The All-New Handfun Thread (NDS, GBA, PSP, NGPC, WS...)

[aaaaaaaaaargh!]

I thought the redesigned PSP was supposed to have slot loading for the UMDs.  The way the case flips open on the existing model feels flimsy and cheap.

[terminallyrelaxed]

Keep in mind this isn't Playstation Portable 2, but rather a redesign of the original, so it will be sporting the same internal hardware. But that's about the only thing that hasn't changed. The new Playstation Portable will have a much slimmer design, thanks mostly to a new LED screen that will deliver an ultra-crisp image but take up far less space. That LED also helps pump up the battery life of this sexy new model, which can last as much as four times longer than the original PSP. While the new PSP still makes use of the UMD drive, it will be a faster version and to help speed up loadtimes and gameplay, the portable will come packed with 8GBs of internal flash memory. Finally, the PSP's much maligned buttons have been revamped and the D-Pad has gotten a major overhaul, giving portable gamers something more like a Playstation 3 D-pad to play with.

The company is still trying to decide whether or not they want to include a built-in camera, as they weigh whether the cost of adding the device will be worth the benefit to gamers. Our money is on no camera because of the competitive price issues. Those of you holding out for a touchscreen are, unfortunately, going to have to wait, though word has it that it will most like make an appearance in Sony's next portable gaming device. While the new PSP will remain black, Sony is still trying to decide whether it will have a glossy or matte finish.

The final price for this new PSP hasn't been set, but Sony is hoping to sell it for under $170 or so. Manufacturing should commence in the upcoming weeks, and the product is going to be officially unveiled at this year's E3. The sale date being tossed around is August, but don't be surprised if it's pushed back to September. What's this reworked PSP called? It doesn't have a name as of yet, but may we suggest "PSP Slim"?

Gosh, this is all so convenient for my purposes, so it must be a wind-up. Naturally half the information is inconclusive, no indication which E3 it is, the Expo or the other one. If its the one that starts in a week in Santa Monica, I'm laughing. As long as its released in the UK within a couple of weeks of the US date, that is.

[Rubbish Monkey]

Cuh! I told you that a week ago.

[terminallyrelaxed]

Yeah but I still don't know which E3 they're talking about, so no further forward. I'm not buying a DS anyway, I have no patience for Nintendo's attitude towards european customers. Not that Sony's a lot better.

[waste of chops]

I'm too lazy to find a link but apparently the new PSP firmware (3.50+) has ISO image loading functions buried in it -- maybe you'll be able to (legally) install games to memory card or something?

Much as I love my DS, I'd be tempted to get a slimline PSP for portable emulation purposes (assuming someone can figure out a way of running homebrew software on it anyway).

[MojoJojo]

For those of weak moral virtue http://www.mrdictionary.net/lemmings/

Excellent port. The only problem is the better controls make the game a lot easier.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The DS is finally getting a camera, although there's no indication that it's going to have similar features to the the Game Boy version (or if it's even going to be released outside Japan) and the Face Training game it comes bundled with looks like it'd be too embarrassing to be seen playing in public.

[buntyman]

Oi SOTS (and anyone else pondering a DS purchase), if you're a new Littlewoods customer you can (ab)use some promo codes of theirs to get a ds lite for a measly £69.10.

http://www.littlewoodsdirect.com/rf/lxd/navigation/spreadDsbs.do?categoryId=6791628&spreadId=6568468

10% Discount Code XX277
£20 + FREE DEL Voucher ZQ055

I think these codes work for most items about about £70 or so so do with them what you will and have fun

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Hurh hurh... 69.

[SOTS]

How long are those things valid for? Just that if i'm getting one it will probably be partially paid for by relatives as a reward for half decent exam results.

[terminallyrelaxed]

Well its progress, I suppose.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6293200.stm

Sony refines PSP console design
Sony has unveiled a re-designed PlayStation Portable which is slimmer, lighter, and comes with a video-out port for watching content on TVs.
The form factor of the portable console is virtually unchanged but the device is now 33% lighter and 19% slimmer.

The new PSP will cost $170 in the US and will be released in September. No price or street date for the rest of the world, or "annoyingly discerning third world market", as Europe is known in Sony circles, was given.

The PSP lags behind sales of the Nintendo DS, which has shipped more than 40m units worldwide.

At a press conference in California, Sony also said it was working with Epic Games to optimise its Unreal graphics engine for use on the PlayStation 3.

Unreal Tournament 3, which uses the engine, will be available on PS3 in the Autumn. Seven developers, working on 20 more games, will use the optimised engine.

Sony also said it had secured exclusivity for much-hyped shooter Haze, at least for the "holiday season".

Nintendo conference

The firm also ended speculation that Metal Gear Solid 4, from veteran developer Hideo Kojima, would appear on the Xbox 360 as well as the PS3.

Sony said the game was "set for a simultaneous worldwide launch in early 2008 exclusively on PS3".

The press conference was also used to demo upcoming games, such as Killzone 2, and the latest iteration of the online portal, PlayStation Home.

Nintendo also held a press conference, at which it announced more games that it hopes will continue to broaden the gaming demographic.

Games announced included exercise title Wii fit, a new Mario Kart game for the popular console and the first Zelda game to appear on the Nintendo DS.

Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime, said: "We're building on that foundation with games and accessories appealing to our current fan base and drawing in even more new players."

[terminallyrelaxed]

Man I bet Wii users can't wait for the Nintendo ports of Mario Recon 3, Mario Motorsport 2, Championship Mario 2007, Test Mario Unlimited 2007, Mario Crackdown, Mario's Row, Mario Band, Guitar Mario, Mariorun, Mario Woods PGA Tour 07, and all the others....

[El Unicornio, mang]

Silent Hill for the PSP looks good. Not sure how the scariness will translate to the small screen though

http://www.gamespot.com/video/933072/6150044/silent-hill-origins-working-title-official-trailer-1

[Still Not George]

Man I bet Wii users can't wait for the Nintendo ports of Mario Recon 3, Mario Motorsport 2, Championship Mario 2007, Test Mario Unlimited 2007, Mario Crackdown, Mario's Row, Mario Band, Guitar Mario, Mariorun, Mario Woods PGA Tour 07, and all the others....

Now now. Don't forget Gears of Zelda; it's not like Ninty are a one trick pony or anything.

[SOTS]

I would like to thank Buntyman for those codes. I've got my DS Lite and it should be here in "the next three weeks" according to Littlewoods. What are the doing, walking here whilst similtaneously balancing the package on their head?

All I need to do now is get some games. Which is a shame because all the ones I want are hideously overpriced and I can't afford them.

[buntyman]

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1202 get one of these too and you're laughing (although they seem to be sold out at the moment so you're laughter might be delayed a couple of weeks).

[SOTS]

I might just have to do that, especially considering the exchange rate which means it's only about fifteen quid. How does it work? Just plug it in and go or so you have to download the games to it? And where do you get the games from? I'd appreciate if you could tell me how the thing works in the most simple way possible.

And that site, do they ship free to the UK?

[waste of chops]

I might just have to do that, especially considering the exchange rate which means it's only about fifteen quid. How does it work? Just plug it in and go or so you have to download the games to it?

And that site, do they ship free to the UK?

Once you've bought an R4 you'll also need to get a microSD card (about £15 for a 2GB one last time I looked, which should be plenty). Games can be copied over as normal files or run through the downloadable trimmer software to take up less space (carts are dumped "as-is" so will always be 8MB, 16MB, 32MB etc. but the unused portion can be "trimmed"). Note that the R4 comes with a suitable card reader so no problems there. Someone has just released a program that allows you to dump game cartridges to your PC via wi-fi; otherwise you'll just have to download any games yourself (but only ones that you've bought, natch).

dealextreme.com does indeed ship free to the UK.

One thing worth mentioning is that a recent firmware update now allows full download play to other DSes (previously, download play only worked for certain games, or for all games if sending it to a DS flashed with custom firmware, but as far as I'm aware it now works for every game for every DS).

[SOTS]

So where can you download the games from then?

And are that site normally in stock or am I going to have to wait ages for one of these things?

[waste of chops]

And are that site normally in stock or am I going to have to wait ages for one of these things?

They've been in stock since I mentioned them in the first post of this thread in March (ahem) and have only just gone out of stock; one other retailer I looked at mentioned that there's a "worldwide shortage" of them at the moment so I've no idea how long it'll be before they come back in stock (I'm pretty sure dealextreme have been out of them for at least a week though).

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

I would like to thank Buntyman for those codes. I've got my DS Lite and it should be here in "the next three weeks" according to Littlewoods. What are the doing, walking here whilst similtaneously balancing the package on their head?

All I need to do now is get some games. Which is a shame because all the ones I want are hideously overpriced and I can't afford them.

I used that Littlewoods code for a DS Lite ages ago  - I checked my credit card statement the other day, and they've refunded me, so it looks as though they're not honouring these codes.  They didn't bother informing me by e-mail.

On the plus side, because of the stupid way they do things, they took the full value from my credit card, and then immediately refunded the discount and free delivery value. But now they've decided to cancel the order, they've refunded the full value without deducting the discount and free delivery value - so I've effectively got £23.50 for the hassle and annoyance.

[SOTS]

I used that Littlewoods code for a DS Lite ages ago  - I checked my credit card statement the other day, and they've refunded me, so it looks as though they're not honouring these codes.  They didn't bother informing me by e-mail.

On the plus side, because of the stupid way they do things, they took the full value from my credit card, and then immediately refunded the discount and free delivery value. But now they've decided to cancel the order, they've refunded the full value without deducting the discount and free delivery value - so I've effectively got £23.50 for the hassle and annoyance.

Wait... ok. So I won't be getting my DS Lite then? Or will I be getting it at full price? Fucking Littlewoods cunts. I'm going to be gutted if I don't get this thing.

Their delivery takes three weeks in the first place!

[buntyman]

All i knows is that I used those codes and it worked like a charm. Littlewoods really is rubbish generally though, worst prices on the internet and longest delivery times.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

Wait... ok. So I won't be getting my DS Lite then? Or will I be getting it at full price? Fucking Littlewoods cunts. I'm going to be gutted if I don't get this thing.

Their delivery takes three weeks in the first place!

Well mine was ordered on the 16th July, and they've (over)credited my card.  I wasn't an existing Littlewoods customer, so I don't know why wouldn't want my money, unless they're out of stock, or too many people have already caned this deal.

[SOTS]

Well, we got a order confirmation e-mail from them with the codes all deducted fine and well. It's not appeared on my dad's credit card statement yet though. I'm still worried.

Buntyman, agreed that Littlewoods are absolutely rubbish. I wouldn't be going near them if it weren't for the codes.

[SOTS]

Oh! My R4 DS card has come before my DS arrives. Possibly a couple of weeks before it actually. Chuffing Littlewoods!

At least it's not the other way round I guess. Sitting there with a DS and fuck all to do with it other than sit with my friend sending silly drawings and such to each other on Pictochat.

[The Boston Crab]

Man I bet Wii users can't wait for the Nintendo ports of Mario Recon 3, Mario Motorsport 2, Championship Mario 2007, Test Mario Unlimited 2007, Mario Crackdown, Mario's Row, Mario Band, Guitar Mario, Mariorun, Mario Woods PGA Tour 07, and all the others....

I'm slightly confused about the target of your joke. Is it self-deprecation? Nobody would want to play those games on the 360 either, surely? I do hope you're not actually 'bragging' about the games available on the XBox360.

Anyway, I'd best get back to Super Instant Noodle Boiling 7: ADHD Mini-Game Fun Party: Girls Edition Ruby

[Jim Jarmusch]

I'm confused to the point that I stopped caring about how to interrupt the pricks on here.

You're a good man Boston. Honorable conduct on a wide variety of subjects.

[The Boston Crab]

Now I'm more confused. Are you being sarcastic?

[SOTS]

Soz 4 clogging up the thred.