Support NeoGAF

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Ah, PSP.

I bought you at launch with Lumines, Ridge Racers, and Hot Shots Golf. I enjoyed you for a good while. Unfortunately, you were uncomfortable as hell and your analog nub sucked. Then, later on you chose to specialize in game genres I don't give a shit about. Finally, you decided you would start powering yourself off at the most inopportune times during gameplay and I sold you for parts and never replaced you. You will not be missed.

Besides, your brother Vita is ten times the system you were. I'm with him now.

 

[speedpop]

Now if only they'd put Ridge Racer 2 on the US PSN Store I could finally shelve the beast.

 

[Omnii-chan]

10 years is a long time.
PSP has a goddamn ton of games and contributed a lot.
Played so many good games on mine.
Hopefully Sony crunches down on trying to sell Vita's,
since it is their only handheld on the market now.

 

[Waylon Drums]

Poor Nintendo even gets dinged in a PSP article.

 

[Parakeetman]

10 years is a long time.
PSP has a goddamn ton of games and contributed a lot.
Played so many good games on mine.
Hopefully Sony crunches down on trying to sell Vita's,
since it is their only handheld on the market now.

Actually instead of trying to sell Vitas, they need to put more pressure on devs or make titles themselves for the Vita that match the market. Japan isnt really much of an issue, but for the West they need more Western support if they want more of the marketshare.

Sales of the unit itself will follow as long as there are games that drive the urge to buy one with consumers.

 

[jadjei]

::Salutes:: You were a good little handheld PSP. I haven't played you at all in the past 3 years, but you did well on my daily commute. I remember playing Dissida on the train and a girl peaked over my shoulder, squeed, and said "IS THAT A FINAL FANTASY FIGHTING GAME?!?" We went on a date a week later, and a week after that I never saw her again.

Lol what, she didn't even call you back?!!! XD

And rest in peace PSP in some regions?

 

[Gaus]

I've always thought I would pick up a PSP Go before they're gone ( pun intended ). Now the prices are getting kind of crazy.

 

[bigkrev]

The thing I will remember most about the PSP was the wild west of hacking that was done early in the day. Before we had CFW, it was all about downgrading your system to Firmware 1.5, which let you run unsigned code as long as you split it into 2 folders. From the buffer overflow in GTA: LCS, to Pandora batteries, to Dark_aleX cryptic posts, it was all a super fun ride that probably had a significant impact in killing the system with piracy in the USA

 

[Elor_Nocudee]

Pouring a 40 for my homie, gonna miss you PSP (gonna take good care of the ones i have).

 

[Oersted]

It's pretty dead though. Nintendo shipped only 130k DSs last year. For reference even if you take out Vita numbers PSP still shipped probably way over a million units last year so it's outliving DS. Not to mention like many have said thread title is wrong. They ended shipments of PSP to NA and Japan but not to Europe or developing world.

Europe also this year. But that wasn't the point. The point was if its getting discontinued. And yeah, hardware-wise, the market made more or less the transition, while software is still going well.

 

[zeromcd73]

It's pretty dead though. Nintendo shipped only 130k DSs last year. For reference even if you take out Vita numbers PSP still shipped probably way over a million units last year so it's outliving DS. Not to mention like many have said thread title is wrong. They ended shipments of PSP to NA and Japan but not to Europe or developing world.

Didn't PSP actually outsell Vita in several smaller markets last year?

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

I should keep an eye out for PSP's on clearance. There's still some stores around here selling them for about $100 new.

 

[KillerMan91]

Didn't PSP actually outsell Vita in several smaller markets last year?

Yes. It outsold Wii, DS, Vita and WiiU in Europe.

Sure this chart is only from april to september but I don't think whole year chart is that different.

 

[Celine]

Actually instead of trying to sell Vitas, they need to put more pressure on devs or make titles themselves for the Vita that match the market. Japan isnt really much of an issue, but for the West they need more Western support if they want more of the marketshare.

Sales of the unit itself will follow as long as there are games that drive the urge to buy one with consumers.

It's a catch-22 situation really.
More games will follow if the system perform better but for the system to perform better it need more games.
I don't think Sony could push the system all by themselves.

 

[DarkoMaledictus]

Fixed.

Does't Psp already mean portable?

 

[itzknickknac]

I'm tempted to buy a PSP Go.. and another PSP 3000. What's wrong w me

EDIT:

Is the Go worth $80 new? Either color?

 

[Parakeetman]

Does't Psp already mean portable?

PlayStation Portable, so yes.

It's a catch-22 situation really.
More games will follow if the system perform better but for the system to perform better it need more games.
I don't think Sony could push the system all by themselves.

Their biggest example of software drives system sales is what Capcom did for the PSP with MHP2G.

 

[CrackPebbles]

Buying another one for the collection then. Good handheld, lots of great Japanese games.

 

[Acquiescence]

Does't Psp already mean portable?

 

[Parakeetman]

I'm tempted to buy a PSP Go.. and another PSP 3000. What's wrong w me

EDIT:

Is the Go worth $80 new? Either color?

Why would you want to get a go when you cant play UMDs on it? And the standard PSPs you can already download things onto them. Since not all PSP games have digital versions unfortunately. Well not in Japan anyways, no idea bout the West. But can imagine it would be similar.

Seriously never understood what the purpose of the Go was, besides showing that someone at Sony had slept with the Good Idea Fairy.

 

[Celine]

Their biggest example of software drives system sales is what Capcom did for the PSP with MHP2G.

The biggest example would be Pokemon.
There is nothing guarantee that Sony or even Nintendo (which has a better history about smashing hit) can create a game that drive so heavily a system.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

I miss my white Slim 2000 model as well. And how heavy my white 1000 model was.

I had the original black 1000. My Lumines machine.

 

[itzknickknac]

Why would you want to get a go when you cant play UMDs on it? And the standard PSPs you can already download things onto them. Since not all PSP games have digital versions unfortunately. Well not in Japan anyways, no idea bout the West. But can imagine it would be similar.

Seriously never understood what the purpose of the Go was, besides showing that someone at Sony had slept with the Good Idea Fairy.

I stopped using UMD's and I have them as ISO's on my computer. Was thinking of just loading them from there. Go's are a lot smaller and I can carry it with me anywhere. PSP's are just a little too big for my pockets. PSP I can carry anywhere in the house, Go I can carry anywhere.

 

[jakncoke]

About damn time! Now double down on the Vita. Price Drop + Redesign + Vita TV release in the US.

Vita TV failed in Japan and would fail just as if not more in the USA considering in Japan Vita is selling 70 to 100k a month and in the USA a 30k month happens only once in awhile. Price drop and securing some games should help, I mean things really cant get worse for the Vita outside of Japan.

 

[Parakeetman]

The biggest example would be Pokemon.
There is nothing guarantee that Sony or even Nintendo (which has a better history about smashing hit) can create a game that drive so heavily a system.

That doesnt work as its not the same ecosystem. You dont go convincing devs to make an ace title by telling them about a different console / game.

You need to show an example based off your own past history.

Vita TV failed in Japan and would fail just as if not more in the USA considering in Japan Vita is selling 70 to 100k a month and in the USA a 30k month happens only once in awhile. Price drop and securing some games should help, I mean things really cant get worse for the Vita outside of Japan.

With how cheap the PSV TVs are sony cant be losing that much on them. With how the system is too, potentially all the sales made digitally and through the services provided could be making up for that also. Lord knows myself as an example have spent about a grand on stuff. I wonder if that was the general strategy behind the system / experiment itself.

While God Eater 2 didnt seem to push the sales of the PSV TV or Soul Sacrifice Delta when both were marketed to be compat with it, still am interested to see how things go with Freedom Wars. As that title will be marketed towards a much larger market, with how folks are drawing the connection to Attack on Titan, which is still very popular now.

 

[bigkrev]

I'm probably going to pick a Go up if I can find one cheap. What a sexy piece of electronics that was probably too ahead of it's time.

 

[CouchMaster]

I knew they would stop making PSP before we see FF Type-0 localized, I KNEW IT!!

 

[sörine]

Yes. It outsold Wii, DS, Vita and WiiU in Europe.

Sure this chart is only from april to september but I don't think whole year chart is that different.

Wii U could've risen above with the holiday lift. It rose 50% yoy after 3D World launched in France for example.

There were also reports that PS4/holidays pushed Vita hardware in the UK late last year. I think the only sure bets are PSP outsold DS and Wii.

 

[Celine]

That doesnt work as its not the same ecosystem. You dont go convincing devs to make an ace title by telling them about a different console / game.

You need to show an example based off your own past history.

You really think Sony can leverage third-party support on Vita by citing MHP2?
There is nothing which guarantee a new IP can be the new hot property.
Also even if a publisher know before hand it got a smashing hit, Sony should still need to persuade to release the game on Vita instead of 3DS or smartphones.

 

[Rogue_Ledr]

Sony should've killed it years ago.

They were morons to keep the system alive for so long.

It only has helped to impede sales of the PS Vita.

 

[Carlisle]

I stopped using UMD's and I have them as ISO's on my computer. Was thinking of just loading them from there. Go's are a lot smaller and I can carry it with me anywhere. PSP's are just a little too big for my pockets. PSP I can carry anywhere in the house, Go I can carry anywhere.

It's what I do and it's totally worth it if not for that than at least for the TV-Out + DS3 combo. Still have my old Japanese 2000 that I CFW'd so I can rip my UMDs and toss them onto my Go. Best of both worlds. A little inconvenient that you do need a non-Go PSP to get it going, plus the ripping process, but it's worth not having to carry a bunch of delicate UMDs around. Just a tiny Go that slides into any pocket with dozens of PSP and PS1 games on it.

 

[Parakeetman]

You really think Sony can leverage third-party support on Vita by citing MHP2?
There is nothing which guarantee a new IP can be the new hot property.
Also even if a publisher know before hand it got a smashing hit, Sony should still need to persuade to release the game on Vita instead of 3DS or smartphones.

Works better than citing pokemon thats for sure

I stopped using UMD's and I have them as ISO's on my computer. Was thinking of just loading them from there. Go's are a lot smaller and I can carry it with me anywhere. PSP's are just a little too big for my pockets. PSP I can carry anywhere in the house, Go I can carry anywhere.

Makes sense there, but with that in mind loading up your "digital" copies of the UMDs doesnt that mean you will have to mess with the Gos firmware in that case to get it to run?

Just looked up the price of the PSP Gos and brand new its going for around 250 USD here.

 

[Celine]

Works better than citing pokemon thats for sure

Neither works so it's just the same.

 

[robotrock]

rest in peace

 

[CreeperBlocks]

The PSP has so many great games, Crisis Core, Kingdom Hearts BBS, Etc. Lets hope we get more PSP games for the Vita now.

 

[darkjedi187]

RIP

You will be remembered, since I still own and play my GO very often.

 

[Ingueferroque]

Going by this thread it still seems like one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood systems in the West. I hope in time it will gain the recognition it deserved during its heyday, like the Dreamcast.

 

[ranmafan]

Fantastic run for a fantastic system. Glad I got an extra one a while back since my original Japanese launch units drive was breaking. Wonder if I should get another just in case in the last batch. Thankfully most of my games I got digital versions already for the vita, still have some gaps I wish could be filled. Hopefully we will get some more older psp games on the japanese store in the future.

 

[TheOMan]

I have 2 PSPs with the 1.5 firmware that I haven't really even looked at in quite some time. Should I be doing anything with them in the next little bit as a result of this news?

 

[Baron_Calamity]

Still have my original psp somewhere. It was awesome. Good night you sexy beast.

 

[Parakeetman]

Fantastic run for a fantastic system. Glad I got an extra one a while back since my original Japanese launch units drive was breaking. Wonder if I should get another just in case in the last batch. Thankfully most of my games I got digital versions already for the vita, still have some gaps I wish could be filled. Hopefully we will get some more older psp games on the japanese store in the future.

DO IT. I did as soon as I saw this news lol.

Reminds me of why I bought an OG PS3 when I heard they were stopping production. I was stupid with the PS2 and regretted that. D:

 

[Netherscourge]

I still have my original PSP. I play Dungeon Seige, SOCOM: FTB, and Ace Combat on it once in a while.

All the PSP was missing was a second analog stick. I think that was what held it back.

 

[RMI]

PSP is a phenomenal platform. Definitely my favorite handheld ever. What an amazing library. Sony need to make it happen again now on the Vita.

 

[captmcblack]

Best non-Nintendo handheld ever made.

I remember stopping at nothing to try to get one of these at US release in 2005, and how they were sold out for weeks. I got one off of someone on Craigslist, and was loving Ridge Racer and Lumines endlessly.

I had an OG 1000 model...still have it alive and kicking to this day. Once homebrew unlocked its potential, it went from good to "how is it possible that anyone ever used this without CFW". Great graphics and sound, awesome games that were EXCLUSIVE TO PSP, perfect form factor.

When the Vita can get a library of games that can only be played on Vita, no exceptions - that is when it will sing, too.

 

[Vanillalite]

In your honor PSP

 

[ranmafan]

DO IT. I did as soon as I saw this news lol.

Reminds me of why I bought an OG PS3 when I heard they were stopping production. I was stupid with the PS2 and regretted that. D:

Yeah its a tough choice for me to do it or not now as I also still need to get my vita fixed or replaced as well. Tough choice. I wish I had more extra funds. Darn this good gaming summer!

 

[itzknickknac]

It's what I do and it's totally worth it if not for that than at least for the TV-Out + DS3 combo. Still have my old Japanese 2000 that I CFW'd so I can rip my UMDs and toss them onto my Go. Best of both worlds. A little inconvenient that you do need a non-Go PSP to get it going, plus the ripping process, but it's worth not having to carry a bunch of delicate UMDs around. Just a tiny Go that slides into any pocket with dozens of PSP and PS1 games on it.

The perks that come with a PSP Go

Makes sense there, but with that in mind loading up your "digital" copies of the UMDs doesnt that mean you will have to mess with the Gos firmware in that case to get it to run?

Just looked up the price of the PSP Gos and brand new its going for around 250 USD here.

I saw that price too. A bit steep for what I'm willing to pay, but gona keep looking around.

 

[Takao]

PSP still getting games after death. Uta no Prince: All-Star After Secret announced for release on February 26, 2015. http://blog.esuteru.com/archives/7710108.html

 

[Azull]

So many great games and memories that the PSP gave me, sad day indeed...R.I.P. old friend .

 

[KillerMan91]

Wii U could've risen above with the holiday lift. It rose 50% yoy after 3D World launched in France for example.

There were also reports that PS4/holidays pushed Vita hardware in the UK late last year. I think the only sure bets are PSP outsold DS and Wii.

Yeah. Kinda forgot that holiday boost for budget hardware like PSP probably wasn't that big. Still it's selling relatively well in Europe considering the age of the console and how there are pretty much zero games released for it these days. I can see why Sony doesn't discontinue it just yet in Europe.