Play PSP games in upscaled HD with new Japanese peripheral

Do youalways use your PSP as a portable system? We're willing to bet a fair number of readers keep their PlayStation Portables at home next to their full-sized consoles. Capitalizing on this phenomenon, Japanese peripheral maker Timley has created an HDMI upscaler, letting players experience their low-res games in a larger (and muddied) 720p.

Running consumers 6980 yen (about $84), the creatively-named HDMI PSP Upscaler is a small black box, which users plug their AV cables into. Separate stereo and HDMI cables send sound and visuals to TVs and speakers respectively.

While PSP-2000, 3000 and Go owners can play their systems on their TVs, it's within the confines of a window that doesn't fill up the entire television screen. The upscaler removes the windows, and displays the game in full HD. While we haven't seen the device for ourselves, we would guess, based on our experience playing PSPs in full-screen at trade shows, that results will vary depending on your game. Certain games like Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will likely look OK, but it's an almost forgone conclusion that not every title with hold up so well.

We mostly just mention this because it's possibly a little purpose-defeating and silly. Other, similar products have been released before, likethis one, which is available on Amazon for about the same price as Timley's. Is this something you'd ever consider using?

[Source: 4gamer (Japanese)]

Nov 19, 2010