What the PSP Needs
By: TCLCloud, Founder of PSP117

With the recent whopping the PSP has been receiving from the DS many have been asking what and when Sony are going to do something about it. The DS has been out selling the PSP in hardware and software sales over the last 6 months and if Sony doesn’t do something soon then they could find that the biggest game developers abandoning the PSP. Here’s what I have looked into and what I think Sony should do.

Bring out games with a good track record

Most people want a PSP to play they’re favorite games, mostly from the PS2 and the original Playstation. It’s good have new original games designed for the PSP but only if they’re actually good, Loco Roco for example is a great PSP only game while I think Metal Gear Acid is a terrible PSP only game.

Now if games were original and from well known makers and part of a series, a sequel/prequel etc then people would be more inclined to buy them. Games like Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Command and Conquer and Theme Park/Hospital. Some of these games will make an appearance on the PSP either as a new game or one the PSOne emulator but it’s just not quick enough, the DS is churning out new games monthly, although I’d imagine they will run out soon….

EA have set to release a game with lots of classics on, called EA Replay, with many Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES classics being made playable on the PSP with multiplayer via Ad Hoc. This is the kind of thing that we want, to play classics officially without the use of emulators and downgrading of your PSP.

Get more demos out!

People want to know what they’re buying before they buy it and demos are the best way to let them try it out. So far I think 6 or 7 demos have been commercially released since the PSPs release. Now if you remember the original Playstation they had 7 new demos every month with the official magazine. Most of the demos have been with firmware updates and only 2 or 3 in each region, Europe only have Loco Roco and World Tour Soccer, as does North America while Japan has 4 or 5.

What’s the Secret?

Sony never seems to release any information on anything till the last minute, how does this help anyone? If we want something we want to know about it. Why hold back with release dates, game information and firmware update information. We only know about some of the stuff that Sony plans because of people on the inside tell everyone else, which is fair enough because Sony doesn’t……

The adverts….

So far I don’t think I’ve seen any adverts for the PSP on TV and very few online. There are adverts for some games, Grand Theft Auto is the only one I can think of, but hardware adverts seems to be none existent. I know there are posters in train stations and bus stops but then why would someone who is using the bus buy a PSP? I mean if they can’t afford a car then how can they afford a PSP, leading me on to my next point….

Lower the Price

Sony claims that they’re not going to lower the price but not doing it would be pretty suicidal. If they want to compete with the DS and other portable media systems then this is what’s got to happen. As well as lowering the price of the actual PSP lowering the games prices by 10-15% would also be an idea that they should consider to sell older, less popular games.

UMD movies?

Many people are split on the issue of whether the UMD movie should still be used or not. I personally think that they should be kept, as long as they get the same extras and features as DVDs and as long as they’re not ridiculously priced. Get the best films out at the right price and people will buy them.

Other features that should be added?

- More file type playback for both video audio and pictures.
- A real keyboard add-on.
- .Gif playback and usage for wallpapers.
- Added WiFi features without use of expensive PS3 or LocationFree player.
- Official tools for the PSP, we’ve got the web browser but what about email, calculator or even word processing?
- Increasing the web cache, perhaps using your memory stick.
- Allow listening to music while using the web browser, or even playing your music in games without a converter like Grand Theft Auto (Although full credit to them for implicating this in the first place)
- More games need to have game sharing or extra downloadables.
- A radio add on would be good, usable in web browser
- Allow YouTube videos to be played via web browser.
- Instant messenger application between local PSPS via Ad Hoc