PSPgo 'Pause Game' Feature and Bluetooth PS3 Controller Hookup Demonstrated

[Shin-Ra]

Gamespot Unboxes PSP Go Part 1 (HD)
Gamespot Unboxes PSP Go Part 2 (HD) > Jump straight to the Pause Game demonstration.

When you hit the PS/HOME button on previous models of PSP you only get the quit game option.



PSPgo adds the Pause Game option which saves your position without needing to find a save spot in gameplay, and returns you to the FULL XMB. You can play videos, music, changing settings, anything you'd normally do.





When you're ready to continue gameplay, choose the Resume Game option under Game.





And surprisingly quickly (I timed 10 seconds), several times faster than starting a game normally, you're back where you left off.

I'm not 100% on this so take it as a rumour for now:

I think you can also turn the PSPgo off and still resume the save state. And if your battery level gets too low, Pause Game is used automatically instead of or in addition to the low-power suspend on older PSP's which isn't as reliable because if the battery loses charge completely, you lose your position in gameplay completely.

In Impress Watch's earlier demonstration, a thumbnail screenshot of the position you left off was used in place of the generic Resume Play icon. And some extra time/date info.

[garlad]

Nice feature!

Still not too pleased that the Slim and PSPGo are practically the same price..

[Shin-Ra]

PSP Go 'Pause Game' feature tested, deemed very handy

We've had a chance to test out the "Pause Game" function of the PSP Go, which was discovered yesterday by GameSpot UK. In the course of using a Go production unit last night, we tried the feature using two different games -- LocoRoco Midnight Carnival and Motorstorm: Arctic Edge -- and timed the process.

Pressing the PlayStation button on the Go brings up two options: Pause Game and Quit Game. We made our LocoRoco jump into the air and pressed it, selected Pause Game, and within 10 seconds reached the XMB (after a progress bar appeared to indicate the saving of the game's current state).

After selecting Pause Game, an icon appears under the Game section of the XMB -- it looks a bit like an egg and is labeled "Resume Game." We selected it and, 10 seconds later, were right back where we'd been, LocoRoco still mid-air. We had similar results with Arctic Edge, only we decided to use some of the system's functions, including the web browser, while the game was on hold. Again, a 10 second load and we were back, this time with a prompt to "press X to resume" the race.

We asked Sony if this feature will eventually make its way to the standard PSP and were told by PlayStation Network's Eric Lempel that it's PSP Go-only. It's a really convenient feature from our testing and has a nice added benefit: The Go can be completely powered off and still retain the game state, unlike with the standard PSP's sleep function. We'll have a full review of the PSP Go soon.

The 10 seconds in/out seems to be consistent across games and save state kept after power OFF confirmed! Booya!

If you're playing one big game at a time (like Crisis Core), this is going to make starting up a lot quicker.

[mike79]

Not that I'm complaining because I think that's a great feature, but it would be even cooler if you could do that with more than one game.

[Shin-Ra]

I can't work out how it's possible with just one, seeing as you can shut the system off completely so even the fast RAM must be cleared. Part of the 16GB flash is reserved for this but can restoring from flash to RAM this way really be that much quicker than starting up a game normally (from flash too)?

[androvsky]

Originally Posted by Shin-Ra

I can't work out how it's possible with just one, seeing as you can shut the system off completely so even the fast RAM must be cleared. Part of the 16GB flash is reserved for this but can restoring from flash to RAM this way really be that much quicker than starting up a game normally (from flash too)?

Yeah, just loading a memory image from flash should normally be faster than loading the game normally, as there's a lot involved with starting a game, such as initializing variables, jumping around to all the small init files, pausing for effect at various logos, and so on.

That said, this is an amazing feature, and I'm a touch surprised it works with all games (well, ones on PSN anyway). I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work with multiple games beyond making it so the interface isn't too confusing and putting a limit so you don't waste too much flash memory. Maybe in a future firmware update?

[Shin-Ra]

But say typically (often longer to start the game then load a level).. a minute down to 10 seconds is huge.

[androvsky]

Originally Posted by Shin-Ra

But say typically (often longer to start the game then load a level).. a minute down to 10 seconds is huge.

Hmm, I can't explain very easily what goes in a game startup since it varies so wildly (and I'm having trouble coming up with concrete examples), but with this save state, all it's doing is loading 64 MB from flash to system RAM, and almost nothing else. Don't underestimate the amount of our lives wasted looking at logos when games start up, that's probably most of the time spent in initial game loading.

[sg2386]

looks great! glad i got the black on preorder instead of white (looks too fruity with those sparkles).

[Shin-Ra]

Korean video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cruFS9OIGs#t=1m00s

1:00 in you can see how it just takes a second for the generic Resume Game icon to be replaced with the save state screenshot.

[Shin-Ra]

Joystiq's new video shows off playing MotorStorm: Arctic Edge with a PS3 controller. Works as you'd expect with all the PSP buttons active on the controller and no more.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/2122/0

[cajmoyper]

Originally Posted by sg2386

looks great! glad i got the black on preorder instead of white (looks too fruity with those sparkles).

I was just thinking that I may have to go to GS and switch mine frome black to white. White just seems a lot easier to keep fingerprints off of.

[Shin-Ra]

Apparently you can play another game and it keeps whatever save state you've got.

'Pause Game' with another game and it overwrites of course.

[Cordre69]

Will the Go still have the HUGE black bars on all sides of the video when connected to the TV? There's no way I'm gonna look at a small screen like that and play games like Dissidia with a lot going on, or FF Tactics where everything is tiny. My current Slim forces me to zoom my TV in 20% AND activate ZOOM which increases it another like 100%. And STILL I have huge black bars around the game.