Is the PSP Dead?
By AndrewG009 5 Comments
I will never forget the day I opened up the crisp cardboard box containing my first PSP. That box didn't just hold some sort of gadget or toy, inside that box at the time lie dormant the very things of which dreams are made. I remember when I first saw what would become the Playstation Portable. I was haplessly streaming videos from E3 2004 and trying to keep an eye on whatever information I could via whatever site was claiming to have the most updated information on the most regular basis. Looking back at the time, I was kind of pathetic in my geekdom, but nonetheless a moment I fondly look back on. When my eyes gazed upon it, I was dumbstruck. I couldn't look away. The Playstation 2 was still moving by the boatload and the Playstation 3 was a madman's distant dream. The PSP could very possibly fill the void. It wouldn't be difficult when matched up against the competition at the time. Microsoft was still fumbling slightly with the Xbox and Xbox Live service, Apple wouldn't unveil the iPhone for sometime and Nintendo was knee-deep in the Gamecube and trying to shake the image of pushing the most kid-friendly system, both a blessing or a stigma, while showing off what would become the DS. It seemed like compared to the only offering on the table at the time, the PSP was poised to blow the DS out of the water.
The PSP was virtually a Swiss Army knife to many. Besides playing titles on the proprietary UMD format (really, thanks so much for that Sony), the little machine could play music, movies via UMD or loaded on a memory stick, could access the internet / Playstation Network and with a hacked system it became possible for gamers to easily play Playstation 1, Super Nintendo, Sega, Dreamcast or any other title compatible with the emulation software. Following the release of the Playstation 3, remote play via PSP to PS3 connectivity became possible and is still being fleshed out based on the much flaunted ten-year plan Sony has for the Playstation 3.
So is the PSP dead? And if it isn't, why then is Sony releasing the PSP Go?
It's always remarkable, be it a failure or not, to watch a genre move forward, but when a gaming platform makes the same progress, it is always interesting to watch. This however, is not the case with the PSP Go. I'm still trying to imagine what exactly is the direction Sony wants to take the market, but if the design of the Go is any indication whatsoever, they want to hold all of the cards via downloadable content. And not just minor updates or simple DLC, I'm talking about downloading entire titles and removing retail marketeers out of the equation in their entirety so that every dollar, euro and cent goes to Sony in one incarnation or another. Design-wise the Go is all about mobile platforming via downloaded content. All one needs to do is look at the integrated 16 gigs of memory. But why take retail out of the equation besides keeping all the money for themselves? Don't retailers like Target, Best Buy, Amazon.com and even Gamestop give Sony the marketing coverage it needs? Is the average Sony consumer really that informed to base all of their purchases off what they see on the PSN? Personally, I think Sony is hoping for just that.
I've tried caring about the PSP Go since I saw it, but I just can't bring myself to begin appreciating it in any further capacity than wanting to try it out, and this is coming from a proud PSP owner. I love my PSP, I want Sony to do better in this console generation so that they'll still be around when the dust settles and a new generation is at hand, but at this rate, I'm sincerely concerned. The Nintendo DS and DSi have both buried Sony, capturing a significant amount of the handheld / mobile market share and to make it worse for the PSP Go, Apple has made up significant ground with the iPhone / iPod Touch. Add to the mix that there really doesn't seem to be any indication that such success won't let up any time soon, and that's a significant problem.
My primary issue is that Sony hasn't announced any sort of strategy to allow those who already own any kind of UMD to upload them or have them on the Go, while still passing on all the costs of the product development to the early adopters. To me, it seems like Sony is significantly banking on the customer loyalty that their brand has garnered over the years, but how much more loyalty can there be if the loyal keep feeling screwed over? Take for instance the 60gb Playstation 3, which had the closest thing to acceptable backward compatibility for PS2 and PS1 titles. Instead of working to make full-backwards compatibility the standard, Sony pulled the model and it has since become nothing more than a sought after relic for those willing to be price gouged on eBay. I apologized to you once Sony, but I can't do it anymore. I have a collection of PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP titles all sitting on my shelf. Is it so much to ask that I can actually play my old games on the newer systems as opposed to getting screwed out of that simple right by being forced to purchase them again via the Playstation Network so Sony can turn another couple of bucks off of me? I applaud Final Fantasy VII for selling as it did, but what about those of us who already own the original discs and simply want to play it on their PS3? Not so much luck.
I would really like to give Sony my money, but if my original, out-of-the-box PSP is still chugging along and doing what I want it to do, when I want it to do it, then the PSP Go becomes nothing more than a superfluous amount of money. It ultimately comes across like Sony is trying to reinvent the wheel with the Go, and if this truly was the case, why not just implement phone capabilities into it? Why not be more transparent about the development process and give the gamers what they want instead of either telling us what we want or giving us what you think we want. A little inquisition can go along way to getting a desired result.
I like you Sony and we go way back, but I agree with many others that you need to seriously reevaluate what exactly it is you want to do as far as handhelds go. When Nintendo unveiled the DSi, they added just enough to warrant purchasing it, but Nintendo recognizes that it's still the clumsy little sister when compared to the hotter, more experienced system that is the DS. But, we all grow up eventually, right? It seems like the PSP Go just doesn't have enough to convince me yet that it's the hotter, sleeker version of what I already own. In the meantime, Sony please figure this out or you're going to go the way of Sega.
Best of luck.
--Andrew
To the best laid plans.
Thank you to Billy Berghammer for the piece that inspired this one.