Please Respond: What Pro's/Con's do you have with PSP? (Marketing Class Project)

[doubledown]

I'm working on a marketing project and I wanted to get a sample of what people's PRO's and CON's are with the PSP. What would you change, if anything?

Please refer to this thread about helping build the ultimate handheld system:
http://cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1915930#post1915930


Thanks for all the replies, it's much appreciated.

[norkusa]

Pro's: Portable movie player. Easy to hack and play emulators, ISO's on.

Con's: Expensive. 1 & 2 gb memory sticks you'll have to buy for it ain't cheap either.

[Sarang01]

Well for me:

Cons: smudges easily, screen as well as the rest of it. D-Pad isn't terrific but not bad. Disc load times.

Pros: Kickass WS LCD screen. Awesome looking UMD video of which I have two, one of which is cheaper than the standard DVD. Analog nub is another perk considering HOW many other portables had one? NGP is the only wide gaming one that comes to mind.

Changes: Make it not so easily smudged. I'd also discount or completely dump the UMD movie market and instead make album hybrids that have better sound than CD's as well as playing the music video's on disc with some commentary or "making of" album and video featurettes or both of these. Also they would only cost like $2-3 more than the average album. I would also license out Philips, Panasonic and Nakamichi to make PSP's to help lower the production costs as well as making it the only PMP people will think about.

[Skylander7]

I don't own one, but I would definitely list some cons as product reliability (dead pixels with so many units), poor customer support for defective units, and high price point for games and movies. Why pay $20 for a movie you already own on DVD? Plus, there aren't really many games that stand out IMO. I've played a few, but nothing that makes me want to throw the money down on a system. The only pros that I can think of are the basic product features.

[m0dem]

Pros: awesome gui, web browser, ability to interact with other psp owners, system updates, great graphics.
Cons: Fingerprints are smudges on the screen.

[62t]

no one mentions the short battery life yet...

[Chris in Cali]

Cons: Load times, lack of games, expensive, very bad control issues.

Pros: Good graphics, mp3 player, umd movie player which good for traveling.

[RelentlessRolento]

Cons: Entire system is one screen making it wasy to scratch, d-pad is horrible (mainly for fighters), shoudlve made another analog stick

Pros: everything else is great.

[k9homan]

CONS: Not to mention the shape of the psp, if you are not use to it; your hand will cramp up after around 15 mins of play; battery life; stupid $20 umd formated movies that you can't play on your dvd players; only about 1/2 dozen must have games;
PROS: Good screen, 3d graphics; great interface;

http://card.mygamercard.net/gel/j6snowman.png (http://profile.mygamercard.net/j6snowman)

[Roufuss]

For you people saying lack of games, have you even tried out any of the PSP's library, or are you just assuming? I already saw one guy who dosen't even own a PSP but had to throw in his opinion. I mean, let's look at some of the awesome games the PSP has, imo, and many others:

Metal Gear Acid 1 / 2
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Daxter
Field Commander
Mega Man Powered Up
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Guilty Gear XX Reload
Burnout Legends
X-Men Legends 2
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (before it was on ps2)
Me and My Katamari
DBZ: Shin Budokai
Hot Shots Golf Fore
Lumines
Twisted Metal
Wipeout Pure
Tales of Eternia (Destiny 2)
Breath of Fire 3
Capcom Classics Remixed

I mean, yea, maybe these games don't interest YOU, per se, but to say the system has a lack of good games is ridiculous, and this was just making a list from glancing over at my bookshelf. Sure, some of them may also be ports, but stuff like Tales of Destiny 2 hitting 70 - 80 on ps2, I'd much rather own it for $50 on PSP. All of the games listed have virtually zero loading times too, except for X-Men Legends 2.

This isn't even throwing out games that reviewers didn't like but game players do, like Legend of Heroes, Popolocrois, or Monster Hunter.

The only con I'd throw down is the battery life, and the screen smudges easily.

[lionheart4life]

Pros: Looks sleek, very nice screen. Handles a variety of multimedia functions easily.

Cons: Games are too expensive for a portable system. The cost of a larger memory card to really use functions like playing mp3 or movies should factor into the overall cost of the system, and you could probably buy a portable DVD player and small mp3 player much cheaper.

[Dr Mario Kart]

not enough turn based(not action) j-rpgs that I dont already own for the PS1

Since my main evaluation for a system is games, I really dont have anything else to say about it.

[Sarang01]

For you people saying lack of games, have you even tried out any of the PSP's library, or are you just assuming? I already saw one guy who dosen't even own a PSP but had to throw in his opinion. I mean, let's look at some of the awesome games the PSP has, imo, and many others:

Metal Gear Acid 1 / 2
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Daxter
Field Commander
Mega Man Powered Up
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Guilty Gear XX Reload
Burnout Legends
X-Men Legends 2
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (before it was on ps2)
Me and My Katamari
DBZ: Shin Budokai
Hot Shots Golf Fore
Lumines
Twisted Metal
Wipeout Pure
Tales of Eternia (Destiny 2)
Breath of Fire 3
Capcom Classics Remixed

I mean, yea, maybe these games don't interest YOU, per se, but to say the system has a lack of good games is ridiculous, and this was just making a list from glancing over at my bookshelf. Sure, some of them may also be ports, but stuff like Tales of Destiny 2 hitting 70 - 80 on ps2, I'd much rather own it for $50 on PSP. All of the games listed have virtually zero loading times too, except for X-Men Legends 2.

This isn't even throwing out games that reviewers didn't like but game players do, like Legend of Heroes, Popolocrois, or Monster Hunter.

The only con I'd throw down is the battery life, and the screen smudges easily.

Man those reviewers deserve to be bitchslapped for a bad Popo review. #3 would be great to see in the U.S. and those assholes aren't helping.
I'd add:
SMT Devil Summoner
Princess Crown
Gradius Collection
DJ Max Portable
Astonishia Story
to those.

[Quackzilla]

I'm overall satisfied, analog and a huge 16:9 display are awesome, and there are a bunch of great games (Field Commander is AWESOME).

My only con would be the case. Having a layer of clear plastic over the black case looks really sexy, but it picks up fingerprints way too easy.

[Roufuss]

Cons: Games are too expensive for a portable system.

Games are like... $5 more expensive then most first party nintendo titles, and I've already put in more time with Monster Hunter then it took for me to 100% New Super Mario Bros, so I'll gladly pay over an extra $5 for a longer experience. I haven't seen a $50 PSP game since GTA.

Speaking of which, Outpost usually has awesome deals on PSP titles, or just look around the trading forum... Monster Hunter was the first PSP game I've paid $40 for in a long time, and I own most of the big games (I even managed to grab Field Commander for $30).

It may sound like I'm some raving PSP fanboy, but no, I own a DS and a ton of games for it too, I just think the PSP gets a real bad rap by alot of people for no reason.

[asianxcore]

Pros:

-Great graphics for something so small.
-Love the widescreen LCD screen
-Being able to put music and movies onto the PSP

Cons:
-D Pad sucks for fighting games
-Still find it hard to get used to the analog stick
-Too fragile. Smudges and scratches too easily
-Not enough original games out. Ports for more than their console counterparts

[lionheart4life]

Games are like... $5 more expensive then most first party nintendo titles, and I've already put in more time with Monster Hunter then it took for me to 100% New Super Mario Bros, so I'll gladly pay over an extra $5 for a longer experience. I haven't seen a $50 PSP game since GTA.

Speaking of which, Outpost usually has awesome deals on PSP titles, or just look around the trading forum... Monster Hunter was the first PSP game I've paid $40 for in a long time, and I own most of the big games (I even managed to grab Field Commander for $30).

It may sound like I'm some raving PSP fanboy, but no, I own a DS and a ton of games for it too, I just think the PSP gets a real bad rap by alot of people for no reason.

Yeah, I specifically had Liberty City Stories in mind when I thought of that. Don't get me wrong, I think $35 is too expensive for a DS game as well. I guess I'm just spoiled by a lot of cheap console games, and the portable games tend to hold their prices for a while. I still can't find Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for cheap and while I'm sure its great I'm also sure I would finish it in under 10 hours.

Outpost.com is great for preordering stuff for a lot of systems, but I didn't take that into account since most places do sell PSP games for full retail at launch and its not easy to find deals like $23 for MG Acid 2 at launch anywhere else.

[Moxio]

Pros:

Looks very sleek and stylish
Good for various multimedia
Decent graphics

Cons:

Very few good games
Movies suck on such a small screen
Very expensive
Requires numerous upgrades
Made by Sony

[FurryCurry]

PROS: Beautiful wide screen to showcase the beautiful graphics. Extra features such as the web browser, music and video player, etc. Games that take advatage of the system's capabilities.

CONS: Sony. The system has a lot of room for improvement but there doesn't seem to be that focus from Sony right now. Remember that PSP update hoax with the touch screen? That would be so cool. Or even a new d-pad that's at least on par with the Dual Shock 2. Or a better way to navigate the menus (why have thumbnails in a list when they would be better suited in a grid). Sony does make changes though. I mean it only took them a year to add the abilty to go forward and back through different videos while viewing one. *sigh*

[jkam]

Cons: Load times - suck for a portable system. I usually don't buy certain games due to the load times.

Controls - The D-Pad is really sub-par...they need to fix it. The analog nub is ok but I would prefer it be recessed into the system similar to how the NGPC was setup. It doesn't feel sturdy enough in its current form.

Games - While there are a number of good titles available they are not enough PSP only games. It's nice to have certain games in portable form but they need more games like Daxter, Syphon Filter, and the like.

Hardware - My square button works but you can tell its too close to the screen because its tilted up a little akward. My UMD door is raised on one side a little bit. I have no dead pixels but is there are way too many of the systems with them in my opinion. I know these are nitpicky things but when it comes to the quality of the hardware its lacking a bit.

Pros: Nice large screen - The first time you see it you can't believe your playing a portable.

Console experience - It does offer the console experience on the go when the game is done well...back to my earlier statement though they need to seperate the PSP from the PS2 a little more in terms of games.

[cleaver]

Pros: 16:9 display which takes up a huge % of device, maximizing screen size for portable device
Highly customizable, PSPs are like snowflakes
Analog stick
Ability to put movies you own on DVD on memory stick
More homebrew programs than any sytem I know of
Power of hardware blows away all other prtable gaming systems

Cons: Not very user friendly for casual gamer/computer user; I have no problem converting DVDs but when I try to explain the process to anyone its like I'm talking Greek
Too expensive/fragile for children
UMD movies going way of laserdisc
You're forced to choose between homebrew and new games, so Sony makes zero money off the sizable % of people who won't upgrade FW
You NEED to buy a ton of accessories: screen protector, case, USB cable, memory card, real headphones
Dead/stuck pixels
No one has come close to beating Nintendo head-to-head in portable console gaming (see Lynx, Nomad, TG16 portable, NGage)

That being said I think the PSP is the coolest thing ever, basically use it every day, and I hardly ever use my DS.