PSP: one year on

[Ady]

Perhaps Sony's plan is flawed - developing for the PSP is too much like developing for the PS2 - so companies just stick with the PS2, where one would presume more money can be made. With the DS, games can be made fairly swiftly because the machine relies less on complex 3D visuals.

This, I think may be the machine's undoing. It's all well and good bridging the gap between console and handheld technologies, but in doing so, you're also bridging the gap between their respective markets, which could end up confusing the consumer.

Does one go for the PS3 (or PS2) version of game X or do they get it for the PSP instead? Do complex 3D games with complex 3D worlds and complex 3D controls really work on a handheld, or are they better suited to a big console? Important questions...

It's got easily enough good games that I'd consider buying one, but just about all of them are things I'd rather play sat in front of the TV.

...or games you may already have access to on a big console.

Like Warioware's blowing into the DS? Snowboard Kid's shouting? Feel the Magic's shouting and blowing? Double standard here I feel. Both systems suffer from having games less suited to playing on the go. Shouting is a no-go on my bus journey, I can't speak for where you live.

Well you could... you know, not play those games/levels on the bus.

Seriously though, I do see your point somewhat, some of the DS' stylus-based games are practically unplayable on public transport, but "on the go" doesn't necessarily have to mean "on the bus".

Also as an aside, can someone explain to me why something that offers new ways of playing games (games being the reason we're all here) is gimmicky, whilst movie playback on a handheld device with a small screen and mono speaker isn't? I'm not being facetious either, I genuinely do not understand that line of thinking at all.

[Tychom]

One issue a year on I still find fundamentally wrong is the game pricing, looking at GAME here in France the top 5 PSP games are currently at 52.99?, 49.99?, 49.99?, 51.99?, 49.99?... so between ?34 and ?36. These prices are far too high for me to justify I'm afraid, I know it's certainly held back my buying of a few more games for the system.

I would really like to see the games go down a bit in price but sadly I don't see it, I'll be sticking to the second hand market alone at this rate.

[Duddyroar]

Agreed, current pricing is totally out of whack, but then you've got the problem we've already touched upon - PSP games cost almost as much to develop as PS2 games, so you'd expect the publishers to sell them for the same kind of price.

[Resonance]

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=31732

Humble pie anyone?



No fighting boys and girls there is enough to go around

Dont worry I have already had a large slice myself!

[muse hunter]

Agreed, current pricing is totally out of whack, but then you've got the problem we've already touched upon - PSP games cost almost as much to develop as PS2 games, so you'd expect the publishers to sell them for the same kind of price.

here lies a problem handheld games are supposed to cost less than those of a home console. Handheld games are supposed to be inferior (well, technology wise anyway) so we'll pay less, the psp may be powerful but it still isn't as powerful as its home system parent, it doesn't make sense when you walk in a shop and see the likes of GTA, pro evo, metal gear, etc going for ?30 on ps2 while the watered down inferior psp version sells at ?40.

Also, as what was spoken before i do believe that there is a future for movies on a handheld devices, however i don't believe this future will include UMD, in the near future music albums and movies will be released on SD cards, which are affordable. UMD is a flawed format, i still can't see sony's reasoning for using it.

[womblingfree]

I really can't understand people who let their PSP's gather dust.

You do realise it doesn't just play games don't you?

I always have a couple of episodes of South Park and about 100 photos on mine. I occasionally play the odd round of Everybodys Golf and also have located a few free internet hot spots around town where I can browse whilst on the move.

As a portable movie player alone it's worth the money. I only have a 128mb stick but even this is enough for a couple of TV shows and some pictures. It's a great way of showing holiday snaps, better than an iPod Photo if you ask me, until the iPods get a decent sized screen anyway.

[mid]

Both systems suffer from having games less suited to playing on the go. Shouting is a no-go on my bus journey, I can't speak for where you live.

You're right about that, obviously. The difference, in my defence, is that the DS games that are unsuited to on-the-go play are exploiting things that you can't do without the special hardware, so they are still aimed at the machine.

Wheras on the PSP, the games I'd want to play would work just as well (if not better) on the PS2 that already sits under the telly, even if not all of them are available for that platform in practice.

[Concept]

When I was on BB I used to use PSPVideo9 to watch stuff on the PSP all the time, so yes, people who say the PSP's multimedia functions are small gimmicks are sometimes hard to take seriously.

I don't own an iPod/MP3 player or whatever the apple video equivalent these days is, and the ability to listen to music, watch television shows, surf the net away from the computer was a god send when I had a better connection.

[sj33]

I'll definately say that the most significant time my PSP got use was when I went away for a week to the coast. I crammed my memory stick full of anime, Mp3's and emulators to last me through the week away from technology. Didn't play any PSP games mind, but it sure got used in other ways.

With Sony's firmware antics though, and the fact that annoying conversion is needed to watch movies, that may pass over to the GPX2.

[muse hunter]

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=31732

Nintendo demands an apology from everyone who spoke ill of the DS in this thread

[Dogg Thang]

Seriously though, I do see your point somewhat, some of the DS' stylus-based games are practically unplayable on public transport, but "on the go" doesn't necessarily have to mean "on the bus".

Absolutely but the same standard should apply to the PSP - I was merely pointing out that there was a double standard in mid's post.


Moving on...

Also as an aside, can someone explain to me why something that offers new ways of playing games (games being the reason we're all here) is gimmicky

Ady, can you point me to the part in this PSP thread where that was brought up? I can't find it.


And lastly -

You're right about that, obviously. The difference, in my defence, is that the DS games that are unsuited to on-the-go play are exploiting things that you can't do without the special hardware, so they are still aimed at the machine.

I do see your point, mid, and it is certainly true for some games although one of your two examples was Advance Wars which really doesn't need the DS hardware and the other (Wario Ware) could be argued that it worked better with the more conventional control of the original GBA version. But, when it comes to things like Trauma Center you are absolutely spot-on and it is there where the DS begins to shine.

Having said that the PSP also offers something unique to it -> current gen genres and standards on a handheld. That's a first.

Edit: I apologise for the giant quote-a-thon but things had moved on since I left work...

[Kubrick]

I've had a PlayStation Portable for about 9 months now and play it daily. That's right, daily, without fail. In my line of work, there's usually a couple of hours to kill each shift so it comes in very handy.
Overall, very pleased with it. It could do with some more typical "handheld" games though - Winning Eleven, WipEout Pure etc are reasonable enough games, but they're not really suited to a Portable system IMO.

NB. Portable is bolded to remind those complaining about ports what the point of the system actually is.

[Vince]

Having said that the PSP also offers something unique to it -> current gen genres and standards on a handheld. That's a first.

I think you're forgetting the PC-Engine GT which let gamers play current gen games on a handheld but also let them play the actual carts the home machine played. Pretty clever thinking, ahead of the times and i reckon the battery life was (slightly) better too.

[jim g]

Got mine on launch day in Japan. Still love it use it for games, tv shows and retro. And 1 year on it still loks the DB's, has never gone wrong and incredibly the UK version is still hard to get.

I now have 2 of them, one V1.5 and a 'normal' one.

[Dogg Thang]

I think you're forgetting the PC-Engine GT which let gamers play current gen games on a handheld but also let them play the actual carts the home machine played. Pretty clever thinking, ahead of the times and i reckon the battery life was (slightly) better too.

Very true Vince. Very true. And actually, now that I think about it the Nomad did the same thing.


Actually, on the multimedia aspect, I have to admit to having little interest in it. I have an mp3 player and I don't really fancy watching movies on my PSP. However, I was working on a show all last year that was an update of a classic show and the PSP gave me the ability to watch the original show every day on the bus to work which gave me a huge advantage. Effectively it meant my bus time was time really well spent. Of course that would only be of interest to someone in my line of work.

Another interesting thing is that I was at the cartoon forum a few months ago and I thought I was being really smart by putting my pilot on the PSP so that I had access to it at all times. Well, as it turned out, I wasn't the only person to have thought of that - PSPs were very common with people doing little presentations with them.