[News] [Computer Gaming]
Gamasutra has tipped me off to a recent interview between United Press International and Peter Dille, Sony's Vice President of Marketing, regarding the future of the PSP. Now, I don't know exactly what pulling power the VP of Marketing has at Sony, or how much he's in the loop on Sony's directions in handheld development, but I have to say on the basis of this interview I'm a little worried for the future of my shiny black portable friend.
Sony seems directionless and reactive in discussing the plans for the PSP's future. (Well, these days you can replace "plans for the PSP's future" with pretty much any other topic you care to name, but still.)
Support for UMD movie format declining? The focus of UMDs will change to "target" the PSP-buying demographic. Which is to say, we're no longer going to see releases of romantic comedies for a device owned largely by teen to thirty-something males. I suppose that's better than nothing, but it still begs the whole question of why I'd buy any UMDs at all when I already own the movie on DVD, have no particular compulsion to watch it on a tiny, tiny screen, and could in any case burn it to a digital format if I really absolutely had to view it on the PSP.
It's particularly telling that when asked about the lack of original and quality titles on the PSP a year after launch, Dille's response doesn't mention a single title that isn't a port from a console, or a franchise extension from a console, with the exception of Loco Roco. (And most of the games he cites are actually pretty awful, too, Grand Theft Auto excepted.) He's effectively saying that Sony is going to continue to offer original PSP content by recycling mainstream console junk and attempting to cram it onto tiny, tiny UMDs. Have Sony learned nothing from Nintendo's success in the handheld market?
I think this is where it's really hurting Sony to not have any first party game development. Nintendo, of course, has a quality stable of titles and designers that it can trot out to show off any new system. Microsoft has Bungie and Rare under their wing. Sony hasn't really needed anything of this sort till now, because it's never really innovated - it's just done what everyone else was doing, but better and cheaper. Now that it's really the first to deliver a semi-credible portable media centre targeted at a mature market, it's suffering because no developer wants to be the first to stick their neck out and make something that really takes advantage of the PSP (and therefore will be difficult to port to the DS or PS2).
How will the PSP compete with the DS (UPI asks)? Well, Sony are going to be pushing its multimedia capacities. That's right, the same multimedia capacities that they've progressively neutered with each firmware release. The same multimedia capacities that require you to reformat your video into an exclusive format before you can watch it. The same capacities that you have to shell out a good $100AUD for a decent memory stick before you can use them. Good plan, Sony.
It goes on in this vein. About the only ray of hope is that the PSOne emulation is still on track for later this year, although of course it too will require the chunky expensive memory stick and the ability to access the internet.
Here's an idea, Sony. Three simple steps to get the PSP back on track.
1) Decide whether it's a game device with multimedia benefits, or a multimedia centre that just happens to play games, and deliver the marketing and support to sell it that way. Stop trying to ride two horses at once.
2) Spend the money, threaten the families of developers, do whatever it takes to get unique quality content available on the PSP. It has some decent titles, but it's yet to find a killer app in a year when the DS is churning them out every two months.
3) The consumer is not your enemy. When I'm scared to download your latest firmware for fear that it will make my PSP worse, something is wrong. The potential damage done by homebrew and/or piracy is as nothing next to the loss of consumer trust and confidence. Make your firmware updates functional, friendly, and well justified.
I love my little Sony portable, and I really hope that the big bad executives at Sony don't let it die on the vine.
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8 comments:
In the interview, the VP answers like a man simply reading off the press release. This is never a good sign.
If only Sony were listening to it's customers. But that would be stupid.
Well, it would only be stupid if they had actually met you. Surely they can have no objection to listening to customers in general ;-)
That's fair enough, too.
For no reason, I will write plumber and vacuum cleaner. For no reason.
Sony are really losing the plot. It used to be that the console division propped up the less successful parts of the company - now it feels like the console division is the weakest part.
Sony does lack a "killer ap" at the moment, but to be honest I'm not sure one would save the PSP. The Dreamcast had several, and look what happened to that.
At the same time we need to remember that it took a while for the PS2 to build up steam. It had very average launch games too.
That said, it's not looking good.
The Dreamcast also had a high price point, weak marketing, and despite some fantastic games, it still didn't have a wide software selection.
GTA: Liberty City Stories was a great start, and I think Silent Hill Origins will help when it comes out, but what the PSP needs is support from Square-Enix, support for gaming over the internet, about $100 off the cost, and a multimedia functionality that can be used by someone who's never visited a console hacking site.
There look to be a couple of good RPGs out there. I still want to play Tales of Eternia.
And I just bought Medievil for the PSP. The first level is almost identical to the console first level but the second level changes a bit. I'll do a write up on what I thought if I ever finish the thing.
I've heard nothing but bad things about the PSP port of Medievil, but good luck anyway.
Tales of Eternia I'll probably enjoy, but it's still only a couple of months ago I finished Tales of Phantasia so I need more of a break before I fire it up.
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