Emru Townsend · From fps #4 · September 1, 2005 | In the 21st-century media landscape, it's all about the hi-def. We want bigger TVs, more detail, higher resolution, and more speaker channels. A 27'' stereo TV? Please. The baseline for fans of the moving image is six speakers and a screen so big and detailed you can see the paintbrush strokes in Bugs Bunny's cel paint. Right?

Appleseed Directed by Shinji Aramaki Digital Frontier/Geneon Entertainment, 2005 Originally released theatrically in 2004 105 minutes Samurai Champloo Vol. 1 Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe Manglobe/Geneon Entertainment, 2005 Originally broadcast in 2003 50 minutes PlayStation Portable Sony Computer Entertainment Shop for Appleseed UMDs and more: Amazon.ca Amazon.com Shop for Samurai Champloo UMDs and more: Amazon.ca Amazon.com Shop for PSP and accessories: Amazon.com

Wrong. The fact is, when the medium's convenient and the sound and image are clear, most people will watch anything on anything. Which is why the notion of watching video on Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) was appealing from the get-go. Its wide 11-cm LCD screen is large for a handheld game, but the device itself is reasonably compact and lightweight. That also goes for its official movie medium, Sony's proprietary UMD (Universal Media Disc), a two-inch magneto-optical disc that you pop into the drive on the PSP's underside.

The first movie released in the Americas on the tiny new format was Spider-Man 2 (a Sony title, naturally), but several companies have reached into their animation catalogue for UMD releases. Among the first handful of those were two Geneon titles, Appleseed and Samurai Champloo; perfect test subjects to see if watching animation on the PSP is a viable concept.

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You'll find it and many other articles in the September 2005 issue of fps, available as a free download.