The first thing I noticed about the PSP system is that it looks nothing like the other portable gaming systems out there. The screen on the PSP is much larger then on any other popular portable gaming system. It has a very sleek design, and I do believe it fits in your hands the way you would want a portable system to feel, like a game controller. It is a bit heavier than the other game systems, it feels much sturdier.

The controls on the PSP will feel a lot like a Playstation 2 controller. One of the major differences in the PSP control is the new "analog nub" which was used instead of the joysticks on the Playstation controller. This "nub" is a little weird at first because it has more of a sliding motion as opposed to the tilting motion you get with the playstation controllers, but once you have used it for a little while it becomes like second nature. The "action" buttons on the PSP system are located where they would be in the Playstation controller. These buttons are very responsive and very well placed. There are only one L and R button; these are placed on the top of the system, in a similar place as the Playstation controller. I personally have a little bit of a hard time with these buttons as they for some reason just don't feel right, but you do get used to them. Then there are the start and select buttons which I don't really like at all, (it's a good thing you don't really have to use those buttons too much). These buttons are very small and located toward the bottom of the PSP system by a bunch of other buttons that feel the exact same way. The other buttons are the home button, which will take you out of your game or movie and back to the main screen, there is a brightness button which allows you to control the brightness of your screen, there are the volume buttons, and a mute button. Like I said before all these buttons are the same size and shape, which is something that I don't really like because sometimes you accidentally push the wrong button and it totally throws you off. The next button is the power/hold button. I really like the way this button works. It is located on the right side of the system. This button has 4 purposes, purpose number 1 is to turn on the system, you do this by pushing it up, purpose number 2 is to put the system on hold which makes all of the system buttons non operational, you do this by pushing it down, purpose number 3 is to put the system into sleep mode, you do this by pushing the button up for just a second, the last purpose for this button is to turn the system off, you do this by pushing the button up and holding it for about 3 seconds until you see the system power off. On the left side of the PSP system you will find a button that feels similar to the power button, this is the wi-fi switch. It turns wi-fi on and off, up is on, down is off. On the top of the system is a switch that slides from left to right. This switch opens the UMD slot which is where you put your game or movie. The top of the system also has the mini-USB port for connecting to a computer.

Playing the PSP system is like a totally new experience. You start by turning on your system. If you don't have anything in the disc slot it will bring you to the home screen. From the home screen you can control almost everything that has to do with your PSP System. You can play a game or watch a movie one of two ways. You can either put the disc in before or you can put it in after you turn on the system. If you put the disc in before you turn on the system then the game will start to load automatically without going to the home screen first. If you don't put the disc in first then you have to find the UMD icon and select it, then the game will start loading. When you put a game in it will take about 20-30 seconds to load to that games title screen. Then the load times for the game are significantly shorter in the 3-5 second range. While you are playing a game you can press the home button at any time and it will bring you back to the main screen, but first it will ask you if you are sure you want to quit your game. I like this because sometimes you accidentally hit the home button when you are going for the volume buttons. I would just like to briefly mention the screen. It is a 16:9 widescreen LCD and it is amazing. More then I thought was capable on such a small system. I am telling you that you will be totally shocked and amazed when you see the quality of picture this little machine creates.

Anyone who already owns the PSP system knows the reasons why this system is so great. If you don't already own one I urge you to get down to the store and grab one right now. This is the best system I have come in contact with in a really long time.