What the PSP Go! needs to whack the DSi
Artist's rendering of the PSP Go!
(Credit: 1up.com)A report from 1Up.com says the new version of the PSP will be hitting store shelves later this year. It will be announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June.
1Up.com also says the new PSP will be called the PSP Go! It's slated for a September release in Japan, followed by a U.S. launch in October or November. The publication said that the Go! will sport slide-out controls. Those who were hoping for dual analog sticks will be upset to hear that the new PSP will presumably still feature a single analog nub. 1Up believes that the Go! will come in two versions: one with 8GB of internal memory and another with 16GB of memory.
Shockingly, 1Up sources told the publication that Sony will be dumping the UMD drive for digital downloads. Players looking to add titles to their handheld will be able to do so by buying games from an online store.
Sony has not confirmed 1Up's report. And it's likely that the company won't be saying much as we get closer to E3. But if the 1Up report is true, is it enough to force Nintendo from its top spot in the hand-held gaming space?
It's a tough call. While some in the industry believe that game downloads might be the future, it's still in its infancy. And there's a chance that current PSP owners will be turned off by the PSP Go! if Sony doesn't find a way to make UMD games work with its new hand-held.
We also shouldn't forget that there are many questions that have yet to be answered about the Go! What will it cost? How much of an improvement is it over the original PSP? Most importantly, why should we buy it?
Assuming 1Up's predictions are true, Pro Duo requirements are (finally!) gone, UMD is finished, and the Go! will have a slide-out control mechanism. On paper, that's not enough to make me want to buy one.
But if the PSP Go!'s graphical capabilities are superior to its predecessor, it's a good start. And if Sony reassures us that UMDs can be played on the handheld with a cheap accessory, it's made available for a reasonable price, and hundreds of games are offered at launch with titles dating back to the original PlayStation, I'll be intrigued. And I doubt I'm alone.
At this point, though, we just don't know what Sony is planning. But after using both the DS and the DSi, I can say that if the PSP Go! sports most (if not all) of the features 1Up and I have come up with, I don't see any reason why it can't hold its own in the space. It might not have dual screens, but superior graphics, a better display, and a store that makes finding and playing games much simpler than traveling to Gamestop, certainly counts for something. And a huge library of classic games won't hurt either.
I'm excited to see what Sony comes up with. It could revolutionize the industry. Who's with me?
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
The problem with the PSP is not primarily the hardware, it's the complete lack of interesting titles. Sony needs to either pump out more first party titles or quality, or make the PSP much more attractive to publishers and developers some how. Digital distribution does help this as it can be a higher rate of return for the publisher. The other benifit is that it creates a much lower barrier to entry for small studios and indepentant designers. Fantastic games like World of Goo would never have made it in the pre-digital distribution era, but thanks to the wonders of the Interwebs, we have alot more small studios making quality stuff.
What the PSP Go! does have going for it, should MS ever bring a portable to market, is that it has a head start, but unless Sony can get games or applications out that excite people, it's not going anywhere.
Dropping UMDs - hello? Honestly is that a good move, if they had some new format AND UMDs (which suck - but that's what we have) then maybe. No physical media for games is stupid. How do you give a game? How do you borrow a game? Downloads are nice, but physical items have a lot of advantages.
No second analog stick? This is too moronic to be true - I think Sony will have this, and we're supposed to see this as a huge win, don't let them make a sucker out of you: dual sticks should have been there all along and really should be the seen as fundamental - this is not a "whizzbang feature". This is like the PS3's rumble.
Why the hell does it slide? It still can't protect the display. Nintendo have shown the way here too - a folding design is the right way to go.
What I want to know is: What are the games like? What's the battery life? Can I actually pocket it? Sorry Sony but you have a lot to do to evict the DSi from my pocket.
Don't even fathom that the PSP2 will look anything like that "artist's rendering." I mean, COME ON, when has a console (portable or not) ever looked even slightly similar to an artists render? I could bring up at least two dozen examples of images proving that they never look even close to what any of the artist renders look like.
I can't believe you fell for that. Honestly. To believe that there won't be a second memory stick on the PSP2?
Do you even know what the top complaints about the PSP were, and the top "must have" features on Sony's survey were(after it was taken)? Guess what? Two analog sticks was right up there near the top, so it's almost a guarantee that that will appear on the PSP2.
As for games, that's an E3 announcement. For all we know, according to the current console lifespan, that could be an E3 2010 announcement, along with the PSP2 as a console. The PSP is only 4 years old.
Yet another media article that's fallen into the trap about the PSP2. Before any other person fathoms posting any rumor that the PSP2 is coming out this year, answer me this: When, if ever, has a console been officially announced the same year it's coming out?
Answer: Never.
Also, I sincerely doubt that Sony is dropping hard copies of games entirely. They will probably not be using UMD, but as the market has it, hard copies of games still sell well. They may use something as simple as a memory stick, but it'll be there. Full digital download is a bad idea, especially with storage space as a notable factor, and companies such as Time Warner/Comcast being stupid and limiting monthly bandwidth.
As for the slide design... I'm not a fan. It's always bothered me when I've gamed with it (mostly on phones), and I'd expect it to here. It's just plain uncomfortable to play with that design for more than maybe a half hour.
Sony NEEDS them to make the PSP GO work but will probably dump them ASAP. So why should they help make it a success?
Downloads only could play right into Nintendos hands. Not what Sony needs right now.
1. Get rid of Memory Sticks. SDHC cards are so much more available and universal so I could at least swap cards between different devices. (I would settle for support of both Memory Stick Duo and SDHC, with one slot for each, but I'm not crazy enough to think Sony will stop support completely for their own Memory format.)
2. If the new PSP is going UMD-less, how about a utility that will let me us my older PSP to transfer UMDs to the new model, either directly through a USB cable (proprietary cable, I assume) or via my computer. I mean letting me use my PSP-2000 as essentially a USB UMD drive to back up my UMDs to my computer and transfer them to the new model would be a very acceptable alternative to having to go through Sony to get it done.
1) Easy to use app store that allows for purchasing over the interwebs.
2) Lots of PS1 and PS2 games available for under $5.
3) Switch to SD cards so that people aren't paying a premium for Sony's asinine proprietary memory sticks.
4) Connection to PS3 and potentially some way of streaming HULU and other content.
5) Do away with the slider design. Too much potential for breakage.
6) A prayer.
I also feel its unlikely that Sony will add support for UMDs in the future via an accessory. The history of system add-ons is failed with commercial failures, and I don't see a stand alone UMDdrive doing any differently. People who want to continue playing their old PSP games are more likely to keep their PSP then buy a PSP Go and an accessory to play their old games on it. Add in the fact Sony has all but abandoned the UMD, as well any paranoid delusions Sony may have over piracy, and the theoretical accessories chances come to about nil.
The most likely option I see for the PSP's library is to make old titles available for download similar to XBox Originals on Live and Sony on PSN store. That way people can get old titles they missed, and maybe help the sales of some of the earlier PSP games that came out when Sony couldn't market the system to save its life.
There is the chance I am completely wrong with this. For all I know, Sony will have a USB UMD drive ready when they make the official announcement about the PSP Go. It just seems really unlikely to me given the history of the video game industry.
- by wolvesgod May 13, 2009 1:14 AM PDT
- "At this point, though, we just don't know what Sony is planning. But after using both the DS and the DSi, I can say that if the PSP Go! sports most (if not all) of the features 1Up and I have come up with, I don't see any reason why it can't hold its own in the space. It might not have dual screens, but superior graphics, a better display, and a store that makes finding and playing games much simpler than traveling to Gamestop, certainly counts for something. And a huge library of classic games won't hurt either.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (31 Comments)I'm excited to see what Sony comes up with. It could revolutionize the industry. Who's with me?"
Uhhhh: If your talking about it being revolutionizing with superior graphics yeah your right, but download without going to a store Apple did that, and if your talking about it being backwards compatible... uh your 5 generations late GBC did that... and if your talking about it being able to flip open DS did that already.... I can't see it being revolutionizing anywhere even with graphics sorry.