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Rumor: Sony handing out even more PSP2 dev kits

H_Prestige said:
Much better online, dual analog, PS back catalog, and a much higher quality display.

This may come as a surprise to you, but some of us actually want to see what Sony can offer here, not winning some stupid imaginary war fought by companies you have nothing to do with. And the 3DS is FAR from perfect.
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It does not come as a surprise. I am making the case that Sony will have a much harder time than some care to recognize. The PSP2 as described would be awesome, truly...and it would fail miserably IMO. Not because I would want it to, but because Sony would be ignoring market forces, forces which they are helping to shape by cheerleading those 3D t.v. sets. All products are far from perfect, otherwise there would be only 1 electronics device that did everything you could possible need or want from it and that would be that.
 
The more I think about it, maybe I would rather just have a fantastic 2D screen but with a lot of functionality. For one the online setup has to be better than what is offered on the PS3, and the PS3 firmware will be upgraded to reflect. Unified log in for both PS3 and PSP2. Fix your digital problem! Make digital downloads appealing and easy to access. Get everything organized better. Games could range from 1 dollar to 30, but have a good mix of everything. Everything needs to be day one with retail. Allow gamers to install retail games onto their internal flash memory. It is a portable after all. In fact all PSP2 games should be handled like Steamworks retail products. Buy the game at retail you have a physical copy, but then type in a code from the box and it automatically unlocks the download for it on the Playstation Store. Price could be fine at $249, but make sure the system has at least 64GB of internal storage. $199 32GB and $249 64GB models available at launch.

Sony's main issue many times is software ease of use functionality versus the actual hardware they output. Normally the hardware is very, very good. Just it doesn't have ease of use software functionality for the end user.

I'd still love to have an OLED screen on the PSP2 if Sony are going to stick to the 2D route. Does anyone know how much OLED screens cost nowadays?
 
Mrbob said:
The more I think about it, maybe I would rather just have a fantastic 2D screen but with a lot of functionality. For one the online setup has to be better than what is offered on the PS3, and the PS3 firmware will be upgraded to reflect. Unified log in for both PS3 and PSP2. Fix your digital problem! Make digital downloads appealing and easy to access. Get everything organized better. Games could range from 1 dollar to 30, but have a good mix of everything. Everything needs to be day one with retail. Allow gamers to install retail games onto their internal flash memory. It is a portable after all. In fact all PSP2 games should be handled like Steamworks retail products. Buy the game at retail you have a physical copy, but then type in a code from the box and it automatically unlocks the download for it on the Playstation Store. Price could be fine at $249, but make sure the system has at least 64GB of internal storage. $199 32GB and $249 64GB models available at launch.

Sony's main issue many times is software ease of use functionality versus the actual hardware they output. Normally the hardware is very, very good. Just it doesn't have ease of use software functionality for the end user.

I'd still love to have an OLED screen on the PSP2 if Sony are going to stick to the 2D route. Does anyone know how much OLED screens cost nowadays?
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Good post. I'd love for PSP2's online functionality to be brought up to at least the level of what we've got on PS3 right now, with full access to PSN (including friends list, messaging, and trophies), a vastly improved Web browser with touch screen access, and Internet-enabled applications like Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora.

Also, if the choice in hardware design has to be made between a touch screen or a 3D screen, but not both at the same time, then I'd pick the touch screen, for reasons that many people already discussed here and in other threads.
 
Log4Girlz said:
This time around what will the PSP2 have over the DS...a Fantastically high resolution screen? Fantastic graphics? What?
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Hypothetically, if they want to be successful in the marketplace, it'll have games.

That's the thing. Ultimately, having good software, and a system that's both accessibly priced and reasonably battery-durable to play that software on, is the key to success. That means that no one should rely on a gimmick like a high-res screen (or, for that matter, autostereoscopic 3D) as the primary key to success, but that doesn't mean such gimmicks or bullet points are completely unimportant either: they affect what kind of software is possible, what software is actually made, how people respond to the device, etc.

Basically: the PSP2's screen isn't going to make or break it, but it's still relevant and it's worthwhile to invest in making it good within cost-effective parameters.
 
I don't think this deserves its own thread (for obvious reasons) but for what it's worth...

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has expressed concern over the future of Sony's long-rumoured PSP2 handheld, stating that the manufacturer has missed its opportunity.

In a NowGamer interview, Pachter explained that Sony may find it hard to keep up with the rest of the handheld market going forward.

"I’m not sure Sony are going to keep up," Pachter explained, "they may have missed their opportunity. They went down the portable music player route 30 years ago, and they’ve now conceded that market completely to Apple. When Sony went from a television and portable music company, to being a console company, they should have seen the market for a handheld, and they pretty much conceded that market to Nintendo when the Gameboy came out."

Pachter continued, "I think Sony has carved out a niche for themselves, that isn’t as big as they originally thought, which is the over 13 crowd. They’ve given up the young end of the market to Nintendo and the middle part of the market to iPhone and iPod Touch. I just don’t know if there is a market for a pure gaming device anymore. Someone should give them a time machine to go back and fix all of this before it happened."
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I think Pachter needs to get a time machine to find out when the Gameboy was originally released (hint: It was years before the PlayStation). I also think Pachter needs to go back to 2004 and see how Sony was pimpin' the PSP as an all in one media machine. That worked out well for the identity crisis that occured.
 
I think Pachter has a point. Ipod touch and Android devices weren't out when the psp dropped.

The psp2 will have a lot of competition.
 
Bad_Boy said:
I think Pachter has a point. Ipod touch and Android devices weren't out when the psp dropped.

The psp2 will have a lot of competition.
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It won't be competing with smartphones for the same reasons the 3ds won't be competing with smartphones.

I think people are seriously overestimating the initial effect the 3ds will have. If it were a sub $200 machine like we all expected, then sure, it would steamroll the competition and psp2 would have no where to go. But now that Nintendo is positioning their console as a premium device with a premium price tag, there is room for the psp2 to live and breathe, provided Sony plays their cards right.
 
Bad_Boy said:
I think Pachter has a point. Ipod touch and Android devices weren't out when the psp dropped.

The psp2 will have a lot of competition.
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Which is precisely why Sony is doing the right thing by not rushing PSP2 to market. That said, they need to announce soon. CES or before.
 
Every time I see this thread I hope that some new details have been released. Yet time and time again, I'm met with us still debating the same minutia over and over again.

Hurry it up Sony, for all of our sanity.
 
Ezduo said:
So, odds the 3DS launches worldwide before we even get an official announcement that this thing exists?
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Nonexistent. I think Sony's silence thus far has been stupid, but they're not that stupid.
 
FoneBone said:
Nonexistent. I think Sony's silence thus far has been stupid, but they're not that stupid.
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I disagree. Considering the PSP's upcoming game lineup in Japan (most notably a little thing called Monster Hunter Portable 3, but also Dissidia and a host of other games), they are foolish to ruin that for a market elsewhere that might not even exist.

I mean, really, western developers sure lined up to make great software for the original PSP? Right? Right? Uh, no.

So why would they for the PSP2, where the name is somewhat tarnished and development costs will be 2-3x times (if not more, many PSP games were based on PS2 versions, if not outright ports. Now it would have to be done from scratch)
 
Yeah, not betting on the PSP2 being announced any time in the next 5 months.
They can't stop the 3DS hype train, and shouldn't even try.
Just do your own thing, Sony. Work on getting a good library of games.
 
AceBandage said:
Yeah, not betting on the PSP2 being announced any time in the next 5 months.
They can't stop the 3DS hype train, and shouldn't even try.
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They can't stop it, but that doesn't mean they can afford to ignore it -- especially when it's obvious from the 3DS software lineup that PSP2 and 3DS will be competing much more directly than did their respective predecessors.
 
FoneBone said:
They can't stop it, but that doesn't mean they can afford to ignore it -- especially when it's obvious from the 3DS software lineup that PSP2 and 3DS will be competing much more directly than did their respective predecessors.
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But what exactly can they say?
"Hey guys, we have a new handheld coming out too! It's not 3D, and it costs more, but it's Playstation!"
Personally, I think it's a better decision to wait until after the 3DS has died down a bit.
Not like they're going to get it on to shelves first.
 
AceBandage said:
But what exactly can they say?
"Hey guys, we have a new handheld coming out too! It's not 3D, and it costs more, but it's Playstation!"
Personally, I think it's a better decision to wait until after the 3DS has died down a bit.
Not like they're going to get it on to shelves first.
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Can you tell us more about this new "Playstation" handheld?

I thought we knew nothing about it.
 
DiscoJer said:
I disagree. Considering the PSP's upcoming game lineup in Japan (most notably a little thing called Monster Hunter Portable 3, but also Dissidia and a host of other games), they are foolish to ruin that for a market elsewhere that might not even exist.
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Software that will be out long before the PSP2 launch has nothing to do with when the latter is announced.

I mean, really, western developers sure lined up to make great software for the original PSP? Right? Right? Uh, no.

So why would they for the PSP2, where the name is somewhat tarnished and development costs will be 2-3x times (if not more, many PSP games were based on PS2 versions, if not outright ports. Now it would have to be done from scratch)
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Am I missing something, or are you actually saying that the 3DS will have no effect on PSP and PSP2 in Japan? Why this is only about western support is beyond me.
 
AceBandage said:
But what exactly can they say?
"Hey guys, we have a new handheld coming out too! It's not 3D, and it costs more, but it's Playstation!"
Personally, I think it's a better decision to wait until after the 3DS has died down a bit.
Not like they're going to get it on to shelves first.
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There's a case to be made for both sides. But the bolded is a difficult thing to quantify I'd say. In fact some would have said, (perhaps before that recent pricing news), that the 3DS will be huge and only get bigger.
 
The price and launch date of the 3DS is pretty good for Sony. At $300, they could launch a good portable at the same price, and it wouldn't seem expensive.

The fact that they are silent is amazing. A good guess is that Monster Hunter is a launch title for the PSP2, or at least will be announced along with the PSP2, and they don't want to spoil Tri Portable's hype this year. Or that Nintendo caught them with their pants down, and are retooling the PSP2 to look more impressive than the 3DS.
 
The next biggest venue for consumers is the CES, but Sony is big enough to hold their own media event anytime between now and then. (Oct, Nov, Dec, or Jan)

Wasn't the original PSP announced at their own event? around this time of the year?

That's when we got this official mock-up

01c.jpg
 
Ezduo said:
So, odds the 3DS launches worldwide before we even get an official announcement that this thing exists?
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10% If I was to bet, I would place money on Sony showing off a prototype and a sizzle reel of games at CES. Follow that with a big push at E3 then a fall 2011 launch, putting it on shelves alongside the 3ds for the xmas season.
 
Count me in in the "not betting on a psp2 announcement anytime soon" waggon.

And i could base this sentiment solely on the recent announcement of the new portable Monster Hunter.
 
PSP2 is too big of announcement for CES. It's more than likely going to be saved a large gaming convention. Are there any large gaming conventions between now and E3?
 
Hazelhurst said:
PSP2 is too big of announcement for CES. It's more than likely going to be saved a large gaming convention. Are there any large gaming conventions between now and E3?
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Not outside of GDC in March. Besides, Sony can easily hold their own event between now and December. They've done it many, many times over the last 15 years.
 
DiscoJer said:
So why would they for the PSP2, where the name is somewhat tarnished and development costs will be 2-3x times (if not more, many PSP games were based on PS2 versions, if not outright ports. Now it would have to be done from scratch)
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I was thinking about this and I think the perfect solution is a turnkey solution on PSN and PSP2. I don't know how feasible and possible this is, but maybe the more tech head guys can tell me if/why this is nothing more than just a pipe dream. Basically you buy something like Fat Princess (the PS3 version) and you can get a turnkey and download it on PSP2. Of course the graphics and sound would be downgraded but everything else would play the same. For further awesomeness, allow cross game play (PSP2 vs/with PS3 counterparts). They could also do it to upgrade PSP games where say I buy GOW:GOS and I get the key to download it on both my PSP and my PSP2, where if I get it on my PSP2 I get the whistles that (would) come with it (presumably dual analog, better graphics, sound, dual shoulder buttons, L3/R3, trophies, better PSN integration, etc).

That way most PSP2 games could be downsized in price by simply putting it on PSN as well, say GTA:SAS could be made that way with PSN getting the HD graphics and whistles and PSP2 gets the portable advantage. You would be able to continue your progress by simply synching up your saves. People only interested in PSP2 or PSN could possibly buy it for a little cheaper (and it would also require a retail version, i.e. the game on a Flash memory).

They kinda have something like this started on the movie side where you can buy an HD and SD movie with the same key. Again, I don't know how feasible that is for games, but it would be a very nice feature if it's in any way possible and it would make making games for it not prohibitively expensive.
 
Akainu said:
Really? it isn't adhoc? Good to know. :)
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Ad Hoc and Infrastructure (online) modes this time around. From what I know Patapon is more popular in the west than in Japan, so it's good they're catering to both.
 
H_Prestige said:
It won't be competing with smartphones for the same reasons the 3ds won't be competing with smartphones.
.
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I dunno. People only want to carry so many gadgets around with them and a phone is always in your pocket.
 
Hazelhurst said:
PSP2 is too big of announcement for CES. It's more than likely going to be saved a large gaming convention.
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Any sane person would have said the same about the 3DS. Yet look what happened.
 
Nobody makes announcements during the holidays, they are too busy moving whatever they have. The earliest I'd expect an announcement is at CES. After that is GDC and by then 3DS will have already launched.
 
I NEED SCISSORS said:
If Sony do release a PSP2, they should do so to make money rather than just compete with 3DS.

3DS is pretty much untouchable at this point, so profitability out the gate is important.
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How can something unreleased be "completely untouchable"? :lol
 
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