New Sony PSP Go! Anyone?

The Game Room
1

I’ve had a PSP since launch and though there are not a huge number of awesome games for it the games that are good are spectacular. I also use the PSP for many things other than just a game machine so you could say I support the system.

With that said what do you think of this new design? It’s mind blowing that that didn’t take this opportunity to stick a second analog stick on there as there is clearly space for one. This is the ONE thing that could really give it a true competitive edge against the DS since you’d be able to play 3-D games, FPS etc… exactly how they are played on a console. I really can’t understand what the hell they were thinking. It’s the ONE thing everyone has been begging for and they ignored it.

Also, I’m curious how they will convince current owners to upgrade when this thing doesn’t take UMDs. What are we supposed to do? Carry around 2 PSPs?

Otherwise I like the design.

2

The PSP Go isn’t meant to be a new system, just a refresh of the existing sysmte, so there was never a chance Sony would put a second stick on it because it would split the game-buying base. As it is, Sony has already said that every PSP game that is released in Japan will be released on the PSN for download the same day. With the release of the PSP Go, I’m sure that’ll happen in America too.

And I don’t think they designed it so current PSP owners would want to upgrade as the rumors say they’ll still push the regular PSP and still release games on UMD.

3

It’s clearly a new system. It doesn’t take the cartridges that a regular PSP does. In fact, if you recall, the original PS didn’t have analog sticks and they rolled those out into the same install base, which eventually took over the entire base so every was required to get a dual-analog controller so I don’t know why you would think they wouldn’t throw a second one on here as it clearly didn’t hurt the PS.

The gains in consumer interest in truly playing console style FPS games on the PSP would far outweigh the limited number of people who would be pissed about the split capabilities. No doubt in my mind there.

As far as downloadable releases of your regular UMD games unless they are planning some sort of “game credit” where you can send in your UMD and get a download key for the Go version then they can fuck off. I can’t imagine many users are going to want to rebuy games to play on what is essentially the same system just with less capability. That effort will be a total flop.

And finally, it’s true they say they are going to push both SKUs but we all know from experience with Nintendo that is just there way of testing the waters. Remember Nintendo said the DS wasn’t replacing the Advance? They were both going to live on and Nintendo was going to support the Adv for years to come. I think it took about 6 months before the writing was on the wall for the Adv. and all the main companies stopped making games for it.

4

Was the DSi a “new system” or a refresh of the already existing DS/DS Lite platform? The same thing with the PlayStation/PSone and the PS2 and PS2 Slim. This is a reworking of an already existing system, nothing more, nothing less. Removing UMD makes it a more extreme refresh than most, but the system specs are still the same for the PSP games any gamemakers will eventually develop for it.

ETA: $20 controllers does not equal a $200 handheld system. That much should be obvious.

Rumor has it, some sort of downloadable credit system is in the works.

The DS and the GBA co-existed for three years before developers stopped supporting the system. And major games were being released for the system as late as 2006. It’s useful life was six years, completely normal for a console.

With the PSP’s current useful life at 4+ years, expect a real “PSP 2” to be announced at next year’s E3.

5

This looks too much like a phone.

The NGage was a phone.

6

The DSi includes functionality the DS Lite didn’t, which contradicts your PSP point. The DSi features two cameras, on-board memory (allowing access to a DSi exclusive store), faster processors and double the ram–all features which fragment the user base.

As such, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have expected more from Sony in regards to the PSP Go. A second analog stick would fragment the userbase no more than the DualShock controller did on the original PlayStation. In that case, most developers merely provided two controls schemes, one for each controller.

As for my impressions: I dig the concept, not too keen on the execution. Every mock-up I saw before this looked much better than the final product, which is a shame. The lack of a second analog-stick is disappointing, but not a deal-breaker. However, what the hell’s up with the location of the primary stick? Why does Sony always stick them in retarded positions, this one seemingly being the worst yet?

I was also hoping it would include a touchscreen of some kind, which would enable it to be used even in its closed form; now it’s practically worthless as an input device unless the controls are slid out. It would also allow it to compete more directly with the DS, which makes the omission all the more surprising.

I love that they ditched the horrible UMD–this is the PSP they should have come out with originally. But alas, I fear it may be too little too late, as this is a bundle of missed opportunity. They had the right idea, they just didn’t take it as far as they needed to.

7

I love that they got rid of the UMDs. Those are an annoying part of the system, and a reason I love the Homebrew Community. I backed up all the games I bought to ISO, so I can copy to and from the PSP without worrying about finding the disk, or listening to it spin, or worry about dust.

The concept of an entirely cartridgeless game system is cool, on the one hand, but sucky on the other. If you don’t have the ability to backup to your computer or their servers you are stuck buying games and figuring out what to keep and what to get rid of. We will see how they handle that.

Bluetooth is neat. But, if you still can’t play your own soundtrack in most games I don’t care about hearing what the game has to say, half of the time.

I don’t care about the second analog stick as much as others. And, I see why they can’t add it (Nor a touch screen) without segmenting the PSP market perhaps more than they want to. They’d be asking developers to develop for two entirely different systems at the same time.

Perhaps the next iteration they will be willing to jump forward and create a PSP 2.0 that includes touch screen and a second analog stick. So, development on the old PSP would go away slowly but surely. (Like is happening with the PS2.)

pat

8

There’s likely a reason it looks like a phone: there’s evidence that they’re using the shell of one of Sony’s failed phone designs for the PSP reboot.

And yeah, I’m not surprised Sony’s not taking the risk by making the possibility for Go-only games with dual analog support, but, seriously… the system has a few shades less power than a PS2, but almost none of the games that take advantage of 3D space can be played precisely when there’s only one analog. The PSP section is the smallest section of any game store, and a huge, must-have title comes out for it only about once a year. They need to go ahead and take a chance, as I’m sure Nintendo will with the as-yet-unseen DSi games and some DSiWare.

Here’s some interesting news for anyone considering a PSPurchase, tho: Sony may be considering using the improved DRM in the latest PSP models to enact a downloadable rental service for games. Sure, maybe you wouldn’t want to buy a UMD movie or pay $30 for the bite-sized God of War on PSP, but would you pay around $6 to play those same for a couple of weeks?

Whatever Sony decides for the Go, it’s definitely going to change some things for them. The Qore video mentions they’re not getting rid of the PSP-3000 yet, so they’re not totally doing away with the in-store model yet.

One question keeps popping up in my head, tho: Where are you going to be able to buy a PSP Go? As we’ve been over in a previous thread, platform holders frequently sell their system at a loss in order to get into people’s hands the capability to buy software, accessories, and services that actually have profit potential. Some estimates put profit figures for the PSP at about $8 (or about 4% of the system’s cost) as late as last year, and that’s without new, expensive hardware. Meanwhile, the estimated markup on games is about 25% for retailers.

So, if you’re a brick-and-mortar store with a limited amount of shelf space, advertising, and distribution for game systems, are you going to go with stocking a traditional system for which you can add-on the usual high-profit accessories and games? Or use those same resources for this new thing, for which you get one (probably very low) markup, and after that the consumer goes directly to the source for online content? Note that this isn’t analogous to the iPod + iTunes model, since some levels of iPod have around a 50% to 70% total markup before a single download is considered.