Gradthrawn
Veteran
Interesting interview over at IGN with SCE's John Koller (Senior Brand Manager). Covers a very wide range of topics in terms of the PSP's future. How it may/will interact with the PS3, Game 3.0 functionality, the GPS and Camera accessories and much more. A few highlights below:
:: The PlayStation Network, Sony actually has not said yet whether the PlayStation Network [Friend Lists, Email Messaging, etc.] features will be brought to PlayStation Portable ... the PSP desperately needs networking features for users to link up with their friends and find out what's going on. Is there any kind of timeline for when PSP might get PlayStation Network features, or has it even been confirmed that it will happen?
I'm going to have to go back to what Phil was saying on that. There's a place for PSP inside the network as well -- that's the same as with Home -- and what that place is will be revealed soon. It's something that we talk about here and in Japan as well, and it's an evolving situation that we're working through.
:: Speaking of stores, there was plans that Sony Connect would be available on PSP back in March of 2006 ... actually John, you were the one who announced those plans. What happened with that?
Ah yes, I did say that ... So, that's another network-related question. Sony is continuing development, and we decided not to launch in March of 2006 because there were other elements that we wanted to place into that service. Again, that's something that we will reveal soon, but we value the importance of content overall. For this upcoming calendar year, the main emphasis of PSP will be placing timely and efficient content releases behind each of the feature buckets of PSP. Obviously, its a great portable gaming device, but there's a lot of other content that it can play that perhaps hasn't been actualized yet or hasn't been fully fulfilled, and that's one of our big goals this year, really filling those content buckets for the consumer so they can utilize everything that the system can do.
:: Is there any chance that Remote Play might be redesigned in how it functions? Right now, the way it works is that it's a video feed from PS3 to PSP, and so that works great for video and music, but when you're looking at photos, for example, you're not getting the full quality of the pictures, and the screen is a little blurred and laggy because it's streaming the signal. Would there be any chance that PlayStation Portable and PS3 might link together in a more formal way, just a standard handshaking to share data?
We're looking at a few options, actually. Nothing has been finalized, but we understand where we are now and we are happy where we are, but we are always looking to optimize. There are a number of elements on the table -- we haven't chosen a firm direction yet, but we're definitely looking at it.
:: In Japan, SCE has the PSP Camera, and camera functionality is built into the PSP OS now. But the camera has not shipped here yet. What's SCEA's position on that, are you just waiting for the games to finalize before you bring it over?
It's a good question, and one that really goes back to what I was stating earlier about content. We really want to emphasize the content behind the Camera ... or the GPS for that matter, as I know that's one a lot of people have also been asking about, that we've talked about quite a bit. We wanted to make sure that there's enough content to support the PSP Camera and GPS when we launch them so that we're not just throwing the devices out into the retail community and say, "Please sell this." We want to have either gaming content or else other types of content that will allow the consume to use the peripherals in a way that's very engaging. Both the PSP Camera and the GPS, we have plans to release those this year -- we'd like to. We're starting to make time launch plans now, and we'll probably have something to announce as far as when and how pretty soon. But that's something that's on our agenda for the year. We're in a place now, in terms of content that we can place behind them, that we should be in pretty good shape to be able to launch both of those units. And both of them, actually, talk to that broader multifunctionality offering, and as we go along with this target audience and growing install base, we start to be able to get away from just only that core hardcore gamer -- we're starting to see a lot more people that are jumping in here that are not necessarily purchasing it for games alone, that they want the video and music multifunctionality. We're going to be seeing a lot of people purchasing it for other things, and the Camera and GPS are two devices that fit right into that.
:: One gripe that we have about PSP, since we have you on the phone [although apparently Sony is listening even when they're not right here on the phone], is the Video Playback feature, when you download videos or make them on your own, the support there really strange -- videos may not play in the Video root folder but will run just fine if you move them to the old MP Root folder. Also, the Thumbnails are gone in the newest version. Is that just a bug with the latest release, or is there some reason why the structure is so odd and sometimes unreliable?
It's something we're looking at optimizing in future firmware updates. The Video feature is something that, as you know, has grown in the various PSP updates. We've been able to make it so it doesn't require name changes, for instance, things that make it a little easier to put video on PSP. We're really trying to optimize that where possible, so I think that's something we'll see fixed in the near future.
:: What about full-frame video, about creating and playing videos that are at least the whole screen size of the PSP without having to stretch them? Is that something that just can't happen because of the way Sony Corp has to handle its Memory Stick Video Format codec?
No, it's absolutely possible, and it's something that we're looking at right now. I think you'll see some movement on that pretty soon.
:: Developers have talked about the fact that the PlayStation Portable's main chip has been clocked down from full speed, is SCE at all thinking about unlocking that full clock speed?
What's interesting about that is that on the dev kit, they're able to program for it at that full clock speed, but then when they're preparing it to launch, the process has them clocking it back down. I don't see that changing anytime in the near future -- it's a Sony decision in Tokyo, and as far as our technology group understands it, I don't think that's something that's going to change.
:: The battle with hackers and homebrew designers has been especially gruesome with PlayStation Portable because piracy came up so quick and because the standard access systems can make things easy to crack. Yet even Phil Harrison said in a recent interview with Newsweek that he admires the good work that's been done in the underground scene despite the bad that's also been done. And interestingly enough, Sony Computer Entertainment has in the past been able to invite in unlicensed designers with the NetYaroze and Linux projects. Is there any chance that we might see something that allows homebrew programmers to share in the PSP?
What Phil said is absolutely correct, we do feel that there is some good that they have done. We some of the value of what they have provided. To answer your question, the value that hackers offer us is that they prompt ideas for possible future updates. We talk about this a lot, but RSS is something that started with the work of a hacker or group of hackers, and looked at the idea that this is something that is wanted, so we did some research on RSS and what can be done with it and what it can offer the larger consumer base, and Japan decided that this was something it wanted to institute. Going back again, we do listen to all of these PSP communities ... a little bit more indirectly in this case, because it is something that is not authorized from our side, and there's certainly a lot of bad work that has been done -- a lot of PSPs turning into bricks. But if there's something out there that's a good feature that's been created, we're always out there looking at what our users are excited for and want, and so maybe that's something that Japan might end up looking into for the future of the system on the firmware side.
