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Gregory A. Quirk, Semiconductor Insights
TechOnline
Handheld gaming has taken a significant upswing over the past years. Technology has improved to the point where we can get more than monochrome color and processors that can run at faster than a snail pace. Include the increase in memory capacity for larger games and save files, and multimedia applications—and the potential for the mobile gaming industry as a whole—becomes a lucrative area.
Total sale numbers for the handheld systems puts Nintendo's DS firmly in the lead, but there are a few months where exceptions happen and the PSP overtakes the monthly sales lead. With the GameBoy, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advanced, GameBoy SP, and now the DS, Nintendo has been developing handheld systems since 1989, and have been quite successful. According to NPD, the DS is outselling the PSP by more than 40 percent, with a total sales of 13.2 million compared to 8.6 million.
Figure 1: Sony's PSP2000 debuted in September
Sony entered the handheld gaming market in 2004 with the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Compared to the Nintendo products available at that time, it followed Sony's gaming strategy of providing superior technical performance. The screen measures 4.3 inches and has a 16 x 9 aspect ratio with a resolution of 480 x 272 displaying 24-bit color. It also offers multimedia playback, and was often packaged with the Sony Pictures movie SpiderMan to show off the capabilities.
Unlike Nintendo, Sony games and movies are offered on a disk. The format is called Universal Media Disc (UMD), which is an interesting name considering that this is a proprietary format. The disks are capable of storing up to 1.8 Gbytes of information.
In September 2007, Sony released the next version of the PSP, or more appropriately a new revision on the PSP. The PSP Slim and Lite offers the same functionality as the original, and then some, but in a smaller overall form factor., as shown below in Figure 2. The width has been reduced by about 19 percent while the weight has been reduced approximately 33 percent.
The infrared communication was really the only function that was removed from the next version of the PSP. This is not a considerable drawback for the system, as I cannot recall a single application for this communication method, aside from Homebrew applications, which Sony seems to be trying to prevent, as evidenced with their constant firmware updates.
Figure 2: Comparison of PSP1001 versus PSP2000
What was added was a TV output, supported by the Sharp LR388A1 TV out driver. The first PSP enabled UMD video playback only on the system itself, hindering sales of movies on this format. Consumers have been hesitant to pay DVD prices for movies that are limited to viewing only on the PSP. With a TV output, displaying at 480p, the Slim and Lite has the potential to reinvigorate the low sales numbers. Unfortunately, it may be too little too late as many retailers, such as WalMart, have all but removed UMD videos from store shelves (UMD about to be ditched by Walmart?). The other interesting aspect is that, while the PSP Slim and Lite can display onto TVs, it does not come with the cable that makes it available out of the box. A separate cable must be purchased, removing the impact of the upgrade.
The other addition was an increase in the internal memory. The first-generation PSP contained 32 Mbytes of memory. The Slim and Lite version has doubled that to 64 Mbytes. This was increased to reduce the amount of load time during operation, both for games and web surfing. The video memory has remained unchanged at 4 Mbytes.
Interestingly, the components used inside both systems are similar. Often when a company re-releases a product they change a few of the chips for lower-cost solutions to reduce the bill of materials. But in this case, other than removing the infrared communication, changing the battery from 1,800 mAhr to 1,200 mAhr, and changing the motor controller from Freescale to Fujitsu, most everything else, from a cost-cutting point of view, stayed the same.
A 333-MHz, 32-bit CPU, code named "Allegrex", operates the PSP, packaged with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. part markings. We have not had an opportunity to decap the device, but can assume that it is created by Sony. This processor controls the main functionality of the system, from the main interface to running games.
A secondary processor, operating at 166 MHz, is used to display video and sound. Not only can the PSP show UMD formatted movies, but can also display MPEG-4, H.264 and AVI. For sound, the PSP supports ATRAC, MP3, wave, and WMA. The Wolfson WM1800 produces sound. Videos and music can be stored on the internal memory or via an expandable memory stick PRO duo, which has now reached 16 Gbytes with 32-Gbyte version expected in 2009.
Wi-Fi connectivity is also available, primarily for multiplayer gaming and Internet surfing. The Marvell 88W8686, which is present in many of the leading consumer products, such as the Apple iPhone (see "Inside the Apple iPhone") , is also used in the PSP Slim and Lite. This design win is yet another testament to the great product that Marvell has developed, and leads to the IP interest in the device as it has achieved so many sockets in successfully selling systems.
A second connection, via USB 2.0, is also present. Interestingly, the PSP can now be charged via the USB connection, which will reduce the number of chargers travelers will have to carry.
All in all, if you have a PSP already, the Slim and Lite version does not offer sufficient savings, in my opinion, to warrant a repurchase. The system follows Sony's main marketing plan to offer the highest level of technology to users, in this case for handheld devices, and they succeed on that front. But limited support for their UMD format and focusing on the key demographic of more serious gamers have held them at a second place compared to the Nintendo DS.
Gregory Quirk (gregoryq@semiconductor.com) is technology marketing manager at Semiconductor Insights Inc.
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