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The latest PSP2 rumor: no disks, just digital downloads... for the CURRENT PSP.
cloudeagle
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Yeah yeah, this is from Kotaku, but they're just quoting Dave Perry, a dude who actually makes video games, so there could be something to this.
http://kotaku.com/5160320/perry-psp-2-is-real-could-hit-this-fall
That... uh. That's a bit nuts. I know the developers have been bitching about the used game market a lot more lately, and that downloaded games are doing better, but it's way too soon. I just read a survey that indicated downloadable games for the 360, PS3 and Wii constitute only one percent of the sales for their systems.
http://kotaku.com/5160320/perry-psp-2-is-real-could-hit-this-fall
The a UMD-free Playstation Portable 2 is indeed real and could hit as early as this fall, David Perry, chief creative officer at Acclaim, told Kotaku today.
"I spoke to a developer who is working on it right now," he said. "I know this developer is already working on it, so that means they have a prototype. That would sound like a fall release to me."
Perry said he is excited about the news.
"I've been pounding on Sony for a long time to make the Playstation Portable relevant and not to let Apple stroll away with the portable game market," he said. "Look at what Apple is doing now. Why are so many investors investing in Apple game development? Trying to pitch a PSP game to investors right now is brutal."
The idea of a UMD-free Playstation Portable begs the question of how games will be loaded onto the device.
Perry believe it will be done through digital downloads and direct connect to a computer.
The ultimate goal, he says, is for the Playstation Portabel to go 100 percent digital. Not only would that allow Sony to have a more direct connection with their customers and get a larger piece of the sales pie, it would essentially kill the used game sales market.
As a stop gap to keep retailers like GameStop interested in selling the Playstation Portable 2, which they make little to no money on, Perry thinks that Sony would at least initially sell games for the device on Memory Sticks, as they currently do with some movies, or with pre-paid cards.
As for backwards compatibility, it stands to reason, Perry says, that all current PSP titles would show up on Playstation's online store.
While Perry insists that the PSP2 is real, and already been developed for, a lot of the details about distribution and release are more speculative on his part.
It does make sense that games will one day go digital only, it seems inevitable. But is now too soon for something like the PSP?
That... uh. That's a bit nuts. I know the developers have been bitching about the used game market a lot more lately, and that downloaded games are doing better, but it's way too soon. I just read a survey that indicated downloadable games for the 360, PS3 and Wii constitute only one percent of the sales for their systems.
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Steam's on the PC where pretty much every user is online, plus they refuse to release sales figures.
Microsoft estimated only half or so of 360 owners are online.
I can still get the majority of big games on steam at retail.
Though Sony has been slowly adding to the PSP section of its online PSN store; if this is true about the whole all-download situation, it wouldn't be surprising if the PSP2 were back-compatible with PSP1 games already on the store.
I'm really all done trying to predict Sony's erratic marketing behavior, though, so I won't really believe anything until the system is actually out in stores. :P
Not to mention this will REALLY piss off retailers who no longer have games to sell. Also bargain-hunters would be boned, and the hypothetical device might be even MORE pirated than the already rum-soaked PSP as a result.
Is that connected to the Internet or playing games over the internet? Cause the whole charge-you-to-play thing is a factor. Plus the legions of mouthbreathing racists on Live.
The PSP has a lot of potential, but SCEA are marketing it all wrong. The Playstations have always had a huge RPG following, and the PSP has no shortage of those.
Why don't they go after that demographic more?
FFVII PSP + Advent Children pack-in + Crisis Core = ++++++Profit.
FF7 sold millions. It's a very profitable group to target.
And RPG players /= otaku
See I disagree. They will package memory cards with individual games on them, each with the typical retail boxing and sell those at Gamestop/EB, in addition to providing direct downloads for those a little more savvy.
FFVII sold millions. Other RPGs, not so much.
Don't need, don't want.
I never asked for this!
However, Sony is a heavy-handed company that tends to listen to its customers about a year after making a decision, and they are extremely likely to botch this thing. There are so many things that can go wrong.
Unless Sony wants to get the shit kicked out of them by those people they should figure out a way to register games to your system so that you can rip them to a stick or download them from the store while still having a physical copy and not have to worry about piracy.
I have over 40 physical PSP games, Sony HQ will get firebombed if they don't find a way to appease me.
I don't think this will do too terribly.
You forget the portion of the population that isn't tech-savvy. That is, most of them.
Though sales are down, CD sales are still a huge business.
Off topic, but I'm absolutely goddamn mystified by all the people who apparently get rid of their game cases, based on Gamestop's selection. No wonder so many disks get scratched.
Why provide convenient cross-gen compatibility when they can do a verbatim code dump, slap it up on the Playstation store and make it a win/win/win for themselves?
the sad part is that when sales drop because of the lack of salvage value, and the fact that folks can no longer use the money that they make from selling an old game to buy a new one, it is all going to be blamed on the economic state we're in, meaning that no one will learn the lesson.
What about the simple fact that transferable goods have a salvage value?
Imagine what it would do to the automotive industry if new cars coming out were some how bound to their initial purchaser, not able to be re-sold later on, and not even able to be lent to another person.
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Bullshit. The hard copy dramatically cuts the cost of gaming for me. New game costs $60? Beat it, stick it on Goozex, effectively only out $10. Or just wait, and pick it up for $20 6 months down the road. There's also the simple fact that you know every last game will have DRM crammed all over it in God knows what ways, and given how terrified of pirates Sony is likely to be post-PSP I'd imagine that includes only working during certain phases of the moon after you provide a tissue sample.
The value of the physical disk is in simplicity and resale value. Until they can find a way to get past those issues, I don't think a distribution model with no physical media whatsoever is going to work on a console. So, basically what Ashcroft said. If there's a significant number of US who aren't willing to go for this, the general population is going to fucking hate it.
If Sony puts the entire existing PSP catalog online for a reasonable price (say $20 on average a game, less for older stuff, maybe more for new hot stuff) or provides a method to transfer UMD games to the PSP memory card, then I'm onboard for this version. I love digital distribution and if my consoles had bigger hard drives, then I'd wish that all of my games were digital downloads since they tend to be cheaper than retail copies and boxes & manuals are just wastes of space that I have to keep around in case I want to sell the game.
The Japanese PSN store has a gazillion PSOne classics. I don't see why the US store hasn't followed suit. Hopefully this changes (download copies of classic PS1 RPGs like Grandia, Lunar 1-2, Suikoden 2, and so on would make the PSP infinitely more attractive to me).
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Yeah, I really want to pick up a psp due to games announced yesterday (And what's out there as well) but I may end up waiting a bit. At least after E3.
Does the general population fucking hate games and other app downloads for the Iphone and Ipod Touch?
No.
Does the general population fucking hate other forms of downloadable media like, say, MP3s?
No.
What makes the PSP2 a "console" and the Ipod Touch not one?
Marketing.
People see the PSP as a handheld console that primarily plays games and has video/music player functionality as a distant afterthought (hello, bargain bins filled with UMD movies) and see the Ipod Touch as an MP3 player that also plays videos and games.
If Sony can successfully re-brand the PSP2 more along the lines of the Ipod Touch only with more of a focus on games (you know, like how Apple is now marketing the Ipod Touch itself), then I really doubt they're going to run into a huge blowback from folks with packaged media fetishes.
This, of course, assumes Sony can successfully market anything at this point, but hey, it's theoretically possible.
except that the iPhone market demographic is not identical to the PSP (or console, for that matter) demographic.
the move to downloadables cuts out kids, and cripples low-income folks
The PSP demographic is full of kids and low-income folks? Really?
it certainly includes them
I moonlight in retail, and there are plenty of kids who own PSPs, and low income folks who enjoy the fact that they can buy movies for it for very cheap (compared to DVD prices). I'm not saying that they are the majority of the demographic, but good business says to grow your market, not shrink it, and adding in requirements for credit cards and internet connections isn't going to help these people much.
edit: we're talking about video games here. does it really surprise you to learn that kids own them?
I'm not a PSP owner, but doesn't it come with built-in wi-fi? If Sony started selling "PSP Store" pre-paid cards like just about every other online downloadable thingamabob vendor does, that combined with a plethora of free wi-fi hotspots could take care of the slender part of the PSP demographic that doesn't have a credit card or regular internet access, while allowing Sony to (theoretically) steal some of Apple's thunder.
Edit: And yes, kids own videogame consoles, even those that skew towards an older and wealthier demographic than the DS. But how many kids own Ipods? Why is Apple sticking with a download-only model for their media a great idea but a terrible one for Sony?
And what kids don't have Internet access? Even if it's monitored by a parent, I'm sure most parents wouldn't have a problem with their kid using an iTunes-style PSP marketplace. Set up parental controls so that M-rated games cannot be downloaded without a password and you even put on a family-friendly image while you're at it.
There isn't wifi everywhere in the country yet, just in certain areas.
And iPods DO NOT have a download only system. You can rip your CDs, or put on other mp3s that you've gotten elsewhere. An iPod requires a computer to use, but not a credit card or the internet.
I'd certainly hope that if Sony does move the PSP to an iPhone-style download only device, that they'd cut down the cost on the games, or more likely focus on developing shorter, cheaper games.
And some iPhone apps are a wee bit pricier than $50. :P
They exist.
Like I said, it's far from a majority, but it's simply bad business practise to take a slice out of your market without growing it at all.
I still think that the number of people who can afford a $170+ handheld and a home PC but don't have any form of internet access is small enough that Sony doesn't need to worry too much about them, especially if they go with a "points card" system.
You're assuming that a re-branded and theoretically cheaper UMD-less PSP wouldn't grow Sony's handheld market at all. Which, knowing Sony's current reverse-Midas Touch for marketing is a reasonable assumption, but again, in theory it'd grow their marketshare or at least keep them from losing even more of it to the iPhone/iPod Touch.
you're mixing one time fees with reoccuring service fees.
some families save up for occasional big gifts (Christmas, birthday, etc.) but can't afford a lot of things in their regular budgets. Other families are just awful at budgeting entirely, and blow money on large items, leaving nothing left.
Again, the percentage of Americans who want but cannot afford internet access is very small indeed.