Well I've had the system since early this morning so here's my two cents so far:
- The left hinge is a bit squeaky and the top screen clicks if the AC adapter is plugged in. But aside from that the system is solid as a rock and feels incredibly easy to use. The circle pad is nice and soft, which I personally prefer to the hard nub of the PSP as it doesn't leave groove marks on thumb during heavy duty sessions.
- The system takes a few seconds to boot up for some reason, but that's hardly a major concern.
- The 3D effect works amazingly well on the games I've played so far, Ridge Racer and Pilotwings. It genuinely adds to the experience. They'd both be kind of mediocre looking without the effects to be honest. But slide that slider up a few notches and it feels like a totally different game.
- Both games are amazingly good fun. They control very well with the new circle pad, very responsive. Ridge Racer's commentators are a little annoying as they tend to repeat a lot, but tolerable. And Pilotwings is just such a laugh, flying around the island looking for those little nooks and crannies to find secrets in.
- It's invaluable to have different depth settings for the 3D effects as some games work better at different levels. I've found that I'm most comfortable with it about 70%. Ridge Racer had a brief problem with ghostly afterimages but then I discovered that was because of how I was sat, it's not the game's fault. Just need to get used to the technology I suppose, I'm used to fidgetting while I play, which disrupts the 'sweet spot' a little. But if it's a problem I just tone the slider down a little more and it's an issue no more.
- The music playback isn't the absolute top quality but it's certainly decent for a free add-on. Added bonus, the background animations during MP3 playback are awesome. Seriously, slap any old MP3 on your SD card, load it up, then pull the little blue chord at the top of the touch screen a few times. Some of them, like the Starwing-esque space ship, can even be controlled. I hope they make that into a game. Something like Beat Hazard on the 360, where the beat of the music creates enemiesfor you to shoot. That'd be fantastic.
- I only took one photo with the 3D camera but it looks kinda crappy. But then the room was pretty dark at the time. Besides, ever tried getting a 12 week old Siberian Husky puppy to pose for a photo? Not easy.
- The AR games are much more fun than I'd thought. During my test plays I only ever got to use the static image feature and Faceraiders. The actual games are pretty good fun. I had the card balanced on my bed when I tried out the shooting game and the next thing I know there's a dragon popping through my sheets. It actually looked pretty convincing. I look forward to playing tricks on my 7 year old nephew when he gets here in about an hour
Overall, I'm extremely impressed with the system so far, and this is just what it can do on launch day. Just wait until developers learn to get the best out of this new machine. It always happens. Look at PS2 launch titles compared to later ones. I reckon we're in for a real treat with this one.
Now just to wait until Zelda, Kid Icarus, Mario, Final Fantasy and so many other great things come our way.
(birthday present for little bro won't get it until march 27) tried it out and got to say
