IGN: Should Sony Abandon the PSP?

[SPH73]

Should Sony Abandon the PSP?

Sony's portable system may be hurting its real focus, the PlayStation 3.
by Chris Roper

January 8, 2010 - The more casual portion of the games industry has an interesting habit of latching onto a brand name during a console generation, where repeated and subtle use of the product name amongst friends and the general media helps build hype, trust and, in turn, sales for said product. Think of it as the current household name for a gaming generation.

Back in the '80s, it was Nintendo. If you mentioned games in an off-hand way, you probably also included the word Nintendo in your dialog. In the days of the Genesis, Sega seemed to (arguably) be the product name of choice. With the previous two console generations, the word PlayStation was practically synonymous with gaming.

This time around, the PlayStation name doesn't hold nearly as much weight with the non-core audience (the casual market). Though it's getting a little more even in terms of name-dropping, the more casual-friendly term associated with the HD consoles in recent years has been Xbox. This may seem like a small thing, but it's a fairly telling sign of how this generation is, and has been, shaping up.

http://psp.ign.com/articles/105/1059453p1.html

Painful truth or disgusting flame bait?

You decide!

 

[macgeek417]

DSses are MUCH better than the PSP.

 

[Cermage]

flamebait me thinks. psp's finally got a solid list of games out. and a fair few decent looking titles to come. no reason to abandon it at this stage.

 

[ap831]

psp has had no worthwhile releases in a very long time. upcoming game list is barren.

 

[Feels Good Man]

inb4****storm from PSP and DS fanboys

Keep it clean, guys.

 

[GameDragon]

Overall, I find the PSP a pretty boring handheld in my opinion. The PSP Go didn't help out at all. Wouldn't bother me at all if Sony decided to ditch it.

 

[ENDscape]

I don't know whats worst, a drought of games or a storm of shovelware.

 

[Feels Good Man]

Also:

The PlayStation Portable name brand wasn't doing fantastically well, and it watered down the PlayStation 3 brand.

wat

 

[silleeel]

IGN chat balls! Sony shouldnt drop the PSP because its "affecting" there focus on making the Playstation 3 the number 1 console system out there! If anything they should drop the PSP because its library of games is shit poor!! Compare it the other competitor handheld out there the DS you'll see how bad this catalog actually is!

And its frustrating aswell as the PSP is obviously the better handheld (hardware wise) but the DS pwns it when it comes down to must have games!

And as for the affect of the PSP on the PS3, Nintendo has a better handheld plus the number 1 selling console on the market today! The Wii is obviously the No 1 console name of choice to the casual gamer (my nan and grandad own a Wii for gods sake!!) not the Xbox like IGN stated above, so if Nintendo can have a succesful handheld and console at the same time why cant Sony!?

 

[Feels Good Man]

IGN chat balls! Sony shouldnt drop the PSP because its "affecting" there focus on making the Playstation 3 the number 1 console system out there! If anything they should drop the PSP because its library of games is shit poor!! Compare it the other competitor handheld out there the DS you'll see how bad this catalog actually is!

And its frustrating aswell as the PSP is obviously the better handheld (hardware wise) but the DS pwns it when it comes down to must have games!

And as for the affect of the PSP on the PS3, Nintendo has a better handheld plus the number 1 selling console on the market today! The Wii is obviously the No 1 console name of choice to the casual gamer (my nan and grandad own a Wii for gods sake!!) not the Xbox like IGN stated above, so if Nintendo can have a succesful handheld and console at the same time why cant Sony!?

Errr... the PSP has many good games. Do you own one and have played through them?

All in all, stop presenting your opinion as facts.

 

[FireEmblemGuy]

The way I see it, each handheld has it's own strengths and weaknesses, and that's before factoring in brand-specific advantages. The PSP is capable of higher-def widescreen graphics and more powerful processing, strengthened by Sony's back catalog of PSX games. The DS is slightly more portable, cheaper, and has the touchscreen for an added level of interactivity, backed up, in some models, by the ridiculously large back library of GBA games and Nintendo's generally family-friendly stance. With the price difference being nearly negligible, it's generally up to the library, and that's where it starts to become more a problem with developer support, as most games that don't use the DS's touch sreen can be ported over to the PSP fairly easily. Sony's only real problem was the fact that they couldn't compete in terms of price early on, especially with the new-model-per-year thing they've gotten into, and now it's seeming like the devs are seeing that the market for M-rated PSP games isn't quite as high as it should be, and with Go compatibility limited to PSN, it's problematic giving Sony pretty much full control over pricing too.

Anyways, the way I see it is that neither handheld is inherently better than the other. Sony could start making some money if they reminded people that it was still there, the marketing campaign has been nearly non-existent, and even just a commercial campiagn showing off the PSX catalog would help pull back some older gamers who might not have been so informed about it. I'm just impressed that Sony's held out as long as they have, they're easily the most successful competitors Nintendo's handheld market has seen.

 

[Rock Raiyu]

I don't know whats worst, a drought of games or a storm of shovelware.

This.

Sure the DS has a lot games, but more then half of it is shovelware. The PSP doesn't have a lot of shovelware but it has lack of games but that's changing now. So I don't think Sony should abandon the PSP, at least not yet.

 

[Feels Good Man]

I also lol @ people who put "yes". IGN is a horrible gaming site and you guys need to find a better place to look up gaming articles and reviews. It's been crap for a while and looks like it's going to stay like it.

 

[macgeek417]

The PSP is the most successful, non Nintendo handheld.

 

[faith696]

PSP games have been pretty good lately (P3P, PSP2, KH:BBS, and the coming FFXIII Agito), so I see no reason to abandon PSP.

 

[Skyline969]

I don't know whats worst, a drought of games or a storm of shovelware.

+1.
The PSP may have a limited library, but a lot of the games are amazing. Naming 5 off the top of my head:
1. Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core
2. God of War: Chains of Olympus
3. Dissidia: Final Fantasy
4. Resistance: Retribution
5. Monster Hunter (series)

 

[Maverick_z]

well seeing that a certain KH game is released i would think that it will put a dent in hardware sales. Even if it is only one game it should help and make sony never to think of this again (maybe for the GO)

 

[Bladexdsl]

the psp is pretty non existent here i never see any1 with 1 or even looking at the psp sections in the shops

 

[Splych]

In my opinion, Sony should not abandon the PSP. Right after the release of the PSPGo, why abandon the PSP now? It's in competition against the DS and DSi. If they give up now, it is like giving away money to Nintendo.

DSses are MUCH better than the PSP.
Have you even tried/owned a PSP?

If you've noticed, the PSP and DS have CFW and Flashcarts. If flashcarts never existed, then you could never play pirated games. If CFW didn't exist, you wouldn't be able to play pirated games. And a bunch of other things... Bu have you considered the capabilities of the PSP when it comes to graphics? If you didn't realize, the PSP can play your Videos and Music whether you have CFW or not. Unlike the DS, it requires the use of a flashcart, or the Max Media Player... But as I have said, it requires something extra.

So what did you base your statement on...?

QUOTE(silleeel @ Jan 9 2010, 06:43 AM) IGN chat balls! Sony shouldnt drop the PSP because its "affecting" there focus on making the Playstation 3 the number 1 console system out there! If anything they should drop the PSP because its library of games is shit poor!! Compare it the other competitor handheld out there the DS you'll see how bad this catalog actually is!

And its frustrating aswell as the PSP is obviously the better handheld (hardware wise) but the DS pwns it when it comes down to must have games!

And as for the affect of the PSP on the PS3, Nintendo has a better handheld plus the number 1 selling console on the market today! The Wii is obviously the No 1 console name of choice to the casual gamer (my nan and grandad own a Wii for gods sake!!) not the Xbox like IGN stated above, so if Nintendo can have a succesful handheld and console at the same time why cant Sony!?

Sigh.... Feels Good Man made a really good point on what you just said. Your whole post was based on your OPINION or the OPINIONS of others on what they say about games. Hardware wise, the PSP is more powerful then the DS. Sure games on the DS are more wanted, but those are just the games on the DS. Have you considered what the PSP is capable of doing? It can emulate numerous amounts of emulators on the PSP because it is more powerful then the DS. The DS is only limited to emulating some emulators without the use of an extra device [ie. to emulate GBA games it requires a RAM expansion. but the iPlayer does not require the extra ram because the flashcart itself is powerful enough to emulate it].

 

[silleeel]

IGN chat balls! Sony shouldnt drop the PSP because its "affecting" there focus on making the Playstation 3 the number 1 console system out there! If anything they should drop the PSP because its library of games is shit poor!! Compare it the other competitor handheld out there the DS you'll see how bad this catalog actually is!

And its frustrating aswell as the PSP is obviously the better handheld (hardware wise) but the DS pwns it when it comes down to must have games!

And as for the affect of the PSP on the PS3, Nintendo has a better handheld plus the number 1 selling console on the market today! The Wii is obviously the No 1 console name of choice to the casual gamer (my nan and grandad own a Wii for gods sake!!) not the Xbox like IGN stated above, so if Nintendo can have a succesful handheld and console at the same time why cant Sony!?

Errr... the PSP has many good games. Do you own one and have played through them?

All in all, stop presenting your opinion as facts.

Yep and its been gathering dust on top of my chest of drawers for over a month and a half now!

The last game released that i thought was must have was Patapon 2 and that got released over 9 months ago! The only other games that got released last year that id consider any good was Dissidia and Little Big Planet (and this was just a port of a PS3 game).