Tag Archives | Sony PSP

We have no idea at what point this year Sony will ship its next-generation portable game console, or NGP, but the PSP is already looking stale.

That might explain why Sony is cutting the PSP’s price from $170 to $130 on February 27. Sony’s also dropping the price of PSP Entertainment Packs, which include a game, a memory stick and a unique hardware color scheme, to $150. A bunch of new “Greatest Hits” games will sell for $20, including Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and LittleBigPlanet.

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Sony is kind of, sort of confirming the existence of the PSP2, the follow-up to its beleaguered handheld game console.

Kazuo Hirai, Sony’s gaming chief, was “coy” about specifics when speaking to the New York Times, but he did offer a few big-picture ideas for the device, and at the very least confirmed that Sony’s working on something. In fact, Hirai said Sony starting plotting a successor to the PSP since the day the first handheld was released.

So what’s in store for the next PSP? Some combination of buttons, analog sticks and touch-screen controls, Hirai said. Rumors suggest that the device will have a rear track pad (pictured), but it’s hard to tell from Hirai’s comments whether that will pan out. “Depending on the game, there are ones where you can play perfectly well with a touch panel,” he said. “But you can definitely play immersive games better with physical buttons and pads.”

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At this point, everyone but Sony is talking about a redesigned PSP that ditches physical media in favor of digital downloads. Whether you believe that or not, several reports suggest the PSP will eventually focus more on Web transactions with a download-to-rent service.

The evidence came from Joystiq, which reported on a survey gauging interest in a rental service. The questionnaire says this kind of offering “could be developed” and sought feedback on price points, subscription packages, desire for new releases and the number of titles added per month. From the nature of these questions, it seems like Sony is considering paid subscriptions rather than a la carte rentals.

Today, Develop magazine writes that game developers were briefed on the nature of this service at the Game Developers Conference last March. Several studios were reportedly given information and documents on the service.

Download-to-rent video games are an interesting proposition because they alleviate some of the uncertainty downloaders face, knowing they can’t sell the game back to GameStop once they complete the game. The trade-off, obviously, is no ownership of the real gems. If Sony does implement subscription rentals for the PSP, I hope the company figures out a way to bridge this gap.

I’m thinking some sort of incentive plan for purchasing games would work nicely. Gamefly, for example, lets renters keep the games they really like at used game prices, and adds discounts that get better the longer you’re a member. This is what keeps me subscribing through boring spots on the release calendar.

Sony would be wise to implement something similar. Even better, the company could make like Napster or ZunePass and let subscribers permanently hang on to a game every few months. That would keep customers happily forking their money over to Sony, not the middleman.

First off, that’s not me getting really excited in the headline. It’s just the dilemma you get when a product name comes with its own punctuation. Sigh.

Anyway, 1UP heard from unnamed inside sources that Sony’s next handheld console will ditch the UMD drive and get a spunky new name, likely the PSP Go!, but possibly the PSP Slide or PSP Flip. This story, of course, goes into the rumor pile at least until E3, when Sony will probably show its hand.

But it’s a juicy rumor. We’ve heard rumblings about a new PSP before, most notably from Acclaim COO David Perry, who said with certainty that the next model would lack a physical disc drive. This time, the proximity to E3 and the amount of detail in 1UP’s story lends greater credibility. Besides, the “Go!” name seems to be sticking in other reports around the Web.

The new PSP will reportedly include a choice of 8 GB or 16 GB of flash memory and a sliding screen with the controls hidden underneath. 1UP says the controls will not include a second analog stick as previously speculated, but will instead closely resemble the existing PSP’s combination of D-Pad, analog nub and buttons. If the story pans out, the new model will reach Japan in September and the US a month or two later.

The biggest change, of course, would be the lack of physical media. Recent announcements of download-only games for the PSP were billed as experimental, but perhaps Sony has already made up its mind. If so, its a pretty staggering change when you think about it. Sure, the iPhone’s App Store, et al, are carving out their own downloadable territory, but no major game console has shown the daring to drop hard copy games completely.

There are concerns to be addressed, of course. What would owners of existing PSPs do with their UMDs if they want to upgrade? And how does GameStop feel about this? Would the store carry boxes with download codes, as is planned for the upcoming Patapon 2, or would it somehow sanction Sony for gradually moving customers away from retail?

If only to see how the industry transforms, I hope this story comes to fruition, and that Sony finds success with the new business model. Shelf space only constrains the amount and type of games a console can offer, so perhaps a UMD-free PSP will attract new developers and audiences, and breathe life into the brand.