http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/11/commentary/column_gaming/index.htm http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3625&Itemid=2 This seems like a much-needed move for the PSP. It probably won't help them surpass the DS in sales (especially since the DS could easily respond with a drop to $99...which the analysts didn't mention for some reason), but it should still help improve PSP sales by quite a bit (especially with the GH program and PS1 downloads on the way IMO). I wonder if they'd be losing money again at $149 or still making a profit. IIRC, the core pack that was launched in Japan was around $185 (from the exchange rate at the time), and that was almost 2 years ago; it wouldn't surprise me if they were still profiting from the PSP at $149 (although not as much of course). It also seems like developers have wanted a price drop for the PSP (among other things). EA's VP and COO of their WW studios said this: So along with the price drop, I guess developers want Sony to release the CPU cap on the PSP. I'd be happy with both.
I just bought a DS lite today, and I'm happy. I figure, I already have a PS2, anything new on the PSP will already have a bigger better PS2 version. I'm getting the DS, which is cheaper and uses less battery life, for the games I can't get on teh PS2. I don't see myself using the PSP's other functions anyway. Regardless, 149 for a PSP is pretty good even if the accessories and games are pricy as is.
Can someone better versed in the PSP's capabilities tell me -- in laymen terms -- what this device can do? For example: is it worth buying it if I want to view movies on it (i.e. are there enough movies being offered on the market for this device)? Also, what about it's wi-fi capabilities? Can I surf the Internet with it anywhere I go if I install a CF card from T-Mobile/Sprint or someone else? Could I transfer shows/movies from my DVR to the PSP and what would I need to do that? What about the memory, how much would I need to spend on it? Sorry if it's too many questions, I was just interested in purchasing a PSP unit and wanted to know more about it.
At 150 dollars or less I'd think about getting one. Also, I'm surprised you didn't make this: it's own thread. That's a pretty big deal. There are a lot of movies. They are on their own format (UMD), and were very popular at launch. They run at about the cost of a DVD. Unfortunately, that boom faded. UMD movies seem to be getting a lot less support than before; several studios have dropped support and several retail chains (I think Target is one) have either considered cutting back or not carrying them at all. You can also compress/transfer video files to the system with USB. This would require downloading a program to aid you in the compression, and also in getting the file system set up to do the transfer. You also need a mem card big enough to handle larger files. IIRC the wi-fi works just like a wireless network card in a laptop/PC. It can connect to any hotspot or wireless router provided the setup is correct. Don't think there is a way to install a CF card, but I'm not sure about that. There is a firmware update a while back that added a browser to the PSP. It is a little clunky and really not all that spectacular, but it is free so hey it's there. Don't know about the DVR thing; as far as I know any video you have on your comp you can compress and get on the system, provided you have the space for it. The price of the Duo cards has gone down since launch. I think you can get a gig card from probably just under/at 100 retail. Less than that online. The cards come in: 32mb (what was included in the $250 pack at launch) 256mb 512mb 1gig 2gig 4gig With obviously the 2 and 4 gigs being the highest price now. (Probably 150+ for the 4 gig, I'm not sure)
As Rokkit said, there were a lot of movies for it, but after demand bottomed out (wonder why? ), some studios and retailers stopped supporting the format. If you're deadset on getting some, I think something like circuitcity.com or bestbuy.com has some for $15-$20 (about the cheapest I can find), but most are out of stock (wonder why?). I think EBgames.com sold a lot of used movies for less than $10, but again, supply of those have dropped to almost nothing. Your best bet at the moment would be getting a larger memory stick and transfer any movies you want on your own, as Rokkit said. I haven't done any movie/TV transfers since I don't have a larger memory stick, but it wasn't too difficult to do this for smalller videos (assuming it is the same for larger ones). If that's something you'd want to do, someone else can help you out or I can look into later if you need some help. FWIW, I think Sony is trying some different ways to distribute movies now that UMD has more or less failed as a movie format. I think they sold a few memory sticks that were sold with a movie (or movie(s)...can't remember) on them. They were like XXX and Stealth or something though. That's probably not going to take off. I think Sony is also working on eventually distributing content (music, movies, ebooks, games, etc.) through an Itunes-like service (probably through Connect), but they're too worried about making sure the DRM and content protection is like 100% secure (kind of like when they were waiting on a way to do that for portable music players...and then the iPod came out and stole the show). That service was supposed to be up and running like 5 months ago, and I haven't heard much about it since (besides that Sony is still working on it). Besides what Rokkit said, I think there are also RSS (audio, photo, and video) capabilities for the PSP that have been implemented in recent firmware updates. I haven't really messed with it that much, but I think this allows you to stream music (and maybe video...not sure) to your PSP from your PC, assuming you have the right software and you're around hotspots a lot (unlike me). You can read more about it in this post from another forum (with necessary info and links): http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32387 This allows you to have a lot of media without worrying about filling you memory stick I guess. As Rokkit said, I'm not sure what would really prevent you from transferring DVD content to you PSP (assuming you could at least get it to your PC). I don't have a DVR, so I don't know that works. The CNN article says something about Sony striking a deal to let users transfer vide from their Tivos and web videos, but I have no idea what that means. I think some web videos are labeled "PSP video" but they're just regular video files already encoded in the necessary codecs, basically just saving you an extra step or two had you downloaded the regular version. As for memory sticks, I'm guessing the prices Rokkit mentioned are right for retail stores. I usually look online for 99% of my purchases, so I can tell you about those. Newegg probably has the best prices on memory sticks that I can easily find: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice= They have a 512MB MS for ~$20, a 1GB MS for ~$30, a 2GB Ultra II (Ultra II means it is a little faster IIRC) for ~$64 (they had a regular one for ~$50, but I guess it is OOS...think it had a 10% MIR too), and apparently both their 4GB memory sticks are OOS (~$110 for the regular one, $10 more for the Ultra II version). I think Fry's and some other stores will occasionally sell them for about the same price or cheaper, although not by much. Also, some other online sites will occasionally have better deals than Newegg (like Amazon.com IIRC). Also, if you happen to own a LocationFree Player, I believe you can basically watch TV on your PSP from anywhere in the world, assuming you have a wireless connection. Pretty cool, but the player is pretty overpriced IIRC for what it does, not to mention there are/have been rumors that the PS3 would do the same. I thought about it, but I would have posted it the same time as this thread (didn't get around to reading both of these stories until both were reported)...meaning I'd have two PSP threads at the same time. I guess I could have done that, but I like to merge topics together sometimes if there is any sort of relation to them.
True; I just thought that something as (relatively obscure) as Camelot seeming to pull back from making games got some interest, then certainly EA doing the same for the PSP would as well. It's kind of funny since most of EA's handheld offerings are crap, but still sell really well. Particularly on the PSP, if I remember those charts you had a while back. In terms of 'casual' crowd, it still means something when EA starts pulling support. Also, a question: What was the reason Sony put the cap on anyway? Doesn't it relate to battery life? I always thought that removing it would actually cut back on that. Beyond that, the PSP is already the most technically advanced handheld anyway, and it doesn't seem to matter. I'm not sure how removing the cap really matters?
Thanks for the replies Rokkit and RC Cola. This BBS is like a one-stop-shop, we have experts on everything.
Yeah, that's true I suppose. If anything, I guess the Camelot news seemed to be a more for-sure thing, while for this to be a big deal, EA would have to basically cut back on one or more PSP versions of the their bigger franchises (NBA Live, Madden, NCAA, NFS, Burnout, SSX, etc.). Considering how easy it is to port those over to the PSP and make a profit on them, I don't know why they'd stop doing so. They are putting more effort into the PSP than the DS, but it hasn't seemed like they put much effort in either one. If they follow-up those comments with some pulled games or whatever, I'll definitely make a thread for that (assuming the games are important, and not like From Russia With Love or something like that). Yeah, that's what is a little strange by these comments. I guess EA would like the PSP to be doing better, but EA is probably getting better sales (and arguably, better games...though still not great) on it than any other handheld they've supported by far AFAIK. I think I saw some stat about them selling over 4M units of SW on the PSP just from the US. It isn't like this hasn't been profitable for them. Yeah, that's true. If Madden, NBA Live, NFS, etc., get pulled, that will be big. Still not sure why they'd do that considering they wouldn't really be better on any other handheld IMO; nothing against the DS, but unless EA got really creative (yeah, like that will happen), those games probably wouldn't be that good on anything other than the PSP. Even if they were, EA would probably find it difficult to compete with Nintendo on the DS, much like other 3rd party developers. They should just keep pumping out their sports and racing games on the PSP, and then put more effort into supporting the DS with some of there other IPs (which they haven't been using). IIRC, their Sims games are their best selling games on the DS, so more of those would be great, along with maybe some strategy games or something. Maybe a FPS like MP:Hunters or something too. Yeah, it was for the battery life IIRC, especially since I'm guessing they didn't expect developers to figure out right away how best to use the system capabilities (might get crappy-looking games, long load times, and crappy battery life from launch games, rather than just 2 out of the 3). But they should have taken it off by now IMO. Extra batteries aren't that expensive (IIRC, there was a sale recently that had them for $4 each), and better batteries have been released since launch. I think there's even a 4400 mAh battery out there, although I don't know why anyone would need THAT much battery. I don't care whether it is the most technically advanced handheld or not, removing the cap will allow for better games. It probably won't help that much in the "war," but that's not really why I want them to do this anyway.
Well, what I mean is, I don't think much of the software makes full use of the hardware as it is, in terms of what it can do. Good games do (say, Daxter, Syphon Filter, Tekken) but most of the developers don't even bother. If they aren't making use of what they have, what will removing the cap really do anyway? The system already has good looking graphics, but not everyone makes use of full potential. There are clearly ways of making better games without the loading crap and better utilizing the battery life, but so few of them do that too.
So if I want a PS3 do I have to pre-order it now, or is it too late? Will the PS3 be worth it? Maybe that deserves it's own thread......
You already listed like 3 games that could benefit from removing the cap, not to mention there are probably a bunch of others (mostly unreleased games, like say GTA:VCS or KZ:Liberation). Being able to put more stuff into those games thanks to better processing power would be great IMO. Whether or not the average PSP game would see much benefit, I don't really care (although even something like Madden would probably see some performance enhancements due to such an increase, though just not as good as others maybe). Even if 99.9% of the games don't benefit (basically puzzle games I guess), it wouldn't matter as long as maybe one developer is able to make a better game due to the extra processing power. Besides, if it wasn't necessary to have a portable handheld with a 333MHz CPU (plus whatever else is locked due to that), then they should have just downed the specs to begin with and reduced the costs to make the system. You can't pre-order a PS3 yet AFAIK. Not for another month or so IIRC. Now, whether or not the PS3 is worth it...that probably deserves another thread.
150 would be an awsome price for what it has to offer. A 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo can cost $110-130, but the possibilities for that much space is endless.... This is what I hate about semantics and ambiguous reporting. I can understand if the reporter doesn't know how many PSPs are actually sold because Sony doesn't release that outright compared to Nintendo, but he shouldn't make the claim that sales have been "solid" unless he can spend a little more effort to get some independent and accurate numbers...
I guess this is where I wasn't clear, sorry. It is a given that the good developers - who already make the good games - would benefit. I was just wondering where - in terms of the thread, the EA news, trying to get the PSP back on track - it would matter with everyone else who doesn't even make the best of the PSP in its current state as it is. But if you were just talking about how the good games (that already push the system's limitations) would get a little better, then yeah I definitely agree. I just didn't see where the developers were asking for it or why it would really be a focus of Sony's at this point.
What games, to be specific, would you think not see a benefit from this change? As mentioned earlier, I'm not sure if EA takes as much advantage of the PSP hardware as say Namco (Ace Combat, Tekken, Ridge Racer, etc), but I'm pretty they could get some pretty decent improvement in their games (especially since they're basically porting down a lot of them I would think). Again, the only games that wouldn't really benefit would be maybe some puzzle games (Lumines) or something in a similar situation (maybe Street Fighter); everything else could probably see a decent improvement (if nothing else, a 30FPS game could easily become a 60FPS game). The better developers (which could include a lot of games depending on what you think takes advantage of the HW) will be able to get more out of the system, but I think every developer could get better performance from the PSP. I don't know if it should be a major focus for Sony, but considering they designed this to be a handheld with a 333MHz CPU, they need to put that CPU to use sometime. There aren't really any disadvantages at all to unlocking it, and a ton of potential advantages IMO.
I think any game, if the developer made use of it, would see a benefit. I'm just asking if most of them will bother. In other words, would it really change the overall picture of the PSP. Like in your example: Namco makes use of the PSP's capabilities pretty well. EA does not. If EA (just to use the example) isn't bothering to make the most of the hardware now, are they really going to step up and make a different effort anyway when they have more to work with? In any case, I'm not saying it is a bad thing at all (except maybe with the battery life thing), I just wonder how much it will matter.
I haven't played any EA games on the PSP yet, but I thought that at least some of their games took decent advantage of the hardware from what I saw (mostly screenshots and a few gameplay videos). Madden and NCAA look pretty good considering the hardware, and I believe they fixed a few of the issues from Madden with NCAA (while also introducing some new issues of course...stupid EA). IIRC, Burnout was also pretty nice; Medal of Honor, which I have in my sig, apparently supports 32 players in multiplayer (and looks decent-enough for the hardware), so I imagine they're using the hardware nicely (if not, the next SOCOM needs to support like 40+ players and look like the PS2 version or something). I haven't really paid much attention to their other PSP games, but it seems like most were pretty good from a graphics standpoint. I think there are teams like Namco that are "mastering" the PSP, but I think most developers have used the HW well enough (except the UMD drive, which has lead to bad load times for some games ). A lot of them look somewhere between DC and PS2 in graphics, and that's basically where the PSP stands from a HW perspective (especially with the cap). Out of the games I have, I'd think RR, Wipeout, MGA, Gripshift, Virtua Tennis, and X-Men Legends all use the HW very well (so does LocoRoco, but I only have a demo of it). I'd imagine that every one of those developers would bother using the extra processing power if it was available.
