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Sony VP Salutes DS, Promises PSP Can Still Compete
An anonymous reader writes "In an interview with Pocket Gamer, Zeno Colaço, vice president of publisher and developer relations at SCEE made some revealing comments about his thoughts on the DS and the future of the PSP. 'Some of the DS games have been fantastic. Where in hindsight we've been short is one or two killer apps that would have been able to drive PSP forward'. Despite being so frank on the merits of the competition, Colaço was still tight lipped on the subject of a PSP redesign, stating: 'The technology behind PSP is still top-end and so that doesn't need to be addressed'."
I am in no way a fanboy of any console. Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega...it doesn't matter. To paraphrase Pure Pwnage, Any machine that let's me play games I enjoy.
That being said. Yes, the PSP has it's issues...screen is prone to fingerprints/scratches, control stick takes a slight bit to get used to, low battery life...but you know what? It's still a bad-ass little toy. I can convert any movie/TV show/whatever, put it on the memory stick, and watch it directly on the device with no modding necessary.
I can download one of hundreds of FREE comics that are made specifically with the PSP in mind. Using one of many FREE programs, I can convert E-books into a format that makes them easily readable on the screen. I can broswe the internet with it (granted it's slow due to the b wireless connection it has, but hey it's still got wireless access)
All in all, despite it's faults, I still absolutely ADORE my PSP. If not for the games, at least for everything else I can use it for.
Living With a Nerd
Stick with my Sega Nomad, thank you!
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
The article's short but sweet. A curious thing he mentioned was that Sony had to tell developers that they wouldn't set the world alight by porting their PS2 games into it, which was what the first batch essentially was.
Meanwhile Nintedo's handheld power has always been behind their console power. While it didn't eliminate straight-ports, it quickly exposed ports for being gimped versions of full games... meaning a lot of portable development went towards unique games unlike their more homebodied cousins.
I'm not going to hand Nintendo that on a platter, though. It's probably just a side effect of trying to get rediculous battery life out of portable systems. Sony on the other hand just wanted to trump the competitors on brute force alone and win the checkbox wars. It's a neat gadget, though, and it's finally hitting its stride thanks to developers finally developing the right kinds of games for it.
So, as always, it's always comes down to the games themselves. With great power comes great responsibility.
More Twoson than Cupertino
... from its high price. The DS was $150, the PSP was $250. With the usual accessories (carrying pouch perhaps, etc.), sales tax, and a game, folks who bought a PSP walked out of the store down $320-$350. That is a LOT for a handheld. Considering the price of UMD movies and PSP games, Sony's handheld may have been one of worst systems to purchase ever in terms of value for the dollar.
Now that it's much cheaper, it's a wiser purchase to make. And yes, *now* it is its game library that's hurting it as well as its smaller player network. The DS has more good games and still costs less. Also, because of its success, it has better online play since there are more folks out there playing whatever you want to play via wi-fi.
I like basketball!!1!
I'd get one, but every time they update the firmware they break the features I'd want it for.
Wait, a Sony higher up spoke about their product and their competitor's product, and it didn't involve an arrogant spiel about how wonderful Sony's attempt was and how the competitor has nothing, is nothing, and will be ground into dust?
People better start looking for survival gear, I feel a second coming drawing near.
I refuse to buy any Sony products anymore. I used to have all the great Sony gadgets back in the day... TV, Boombox, Walkman, Discman, Mini Tape-recorder, portable speakers, you name it.... and they all died. I'm not talking after 10+ years of use, I'm talking less than 2 years of use.
I do own a PS2 I bought off a friend for a ridiculously low price (needed my Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest fix).. but I've heard a ton of horror stories about the PS2's breaking down in a similar manner after only a years worth of use.
Oh, and don't get me started on the rootkit's Sony was installed on user's computers.
The PSP is a stupid design. I spent my $200 on a GP2X which is open-source, has a great battery life (which use AA's, not some proprietary gimmick), and I can watch video's on my system without having to "modify" or "hack" the firmware.
"If you can't open it you don't own it."
Sony have an all-singing, all-dancing ninja device that plays more traditional games, but much prettier than before. Are they really "failing"? Or is the market for this just rather smaller than people who will buy a DS for Brain Training?
Option 3: Perhaps people aren't too interested in playing the same games over and over, and want something different.
My gaming background is as a pretty hardcore PC FPS player, but that genre seems to have stagnated of late... Doom 3, Quake 4, Half Life 2 were all pretty much the same thing that we've played countless times before, except now the red key is replaced with an engineer or a security guard, and the graphics look prettier. Woohoo. And honestly, can someone please produce an FPS in which the AI understands that I can just circle strafe them into the ground? The most interesting FPS I've played lately was Far Cry, but that was a couple of years ago now.
On the other hand, I bought a DS last autumn, and have bought about 10 games for it, not all of which fall into the casual Brain Training genre that you cite. There's all kinds of games in my selection, and there's fun and different and some of them make great use of the stylus, even if it is just a glorified mouse.
As far as I can see, the most telling thing is that so many games on the PSP seem to be ports of PS2 games and re-hashes of things that people are tired of, which the Sony guy himself acknowledged.
If the only people that bought the DS bought it for Brain Training then the DS would have only sold about 1-2 million units world-wide. There are games for the DS that give the PSP a run for it's money as far as graphics are concerned. The graphics arent terrible, the price is right and the selection of games is amazing - there really is something for everyone.
It's unbelievable that there is a perception that the DS is for people who "dont normally play video games". I play video games all the time and have since 1978. The DS fills that need for me. My PSP does not, the lack of quality and quantity of games looms large. For a system that has sold so many units the software sales on the PSP are very poor. I have a feeling it's because of early adopters like myself that just gave up on it, playing games on the PSP is a drag. I havent been able to find a decent game since Lumines. Even Katamari Damacy was a letdown. Most games I've tried since then just grate with the load times, when you're used to playing games on the DS the PSP's load times and controls just make it seem clunky. The PSP is better used for other things.
Not every game for the DS is simple either, have you tried Etrian Odessy yet?
I use my PSP to play MP3's and to check out a homebrew app once in a great while. It's very cool but only when you use it as Sony intends you NOT to. I dont expect or need the DS to do anything like that, although there is definitely homebrew for the DS. I'm too busy playing commercial games on the DS to do anything else. I've built up a library of nearly 30 games and there's plenty I still want but there's just TOO MUCH.
I have a PSP. It is the most boring game device I have ever owned. I keep buying games for it, stupidly forgetting that all these games are just PS2 ports. I never enjoyed any PS2 games, why would I enjoy them on the PSP? You gotta hand it to Nintendo for creating a unique device and developing games specifically for that device.
Nintendo clearly understands that if you create a fun form that when develop games that use that form you're going to end up with a fun exclusive that you can't get anywhere else.
They did it with the DS, they did it with the Wii, and you could argue they did it with the analog stick on the N64.
The Generation
I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
How can a car with the gas mileage of the Mercedes S500 possibly be considered "great for extended travelling"?
Different people have different needs. One person's "great" may mean "versatile" while another's may mean "long battery life".