In an earlier article we already told you that the GPS for the PSP will be available for sale in Japan on December 7th, and that it will be sold for 6,000 yen (which is roughly $52 for us). But now, we bring you more information about the PSP GPS such as its technical specs, the games in which the GPS can be used, and other software that would support the GPS. Stay with us as we go through this as quick as we can, and we promise you, you'll be seeing stars after this, and we mean that quite literally.

First, let's tackle the technical specs on this baby. The PSP GPS will have a 20-channel reception system with a frequency of 1575.42MHz (L1 ban, C/A code). It would take 40 seconds before it could acquire your position, and refreshes the information about your location every second after that. The positioning precision is 5m, or 16 ft., which means that its accuracy in reporting your position will be (at most) 16 ft. from where you're actually standing. Pretty cool, huh?

The PSP GPS weighs around 16g, measures 45 x 41 x 17mm (W x H x D), and as you can see in the image above, goes directly into the USB port on your PSP. Now, what can the GPS actually do for your PSP aside from knowing your exact location? You can also use it for astronomic observation via the "Planetarium Creator Homestar Portable" navigation tool, which contains information on over 5 million stars, 300 heavenly objects, and over 15 planetarium style shows. And with the GPS receiver, you'll not only be able to see the stars that are actually over your head, but also get information about them, like this:

   

If you're a smooth talker with a passion for astronomy, the PSP GPS might just be your ultimate date tool. But now, on to more pressing matters: how the GPS will be used for your games! Or maybe we should reserve this for a later article, what do you think? Hmm? Kidding, of course we'll give it to you now!

Honestly, we're not so sure how the GPS will work with games, and it's not like we have anything like this on the market to compare it with. On their part, Sony also hasn't clarified how GPS will enhance video gaming. But, they have announced that Konami's Metal Gear Portable Ops and their own Hot Shots Golf (aka Everybody's Golf) will be able to use the GPS feature.

Sony remains tight-lipped on this matter, especially for Metal Gear, but they did HINT at how the GPS would prove to be a nifty tool for Hot Shots Golf: through the "Downloadable Golf course data" and 'Simulation for shot." For now, we can only guess how the GPS will be used in Portable Ops, care to share your thoughts on this?

For 76 years, the line-up for our solar system has shown us nine planets. Is it now time to render this structure obsolete and increase the number to twelve? The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is to make that very decision come August 24 of this year. While space buffs out there are all gaggling with glee like kids on sugar about this 12-planet proposal, people who make a living out of the 76-year-old, nine-planet structure are ready to take the blow, at whatever cost.

Publishers, planetariums, and schools will have to make revisions to their textbooks, models, and visuals, and these changes will surely be expensive! Planetary mobiles and some science fair projects in classrooms all around the world will now be considered horribly wrong!

Well, despite all these initial concerns, sources say that astronomers, teachers, and students alike will actually be more than excited about making the modifications to their "obsolete" nine-planet structures. Now, all these excitement have spilled over to the toy-makers, as the race to produce the toy-counterparts of the three new members of our solar system - Ceres, Charon, and Xena (still nicknames) - is on the move. Currently, the Discovery Channel Store already predicts that the 12-planet toysets may be out come Christmas!

Well, at the rate things are going, I guess it really is more exciting than it is a hassle that the IAU might approve the 12-planet proposal. I mean, c'mon! Imagine yourself as a kid who just got home from school, and calling out to your mom, "I'll be in my room! Don't bother me until dinner! I'm building a new planet!!!" Besides, I still believe that Xena (Warrior Princess) is one heck of a good name for a planet - especially if Gabrielle, the loyal side-kick, is orbiting around it as a moon.

We reported about the crazy new PSP title called Homestar: 21st Century Navigator a few days ago, and suffice to say, more than enough people just can't imagine how a Planetarium might look on the PSP. Well, the newest Famitsu issue has a feature of the "game" so you can see how it works in practice.

For me, these screens look rather dull, but you never know, when a popular Japanese mag runs a two-page preview on it, it must be something... still, because of the sheer obscurity of this title, chances of a release outside Japan are very low. Makes me wonder about all the other interesting PSP software the Japanese regularily get that we may never hear of...

 

Here's another of these crazy Japanese "games", which will probably never see the light of the day in the US or Europe, but are nonetheless fun to look at. Today, our visitor is called Homestar: 21st Century Navigator. Supervised by famed planetarium creator Takayuki Ohira (who created the legendary Mega Star series of planetariums), Homestar lets you view five million stars on the go. You can view these with different perspectives and zoom in to a single planet, and the software also features filters to focus on stars of a certain brightness order. Natural phenomenon like eclipses, nebulae, and aurora effects are also included. And if you want to know a bit more about the things you're looking at, Homestar provides you with an extensive library of background information, including descriptions of every stellar body, history of constellations, and more.

But it's not all just education: In the "Fantasy Theater mode", you get to view the most famous planets and stars in a guided tour encompassing 15 chapters, while voiced narration tells you about the mysteries of space. Cheesy New Age music included. Actually, we don't know about the last bit, but it'd be cool.

Homestar: 21st Century Navigator will be released in Japan on October 19, for a budget price of 3,280 yen (US$ 28). The publisher is Sega, and perhaps there's a slim chance that Western audiences might get to see the game eventually, too. We'll keep you posted.