I don't know about that. I would think it's expected for a portable. I know I only buy PSP games when I'm going on a trip unless there's something really good that I just have to play like GoW:CoO.

The DS is completely different to me though. People use it as a pacifier for their kids. I expect anything meant for kids to way outsell anything for teens-adults. The DS is just another Furbie or Tickle Me Elmo. I'm not saying that there is nothing there for adults too, but it's generally geared towards kids.

That sucks, and it really sucks for me, as they are my 2 systems. PC, and psp. both of them are having less and less releases. It sucks big time, both are open type platforms (well the psp is with cfw) and are the most powerful systems in there category. My girl controls the tv, so consoles are out, not that I would want to pay $60 for dumbed down console games anyway! I love pc games, and psp games are great too. Sony needs to get some devs on this. The psp is selling a lot, but there is nothing to look forward to now that crisis core and gow are out.

"...most people in here download pirate games..." How can you say that? What evidence do you have? I have never downloaded a pirate game, and although I somtimes wait for a game's price to drop before I buy (the new title price can be too much for me to justify spending on a game), I always buy the UMD game. I would prefer to do that to support the PSP and its sales - and that's the only way that the console will survive and more game come out.

I just wish that Sony would put the same effort into the UK that it does into Japan... If they put ads on TV, ads in mags, and ads at cinemas for games like GOW, Patapon, Syphon Filter, etc, (showing the game play, not the cr*p ads with stretchy-rubbery faces) then they may actually see increased sales - surely it's worth a try?!

I am really pi**ed off with Blockbuster who have just stopped selling all PSP games, and with W H Smith who have done the same - I don't live near a real game shop. All they seem to sell now are crap Nintendo games - like Nintendogs! Why are these useless games consuming so much space in shops? Where's all the decent stuff?

And finally - if Sony sorted itself out and released all games worldwide at roughly the same time I imagine that fewer poeple would turn to piracy to get hold of them. Why for instance can you only get hold of Resident Evil on the PSP store in Japan??? I'd love to play that, but will not turn to piracy so I can't. But no, instead we get 'quality' games like Reel Fishing and Judge Dredd... Who are Sony employing?! Are they all idiots not to understand that thay are pi**ing off their own customers?

I heard from one of the hacker websites that said when the PSP first came out the hardware was very easy to hack. Because Sony started with such a vulnerable system, even firmware updates would never be able to fully keep people out!

Your comments about consumer/corporate altruism are dead-on in my opinion. Call me cynical but I really do think that all corporations operate at the very threshold of "screwing the consumer"; its all about the bottom line. Well for most consumers its got to be all about the bottom line as well.

Plus the fact that you sit at a computer and d/l free stuff takes the feeling of risk out of it. You're not hurrying out of the store with a game in your pants, hoping nobody notices. You're not breaking into somebody's house and taking a game or two. The ratio of risk to reward is very heavy in "rewards" favor so a lot of people who wouldn't have the guts to chunk a brick through Gamestop's storefront and make off with a bunch of games most certainly have the guts to "right-click save-as".

All morality arguments aside; If you can get item "A" for $40.00 or for $0, which would you do?

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All morality arguments aside; If you can get item "A" for $40.00 or for $0, which would you do?
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A good point, and I'm with you, but there are exceptions... I just got back from Gamestop with Crisis Core. I'm on custom firmware so I could've just downloaded it, but for some reason I wanted to own it.

A real big selling point on custom firmware for me is older games (though I admit that for most people its piracy pure and simple). I bought FF1 and FF2 back when they re-released them and when those games came to a close I found myself wanting to play part 4 and 6 again... Since the PSP doesn't have the remakes of those games like the wretched DS does, my PSP was hacked the next day to accommodate me.

Lets face it, the PSP in its unlocked state can play damn near anything, from DOS games to NES and PS1 games. And while Silent Hill 0rigins was a nice show of support, it only triggered a thirst for a portable Resident Evil, which has yet to be released outside of the Japanese PSP Store. So lack of strong support leads to hacking which in turn, diminishes support further... A vicious little circle.

Yes, but they are not PSP exclusives. All that you listed were available for other systems.

I bought Crysis!

I did too! That makes two of us...everyone else downloaded it :-(

Hear hear! Developers! Hear us, the players, when we say you need to release demos. Most of us don't trust the game review sites any farther than we can throw them... and I haven't learned how to throw data yet!