Plays So Perfectly

If, like me, you're not a regular gamer but just need something that offers a little light relief when the need takes you, or if your wife tuts every time you take over the TV to play your lumbering games console when she really wants to be watching Heartbeat, a portable games machine is probably more suitable to you than their overweight siblings. So when I could no longer put up with my wife's complaints when I wanted to play Gran Turismo on my PS2 and when she started to whinge that she didn't know why I had that thing because I rarely played it from one month to the next, I decided it was time to look at the other options open to me on the market.

Nintendo have been the kings of the handheld market for sometime, most successfully with their DS model, but I ruled out Nintendo before I even started looking. My decision to do this wasn't based on the machine's capabilities - it is brilliant - or its flexibility to work with the GameCube, which was potentially a marketing coup for the Japanese company, but simply because I have never really liked Nintendo's graphics or gameplay and that Mario character with the ding-dong theme tune drives me insane. Sadly, until Sony announced its PSP, there were very few alternatives in the handheld arena, so I stuck it out with the PS2 and the wife's whisperedmutterings until the PlayStation Portable was released and then I waited a little longer until it came down to a reasonable price. And then I pleaded with my wife to let me have one, using such pathetic utterings as: "you want me to be happy don't you?" and: "you can watch Heartbeat on Sunday nights now," and finally clinched it with: "I'll let you off any oral obligations until Christmas."

And I'm not at all disappointed. The gameplay on this device is so addictive that I'll doubt I'll miss whatever conjugal rights I had to give up in order to get one.

For the main part, it works. To the left are the four-way directional buttons and underneath that a small analogue control fits neatly for your thumb for steering or direction. To the right, on the other side of the screen, are Sony's trade-mark four-function buttons, the Triangle, The Circle, The Cross and The Square. Their functions are exactly the same as those of the controls on the Sony consoles, but there is no analogue controller for your right thumb, which I think is a big mistake and is much-missed especially in driving simulators. Atop the handheld device sit two more buttons, one for the left forefinger, the other for the right, again similar to the bigger machine's console, only this time there are only two buttons as opposed to four. The whole thing has a familiar feel to it, but it isn't quite as comfortable as the mainstream controller and in certain games you do find yourself twisting your wrists awkwardly. This becomes tiresome quicker than the weight of the machine and is something Sony would do well to rectify in a later versions of the product.

I've had my PSP since May and I've probably spent more time playing it in the last four months than I have in the two years I've owned my PS2. It's so much easier to just pick up and have a quick game when I'm in the mood than it is to try dominating the telly in the lounge when the whim takes me.

The cost of games vary depending on where you buy and what you buy, but new releases pretty much stick to the now-industry standard price bracket of £29.99 - £34.99. The UMD movies are in the region of £20 but you'll probably find that these start to come down after time and eBay is littered with them at much more acceptable prices. The PSP can be found for anywhere between £100 and £180 depending on whether you go for the black or white version and many high street outlets are now offering gaming bundles with new PSPs at attractive discounts. Expect the deals to become even better as Christmas looms...