Sony plans PSP comeback in America

I don't know that deep games on the iPhone will work either.

There will be a premium on battery conservation, that rules out people playing for hours.

Cro-Magnon Rally has been chastened, forced to reduce price from $10 to $6.

Games will do okay because of the sheer number of iPhones but will it reach the volumes of PSP and DS hits?
 
Wow you're really demonizing UMD's they aren't that bad.

Well they are really from a portable stand point. Powering the motor to spin the disc is a big waste of power. At the time of launch it made some sense but I certainly don't think UMD or any miniature disc will be with us in later mobile gaming devices.
 
so many replys .

Patsu .... the psp is millions of units behind the ds in japan , i hardly call that leading and its software sales suck

Yes and no. I think they need better software and vision on the current PSP hardware first (or in parallel with new hardware rollout). The old hardware is still larger untapped for consumers even though the homebrew people kinda have their ways with the platform already

I carry a PSP because it has all the entertainment functions but doesn't take up my cellphone battery life. It's like carrying an iPod and a cellphone separately, but the iPod doesn't play deep games (yet).
but my cell phone and zune would fit in my pockets , my psp doesn't .

This is hardly scientific; you don't know what you're talking about, and, honestly, neither do I. So neither of us can say what the PSP's form factor can or can't be with UMDs, so let's drop this topic.
err i know the umd drive can't be any smaller than a umd and the handheld can't be any smaller than the current screen + buttons . So really how do you sugest they fix it . Even making it a clamshell the thing will still be bulky and extremely thick

You're moving goalposts here. The question is whether they're making money; it's not the success it could be, undoubtedly, that's the whole point of this thread. But it's not failing miserably just because you say so; being second place doesn't mean it can't make money. It's still second place in Japan, in terms of install-base, but Sony seems happy with their performance there. In fact, the PSP sells astoundingly well in the US for a platform for which there are almost no games released.

I'm not moving anything . To me sucess is not making money , sucess is meeting my goals . If my company has an idea of what they'd like a certian project to bring in , they wont buy not making that as a sucess . they will consider it a failure and will continue to do so even as they change goal posts .

Yes, really, SRPGs -- if you don't know about SRPGs and the PSP you're terribly out of touch. Now, here's the thing. If your criteria is games to beat and return to, very few games give you indefinite fun. SRPGs, on the other hand, take many many hours to beat (and Disgaea lasts pretty much forever). Crisis Core likewise; it takes time to get through the missions. True, GoW you don't return to, but other games you do. I do.

Yes but you don't spend hours upon hours at a time playing on a handheld . First off the psp wont last that long , secondly most consumers use handhelds when they are on the go and that doesn't provide the best play for a srpg. Those games are better suited for home consoles are using a handheld at home . I have friends who have played all those games (i'm not a japanese rpg fan don't believe they are really rpgs )

Same places I use my DS.
which is .

course they're not the end-all be-all, but we're using anecdotal evidence, aren't we? You just brought up 'you and your friends', so I can use neogaf as counter-evidence. If you don't have an incredibly strong launch line-up, and no one does, these days, you need BC to help give people an incentive to play. Even the DS has GBA BC, the GBA had GB BC. Like I said, I'm not defending the UMD, but I'm not sure how you could keep and keep BC. And again, I think BC is very important, especially on a portable. For home consoles, I can have a PS2 hooked up next to my PS3 unless space is very limited. For handhelds, you can't as easily tell your customers 'to play your old games, well, you better lug around your old system too'.
my friends run the gauntlet of hardcor neogaf surfers to people who get their video game news from cnn . Neogaf is a small subset of the gamer culture and its highly sony bias .

I don't see how having bc of a library that is constantly ignored by the mass of psp owners as an important factor moving foward. Putting them on on an online service for a reduced price can be just as effective. Just look at the 360 and the old xbox games online , people will still play it .


Honestly, I hope they're not trying for an Ipod+DS killer because that would be idiotic. What you're saying, though, is that if the PSP started getting really good games you wouldn't be interested in playing them? That's what I'm saying: bringing the PSP back should focus on its strengths as a game system. The PSP sells a couple hundred thousand handhelds a month just in the US. Games could potentially bring people to use those handhelds for games again. There is the serious problem of piracy, though I doubt that most of those many many ipods are running custom firmware.

when they were reduced in price far enough. Look there are a ton of reasons why I don't play my psp as much as my other systems. 1) battery life 2) load times 3) form factor hurting my hands in extended play . Unless sony is going to send me a new psp that fixes all three of those flaws I wont bother with it untill i get the games in the bargin bin. To me i'd rather spend the money on other games on other systems like my ds or 360 . Or i'd buy videos for my zune .


If they don't go for a ipod + ds killer what is the point of buying a psp or psp2 . If there are other devices that do those things better i'd rather buy them . I'd go with an ipod touch for video and music and a ds for gaming. That combo solves the battery problem and the ipod easily fits in my pocket and the ds is small enough that i wont mind it on my hip.

don't know that deep games on the iPhone will work either.

There will be a premium on battery conservation, that rules out people playing for hours.

Cro-Magnon Rally has been chastened, forced to reduce price from $10 to $6.

Games will do okay because of the sheer number of iPhones but will it reach the volumes of PSP and DS hits?

well the iphone as it is sucks at gaming . I've used it and the touch screen interface needs alot of work before its good as the only control scheme .





if I was sony I would

1) create psp 2

2) reduce its size so it fits in your pocket

3) go from a 4.3 inch screen to something in the 3 and half inch range but increase the resolution from 480 x 272 to 640x480 .

4) create a very power efficent system. one that can turn off unused portions of the chip and slow down clock speeds and other things while using less intensive things like music.

5) use flash ram or a cart like the ds to reduce moving parts which will in turn increaes battery life and reduce the form factor .

6)create an online store thats tied into the ps3 online store and intergrate so that we can use it through wifi .

7) take every psn store game that can work on a psp2 and convert it for a psp2 . Also create mini games for upcoming ps3 titles . make it so the mini games can only be played on the psp2 and have them like the fable 2 mini games that allow you to get gold and other things before the game comes out .

if sony did this they would have a solid jack of all trade player . It will dominate at games and provide long battery life for music and video . my other thing that i would add though sony will never do it is to switch from a memory stick pro duo to micro sd cards for the system. it would allow them to reduce it in size and the sd cards are cheaper than memory stick pro duo cards. I can get a 6 gig mirco sd card for about $20 bucks now if i shop around
 
Yeah but that's due to the explosion in flash densities in recent years. It just wasn't viable at launch. So yes it uses more power but it was a trade of for more space cheaply at the time. Load times aren't that bad in all the games I've played as well. Plus noise other then initial spin and intermittent times during the game is negligible.
 
Well they are really from a portable stand point. Powering the motor to spin the disc is a big waste of power. At the time of launch it made some sense but I certainly don't think UMD or any miniature disc will be with us in later mobile gaming devices.

excactly umd is 900/1.8 gigs and its huge compared to flash . It has long load times , it sounds like a jet engine when it starts spinning up and when i use umds the battery life falls off a cliff .

I'm sure 4 years ago umd was great . But seriously flash memory is now so cheap that umd looks that much worse .

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208082

mini sd is $8 bucks for 2 gigs and thats what we pay . I don't know how much a umd costs but considering it consists of both an optical disc and a caddy i'm sure its not all that cheap .

Also lets not forget , you need to factor in the size of the umd into the system. Both the umd and the drive reader .

You can go sd cards , mini sd and micro sd which are all tiny compared to the umd. Best of all there is no noise when using these and battery life would be better.

Heck sony created the memory stick , they could make their own custom memory cards for the games and then another port for your music and other things . That way they can make it so that system looks only to that port for games to help prevent piracy .
 
Still not comparable though. $8 is nice but UMD's like DVD's are printed for cents on the dollar. Give it another year or two and it might make sense assuming the absolute bottom for flash can go that low.
 
so many replys .

Patsu .... the psp is millions of units behind the ds in japan , i hardly call that leading and its software sales suck

Yes, I mentioned PSP sales has picked up and it's leading DS for some time now (in terms of monthly sales). For software sales, DS and Wii have dominated the Japanese chart for the longest time. Good PSP games can still sell though, they are just not as common. I don't see PSP as achieving its full potential today, but I wouldn't call it a shamble too.

but my cell phone and zune would fit in my pockets , my psp doesn't .

Neither has good games though. Carrying them around for gaming would be pointless.
At least for a PSP, I know there are some great ones. The DS games unfortunately do not appeal to me.
The PS3 integration is a nice touch too, the media function is a good start, but has room for improvement.

Online gaming for PSP-on-the-go is not realistic now unless it uses cellular networks. Tethered usage (syncing with PC) makes more sense. I feel that ad hoc gaming is worth revisiting if they are going after Game 3.0 and media sharing.
 
Patsu .... the psp is millions of units behind the ds in japan , i hardly call that leading and its software sales suck

Check your facts. PSP software does very well. Very often the top software title in Japan is a PSP title.

but my cell phone and zune would fit in my pockets , my psp doesn't .
What about the DS? It's bigger than your zune or your cell phone. Is the DS also a failure because it's bulkier than those?

err i know the umd drive can't be any smaller than a umd and the handheld can't be any smaller than the current screen + buttons . So really how do you sugest they fix it . Even making it a clamshell the thing will still be bulky and extremely thick
Get a DS lite. Compare it to the PSP-2000. It's thicker (by a couple of millimeters) than the PSP and shorter by about 3cm. Again, like you, I don't know what I'm talking about, but here goes: make it a clamshell about as wide as the DS and put the controller and UMD on the bottom half. It'll probably be thicker than the DS, but not by a lot. Or is that too big? It must be, afterall the DS is a huge failure.


I'm not moving anything . To me sucess is not making money , sucess is meeting my goals . If my company has an idea of what they'd like a certian project to bring in , they wont buy not making that as a sucess . they will consider it a failure and will continue to do so even as they change goal posts .
The long-term goal is always to make money. If they can make money on the short-term, that's good too. Striving for some far-off goal, incurring heavier losses because you're unhappy with hardware that's actually selling quite well doesn't seem sound.



Yes but you don't spend hours upon hours at a time playing on a handheld . First off the psp wont last that long , secondly most consumers use handhelds when they are on the go and that doesn't provide the best play for a srpg. Those games are better suited for home consoles are using a handheld at home . I have friends who have played all those games (i'm not a japanese rpg fan don't believe they are really rpgs )
See? Moving goalposts again. The PSP has a great selection of SRPGs. Even the DS has a decent small collection of them. But now 'you and your friends believe' that handhelds aren't good for them, even though you yourself haven't tried one. I'm saying it works. Who's right? Like I said when we first talked of games, it's opinion. I gave you a list of 5 games that keep me returning to my PSP. You're not going to convince me my opinion is wrong. And I do play portable games hours upon hours. Sometimes I do it from home, even, choosing it (or my DS) over 360 or PS3 games.

which is .

It's sufficient to say that I play it where I play my DS which by any standards is not a failure. For me clearly it's clearly suited to do that.

my friends run the gauntlet of hardcor neogaf surfers to people who get their video game news from cnn . Neogaf is a small subset of the gamer culture and its highly sony bias .
I don't know your friends. I don't know if they exist or not, I don't know if what you're saying is true or not. It's hearsay, anecdotal evidence of the worst sort. At worst, it's untrue. At best, it doesn't mean a thing. Neogaf isn't much better, but at least both of us can go there and see that indeed, whenever a thread about PS3 sales pops up there's endless bitching about the PS3's lack of BC. And please, let's keep console wars bias nonsense out of this, okay?

I don't see how having bc of a library that is constantly ignored by the mass of psp owners as an important factor moving foward. Putting them on on an online service for a reduced price can be just as effective. Just look at the 360 and the old xbox games online , people will still play it .

The 360 can also play most Xbox discs, so what's your example, again? If, before Ninja Gaiden 2 came out I wanted to play some ninja gaiden with the 360 controllers, I could pop the game in. If I didn't have that, I'd have to keep my xbox hooked up, which, given its size, would have been a PITA. Now map that onto the PSP. You're saying no one plays PSP games, but the Japanese would beg to differ. Putting them on an online service means people have to rebuy their games, it means that their existing library is useless on the new handheld. These aren't mutually exclusive things, no console launches with a good selection of games across all genres.


when they were reduced in price far enough. Look there are a ton of reasons why I don't play my psp as much as my other systems. 1) battery life 2) load times 3) form factor hurting my hands in extended play . Unless sony is going to send me a new psp that fixes all three of those flaws I wont bother with it untill i get the games in the bargin bin. To me i'd rather spend the money on other games on other systems like my ds or 360 . Or i'd buy videos for my zune .

So you're not the person they should target. You have heavy bias against the system already. For me, all they need for me to use my PSP more is compelling software. For Japan, all they needed was compelling software. Why is the US so different?

If they don't go for a ipod + ds killer what is the point of buying a psp or psp2 . If there are other devices that do those things better i'd rather buy them . I'd go with an ipod touch for video and music and a ds for gaming. That combo solves the battery problem and the ipod easily fits in my pocket and the ds is small enough that i wont mind it on my hip.
Because the ipod demographic isn't the DS demographic. The price difference between the two devices is huge. How exactly will one device fit into both niches, what will it cost, how much will Sony lose on each one sold? The PSP has to go after its own strengths, which is gaming. Because, again, that's what has worked in Japan to awaken the market to the PSP again.
 
The next PSP could go in many different directions and I'm not sure any of us really know what is best. Obviously the PSP needs improvment but thats not to say that the Ipod and DS are free from flaws as well. Honestly I think they are both over hyped and over priced for what they offer, but should the next PSP try to compete with both?

IMO the PSP2 should piggyback a cellular line that offers highspeed data connections for free. <-- I know, I know but hear me out.

The PSP2 could use that connection to download games, movies or music from the PSP Network and store the content on the internal 12GB of flash. The cost of the service is offset by the software they sell (music, videos, games), the end user doesn't see much of a price difference because the cost is the same for physical or downloaded content. Then the PSP2 takes a lesson from Microsoft Live and sets up different subscriptions to offer greater use of the service.

Bronze = Free, download games, music, movies and more.
Silver = Fee 1, includes Bronze and the ability for online gaming.
Gold = Fee 2, includes Silver and the ability to use your PSP2 as a phone.

However Sony should also include the ability to re-download games at a severly reduced fee; something that Itunes does not let you do. This way if someone buys a game for $30 but removes it so they can buy another game, instead of paying $30 again they can pay $2 and redownload the game at a future date. Sony could also offer the ability to "backup" the software to external media that is encrypted to only work on that machine once the network verifys that it has been purchased.

Making the PSP2 a clamshell design with touch screen functions as well as standard buttons would allow it to be used as a cellphone and game machine. If they can make the Analog stick pop out, lock and usable only to have it twist and pressed down to hide it again would make it more user friendly.

I would rather see the PSP2 as a clamshell that is 2 folding. What I mean is that both sides fold into the middle, I have included a prehistoric picture with my limited abilities and programs.

psp2iv6.jpg


Although a redisign of the PSP would of course need to be done first, something like this would make it more portable while still retaining most of its functionality. For instance redisigning the Dpad (think of it being flush) would make it more friendly to the ear when used as a phone. I would imagine reducing the screen size would be easier then having 3 seperate LCD screens. I don't think it would be too hard for Sony to develop a locking mechanism that would keep the PSP2 rigid when unfolded either. Also everyone seems to be going to the "Sliding" route lately so I gues they could have both sides slide out instead of folding ontop of one another but I think they would get more out of a fold then a slide in terms of space.

Just a thought

BTW, if Sony really embraced the Folding, Push to raise up ->twist to lock in place, Twist back to unlock ->Push down to lower and lock add flush buttons that may also be able to raise up with twists and locks...if they did all that they can tie the phone into the next Transformers movie and have a deomonstration of it with the transformers sounds..ok, now I'm just being silly!
 
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How can a piece of hardware that has shifted 40 million+ units in less than 4 years be considered a failure?
Not sure it's quite that much, but it's still a lot.

So what if it hasn't sold as many units as the DS...
Tis the unfortunate but common interpretation that "NOT Winner = Loser". Sony have the most successful handheld ever outside of Nintendo, the only other company to manage it. In a market courted by plenty, only two have triumphed. And yet because Sony are the underdogs...

As ever, success can only be measured by referencing a particular goal or criteria. Without anyone specifying what measure they are using for 'success', any statements regards failure are meaningless, other than via common assumption.
 
Its far more than hardware sales. You bring up its hardware sales but forget to mention that its software sales are in the toliet and have been for 4 years . That is why so many of us can consider it a failure .
 
Which is fine - just as long as you specify that 'in terms of software sales' it's a flunk ;) That at least gives a basis for discussion.
 
Its far more than hardware sales. You bring up its hardware sales but forget to mention that its software sales are in the toliet and have been for 4 years . That is why so many of us can consider it a failure .

You do realize that not many games are released in the US, right?
Check out http://www.pspfanboy.com/category/software/ and count how many 'No new releases' you see in NA. For extra fun, contrast it against how many games are released in Asia.
Despite this, the PSP consistently sells as much as the PS3/360, oftentimes more.

I'm not saying it's NOT a failure, but it is hard to sell software when you don't have software to sell.
 
Still not comparable though. $8 is nice but UMD's like DVD's are printed for cents on the dollar. Give it another year or two and it might make sense assuming the absolute bottom for flash can go that low.

I don't think its cents on the dollar. Remember you have two parts of the umd. Its not simply a disc like a dvd.

First you have to make the umd disc then you have to make the umd caddy , then you have to put them together.

Dvds you simply stamp out and your done . The umds add another two steps to that and plus they are not made in the same volumes as dvds .

Yes, I mentioned PSP sales has picked up and it's leading DS for some time now (in terms of monthly sales). For software sales, DS and Wii have dominated the Japanese chart for the longest time. Good PSP games can still sell though, they are just not as common. I don't see PSP as achieving its full potential today, but I wouldn't call it a shamble too.

so what we have to wait another 4 years before you will call it a failure . The sales wont pick up , you can't just suddenly make a 4 year old product hot .

Neither has good games though. Carrying them around for gaming would be pointless.
At least for a PSP, I know there are some great ones. The DS games unfortunately do not appeal to me.
The PS3 integration is a nice touch too, the media function is a good start, but has room for improvement.

Online gaming for PSP-on-the-go is not realistic now unless it uses cellular networks. Tethered usage (syncing with PC) makes more sense. I feel that ad hoc gaming is worth revisiting if they are going after Game 3.0 and media sharing.

but my psp doesn't have the space to hold all my music and videos and it can't make phone calls all the while its bigger than both my cell phone and zune combined. if i bring my psp i may get video games but then i'd still have to carry my cell phone and i'm still hampred by how much music or video i could bring. Then factor in that if i want to bring more than 1 umd with me it will take up even more room .

Online gaming for PSP-on-the-go is not realistic now unless it uses cellular networks. Tethered usage (syncing with PC) makes more sense. I feel that ad hoc gaming is worth revisiting if they are going after Game 3.0 and media sharing.

I was thinking more along the lines of hanging out at panera bread and jumping on the free wifi and getting a new game before i start a summer road trip or something along that line. Its a feature i've wanted on my zune since it launched. The ablity to get on zune market place and use the zune pass to update my music , podcasts , videos and go back out on the road . I believe its something that all wifi enabled devices should have.


I would rather see the PSP2 as a clamshell that is 2 folding. What I mean is that both sides fold into the middle, I have included a prehistoric picture with my limited abilities and programs.

err your pictures show the screen folding. I don't know of any mass produced folding screens . I don't believe that currently what your proposing is even possible. Your also now doubling the thickness of the psp and I don't think it would fit in my pocket as is there. You'd have to have a huge size decrease from the psp 2000 to this one . But you will allways have to take into consideration the umd foot print. Also lets not forget that what your showing is much easier to break as it now has 2 hinges / sliding parts and also a moving drive bay.



Check your facts. PSP software does very well. Very often the top software title in Japan is a PSP title.

yes and aside from 1 or 2 games they rarely stay on the top of the charts more than a week. Many wont even place on the charts and many more will place on the chart one week and be gone the next .

What about the DS? It's bigger than your zune or your cell phone. Is the DS also a failure because it's bulkier than those?
My ds (and i'm taling the ds lite ) fits in my pocket and its smaller and thinner than my psp . I don't like carry either of them in my pocket , however my ds is fine on my hip (where i also carry my phone when i'm working ) The psp doesn't even fit there as its way to bulky .

Get a DS lite. Compare it to the PSP-2000. It's thicker (by a couple of millimeters) than the PSP and shorter by about 3cm. Again, like you, I don't know what I'm talking about, but here goes: make it a clamshell about as wide as the DS and put the controller and UMD on the bottom half. It'll probably be thicker than the DS, but not by a lot. Or is that too big? It must be, afterall the DS is a huge failure.

the psp will be quite large by that point when you factor in the hing and protection for the screen. Your now making it fatter instead of wider. You would also now have a button placement problem. The buttons will be to close together without the screen there to space them out. Take your psp and place your hands over the screen in the set up you use for pressing the buttons. Does that feel right to you , does it seem like something you'd want to use .


The long-term goal is always to make money. If they can make money on the short-term, that's good too. Striving for some far-off goal, incurring heavier losses because you're unhappy with hardware that's actually selling quite well doesn't seem sound.

dumping millions more into a product that is failing to meet expectations doesn't make sense either.

The longer sony keeps the psp on life support the more time nintendo has to either relaunch the ds as a smaller system or launch a new ds with better graphics and tech behind it . it even gives ms a shot at launching a handheld .

See? Moving goalposts again. The PSP has a great selection of SRPGs. Even the DS has a decent small collection of them. But now 'you and your friends believe' that handhelds aren't good for them, even though you yourself haven't tried one. I'm saying it works. Who's right? Like I said when we first talked of games, it's opinion. I gave you a list of 5 games that keep me returning to my PSP. You're not going to convince me my opinion is wrong. And I do play portable games hours upon hours. Sometimes I do it from home, even, choosing it (or my DS) over 360 or PS3 games.

not at all. If I'm going to play a rpg i want to be able to play it. I don't want to have to stop to find a wall plug if i'm into it . My ds will give me about 9 hours of game time without a charge. My psp will give me 3-4 hours . If i'm going to play a rpg on the psp i'm going to have to do it at home where i can easily charge my battery. It be great playing one on the bus and getting stuck in traffic and boom there goes the psp .. out of juice.

But of course some people will argue for anything and if you want to play rpgs on it thats great , to bad the market isn't agreeing with you .

don't know your friends. I don't know if they exist or not, I don't know if what you're saying is true or not. It's hearsay, anecdotal evidence of the worst sort. At worst, it's untrue. At best, it doesn't mean a thing. Neogaf isn't much better, but at least both of us can go there and see that indeed, whenever a thread about PS3 sales pops up there's endless bitching about the PS3's lack of BC. And please, let's keep console wars bias nonsense out of this, okay

I'm pointing out peoples opinions and they all have diffrent ones. Gaf is a single website that attracts a small subset of users. They represent the hardcore gamer and at this point the psp has already attracted the majority of them . That is not who sony needs to target . They need to get people who didn't think of buying a psp before or if they did filed it away to get something else .

i have a friend who takes his psp with him every where he goes , but that is 1 friend. There are many more of us in the group that constantly has an ipod with them and a smaller group that has their ds with them at all times. I'm a zune user and out of my group only 2 of us have them with us at all times. Now notice that all but the ds group uses their device for music and video. So why isn't the psp the one everyone brings ?

The 360 can also play most Xbox discs, so what's your example, again? If, before Ninja Gaiden 2 came out I wanted to play some ninja gaiden with the 360 controllers, I could pop the game in. If I didn't have that, I'd have to keep my xbox hooked up, which, given its size, would have been a PITA. Now map that onto the PSP. You're saying no one plays PSP games, but the Japanese would beg to differ. Putting them on an online service means people have to rebuy their games, it means that their existing library is useless on the new handheld. These aren't mutually exclusive things, no console launches with a good selection of games across all genres.

yes and at launch there were a handfull of bc games for the 360 and it didn't stop it from selling . People want new games with a new system or whats the point of buying one .

Umd is a failure for movies and its way to clunky and slow in 2008 to be even considered for a future 2009/2010 device. They need to move past it when they move to another system. Its just going to add un needed space to a console and as long as they stayed tied down to it they will be behind the curve .

So you're not the person they should target. You have heavy bias against the system already. For me, all they need for me to use my PSP more is compelling software. For Japan, all they needed was compelling software. Why is the US so different?

Why not , i bought a psp its the system itself that made me fall out of love with it. I bought one last christmass after the redesign and still many of the things from launch are valid complaints . I'm not going to spend another $200 bucks on the system esp not only 2 years after i bought one .

Btw in japan its still has yet to be proven that as monster hunter drops in the charts the psp will continue to out sell the ds . You should really wait and see what happens when sonys line up sinks back down to what it normaly is before you make any judgment . We all know that another nsmb or brain age or whatever will boost ds sales again in japan .
 
I remember Sony mentioned earlier that they were going to let PSP autopilot for a while. What we are seeing now is the end result.

According to the PS Blog, many owners are using PSP for music playback. Japanese gamers seem to focus more on PSP than PS3, so it's doing very well there. On top of a few key releases like LocoRoco, PataPon, Crisis Core, KZ Liberation, etc. Europe introduced exclusive PSP media services while US is mostly neglected it seems.

I guess the "comeback" would mean they have started to focus on PSP again. I agree that computing power is not the issue here (Battery life, portability and software are). I don't think PSP size and battery life are big concerns now. The hardware still sell well. They need to plug the software hole. It's also why I don't think they need to rush out a brand new hardware now.

Highlighting the GPS accessory is nice but it doesn't help those with the basic unit. I hope they have something special planned for the basic PSP folks too. Otherwise, they'd be in for a surprise.
 
yes and aside from 1 or 2 games they rarely stay on the top of the charts more than a week. Many wont even place on the charts and many more will place on the chart one week and be gone the next .

PSP games consistently show in the top 20, usually more than one title in the top 10, and it's not uncommon for the PSP to get the first place on the list. What else do you want? For it to linger week to week? Most games don't do that! Adjust your perceptions to reality, please.

My ds (and i'm taling the ds lite ) fits in my pocket and its smaller and thinner than my psp . I don't like carry either of them in my pocket , however my ds is fine on my hip (where i also carry my phone when i'm working ) The psp doesn't even fit there as its way to bulky .
Check again. I measured before I posted that. The DS is thicker than the PSP slim (aka the PSP-2000) by a tiny margin. It's about as wide, and shorter by about 3.5 cm.


the psp will be quite large by that point when you factor in the hing and protection for the screen. Your now making it fatter instead of wider. You would also now have a button placement problem. The buttons will be to close together without the screen there to space them out. Take your psp and place your hands over the screen in the set up you use for pressing the buttons. Does that feel right to you , does it seem like something you'd want to use .
Honestly, can you drop this venue of discussion? To be perfectly frank, you don't know what you're talking about, and neither do I. This is fruitless, armchair theorycrafting of the worst variety. That said, the DS is slightly longer than the PSP screen. If the width of the screen is your problem, then make it as long as the DS. Clearly the DS is the right size to be popular, right? There's no DS' second screen to get in the way.

dumping millions more into a product that is failing to meet expectations doesn't make sense either.
What life support? It's selling well! It's making money. Explain to me, exactly, how Sony spending more money on R&D, subsidizing handhelds is going to save the PSP, in a way that software couldn't do? Why exactly would people who don't want a PSP want the new one? Or will the new one magically, by virtue of following your suggestions, be the silver bullet that will kill the DS and the iPod?

The longer sony keeps the psp on life support the more time nintendo has to either relaunch the ds as a smaller system or launch a new ds with better graphics and tech behind it . it even gives ms a shot at launching a handheld .
And the new DS will be what? A PSP killer? Sony should be first to market so it can... beat Nintendo technologically? Yeah, that's worked out great for them so far.

not at all. If I'm going to play a rpg i want to be able to play it. I don't want to have to stop to find a wall plug if i'm into it . My ds will give me about 9 hours of game time without a charge. My psp will give me 3-4 hours . If i'm going to play a rpg on the psp i'm going to have to do it at home where i can easily charge my battery. It be great playing one on the bus and getting stuck in traffic and boom there goes the psp .. out of juice.

But of course some people will argue for anything and if you want to play rpgs on it thats great , to bad the market isn't agreeing with you .

Thanks. Crisis Core was an abysmal failure, too. Now, hold on. Let's consider your stance so far. You complain about GoW:COO, that it's a short game with little replayability, as an argument that PSP games aren't the sort that keep people playing. (Nevermind that you dismiss the large library of SRPGs on the PSP, the one area where its library excels because of their pick up and play nature.) But earlier you were saying that the PSP2 should be beefed up to xbox levels, and it should get xbox and PS2 ports. What ports would be those? Not RPGs, because clearly those don't fit on a handheld. Not action games because they're short with limited replayability. So what? FPS'? Strategy games? Text adventures (incidentally, my favorite sort of game to play on the DS, thank you Ace Attorney)?


I'm pointing out peoples opinions and they all have diffrent ones. Gaf is a single website that attracts a small subset of users. They represent the hardcore gamer and at this point the psp has already attracted the majority of them . That is not who sony needs to target . They need to get people who didn't think of buying a psp before or if they did filed it away to get something else .
Fine. I'd suggest you actually read their opinion, just because it doesn't really match with what you're saying, but let's disconsider them. I hope you don't mind if I disconsider your friends a well. As the semi-meme says, the plural of anecdote isn't data.

i have a friend who takes his psp with him every where he goes , but that is 1 friend. There are many more of us in the group that constantly has an ipod with them and a smaller group that has their ds with them at all times. I'm a zune user and out of my group only 2 of us have them with us at all times. Now notice that all but the ds group uses their device for music and video. So why isn't the psp the one everyone brings ?
Because the PSP is in trouble? No one's questioning that. I'm questioning whether a new PSP is any sort of solution. The only real advantage to Sony that a new PSP could bring would be if they could stamp out piracy on the device, or at least make it sufficiently harder than it is now. The rest is mostly incidental, stuff that again, could be improved in the current PSP (I have the distinct impression that the current PSP design can't have the downgrade bug fixed, but again, no hard evidence for it).


yes and at launch there were a handfull of bc games for the 360 and it didn't stop it from selling . People want new games with a new system or whats the point of buying one .

Umd is a failure for movies and its way to clunky and slow in 2008 to be even considered for a future 2009/2010 device. They need to move past it when they move to another system. Its just going to add un needed space to a console and as long as they stayed tied down to it they will be behind the curve .
I wish it were that simple; maybe Sony would come up with something, but Sony has to appeal enough to the ~30 million PSP owners that it's worth it to make the switch, because they're the people most likely to buy the new PSP. That's one of the ways Nintendo kept the Gameboy going through it's several revisions. You're not going to convince me that BC is irrelevant, not early in a product's lifecycle. Later on, it can actually be damaging, especially for a company like Sony and its '10-year product lifecycles', but early on it leverages their software library and the many decent/games games the PSP does possess.

Btw in japan its still has yet to be proven that as monster hunter drops in the charts the psp will continue to out sell the ds . You should really wait and see what happens when sonys line up sinks back down to what it normaly is before you make any judgment . We all know that another nsmb or brain age or whatever will boost ds sales again in japan .

Monster Hunter 2G isn't #1, and it hasn't been for a while. It actually was #15 recently. Other games have taken the place. Dragon Quest 5 was released recently and it took #1. PSP still was top-selling system (Gundam Universe did very well). DS still sells a lot more, but that's hardly a surprise. But we're also not talking about a blip here: the PSP has been selling very well for a while now while the DS has stayed very stable, sales-wise.
 
PSP games consistently show in the top 20, usually more than one title in the top 10, and it's not uncommon for the PSP to get the first place on the list. What else do you want? For it to linger week to week? Most games don't do that! Adjust your perceptions to reality, please.
show me a psp game that is consistantly in the top 20 chart for npd . So me any psp game besides god of war that stayed in the top 20 chart for npd for more than 2 months .

Check again. I measured before I posted that. The DS is thicker than the PSP slim (aka the PSP-2000) by a tiny margin. It's about as wide, and shorter by about 3.5 cm.
So once again the psp is bigger as you just said . Now put that on your hip or in yourp ocket and tell me which one you'd rather have in your pocket. If i put my psp in my pocket when i sit it digs into my hip. The ds does not do that (though it is close ) when i put them both in their hip pouches the ds is much better fit . I have both a ds lite and a psp 2000 on my desk here (star wars white one with vader on the back) now add to the fact that i can fit many ds games in the same space as 1 umd and once again you get the psp being bigger . Unless your going to carry only one game with you. I perfer to have a few diffrent games with me depending on what i do. My ds lets me do that without increasing the bulk by any meaningfull amount.

Honestly, can you drop this venue of discussion? To be perfectly frank, you don't know what you're talking about, and neither do I. This is fruitless, armchair theorycrafting of the worst variety. That said, the DS is slightly longer than the PSP screen. If the width of the screen is your problem, then make it as long as the DS. Clearly the DS is the right size to be popular, right? There's no DS' second screen to get in the way.
I can look at what you sugest and resonably find its pros and cons. Your not following what i'm saying on the psp because you most likely can't see the faults of the system due to some bias . If you make a clamshell design and don't have a second screen your going to run into the problem alot of people had with the gba sp . Its going to be way to small of a controller area for people with larger hands . Your also going to increase the thickness of the system while making it a clam shell .

GOW wasn't just short but there was also no replay with it. The one good thing about gow wasw that save points came up often enough that I could get a quick 15 minute play time while waiting for a movie or something. Crisis core is not a game that would allow that . games on the psp have to find the right balance between replay value , length and the amount of time it takes to feel like you acomplished something. The psp is a handheld unit and unlike a console there will be times when i start it up and think i have more time than i do to play something. That could be 10 minutes or 1 hour. there are very very few games on the psp that allows this . RPGs are better suited for playing at home or on a very long trip. Rpgs have their place but on a portable its a hit or miss game and guess what jrpgs apeal to a small audiance in the states. So i don't see how this is going to help those who don't like jrpgs. There really are no western rpgs that i see on the console and that what i play (except original ff games but as my saves on part 3 for the ds will show it takes me forever to play a portable rpg game as I rather play my console when i'm at home )

What life support? It's selling well! It's making money. Explain to me, exactly, how Sony spending more money on R&D, subsidizing handhelds is going to save the PSP, in a way that software couldn't do? Why exactly would people who don't want a PSP want the new one? Or will the new one magically, by virtue of following your suggestions, be the silver bullet that will kill the DS and the iPod?
I don't agree its selling well . It may be making money but i highly doubt its making what sony envisioned 4 years ago .

I've already explained but you refuse to listen to the many flaws that i and others see with the psp but if you want here you go

1)bulk 2) cost 3) battery life

Each one of these things directly hinders its apeal for the following things

1) quick on the go gaming 2) music 3) video

Then when you factor in the top 3 you will see that many people would rather spend the extra cash up front on dedicated devices. You can get an ipod touch as i've said that does games , video and music for $300 which is only $50 more than the psp when you factor in the same storage space as the ipod touch. the ipod touch is also small and has a high battery life for what people use it for .

Fine. I'd suggest you actually read their opinion, just because it doesn't really match with what you're saying, but let's disconsider them. I hope you don't mind if I disconsider your friends a well. As the semi-meme says, the plural of anecdote isn't data
why because hardcore sony fans want certian things. Look i own the zune 30 gig and I would love to have many features added to my zune. But I also understand the fact that the 30 gig zune isn't going to suddenly take off and sell millions of units because i can connect to the zune store wirelessly with that. To get the mind share shifted ms will have to introduce a new zune that adds to the features of the older zunes. Sony has to do the same thing. Sony can't keep pointing at the hardcore sony fans saying hey look they are happy they just want better playlist support


Because the PSP is in trouble? No one's questioning that. I'm questioning whether a new PSP is any sort of solution. The only real advantage to Sony that a new PSP could bring would be if they could stamp out piracy on the device, or at least make it sufficiently harder than it is now. The rest is mostly incidental, stuff that again, could be improved in the current PSP (I have the distinct impression that the current PSP design can't have the downgrade bug fixed, but again, no hard evidence for it).
a new psp could actually fix everything wrong with the current psp while adding more things to it and enhancing its apeal to the more casual market that sony isn't currently reaching. Sony is going to spend money one way or the other , either keep pumping money into the current psp or design a new one. Eventualy they have to make a new one if they plan on staying in the hand held market because nintendo will introduce a new system at some point that can now easily be on par if not surpase the psp visualy while offering better battery life , touch screen abilitys and ah ost of other things that will make it the new it thing .


wish it were that simple; maybe Sony would come up with something, but Sony has to appeal enough to the ~30 million PSP owners that it's worth it to make the switch, because they're the people most likely to buy the new PSP. That's one of the ways Nintendo kept the Gameboy going through it's several revisions. You're not going to convince me that BC is irrelevant, not early in a product's lifecycle. Later on, it can actually be damaging, especially for a company like Sony and its '10-year product lifecycles', but early on it leverages their software library and the many decent/games games the PSP does possess.

Rgiht so sony wants to sell to the same consumers who aren't buying software . if sony introduces a new product that apeals to more than just those 30m psp owners then they are doing something right. Isn't it the arguement with the xbox 360 that many feel ms is still only selling to the xbox 1 crowd and wont ever reach the casuals and that sony will be able to blow by them once they lower the ps3 price point enough ? here your basicly saying to just keep selling to that hardcore fan base over and over again. thats not going to help sony .


BC is simply damaging . Why buy a new game from developers instead of buying old produts that in some ways are better . Why would I buy a crappy heavenly sword when I can buy an awsome gow2 and play it on the same console .
Monster Hunter 2G isn't #1, and it hasn't been for a while. It actually was #15 recently. Other games have taken the place. Dragon Quest 5 was released recently and it took #1. PSP still was top-selling system (Gundam Universe did very well). DS still sells a lot more, but that's hardly a surprise. But we're also not talking about a blip here: the PSP has been selling very well for a while now while the DS has stayed very stable, sales-wise.

this convo is going no where and i'm going to drop out of it . You can't even acknowledge the problems with the console and untill you can do that there is no way for us to figure out a way to make the psp a hit .
 
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Monster Hunter 2G isn't #1, and it hasn't been for a while. It actually was #15 recently. Other games have taken the place. Dragon Quest 5 was released recently and it took #1. PSP still was top-selling system (Gundam Universe did very well). DS still sells a lot more, but that's hardly a surprise. But we're also not talking about a blip here: the PSP has been selling very well for a while now while the DS has stayed very stable, sales-wise.

Yeah... PSP is not depending on Monster Hunter alone. The best way to find out about good PSP software is to ask the fora:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12255925&postcount=9
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12258364&postcount=81

My personal disappointment with PSP is more on the convergent media side. It is under-delivering given its hardware potential. Things are fragmented and harder to use than necessary. In a space that is getting increasingly crowded, PSP may not stand out well enough to new buyers.

Some of the publishers may be disappointed that their games don't sell close to their expectation on the platform; but as Monster Hunter has shown, it is possible to have a system seller on PSP.
 
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