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."

Comments

Defining the PSP

[grapeape]

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.

Re:Defining the PSP

[Anonymous Coward]

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 :) !

Easy!

[Threni]

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!

99% of all PSP games?

[LKM]

but 99% of the games suck

How is that possible if it doesn't even have 100 games? Possibly you mean that 95% of all PSP games suck 100%, and the last one sucks 80%? :-D

I own a PSP. I use it for Puzzle Block Party, a game that uses about a fifth of its blurry battery-eating screen for actual gameplay (the rest is used for weird animated comic characters). I wish they made it for the PSP, then I could, uhm, try to sell my PSP on eBay or something.

Re:99% of all PSP games?

[ozbon]

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've mainly been able to buy what are ( in my own opinion ) non-sucky games for the PSP. Lumines is fine, and can occupy plenty of time if I'm travelling or whatever. Wipeout Pure is sensational - I love it. OK, so it's not original, but it's still a damn good game, and works fantastically on the PSP. Also, the ability to expand the game by going online and getting more tracks/music/ships is a great idea, and one I'm amazed more games haven't taken advantage of.

I also play the Colin McRae 2005 rally game a lot - again, ideal for travelling - although I admit that it took a larger learning curve than usual to get to grips with some of the (ahem) "features".

As for others, both LocoRoco and Mercury are simple but addictive.

Re:99% of all PSP games?

[despisethesun]

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.

Push homebrew, maybe?

[sc0ttyb]

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.

DRM Again

[neonprimetime]

"A big issue for us has been the (Digital Rights Management) and how we can secure that content to the Memory Stick," Koller said. "The studios and the labels don't want their content floating around."

After you pay for it once, you should be able to float it around wherever you want to let it float. Grrrrr

wow

[dolson]

...a $200 controller. I guess that fits the pricing scheme of a $600 console.

off-target

[Blob Pet]

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?

Re:off-target

[stsp]

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 guess it depends on what you're looking for...

[William_Lee]

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.

Re:PSPPS3 Integration Very Cool

[Paladine97]

Do you know what else sounded cool?

Gamecube -- GBA connectivity.

I think we all know how that turned out.

Re:Obligitory

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

OMG SONY IS tEH SUXXOR!!!! WII 4 LIFE!! I CAN't WAIt tO USE tEH WIIMOtE AS A MAStURBAtORY AID!!!

OMG NINTEDO IS tEH SUXXOR!!!! SoNy 4 LIFE!! I CANt WAiT To SpEnD $600 4 GAME SeQUELS WiF PURDIER GRAFIX!!

My reason for selling - online play

[normal_guy]

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.

Re:I guess it depends on what you're looking for..

[Phanatic1a]

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?

One thing the PSP is good for: Games

[Bushido Hacks]

If the PSP was a person, this would be the touchy-feely moment where Bob Saget would tell it "Sometimes you should be happy with who you are and stop trying to be something you are not." (Cue the crappy Full House ending)

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:

• Gaming quality is good. Despite a few flaws, 3D gaming, stereo-sound, and battery-life are good.
• A few gems among the junk. Death Junior is a must have game for the PSP
• Upgrade cycle is good. Despite the restrictions that were added to prevent homebrew game programming, the upgrade cycle is fairly good.
• HTML Ebook and text file reader There are a few great websites that offer free books to download. Uploading your own HTML webpages and text files is still OK. (Take that Sony!)

Re:Obligitory

[Ichigo Kurosaki]

OMG CONSOLES IS tEH SUXXOR!!!! PC GAMIN 4 LIFE!! I CANt WAiT To SpEnD $0 oN PiR4T3D G4MES WiF tEH BEST GRAFIX oF AlL!!

Re:Obligitory

[VendingMenace]

OMG PC GAMIN IStEH SUXXOR!!! BOARD GAMIN 4 LIFE!! I CANt WAiT To SpEnd $30 oN G4MES tO plAY iN tEH BA$EmEnT!! StAY oUT MOM!! YuO aRE s0 LaME LOL!!

One of the best portable media players...

[gregger]

I bought a PSP for the video capabilities. The screen is simply AWESOME (if you don't scratch it). Be sure to get a protective case for it!

How I use it: In flight entertainment. It's amazing what a flight attendant stopper it is.
Ingredients:

• at least 1 >= 1GB memory stick and a memory stick reader
  
• A Media Center 2005, TiVo, MythTV etc. box
  
• PSPVideo9 or PSPWare
  

Options:
DVD backups (VOB files) that you save to another file server.
Converting FLV videos from YouTube or Google (a bit too much effort for the resulting crappy quality).

Basically, I take PSPVideo9, add a line to its XML configuration file to recognize a DVR-MS file (I have a Media Center), and then pick about 6 hours of Colbert Reports and Daily Show's I've missed in the past week or so. Anything with a DirectShow filter installed can be converted by PSPVideo9... it just takes an extra line of XML to recognize the file extension.

This process takes a while, so I start it the night before my trip...

In the morning, I copy the files to my Memory Stick during my shower (once a month, whether I need it or not). This can take some time depending on your card reader speed.

I then laugh my ass off on the plane all the way across country. You can do this with a DVD backup program and PSPVideo9 as well. A 30 minute TV program is about 60MB and a 2 hour movies chops down to less than 300MB. If you have a 16:9 aspect ratio movie, it fills up the screen as the director intended. If you have a 4:3 show, just zoom the PSP screen and it will fill it (you lose 10% off the top and bottom, but it isn't stretched out).

Now, here's the next part... there are 100's of ways to skin this cat, but here is how I did it...

Get TV programs remotely (extra credit):

• Set up a private VPN in your favorite way (I used Hamachi, but you could do SSH etc.)
  
  • this may require a DynDNS or HomeIP type access to your router / Media Center / MythTV
  
  
• Set up TightVNC or similar (usual precautions apply about security)
  
• Set up FTP on the box you wish to fetch your final media from
  
  • you could do this in some really interesting ways, but this is easy
    

So, on your remote computer:

• Join your VPN and use VNC to access the computer
  
• Convert your TV or DVD files as usual (PSPVideo9) using VNC
  
• Ensure the finished files end up in your FTP directory
  
• Minimize it and log out
  
• Later... FTP to your home machine, download the content to your remote PC
  
  • now that Firmware 2.8 is out for the PSP, you could set them up as RSS feeds and download directly to your PSP

I'd like to do the RSS route... that would be cool.
Everyone I've let use my PSP to watch video (even iPod users) are blown away with the quality of the playback.

Battery life for memory-stick based operations is *great*. I use 1 bar out of 3 watching movies or TV for 2 hours. iPod / iTunes video does work well.

Be sure to pick up a combination USB and PSP cable so you can charge your PSP and another USB device as well off 1 port.

Drawbacks and gripes:
1 GB Mem sticks are a small. 4GB will be great. Those can be had for $150 or so now.
You can't take a HUGE library of media with you (like a 60GB iPod)... which is fine for TV for me
File format for video has to be MP4... way lame, but you have to chop it anyway.
Volume for playing video back isn't great - it needs to get boosted during conversion
Playing audio through FM tuners is NOT good... too quiet for most cars with the road noise

But, I think it is a really nice piece of hardware... I dan't play many games, but the ones I have, I enjoy. I don't play a lot of other games on other platforms either, so I don't have a lot to compare it to...

TTFN