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As a gamer, I can't get into any of the iPhone games. I spent the $12.99 for Chaos Rings, and it's really crap, especially compared to my $40 Crisis Core on the PSP. 1/3rd the price and about 1/20th the quality. I'd rather shell out a little more for a better product.

I think one thing that really hurt the PSP was the growing disparity between the PSP specs and the next gen consoles. When the PSP launched, the PS2 was still very strong, and I would think it was much easier to port games from the PS2 to the PSP than from the PS3/Xbox 360 to the PSP.

So over the last 2-3 years or so, the stream of good games has really dried up, since like people have mentioned, it hasn't been financially beneficial to develop a PSP-only title. Square Enix seems to be the only one still doing so, with their new Kingdom Hearts title coming out next month. But that's the same Square Enix that put out the crappy Chaos Rings for the iPhone...

The PSP Phone will only be as good as the titles that come out for it...
 
I used to be a "hardcore" gamer, but iOS gaming is clearly the future. There's things like N.O.V.A, if you want a "hardcore" game, but the real future is in things like Angry Birds, that never lose their replay value. In the end, I think $5 spent on iOS games is a better value than $50 spent on PSP or DS games.
 
The problem is that in trying to meet the needs of the gaming hardcore - the industry has nearly killed itself. Watch this year as developer after developer working on boxed-product console games goes out of business. See how both Sony and MS are scrambling to re-engineer their hardware to attract a more mainstream audience.
Uhm NO. Publishers killed hardcore gaming. It's the same situation as hollywood. Big publishers want big bucks, screw helping a dev be profitable, we want that dev to make us the next Halo or MW2. And it's that mentality which caused most games to suffer.

Now the publishers are like. "Wow it's even easier to make big bucks with wii shovelwear crap" which is why the market is turning in that direction.
 
I used to be a "hardcore" gamer, but iOS gaming is clearly the future. There's things like N.O.V.A, if you want a "hardcore" game, but the real future is in things like Angry Birds, that never lose their replay value. In the end, I think $5 spent on iOS games is a better value than $50 spent on PSP or DS games.

Wow. If you think NOVA is a hardcore game, then you were never a gamer. Angry birds is a joke of a game..

Theres nothing wrong with not being a gamer, just don't pretend to be one and speak for all of us.
 
I suspect you have no idea what you are talking about.
What is the business model?

Do you have any idea how many programmer years it takes to make a PSP game, if you don't have a pre-written engine?

Do you know what the sales revenues are like for a small game?

This is why there are so few games coming out for the platform. Game development is about making money. And the PSP makes that too difficult.

On the iPhone, small scale, original titles, perhaps taking only a couple of months to write, are making serious money. And the bulk of it goes straight into the developer's pocket.

C.

You're kind of glossing over the fact that this will be an Android phone. If someone wants to write cutesy games, they can do that with the Android SDK.
 
I think the idea of an Android /PSP hybrid phone - is about as likely as using unicorn poop to grow rainbow-coloured roses.

C.

Thats ludicrous. Have you even read up on the internet buzz about this? This is more than just rumors and has substantiated evidence. An Android / Sony marriage is not as far fetched as you would love to think.

Jesus, fanboys just REFUSE to have an open mind and think of think of other possibilities. I have owned EVERY iPhone, its my favorite handset on the market. But if a PSP / Android phone materializes and is done right...Oh man it would be HUGE
 
Thats ludicrous. Have you even read up on the internet buzz about this? This is more than just rumors and has substantiated evidence. An Android / Sony marriage is not as far fetched as you would love to think.

I really hope it does happen. The market always benefits from new devices.

But I don't think it is credible. Cramming in the PSP chipset alongside a conventional Android hardware would create a large battery-hogging expensive device.

Oh man it would be HUGE
With two chipsets. It certainly would!

It would either have the wrong form factor for a hardcore game console or the wrong form factor to be a usable phone. We should also notice that Sony is running an ad campaign mocking the very idea of playing games on phones.

So, in my opinion, it is incredibly unlikely.

But I could, of course, be totally wrong. The nice thing about this sort of discussion is that we eventually find out who is right.

Let time be the referee!

C.
 
I look forward to a PSP phone. However, I hope they don't use add a PSP controller to a phone. Id actually prefer something like a Bluetooth controller type cradle you could use while gaming and he ale to remove it when your not gaming.
 
Let's make one thing clear here; the PSP hardware wise is not as good as the iPhone. I personally hacked the **** out of my PSP over clocked it to the point of 2 hour battery life, ran games off the SD card, I even ran fricken windows 2000 off my 4gig stick on that thing so when I say the iPhone is better hardware wise it is. But if you people saw the custom firmware and hacking community behind the PSP you would probably drop your jaw, it belittled the jail breaking community of the iPhone at it's finest.
 
I really hope it does happen. The market always benefits from new devices.

But I don't think it is credible. Cramming in the PSP chipset alongside a conventional Android hardware would create a large battery-hogging expensive device.

With two chipsets. It certainly would!

Even according to you PSP hardware is ancient and inferior to iphone 4 hardware. Qualcom recently announced a 1.5 GHZ dual core snapdragon (which is superior to what's in an iphone 4) will be available this year for use. That should be plenty to emulate a PSP.

It would either have the wrong form factor for a hardcore game console or the wrong form factor to be a usable phone. We should also notice that Sony is running an ad campaign mocking the very idea of playing games on phones.

So, in my opinion, it is incredibly unlikely.

Your opinion is useless because you know nothing about gaming and continue to display your ignorance about it. Samsung Epic 4G (a phone) is almost exactly the same size and form factor as a PSP go. Also the campaign isnt against phone gaming. But against crappy phone games.

But I could, of course, be totally wrong. The nice thing about this sort of discussion is that we eventually find out who is right.

Let time be the referee!

C.

Of course you're wrong. It's not a matter if, but when.
 
Even according to you PSP hardware is ancient and inferior to iphone 4 hardware. Qualcom recently announced a 1.5 GHZ dual core snapdragon (which is superior to what's in an iphone 4) will be available this year for use. That should be plenty to emulate a PSP.
Emulation *is* the only solution. A dual chipset would be too power hungry.

But if this new system was capable of emulating PSP - why not write for the Arm Chip and the native GPU directly. ie. ignore the PSP.

Your opinion is useless because you know nothing about gaming and continue to display your ignorance about it.
I hope you don't tell my clients that. They keep paying me despite my obvious ignorance.

C.
 
Emulation *is* the only solution. A dual chipset would be too power hungry.

LOL you were the one that suggested an entire PSP chipset would need to be crammed in there in the first place.

But if this new system was capable of emulating PSP - why not write for the Arm Chip and the native GPU directly. ie. ignore the PSP.

Are you really that clueless? Of course people will be writing new games for new hardware. Emulation is for the current PSP library and PS1 games. Its so that when the device launches it will have a huge library of quality games. Even today despite its ancient and inferior hardware, PSP games outclass iphone games. I'd even go so far as to say there PS1 games that are better than a lot of iphone games.

I hope you don't tell my clients that. They keep paying me despite my obvious ignorance.

C.

Its pretty obvious in this thread how much you've displayed your ignorance. I really feel sorry for your imaginary clients ;)
 
Of course people will be writing new games for new hardware. Emulation is for the current PSP library and PS1 games. Its so that when the device launches it will have a huge library of quality games.

So this great device is just an android phone running an emulator app? And any new games would run on any android phone. That's not a PSP phone, it's just a vanilla Android device.

C.
 
So this great device is just an android phone running an emulator app? And any new games would run on any android phone. That's not a PSP phone, it's just a vanilla Android device.

C.

Do vanilla android phones come with gaming controls? Will vanilla android devices have access to PSN?
 
So this great device is just an android phone running an emulator app? And any new games would run on any android phone. That's not a PSP phone, it's just a vanilla Android device.

C.

Ok you really have no idea what this topic is about.

We are talking about a gaming device with an android operating system that is capable of connecting to the Play Station Network and is capable playing high class games. Also, PSP Go style gaming controls to allow tactile feed back of high class, hardcore games. I'm not sure what is confusing about this.
 
I bought a PSP on launch day in 2005. Two months later it was in my drawer and I haven't seen it since. Everyone knows Nintendo has always and probably will always rule the handheld market.


The PSP is a stagnant platform, and making it into a phone isn't going to help anybody.
 
People should read the PSP messageboards in GameFaqs on this topic. You can clearly see the different mentalities between an iPhone gamer and the core gamers. Two different breeds. They don't quite overlap. iPhone/casual gamers doesn't want to lug around two devices and loves their games in quick spurts. Core gamers thinks that 98% of iPhone games suck and touchscreen controls is worthless which make available genres very limited. Many also don't need the phone part. And even many of the games are like watered-down, crappier versions of their big brother home consoles, 25% "good" games is still better than 2%. That's why there must be a phone version and non-phone version of the next PSP. Appeal to both demographics like Apple is doing with the iPhone and iPod touch.

Design-wise, the PSP phone will probably take alot of cues from the PSP Go and Xperia series. Maybe a round shape like the Mylo. One thing I loved about the original PSP was it probably was the slickest-looking handheld ever released at that time. That 4.3 inch screen was amazing to me when I first turned it on. I loved how comfortable it was to hold compared to the GBA SP and DS Lite. I prefer the round sides and wider width. It was just unfortunate it was released in an era where cell phones had many of its features like storing music and videos, as well as the iPhone phenomenon that would happen 2.5 years later. PSP should have been released like 5 years earlier alongside the PS2.

As for battery life of this PSP phone, we are probably a few years away from having sufficient enough battery life to cater a high-end gaming phone. Our current battery life just isn't enough even for browsing. We are not there yet. As for memory, I think most gamers delete the game after they beat it. What I hope is Sony opening up a rental store and charge like $5. I easily beat MGS3 and GoW in less than three days. I went for story and experience and not the challenges. Rentals opens up the door for people not willing to pay $40 for a new game they plan to beat in less than a week.

I think the first PlayStation Phone "could" be mildly successful at best. It probably won't be as refined as how most of us want it to be. It may take a couple generations and more advancement with battery technology for Sony to get it right. Hey, but it took four generations until Apple got the iPhone right on how I wanted it to be. Could this PSP phone be too Android or too PlayStation? People forget Sony can have a closed, propiertary structure.

If the PSP phone is a big hit, then we can only hope Nintendo follows suit in some way. If the PSP phone flops, then we are stuck with games like Zenonia and Soosiz for the time being as the best of their genres. Don't get me wrong, I have these games and they are "good" games to play compared to "other" iPhone games that is out there. I think they are decent for the price even if they are copycats. But Zenonia is a game I probably could have played back on my GameBoy Advance years ago. Soosiz is cute and charming, but I'd rather have Mario Galaxy over it. And while I enjoyed the Crash racing series, call me old school, but I still prefer the Mario Kart series over it. I also have the Crash racing game on my PS1, and I still prefer the OG Mario Kart on SNES. If it is usually "cheap" when you bought it, then you usually get what you pay for. Alot of iPhone's "best" games are equivalent to the Minis that are sold in the PlayStation Store.

If we want console gaming onto our phones, Sony has to start somewhere. It's like the CEO of a corporation. Probably worked at fast food or worked as a bus boy for his very first job. You have to start somewhere. Better to start now than not at all. Give us our "big boy" games which have better production values and more rewarding experiences onto our phones already, Sony! This PSP phone rumor has been around for a long time, but needs to come into fruition NOW!

Google + Sony, Android + PlayStation could be a match made in heaven.
 
Not a gamer here; but I see a niche for what the mock-up shows...

To be honest if this unit comes to pass and is a hit - I would like to see Apple team up with Nintendo and come out with a iPhone that plays well with the Wii system :)
 
Ok you really have no idea what this topic is about.

We are talking about a gaming device with an android operating system that is capable of connecting to the Play Station Network and is capable playing high class games. Also, PSP Go style gaming controls to allow tactile feed back of high class, hardcore games. I'm not sure what is confusing about this.

I am not sure there is a consensus on what you are talking about. But if what you are proposing in terms of hardware is an Android device with gaming buttons the problem is the business model.

Why would a developer create an all new game for this device,when they could find a much larger market by targeting any Android device? In terms of developer revenue, Google's marketplace is more generous than PSN.

Google's motivation in creating Android was to benefit from advertising and search revenue. It's a somewhat questionable business model, but that's why Google spend money in developing this thing. I am guessing that a device connected to a private paid content network is not compatible with the Android licence.

C.
 
I am not sure there is a consensus on what you are talking about. But if what you are proposing in terms of hardware is an Android device with gaming buttons the problem is the business model.

Why would a developer create an all new game for this device,when they could find a much larger market by targeting any Android device? In terms of developer revenue, Google's marketplace is more generous than PSN.

How many times does it need to be repeated to you? HARDCORE GAMES. Hardcore games require buttons. Thats why you dont see them on iphones smh

Google's motivation in creating Android was to benefit from advertising and search revenue. It's a somewhat questionable business model, but that's why Google spend money in developing this thing. I am guessing that a device connected to a private paid content network is not compatible with the Android licence.

C.

You're guess is wrong. Android devices dont have to connect to googles android market. Android market is not open source and needs to be licensed separately by the handset vendors.
 
How many times does it need to be repeated to you? HARDCORE GAMES. Hardcore games require buttons. Thats why you dont see them on iphones
So a developer can write a game for the entire Android market. But instead he might choose to create a title for this one particular handset with buttons. He would be faced with the difficult choice of between 100% of the pie and 5%.

It might work, if there are game developers who are that not motivated by making money.

You're guess is wrong. Android devices dont have to connect to googles android market.

Never mentioned Android market.

But there's a difference between not allowing access to Android market, and replacing it with an entirely private marketplace for your own applications. Google's motivation in creating Android is to generate revenue for themselves. They didn't do it for world peace.

I can't think of an Android device that connects to a private paid content network, where Google have no share of the revenue. That might seem to Google as someone stealing their OS.

C.
 
I can't think of an Android device that connects to a private paid content network, where Google have no share of the revenue. That might seem to Google as someone stealing their OS.

C.

Actually, the Android Market revenue you are referring to is divided amongst the cellphone carriers. Google doesn't take any of it.

I would be surprised if a second chipset is necessary. There is a PSX emulator available for Android. PSP games are more advanced than that, but I'm sure Sony could easily crank out something to emulate their existing library of mobile games.

The Engadget article also suggested that any compatible Android device would eventually be able to access the game library.

On the software side, it looks like the device will be running Gingerbread (Android 3.0) with a phone-specific skin, and there will be a new area of the Android Market specifically for the games. That content will be initially accessible only by the halo device, but from the sounds of things, these titles might be made available to other Android phones if their specs and button layouts meet requirements.
 
Isn't COD Zombies considered a hardcore game (at least I though it was)?

NO. :eek:

Now if you could connect to a server and play online with your PSN friends while using physical gaming controller to actually make it competitive..I could get into that.
 
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