Man, if you bought a PSP Slim last year, I feel bad for you! All those rumors and rumblings about a 3rd generation of PSP just came true this week when Sony announced that they were, in fact, going to start shipping the PSP-3000 in October. And a million Slim owners cursed!
The PSP-3000 has the same setup as the Slim, except that it has a better screen that handles glare better and allows for higher quality images (maybe an end to the ghosting problem the PSP has had since it was born?), and also features an onboard microphone. Way to rip Nintendo guys! I’m surprised they didn’t try to put a touch screen on this new one as well. No really, I am!
Let me go on record right now by saying that the PSP is my favorite system. Ever. The things you can do with it make it worth every penny (and I’m not just talking about homebrew!) But for such an awesome system to be made by a company that seems to be filled to the brim with knuckleheads that flunked Marketing 101 is a travesty. The PSP Slim was unleashed to the world (or the US, whichever term you prefer, Mwah ha ha haaaa! Take that Euros! [thanks for reading though!]) on September 5th of 2007. Not even a year ago. And a year later, we’re going to have a newer, better version? I’ve already got a PSP I’m happy with and I’m sure the 5 million other PSP owners feel the same way, so uh, Sony, how about giving us some stuff to play on the Play Station Paperweight?
I’d love to see the PSP have a library as expansive and engaging as the one we got us for the PS2. That system is seriously the new NES. You could play nothing but the PS2 for the next 10 years and still have a ton of great games waiting for you. Not so much with the PSP. I don’t have a problem with ports, hell, I love Dracula X Chronicles, Power Stone Collection, Gradius Portable, etc, but if the PSP is going to survive beyond the next couple years, Sony’s gonna have to feed it. We need more games like Crisis Core, God Of War:CoO, and yes, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (I never thought it was possible to be THAT bored playing video games. Sorry kids, hated it!) By that I mean, we need more games that give people a reason to buy a PSP.
A microphone isn’t a reason, neither is an improved screen. Fuck Skype. I have it on my computer and I’m never going to say, “Hey, I think I’ll go out and try to chat with someone on my PSP and make myself look like a bag of douche in public by talking to a game system!” It’ll sure keep the bums away though! *Big Grin* And what difference does a better screen make when you only have a handful of worthwhile games to play on it?
Here’s what I’d like to see Sony do with the PSP instead of redesigning it again:
1.Give us a huge library to choose from. Like PS2 sized. Give 3rd party devs incentives for publishing PSP-exclusive games and keep them PSP-exclusive instead of porting them to the PS2.
2.Give us an online store where you can download ANY game or movie available in a retail store, but for less. If there’s no physical packaging, why should we still have to pay the same price? Make this accessable ON the PSP.
3.Give us some of the cool applications that homebrew devs have been giving us, but give us better versions of them. It’s sad that homebrew developers have almost done more to support the PSP than Sony has.
4.Space out the redesigns more. They should have either waited on releasing the Slim, or they should have unveiled the PSP-3000 in 2009 or later so the people who shelled out money for the Slim didn’t feel like they wasted their money.
Sony, if you’re reading this (and I know you’re not, but it makes me feel good to think that hey, maybe someone IS out there!) you’ve given us some great things. But you sometimes make us sorry that we gave you our money, and this is one of those instances. Marketing 101 is simple, so why is it that a multinational corporation that has been in existence for decades suddenly behaves like a first year business student when it comes to selling its products?
I’m with you on this. I’m really glad I didn’t buy a PSP slim. The unfortunate thing is that I’m leary of buying a PSP 3000 when there is that possibility that they would release a new one in the next year >.<
I guess you really can’t win. Hell with it! I’ll be pickin up the PSP 3000 when it gets released.
Wow, I definitively agree with you on this. No doubt the PSP is lacking a few good exclusive games. And without ‘em, the PSP does get boring after a while.
I started laughing when you mentioned how the homebrew developers do so much more work, and support the PSP better than Sony itself. It’s actually very true.
Love this post. Rock on!
I already have the Slim…
…and these new features wouldn’t wanna make me sell it to get another (unless the screen is so much better that it totally obliterates ghosting… man, ghosting sucks).
…and I don’t really play the PSP’s games. While I own a handful of games, most of the time the thing is just a backup device I use for whenever my DS runs out of battery on a long flight or something, I don’t know…
Anyway, good post.
I’m plenty happy with my original PSP, ghosting and all, I have no dead pixels on my older system, and I sure as hell don’t need to spend money on another version of the PSP. Give us what we want Sony, more games, that’s all I ask. I love my PSP, have some great games for it, but I always hunger for more.
I´ve had my first-generation PSP for two years now, and I´m absolutely satisfied with it. It´s got a Costum Firmware on it, which enables me to do pretty much anything from playing Homebrew games (Cave Story!) to solving an international crisis.
The new display does look nice, but from what I´ve read, most of the older PSP games were geared towards the older screen, with all its quirks, so the new one´s potential will probably only be unleashed when playing newer games. Supposedly, there is an option to simulate the older one, though.
I agree with you that the PSP library needs more attention than constantly upgrading the utterly sufficient hardware. It´s been pretty lacking as of late.
Not with you in this. The upgrades are not really satisfying for me. I wish they made the batteries last longer. Added a USB port and Bluetooth functions…that will be satisfying. Oh and put an additional analog stick.
^^The Phat PSPs had the IR port,but I don’t think BT would really make much sense on a PSP. It DOES have a USB port (though I think I see what you’re getting at and I do agree) and the 2nd analog stick, though where to put the 2nd stick would be a big question.
As for the battery issue, if you can get yourself a 2200 MaH PSP battery, you’ll be in for almost double the play time per charge.
“The things you can do with it make it worth every penny (and I’m not just talking about homebrew!)”
So are you talking about the PSP2000 here? You must be, because PSP3000 can’t is thus far unhacked, which in my opinion clearly makes PSP2000 far superior.
I post here though, not to rant and vent, but in investigation of a solution to the problem of not being able to play FFVIII-VIII-IX on a brighter, prettier PSP. Have you somehow found a way to play them on PSP3000?
As for keeping on topic, thus far PSP2000 is far superior, because of Homebrew. But the moment PSP3000 is declared hackable, I’m buying one.
Eventually, I’m sure the 3000 will be hacked. Everyone gets all worried that somehow it won’t happen, but it always does. And i was talking about both the 1000 and the 2000. I love my Phat, and as cool as the Slims are, I don’t see myself getting a new one soon.
Hey
your blog is awesome (if it even is a blog?)
i never thought about psp this way
and your right if you say
homebrew developers do more work then sony
game on!