Rumors of the PSP2

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

There's not much to go on, but there was a lot of rumors of PSP2 coming out of Gamescon this uear.

- Same overall design as PSP
- Disc media format
- Touch sensitivity on the backside of the unit

That was pretty much it. We'll probably know more from TGS.

But I gotta say, Sony has their work cut out for them. The problem with PSP was always the arrogance behind the pricing and the lack of a vision for the system.

This year has actually been PSP's strongest year in terms of new software, but you wouldn't know that because they've turned so many people off with weak support in prior years, not to mention horrible pricing for games on PSN and weak updates to PSOne classics.

The next three weeks have three games I've been looking forward to and the last two months Persona 3 Portable and MGS Peace Walker have taken up most of my attention on PSP, so I can't say I'm displeased. There's also God of War: Ghost of Sparta coming up, Ys Seven last week.

All I can say is if Sony treats the next PSP like an accessory, they can expect the lose the next round, too. That's the thing about Nintendo's handhelds - they've never been treated like that, they're treated just like a console in terms of attention and support.

I do believe that it would look similar, though I find the concept of touch sensitivity on the back of the unit to be a bit strange. I've come to be partial to the clamshell design of NIntendo handhelds since the GBA SP, as it serves to protect the screen when not in use. The dual screens of the DS was a gamble that paid off and I do think the placement of DS' touch screen is more natural

I think the problem with the alleged touch scheme is that it would draw your fingers away from the L and R buttons. In the case of the DS this would be purely intentional anyway, but for PSP I would think that's taking away two more options from your controls. And 3DS seems to be stepping things up by using accelerometers for tilt and motion control, in addition to the cameras, as additional options for controls.

Guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Malacite]

Re: Rumors of the PSP2

I still love my PSP, but I don't think I've played anything on it since I got burned out from playing Dissida too much...


It'd be great if they would get their act together and we end up with two great handhelds instead of just Nintendo dominating the market again. I like what they both have to offer and it's a shame seeing either suffer for whatever reason (though honestly when has Nintendo ever failed apart from the Gameboy Micro lol?)

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Rumors of the PSP2

GBA Micro was a novelty, something for collectors released in limited quantities.

Virtual Boy was the failure. though that really wasn't a handheld, it was just a freak of nature.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Rumors of the PSP2

The PSP Phone is still hot in the rumor mill according to the WSJ:

"Threatened by Apple Inc.'s growing stable of portable devices, Sony Corp. is developing a new lineup of handheld products, including a smart phone capable of downloading and playing videogames, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Japanese electronics giant also is developing a portable device that shares characteristics of netbooks, electronic-book readers and handheld-game machines. The device is designed to compete against multifunction products such as Apple's coming iPad tablet, these people said.


In a bid to steal away game-playing iPhone users, Sony announced they will launch a smartphone that can download and play Playstation games, Marcelo Prince reports on Digits. Plus, Walt Mossberg discusses streaming wireless video to your television.

Both the new smart phone and the multifunction device are expected to work with Sony's new online media platform, due to launch later this month in the U.S. as the company's answer to Apple's iTunes.

The new products are targeted for launch in 2010, although many details such as price and certain specifications have yet to be finalized, these people said.

Sony recently has struggled with portable devices. Its cellphone venture, Sony Ericsson, saw global shipments decline 41% in 2009, and last month Sony slashed forecasts for shipments of its PlayStation Portable, or PSP, game machine.

Sony's new media platform, temporarily named Sony Online Service, will offer many of the same movies, television shows and songs already available on iTunes. But the company aims to differentiate its service by allowing a wide range of devices to tap into its catalog of games, mainly older titles released for the original PlayStation console.

The new smart phone and other coming portable devices are critical elements of Chief Executive Howard Stringer's turnaround plan. Sony has made progress in cutting costs and streamlining its production, but it has yet to deliver a game-changing product that embodies Mr. Stringer's emphasis on creating devices that access an online network offering movies, games and music.



Digits: Sony PSP: Revival or SOS?
"That's the vision, but it's still not quite clear what specific steps Sony will take to achieve that, especially when iPad and other highly capable mobile devices are crowding the market," said Nobuo Kurahashi, a consumer-electronics analyst at Japanese brokerage Mizuho Investors Securities.

The new devices are meant to counter Apple and its wide range of products that connect to its iTunes store. Apple's iPod Touch and iPhone are pushing into the portable-gaming market inhabited by Sony's PSP, while the iPad tablet is expected to disrupt the nascent e-reader market where the Sony Reader has already sold one million units.

Sony is working with Sony Ericsson, a venture with L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. of Sweden, on the new smart phone, the people familiar with the matter said. While the capital structure of the 50-50 joint venture hasn't changed, Sony is taking a more active role in developing handsets for the partnership because of how central smart phones are becoming to the company's overall strategy.


At a wireless industry trade show last month in Barcelona, Mr. Stringer said Sony Ericsson phones will connect to Sony's online service in the future.

He didn't specify what content would be available for mobile-phone users.

Sony Ericsson, which was formed in 2001, has lagged behind rivals in developing smart phones. It plans to introduce its first smart phone, Xperia X10, built on Google Inc.'s Android operating system in April.

The main responsibility for delivering Sony's gadgets of the future has fallen to Senior Vice President Kunimasa Suzuki, who was promoted as part of a management shuffle a year ago. He is in charge of Sony's Vaio computer business and the new team developing mobile products. He also serves as PlayStation chief Kazuo Hirai's deputy at both the videogame unit and the Network Products & Services division.

Mr. Suzuki's various roles within the company represent the blending of business divisions inside Sony, placing him at the center of Mr. Stringer longstanding ambition to bring down the "silos" separating the company's various operations.


Sony has said Mr. Suzuki is leading product planning for new mobile devices, without offering details about the projects. In early February, at a news conference to announce earnings, Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda said Sony was interested in devices such as the iPad that don't necessarily fit any single product category.

Sony's next wave of portable devices comes as the PSP, a gadget once hailed by Sony executives as the "Walkman for the 21st century," is slumping.

While it has sold more than 55 million units since its launch in late 2004, the PSP hasn't quite lived up to Sony's own hype. Nintendo Co. has sold twice as many DS handhelds during that period and new games for the platform have slowed to a trickle.

Sony was forced in February to slash its full-year PSP shipment targets by a third. Sales of the PSP Go—the latest version of its handheld, which doesn't use packaged discs and only plays downloaded games—have been slow, hurt by the PSP Go's hefty price tag. It costs $250, or $80 more than the PSP model that uses game discs.While PSP Go sales have been disappointing, the handheld has taught Sony a lot about how it should approach future gadgets that will be entirely reliant on downloaded content, according to people familiar with Sony's thinking."

----------------------

The Micro was released in limited quantities for collectors? 2.5 million units isn't in limited quantities by collectors standards, also:

Satoru Iwata: " In the end, we failed to explain to consumers its unique value and they concluded that Micro is not worth the price they have to invest. Whichever hardware we talk about, platform business is the business of momentum. If we fail to build an initial momentum, we will have hard times. Simultaneously, it was the time when Nintendo had to expand DS sales, so we had to put more effort on DS, which were not contributing to the sales of Micro. We have to learn the lesson that we overestimated the success potential of Micro."

It was a failure but not a huge flaming failure like the Virtual Boy at least.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Rumors of the PSP2

Meh, I never really tracked Micro's sales. I just kinda looked at it and laughed because it seemed like a gimmicky colllector's sort of thing, plus it had more varied skins in its short existence.

[Malacite]

Re: Rumors of the PSP2

Virtual Boy was the failure. though that really wasn't a handheld, it was just a freak of nature.

I was specifically talking handhelds.