Year of the PSP? Watch this space I say..

We have all heard Sony say it “This is the year of the PSP”. My initial reaction, much like yours dear reader, is bollocks!

Now don’t get me wrong guys I have had a PSP since launch in the UK but my software library has been gathering some serious dust as of late – along with my console. There have just been no games lately – not even shit ones!

OK so I gushed over Locoroco 2 – that was months ago! We have titles such as Resistance: Retribution (expect some more gushing in the review soon!) and Patapon 2 (Ditto on the gushing – LOL) coming up which look great but these gems are so few and far between it’s laughable. Rather than spend yet another editorial ragging on the PSP for being poorly supported or for not having a 2nd analogue nub I thought I would try and look why the PSP is getting so little love in this age of portable media and gaming.

Now the PSP might not be as “portable” as the DS or the IPhone but what it lacks in weight management and increased girth it makes up in looks. There is no denying the PSP looks great. Those curvy black lines and shiny surfaces make the whole thing look so cool. So it’s not the looks or the portability of the unit that holds it back. “Aha,” you say, “it’s the lack of a 2nd analogue stick then!”. Well that certainly does not help it’s cause thats for sure; but think about why you even need the 2nd nub and your on your way to working out the PSP’s major problem.

Wanna know the secret? It’s a hand held PS2. There, that’s the reason for the PSP’s woes. You were expecting more? Oh, OK . Think about it. The PSP is sooo powerful for a handheld that it can rival a dedicated home console of only 9 years ago (well actually it was only a console of 4 years ago on the PSP’s release date). now think about the kind of money and resources it took to make those PS2 classics. All those millions of dollars sunk in to R & D, asset creations and tools etc. Now think about the fact you have to do the same thing for a handheld system. A system where people expect to pay a lot less for their titles. A market which Nintendo have had a stranglehold on for many years (and continues to do so). The risk for publisher making projects (even licensed ones) is greatly increased due to the financial commitment to the platform compared to the comparative cheapness of the DS and the ludicrously cheap costs of the iPhone.

Now think about it; would you rather spend a 1/3rd of the production costs putting out Harry Potter 15 on the DS or spend a shed load more cash for less return putting it on the PSP? This is why a HUGE amount of shovel-ware existed for the PSP in it’s first few years. It was cheaper to take the PS2 build, scale down the textures and the size of things, remove a feature or two and then bounce up on down on the code until it squeezed into the PSP. People did, and still do, expect a portable PS2 experience from the system and that just puts incredible stresses on the system to deliver – think about the type of games the DS plays and what you expect from a PSP – it’s a casual hand held system after all. Sure the system would benefit from another analogue stick, but that would only ring true of you are still trying to port shooters over to the system.

Couple these woes with a well and truly hacked OS and you have a nightmare on your hands for both Sony and the publishers alike. The small returns they do get on these large investments are diminished even more by piracy of titles. Sure the DS (not the DSi at present but give it a few months) is open to exploits like the R4 and DS3 but the production costs are so much less that profits are still realised even with piracy factored in. Initial install bae for the PSP was also a factor. Yes, I know the PSP now holds a good chunk of the market and that Japan are going crazy for it BUT studios took the hard choice a year or so ago to stop making titles for the system – they are not going to suddenly be able to pop out games overnight so if support for the system does pick up it won’t be until the tail end of this year at the earliest as developers would of had to of started dev around the summer to end of 08 to be out in time this year.

Now after being down on the system for a moment it is more than worth noting that the system has some exceptional games. You will notice though that most of them are developed specifically for the PSP – Loco Roco, Patapon etc. There are some happy exceptions like Resistance, God of War, Syphon Filter but these are all Sony first funded and published titles. in the cases when these game really work most of the time they are not trying to be a PS2 game on a PSP but a PSP game doing what it can and doing it well.

Sony, I am in little doubt, will be announcing a new PSP in the next 12 months. It would not exactly shock me if they did it at E3 or Tokyo this year. The original PSP was shown off in 2003 which makes the build now 6 years old. As to what Sony can do to make the system better.. I would say leave the internals pretty much untouched as they produce great graphics and sound. I would however moot the possibility or supplying games via digital means and then follow that up with retail copies on a data medium such as a memory stick or solid state device. Add another analogue nub by all means as it will improve some games and finally stop the real fanboys bitching. Please make it a little lighter and improve the screen – this should really NOT be an issue for Sony of all people! Slat a touch screen on it too if you like as that seems to be the rage atm and again, I am sure it will be used. Please think through what the PSP should be doing though this time. As one criticism that is unexpected is that the PSP can do too many things and as such loses a sense of focus.

The PSP is a great bit of kit but at this time I can not recommend you pick one up – the complete opposite of what I told people this time last year. There are some great sounding games headed for the system – LBP, Motostorm, Assassains Creed etc. Sony say that this year will be the year of the PSP (I thought it was the year of the PS3… whatever LOL) and I hope they are right because the system has been bleeding out in a ditch for the past 18 months…. and it makes me sad.

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