Signs of trouble for PSP?

[quote name='sketch226']I'm sorry I just can't be enthusiastic about Sony's hardware anymore. After a Playstation and a pair of Playstation 2s have failed on me, I can't help but think that if I spend $200+ on a PSP it's just going to do the same thing. Until Sony can re-establish themselves as a company that can build hardware that lasts, they're not getting any more of my money.

(Also, I don't want to hear any BS excuse about their hardware performance because they dont make money/loose money/whatever with the PS2. It's dumb and irrelevant. If you manufacture a console, no matter if you're making money off it or not, it should last as long as games are still being produced for the system under normal usage and conditions. Period.)[/quote]


They might now, there was a lawsuet because people were complaining about how the Ps2 part was broken and then there was evidence they knew about it and were sued
 
When I first saw the PSP during E3, I was blown away. Then I thought how it would be ports, ports, and more ports. And how it would break on me every week. And I have to buy Sony Memory Sticks to listen to Music. I can't watch any video I want on it. And that beautiful screen would be ruined in a week. Then I look at the DS. Its new, its innovative, and its fresh. Nintendo has some good concepts coming. My vote goes towards the DS. My PS2 busted on me, and thats not even portable :shock: Imagine a portable system with moving parts... recipe for disaster. Sony will get screw if they don't include a lifetime warranty or something. They might have to hire hundreds more Customer Service reps. Ok, I'm done now. GO DS!!!! 8)
 
[quote name='WildWop'][quote name='daphatty']I understand the reasoning behind keeping UMD proprietary but that doesn't bode well for UMD movies. Such a format would probably be a huge success in Japan but it would flounder stateside. Don't expect to see UMD movies here.[/quote]

If they gave out a UMD version of movies when you buy the special edition, now THAT would be a great idea. I wouldn't buy a UMD by itself, however..[/quote]

I would like to see how the old school famicom games were distributed. Sony would own a kiosk, and they would despense or burn, whatever way is more economical, a copy of the game or movie, and then we would not have to go through this "Whah EB only gave me a penny for this game" BS.


Sorry, I comma spliced the crap out of that last blurb
 
[quote name='sying'][quote name='WildWop'][quote name='daphatty']I understand the reasoning behind keeping UMD proprietary but that doesn't bode well for UMD movies. Such a format would probably be a huge success in Japan but it would flounder stateside. Don't expect to see UMD movies here.[/quote]

If they gave out a UMD version of movies when you buy the special edition, now THAT would be a great idea. I wouldn't buy a UMD by itself, however..[/quote]

I would like to see how the old school famicom games were distributed. Sony would own a kiosk, and they would despense or burn, whatever way is more economical, a copy of the game or movie, and then we would not have to go through this "Whah EB only gave me a penny for this game" BS.


Sorry, I comma spliced the crap out of that last blurb[/quote]

So if I'm reading you properly, you'd prefer to pay for a game and never get anything back for it because all you'd owned was the software itself? Sure, it could be cheaper to get games this way, but once you throw your money into the hat, it's GONE. No lasting value for any game.
 
[quote name='epobirs']Yes, plenty of us here are GBA owners but the typical employed adult doesn't have enough free time away from home to make a portable game system that enticing at such a price. At the same time the price puts it out of the reach of kids and will make their parents gasp if requested to buy it.[/quote]

I'll throw another stick on the bonfire and ask if perhaps Sony's business model and the portable market are completely incompatable. Sony makes money from the sales of games, not systems. Even if they manage to move an impressive amount of PSPs, are most adults hard-core gamers to the point that they'd actually buy enough games to make the platform profitable?

I expect "I bought a PSP and Madden, and now it sits on a shelf" to be a common utterance.

[quote name='epobirs']Heck, with some engineering refinements taking advantage of current production process sizes it wouldn't be that hard to make a portable GameCube that sold for that price and ran the existing library. The question is, who's buying?[/quote]

I've thought that Nintendo's choice of the mini-disks for the Cube has had a painfully obvious up-shot since launch. Nintendo could clearly release some kind of Cubeboy if they really wanted, but they stick to their current rate of progression for a reason. I wouldn't be surprised to see that Cubeboy move down the pipe a little faster if the PSP does at all well, though.
 
[quote name='trq'][quote name='epobirs']Yes, plenty of us here are GBA owners but the typical employed adult doesn't have enough free time away from home to make a portable game system that enticing at such a price. At the same time the price puts it out of the reach of kids and will make their parents gasp if requested to buy it.[/quote]

I'll throw another stick on the bonfire and ask if perhaps Sony's business model and the portable market are completely incompatable. Sony makes money from the sales of games, not systems. Even if they manage to move an impressive amount of PSPs, are most adults hard-core gamers to the point that they'd actually buy enough games to make the platform profitable?

I expect "I bought a PSP and Madden, and now it sits on a shelf" to be a common utterance.

[quote name='epobirs']Heck, with some engineering refinements taking advantage of current production process sizes it wouldn't be that hard to make a portable GameCube that sold for that price and ran the existing library. The question is, who's buying?[/quote]

I've thought that Nintendo's choice of the mini-disks for the Cube has had a painfully obvious up-shot since launch. Nintendo could clearly release some kind of Cubeboy if they really wanted, but they stick to their current rate of progression for a reason. I wouldn't be surprised to see that Cubeboy move down the pipe a little faster if the PSP does at all well, though.[/quote]

THe same worry was once applied to Nintendo's dependence on the GameBoy with a perception that kids were only getting the unit as part of the Pokemon price of admission. nintendo's business model is no diferent from Sony's. They need to move a high ratio of games to consoles. If the hardware isn't subsidized it reduces the difficulty of reaching profits on a system but that is just variables for the spreadsheet.

If you can get people to buy the PSP I see no reason to doubt the majority of them will buy a fair number of games. Unless the games are overpriced, which they shouldn't since the media cost is substantially lower than the GameBoy ROM carts, they should sell as well as they do for any console. There is little reason to doubt the PSP will offering plenty of attractive games on the basis of the developers involved and the capability of the platform. The issue is whether that platform is being brought to market prematurely. If Sony had held off a year and was able to announce the product for well under $200 its fate would be much less in doubt.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a portable GameCube. The existing library requires full NTSC resolution for the monitor which in turn requires a minimum screen size to be legible. At best you'd end up with something similar in size to a portable DVD player. This is portable in a technical sense but not the pocketable ease of a GameBoy. The media doesn't help all that much. THe size makes it easier to carry the games around but it doesn't change the size of the hardware much. The existing GameCube could have used standard DVDs without enlarging by more than an inch in width and depth. There is some advantage in battery life due to the lesser weight of the small discs requiring less muscle in the drive motor.
 
[quote name='WildWop'][quote name='daphatty']I understand the reasoning behind keeping UMD proprietary but that doesn't bode well for UMD movies. Such a format would probably be a huge success in Japan but it would flounder stateside. Don't expect to see UMD movies here.[/quote]

If they gave out a UMD version of movies when you buy the special edition, now THAT would be a great idea. I wouldn't buy a UMD by itself, however..[/quote]
now that is a great idea... so hot even, that you should send a letter
 
[quote name='jetblac'][quote name='WildWop'][quote name='daphatty']I understand the reasoning behind keeping UMD proprietary but that doesn't bode well for UMD movies. Such a format would probably be a huge success in Japan but it would flounder stateside. Don't expect to see UMD movies here.[/quote]

If they gave out a UMD version of movies when you buy the special edition, now THAT would be a great idea. I wouldn't buy a UMD by itself, however..[/quote]
now that is a great idea... so hot even, that you should send a letter[/quote]

They are not going to do it. Thats like getting 2 DVD's for the price of one. What would happen is most people would not have the PSP and therefore hit ebay for the $5 they could make off the UMD. OR tradei tinto eb Games etc for a small amount of pocket change. Those that wanted it just for the PSP wouldnt buy the DVD they would get it second hand. Therefore those movies sold would be less than the potential sales if the UMD wasnt included.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']Am I the only one that kinda wants to see the PSP fail? Seems that they are talking a lot of shit for a system that at this point is not particularly practical. I may be wrong because I have not been reading many articles on it, but it seems like the system will be good or bad based on a whole lot of "ifs".

Plus another part of me just doesn't want to see Sony coming down on Nintendo's handheld market.[/quote]

At this point I do not plan on purchasing a PSP, however I would still like to see it have some success. Consumers will only gain by the competitve market place created by the PSP, DS, and SP. We should see enhancement in quality and innovation...if not why bother developing a new system at all?
 
Is it just me or is Sony stating to just use the Playstation name to make up for mistakes other divisions in there company have made?

That Psx "hybrid" they released in Japan is an example. When it was 1st announced it got ALOT of media attention for the simple fact it had a built in ps2 system.

I'm starting to think other non gaming segments within sony have too much input on whats suppose to be gaming machines.

I own all 3 home consoles now & play my ps2 the most not because it's a "Playstaion" but because it has the most exclusive games. If they put ALL there attention on games they'll be fine but if not they will fail.
 
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