PSP: one year on

[wraggster]

Heres an excerpt


Like many of you, we've had our PSP for exactly one year and a weekend. It feels like the right time to look back to get some perspective on how Sony's handheld has evolved over the last 365-odd days.

Let's not beat about the bush. There's been a fair bit of backlash recently. Major game publishers have publicly stated their disappointment in PSP's retail performance to date. Sony has been criticised for providing shipping (rather than sell-through) figures only. Indeed, anything with a Sony badge on it has come in for harsh treatment from both press, industry and gamers in recent times – criticising PlayStation-related products is this season's new black.

But let's not order the coffin just yet, eh? We're not here to defend companies, but we've never bought into the fanboy mentality of judging game systems based on the manufacturer, either. If they're good, we'll play games made by anyone and on any system. And though PSP unquestionably faces some issues, an objective outlook concludes we're considerably further away from mourning its demise than the sensationalist headlines would have you believe.

With that in mind, what we've tried to do here is to give you a sensible overview of the PSP's first year in Europe – what it's been through, where it's at, and where it's headed.

Full article at Pocketgamer (http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/PSP/Sony+PSP/feature.asp?c=1539)

[scarph]

in the early days of psp it was heaven. loads of new homebrew, everyone was excited. When 2.5/2.6 came out homebrew began to decline, only a select few were at 1.5. Nowadays with everyone at 1.5 I foresee a real explosion of new developers.

So

Get to work :)

[Video_freak]

Homebrew keeps getting better and better! :D

[PlagueMusic]

more downgrades, more noobs

but its amazing how we got to gbc to n64

[brainpan]

When everything is put into perspective, the PSP is doing great! All other non Nintendo handhelds sunk pretty quickly. Although I dont see the PSP surging ahead of the DS anytime soon, I dont see the PSP leaving either. They have a nice little beast of a system that will be hard to contend with for years if only Sony would release some A++ titles. Admittedly, I am a NINTENDO fanboy(which is probaly the real reason I own a PSP) but the DS just doesnt do it for me.

[Veskgar]

more downgrades, more noobs
Think of them as "new recruits" :)

n00b is kinda harsh. With all of the downgrade possibilities now, we need to embrace all new 1.50 users and offer help and assistance whenever possible. We need to spread the word about 1.50 firmware and recruit MANY more. Its the only way to ensure that PSP homebrew flourishes as it has been recently. Once everyone starts updating their firmware it could mean a slow decline in PSP homebrew activity. Even if "n00bs" have no coding skills, they could still help by donating to developers of popular homebrew projects and creating more traffic to popular web sites such as DCEMU so you see, the more NEW 1.50 users are recruited, the better.

Everyone should spread the word and get more people to downgrade or buy a downgradable PSP. Hell, even respected and talented coders like zx-81 have downgraded to 1.50. That's gotta tell ya something right there.

BACK ON TOPIC:

Homebrew:

This article does not mention homebrew. It has been a phenomenal year for PSP homebrew with more quality releases and breakthrough's than you could shake a stick at. PSP homebrew is now the strongest homebrew scene out of any gaming console. And it is still going stronger than ever it seems with projects like Daedalus, gpSP, & the PSX Emulator.

Commercial:

Not so bright. Sony has spent more time trying to block out homebrew that they have released very little new USEFUL features for the PSP. Memory sticks are still kinda expensive, Longer lasting batteries would be helpful, and the multimedia capabilities of the PSP are barely embraced. UMD Video was a failure. SONY says time and time again that they are focused on GAMING for the PSP. Finally that is starting to show with games like Tekken, Loco Roco, Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins, Valkyrie Profile Lenneth, and many others soon to be released. This fall/winter will see some AWESOME games for the PSP. Sony also needs to get it together with this firmware update nonsense and come out with something worthwile like the PS1 EMU. And if they fail in pricing strategies with a PS1 download service, I am afraid that might be one of the last nails in the coffin. Especially if a homebrew PS1 EMU can be pulled off.

So while things are looking up finally, is it too late? Can SONY pull through? One has to wonder if they just have too many things going on at the same time. They are releasing MYLO which has features that should have been added to the PSP, They the PS3 upcoming, among many other ventures. Its no doubt chaotic right now for SONY. Lets just hope that in the end, we the consumers get a value.

[John Vattic]

I'm a Nintendo fanboy too. My gamecube collection is massive. However I gave my ds away after i bought the psp. I bought psp because i had extra money. Once I opened the box and held it, I never let go of it. I was disappointed at the proprietary format for the games (see minidisc), but once homebrew was possible, i fell deeply in love with the psp.

So in love, that i have it with me at all times. (even in a ziplock bag at the beach)

The point is nobody expected it to be so successful, including sony.(but, of course, sony expects it to be the "must have" handheld) (greedy wankers)

And personally I think ds is nothing more than a gba sp with touch screen. The ds is very much a toy. The psp is very much a machine.

The next 365 days will be the best yet.

Thanks wraggster, DCEMU , and all dcemu coders/members for helping make the psp the best handheld gaming device ever.

[scarph]

The next 365 days will be the best yet.

Thanks wraggster, DCEMU , and all dcemu coders/members for helping make the psp the best handheld gaming device ever.


Amen

[fire master]

Amen

Dito.

[fire master]

Homebrew keeps getting better and better! :D

You must be a eric cartman fan right?

[PlagueMusic]

commercially this year and incoming is gonna be great, the previous releases are just same missions, different characters only to win something unworthy for your 5 hours of gameplay (ex. a hat (hotshots golf))

but that also means piracy, especially with the new recruits

i do run backups only to sample the game, if it is good (ex. loco roco) i'd buy it.

[NoQuarter]

Yeah guys, this next year is going to be a good one especially for the homebrew scene.
I wish sony would just make up their mind about homebrew,They've be standing on the fence since the Yarozee.

[ACID]

I didnt discover homebrew until i finished untold legends witch didnt take me long and when i did ohhhhhhhh great things came from then on.

[Hexx]

[QUOTE=NoQuarter]Yeah guys, this next year is going to be a good one especially for the homebrew scene.

i agree this year is gonna rock for the psp homebrew scene, the only thing left to do now is to be able to create our own umd's !

Sony would then hire guerilla warfare teams...lol :D

[The_Ultimate_Eggman]

Yeah 1 year on constant fw update ands still no decent "A" list games thanks for the support $$$ony no wonder your losing money hand over fist.Nice to see were getting support from the another area thats keeping your console alive the homebrew scene without these guys and gals comitment & dedication($ony look up those last 2 words please) your console would be practically dead in the water.