Rant: Pretty Substandard Platform
Sony is releasing a new, slimmer version of the PSP so that it can "compete with Nintendo's DS". The features of this new model?
- Slimmer design due to a new LCD screen
- Increased battery life due to the new LCD screen
- "faster load times"
- 8GB of Internal Flash Memory
- New Buttons
So, when presented with the opportunity to revamp the PSP and fix the problems the guys at Sony decided that the biggest problem was the size and screen, probably because those were the things fixed by Nintendo in the DS Lite. Unfortunately for Sony the PSP and DS do not have the same problems.
The PSP's main problem is that it exemplifies John Stewart's critique of camera phones, "You just get a crappy camera and a crappy phone." Sure, the PSP can play games, play mp3s, play video, and allow the user to browse the internet. The problem is that it doesn't do any of these things WELL. It can't replace your DS for gameplay, it can't replace your iPod for mp3s or movies, and it can't replace your handheld for web browsing purposes. It's a hodgepodge of half-assed technology encased in a super-smudgeable shell.
That is the PSP’s problem; the problem they did not fix. It’s not the size or the screen or the buttons. The problem is that it’s trying to do too many contradictory things. One can make a portable MP3 player, a portable movie player, a portable gaming platform, and a portable web browser. But the requirements for all of these things are not harmonious. A portable web browser requires a keyboard. Let’s just dismiss any notion to the contrary right now. One cannot enjoyably browse the internet with an analog stick and an X button. A portable mp3 player requires storage and some means by which it can play continually with minimal user input. A portable movie player requires good speakers, a good screen, and some form of media which can hold the movies. And a portable gaming platform needs to do what the DS does. What the PSP attempts to do is balance out the needs of each individual system and it fails. An iPod is a better MP3 player and video player. A smart phone is a better web browser. A DS is a better portable gaming platform.
All of these problems are compounded, I think, by the numerous products that do what they promise. Blackberries function. iPhones and iPods function. The DS does what it says it will do. So when there exist products like iPhones within the same realm in which Sony says, “We’ll make the PSP slimmer!” this, I think, is an admission of defeat and incompetence by Sony.
They obviously do not know what they are doing and it would be best if they just stopped.
6 comments:
I agree that making the PSP slimmer demonstrates Sony's misunderstanding of the system's problems, but I don't think the PSP is a hopeless case. All they really need to do is bring back those ads with the squirrels. Problems solved.
Those ads were pretty awesome...
Maybe they'll come pre-loaded on the new Slim PSP...and they'll be part of the 8 gigs of internal flash...and they won't be removeable.
Sony has some how established themselves at the mcdonalds of the video game industry. A large percentage of the population hates them and gets a nauseating feeling every time they use their products. Their advertising machine has alienated most of their current user base, yet these same people (myself included) keep giving them money.
Also, it's important to note that the recent price cut on the PS3 was only a ploy to clear the glut of lower quality 60 gig models so they could once again charge $600 for the new and improved 80 gig model..
I can't stress enough how much I despise Sony at this point in time.
turns out the 80 gig model? Cheaper to produce. it doesn't have PS2 hardware inside.. only software emulation.
Doesn't change your argument on the pricing one iota, mind you.
just shades it slightly.
The thing that gets me is that they aren't trying to improve the PSP. Sony is literally doing to the PSP what Nintendo did to the DS.
They aren't even trying to improve their own product. They're just doing what the competition did in hopes of...I don't know what. Confusing people into thinking this is an improvement?
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