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PSP Launch May Be Hurt By Lack Of Games?

Posted by simoniker on from the depending-when-it-launches dept.

Thanks to Bloomberg for its article discussing a seeming lack of development kits for Sony's forthcoming PSP handheld, and the logical possibility the system "may be hampered by a lack of new games" when the handheld "goes on sale in Japan before yearend." According to the news article: "Sony has yet to send the final development kits for PlayStation Portable to any of its outside game publishers, said Yoshiko Furusawa, a spokeswoman with Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo. Sony had already sent the final kits to publishers for its best-selling PlayStation 2 home video-game console at a similar stage before its debut in March 2000, Furusawa said." Hirofumi Otsuki of Sega added: "We don't know if we'll meet Sony's schedule... PlayStation Portable details still seem to be in development."

38 comments

  1. Same as it ever was... by schild · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Every single new system that is to be released has at least one article accompanying it that says 'may be hurt by lack of games at launch.' Even if 2 of 5 games are killer apps. When Gamecube was launched we saw the articles that said, "BUT NINTENDO HAS NO THIRD PARTY DEVELOPERS. OH NOES!" When Playstation was released we saw the articles that said, "Will the playstation be able to hold it's own against Nintendo and Sega? Will the lackluster release be enough?" When Dreamcast was launched...bad example. When XBox was launched we saw this same article (albeit for different reasons). But then Halo was released, all was forgiven. Seriously, this isn't news. This is just typical speculation of the cutthroat industry that is gaming.

    Ironically enough, I don't remember seeing these articles for the Virtual Boy.

    --
    schild
    editor, f13.net

    --
    schild
    editor, f13.net
    1. Re:Same as it ever was... by cgenman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Ironically enough, I don't remember seeing these articles for the Virtual Boy.

      I don't think there was any controversy about the likelyhood for success of the Virtual Boy.

      You're right, in a way, most systems do ship with too few killer games. The N64 was an oddity in this regard: it shipped with Mario 64, Waverace, and Pilot Wings, three truly killer games. Sadly, that's all it had for a very long time, leading to 2nd tier status. But the Playstation, Saturn, XBox, 'Cube, PS2, 3DO, Jaguar, Sega CD, TG16, Genesis... all shipped with weak lineups, especially in Japan.

      However, the difference between those systems and the PSP's situation, is that the PSP looks to ship before ANY 3rd party developers get development hardware. At least Halo was in production... That really great must-have PSP game that is going to come out someday hasn't even been started yet. In two years when it is ready to ship, will the PSP even still be there? That the system is shipping before the great games are ready is no surprise. That the system is shipping before the great games have been started is a first for the industry, and doesn't look good for Sony. They're going to need all the help they can get in unseating the Game Boy, and going in without even giving your posse a map to the fight seems a little rash.

      --
      The ______ Agenda
    2. Re:Same as it ever was... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Since when has the press not been sensationalistic? :)

      I already want to buy a PSP for the portable version of Gran Turismo 4. My favorite console game series in handy portable format. And it's going to look very close to the PS2 version. How cool is that? Plus it looks ultra-swank - finally a game machine that I don't mind being seen playing in public! It doesn't matter to me if I only have one title for a couple of months - I still play Gran Turismo 3 from time to time.. and that was the reason I bought my Playstation 2 in the first place.

      Anyway, they only need two or three titles at the initial launch - provided that they're utterly fantastic. Also, don't forget that the US release will probably tail the Japanese release by a couple of months - maybe giving the developers time to catch up for the US launch.

    3. Re:Same as it ever was... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ...going in without even giving your posse a map to the fight seems a little rash.

      Dude, that is an awesome way to put it. Why is it that I can't find a single worthwhile comment when I have mod points, and then I stumble across this right after they expire?

    4. Re:Same as it ever was... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      N64 did not launch with Waverace. It only launched with 2 games, Mario 64 and Pilotwings.

    5. Re:Same as it ever was... by DarkZero · · Score: 4, Interesting

      However, the difference between those systems and the PSP's situation, is that the PSP looks to ship before ANY 3rd party developers get development hardware. At least Halo was in production... That really great must-have PSP game that is going to come out someday hasn't even been started yet. In two years when it is ready to ship, will the PSP even still be there?

      Wait a second, here. We're talking about "FINAL dev kits", not "dev kits". Lots of games are definitely in production for the PSP, such as Metal Gear Acid, Gran Turismo Mobile, and Death Jr. They're just not producing games that are ready for release right now. This isn't like trying to make a movie without a camera. It's like not having any equipment to edit its final cut on once you have all dailies shot.

    6. Re:Same as it ever was... by StocDred · · Score: 2, Insightful
      finally a game machine that I don't mind being seen playing in public!

      Please. Spare us the lines cut directly from Nokia's marketing copy. You're playing a goddamn virtual car racing video game in public where everyone else is driving real cars. You will not be respected to any greater degree than the 14 year old playing Advance Wars on his SP.

    7. Re:Same as it ever was... by MoistVomit · · Score: 1

      I beg to differ about the titles that shipped at the N64's lauch, as I was at 2 to 3 different stores when the system was released. As I remember it, we had Mario64, StarWars SOTE, NBA Jam and Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey. Although, I may just be imagining all this.

    8. Re:Same as it ever was... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      However, the difference between those systems and the PSP's situation, is that the PSP looks to ship before ANY 3rd party developers get development hardware

      It's supposed to be PSX compatible... so just port games over.


      At least Halo was in production...

      Very bad example. HALo was in production a long time ... sinc eit was supposed to be a PC game.

    9. Re:Same as it ever was... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A PC and Mac game, that is. From a formerly Mac-exclusive publisher.

  2. Eh? Where are the facts coming from? by Thedalek · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "Konami Corp... said they won't offer new games for the device."

    "Konami... has said it will release three repackaged games for the PlayStation Portable."

    How is it that Metal Gear Acid is not new? What is it a repackaging of? What is the Game Trailer showing, if not footage from a development build?

    I've played the previous Metal Gear games, and the footage from MGA is clearly a new game.

    --
    Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
  3. Re:Eh? Where are the facts coming from? by News+for+nerds · · Score: 1

    Big N and micro M, maybe.

  4. Re:Eh? Where are the facts coming from? by quecojones · · Score: 1

    The article author fail it? :P

    --
    "PROFANITY is the inevitable literary crutch of the inarticulate MOTHER FUCKER." -- some PC user
  5. Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Remember how dismally the PS2 performed, after it was launched with a mediocre set of release titles? Remember how it never got any good games, the public turned away from it in droves and Sony ended up selling three units, one of which turned out to be a catalogue error whether the buyer had really ordered a dishwasher? Remember how the PS2 ended up getting completely buried by the mighty Gamecube?

    Yeah, right...

    The importance of having big launch titles is over-stated. They only matter to very early adopters, while most shrewd consumers will wait for the prices to drop from their early silly-point to something more reasonable. Putting out a console, be it traditional or handheld, isn't just a short-term effort. You could have amazing release titles, but unless these are followed up consistently throughout your product's life-span, you aren't going to succeed. The PS2's sales have only really started diminishing in the last few months. If Sony can bring the range of quality 3rd party titles to the PSP as they have to the PS2, they'll succeed.

    1. Re:Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by Scott+Robinson · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Funny, I remember the PS2 being backwards compatible with PS1 and capable of playing DVDs.

    2. Re:Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by Babbster · · Score: 4, Funny

      Funny, I remember the PS2 costing more than a DVD player and PS1 put together.

    3. Re:Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by BigDork1001 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      The PS2 had plenty of jump on the competition, that's why they weren't buried by the other consoles. By the time that the GameCube and X-box came out PS2 had already been out for a while and was able to recover from their... pathetic start. Also the backward compatability helped them out a lot. Something that the PSP will not have and that the DS will have.

      Compairing the launch of the PS2 to the launch of the PSP is, as the cliche goes, like compairing apples to oranges.

      --
      "Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
    4. Re:Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by NonSequor · · Score: 1

      And yet few people seemed to realize that.

      --
      My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
    5. Re:Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by bugbread · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Funny, I remember the PS2 costing less than a plain ole DVD player in Japan when it came out.

    6. Re:Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Funny, I remember the PS2 costing more than a DVD player and PS1 put together.

      Incorrect, especially for 2000.

    7. Re:Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      which clearly explains why it did so well in the US...

    8. Re:Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by bugbread · · Score: 1

      No, it explains why it did well in Japan.

    9. Re:Repeating Sony's earlier mistake by Doomstalk · · Score: 1

      Also remember that at the time the ball was in Sony's court. The (largely unwarranted) hype they'd created around the PS2 along with Sega's string of hrdware flops had successfully supressed Dreamcast sales, they were coming off of one of the most successful consoles yet, and competition from Nintendo and Microsoft was a full year away. They were practically the only game in town, and they had a slew of Playstation games that ran on their hardware. The PSP, on the other hand, is set to launch considerably later than the DS (at least in the US), and Nintendo is coming off the most sucessful console of all time (GBA sales put PS2 sales to shame) to release a system that's likely to cost about half as much as the competition. Additionally, Nintendo has a TON of GBA games that will run on the DS, and already has final dev kits in the hands of many developers.

  6. Old PS1 games by cL0h · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Of course they are probably just slow in putting the SDK together and my paranoid ideas are totally wrong but if sony did put out old playstation one games for sale (ported to new handheld of course) then they stand to gain if there are fewer new games by independent developers!

    --
    cL0h
    1. Re:Old PS1 games by IndigoDarkwolf · · Score: 1

      Meh. I'm still of the opinion that the PSP is the hacked together project because Sony wanted in on the handheld industry. I'd bet they started the project, realized Nintendo had the DS in the works, and has been on "hayate" mode ever since.

  7. SDK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The final SDK isn't out, but the pre-release SDK is. Expect little to no change between this version and the final version.

  8. "Final" dev kits by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'd really like to see some of these non-final dev kits that are supposedly floating around. Konami, Digital Eclipse, and EA *may* have one, but us 3rd parties have been left out in the cold. Talk to anyone who is planning a PSP game about how their devsystem situation is, and unless their one of the giants (Digital Eclipse is huge in the world of crappy Game Boy games), they're waiting on the sidelines for hardware.

    Not having final hardware is a lot more eggregious than not being able to edit the dailies. If you don't have final hardware, you're essentially going to have to port the game that you've developed from your previous setup to the shipping hardware... Kind of like having to re-shoot large chunks of the movie. But most 3rd party developers don't even have that. Most 3rd party developers have been left high and dry for a long time. Storyboards, check. Script, check. Actors, check. Camera... Camera? Where's the camera?

  9. So what? by Chess_the_cat · · Score: 1

    PSP isn't a handheld console; it's a handheld entertainment center. People will buy it to play movies and listen to music. Games will be secondary on the PSP.

    --
    Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
    1. Re:So what? by mrgreen4242 · · Score: 2, Funny
      Ah so YOU'RE the ONE who they are targeting that marketese at!

      Seriously, are you really going to pay for movies a second time, just so you can watch them on your PSP? I can see using the PSP for an MP3 player, with the memory stick support and all, but this talk about a portable media center and not really a game console are stupid. Depending on the price point of the movies, they may sell a few, but that will pale in comparison to how many games they ship.

      I think they know that can't beat Nintendo in the handheld market and are trying to spin the PSP as a filling a different "need".

  10. That's Alright by superpulpsicle · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As long as the PSP is mpeg compatible somehow with MP3 playback, this thing will have a thousand uses without any games.

    1. Re:That's Alright by Senjutsu · · Score: 1

      As long as the PSP is mpeg compatible somehow with MP3 playback, this thing will have a thousand uses without any games.

      You haven't heard? The PSP is only going to support ATRAC playback; if it 'supports' mp3s at all, it will be by transcoding them with it's authoritarian SonicStage software, and nothing more, like with their minidisc players.

      Relevant Quote:

      As far as codecs go, Harrison mentions the ATRAC audio support of the system, but the article goes on to say that MP3 will not be supported by the system -- this is in contrast to versions of the official specs that list MP3 as a supported codec. It was always known that PSP would push Sony's proprietary ATRAC3plus audio codec, for both security and corporate reasons, but it was assumed that ATRAC would mostly be the codec for UMD Audio and downloadable content releases, so it is unknown where this will fall out in the end (a third party MP3 player would be a given if Sony doesn't provide it, and users would have to convert their previously-encoded music files to the ATRAC format, so if this is the case, we're not sure what ends Sony plans to meet by omitting the feature.)

      Given that, I kind of doubt they'll support letting anyone throw any old mpeg 2 file on it for playback. It's going to be a locked, proprietary system all the way.

  11. Because... by inkless1 · · Score: 1

    First generation PSP games are probably going to swiftly ported versions of PS1 and PS2 games, of which Sony, et al, will probably make a bundle off of before the hardcore development begins.

  12. As always... by MMaestro · · Score: 1

    Quality over quantity... usually. (PS2 launch games were AWFUL yet its dominating currently.)