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Any Truth To PSP Revision Rumours ?
Team Purple writes "Kotaku seems to be convinced a new revision of Sony's PlayStation Portable will be hitting by the end of the year. Yesterday, they posted a rumor that the system would arrive sometime this year, and would feature, among other things, faster load times, 8 GB of built-in flash memory, and the possibility of a touch screen and a built in camera. Today, GamesIndustry.biz has a story highlighting a speech by SCE UK bigwig Ray Maguire, saying that a new 'smaller, lighter' PSP was in the works. Ars Technica's Opposable Thumbs seems less than convinced, and CVG reports other Sony officials say Maguire's comments were blown out of proportion." For whatever it's worth, at the Sony blogger event last week the PSP folks onhand were adamant that there wouldn't be a hardware revision any time soon.
They're not going to add a major input device to the system this late in its lifetime. Period. And there's little reason to revise the PSP, which is already quite tightly packed in. It has to be a certain minimum size to support a sizable screen, and a smaller screen ain't going to fly, especially not at PSP prices. I think the whole thing is a bunch of crap :) With that said, how far off can the PSP's successor be?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Apparently they'll just post anything anything now.
I've got some hot news! Apparently I heard a rumour about someone I don't know told some guy that Microsoft was releasing an X Box 720! It'll have robotic legs and kick you in the ass whenever you fail at something!
You heard it here first!
Wood Shavings!
- Godai
No.
The whole "touch screen", "built-in camera", "8GB of flash memory" stuff is likely pure rumour. However I wouldn't be surprised if Sony revised the PSP design into one slightly smaller and a lot cheaper, much like how Nintendo released the DS lite.
These would make it very attractive device, providing Sony stops stops trying to cripple the software running on them.
There will no doubt be a successor to the PSP some day, but they better not be adding features and calling it the same thing. Making it lighter or other cosmetic changes (ala DS Lite) is fine, but I already have to deal with a crap selection of games. If they add new features such as a touch screen, developers will start catering to that system, and then I'm really SOL.
Personally, I'd rather see some new games (or *any* games for that matter) rather than wave after wave of warmed over PS1 ports. Give me a reason to not regret having bought my rev. 1 PSP.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
I bet they're going to revise it too, but they won't officially comment because people will stop buying in anticipation of the new release later this year. I don't think they'll make it too much smaller, and I'm not exactly sure how they'd get the load times faster unless they revise the UMD drive somehow. However, I bet they might upgrade the wireless card to handle the anticipated release of their video/music platform and HOME for the PSP in the fall. The wireless is okay right now, but it's range is lower and speeds are slower than most laptops now due to the fact it's 802.11b. 8GB of built-in flash doesn't really make sense seeing as one of the nicest things about the PSP/PS3 combo is the ability to transfer files via the card, and read/writes aren't exactly slow. However, one of the biggest problems with the web browser is that it constantly runs out of memory when loading large pages so maybe a small upgrade of the internal cache could improve performance.
They have only just started putting more focus into games where sony is having trouble with. They had no problems on the ps2, after 2 years surely the psp should start getting more games. Thankfully the last 6 months has been good with daxter etc. and the newly announced god of war for psp. The psp is still good for a few more years yet and hasn't reached its full potential. P.S. I am a nintendo fanboy but I think sony have got a nice kicking up the bum for the psp.
As an owner of both consoles, I think you're full of it.
Having played GTA on both the PS2 and the PC, it's obvious that control on the PSP is simply broken. Wipeout may be a fun game, but "what F-Zero could have been"? Give me a break. Both franchises are great, and they aren't that similar to begin with. And yes, I own both the first GTA and Wipeout for the PSP.
There is not a single game on the DS that interests you? Really? This is a console that sports games such as Mario Kart DS, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Meteos (you like Lumines - which is great, by the way - but not Meteos? Huh?), Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Tetris DS, two Super Mario jump-n-runs, Metroid Prime: Hunters, a non-crappy Sonic game, a whole bunch of great adventure games (Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk, Trace Memory) and tons of other awesome games. And you don't like a single one of them?
So, how much did Sony pay you?
I can see why the PSP might not appeal to some, but it's a great system for commuters. I spend about 80 minutes commuting each day. I literally have more time for gaming on the train than I do at home.
I've owned a DS since launch and using it at that kind of volume, it wears thin. There's a lot of great games but the vast majority of the library is simple games meant for short, quick gaming sessions. Again, I'm not saying there aren't great games - believe me, there are - and I played them all. But at a certain point there's something appealing about having a portable version of the home console experience. I know I'm not the typical gamer, but I honestly don't mind the multi-platform releases it gets - I'm more likely to play multi-platform releases like Marvel Ultimate Alliance on my PSP at this point than I am at home, simply because I have more time for gaming on the train.
I'm sure I'll get called names, be accused of astroturfing, and all of the other ad hominem attacks that seem to plague any and all discussions of the PSP. I don't really get that meme; people act like the system uses small disc-shaped Hitlers for the games or something. The DS has a larger, stronger library, there's no doubt about that, but there's still an awful lot of fun to be had on the PSP, especially if the "portable home console" experience suits your needs (i.e., you travel a lot, commute, etc).
Personally, I'd love for them to drop the UMD and pop in a couple of memory stick slots there. I know it won't happen, but games could be sold on read-only memory sticks.
I use the PSP's web browser to view offline pages that I've saved on my desktop computer and transferred over for reading while I'm commuting. I've ripped DVDs to watch while commuting. I play games too, but the web browser, music, photos and video makes it a much more versatile device. Accommodating more than one memory stick would be great.
Kotaku again, huh? Well, if they get blackballed then we'll know it's true.
(Finally an answer worthy of a response :-) - turns out gp was just a sad Troll who posts on /. claiming to be a rich connoisseur of fine wine or something. I now regret answering his flamebait, frankly)
Not really sure what your objection to my post is. I never claimed there were no good PSP games (in fact, I quite enjoy a few of them, such as the new Ghosts N'Goblins). I most certainly did not claim that nobody could possibly like the PSP. I like it. I have to admit that I use it mainly to watch 24, Lost and Prison Break during train rides while the DS is my main portable gaming machine (actually, the GBA micro probably is, since it's so small that I always have it with me), but I do like the PSP.
I have to object to a few things you say though. First, mature games. This is something I've said before and I will most likely say again: "M" rated games like GTA are not mature. In fact, the overdone violence is downright childish. If you want a mature console, the DS is the one to go for. It actually has games targeted at adults: Brain Training, DS Guitar M-06 (I'm serious, this will notl appeal to kids, but I find it awesome, and I do actually play the guitar), Hotel Dusk, or Clubhouse Games. If I look at the PSP games in my local games store, I see mostly violent crap aimed at male teens, and car racers aimed at male teens (and a few violent car racers aimed at... well, you get the point). If I look at the DS selection, I see a wide variety of games targeted all ages and both genders.
Second, I find it somewhat hard to believe that somebody could not like Mario Kart. I can't see how this could possibly be a matter of taste. Have you actually played the game? I have yet to find somebody who has played this game and does not like it. What exactly is it that puts you off? The colorful graphics? If so, you're denying yourself one of the most fun games in recent memory.
Third, I did not imply that grandparent might be paid by Sony because he likes the PSP, but due to his outlandish claims about how Wipeout owns F-Zero (as I said, these are both great franchises and not very similar to begin with), or how there is not one single game on the DS which he likes. If you claim something like that, you're either a mindless fanboy, or you're paid to spout crap.
Fourth, "you folks"? What folks do you think I belong to? I did not realize that I need to be in some kind of group in order to be allowed to defend Nintendo.
Fifth and finally, why are all people defending Sony always posting as Anonymous Cowards?