More PSP capping news

[wraggster]

Following on from news that Sony purposely capped PSP's central processor at 222mhz from 333mhz in order to save battery life, internet whispers are suggesting firmware upgrades (basically sort of patches that change hardware configurations) will be bundled with future games.

According to numerous sources, big name releases will come with a firmware upgrade enabling PSP to run at full processing power.

The first game to make use of this will be Gran Turismo 4 for PSP, where the extra power will be needed to push the game further than is possible with the cap in place.

This will presumably result in a battery-to-quality trade-off scenario, as games making use of the extra power will no doubt suck PSP's battery dry quicker.

It seems Sony will make case-by-case decisions on whether the battery life sacrifice is worth the difference an extra 111mhz of power could make to the end product.

[gtekman]

Sweet can't wait for GT4. Especially if you don't "have" to buy a new battery. Or they might make it like the dissaster of FFXI on the PS2 where you had to buy the HD with it. I doubt that will happen though

[psplover]

Technicolly couldnt the games code if the firmware supported it switch cpu speeds on the fly. In menus use like 50mhz and in races use the full thing. That ways you'd get a more balanced battery life.

[leggy]

no doubt there will be some 'exta life' battery's produced soon.

[Darksaviour69]

what will happen is that sony will revise/upgrade the psp hardware (which they have already done) and upgrade the battery so it last longer, so in the long term the graphic will inprove but the first generation of psp owners will suffer with crap battery life span!

its actually a good idea for song sales wise, the psp will take longer to age

[psplover]

I just think increasing battery life is stupid when they could improve on Cpu toggling.
Only use the lowest amount of cpu need to do a function and switch on the fly as needed. Menu's cant push more than 40mhz. Also alot of stages in GT4 arent full car races. If you dont have 8 cars on a track you'll need less cpu. A 4 person race in a more simplistic stage wont be need nearly as much as full blown races will.