EA Goes Cold on PSP

[wraggster]

Via Nextgen (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3617&Itemid=2)

EA's head of development David Gardner has warned Sony to pick up its act in the handheld war against Nintendo DS.
The firm's VP and COO of worldwide studios told UK trade paper MCV, "I don't think Sony can afford to sit back. They still have things they can do with the price and performance of the machine, things that they need to address."

EA says it has shifted its handheld priorities since DS began pulling away from PSP. "There's no doubt that EA has historically bet more on PSP," said Garner. "I think we were excited by the technology, but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun.

"We must never forget that what we need to focus on is fun and so EA is putting more effort behind DS games, and creative ones that really take advantage of the hardware.

[Video_freak]

nooooooooooooo. see this is what happens when you dont let us play your UMD's on 1.5 sony... :(

[The_Ultimate_Eggman]

$ONY take note EA killed the dreammcast by not doing fifa on it if u loose this big boy i wouldnt fancy your chances.

[QueadlunnRau]

Sounds to me like a Football fan who swares he is a fan of one team, but then changes when he finds another team is winning more games.

Traitor.

[dejkirkby]

Could this be the first nail in the PSP's coffin, perhaps?

[Apoklepz]

Serves Sony right...That's what they get for being way too pushy with the scurity update crap, and spending little or no time at all to increase the capabilities of their harware and accesories....If I remember right, the only revolutionary PSP accesories have come from third party people in the hacking scene, like PSP2TV, the GPS thing that is being worked on, and all other homebrew that has really helped bring out the true potential of the PSP.

Where're all those awesome looking add-ons that you've been showing around all this time Sony, like the Keyboard, Camara, phone device,etc....huh?

Not to mention...the frickin PSX emulator that you've been promissing for months now...We all saw it play Ridge Racer, so release it already!

Yeah...keep pushing those updates, it's really the most profitable and smartest thing to do.

[Hungry Horace]

it's got nothing to do with EA's policy of stale re-hashes of old games then has it?

give me Sensible World of Soccer anyday!


my 1.5 psp does everything i want it to.... although the amiga emualtor needs developing, i wouldnt care if it became an abandoned machine, so long as the homebrew keeps it going!

[blackwolf]

this does not look good... donly need to shape up. they need to lounch a campain promoting the psp better.

[HellsPlumber]

I think this could be a GOOD thing.It could seriously harm the PSP and sony if EA quits on them so sony are bound improve and maybe even stop games NEEDING updates hopefuly give everyone homebrew to increase PSP sales. :D
Fingers crossed ;)

[manwthhurricanes]

thats pretty cool

[manwthhurricanes]

louis pastor likes to masturbate to men

[Video_freak]

dude, wth manwthhurricanes.
i doubt sony will ever give in to legal homebrew. if they do though, we can consider ourselves the winners (more so than now :))

[ACID]

nooooooooooooo. see this is what happens when you dont let us play your UMD's on 1.5 sony... :(
But you can play umds using Devhook 0.46
I just bought mi favorite movie CLERCKs and it works with it in bouth mi jap and us PSP:D

[Video_freak]

ya, but we shouldnt have to be fighting to play new UMD's though. its all sony's fault if the psp dies miserably

[JD/]

Heh finally a wake up call for sony its about time someone started pushing them to do better in the gaming industy.

[YourStillWithMe]

i think EA has a very good point, why should they continue there efforts on a system that is seriously in the dumps? I'm sure EA isnt stupid, there games are phenomenal and take soooo much effort to make, rights from the teams to put down where players went to school, character visuals that are realistic, stats from previous years, shoes they wear and get the rights from nike, adidas, etc. to put those shoes in a game, etc etc. They know the only thing keeping this system active is homebrew but im sure thats not what they mean they mean gaming wise, not overall. EA was pumped about the psp because they thought Sony would make it a system that would be in demand. DS's games are rumored to be more fun and Sony CAN DO that because they did it with the ps2 they just have to stop being so ridiculous and think about what there doing. Legal homebrew on 3.00 or something would be sick but i dont see it happening. . .

[gamesquest1]

errr im afraid that sony know people would be content with playing homebrew only especialy if emulators where allowed but sony wouldnt want that that is what is making the psp fail imagine if everyone on the homebrew sites actually couldnt play homebrew games you would eigther sell your psp or buy real games thus making games companies happy thus keeping a nice steady development of games on the psp, although the psp is also lacking something in the ingenuitive department companies like trying new stuff when developing games but alls they are basically doing on the psp is making scaled down ps2 games i feel it is hombrews fault and the lack of new features for the psp, features psp should have which they wont is a similar service to xbox arcade where people can play games online without having third party software to do so and also to offer free or cheap games which are downloadable which you can play online without having to be at a pc so you could use wireless hotspots in city centres, also they should try not to make such complex games which is why the emulators and such are so popular but sony want the prices such games rake in and dont realise that the target audience is people playing games on the go which i know i would prefer a nice simple game....but good , rather than a GTA game as you dont really need that when walking around no matter how cool it looks

[rock_light]

Just wait untill november before you guys bitch about no updates / games.

It's true PSP sales are not as good as other systems, it is a bad idea for psp to stop homebrew, even if it is an open for piracy. It doesn't stop Sony from messing with PCs they make.

Most ppl dont want a psp because nintendo is nintendo. It's cheaper, stronger and they got all the franchises. (Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Megaman)

All we got is Finalfantasy and Megaman.
I may have s**t about powered up but i know most ppl i try to sell that to reeally dont want it.

But hey PSP has some good stuff coming out!
Just wait.

Besides we got Tekken, MetalGear, Megaman, FinalFantasy, MONSTERHUNTER, Wipeout, etc.

Not to mention basically all the features of an iPod video except we sacrifice storage space for screen area and speakers.

Anyways, all I mean is that more kids play games than adults. PSP is for adult, Nintendo is for kids.

Nintendo does better because adults can play kids games and its no problem. Everyone loves Mario and it's ok. But no one wants their kid rampaging around Liberty City on a 'Killing Spree'.

Besides my nephew can barely work a nes let alone
a PSP.

Ie:DS has both audiences.
Ie:PSP is geared for mature audience.

I have both I play the latest game i've bought.
It was DS untill PSP came out, then it was PSP, then after a LONG while it was DS for a few days, then it was PSP for MPH loader. After a while still no games. DS gets pulled out for FFIV etc. PSP gets ignored. Then devhook and now all i play is PSP.
I have like 6-8 games I bought that I couldn't even play via UMD.

When I leave the house its the PSP I take with me though. I got like 500+ roms, 2-3 homebrew games and 3 psp games on there with comics, music and an episode or two as well, ALL WITHOUT OPENING THE DRIVE.

Psp is for smart people. Not what Sony needs. =p

[Voltron]

Well, I don't think anything like this will be the nail in the coffin. I think the PSP has crossed the half-way mark of being a hit or miss. Its definitely a hit thanks to homebrew and finally a decent game library.

Is it really fair for EA to blame Sony? If EA is not happy with sales results of its PSP games maybe they should work at adding some new features to their games.

For one, I'm sick of the bullS**t RAP/Hippidy HOP soundtrack on almost all of their games. I don't want to listen to blingy, chingy, dingy, 50 cent, 25 cent, or 10 cent while trying to enjoy my PSP. So wouldn't a custom tracks option be beneficial? I'd love to be able to play my own songs during games with a focus on a music soundtrack.

But only GTA: LCS lets us do that so far. Also, not many games are using WiFi Infrastructure and their is no "PSP LIVE" service to sign into with the PSP, search for players around the world, see what games are joinable, etc.

Its just small suggestions like I just mentioned that would make gaming on the PSP less generic and toned down from its console big brothers/sisters.

The PSP is perfectly capable of being a full-fledged gaming machine regardless of it being able to fit in your pocket. Its technologies and multimedia features need to be embraced and implemented more into the gaming experience.

Are you listening SONY?

[NoQuarter]

You guy's remeber the thread in these forums claiming to be EA looking for coders?
Even the big companies are on to hombrew.
We might actually reach the allowing homebrew on psp point thanks to EA
WE NEED A KEYBOARD AND LINUX!

[dOOmy]

FUN is good

[Edshugeo]

"I think we were excited by the technology, but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun.

"We must never forget that what we need to focus on is fun and so EA is putting more effort behind DS games, and creative ones that really take advantage of the hardware.

I don't get why they think they can't create fun games for the PSP. I think it says more about them than the hardware or Sony itself. I'll bitch about Sony when the bitching's due, and this ain't one of those times.

Unless Sony's tying their hands in some way we don't know about, yet?

[NoQuarter]

Well their certainly tying their hands as far as the market of homebrew users is concerned,all while trying to tie ours.
make no mistake there is a market I mean how many members do we have here.

[kayhanbakid]

As a long time PSP user, I just got a NDS lite and it is really fun compared to the PSP. The touch-screen is really something. I thought I wouldn't be too fascinated with it but games like Wack-a-Mole that I wouldn't ever think of buying before just comes to life on the DS.

But I still love my PSP. Sports games (such as FIFA 06 and Virtua Tennis) are FAR superior on the PSP. Not to mention all the homebrew and multimedia support. I don't think EA should abandon the PSP because sports games are pretty good on it. Not XBOX 360 good but very good for a handheld. Sports games are just not fun on the DS.

[NoQuarter]

I was actually thinking of purchasing another DS,It is just plain fun.
What sweet irony in the old cartridge vs disk battle .Umd format sucks and the drives will probably start breaking soon like the ps2
Convient how disk read errors started popping up right after warranties expired,It cost $100 to get your ps2 fixed after warranty.
On top of that it was usually just a matter of adjusting the laser distance.
slick one sony

[gamer121]

your ideas for the psp are just making it worse. Keyboard and linux...for what. the PSP problems is its games. most of them offer nothing new from PS2 so on a handheld the games feel stale. The DS has fun games that people like to play. The PSP features and technology wont save it.

Plus we all probaly play homebrew more than we play regular PSP games...thats not good for sony

All in all DS games are better...hands down.

[NoQuarter]

Keyboard and linux for what,now thats funny....
Homebrew doesn't have to be bad for sony it's just their business model is flawed.
Oh and those aren't just my ideas,might want to ask some programmers that.
DS has linux, I don't understand how that will make anything worse
Mylo?
Ideas don't make anything worse,lack of imagination does

[Edshugeo]

All in all DS games are better...hands down.

Ah, but are DS games better because the hardware is cooler, or is it because developers are making good games for the hand held? Is EA's problem Sony, or their own lack of innovation?

[gamer121]

so we all agree DS games are better. you guys might be right about the Linux though. My point is that the PSP has alot of things that shy away from PSP games itself.

Lets think about it. Most of us are giddy when we can play OTHER consoles on the psp.

DS games are better because of innovation. Most PSP games are PS2 games shrunk down. They need to make the games different...like speed up the gameplay. I want a different experience from PS2. Powerstone will do that in the near future

[NoQuarter]

Your definitly right in the innovation department:)Homebrew is innovation alot of times,Man the touch screen is cool I really do miss my DS .I'm definitly getting another one.Won't ever give up my psp though!That screen is beautiful.Pretty much this is sony's fault,they could have done so much better.
I am giddy when I play other consoles on my psp,can't wait for fully working N64!

[gamer121]

yeah i cant wait for N64, PS1, and the GBA to get to full speed.:D

i love my PSP its the games could be more fun

[NoQuarter]

You got that right,I only own one psp umd and thats all I care for right now(tekken)nothing really entices me.Got a stick full of homebrew though.
I really want to play the new mario:)

[YourStillWithMe]

NoQuarter-Is your name based off of the Led Zeppelin Song/Tool Cover??? Anywho I'm for everything i buy commerical games and homebrew (more homebrew though.) i own over 23 umd games and movies and love the thing overall (i have a lot because i get every game for like 15 bucks at work. . .) but if those games dont get better i will glady relax and chill with the psone emulator (hopefully it will get emulated onto 1.50 soon) gba emulator and n64! Lets go Perfect Dark!

[NoQuarter]

actually my name is a quote from the kung-fu movie prodigal son.Lueng yi tai says"expect no quarter and further more give none"It means expect your enemy to give you no room and to give him no room.
led zepplin rocks though!

[Voltron]

Well I guess I have the minority opinion on PSP games. I happen to really enjoy PSP games. And when I had my DS, I hardly ever touched it. The PSP just appealed to me more.

Sure, some of the games might be or seem to be scaled down PS2 games. But that makes me like them even more. Visually, there is not THAT much difference as the PSP is quite powerful. And instead of having to sit for hours in my room to play my PS2, I can bring my PSP anywhere and play the games anytime in short or long bursts.

I would actually like to see more PS2 games ported to the PSP. A lot of people who already played through the games on the PS2 might not see the point. But I'm sure there are a lot of people like myself who have not had as much time to play their PS2 and would like to make up for that by being able to play the games on the PSP.

A good example of this is Y's Arc of Napishtim. The game is almost identical on the PSP to its PS2 counterpart. And I like it better being portable.

Just my opinion though.

[Edshugeo]

Well I guess I have the minority opinion on PSP games. I happen to really enjoy PSP games. And when I had my DS, I hardly ever touched it. The PSP just appealed to me more.


The majority opinion seems to have ignored the complaint made by the article being responded to. That EA, a producer of games, appears to be blaming their own inability to make fun games for the PSP platform. Instead, people are just taking the opportunity to bash Sony on homebrew, which isn't the issue here.
The opinion that PSP games aren't very good is valid, even if I don't share that sentiment. It would be good to hear why one agrees with EA's suggestion that there was something wrong with the platform. Even as little as "well, there's only one analog pad" or something. It's just "yeah, PSP games suck".



I would actually like to see more PS2 games ported to the PSP. A lot of people who already played through the games on the PS2 might not see the point. But I'm sure there are a lot of people like myself who have not had as much time to play their PS2 and would like to make up for that by being able to play the games on the PSP.


I rarely touch my PS2. I spend waaay more time playing videogames because of my PSP, which I bought not just to play games with. I actually finished GTA: LCS (the main bits, anyway) while GTA 3 for the PS2 (which I got when it came out) remains undone. I have a few other interests that keep me from playing games when I'm at home, so ports from other systems don't bother me, because I probably haven't played them.

All that is beside the point, though. Some people have managed to create fun games for the PSP. I'm still not understanding why EA's "failure" is not their own fault.

[NoQuarter]

Your right bout EA's failure being their own,unless once again there are things we aren't aware of pertaining to sony and their licensee's.Maybe there are compatability issue's or devkit problem's or maybe it's the amount of piracy.We just don't know.
Or maybe sony treats it's devs like it treats it's consumers
sour grapes anyone?

[SmashinGit]

Not to long ago it was all about bits. 32 bit Playstation, Dreamcast 128 bit and so on. The more power the console had the better the games would be. It does seem though with the release of the Nds and the Psp it's no longer about how powerfull a machine is. Has technology come so far now that it is no longer a question of being top dog in terms of overall power? Recently all i've been playing is Brain Training on my Nds. The graphics on this are so basic but the overall game is shear quality. This game obviosuly does not push the Nds to its limits but it is a game that would probably not work on the Psp. Is todays consumer now looking for more from a portable console? If this is the case will this also reflect when Nintendo and Sony release their new consoles?

[notaforumtroll]

LOL ea blaming sony for their lack of sales?
how about NCAA 07 for PSP by ea, totally ****ed game that requires a > a patch b> a recall for the improper yard markage. I HOPE EA stops making games for psp
EA GAMES ARE TOTAL GARBAGE. I SHIT ON EA

give me more ubisoft,Bandai,Komani,Capcom,SqaureEnix,Sega games!

**** EA!

[Voltron]

A gaming console having the best technology is definitely over-rated. Some games utilize this by throwing in a TON of CG cutscenes and FX.

If I wanted to watch a CG movie, I'd pop in a DVD to watch. It is obvious that some developers have focused less on innovation and more on hardware specs. A game can look great. But if it plays like garbage, it will be perceived as garbage.

Nintendo has openly stated that they are not trying to have the most powerful hardware. They want to go in their own direction. I think it is a smart move because instead of gamers picking from Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft, I think EVERYONE will want a Wii and then try and make a decision about PS3 or XBOX 360.

I think Nintendo is very smart in this strategy. Basically, by being more innovative and fun, they don't have to compete as much with Sony & Microsoft.

[NoQuarter]

Good point I'm definetly getting a wii and as you said choosing between 360 and ps3

[Video_freak]

Same as NoQuarter for me :)