Next big thing is here: Sony’s hand-held PSP

Giving up on a successful relationship after only four months seems, well, shallow.

After all, things were working so well between hand-held game enthusiasts and their sexy new plaything, the Nintendo DS.

Then it walked in and ruined everything. Its sleek black design brought to mind a speedy German roadster instead of an overblown calculator. Its screen was so large and bright, it made us blush at first. And when we found out that besides incredible-looking games (wireless ones even!) it played full-length movies, slideshows of digital pictures and even music, we were convinced it was the one for us.

Sorry DS, it’s been great, but we’ve found a new favorite toy, the Sony PSP. Hope you understand. This could be true love.

Today brings the release of the PlayStation Portable, the device its maker hopes will change gamers’ lives forever. See, the folks at Sony aren’t just trying to enter the hand-held games market, they’re trying to dominate it.

First, the good news. Even though the unit is roughly the same size as the Nintendo DS, the larger screen offers almost twice the resolution and 64 times the color capability. This gives games like “Need for Speed Underground Rivals” richly detailed textures and reflections, “Darkstalkers Chronicle” vibrant colors and old-school flair, and “Metal Gear Acid” moody espionage thrills. Oh yeah, did I mention I was holding it in my grubby little hands with no wires attached? Bonus points for that.

Surprisingly, staring into the PSP’s display — the screen is a little larger than a playing card (4.3 inches to be exact) — while holding the unit a comfortable 10 inches away made the picture about the same size as the 32-inch TV across the room. It was like having our own little game station, right up in our grill.

And that brings us to the next thing that is revolutionary about this unit: Bored playing “Spider-Man 2” the game? Why not swap out the disc and watch “Spider-Man 2” the movie? (Movie watching is just like using a DVD player.)

Granted, the video resolution is about half that of a normal TV, but again, we had no trouble enjoying all the special effects, and we could carry it in a pocket! With more movies coming soon, the PSP suddenly becomes the “everything in one” device perfect for long flights.

But with good comes bad: The PSP games and movies are stored on Sony’s new Universal Media Disk. About half the width of a standard compact disc, the UMD holds 1.8 GB of data, or enough for a whole film and some trailers.

So now this means we have to buy “Return of the Jedi” and our other favorites for the third time? That could get pricey. If the public doesn’t embrace UMDs, they could go the way of Beta, and Sony could be looking at one big disaster.

All that, however, is down a long road that may never come. For now, we’ve found a new love, and its name is PSP.

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