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The PSP's Comeback Trail
Next Generation has up a feature on the rising fortunes of Sony's PSP. Overlooked for quite some time now as the DS dominates the headlines, the article argues that the handheld console still has a lot to offer ... and people are starting to notice. "Sony has always commanded strong third-party support for its systems since the success of the original PlayStation, and [senior PSP marketing manager John Koller] believes that PSP developers are similarly finding ways to get creative and present fun titles. 'Upcoming launches such as God of War: Chains of Olympus from a first-party perspective, and Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron from LucasArts, are certainly good examples of fantastic franchises made unique on the PSP,' he says. 'It's clear that consumers do not want the same game on their PSP that they play on console.'"
I haved one of the 1st out of stores. I have loved it and plan on selling mine and getting the 2.0 slim version. I have like 20 games and 10 movies on it and is a god send when stuck in an airport for 4 hrs.
I've always liked the potential of the system. Just the other week I bought a slim (Mostly for FFT:TWotL). I'm really looking forward to having more games to choose from. I think Sony finally has an opportunity to really get the ball rolling here.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
Optical media always has and always will suck. Solid state is the only reasonable media for a handheld device. I think it's short sighted and quite stupid to expect people to carry giant, slow loading UMDs.
I keep 4 DS games in my WALLET at all times, I keep my DS Lite in my pocket and the outside gets scratched to hell, but of course since the clamshell design protects the screens, the device is still as playable as the day I got it. Somehow I doubt the PSP would hold up to the abuse I dish out to the DS Lite daily.
Square put the FFT remake on the PSP. I want the FFT remake, but I'm not about to buy the PSP for just one game. It's the games, stupid- there's only really one "must buy" PSP game for me (and about 3 or 4 others I'd pick up if I already had a PSP) and that just doesn't cut it.
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It's just a shame Dark Alex has retired.
The PSP, much like the PS3, is an albatross. Sony got locked into the idea that all that people wanted was more of the same but with better graphics... That and the mistaken idea that everyone wants to play Sony formatted movies on their game systems. I remember when the PSP was coming out and a bunch of my friends were all yammering about how cool it was that the PSP played movies. I'd already had the benefit of tagging along to E3 with a game company that I did some stuff for, and tried out the DS. Right then I knew that the DS had something new to offer. The PSP movies? All that I could think was "Why would I want to buy the same movie twice?" Sony is hugely disconnected with the market. They just don't seem to understand what players want and seem to be more interested in telling them what they should want. That's why the PSP tanked, that's why the PS3 tanked. If each of them is starting to show some life now, it's not necessarily because Sony understands the gaming consumer any better. More than likely it's a response to price cuts and unavailability of the desired alternative platforms (Wii and DS, X360 with Halo 3, etc..)
Regards, Ian
with the ps3 and psp is that the technology they choose is ahead of its time. this translates into slow starts with their systems, as the hardware in the systems is beyond the price range of what people want to pay. /P
the upside of this is that it ensures longevity of a system if and when popularity takes hold.
the psp is a great little gadget that, much like the ps3, got off to a slow start.
FOXTROT UNIFORM CHARLIE KILO
The press continues to miss the story on the PSP. The story is that Sony sold a lot of PSPs. Sony now shares the handheld market with Nintendo, instead of Nintendo more-or-less owning the entire market. That's a success. The PSP is a success with over 25 million sold so far.
Going forward, the PSP still has the technical capabilities and the software development to be a competitive product for 2-3 more years at least.
When I bought my PSP, I originally did so with two purposes in mind: EBook reader (plenty of freeware out there to convert .lit and .pdf files to be viewable on the screen perfectly) and movie player (again, plenty of good quality freeware conversion software out there) Here and there I bought a couple games (Monster Hunter 2, Daxter, etc.), but I primarily bought one for it's uses other than gaming.
A month or so ago, I finally got around to modding mine so as to be able to play roms and utilize the (huge) homebrew scene...best move I ever made. I have since bought a 4 gig memory card, and currently have every NES, SNES, Genesis/game gear, game boy games on it as well as a decent amount of GBA and MAME roms. I use the homebrew scene to help control my home theater, play movies better, and just make the interface look nicer. Unlike many others, I have no plans to actually download any PSP ISO's (except manhunt 2, just to try out the uncensored version...it's just as bad of a game, not really worth the time)
In fact, I like the ability to do all this so much that I recently bought both my fiance AND my best bud a PSP, just so that they could have the same fun I am having. Yes yes eys, I know there is a lot of talk about roms and such, but sitll...doing this has breathed new life into my PSP, and has actually gotten me more interested in buying PSP games than I was before (primarily because I used to simply like the system...now I love it) Add to that the non-shiny outerbody casing I bought, coupled with a very good but very inexpensive screen saver (screws onto the two mounting holes on top, and flips down over the screen when you aren't using it, protecting it from scratches), my PSP is likely one of my favourite gaming objects for the time being.
Despite Sony's efforts to thwart homebrew on it, homebrew is the very reason they got more money out of me and my friends than they would have if it were not possible. If you are into emulation or just plain messing around with your gadgets, the PSP is your best bet as far as portable gaming is concerned...as far as actual games goes, the DS blows the PSP out of the water, but the PSP still has some decent games out there for it...much like a PS3 (for now) however, don't buy it expecting to play a lot of great NEW games on it.
Living With a Nerd
I have a DS lite and really enjoy it. I also have a GB and a GBA SP. I was never tempted by the PSP until recently with the slew of games I really wish I had. Sales figures for Japan shows they are moving very briskly there. I haven't seen any stats on it for N.A. but I assume it's now a comfortable #2 as opposed to being #3 behind a 5 year old system like in years past.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Yeah the PSP though having the best graphics around was illfated so far. Though with the playstation 3 connection it finally get its due. I mean on what other system can you take Grand Theft Auto with you! It is a very grown up Portable in that term. Many games are quite grown up and well the DS doesn't always has the games that I like.
I bought the PSP when the PS3 got into my grasp. Both just seem perfect together as sadly both aren't as fast going forward. There are quality in both that need time to work out! But when good stuff comes out on it it is heavenly good!
Codefile Defected to another Hexadimal Range refresh your CHAOSTACK.NLM file with a new copy
I'll agree that "Solid state is the only reasonable media for a handheld device."
I've washed some DS games a few times in the laundry. When in the hospital, I vomited on a cartridge once too. No damage, the labels looked fine, and they play no problem.
I know washing a minidisc will kill it, but I don't know about a UMD. I can't imagine a UMD being nearly as rugged.
It had those little plug-in VMUs that weren't just a memory card - they had their own power, an LCD screen, a D-pad and two buttons. Certain Dreamcast games could download mini-games onto the VMU, which you could play on the VMU itself. When the VMU was re-connected to the Dreamcast with the main game, you could upload your scores, which would unlock items etc. in the main game that couldn't be unlocked any other way. The games weren't amazing, having only 128K RAM to work with and a 48x32 screen, but the idea was ingenious.
If there were games for the PS3 that could do that, there'd be more reason to buy a PSP. For example, I've recently been playing through the two KOTOR games, and it would have been nice to have a Pazaak game to take away on a handheld. When you reconnect the game, your winnings would be transferred to your main character. There are certain game types that translate well to a small screen, and short bursts of available play-time. And certain ones that don't. I crash often enough in Burnout through a VGA cable onto a large screen - trying to resolve fast, complex 3D images on a tiny handheld screen in variable light, and possibly while physically moving - yeuch.
SW: Battlefront for PSP is virtually unplayably bad.
I don't expect much for GoW either.
Some of the best titles for the PSP are the PSX rebuilds, as long as you don't need to juggle L1/L2/R1/R2.
Sony's biggest problem for the PSP? They didn't think harder on their button layout.
Bow-ties are cool.
The PSP, much like the PS3, is an albatross.
Albatrosses actually can generate a lot of lift with the large wings they have.
I used to think the PSP was a failure too. But then about a year or two, I actually saw PSP sales figures - they were pretty good.
The thing is that the DS sales figures are supernova spectacular, and that is blinding everyone to the fact the PSP is indeed a success in it's own right, just not on the same scale.
P.S. Albatrosses are actually also good luck. It's only when you attempt to kill them as you are doing, that fortune turns...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I'm still laughing too much to take the rest of your post seriously.
Can anyone recommend educational software for the PSP? (Or the GameBoy DS, I am not vested yet.) My young children have done quite well with the LeapPad (can't beat the "screen" resolution) but now that they are writing, they are ready for something else. Their electronic product doesn't impress me: the available titles are fairly redundant to what I have in paper, and the product is weak compared to PSP/DS.
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!
Enough with this "graphics" don't matter crap. It very much matters. Good graphics wont make a bad game good, much like good special effects wont turn a bad movie into a good one (OK, mediocre for both is possible). Better graphics make a good game great, and an old game new again.
... and they WILL.
Stop using that line as defense for Wii or DS graphics capability. They already have great games, and don't need lame excuses. In layman's terms: existing, good Wii or DS game + better graphics = more betterer game.
You're making excuses for something you know damned well will change for the better the second an HD Nintendo box, or a next-gen Gameboy arrives.
I always wanted a fast fourier transform program for my psp!! now it's here!! k thx gg.. sorry :(
So what should I do if Virtual Console has very few of the specific NES titles I want? When will Hot-B's Palamedes or Nintendo's Earthbound: Prototype[1] show up there? What about Midway's Klax[2] or Wisdom Tree's The King of Kings[3] or Panesian's Bubble Bath Babes[4]?
[1] Earthbound: Prototype was the English version of the Japanese game Mother, the prequel to Mother 2 (Earthbound in North America). Nintendo canceled the North American release due to a perception of not enough demand to justify manufacturing a 4 megabit Game Pak at the time.
[2] Klax for home consoles was originally published by Tengen, which had a beef with Nintendo at the time. Midway bought Tengen in 1996.
[3] During the NES era, Nintendo strictly prohibited religious content. So Color Dreams' Wisdom Tree division, which produced games with overt Christian motifs, had to go the "unlicensed" route.
[4] Nintendo had a similar policy against softcore erotica.
There is no such product as "GameBoy DS". There is Game Boy Advance, and there is Nintendo DS.
Seriously: You may want to start your kids on Big Brain Academy for DS and then head on to the rest of educational games for DS. To teach them to draw, you can buy an R4 expansion card and then load Colors! on it.
"The idea of a handheld rivalry with Nintendo is an irrelevance. Those formats don't appear in our planning. It's not a fair comparison; not fair on them, I should stress. That sounds arrogant, maybe, but it's the truth. With the DS , it's fair to say that Nintendo stepped out of the technical race and went for a feature differentiation with the touch screen. But I fear that it won't have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick - so the long-lasting appeal of the platform is at peril as a direct result of that."
- Phil Harrison, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, on comparing PSP to DS in an interview with MCV
source.
Considering what Sony set out to do, and how they obviously expected the PSP to perform, it can only be described as a horrible failure.
The DS definitely has the most education software. Tons of Brain Training sequels and clones, and a bunch of maths, reading and language training games aimed at younger kids. Some of these are only available in Japan, but a lot make it to the US or Europe (and you can import Europe releases to the US and play them on US DSs).
There are a few brain training clones on the PSP, but they are few and far between.
But maybe the best solution would be a "real" computer like the OLPC box. You can even easily create your own learning tools on the OLPC, and your kids may even learn a bit about programming.
I bought the PSP as soon as I saw what all it could do with the homebrew. It is hands-down the absolute best portable emulator for all your old console games. I couldn't care less about the games or UMDs that are out for it (except for Lumines I/II and Mercury), as I don't have the time to wait for the slow ass UMDs to load up so I can play for 5-10 minutes at a time. (Damn you Lumines, you are the only exception! Thank god I've copied you to flash though!)
Sony has the resources to keep the PSP afloat and throwing enough crap at the wall until enough of it sticks with the gaming community that it becomes fairly profitable. I'm not a Sony Fanboy, I own all modern consoles and portable devices, but the PSP is a really nice device, but ironically, for me, it's not for their games or movies.
but the NDS also has a good homebrew scene. a touch of war is a good touch screen controlled RTS with a fantastic soundtrack. DS organize turns your DS into a palm pilot and an MP3 player. I can play the original doom on my DS, along with every NES, SNES, and genesis rom out there. it also plays movies that can easilly be formatted and put on a micro SD...all without touching the DS's firmware. the DS is a great system for that sort of stuff.
I actually have pictures of my work on my DS, and if someone wants to see my portfolio, I pull out my DS and use the jpeg viewer to show them my stuff. it works great.
-I only code in BASIC.-
I have a PSP and a DS. I find these days that the PSP largely sits gathering dust, while the DS lives in my pocket and gets a fair amount of use whilst commuting.
There are two problems with the PSP:
Firstly, it's too large to comfortably fit in a pocket; you're not going to just casually take it with you along with your wallet, phone and keys, but have to explicitly decide to take it.
Secondly, while it may have a more powerful processor, better graphics and a better-looking screen, Nintendo have stolen a march on Sony in terms of innovation. The DS has a touchscreen and a microphone, and titles which use these in innovative ways. Nintendo have also courted non-traditional gamers more successfully; the DS has titles like Brain Training/Brain Age, Nintendogs, Electroplankton, Animal Crossing, the Mario and Zelda franchises, and numerous simulation games. In contrast, the vast bulk of PSP titles look like the same macho adolescent-male wasteland of sports games, shooting games, thuglife games, all differing from their predecessors only in graphics and marketing tie-ins. (There are a few exceptions, like Loco Roco, though they're in the minority.)
The PSP's nice screen makes it a good PMP, though using it as one involves either (a) repurchasing your movies on UMD (probably the most egregiously misnamed media format ever, as it is not usable with anything but the PSP), or (b) spending time and hassle recoding video to work with the PSP's idiosyncratic formatting requirements. If the video is on an encrypted DVD (i.e., any commercial movie), you'll also need to crack the encryption, which is not the sort of thing the average Joe Sixpack knows how to do.
My kids are a bit young for Big Brain Academy or Brain Age, but your lead turned up a couple "edutainment" titles, so that is good enough to get me started. The Colors program will be popular too!
Off topic: Is it really up to Nintendo if people call the DS a GameBoy or not? I know several people who deliberately insist on calling contemporary Apple laptops PowerBooks.
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!