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Sony Struggles To Define the PSP
Brian Crecente has a piece over on the Rocky Mountain site talking about Sony's struggle to make the PSP stand out. The failure of the UMD format, its de-emphasis as a media player, and the lackluster stable of games leaves PSP owners wondering exactly what to use it for. From the article: "While digital media is a key focus for Sony Computer Entertainment right now, the company is also working to expand other elements of the portable as well. In November, the PlayStation 3 will launch with built in PSP support. While [PSP Marketing Manager John] Koller wouldn't discuss specifics, he did say that the PlayStation Portable will be a 'remote control device' for the next-gen console. He says more details about that connectivity will be coming out in the coming months, perhaps at the Tokyo Game Show next month."
It's a handheld games console, only too big to fit in your pocket, too expensive to be treated as a cheap Nintendo console with its huge back catalogue, with a large, easily scratchable screen, playing media that Sony has decided not to continue with, from a company who's pissed people off with shoddy, easily bypassable spyware which increases the risk of hackers easily taking control of your PC.
I'll take 10!
They should offer it as one of the few handhelds that let you make your own games and share them with friends. Hell, I dunno, offer a simplified development kit for the price of a game with a way to import your own art and music. Allow people to create their own games on the damn thing. Then, for maybe a bit more money, offer an advanced user package that's basically a simplified SDK.
If they wouldn't try so damn hard to break homebrew apps, I bet people might buy more games. I know for a fact that before the ability to downgrade firmware, people wouldn't buy games because it required an update first.
Open the thing up (except the UMD format -- I'll give them that much to keep), let us make our own games without implementing roadblocks to homebrew, and the thing will sell more.
Oh, and actually release some damn games already.
"Apparently so, but suppose you throw a coin enough times. Suppose one day, it lands on its edge."
OMG SONY IS tEH SUXXOR!!!! WII 4 LIFE!! I CAN't WAIt tO USE tEH WIIMOtE AS A MAStURBAtORY AID!!!
...a $200 controller. I guess that fits the pricing scheme of a $600 console.
I'd say a portable NES, Genesis, SNES, and GBA library is worth it.
If I were in your position, I would drop your PSP on eBay (netting about $150-$200, depending on games and accessories) and purchase a nintendo DS ($100-120, depending on if you get the Phat or Lite). It has plenty of great games. If homebrew is your thing, you can get into that scene for about $50-100, depending on how much space you want and how small you want your device to be.
:) !
My homebrew solution allows me to use 2gb Mini-SD cards. You can't imagine how many nes/gameboy/gbc roms that I can keep with me. Sure, the games don't have bleeding edge graphics. They do, however, have bleeding edge fun
By mentioning Nintendo only once as a competitor (in the last paragraph) and not mentioning the DS at all, it shows to me that both the reporter and Sony don't understand what the problem with the PSP is: people want a handheld game system and Nintendo has delivered on that front far better than Sony has... and worrying about Apple and Microsoft before figuring out how to compete against the DS will only hurt Sony even more.
And as for the PSP's non-gaming functionalities... You could cut UMD movie prices in half for all I care and there will still be an overflowing stack of unsold discs at the videogame store... and no ammount of add-on peripherals like GPS receivers will save the PSP, since the same devices can be easily developed for any other handheld.
Is it so hard to abide by the rule of Keep It Simple Stupid?
"...today consumers have been conditioned to think of beer when they see a bullfrog..."
Do you know what else sounded cool?
Gamecube -- GBA connectivity.
I think we all know how that turned out.
It's a launch title. I can play games for a long time, but years? Also, Puzzle Block Party plays similarly, so I can't really go back to Lumines. I always want to turn the blocks in Lumines now that I'm tuned to Puzzle Block Party.
I own it. It's probably a good game, but I'm more an F-Zero person, myself. Wipeout Pure simply feels slow and sluggish. F-Zero cars are fast, accelerate fast and turn quickly, and it's kind of hard for me to adjust to Wipeout Pure. I'll probably give it another chance, though.
Haven't played that one. I'm reluctant to buy Rally games because I prefer games where you race other cars.
I've played through Loco Roco (it's been out for some time in Europe). It's too short. Mercury may be nice. I tried to download the Mercury 2 demo, but my PSP crapped out on me and Sony won't answer support mails.
Anyway, those are probably all good or okay games, but it's a bit telling that people are still naming mostly launch or near-launch titles when talking about good PSP games.
I actually got some minor use out of the PSP format, for throwaway entertainment like Ghostbusters or Serenity that I didn't already own in another format. I was halfway through Zelda when I accidentally upgraded my firmware to play some game, and it broke. Strange that the most compelling content for the PSP was provided by some high school hackers, and was used to play twenty year-old games. The major disappointment for me was the total lack of online play. It was hilarious that Sony pushed the crappy browser and other online functionality like the RSS reader, then completely ignored actual online gameplay. After reading one last review that said "great game, you will enjoy it with up to four friends in ad-hoc mode," I sold the PSP to pick up a DS. Now I'm happily playing Tetris and Metroid online with the most elegant matching system I've ever seen, and enjoying innovative games like Trauma Center offline.
Linux: Free if your time is worthless.
I'm in the same position. Had the good luck to buy a 1.5 and never upgraded (what does it say for a product when everybody wants to downgrade the firmware and each upgrade further cripples it?). While the screen and audio makes for excellent memory stick movies I still barely use it, due to the huge form factor, fragility, bad battery life, and horrific memory stick costs.
On the other hand I've just upgraded to a DS Lite from my original DS Phat. I use it all the time especially in conjunction with the GBA micro. Both take the Play Yan cartridge providing excellent video and mp3 support. When on the run I use the micro for it's small size, but when I'm sitting down I use the DS Lite for the better screen and battery life.
The worst part of Sony's strategy is that they are actively supressing the two practical applications of the PSP memory stick movies and homebrew, while desparately looking for some practical application for the unit.
The PSP does have a potential killer app. Wireless downloadable movies. Exploit the WiFi function to allow users to download movies to a large memory stick with a firmware mod. Agressively market the service (in conjunction with recharge cables) at airports, Starbucks and train stations. Unfortunately the present leadership of Sony would never risk something as audacious as this, which is why Sony is cratering.
The PSP is wirelessly compatible with the PS3. The PSP is already compatible with the PS2 [Metal Gear Subsistence/ Socom...] It's not rumored, it has actually been done on the current generation PS2, and demonstrated on the PS3. I don't doubt it will happen, but the Wii compatiblity and function has still yet to be seen. So whats your point?
Huh? The PSP was and still is the underdog in the handheld market. Nintendo had a backcatalog of thousands of GBA games that were playable on the DS the day it was released. The PSP was released months after the DS in most territories I can think of. Even in Japan, it followed the DS release by a week or two IIRC. The PSP came from nowhere and ate up somewhere between ~30-40% marketshare from Nintendo. Not bad.
Sony providing solid competition for Nintendo is bringing out the best from both companies. There were alot of good games for GBA, but most of them were short and horrible, the other half were just mediocre. Many of the 'top' GBA games were games that would get crucified if they were released on PSP today. Both companies are bringing out their major franchises. In one year the DS put out more 'original' Mario games than the GBA has to this day. If left to nintendo, there would never be a portable version of a 'proper' GTA, fighting game, or Metal Gear title, so I say own both portables and be happy.
I think the best summary of the difference between the DS and the PSP was by the UK games magazine "Edge".
"The PSP is for those who know what they want. The DS is for those who want what they don't know"
Maybe the PSP's market didn't know what they wanted after all...
For games (why else do you buy a gaming device) you can play Lumines, Katamari, or any of a half-dozen racing games. The DS Lite is better if you want to play anything else.
Linux: Free if your time is worthless.
No, it's not. Sony went after two properties when choosing a screen: Big and Bright. They got those two, but they messed up the rest. First of all, it's blurry as hell. When I first played Ridge Racer on my PSP, I thought they had actually managed to implement motion blur on the PSP. "Wow, didn't think it could do that", I thought. Until I played some other games. All of them had motion blur. It's not the games, it's the sucky screen. It's especially visible in games like Lumines, Loco Roco or Puzzle Block Party. Watching dark or high-contrast movies becomes pretty much impossible. In some scenes in Advent Children, all characters have purple shadows following them. It's not the movie, it's the screen.
Second problem: It sucks batteries like, well, I was going to make a porn reference, but then I changed my mind since that would be a positive association. The screen, together with the disk drive, simply kill batteries. And since you have your own fricken hand over the battery light while playing, you usually don't notice it until the PSP simply suddenly goes to sleep. Great design there, Sony.
Third problem: Glare. You can't play PSP games in a Train or anywhere where any kind of sun is involved. It reflects like a mirror. What the heck were they thinking? Shiny looks nice when on display in a shop? Well, thank you, but did you actually think of the people who want to do crazy stuff like using your product? Guess not.
Also, the screen scratches very easily. I was very careful, but I got a scratch on my screen simply from accidentially dragging the little wrist band over it. Gah.
So, in conclusion: They managed to hit "bright" and "big", but they missed pretty much everything else. This makes the screen average to sucky for a portable.
Well, my showers aren't ALL that long... it doesn't really give me much extra time.
But now with the new Homeland Security policy and the TSA's help, I won't have to brush my teeth or style my mop while on the road either! (Not that Fox News is a great source, but it was in the mighty Slashdot post about the terrorism event... so it must be true... or canonically wrong.)
I can pack lighter AND have more time too!
TTFN