PSP Ad Hoc Party

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Ad Hoc Party was released today on the PSN store in the US.

For those unaware what it is, it's a slick menu/avatar based interface that allows users to play PSP games which were previously only LOCAL multiplayer online with other users around the world as if they were online multiplayer.

One unexpected yet logical feature that I didn't expect was that I'd have to use a wired ethernet cord to connect my PS3 to the internet to use the service (since talking to your PSP requires the exclusive use of the Wi-Fi signal).

The actual interface of the software is brilliant and much more "socially competent" than I would have imagined.

There are huge "worlds" that you can pick a "lobby" in and set up a little house, which you can have up to 4 players in to play any PSP game that has ad-hoc multiplayer, you can name the house whatever you want and wait for people to come in. You can run around with little animated avatars and everything!

You can FIND other people playing any game you have running by having the ad-hoc Party software auto recognize the game and do a global search of any "world" for people playing it.

There's voice chat in-game via the PS3 ... it's really a great setup ...

UNFORTUNATELY, all the games that I played online suffered from MASSIVE MASSIVE slow-down. Not even lag, they all just seemed to run at half-speed through the service.

Now, I'm sure there are games that are optimized for Ad-Hoc party ... but as impressed as I am with the software and the service, I can't see myself using it until they find some way to tweak the game speeds.

*edit* Kupo says that mileage may vary on Lag depending on where you live in relation to the other player(s), so perhaps I'll keep trying in the future. The rooms can be "labeled" so I can make note of my state, which should help.

Turn-based games are probably the best option for using the service, and it's free, so, no major complaints other than the speed issue, and maybe there are some games that can compensate, that I haven't tried yet.

[meancode]

I am not running Ethernet all the way over to the other side of this room. And considering the slow speed everyone is complaining about, I see it is not even worth it to fiddle with.

[kupomogli]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138149&highlight=adhoc

Wtf. No one posts when I mention it and then someone makes a new topic.

Anyways. The lag issue is how far away the players are from you. If I play against my bestfriend who's about 30 minutes away from me, the lag is non existant, but obviously states away it will be.

So if it's people who live somewhat near you probably won't suffer any lag at all or hardly any lag(by somewhat I mean one state.)

[Icarus Moonsight]

Oh, you need a PS3? That's a let down... So I'll need a $300 router to play some handheld games online? Pathetic.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138149&highlight=adhoc

Wtf. No one posts when I mention it and then someone makes a new topic.


Sorry, nothing personal.

Keyword searched but didn't see it.

Any mod in the vicinity can feel free to merge em.


Oh, you need a PS3? That's a let down... So I'll need a $300 router to play some handheld games online? Pathetic.

Well, generally speaking the PSP goes online for multiplayer games fine by itself in any wireless environment ... if it wasn't clear the Ad-Hoc Party is a very easy "official" way to play almost ANY PSP game online that was previously only LOCAL multiplayer, similar to complicated "tunneling" software seen in the last generation of ethernet networked consoles.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Yeah, I know. Infrastructure Party would be both retarded and pathetic. LOL

[kupomogli]

I decided I'd see where the people I was playing are from as a sort of ad-hoc party test. Just went on tonight and played two people. One from California and the other from I'm assusming Virginia because he lived in the east first, and then said DC.

So anyways. I'm in Florida, against the one from California, obviously slow, and the person in what I'm assuming was Virginia, actually had no lag at all, or atleast no lag as far as I can tell, so no noticeable lag. I guess I'll do some more tests on it get some definite areas and such, but so far if Virginia is correct, then there is quite a distance away the player can be without lag.

I also played against three players this morning, one of which had no lag but some matches it froze us, another no lag, and another slight lag. No idea where these people lived though as wasn't testing it yet.

Anyways. Having played both the Japanese and US version. There is one thing I've noticed. The service US version is used far more than the Japanese version. Tonight I saw atleast four rooms in red on just World A, while you usually only found just one room red on the Japanese version. I guess the Japanese feel that they'll just play Monster Hunter right next to each other instead. In Japan the service would work better though since it's so small in comparison to the US. If Florida to Virginia got no lag there would probably rarely ever be lag there, and that's if it's someone on the bottom part playing against someone in the top part.

Also, the Japanese version has the option to create eight person lobbies in addition to the four person lobbies while the US version only has the option to create four person lobbies.

[BHvrd]

Oh, you need a PS3? That's a let down... So I'll need a $300 router to play some handheld games online? Pathetic.

Yeah getting a piece of software that makes non-online games into online for free is retarded. I agree, getting stuff for free sucks. [/sarcasm]

Pretty cool imo even if it has some kinks to iron out.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I'm sure I'd be more enthused if I actually owned a PS3 already. That sort of killed it for me. That is all.

[SAV2880]

I think my temporary solution to the problem is going to be to hook in a wireless bridge on the wired side, so that the PS3's own "wireless" signal can be free for the Adhoc Party stuff. I have one for my original XBox that the 360 can configure, it should do the job.

I should take a picture of that. A Microsoft wireless bridge powering a Sony PS3. :)

Anyone up for some Hot Shots sometime?

[kupomogli]

I think my temporary solution to the problem is going to be to hook in a wireless bridge on the wired side, so that the PS3's own "wireless" signal can be free for the Adhoc Party stuff. I have one for my original XBox that the 360 can configure, it should do the job.

I should take a picture of that. A Microsoft wireless bridge powering a Sony PS3. :)

Anyone up for some Hot Shots sometime?

I don't own it else I might have tried it. For multiplayer PSP games, the ones I own are.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite(unopened)
Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories
Final Fantasy Tactics
Dissidia
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max
Gundam Battle Royale/Chronicles/Universe
Macross Ace Frontier
Hot Pixel(unopened)
Driver 76(great game crappy multiplayer)
Viewtiful Joe Red Hot Rumble(unopened)
Power Stone Collection

Then there are those already with infrastructure.

Field Commander
Star Wars Battlefront Renegade Squadron
Wipeout Pulse
Syphon Filter Logan's Shadow(I think)

*edit*

I've found that emulator multiplayer also works on adhoc party. They work, but I'm not going to say they work well. My best friend and me tried CPS2PSP to play some Marvel vs Capcom against each other. Games that we've played together went full speed so we tried CPS2PSP and was like "holy shit found client" or atleast crient which is displayed on the emulator. So we loaded it up and bullshit. Probably 2 frames per second at most. That's atleast cool to see that even emulators work through adhoc party. I assumed this emulator would do better since when we play the game near each other it's full speed though sometimes, but rarely, freezes on multiplayer and has to take a couple seconds to resync.