PSP 3.5 firmware update allows game to hit 333 MHz

[davygee]

As far I as I was aware, the PSP was restricted to 222Mhz when released.  I have no proper reasoning why they did this, although it could be down to battery life, although I doubt it affects battery life that much to be honest.  Only recently was one game (as far as I know), that was allowed by Sony to up the clock to 266Mhz, this was Rachet & Clank Size Matters.

I reckon this decision is for 2 reasons, firstly, Sony was holding back to CPU speed to allow developers to create better looking games further down to PSP's lifecycle and secondly more recently, when Ready At Dawn were interviewed by IGN, they stated that their one wish for the PSP was to have the CPU non restricted and allow then the full 333Mhz to play with.  Seeing as Chains of Olympus is now being regarded as one of the hugh releases for this year on the PSP, Sony may very well have backed down and allowed for the clock to be upped at this stage rather than leaving it another year or so.

I don't have a problem with Sony restricting the clock speed as long as eventually they remove that restriction, which looks likely.  It's not being deceptive to the consumer at all.  The consumer isn't buying a machine knowing that they will get the best games out at the start.  What this restriction has done, is allow for the development of games so far using only 2/3rds of the processing power available over the longer term, which should allow for bigger and better games using effectively another 50% more power.