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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."
I bought mine at launch, have had it listed on Craigs List for almost 6 months and cant get rid of the thing so I guess my definition would be "paperweight".
The PSP is a brilliant piece of hardware, but 99% of the games suck, im not stupid enough to buy my movies over again and its too freakin big for an mp3 player, so most of the time it sits on the desk waiting for some game to come out that I might actually enjoy. Its pretty sad when the best game on the platform is the first one that was launched with it (Lumines). Oh well, at least there is Lumines 2 on the way.
Outside of greed and lack of vision, there's no reason the PSP and mylo should be separate products. They are both WiFi capable, both have a small form factor, and both have a strong software development platform for them. If the PSP had been made with the slide-out keyboard (or had even been given a USB host capability so an external keyboard could be hooked up) the major hardware difference that matters would have been gone or greatly reduced. If they had allowed the strong home-brew community to keep functioning instead of constantly making things harder for homebrew developers with each firmware update, most of the software to do all of this would have been written for them.
It's probably plans to release mylo that prompted the crackdown on homebrew games and apps for the PSP. Now that there's little of the PSP's original promise left fulfilled, it's a struggling product. Now they want those of us who laid out $250 for the PSP to repeat the cycle with mylo at $350. I say tough shit, Sony. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
I still have a working Betamax VCR, still have a Sony Walkman somewhere, and regularly use my Sony CD boombox from the late 1980s when I'm in the kitchen or the back yard. The Walkman and the CD boombox they got right -- they were interoperable and I could play homebrewed content on them. At least the Betamax I could get blanks for and it would take homebrewed content. I never bought a PS or PS2 but I'd been considering a PS3 or maybe a PS2 for now. At least with the PS2 they paid lip service to homebrew. It was never the homebrew system the Atari 2600 or the Sega Dreamcast were (and heck, still are). Sony says the PS3 will be able to replace a PC. If they think my desktop will be locked in to their vicious vendor lock-in and Sony's planned upgrade cycle, they are sorely mistaken. I'm not dropping that kind of money on another closed hunk of Sony crap.
There will be no mylo and no PS3 in my home unless Sony fixes their "dumb consumer" thinking. I want my purchases to serve my needs and wants, not just theirs. I'll not buy another Sony product until they fix themselves. Right now, Sony is broken and so are all of their products.
I've been bashing Sony with the best of them lately based on their DRM and PS3 pricing fiascos, and their arrogant attitude. That said, I bought a PSP at launch and actually get a lot of use out of it.
I will start out by saying I have the 1.5 firmware and refuse to upgrade. There is a wealth of homebrew emulation and other software out there that really makes this a pretty cool handheld platform. As far as playing newer games that require firmware upgrades, there is an easy and brilliant way around it thanks to the PSP hacking community.
The PSP is great for travel. I could care less about the failure of UMDs. The format was doomed from the start. It is relatively painless to convert existing DVDs to the PSP's format and load them onto a memory stick. I brought a movie with me to watch on the plane on my last business trip, and it was a very enjoyable experience. I also had a few albums loaded onto the same stick to listen to while I was on the road.
The screen is beautiful and great for movies.
Yes, the ergonomics suck for a handheld, it's not perfect.
As far as commercial games go, there are actually enough great games on it to make it a worthwhile platform including tight baseball, some good racers, Tekken, and a decent RPG to name a few. That situation should continue to improve.
I'm not happy with Sony as a company, but I'm pretty happy with my hacked PSP. I'm not sure why so many people are down on the platform; it's got the processing power of close to a PS2 under the hood.
You forgot to mention the large amount of homebrew available for the DS. There is Linux, DOOM, Moonshell (graphical mp3/ogg and video player + picture viewer), DSOrganize (an organizer), ScummVM, NDSmail, Python, just to name a few.
Sony fights homebrew, Nintendo doesn't seem to care. Makes the biggest difference for me.
I think the GP and GGP were exaggerating a bit when they say there are no good games for PSP. There are definitely a few but it's debatable as to whether there are enough to justify a purchase. I can't think of enough that even combined make me think "Damn, I need a PSP" whereas I bought 15 games in the first year I owned my DS, many of which would have been worth buying a DS for on their own.
Now that I think of it, the PSP's price likely has something to do with that. It just came down $100 recently here in Canada and it's still about $80 more than a DS Lite. If the PSP were closer to the same price as the DS I might be able to forgive the smaller library and take a chance on it. As it stands I'm considering just buying a DS Lite so I can bring both DSes with me and play multiplayer games with friends who don't have one yet.
This poo is cold.
The day that Sony Games rebels against the draconian wishes of the Sony Media division is the day the PSP will see success.
Well, this is the whole problem right here. If Sony hadn't tried to position this thing as a "multimedia" device in the first place, they wouldn't be in this mess at all. And they wouldn't be trying to fight on three different fronts - against both MS and Apple, as well as Nintendo - rather than one. They've set themselves up for failure.
Nintendo is beating them because the DS does one thing and one thing well. You've seen lately with titles like Brain Age and their translation titles how they're extending the idea of "game playing" into what used to be called "edutainment", and they've done it successfully because it's just organically grown out of the core function of the device. But they haven't even tried to tackle this idea of "convergence" or trying to create an "all-in-one" device - they understand that that's a losing proposition for precisely the reasons Sony is finding out now.
We'll see if Sony learns their lessons. So far, it doesn't sound like they have. But they've painted themselves into a corner; all the people who have bought the PSP expect it to play movies and music and do both of those things well (plus, of course, playing video games). They've got no choice now but to try to make those functions work and compete in multiple product categories. They'll never succeed being a jack-of-all-trades, though; not when their competition bests them with devices that perform each core function better.
I know this is sort of wishful thinking, but let it be known that I think the PS3 would be slightly more favourable at the $600 mark if they included a PSP in the package.
disclaimer: I've been known to store numbers in my ass for which to dig out when quantities are required.
I'm pretty happy with my hacked PSP. I'm not sure why so many people are down on the platform
It might have something to do with the number of PSP owners who have the wherewithal and the confidence to hack their PSPs without turning them into $200 bricks. If, instead of your PSP, you had a brand new one right off the rack with newer firmware and didn't know how to revert it, would you be able to get the use out of it you're getting out of the one you actually have?
Sony really doesn't pay attention to past failures. Atari tried to do this very same thing with the Jaguar and Lynx. You could use the Lynx to control the Jaguar via the ComLynx port waaaay back in '93. Back then, no one was really willing to pay for a $100 portable to go with a $250 game system, so there were no games developed for that feature (supposedly, Aliens vs Predator was going to include this functionality).
I don't really see how Sony, with it's terribly high priced PS3 and PSP with few games, would ever wish to make the same mistake that Atari did.
Fifty watts per channel, baby cakes.
Reguardless, it is true. Most technology should not be convergent.
Cons:
- The PSP is not a very good MP3 player because of its limited capacity.
- The PSP is not a very good movie player because of its size. However, if you don't believe me, I am considering selling a copy of Ghost In The Shell for UMD format on Ebay sometime in the near future. I recent rented the DVD version of GITS which has bonus features the UMD version did not. So much for using that extra capacity, Sony.
- The PSP is not a very good web browser. I hate to admit it but as far as web browsing outside the house is concerned, forgettaboutit!!! While the browser does have some good qualities such as being able to check news and weather from your home WIFI network, taking it to school, the coffee shop, or any other public WIFI area that requires HTTPS protocol is futile. And don't even bother with passwords or messaging. Also, so much for playing Flash movies or games. How there can be only 1 MB max memory for Flash but unlimited memory for gaming is beyond me.
- The people who designed the PSP only though of their programmers and not the hackers who could do better. On one hand, I could create programs for this device. On the other hand, I don't know jack about MIPS processors (I only made a couple weak programs in assembly. Everything else is C++ or PHP) that an I don't want to lose the ability to play games. (Death Jr. is awesome!)
- The people who designed the PSP only thought of the LCD and Addicted gamers not the casual gamers. I like video games. They are a joy to play sometimes after having a crappy day. But I don't buy every game under the sun nor do I play game 12 hours non-stop. Games are suppost to be fun, in my opinion. Sony's marketing staff only appeased to the Lowest Common Denominator (hence so many crappy games rather than re-releases of good games that can be ported to the PSP) and to the Addicted Gamers. There are certainly hundreds of good PS! and PS2 games that could be ported to the PSP if the evil demons who work at Sony's marketing department had thought about the classic gamers as well as the moderate gamers.
- LocationFree Player is a useless waste of space. Why does everything have to be a TV or TV-player? Since the programming TV offers fails to improve with the technology, the LocationFree Player is of no use to a person like me. That and the LocationFree Player device is not sold at any of the electronics retailers. If I want to watch TV, I'll go home and watch something AND ONLY if there is something good on. Anyone who buys an big screen HDTV to watch sitcoms or reality TV needs to DIAF. There is no reason to be bombarded with TV or Advertising everywhere you go. TV does not belong on my telephone, computer, or gaming console.
Pros:The Rapture is NOT an exit strategy.
Well then instead of using it as a rear-view mirror, they could use it for dashboard-type instrument cluster displays. That would be fairly realistic, since you have to remove your eyes from the windshield to view them in reality (unless you have a HUD).
Instead of the common (but fake) driving displays, where the dashboard is magically visible at the bottom of the driver's field of vision, perfectly in focus and clear, make the TV picture nothing but the view out the window, and then put the speedometer/tach/shift-indicator on the controller.
You could even do stuff like have the controller display blink colors, so that you'd catch it in your peripheral vision, just like you'd notice an instrument panel light in a car or plane.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Forget that I run a DS podcast for a minute ... I'm not interesting in a verbal bashfest. What I AM interested in doing is helping people understand why the PSP was doomed from the get go.
... why do we WANT to take games with us? To fill in the gaps of time we have free during our regular day, since most of us have jobs, families and responsibilities. Now, assuming that the people WITHOUT lives are sitting in their mother's basement, with their Xbox blazing and an RJ45 plug up their asses - they are obviously not the target audience for portable gaming.
In fact, it is so blatently obvious, I can't figure out why someone didn't figure this out LONG before the project ever got greenlit.
Portable gaming. What is it? It is gaming you TAKE WITH YOU. And
Portable gaming is for "filler-gaming" - filling in free time; commuting on the bus, waiting for the movie to start, sitting at the doctor's office, throwing down on the toilet - you get the idea. Twitch gaming is another name for portable gaming, really.
Now, let's look at the PSP, designed and content fed in the EXACT opposite manner in which it should be.
1) Poor battery life. There is a reason that the B&W crappy as hell looking Gameboy kicked the crap of the Atari Lynx; it ran 10x longer on a third the batteries. Forget that the Lynx had a near perfect port of Road Blasters, Joust, Xybots and other great games. If you can only play them for 3 hours on 6xAA batteries, you lose the 'handheld war'. Nintendo smartly build the capabilities of their handhelds to ensure maximum on-the-go time.
2) Sponsoring a non-condusive, over-priced, fragile closed format; UMD. Every time I see the term "UMD", I instantly think "WTF?". They can cost up to double the price of DVDs (you know, the movies you ALREADY HAVE in you collection). They don't hold as much, you can't write to them, the mechanical power required to spin a disc (IN A PORTABLE NO LESS) makes no sense, and the list pretty much goes on and on from there. I say non-condusive because MOVIES violate the concept of a portable gaming device (in so many ways it isn't even funny). Twitch gamers have 15-30 minutes to game (above mentioned commuting, waiting in lines, etc) - a 90 minute content block makes no sense. The LEAST that Sony should have done was declare the UMD format for twitch style content - 22 minute sitcoms and goofy MTV reality shows (seemingly their target audience anwyay). Sell episodes of Friends, American Idol, and Simpsons. Make it HELLA affordable - for God Sake's, Google is about to offer this content for FREE with basic advertising support. I shouldn't be paying $29 for 3 episodes of Survivor. Let's go ahead and invoke the 6+ minute load time video while we're here. I can be playing Mario Kart before the first boot screen of half the PSP games I've seen. Console kiddies are used to god unforsaken load times (been there - hey, Beachhead II, Commodore 64, tape version, 22 minutes to load). When I'm on the go - I want it NOW.
3) Portable gaming ain't console gaming. Look, man. Maybe you have 5 hours to tromp through a dungeon every day - I don't. Most of the people that do portable gaming don't. That's why they HAVE portable gaming, dammit - because console gaming doesn't fit their lifestyles. Why do you think there are 500+ 'portable pocket sudoku' games on the walls of Target, but strangely no stand alone pocket version of Final Fantasy? People can play a game of Sudoku in 10 minutes; you aren't even through the first goddamn CUT SCENE in FF in the 10 minutes. I'm willing to put up with a HELLUVA lot at home when gaming. I'm NOT willing to put up with it when I'm trying to block out some screaming kid at the clinic with a little Electroplankton time.
4) Lack of innovation. Great, you can play GTA on the go. Been there, done that. In fact, looking at the list of PSP games (old, new, and forthcoming) I'm seeing basically the same thing I've seen on consoles for the past couple ye
Pretty much the same way here too. I used to be a big fan of everything sony. I bought a sony dvd player, big screen TV, surround sound, a camera, even this laptop I'm on right now is a sony vaio. Then I bought a sony PDA, TH-55, and it crapped out 1 day after I bought. I took it back the store that I got it from and after a week they found another one. After I replaced it, it lasted for about 6 months then it died. I sent it in for the warrenty replacement. Sony sat on it for about six months then sent it back to me saying that the battery was dammaged and the unit wasnn't covered.
AFter a few months of crawling up channels I was told to go fuck myself. I did get some satasfaction by sending the head bastards in charge of the department a box of dead road kill, since that was about the only thing I could do.
Since then I will not ever buy anything sony, nor will I recommend sony to my friends. I've even been told to leave the local tv store for telling a customer that he doesn't want to buy the 3500 sony tv he was looking at. So far if I add up all my damage that I've done telling people not to buy sony and directing them to compeating products I have cost sony about 15,000 bucks. Big fucking price to pay for boning me out of a fucking 300 PDA.
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