Was SCE mistaken in going with optical media in PSP?

[Squeak]

Look at this pro/con list and tell me where I'm wrong.

Optical media

Pros:
-Relatively inexpensive compared to solidstate (I don't know by how much with the UMD proprietary format and cartridge and all)
-large capacity

Cons:
-Takes up a lot of space inside the device
-Drains battery faster than alternatives
-Fragile (both disc and drive)
-Slow
-Nonwriteable

Memstick

Pros:

-Small (both the drive and the media)
-Power efficient
-Capacity rapidly approaching small optical discs (If it is possible to cram a 1Gb flashRAM on a Duo then how big a ROM chip would you be able to fit?)
-Durable
-Writeable
-Inexpensive reader

Cons:
-Currently more expensive than discs (it might change with the economics of scale)
-Lower capacity (but again, we have not yet seen how large a ROM it’s possible to put in a Memstick)

IMO the cons with optical discs in handhelds far outweigh the pros and vice versa with solidstate media.
Sony should rather have made the PSP a bit smaller, without reducing the screen size much, made the screen touchsensitive and put a cellphone radio in there. That would have really have made it the Walkman of the 21st century.

 

[j^aws]

Personally speaking my GBA SP is, overall, a more appealing package to ME than both the NDS and PSP...

It's a more pocketable size and weight, 3:2 widescreen and nice battery life...

PSP should've ditched optical media IMO for flash based media...

 

[wco81]

If they didn't do optical media, then would the games they're planning have been possible?

Certainly, movies wouldn't be possible since nobody would distribute film in 2 GB or more of flash RAM.

But how much data is in the PSP games?

 

[MfA]

Matrix semiconductor's PROMs cost 9$ for 64 MB according to their press release last november ...

As Ive said before, Id like to have a version with a HD ... to which you could simply upload games from your computer (it would have to be online during the upload to allow authentication). Of course despite the iPod most people are still too stupid to ever have something like that be successfull right?

 

[Teasy]

Certainly, movies wouldn't be possible since nobody would distribute film in 2 GB or more of flash RAM.

I don't see a huge problem with that. No more then the problem I see with distrobuting movies on a specialist media for only a single handheld unit anyway.

With decent compression (DivX/XviD ect) a full 90 minute movie (700MB), ripped properly, looks really good on my 17 inch monitor. A 2Gb cart can hold 256MB (about a 3rd of that size). Given equal compression quality shouldn't that be fine for a little 4.5 inch screen?

 

[Guden Oden]

IMO the cons with optical discs in handhelds far outweigh the pros and vice versa with solidstate media.

You may change your mind when each solid state game costs $150+...

 

[Teasy]

You may change your mind when each solid state game costs $150+...

You mean when pigs fly?

 

[Guden Oden]

No, I mean when a cart's got to contain 1.8GB of uncompressed information.

 

[Teasy]

Ok so then you may change you're mind when disc media costs $150 each. Because it got to be as fast, durable, small, writeable and and power efficient as a cart.

 

[PC-Engine]

Matrix semiconductor's PROMs cost 9$ for 64 MB according to their press release last november ...

As Ive said before, Id like to have a version with a HD ... to which you could simply upload games from your computer (it would have to be online during the upload to allow authentication). Of course despite the iPod most people are still too stupid to ever have something like that be successfull right?

That's pretty expensive since I can buy a 1GB CF at retail for less than $50 last fall.

 

[MechanizedDeath]

Optical was the right choice. The capacity is far more important than load times and/or durability. The PS1 had longer load times and more fragile media and made it fine. I'd like to think gamers improve with time, and so they'll adapt to using optical media in their portable devices. Until they make carts that can rival optical discs in capacity at the same price, then it's just not worth it.

The con for the UMD should really be that it's ROM, since that ultimately cuts down on its utility. The screen is so big, I doubt the UMD factors much into the ergonomics of the device. PEACE.

 

[MfA]

That's pretty expensive since I can buy a 1GB CF at retail for less than $50 last fall.

All Im trying to say is that you shouldnt expect PROMs to be cheaper than flash, however logical it may seem.

 

[StarFox]

The PS1 had longer load times and more fragile media and made it fine.

That was a home console though, durability matters far more in the handheld space (power comsumption matters even more so).

 

[PC-Engine]

Long load times are annoying, portable or not, however this can be remedied with a faster drive. Of course a faster drive consumes more battery power on a portable, however, this can be remedied with a higher capacity batttery which drives up costs. In other words an optical drive adds more to the cost of a console both in regards to the drive itself and the battery.

In an optical based game machine the console cost more while the media is cheap. In a solid state based game machine it's the other way around.

 

[cthellis42]

And, of course, the "more expensive console + cheap games" is the only way the marketplace is going to accept it on massive scales, so hey. Until solid-state media gets wuh-HAAAAAY cheaper to be completely servicable for long, great-looking games for a portable unit, don't expect the situation to change.

 

[PC-Engine]

And, of course, the "more expensive console + cheap games" is the only way the marketplace is going to accept it on massive scales, so hey. Until solid-state media gets wuh-HAAAAAY cheaper to be completely servicable for long, great-looking games for a portable unit, don't expect the situation to change.

Actually the games won't be cheaper as the end user pays the same. It's the game makers that will make less money on each game due to the higher cost of carts. As an example N64 games cost the same as PS1 games to the consumer. The only problem was that N64 carts were only about a tenth of the capacity of a CDROM. If 512MB carts become cheap enough in the next couple years, then a UMD disc's capacity advantage becomes less siginificant.

 

[one]

1. UMD may get a dual-layer version in future.
2. UMD is good for anti-piracy.
3. If flash ROMs get too cheap in some time in the future, then they can ditch UMD for the game and use Mem Stick and internet for the main game storage/distribution media.

 

[PC-Engine]

1.8GB UMDs are DL...

 

[one]

1.8GB UMDs are DL...

OMG! That's right, then quad-layer...

 

[PC-Engine]

1.8GB UMDs are DL...

OMG! That's right, then quad-layer...

Can UMD even use quad layers?