The upcoming God of War Entertainment Pack gives bloodthirsty players a brand new red PSP, a copy of Chains of Olympus, Syphon Filter: Combat Ops and the UMD movie Superbad — all for $199.
Sayeth PSP Fanboy
I’d like to know if there’s any details on this gorgeous piece of kit heading anywhere near Europe, at all? Meanwhile, you can check out the box art below (click on image for high-res screenshot):
See also: back of red PSP
This post was originally written on the City In The Clouds blog.
It is slimmer, lighter, loads games faster (due doubling the RAM) and outputs video to TV screens etc..
But what about the owners of existing PSPs though? Sure, you had the PSone redesign and the PS2 redesign but this is a substantial change. All’s the PS2 redesign did was slim the unit down, add networking and get rid of the (mostly) unused hard drive expansion bay.
So, what makes the PSP so different? Well, this time Sony makes software updates as well to its systems. Take Sony’s upcoming 3.60 firmware upgrade for the PSP- all the features I’ve seen so far are just for the slimmer PSP (mainly due to the new hardware) like UMD-caching, and options for outputting video. I suppose my argument is what if Sony only creates more firmware updates for the slimmer PSP or possibly even hardware that is only compatible with the new PSP? Maybe unthinkable, but surely possible.
In the past, hardware revisions weren’t much of a problem, but now major new features are being incorporated into software updates (via firmware). Is it really fair to (pardon my upcoming language) shaft current hardware owners in this way? I think Microsoft has done well in this regard with its Xbox 360 revisions.
Related reading (in no particular order):
PSP firmware 3.60 reveals hidden USB Charge feature
Joystiq hands-on with the new PSP
Added RAM makes PSP games load faster
Comparing the new PSP with the old
PSP Slim Lite boxart revealed
PSP redesign revealed; Lighter, slimmer, lasts longer
This post was originally written on the City In The Clouds blog.
Well, I’ve checked, and no-one seems to really have reviewed the UK version in its current configuration AND have consistently ignored something that I will mention later on…
Intro
So, it has finally touched down on the shores of the UK (and Europe for that matter). Retailing at £34.99 (€49.99), the Go!Cam– a Playstation Portable camera adapter, is an interesting proposition for the PSP-owning, tech-savvy and bargain-sniffing consumer.
Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
So, what do you get for your £34.99? Well, the Go!Cam is essentially a 1.3 megapixel camera with a wide-angle lens that plugs into the PSP’s USB port at the top. The camera can be swivelled 180 degrees, either pointing at you (handy for self-portraits) or away, for point and click action at anything you fancy. There’s also a microphone built into the knob that you use to swivel the camera. There’s a link to the editing software, and a small plastic carrying case is included. That’s all you need to know, really.
In use
All you need is your trusty PSP (with version 2.70 firmware or later), a decent-sized Memory Stick Duo (I’d recommend at least 1Gb), and your new Go!Cam. Using the Go!Cam is simply a matter of selecting the ‘Camera’ option under ‘Photo’ on the main menu. Do you need to plug in the camera before turning on the PSP? Nope, I have tested this and the camera works fine in either circumstance.
Quality
Of course, only being a 1.3 megapixel camera is a major factor in the quality of the final image but the camera’s bargain price point reflects this. Photos are saved in the JPG format and videos are saved in the AVI format. The images, especially in low light can be quite grainy and the PSP has to be kept reasonably still, otherwise you’ll get blurred pictures. Fast-moving objects could be a problem.
The ‘Go!Edit’ software…
Words cannot describe how much I hate this infernal piece of software. When the Go!Cam was released in Japan, it was known as ‘Chotto Shot’ and came with editing software ‘Chotto Edit’ which came on a UMD disk. The Go!Edit software for European consumers does not come with the the PSP camera. Instead, you are given a link to www.yourpsp.com/goedit (so I see the ‘Your PSP’ website lives on in some form), and once on your memory stick, takes up 80Mb!
What is so bad about this piece of software? The ‘effects’ are rubbish and pointless (for both photos and videos) and videos are only limited to 15 seconds. What most people have failed to realise is that if you shoot a video directly from the main menu instead of using the Go!Edit software, you can shoot footage for as long as you have memory left on your Memory Stick Duo. Once you’ve run out of memory, the PSP informs you and stops the filming.
Another advantage of NOT using the Go!Edit software is that both photos and videos are available under ‘Digital Camera Images’ and ‘Digital Camera Recordings’ where you’d expect to find them on the menu. Whilst using the Go!Edit software, I could not find where the videos were stored using the PSP’s menu. Avoid the Go!Edit software at all costs- it’s just not worth it!
So, good enough?
As other reviews and previews have mentioned, you can get most of this functionality on a typical camera phone these days. However the unique feature that the Go!Cam presents is instant viewing of photos and videos taken, viewable on the PSP’s big, gorgeous widescreen display. Now, go show me a camera phone with a screen that big, and of such quality.
A fairly nifty feature, is being able to take photos with a ’sketch’ effect that is created on-the-fly. This is easily one of the better features. Some photos I have taken with this effect are available here.
To conclude…
Obviously the Go!Cam is not going to be your primary camera, or possibly even your second camera BUT it is serious fun. I don’t know of any other camera or video recorder with a screen this big, for this price. I’d say the Go!Cam is worth it just for the novelty of being able to take pics and shoot the odd video on your PSP. Just avoid the the Go!Edit software!
Rating: 4 STARS
