SDCC 08: PSP GPS Hands-on

July 25th, 2008, 01:35 Posted By: wraggster

Way, way, way back in 2006, Sony announced it would be bringing a GPS add-on to the PSP. The world rejoiced, but quickly we discovered the immediate launch of the device was pretty much exclusively set for Japan.

America would be left directionless.

As part of the San Diego Comic-Con's preview night, I got to take a waltz through Sony's booth this evening and saw kids playing all sorts of games that I got to see at E3. Then, I spotted a Slim rocking the GPS add-on sitting alone amongst a group of PSPs people were playing.

I could barely believe my eyes.

From the main menu, there are four options for you to dive into -- Find and Go, Explore Map, My Data, and Settings. I'm assuming you've been in a car in the last few years and are somewhat familiar with a GPS system. Find and Go acts as the PSP ap's most basic GPS function -- you choose a city and state before entering a location and getting step-by-step directions. Once you get the data in, you can just explore the map if you like and see what all is around. The default view is a top-down Mapquest POV, while the secondary look anchors the lower part of the map at the bottom of the screen and tilts the view at an angle. Explore Map lets you jump around at will, and My Data has you set up to 32 favorite places; search by hotels, airports, and more; view saved routes; and track logs.



What I found pretty neat were the options in the Settings folder. You can set your preference to give you routes that are the fastest, shortest, or economical; you can set it to avoid u-turns and tolls; and you can set your transportation mode to be car, taxi, pedestrian, or bicycle.

Let me be the first to say, I cannot wait to see someone on a bicycle trying to use PSP GPS.

Obviously, Sony doesn't want Comic-Con kids wandering around with its PSPs, so I couldn't test the devices turn-by-turn capabilities. However, I did pull up a map of Brisbane, Calif. -- IGN's home base, yo! -- and the 101 and bay were where they were supposed to be.

Although we've been told to expect the GPS device to arrive in the states within the next nine months, there's still no date set for the device I got to hold today. That's sad, but the application seems to work OK. It was simple to get into and find what I needed, and the options to toggle and fool with seem to outpace the GPS we have in my wife's SUV.

If this ever comes out, we'll have more on it.

http://uk.psp.ign.com/articles/893/8...0&RSSid=893280

There are 1 comments - Join In and Discuss Here