A feature of PS3 that seems to have passed under the collective gaming radar is its ability to transmit any PSone game to a PSP, whether over local airwaves or the world-wide web. That's right, any of your old PSone games, fully playable, in your pocket. Have you tried it? We have.
Before you jump in and wonder why the image quality is so bad, it's important to remember is that it's still your PS3 that's playing the game - you're essentially using the PSP as a wireless joypad and then watching a video of the game playing on the PS3 on your PSP screen. The PSP processes nothing of the game itself. So, when you save, you're actually saving on the PS3's hard drive and not your PSP's memory stick. See?
Now, we won't lie - sometimes it's awful. Unplayable, even. That's probably why Sony's official site doesn't mention the PSone playing feature at all. The method of delivery compromises a couple of crucial things, namely picture quality and response time. Even the fastest internet connection in the world is going to register commands slower than a console and its connected joypad.
Adding this to the fact that the PS3 has to compress the video and send it over the internet to your PSP means that the visible response time is even slower. Fast games like Ridge Racer are rendered almost unplayable as you can't even drive down a straight without serious thought and planning. Pants incarnate.
Also, at present, the control scheme is far from ideal. While playing downloaded PSone games on PSP is made easier by having the extra triggers mapped to the analogue nub (or the d-pad if you change it), remote play only has two settings. The first doesn't seem to have access to the extra buttons at all as the stick and D-pad mimic the PS3 stick and D-pad respectively.
The second option lets you access all the other buttons, including L3, R3 and even the right stick by holding down Select as you do. Sadly, this doesn't work for games like Silent Hill, as the only way you can get your gun out is to hold Select and push the trigger. Only then X doesn't work so you can't fire it. Sigh. New firmware will hopefully address this issue, but currently it's not good enough. Especially when we've used a working solution already on the same PSP.
But all is not lost! Some games really shine. Hit page 3 if you want to see what works best with the tech, or if you want to know how to get the best from your Remote Play, stick around and we'll take you through it.What you'll need:A PS3A PSPA television setSome PSone classicsA network connectionA PSN account set up on both the PS3 and PSP**(only required if you want to play over the internet from somewhere else)
It can be a bit of a palaver getting the whole thing going. First, if you want to play over the internet, you need to set up a PSN account (if you don't already have one). Then, either way, you'll need the latest firmware for your machines, so do the update thing if you haven't already done so. Then, connect your PSP to your PS3 by USB cable and select 'Register Device' from the settings menu on your XMB. Once done, the two will be able to talk to each other.
Now, pop in a PSone disc (into the PS3 - stop trying to cram it into your PSP already!) and select Remote Play on both machines. If you want to use your home network, you don't need to sign into PSN - just connect to your access point and away you go. Otherwise, sign in and wait for the PSP to find the PS3, which can take up to 90 seconds.
Next, you need to sort out a connection quality setting that works for you. If you hit the Home button on the PSP, you can get into the settings option and decide whether you want a superior-quality video feed (better graphics) or better response time. If you're using a local network connection, you should be able to get away with having both of these up high. Try the presets if you're having difficulty and see what feels best to you. With firmware as it stands, the game won't fill the whole screen on the PSP - don't worry, it's not broken. This may well be improved with new firmware updates.
Above: You can set the PS3 to switch on and off remotely, but not all home routers allow it.
There are other options available from the PSP's Home menu, such as button settings - crucial for games that need all four PSone shoulder buttons (hint - assign them to the analogue nub instead). You should see an option that says 'PS Button'. This mimics the PS3's 'home' button to bring up the menu you would see if you were just playing the PS3, and not the PSP's home menu. So you can quit out and look at something else on your PS3, listen to music stored on it, or load a new game (if there's someone to switch discs for you).
So how well do the games work? Here are the ones you should definitely try:
Soul Blade This looks pretty good, aided no doubt by the smaller game window currently necessary for Remote Play. Fighting actually feels reasonably responsive due to the long attack animations, so you can perform your favourite moves without too much trouble. Don't expect to be able to parry deliberately, however - there's zero chance of your reaction time and the lag making for a pin-point counter. Try Tekken 2 too - it's even more command-string based.
Metal Gear SolidSnake's first 3D outing looks really impressive on the small screen and the slower-paced gameplay makes the lag workable. Only just, mind you - you'll often overstep the shelter of a corner and into plain sight because you forgot to let go early enough. You'll also need to select Type 2 from the control options, or you won't be able to access your inventory with the triggers. Still, it is playable and this taste of handheld MGS1 has got us excited about seeing the full game on PSN.
Above: Ugly artifacting like this occurs over remote play, especially on lower quality settings. If you stay still, it gets sharper, though
Final Fantasy VIIThis is Remote Play's biggest success. Why? Two reasons. Firstly, the game rarely depends on lightning-fast reactions, so the control lag isn't an issue for the majority of play time. Secondly, with pre-rendered, very slow-moving backgrounds, the PSP can update the quality of the compressed image over the space of a second or so to eliminate most of the blocky 'artifacts' that come from low-quality video, so it looks mint. And on the few occasions where you need to time movements, such as the squats minigame... well, you can always play that bit on the PS3 itself. After all, you've also got to change discs, right? Or do you keep your little brother on standby in case you need him to do it for you?
Metal Slug XThis one really shouldn't work (as it's quite a fast-paced action game), yet somehow it does. The lag doesn't seem to matter so much when you're simply blasting everything with a stream of hot lead from your heavy machine gun. And while you might need to do some quick evading during boss battles, most of the projectiles are in clear view for long enough that you can avoid them with an early jump.
Crash Team RacingThis works well considering it's a fast-moving game, but the wide tracks mean steering isn't as much of an issue. Also, you can usually see what's coming up so you have time to plan your turn. It's not perfect, but arguably as much fun as the downloaded version from PSN. Looks nice, too - in fact, comparable to the big-screen version, as the compression smooths over the rough edges. Not too shabby at all. But don't bother even trying a Crash platformer - as if the difficulty level wasn't high enough already, the lag makes it impossible to play well.
Gran TurismoAt first we weren't going to put this in. You see, it's crushingly disappointing to begin with. This was the first game we tried over Remote Play and seeing Gran Turismo start up on PSP was a very exciting experience. But then, choosing an A-class car and trying to make it around Trial Mountain in a competitive time turned out to be impossible. Literally impossible.
But! You can still enjoy Gran Turismo on PSP. Just choose a slower car. We know that sounds crap, and in some ways it is, but it is possible to drive a C-class car on Auto gears relatively successfully over Remote Play. Even if it means you only get to play a few races, it's still Gran Turismo in your pocket, and that's the best we've got for now. Here's hoping the technology improves soon... or that Polyphony actually get onto finishing the proper PSP game.
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