PSP: Battery life, load times, and build quality

By Tom Bramwell Published 14 December, 2004

People on the Internet are complaining. No, no, wait, come back! They have videos! We also investigate different reports on battery life and load times.

With the PlayStation Portable now officially available and nearly all of the 200,000-unit Japanese launch allocation already sold, word is getting around about some of the key issues that Sony has been unable or unwilling to address directly in the run-up to its December 12th launch.

Sony has previously said that the battery should last for around six hours while gaming. Having seen the units running at E3 and the Tokyo Game Show, not too many people believed this. Nintendo's various executives have even been taking the Mickey out of it while the rival DS handheld enjoys its moment in the spotlight.

However, with PSP units now in gamers' hands, word is spreading as to what the battery life of the unit is really like, and it's an interesting if somewhat disappointing tale. According to a number of reports from various sources, simple games like Lumines will happily run for several hours, but graphically intensive titles like Ridge Racers will, as had been speculated, rip through the battery in very little time at all. GameSpot has been bandying around a figure of between 90 minutes and three hours, although it's not entirely clear if the figure at the lower end assumes the power-hungry wireless networking functionality is turned on. IGN has a similar piece dissecting battery life in the form of a Battery Journal.

However, as we understand it, in the event that the battery does run down, you won't lose any progress, as the unit is aware of the danger and goes into sleep mode, saving the state of the game as it was.

Media playback, meanwhile, is another issue entirely. While playing back MP3s the PSP blacks out its screen to conserve energy, which is promising, but when it comes to playing back video - understood to be a pretty power-hungry task - there's less evidence to support actual figures because very few people are actually watching videos. Apart from the need to first convert any video files you may have to MPEG-4 format (something you can't easily do unless you go for a third-party transcoding program, or wait around for Sony to release its own version), according to various reports you will also have to create a whole new directory structure on your Memory Stick in order for the PSP to recognise the files.

Moving away from the issue of battery life, there's another PSP specific concern that a number of people are starting to pick up on, and that's loading times in games. Having spent our entire lives fiddling with cartridge-based handhelds, we almost forgot about these completely - but lo, the PSP is a disc-based handheld, and that means load times. As if to punish us, we'll have to sit and think about what we've done - since in some cases the load times are said to be quite long (Ridge Racers apparently takes 15 seconds at first, then 10-15 getting in or out of races), while only simple games like Lumines are speedy. For a more in-depth look at load times on the PSP, Lik-Sang has a nice roundup here.

However most of that you can probably get past. Or at least some of you can. What will be worrying particularly for importers and other early adopters is the volume of anecdotal evidence on forums about dead pixels and other problems. Dead pixels are an inherent risk in certain LCD-based devices (basically one or more of the pixels simply won't do anything, leaving a little black or discoloured spot somewhere on the screen), but since Nintendo has already agreed to replace any DS units with dead pixels in the States we'd imagine Sony will soon pledge to do the same - as soon as it's manufactured some more PSPs, anyway. What's really distressing though is that other more serious problems being also being reported. In some cases, for example, we're told that the UMD (disc) actually pops out of the drive at random, and there's even a small video circulating of this happening, while other users have complained that the analogue nub actually falls off, or that there are air bubbles and even dust trapped under the screen.

All that said, the Internet has always been a wonderful aggregator when it comes to negative feedback, and since we haven't seen 200,000 complaints we're guessing only a small fraction of users are affected. And, since we're reading a lot of this stuff in English, we can only assume most of the PSPs suffering problems also endured the passage to their present homes in the delicate hands of a transpacific courier company. After which you could argue it's lucky that they work at all.

Anyway, we'll be bringing you much more on the PlayStation Portable just as soon as we can convince someone to take our money in exchange for one. In the meantime, here's an example of a test we won't be putting our PSP through when we get hold of it - although admittedly that depends on whether Ridge Racers is as good as it should be.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (59) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • infoxicated #1 7 years ago

    >What's really distressing though is that other more serious problems being also being reported.

    :|

  • tonynibbles #2 7 years ago

    The directory Structure on the Memory Stick is automatically generated when you insert the memory stick in to the PSP and format the memory stick in the PSP...

    Just like any Memory Stick device guys :p
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/04 @ 17:45

  • Pirotic #3 7 years ago

    Maybe im just lucky - but i dont have any of the above problems with mine yet (despite my DS having a dead-pixel). But it wouldn't surprise me - sony fucked up the japanese PS2 launch, faulty memory cards and a fair few non-starting machines if i remember.

  • urban #4 7 years ago

    damn it i have to leave now this isnt fair !

  • dokodemo #5 7 years ago

    Everyone's very quick to come up with negative comments regarding anything with a PlayStation logo.

    Some sites have even resorted to Photoshopping faults onto images of PSPs. We didn't see this kind of anti-fanboyism surrounding the DS launch.

    I really can't see any significant problems, other than some reduced battery life for loading intensive games - and even then, Lik Sang and IGN both give 5-6 hour figures.

  • Dant #6 7 years ago

    I think we all totally forgot about load times, I know I did. At least some of the problems should be fixed for the Euro launch

  • Dant #7 7 years ago

    "Everyone's very quick to come up with negative comments regarding anything with a PlayStation logo."

    I think you need to replace the word playstation with nintendo

  • Beano #8 7 years ago

    "I really can't see any significant problems, other than some reduced battery life for loading intensive games - and even then, Lik Sang and IGN both give 5-6 hour figures"

    If you close read IGN's article, you will find out that the time was not spent playing "graphics intensive" games, but rather playing MP3's and Lumines.
    And reg. Lik-San... well... they want to sell you devices :)

  • Pirotic #9 7 years ago

    the battery life will be about 3 hours with your typical modern game, once developers get used to spooling less data and optimising ram usage you'll probably get an hour or two added onto that.

    i wouldn't be very surprised at all if these launch titles kill the battery in no time at all, they only got physical PSP units to the developers a few months back - far to late to make changes to the core game engine.
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/04 @ 18:29

  • dokodemo #10 7 years ago

    Lik-Sang's article and battery life figures are from a journalist who writes for Insertcredit.com (and GamesTM among others) though. It's not Lik-Sang's salesman.

    To be fair, I'd say there are 0 credible sources on battery life for intensive yet. Gamespot haven't shown any testing like IGN have, but IGN haven't played intensive games like Ridge Racer constantly.

  • Eldritch #11 7 years ago

    As usual, UK:R have found the solution to the battery problem.

  • Zero Beat #12 7 years ago

    tonynibbles - the directory structure for everything but videos is created by the PSP.

  • #13 7 years ago

    LoL!!!!

  • IronGiant #14 7 years ago

    He he it's times like this when a european launch of something 6 months later than Japan is a godsend.. we will get the version without the teething problems and a whole load of games, schweet!! :)

  • ruttyboy #15 7 years ago

    Wow! Written like a true twelve year old...

  • Freek #16 7 years ago

    90 minuts? Gamespot is joking right?

  • beep #17 7 years ago

    Load times in a portable: instead of waiting for a bus, why not play a game while you wait for the bus, and then wait for the game while you wait for the bus!!!

  • The-Bodybuilder #18 7 years ago

    "The loading times may be long, but they shall serve as an excellent 'cooling off' period in between bouts of mind blowing excitement in any of the system's first class games."

    BWAHAHAHAHA

    That's the best fanboy spin, EVER.

  • foos #19 7 years ago

    Paul Stephen Patters: You are the reason I drag myself out of bed every morning. Pure hilarity. I love you.

    I really really love you.

    Really.

  • foos #20 7 years ago

    90 mins sounds a little bit odd if Sony plan on having any success with UMB movies. Can't see myself buying it if it doesn't even get me through to my lunch break at work.

  • sturgeon #21 7 years ago

    fucking hell. 90 min+ lunch break? where do you work? 'gis a job.

  • foos #22 7 years ago

    sturgeon: through TO my lunch break. Hell, I've got better things to do than play video games when I'm actually on my lunch break. It's the other 8 or so hours I'm worried about. You'd think a device like the PSP would be able to cope with at least a day of moderate/heavy use.

  • crofty13 #23 7 years ago

    Everyone should just shut the fuckup about the PSP.

    Take a look at it, its Soo sexy I wanna marry it, not play it ;-)

    compair it to the DS and the DS looks like its ugly older sister. LOOK AT YOU! YOUR UGLY!!

  • Scimarad #24 7 years ago

    They mostly come out at night, mostly...

  • Killerbee #25 7 years ago

    Don't we always get stories like this whenever a new console is released? Sony still sold everything they shipped, so I'm sure they're not too concerned.

    Mind you, even 3 hours battery life is a bit on the short side - I'd like it to last for the duration of a trans-atlantic flight of train journey from Manchester to London and back at least, but on the basis of this it sounds as though I'd need to take my GBA along as well!

    Heh, maybe that's why Sony claimed they wouldn't be competing with Nintendo on this - they knew you'd always need a DS / GBA as a second console for when the battery dies! :)

  • sturgeon #26 7 years ago

    i know it's more money but at least you can buy a spare battery. that would sort out your transatlantic flights. Personally, 3-4 hours is fine for me. Now that I'm an adult and work full-time I doubt that I'd ever get the chance to sit down and play the PSP for 1 hour, let alone 4!
    Bring it on.

  • Xensor #27 7 years ago

    The freaks come out at night...
    the freaks come out at niiiiiiiiight!!!

  • sir_tripod #28 7 years ago

    The first mistake Sony made, in my humble opinion, is to have a disc medium on which to store data. As soon as you involve moving parts, you're heading for trouble no matter what. The battery won't be able to sustain it.

    Secondly, trying to product great graphics at the expense of batteries won't work in the long run. Sure, it looks impressive but after a while people get fed up with recharging or having to find a power socket. This might ring a bell with other fellow ex (and current) Game Gear users. As a result, I can see lots of PSPs going on eBay after not too long.

    I'm no Nintendo "fanboi" but I think their experience has shown through and the ethos of "More gameplay, less graphics" will pay off. Sony have produced a product which embodies most of Sony's product range: absolutely fabulous design, great to look at but quite an average product under the surface. Remove the Sony badge and replace it with "LG", "Hitachi" or "Gizmondo" and everyone would laugh at the PSP.

    [enable Fernando's New Beginnings mode]
    Look at it this way, the DS and PSP are like to girls; the PSP is sleek, has a great body and you can't wait to get your hands on her. The DS is an average girl, not much to write home about and not very good looking. When you get to know her, however, you find that she can do all the things the PSP can and in many other ways. She pleases your brain, fullfils what you need mentally.
    [disable Fernando's New Beginnings mode]

    That's how you should judge a handheld, console or any item; look at the sum of the parts, not just what you can see.

  • drumbaby #29 7 years ago

    /me wants PSP

  • old_skool #30 7 years ago

    hahaha !!!

  • tengu #31 7 years ago

    What if DS gives the best blowjobs in the world?

  • old_skool #32 7 years ago

    tengu must have an average girl then...

  • ruttyboy #33 7 years ago

    /is 25

    /has bought a DS

    /loves it

    :)

  • crashVoodoo #34 7 years ago

    " 'tengu must have an average girl then... '

    DS - Average girl - reliable but boring
    PSP - Exciting girl - great fun but unreliable
    Zodiac - Blind date- could be good but living dangerously
    Gizmondo - Hooker- expensive but goes like the clappers"

    i've just had a wisdom tooth out but just burst into fits of laughter after reading that ... mouth's bleeding now :/
    Edited by 2 at 15/12/04 @ 13:24

  • Megapocalypse #35 7 years ago

    "I very much agree. How can a grown man be interrested in a Nintendo DS ?? Beats me.

    The PSP is much more a grown mans gadget.

    The DS's for kiddies, the PSP is for adults. End of story! "

    You'll be getting a DS then? I can't imagine an adult putting forth such a childish argument. o_O
    Edited by 1 at 15/12/04 @ 14:26

  • tengu #36 7 years ago

    "tengu must have an average girl then... "

    Well, I wouldn't say average as such... But it's like the old saying goes: You don't look at the mantlepiece when you're poking the fire...

    And whoever said the Gizmondo is like a whore is only half right. It's more like a crack whore. ie: It needs you a hell of a lot more than you need it, and you can find much better sex elsewhere.

  • matsimpsk #37 7 years ago

    effinwooly said:
    "look guys i am not having a go at people that like Mario, i'm really not ! But Mario is designed for the younger age group, thats all I am saying, i'm not trying to offend anyone !"

    Heh. That's cool. I'm certainly not offended, I'm just wondering why you're so convinced that adults wouldn't be interested in the DS. My DS has got very positive reactions from just about everyone I've shown it to, even non-gamers and people even older and more wrinkly than me. If Nintendo can get enough people to try out the DS before the European launch, I can see a *huge* number of adults buying the console.

    effinwooly said:
    "and yes, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo is a childrens film, of course it is ! I'm sure that are excellent films, but you can't tell me they had 35 year old blokes in mind......... they do have a target agegroup, most films do..."

    There we really do disagree, I'm afraid. With The Incredibles in particular, Pixar would've had 35 year-old blokes *very much* in mind.

  • mattigan #38 7 years ago

    effinwooly said:
    "I am NOT having a pop at anyone who likes Mario"

    Err, Just by making that statement you are, if you DIDN'T want to sound condesending you should have swapped "Mario" for "Nintendo Games".

    By using the M word you are implying that that's the only game that is of any merit on a Nintendo system, then when you go on to say that this is obviously targeted at under 16 year olds, you are basically antagonising the entire adult Nintendo gaming population.

  • Bitkari #39 7 years ago

    Israel vs Palestine
    Catholics vs Protestants
    Arsenal vs Manchester Utd
    Spectrum vs C64
    Mac vs PC
    DS vs PSP

    can't we all just get along?

  • Duke_Red #40 7 years ago

    The UK is full of moronic idiots who will believe what adverts and hype tell them, is that the weird UK market you are talking about spartan? The PSP's time to shine!!!

    i CAN'T HELP BUT FEEL THAT THE PSP WILL JUST BE AN EXPENSIVE PAPER WEIGHT (BATTERY LIFE 'AHEM').

  • tengu #41 7 years ago

    Wow, eloquently put Duke.

  • captain-future #42 7 years ago

    3 hours and loading times?
    excuse me! did I hear right?

  • Sanchez22 #43 7 years ago

    "The UK is full of moronic idiots who will believe what adverts and hype tell them, is that the weird UK market you are talking about spartan? The PSP's time to shine!!! "

    I live in the UK and id have to say your pretty close there. Playstation is instantly cool here, thanks to its "sexy" design. Its also "cool" to play violent games. "GTA".

    Nintendo needs to release something very sexy, more so than what Sony puts out.

    Wow, i wonder what would have happend if nintendo released the PSP close to what the E3 model looked like!

  • ruttyboy #44 7 years ago

    No, Huddersfield outdoor market is the weirdest! I mean, it's inside for fucks sake!

    Weird!!!

  • inpHilltr8r #45 7 years ago

    Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaardssssss!!!1!

  • firefly #46 7 years ago

    I think the war between the DS and the PSP is easily solved........the DS is aimed at children or teens and the PSP is aimed at 20 and 30 somethings ! I can't never imagine a 25 year old bloke buying a DS, i really can't ! But i am sure they are prefect for teenages and kids !

    Usually it works the other way around. Kids are all sucked in by the hype, they don't want the machine that they percieve to be for kids they want the one that will give them the most street cred. Adults on the other hand (though sadly not all adults) tend to make more informed decisions and therefore are more likely to buy the DS.

    Before the Nintendo fanboy accusations start I would like to point out that though the DS is the only one I intend to get at release once the PSP comes out I will always be no more than one impulse buy away from owning one (or if they release a game I actually want not even that).

  • ruttyboy #47 7 years ago

    The eternal struggle against the tard. It's very much like Lord of the Rings where the few struggle against the many, seemingly no end to the orc-tards, but have faith and the enlightened will win out!

  • ruttyboy #48 7 years ago

    Yes Burglar, of course, very clever.

    /shakes head...

  • ruttyboy #49 7 years ago

    Paul Stephen Patters:

    I can only presume (from various reasons, inclusding that your initials are PSP) that you are a sock-puppet. Come on, own up, who are you?

  • ruttyboy #50 7 years ago

    Don't run, tell me who you are!

  • ruttyboy #51 7 years ago

    Why not?

  • ruttyboy #52 7 years ago

    Well yes you can, but I don't have any authority over you so I guess you could continue too if you wanted :)

    Why not drop me a line at ruttyboy at the gmail to sate my curiousity, I promise it will never leak from my lips?

  • tengu #53 7 years ago

    It was me.

    I'm sorry.

  • ruttyboy #54 7 years ago

    /dons religious paraphernalia

    You are forgiven.

    /realises what he is wearing

    /removes religious gear, spits on it and then burns it


    Did you see the thread I made about your alter-ego this morning?

  • tengu #55 7 years ago

    There was a thread about it?

    Now I feel like I should be worried...

  • ruttyboy #56 7 years ago

    Yeah, it's called Paul Stephen Patters, have a search for it :) Your biggest mistake was being too skilled in the use of the English language.

  • tengu #57 7 years ago

    Just saw it, didn't seem too bad... Thought the knives would be out for whoever was behind it.

    And I'm not sure 'skilled' is the best way to put it. I forgot the 'ly' in 'obviously' in one post :(

  • ruttyboy #58 7 years ago

    Yes but you used, puntuation, capitalisation and you could spell. One of them, probably, two of them, maybe, all three? Not a real tard :)

  • firm3d #59 7 years ago

    Has anyone noticed that in the movies of the UMD popping out the guy is really trying to twist the PSP; in other words, if you try and twist the PSP into a pretzel, then the disc pops out. How many will be trying this; show of hands...

  • kalel #60 7 years ago

    @ Trebor

    The games will work fine but the movies will not AFAIK.