PSP Go allows players to save and resume state -- Joystiq

PSP Go allows players to save and resume state

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 17th 2009 at 1:00PM }

If you're a busy body with an infinitesimal attention span, Sony's added a feature to the PSP Go that should land squarely in your wheelhouse. First unveiled during a Gamespot UK unboxing of the new handheld (around the 10:00 mark), the Go allows players of any game to save their progress and perform other functions on the device. Upon returning to the game, you can instantly hop right back into whatever it was you were doing at the time of your save.

In the aforementioned unboxing video, Gamespot UK's Guy Cocker saves his progress during a Motorstorm: Arctic Edge race in order to watch a trailer for Motorstorm: Arctic Edge. Rarely do we get urges to watch trailers for games we're currently playing -- but we suppose we've succumbed to stranger impulses before.

Gallery: PSP Go

Tags: handheld, hardware, psp-go, save, save-state, sony, unboxing

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Solace @ Sep 17th 2009 1:04PM

Hey remember the PSP 1000, 2000, and 3000 Sony?

el serpiente @ Sep 17th 2009 1:13PM

How are you supposed to do that with a disc based game?

Solace @ Sep 17th 2009 1:15PM

older PSP models have a PlayStation Store also

EncodedNybble @ Sep 17th 2009 1:23PM

Disclaimer: I'm guessing the implementation here

The way this works is probably much like the "sleep" feature works now. A snapshot of the current stack, register values, etc. is dumped, but unlike the sleep function, this information cannot be held in RAM (along with the other values in the RAM) because the RAM is needed to go play music/load up the XMB and what have you.

So, the snapshot is probably written to the internal memory (which the GO! will probably need to reserve 100 MB or so for the feature) and then loaded back into RAM when needed. Since the Go! is the only device that can guarantee that the internal memory will be there, I think it will be the only PSP with this feature.

Yes the K series have memory sticks, but not everyone has one and it is removable, so you could write the state to the stick, remove it....maybe do something funky with it (I'm lacking imagination this early in the morning).

Nightwish @ Sep 17th 2009 1:42PM

So? If it wasn't there it would be disabled.
Actually, if they save RAM contents and then load them, it's much more easy to crack. Not that it stops anyone, but whatever.

EncodedNybble @ Sep 17th 2009 1:56PM

@nightwish

Well, depending on the implementation, the loading of the save state might be tied to a particular PSP, or a PSP in a particular state or at the very least give even easier access to some of the PSP's OS's innards (or at the very least the instruction pointer/stack pointer layout which is probably already known if we know the model of the processor).

It might either be technically impossible to reload an "old" save state if it was saved on a removable media or perhaps Sony just wouldn't want that for some reason (piracy or just to have some unique feature to 'drive' some people to the Go!). I really don't know.

It could show up on the K series. I'm just saying that the implementation is probably that it writes a dump of contents to the onboard memory and since the Go! is the only thing that guarantees the memory will be there, they made it for the Go! If it will show up for the K series at all, or the reasons for that not happening are all speculations at this point.

sc00by_y00 @ Sep 17th 2009 3:38PM

@EncodedNybble thats exactly what came to my mind when I read the article.

I doubt they would be using any form of encryption on the memory as it would be costly especially considering that the processor isnt all that powerful, they could have added a chip to specifically deal with the encryption but why bother ? it wouldnt help the umd versions.

In Linux there is dump to ram and dump to hdd when going to sleep.
Dump to hdd in this case the built in storage makes sense the device could have battery removed and still be able to restore the state and would free the system ram for whatever task you want to do.. The storage space only needs to be the size of the actual ram which is likely proper small.

http://psphacks.blogspot.com/2005/06/psp-ram-dump.html ..

I think I have probably bored enough people now, including myself..

WEEEGEEE! @ Sep 17th 2009 7:55PM

no, but the pspslim had this feature about a year ago on hacked psp's i think(needs to be installed as a plugin), an example of how sony benefits from the same community it is waging war against lol.

WEEEGEEE! @ Sep 17th 2009 7:58PM

damnit not think but i remember! it crashed the psp on some games though

Yan @ Sep 17th 2009 1:04PM

In before someone screams "CASUALS".

Vidikron @ Sep 17th 2009 1:59PM

Why would anyone say that about save states?

Quinton @ Sep 17th 2009 2:15PM

That's /v/ on 4chan, bro. Hardly ever see garbage like that on here. Plus, "hardcore" PC players spam quicksave and quickload like a normal play spams Quarter-circle forward + punch at a Street Fighter tourney.

xaos @ Sep 17th 2009 1:08PM

This is a feature I have wanted for the last ever; I am very pleased by this

Traceur_Ryuk (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Sep 17th 2009 1:06PM

If anything is worth the price of the PSP Go, it's this.

Solace @ Sep 17th 2009 1:11PM

lol how? Save states makes a 5 year old piece of technology worth $250? This will be a firmware update and if not it still doesnt change the fact that the PSP is a rip off.

BxGT @ Sep 17th 2009 1:36PM

Imagine the possibilities, im in the middle of a fierce ratchet and clank game when all of a sudden a riot breaks out.Never agian will we have to write down game codes to continue from level 3!

Solace @ Sep 17th 2009 2:04PM

uhh thats called saving the game dipshit -_-

Vidikron @ Sep 17th 2009 2:05PM

I agree that the feature isn't enough to command the asking price, but it's still a nice plus for the Go.

Punkrawk Bbob @ Sep 17th 2009 3:00PM

...god this device looks sexy. want badly.

Aqua Victorian @ Sep 17th 2009 9:13PM

Sarcasm guys...

Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 17th 2009 1:08PM

Between Chris Creamer and Guy Cocker, should the gaming industry ever collapse, these guys will always have the porn industry.

cylet @ Sep 17th 2009 2:02PM

LOL thats funny

McWilly (Revealing bullshit since 1988) @ Sep 17th 2009 1:09PM

Save states hhmm. I've got a better idea. How about making it worth $250? Huh? I know, Crazy.

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 17th 2009 1:11PM

I'm in the Real Estate business and we have sellers from time to time that have an unrealistic expectation of what their home is worth. The bottom line is that a good or service is only worth what someone is willing tp pay for it. If people are willing to buy the GO for $250 then it's worth exactly that.

Viney @ Sep 17th 2009 1:39PM

In the real estate market that's definitely true. But in the video game market, you've gotta account for the fan-boy factor, and that disposable income is a lot easier to part with when buying a video game system compared to dropping a down payment on a house. Being uniformed and spending recklessly isn't as life altering in the video game market as it is in real estate.

aristokrat @ Sep 17th 2009 2:43PM

Product worth is product worth, whether you're talking about $250 or $250K. It's still supply and demand and good old market segmentation. If people are willing to buy it for $250, sell it at $250 until buying stops and then drop the price, thereby extracting as much of the consumer surplus as possible.

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 17th 2009 2:59PM

exactly.

A product is worth what people will pay for it regardless of the business or industry. If the product doesn't sell well at $250 then it's not worth $250. You can't simply say it is or isn't worth $250 based on your own subjective opinion. Maybe to McWilly the PSP GO isn't worth $250 ... but, maybe there are millions of people that think otherwise. The market will dictate if what the PSP GO is worth as they did with the PS3. You are seeing that people feel by and large a PS3 is worth $299 even though some us felt it was worth $600.

Vidikron @ Sep 17th 2009 3:44PM

But you also have to take into account total sales. Just because some people will buy something at $250 doesn't mean it's really worth that in the general market as a whole. It may just mean some people have money to burn or not much sense. Obviously you ideally still want to turn a profit, but if you can lower the price and rake in more profits from the increased sales then that is probably closer to the true market value.

aristokrat @ Sep 17th 2009 11:44PM

Vidikron: More sales at a lower price means more profit in the short-term, but in the long-term, selling a product to each consumer at their maximum price-point means the most profits overall (also known as extracting consumer surplus). That's why all electronics start pricier and then drop, because they know that some people are willing to pay more than others. There is more to "worth" than the product itself, and you can't forget that (status, etc.). You can't talk about specific products and average consumers with regard to worth, only specific to specific or average (such as a market basket) to average.

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 17th 2009 1:09PM

I can say that I would be hard pressed to spend $250 on a GO instead of just dropping $300 on another PS3 for the bedroom. I'm happy with what I've got but that GO is just so damn sexy ... it's got a spell on me.

Jawmuncher (PSN & XBL:Jawmuncher) @ Sep 17th 2009 1:10PM

You can acquire great Input from it.

Markez @ Sep 17th 2009 1:30PM

Hey pal, what's your PSN? Not that I expect to be playing anyone online soon with the few games I have, but would be swell to be linked to a few folks on the new slim. Turns out the Modnation beta has been pushed back to December, otherwise I would've downloaded the beta since I got a voucher with LBP. What exactly is the 30 beans worth of DLC anyway?

On a side note, the PS3 seems to bounce around different resolutions on my HDTV, and makes a goofy scratch noise when doing so occasionally. Any idea what the hell that's about? I think it just switched over to 720p when I put Uncharted in and did it again...

ToadStoolPorridge (PSN: tennispro_99) @ Sep 17th 2009 2:01PM

Hey Markez. What's your PSN ID? It'd be cool to be linked to a few people from the 'stiq. Mine is in my username if you feel like adding me :)

Kleptomaniac @ Sep 17th 2009 2:03PM

@Markez, Its just the resolution changing to suit the game. The XMB will do 1080p but Uncharted wont so it changes to 720p.

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 17th 2009 3:02PM

Mrkez

My PSN ID is the same as my Joystiq ID: johnnynumber5

I look forward to playing some Little Big Planet with you. Again, if you have a question about any PSN or PS3 game ask me because I've got or played my fair share of games.

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 17th 2009 3:23PM

Markez,

In response to your PS3 issue with the resolutions and scratch noise:

There are a few possible explanations. First, it could be a bad HDmi or component cable. Second, it could be a bad input on the television. Third, it could be a bad output from the PS3. However, in my opinion it's none of those things and in fact you have a ground loop issue. Please read below:

Read:
http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3&thread.id=844938
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=56203
http://www.highdefforum.com/cables-connections/26594-cant-get-rid-buzz-sound-hdmi.html

Easy problem to fix ... Not dangerous to do so, either, contrary to what uninformed people may tell you.

As for Little Big Planet:

The $30 in DLC for LBP GOTY is level packs, costumes and stickers. They have a demo for free on the PSN if you want to try the game before you buy it.

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 17th 2009 3:37PM

Markez

Just so you know in lamen terms you have two signals that are conflicting with each other. There are multiple solutions to remove the interference. Read through the links and you will see many different options.

Aurailious @ Sep 17th 2009 1:09PM

I use the PSP-3000, just recently upgraded form the -1000 model. I really enjoy it, however the Go! isn't something I am interested in. For the price, the new Zune HD seems like a better deal.

shadowhowl1900 @ Sep 17th 2009 1:10PM

wow, i like the feature

pat1202003 @ Sep 17th 2009 1:11PM

You guys just now noticed this? I saw that feature awhile ago in a Engadget video.

Traceur_Ryuk (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Sep 17th 2009 1:16PM

How many of these comments do we get a day?

No one cares, go away.

pat1202003 @ Sep 17th 2009 1:27PM

http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/471/
Pause @ 0:42 http://i32.tinypic.com/16k7z49.jpg

All I'm saying is that I'm surprised it took Joystiq almost 4 months to notice this feature.

Markez @ Sep 17th 2009 2:09PM

I apologize on behalf of Joystiq for their choice not to do immediate reporting based on whatever another website does, whenever they do it. Lest they become nothing more than an outlet to immediately report on the happenings of what is done by another website, right when it happens.