Sony must act on 'worrying' PSP performance – Climax

[Darksaviour69]

Developer fears publishers may begin to abandon format

Karl Jeffery, CEO of developer Climax has told GamesIndustry.biz that Sony must act to reverse poor performance of the PSP before publishers begin to abandon the format.

The out-spoken development boss, who's company has recently released a new ATV Offroad Fury title for the system, is concerned that the Nintendo DS is trouncing the PlayStation Portable, while Sony is doing little to support its own handheld.

"To be honest and frank about it we worry about the future of the PSP," said Jeffery.

"In terms of sales of the actual units, it's not doing so great. The DS is going gangbusters, the sales volumes are going up exponentially. But the PSP worrys us, because we're sitting here thinking about what Sony is going to do to get the platform back on track and we're not hearing much from them."

Jeffery believes there are two ways to reinvigorate the format – redesign the handheld to create a more ergonomically appealing unit, and develop a serious digital download content strategy.

"Personally, I love it as a platform to develop for, it's very powerful and it's a great machine. But it's a big bit of kit to lug around and the battery life's not great. Perhaps they could bring out a 'PSP Lite' or something along those lines," said Jeffery.

"Another thing that would be smart is to get into a downloadable games model, which Sony hasn't really done yet. There's wi-fi possibilities and memory stick features that could be used - we can see where Sony could take the platform to re-energise it, but it's very disappointing at the moment when you look at the installed base and the sales of the games that are out there - it's not a compelling prospect for many publishers."

When asked whether he thought publishers may begin to abandon the format, Jeffery replied: "That's my instinct, yes. Maybe Sony has got something planned, but at the moment it's very worrying. It's probably the platform we're most worried about."


Gamesindustry.com (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=21229)

[mnuhaily22]

This guy just basically read my mind.

[juggaleaux]

i've abandoned commercial psp games long ago.

*goes back to playing SNES on his PSP* :)

[Baboon]

i've abandoned commercial psp games long ago.

*goes back to playing SNES on his PSP* :)

I’m still playing commercial games, its just a shame there isn’t much of a great choice out there. The games that float my boat right now are GTA Vice City, Tekken Tag, Ace Combat X, Star Wars Lego and Moto GP, in my opinion all are worthy titles that deserve some playing (even though there not very original)! :)

...but to be honest playing the old skool emulators is still my favourite time killer when I’ve got my PSP with me! :D

Going from what this guy has wrote though he really does paint a bleak picture (commercial game wise) for the PSP’s future. :(

[doverkiller]

I don't know what's wrong with this?
people, who can't afford a PSP, buy the cheaps#!t toy DS..

I played with DS, and I had a big laugh..
my cellphone has better gfx :D

and by the way.. UMD is still better then Nintendo's chinamade flash cartridges :D

[The_Ultimate_Eggman]

I don't know what's wrong with this?
people, who can't afford a PSP, buy the cheaps#!t toy DS..

I played with DS, and I had a big laugh..
my cellphone has better gfx :D

and by the way.. UMD is still better then Nintendo's chinamade flash cartridges :D

YEAH RIGHT !!! the DS has what the P$P lacks originallity & quality games yeah the core system is cheaper but publishers back the machine and the price point is right.This may be the kick up the arse $$$$ONY need.

[Baboon]

Yep I agree with ya. Nintendo have got it right... The price, the playability, the marketing/promotion etc etc.

You really cant beat a mutilplayer blast on mariokart on the DS! :)

[kiariki]

Yep I agree with ya. Nintendo have got it right... The price, the playability, the marketing/promotion etc etc.

You really cant beat a mutilplayer blast on mariokart on the DS! :)

Mario Kart's just too awesome :)

The only reason I have and still use my PSP is because of the easy accessibility to get stuff into the machine... ... ... Download things into it...

That my only beef with the DS... ... Unless you buy the flash card and stuff that's like 180 bucks... O.O

I've never been much of a Sony person anyways... But I have to admit that I do have both consoles (not PS3) because of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts... Darn SquareEnix....

[GobboFett]

This really isn't new at all, Sony have done very little to pimp it's handheld console and I am personally surprised that software companies still even develop games for it. As stated in the above, the PSP REALLY does have marvellous potential and power to utilise but Sony have done all the wrong things in the eyes of the consumers. Crappy UMD software/movie format, poor POS, atrocious (at best :p) advertisement campaign and a hefty price tag (why haven't we seen a price reduction yet)...

These matters as well as the sales statistics really says out loud that Sony can't save the system from a total software-dev abandonment in the near future. It really comes down to what Sony can cook up for us PSP users, even if most of us are homebrew savvy. I personally cannot see Sony doing anything in the right direction for the PSP to warrant commercial software being worth it. I will keep my PSP, but as a homebrew machine.

[darthhaze420]

$ony is not very smart when it comes to staying on top they are very arrogant and think there name alone is going to keep them on top there is many ways $ony can help the psp but they rather support the ps2 psp can support many ps2 titles if they would just bring out some of the same games that are coming out for the ps2 that would be a great start and i mean the whole game like midway did with mortal kombat $ony is just now pushing advertising tv commercials and and downloads and if they would just support homebrew from the beginning the ds would have not have had a chance

[jerrt]

i do think they need to re focus on the psp, which i think they will now that the ps3 is out of the gate. I've already seen news posts about sony making more advertising efforts, and i'm sure we will see a huge surge come closer to christmas. I still love my psp and I feel confident they will still prosper in the handheld market.

[christophe]

i think in many ways sony kinda expected the psp to advertise and sell itself. it has the best graphics. design wise its pretty much spot on for a portable media device. it has the potential to be very very flexible. but these are things which sony needs to look at more indepth. i think they probably have until the new year to get their shit together or people are gonna totally disregard the system for gaming and itll generally be used as a homebrew type piece of kit.

fact is sony has become to complacent with its customers now. because of the run-away sucess they have had with ps1 and 2 they expect every other piece of hardware they release which has the "playstation logo attached" to sell millions upon millions of units.

when psp was released people complained of battery life. sony announced they were working on newer technology batteries. were the hell are they?

sony plugged gt mobile as launch title...yeah right still waiting. this could potentially help sell alot of psp's.

sony promised so-o-o much with the psp....yet they have yet to deliver. yeah it has some great games...but to be honest alot of them go unnoticed due to the lack of advertising.

what if sony does eventualy realise the psp hasnt suceeded in the way theyd hoped...will they fully open it up for homebrew and such things?

lets just hope sony dont go the same way as sega.

[Joe100517]

I agree with what a lot of you have posted so far.

I think it's bad news that there's a good chance we'll stop seeing games get developed because... well I've been waiting for some good games to actually come out...

First of all as soon as I saw the PSP's graphics I immediately hoped that Square-Enix would port their Playstation era Final Fantasy's onto the system. Why we didn't see a ton of PSX ports when the PSP first came out is beyond me. It would be much simpler than making new games and everyone loves all the good old Playstation games. That is what Nintendo always does with its handhelds... look at GBA - it's got all of the old Mario games ported (INDIVIDUALLY for $20 a piece!) from their SNES upgrade in Mario All-Stars. The only Zelda out for a long time was LttP from SNES. DS - same thing... Mario 64 was one of the first games they had out for it! People enjoy playing old games in a new portable format.... hence why we all love the homebrew emulators.

Secondly Sony was stupid to go against homebrew. Yeah I don't think they could have legally supported it, but at the same time that doesn't mean they had to release all of these new versions of the software to try and keep people from doing it on their own. I'm worried they'll finally release a PSX emulator and I won't want to upgrade for fear of never being able to play SNES on my psp again. They could have left it alone, and if they were smart... tried to make some deals here and there to set up some sort of legalized homebrew scene where they made applications and allowed the fans to interact and make their own apps for the system.

Also, I know I wouldn't be interested in shelling out the cash for a PSP-Lite... I'm happy with my PSP originally, but it might be a good idea since it always seems to work for Nintendo....

Anyway, this developer guy is defintely right in his assessment and I just think it sucks we're probably not ever going to have a good library of UMD games.... I do still have hopes that FF7 Crisis Core will be awesome and I'm looking forward to that! :)

[GPeter7]

:) I’m still playing commercial PSP games, but mostly games it’s a ISO PSP games, I’m not a 100% loser to pay a $39.99 or $44.99 for each PSP game in store, and they still CRAPPY. :rofl:

[C0R3F1GHT3R]

I think the PSP is just not a big spot on the market because it costs too much, but people don't see its real potential. The DS costs alot less, and has alot of history to it, because it has all the old classics on it like Mario, Zelda, etc. And since the DS also has more games for kids the parents lean toward it for presents and such. Sony just doesn't have any great classics to port to the psp such as zelda, metriod, mario, kirby, and all those other great games that Nintendo made back in the day that they are remaking for the DS.

[C0R3F1GHT3R]

:) I’m still playing commercial PSP games, but mostly games it’s a ISO PSP games, I’m not a 100% loser to pay a $39.99 or $44.99 for each PSP game in store, and they still CRAPPY. :rofl:
i wouldnt say that u might get banned!

[GPeter7]

Yes you right, the SONY losers get angry :thumbup:

[christophe]

gpeter7 why dont you learn to stfu or at least say something of relevance. its little jumped up ass wipes like you that are part of the reason sony will not allow homebrew.

no-one here is a sony loser. uv just proven how much of an ass kiss you are by showing ur wealth of maturity.

go out get a job YOU ARE A PENIS.

[MUDD]

i want to say its HB and piracy thats the
problem but theres way more things to consider
so you would need a pin and paper just to get
an idea on this. whats that saying from the
redneck on king of the hill about pretty things
and the world?

i own only 5 games for the psp
and 5 movies .i would say they
need to price there games cheaper
i dont think there worth the money
and i would say thats there bigest
problem.

[Mr.Denny]

I don`t play many commercial PSP games. I just don`t see many of them as a great gaming experience. For me the PSP is great for emulation and whatnot, and that`s pretty much it.

[Greg_Alexander]

Why hasn't Sony released psp versions or one of it's killer apps on PSX: Gran Turismo?

[emuking]

so when will the psp's funeral begin, early 07 or late 07, or is the psp already dead commercial wise

[F9zDark]

Its not dead yet. The PSP hasn't done so well in Japan as the DS, but in the US has done pretty well for itself. Sony just needs to get their act together. Now with PS3 out, it would be wise of Sony to release a PSP2, with dual analog nubs, more memory (especially video memory) and a built in microdrive and perhaps, model the PSP after a PS2-PS3 controller, so it can be held easily and comfortably (this makes it less portable, but PSP1 can be marketed as the all-in-one portable solution while PSP2 is marketed mainly as a gaming unit)

Sadly PSP2 games wouldn't work well with PSP1 but its the only real way to revitilize the system. I think the PSP suffers because it tries to do too many things, none of which does perfectly. If Sony were to make a new PSP geared mainly for gaming (or allow Pick a Feature, which allows the buyer to install features that they want to their PSPs) and use the PSP1 as a media powerhouse (could still play games, but all firmware upgrades for it would focus on bringing better media solutions to the system.)

Seems like the best course of action to me...