Sony Admits That It Didn't Do Enough With the PSP

[Logan Westbrook]

Sony Admits That It Didn't Do Enough With the PSP

Mistakes were made with the PSP, says Sony, but they won't be repeated for the Vita.

Shuhei Yoshida, head of SCE's Worldwide Studios, says that there was a lot more than Sony could have done with the PSP. He thinks that while the PS2 quality visuals impressed people at first, once the novelty wore off, there wasn't a lot else there.

He said that the PSP didn't really offer a unique experience, and that with its smaller screen and single analogue stick, it felt like a compromised version of Sony's home consoles. Yoshida said that this wasn't a mistake that Sony was particularly eager to repeat with the PS Vita, and that Sony had spent a lot of time making sure that it was offering something that people weren't getting anywhere else. He added that the studios he oversaw, which includes the likes of Naughty Dog, Molecule Media, and Digital Polyphony, had spent a lot of time making game prototypes for the Vita to ensure that the games were doing something special.

The Vita is certainly packed with more features than the PSP: as well as having a second analogue stick, it has a touch screen in the front, a touch pad on the back, and as a gyroscope that enables motion controls. Of course, it's not just hardware that makes a platform successful - the best hardware in the world won't help you if your games suck - but with so many options available, developers will almost certainly be able to come up with something fresh and interesting.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5814295/what-if-the-playstation-vita-is-just-another-psp]





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[GonzoGamer]

I'd be more likely to believe them if they actually knew what they did wrong and did things a little differently with the ps3.
The psp was actually fun for a little while but when their priority became fending off hackers with hourly firmware updates rather than concentrating on improving the experience for the legitimate consumers, I got turned off real quick. It was even worse with the ps3 where they took out a big feature of the console when hackers found an exploit. I know there are smart people working there, it would've taken some research and not been so quick but they could've fixed the problem without lopping off the feature entirely.
Why should I think this new hardware will not share the same doom?

 

[vxicepickxv]

You mean that they're going to advertise properly, and not try to fight the 3ds?

 

[Chibz]

"Yes, Sony. The problem is not enough extraneous features. Not the utter lack of particularly good games, and not the fact the controls suck. No. It's a lack of features no one will use after the first week."

I wonder what they think...

 

[Pendragon9]

Well, I fully support them because the 3DS needs competition that doesn't force eye-gouging 3D down people's throats.

But hey, people will probably consider this an attack on their precious Nintendo and I'll receive gallons of hate for it. Oh well.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I could've told them that, they treated the PSP like it was an after thought. But it seems that Sony is going to do more things with it and have more developer support, like Naughty Dog, to make some pretty awesome games.

I will still support them since I really want Vita over the 3DS and I will probably use it a lot more this time around.

 

[Swifteye]

"Yes, Sony. The problem is not enough extraneous features. Not the utter lack of particularly good games, and not the fact the controls suck. No. It's a lack of features no one will use after the first week."

I wonder what they think...

As a psp user I find your comment incorrect though I am aware of how well the psp sales are in comparison to it's only though staggering competition the ds. There are plenty of nice games for the psp in the form of downloads (and exlusive titles like birth by sleep and the patapon series) and you'd be surprised how certain games like little big planet or echochrome are made much more fun when you can be anywhere and play them (especially little big planet which you spend hours making levels alone) Outside of fps games the controls are usually adjustable and fine (i've never found a reason to complain given that i've handled worse controllers and worse controls) and while the touch screen thing is pretty gimicky and not really necessary it will be used for more than one week as mod nation racers, little big planet, and uncharted will make use of them and that's more than a week and perhaps a countless amount of time using these features from just those two games alone.

 

[Strain42]

Well, I fully support them because the 3DS needs competition that doesn't force eye-gouging 3D down people's throats.

But hey, people will probably consider this an attack on their precious Nintendo and I'll receive gallons of hate for it. Oh well.

I'm not even gonna give you a teaspoon of hate for anything, but no one is forcing anything on anyone. You can turn the 3D off. Easily. That's the opposite of forcing.

 

[mjc0961]

He said that the PSP didn't really offer a unique experience, and that with its smaller screen and single analogue stick, it felt like a compromised version of Sony's home consoles. Yoshida said that this wasn't a mistake that Sony was particularly eager to repeat with the PS Vita, and that Sony had spent a lot of time making sure that it was offering something that people weren't getting anywhere else.

That's absolutely true about it feeling like a PS2 with parts of the controller missing. But one of your other mistakes was using Memory Stick Duo instead of SD cards for storage, and that's a mistake you're making yet again: using some proprietary memory format rather than just going with something widespread and cheap. Now storage will be more expensive for you and for me yet again, but this time I'm not playing. Call me when you make a Vita that has an SD card slot.

I'd be more likely to believe them if they actually knew what they did wrong and did things a little differently with the ps3.
The psp was actually fun for a little while but when their priority became fending off hackers with hourly firmware updates rather than concentrating on improving the experience for the legitimate consumers, I got turned off real quick. It was even worse with the ps3 where they took out a big feature of the console when hackers found an exploit. I know there are smart people working there, it would've taken some research and not been so quick but they could've fixed the problem without lopping off the feature entirely.
Why should I think this new hardware will not share the same doom?

Another good point.

Well, I fully support them because the 3DS needs competition that doesn't force eye-gouging 3D down people's throats.

Hey. Guess what.

Spoiler: No really, guess.

You could not possibly be more wrong with that statement.

 

[Atmos Duality]

When Sony failed TWICE to recognize the core problems with their handheld (a lack of useful features and cripplingly bad controls for PS2 style games and ports) it was hard for me to retain any sort of enthusiasm for the system.

Sony, if your device is going to do mainly 3D games, you NEED that dedicated camera control and more inputs on the SHOULDERS to support it.

Instead, I encountered many, MANY instances where Multiple-context button commands confused the hell out of me, or created instances where controls could become Ambiguous (Syphon Filter drove me absolutely nuts with this: when not near item it's shoot gun, when near enemy, it's melee attack, when near item/interface, it's Use UNLESS you're in aiming mode...ARRGH!).

The best solution I could come up with is to design a portable system that engages both thumbs and four more fingers (your index and middle fingers on the back shoulder buttons, specifically) and have the screen flip/slide up to save the space.

Fix those problems in your design space, and *then* you can worry about whether your system will have support for games or not. Personally, I used my PSP mostly as an oversized MP3 player (until buying a dedicated MP3 player that didn't weigh so much) because there wasn't much that I wanted to play that wasn't a 3D nightmare that bruised/crippled my fingers.

Here's to hoping that the Vita/NGP/PSP2 does better, though I won't claim that I'm particularly interested in it after my current PSP was relegated to paperweight duty.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Well, I fully support them because the 3DS needs competition that doesn't force eye-gouging 3D down people's throats.

But hey, people will probably consider this an attack on their precious Nintendo and I'll receive gallons of hate for it. Oh well.

I'm not even gonna give you a teaspoon of hate for anything, but no one is forcing anything on anyone. You can turn the 3D off. Easily. That's the opposite of forcing.

The way i see it is that if you bought a 3DS and found the 3D annoying or hurtful on your eyes then turning it off would just cut off a good half of the feature of even owning a 3DS since the gimmick here is that it displays games in "3D".

 

[Icehearted]

That's funny, I seem to remember Ken "Cuckoo for Coco-Puffs" Kutaragi saying the PSP was "perfect" when it came out, despite having a battery too short to support a lot of movies, unresponsive square button and d-pad, etc etc etc.....


Sure Kenny's history, but that acrid taste he left behind lingers, and it will take a whole lot more than a touchy-feely backside and dual nubs to impress my wallet into bearing it's fruit for Sony again.

 

[Strain42]

Well, I fully support them because the 3DS needs competition that doesn't force eye-gouging 3D down people's throats.

But hey, people will probably consider this an attack on their precious Nintendo and I'll receive gallons of hate for it. Oh well.

I'm not even gonna give you a teaspoon of hate for anything, but no one is forcing anything on anyone. You can turn the 3D off. Easily. That's the opposite of forcing.

The way i see it is that if you bought a 3DS and found the 3D annoying or hurtful on your eyes then turning it off would just cut off a good half of the feature of even owning a 3DS since the gimmick here is that it displays games in "3D".

If the 3DS were just like the DSi or the DSiXL in that it played the same games on a different console, I'd agree with you 100% but since the 3DS is more the successor to the DS with new games that can't be played on the older console, it's not really the players fault for simply want to play new games without the 3D capabilities.

Me for instance, I'm greatly looking forward to the new Ace Attorney games, MegaTen, Pokemon and several other titles that are going to be exclusive to the 3DS. Just because I want to enjoy them doesn't mean I have to be a fan of 3D gimmicks, and thankfully I'll have the option to simply turn it off while I enjoy these games.

 

[FinalHeart95]

The only games I've played on my PSP recently are Crisis Core and Birth by Sleep... and I still haven't even beaten Birth By Sleep.

It wasn't that great a system. My favorite game on it actually broke because of the shitty UMD casing around the CD (YOU DON'T MESS WITH MY BURNOUT HOES). This coming from a former Sony fanboy.

 

[Strain42]

My PSP library is pretty slim too. The only reason it's gotten any use the past couple of years are because of the Persona games that have been ported to it. I greatly enjoyed Jeanne D'arc and War of the Lions, and much to my surprise I really liked Dead Head Fred.

But outside of that there hasn't been much for the system I've enjoyed.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Well, I fully support them because the 3DS needs competition that doesn't force eye-gouging 3D down people's throats.

But hey, people will probably consider this an attack on their precious Nintendo and I'll receive gallons of hate for it. Oh well.

I'm not even gonna give you a teaspoon of hate for anything, but no one is forcing anything on anyone. You can turn the 3D off. Easily. That's the opposite of forcing.

The way i see it is that if you bought a 3DS and found the 3D annoying or hurtful on your eyes then turning it off would just cut off a good half of the feature of even owning a 3DS since the gimmick here is that it displays games in "3D".

If the 3DS were just like the DSi or the DSiXL in that it played the same games on a different console, I'd agree with you 100% but since the 3DS is more the successor to the DS with new games that can't be played on the older console, it's not really the players fault for simply want to play new games without the 3D capabilities.

Me for instance, I'm greatly looking forward to the new Ace Attorney games, MegaTen, Pokemon and several other titles that are going to be exclusive to the 3DS. Just because I want to enjoy them doesn't mean I have to be a fan of 3D gimmicks, and thankfully I'll have the option to simply turn it off while I enjoy these games.

Right you are to your opinion and well stated, but to my own view i still won't be buying it because i don't want to have to turn it off but at the same time i want the 3d to be improved without the release of 3 other versions of the console like they did with the DS, DS lite and DSI.

I think i'll just stay with my PC for now since my portable console gaming days have since bored me.

 

[Strain42]

Well, I fully support them because the 3DS needs competition that doesn't force eye-gouging 3D down people's throats.

But hey, people will probably consider this an attack on their precious Nintendo and I'll receive gallons of hate for it. Oh well.

I'm not even gonna give you a teaspoon of hate for anything, but no one is forcing anything on anyone. You can turn the 3D off. Easily. That's the opposite of forcing.

The way i see it is that if you bought a 3DS and found the 3D annoying or hurtful on your eyes then turning it off would just cut off a good half of the feature of even owning a 3DS since the gimmick here is that it displays games in "3D".

If the 3DS were just like the DSi or the DSiXL in that it played the same games on a different console, I'd agree with you 100% but since the 3DS is more the successor to the DS with new games that can't be played on the older console, it's not really the players fault for simply want to play new games without the 3D capabilities.

Me for instance, I'm greatly looking forward to the new Ace Attorney games, MegaTen, Pokemon and several other titles that are going to be exclusive to the 3DS. Just because I want to enjoy them doesn't mean I have to be a fan of 3D gimmicks, and thankfully I'll have the option to simply turn it off while I enjoy these games.

Right you are to your opinion and well stated, but to my own view i still won't be buying it because i don't want to have to turn it off but at the same time i want the 3d to be improved without the release of 3 other versions of the console like they did with the DS, DS lite and DSI.

I think i'll just stay with my PC for now since my portable console gaming days have since bored me.

Fair enough. To each their own. I plan on getting one eventually, but I'm gonna wait until they release the inevitable better version of the 3DS 'cause...well...you know they're going to lol

Honestly about 90% of the games I buy and play now are on handheld consoles. It's nice to be able to game while I watch TV and/or surf the web

 

[ProtonGuy]

Sony should just change it's color scheme to match SEGA's, because they are doing the exact same thing that killed SEGA: Releasing too many models of consoles and not enough great titles to match. Just look at the PSP Go... yeesh it lasted what, little over a year before they officially killed it? Now I love Sony, and I love SEGA even more but c'mon guys not much farther and you going to be sitting next to my poor buddy Sonic the Hedgehog, in a back alley in a puddle of your own puke with a bottle of cheap booze in your hand.

 

[Falqour]

I was one of the 3 people in the entire world who shelled out serious cash for the PSP Go when it first came out. Yeah. Even got one of those ridiculously pointless docking stands for it so it'll stand upright. Did you know that when the PSP Go's controls are slid back to the closed position, the XMB goes away and a big shiny analog clock appears?

Yep. Paid a couple hundred bucks for a desk clock. Which is all I ever use it for.

Never again, Sony. Never again.