Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

The announcement of the new version of the PSP wasn’t a surprise for most people, but some of the changes mentioned during Sony’s press conference were. The devil is in the details, as we know, so PocketGamer put on their asbestos suit and went into the fire pit to get some hands-on time with the hardware and ask the Sony reps some pointed questions. What they said held a couple of surprises.

Update: Joystiq’s hands-on has revealed more features.

First off we know it’s slimmer and lighter. They’ve talked about the “frame” being 33% lighter and 19% slimmer, and Sony says almost all of that came from a skinnier battery.

Didn’t Sony say the battery will last longer? Nuh-uh, it won’t. It’s the same battery, just skinnier. Oops. This means a new design for the long-life battery will appear, obsoleting the batteries the current PSP uses.

Load times are faster due to the integration of flash memory into the drive system. A plus for a disc-based handheld.

The speakers are now on the front of the unit, not obscured by your hands on the underside of it. It’s hard to believe this was something they couldn’t do originally, but I’m guessing they’ve miniaturized things somewhat to make room for the speakers.

The D-pad is also a lot better, reports PocketGamer, which will probably make Tekken Dark Resurrection fans VERY happy.

And lastly, video output is handled by a video-out cable with SVideo or Composite on the other end. It appears to connect to the USB port because they say you use the USB mode — normally used to open up the memory stick as a drive to a computer — to activate it. Joystiq liked what they saw of the video output option:

We connected a PSP to a TV and were impressed by the results: UMD movies look fantastic, but games will be bordered. PSP games are rendered at 480×272, progressive scan only. Because it’s output at 480×272, there will be black borders all around the image when playing on the television.

My initial thoughts on the new PSP were that I would likely not buy one, and the same-old battery life reinforce that idea. However, the new D-pad and faster load times are appealing, even if I haven’t any use for video output. All of these ideas could change, however, once I get my hands on a new model PSP and take it for a spin. I’m pretty sure James will pick one up when it’s released, so I’ll check it out then.

Update: Joystiq’s hands-on with the system’s firmware shows new settings for enabling or disabling the UMD Cache, some Connected Display Settings, and a new option to charge their systems via USB!

Via PocketGamer and Joystiq.