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Codemasters VP: PSP is a "useless waste of space"

Baki

Baki

Member
Codemasters Studios VP Gavin Cheshire delivers damning assessment of Sony’s portable console
In what surely amounts to something of a PR nightmare for all involved, Codemasters Studios’ VP Gavin Cheshire has labelled Sony’s PSP as “a bollocking useless waste of space”.
The blast comes despite the high-profile release of Codemasters’ licensed racing title F1 2009 on the PSP late last year.
“Well, speaking as a person who bought a PSP, the problem was that I always thought, because it was a better screen than iPods, that I’d be doing more with it,” Cheshire told Edge.
“But it was such a bollocking useless waste of space; just getting stuff on it was ridiculous. That was its downfall.
“Relatively speaking, we didn’t do too badly on F1 PSP. Regarding the future, PSP Go’s a lovely device, but our senior VP bought one the day it came out and has a great story, because he ended up on some customer support line just trying to do basic stuff. He had to re-download his software, do an immediate firmware update, and that’s your user experience.
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Source
 
And we care about the VP of Codemasters... why?

How appropriate that a "useless waste of space" is how I would describe most Codemasters games.
 
Its not like F1 09 on PSP was a great effort....but most psp games in the west arent selling . nothing new.
 
Maybe the actual user experience is complicated, but GAF members are too tech saavy to notice.
 
I don't know, same reason we care about any industry side joker making cracks about the Wii? AKA trying to start mess?

I do have to say that, looking at software sales in the Americas, I cannot honestly comprehend why western developers keep making games for the thing. I understand for Japanese devs, because the PSP kinda prints money in Japan. But why would you bother releasing a game for it here?
 
Brilliant anecdotal evidence with the single "can't figure out to use it" old guy with the PSP Go bit, and the seemingly 2-3 years out of date assessment of 'getting files onto the psp being a hassle'. I love it when "insider" games industry people reveal just how clueless they are to the rest of us :lol
 
Not trolling, just think this is interesting considering this was just posted today:

hardware-detail-estimates-feb-2010.png


http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=390232
 
seriously though sony needs to get their left and right hands working together. I understand that hardware guys and software guys are different departments, but it's like every product that comes out shows that neither of those departments worked together. This is just about sony in general btw.







auctually what i want is my psp to automatically hook up to my ps3, which should be able to control my tv, and then be displayed on my vaio laptop, controlled by my ericsson phone. it IS possible to do something like this if you have a sony household, but it would take fucking hours to configure everything.
 
Swittcher said:
I have no love for Codemasters, but you can't disagree that the PSP is the most disappointing console this gen.
Click to expand...

In what way? I played alot of great games on it. There are even alot of great titles still coming.
 
When you read his entire statement in context, it doesn't exactly sound "damning" so much as it sounds like he was doing a poor job of articulating his frustration with the system. People sure like to blow shit out of proportion. Meanwhile, when reps beat around the bush, people criticize them for being wishy-washy.

As an aside, could his statement not be supported? The PSP is, in many respects, a "bollocking waste of space."
 
I'm confused about why the Senior VP of a video game company ended up with customer service after attempting to download a game?..

Isn't just direct download and install or download to pc/ps3 then transfer to psp!?
 
Unfortunately for me, I agree. I haven't used my psp in at least 2 years. Can't remember the last time I turned it on...
 
Great system, terrible software support. I buy like, 2 or 3 games on it a year. It's a barren wasteland, bereft of life. I don't know how much of it you can blame Sony for, and how much is just market conditions.

So, I can't disagree with him really. Plus his company make the best racing games around, for my money.
 
Xater said:
In what way? I played alot of great games on it. There are even alot of great titles still coming.
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Well, it's got less great games than all the other consoles, especially in the last 1-2 years.

And in terms of sales...well.

I have a 3000, but haven't touched it in months. I was thinking of buying AC: Bloodlines, but then....yeah, no.
 
Swittcher said:
Well, it's got less great games than all the other consoles, especially in the last 1-2 years.

And in terms of sales...well.

I have a 3000, but haven't touched it in months. I was thinking of buying AC: Bloodlines, but then....yeah, no.
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Same here =(
 
Unfortunately he is right, though...

I' ve got a PSP Phat and a Go. Although the Go is a really nice piece of hardware it is so cumbersome to get content on the device. I can't even download and install software from the store without the PSP losing the connection :-( So I download most of the stuff from my PS3...

And isn't every game ever released on PSP available as a download? Still waiting for Advent Children...
 
Swittcher said:
I have no love for Codemasters, but you can't disagree that the PSP is the most disappointing console this gen.
Click to expand...
If you have stock in the company sure. (Even then in Japan it sells like hotcakes)

But in terms of the actual games it's all kinds of amazing.
 
PSP has a lot of great games coming out, that is if you like Japanese games, if you like Western games then you're out of luck.
 
IPoopStandingUp said:
If you have stock in the company sure. (Even then in Japan it sells like hotcakes)

But in terms of the actual games it's all kinds of amazing.
Click to expand...

even if you have stock in the company, it's still sold a lot of hardware

OldJadedGamer said:
Not about the Go they don't.
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no shit sherlock, but i guess i missed his edit where he was talking about the go
 
Spaulding said:
Unfortunately he is right, though...

I' ve got a PSP Phat and a Go. Although the Go is a really nice piece of hardware it is so cumbersome to get content on the device. I can't even download and install software from the store without the PSP losing the connection :-( So I download most of the stuff from my PS3...

And isn't every game ever released on PSP available as a download? Still waiting for Advent Children...
Click to expand...

Does not compute.
 
Doodis said:
Not trolling, just think this is interesting considering this was just posted today:

hardware-detail-estimates-feb-2010.png


http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=390232
Click to expand...


I saw that chart last night and had to do a double take. it’s an astounding commercial failure. I don’t think it’s possible for Sony to have misjudged the market as poorly as they did with the Go.

also, I’ll back up any comment slagging on the PSP Go’s out of box experience. it was AWFUL. it’s almost like it had to be designed to be terrible on purpose.

1. you can’t play a game till you download the software update
2. you can’t download the update till you charge your battery
3. you can’t just plug in the psp to the wall to charge and download at the same time
4a. you need to wait at least 30 minutes for the battery to fully charge, then download the update
4b. you need to disconnect the psp from the charger or it won’t let you know you can install the update.
5. then download game

it was a friggin joke. For most devices, I would have returned it before step 4. it’s insulting to the user.
 
Spaulding said:
Unfortunately he is right, though...

I' ve got a PSP Phat and a Go. Although the Go is a really nice piece of hardware it is so cumbersome to get content on the device. I can't even download and install software from the store without the PSP losing the connection :-( So I download most of the stuff from my PS3...

And isn't every game ever released on PSP available as a download? Still waiting for Advent Children...
Click to expand...

Cumbersome getting content on the device? Just because your internet connection craps out on you doesn't mean it's hard putting content on your PSPgo.

Do you have Media Go? Transfer all videos and music files with ease. Download games directly to your PSPgo...

I don't know...what's so hard about that?

Plus, isn't Advent Children a UMD movie and not a game?
 
let's be honest, what the guy's saying is true.

they were pushing it as a multimedia device, and it was far more difficult than was necessary to get stuff on there and the originals had the battery life of an atari lynx.

i bought one at launch and i've maybe clocked 50-60 hours on it total.
 
In the west, what he says is true. The thing is a black hole for software sales. I believe the year end NPD report said that the highest selling PSP game in 2009 (LBP PSP) was something like 130th overall. It's a miracle that Sony can still get support for it in the west.
 
Swittcher said:
I have no love for Codemasters, but you can't disagree that the PSP is the most disappointing console this gen.
Click to expand...

No its not. It has a bevvy of amazing mind blowing games. I just don't play it much any more because I don't really have much time for gaming and I tend to game on consoles instead. My DS is receiving the same treatment as my PSP.
 
Meier said:
Wow! The Go is as big a failure here as in Japan (even moreso?). That number is stunning.
Click to expand...

I find unbelievable the difference between Japan and America in sales (of the PSP as a whole, not the GO). I mean in Japan it's very close to the DS this year and way ahead of the Wii and PS3. Yet in the US it's doing close to PS2 numbers I can't comprehend such a difference. I can't even fathom a guess.
 
Yeah, the PSP Go is just terrible. I mean, I love the hardware itself (from what I've seen of it), but the content delivery system is simply awful.

I love the platform, though. PSP has delivered some of the best handheld gaming to date. I definitely prefer it to the DS and iPhone. I understand the iPhone love, but really, the games just aren't that good on the whole. I'd rather spend a bit more on a game that's of actual quality.
 
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