scanlines at all. And I've owned the 1k and the 2k.

linebeginstoblur @ Nov 24th 2008 9:21AM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Sony DID address the problem in a vague way and basically said that it was meant to be like that and they wouldn't fix it. I swear I remember something like that.

h0mi @ Nov 24th 2008 8:02PM

A touch screen would make text input on the PSP much easier. But thats about as far as I'd like to see Sony take it- on the DS the touch screen has ruined a number of potentially pretty good games (starfox, some mario basketball game). Last thing I wanna see is "use the touch screen as your 2nd joystick" type of thing.