Dave Perry, the respected creator of games like Earthworm Jim, recently went on record to SPOnG about what he'd like in a potential PSP redesign. He starts by describing the system as "a great little machine, but the price is a major barrier. The American public like $149 to $99 for handhelds." Lowering the price would be substantial in getting more PSPs out there. Mr. Perry has a lot of ideas, some great, and some not-so-much:- He proclaims Sony should "make the PSP with a clamshell design, to protect that lovely screen, and they should have made the screen at least DVD resolution." A screen that's 480p would certainly be far pricier to manufacture than Sony's current screen, no?
- "I would also kill off the UMD disc, remove it entirely and shrink the device size." But that would get rid of compatibility with old PSP games. Maybe for PSP2?
- Mr. Perry gets a boner for digital distribution, and for good reason: "Embracing digital distribution... would bring movies and games back to the PSP in a sensible way. Then I can buy movies or games for less (ZERO cost of goods), keeping the library safely stored on my PC, picking the ones I want to watch next, and all I have to do is sync. If they wanted to be forward thinking, they could offer modern features like game demos, trial music from new artists, item sales, vast customization of items, characters and in-game objects from databases too vast to store on the PSP." As seen by the popularity of downloadable demos, it's clear that PSP owners want to download games to boot from Memory Stick. The eventual popularity of PSone game downloads may lead Sony to start thinking about offering full PSP titles digitally, saving gamers from UMD costs, and UMD loading times.
- Homebrew can actually help Sony, according to Mr. Perry: "Did user-created content hurt YouTube? Why not open the PSP? Welcome indie games, welcome development, get the users promoting the device... I bet Sony tries to tell you it doesn't matter. Well, if you type "Sony PSP hack" into Google, there are now 8.6 MILLION pages dedicated to the subject."
[Via kikizo]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-28-2006 @ 1:20PM
Alien said...
Removing the UMD as a format is not a verry good idea , but adding digital distribution , and supporting homebrewis a verry good idea . But we allready heard this things , from less known people , so whats the point ?
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10-28-2006 @ 3:55PM
David said...
Maybe not removing, but allowing some sort of transition may be a better idea.
I would have changed the idea of the clamshell design to making it a little less cramped for larger hands.
And the screen is fine, only wish it were a little brighter (and sound a little louder).
As for digital distribution, I'm okay with that.
However looking through the lists of upcoming titles, I'm going to have to say that I may not need a demo to want to buy some of these games. Especially the revamped games of yester-year. I bought Mega Man Powered Up and it is sweet. I'm looking forward to a lot of these types of games. Even if I get the Wii and buy classics, I think having some on the go is nice since I get bored easily during air travel.
But in the end, I agree with Alien and his "whats the point" comment...
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11-15-2006 @ 1:19PM
Janet Barber said...
I'm a sucker for video games and my kids are to. A smaller unit might be difficult to control by a large dude and there's a larger chance for kids to misplace or lose it. In my opinion the PSP's graphics are more than satisfactoty. If Mr. Perry can add more detail to the upcomming PSP2, I will surely be more than amazed. I'm looking forward to the latest games and devices to come.
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