Gizmodo
10 years ago, things were a bit different. We didn't stream the internet to our cellphones, 3D gaming was in its infancy and the iPod didn't exist. In an electronic world where Moore's Law is still going strong, it's hard to imagine using any piece of tech you might own 10 years from now. But Sony marketing manager John Koller thinks you'll do just that.
We've talked about the PSP being a 10 year product, but a 10 year product in the continued... how can I put this... in the continued lifecycle, so we obviously had the 1000, we have the 2000, so the PSP as it was first launched in March 2005 isn't going to the be the PSP that it ends up as in 10 years, but it will still be a very strong portable gaming device that is centered in gaming and has a lot of multi-functional features.In other words, while the PSP will be around in 10 years, it won't look like it does today. But the problem is, until they call it a PSP2 official, Sony is stuck pitching gamers a 333mhz processor to maintain platform specs.We look at it just like our console business being a 10 year cycle, but we do see iterations as we go along to really adjust to the market.
So Sony, while you may be making PSPs in 2015, that doesn't mean that we'll still be buying them. [IGN via Kotaku]
Comments
I thought the problem was that no one was buying them in 2008. Or 2007. Or 2006. Or 2005.
Wait.. I bought one in 2005, and they promised Gran Turismo was going to be released later in the year. Did it come out? Hell, no. How about the next year? No luck. Now they are telling me it might never come out. Clearly they are too busy playing with their own soft brown stuff to make their ten year product something I would want to use.
[sigh]
Sure, I am a little bitter.
Someone will always buy them. People still buy the Game Cube.
@Monty: Actually, the PSP is selling really well. [kotaku.com]
It's good to know Sony learned from its experience with the Walkman.
I'm sure some people out there will be buying the PSP, I made that mistake myself...it's been sitting in a box for 2 years now, brand spanking new because saying that content for it sucks is an understatement.
So they're hoping it'll be the next Game Boy Advance.
I don't see that as being unrealistic.
PSP has the technical chops for the long haul, as long as they keep coming up with cool stuff to do with it.
I owned one briefly and it didn't make the cut with me, but I still admire and respect the platform.
Is it just me or is Sony becoming more and more stupid as a company as time passes. Ok the PS3 cost you a lot and is very advanced so a long life cycle makes some sense but the PSP has already, and is set to be, out lapped by cellphones real soon. If Sony was smart, and apparently they are not, they would treat it like the PS3-PS2 relationship bring out a new one while still supporting the old one cause the tech in the old one is already set to be outdated and since they pride themselves on being technically advanced rather than pure fun like Nintendo then keeping up with the tech world by actually building a new device is paramount. If they don't they are going become like that middle aged guy with the comb over trying to talk like the kids do.
@WD40: My main gripe is storage.
The 4GB limit on the MS slot seems entirely arbitrary on Sony's part.
Christ I have an 8GB SDHC card in my GPS!
(Of course it's been opened up to do other stuff, but still!)
I would have kept mine as a PMP but for that failing.
how is this news? the gameboy is still around, but it looks nothing like it did in 1989, which by the way was 19 years ago.
yawn. like monty says, give us gran turismo on a handheld, that's something to talk about.
Wow. My PSP shelf life was about 3 months, not 10 years. If Sony will be relying on selling PSPs 10 years from now, Sony is more hosed than I originally though.
Samifumi, there's actually a lot of people out there that love their PSPs, myself included.
Maybe when they say 10 years, they mean they will SUPPORT it for 10 years, still have games made for it but will have another system on the market.
Just like the PS3 is out but they still support the PS2 and the PS1 was still supported when the PS2 came out, unlike with Xbox which was quickly killed when the 360 came out.
I know Sony makes mistakes but Gizmodo especially is very anti-Sony baised.
10 years, but it'll look different?
Isn't that kinda the same as releasing different models to keep up with technology?
So isn't that almost like not lasting 10 years at all?
Or is it really amazing that something can get better for 10 years without changing its name?
Stuck with UMD for 10 more years.
I haven't even bought a game for my psp that wasn't a launch title...
I didn't know about the 4GB limit... I was gonna buy a 16G card when they come down a bit in price for the BD transfer.
So does that mean I have until 2015 for a second analog stick?
I'm not sure what the purpose of this article is, or why it's focused solely on the PSP when just about everything else on the market can subsitute the words "PSP" in this article and still have the article make sense.
It seems what he's saying is that the PSP is going to have the same legs as the PS2, which has been a top-seller for almost 10 years now, but is clearly on it's last legs as the PS3 takes rise. I think that's an overly ambitious statement. The PS2 was a chart-topper from day 1. The PSP on the other hand has definitely had a slower growth, though I think now after 2 years it's becoming the leading handheld. That more similarly tracks Sony's success in the Playstation 1. Sony would be wise to mimic their success with the PS1 to PS2 transition by introducing the PSP2 within 5-6 years of the PSP and deliver a Fatality to Nintendo's handheld.
in 2015 I`ll be riding a hover board.
too busy for playing PSP
weatherman, I think the only reason why there would be anything remotely close to a fatality to Nintendo's handheld dominance is because everyone is looking for a portable media solution. Gaming on the PSP is usually considered an afterthought, as movies and music are the primary uses for the PSP for a lot of people.
Kind of reminds me of what the PS3 has been up until now; a Blu-ray player.
Both systems will have their fates change as better games come out for them, but the point still stands. It will take a lot for Sony to convince Nintendo handheld owners to convert. This is especially true considering how many people are buying iPod Touch (and similar gadgets) that do their media for them. With that out of the way, people will be looking for a gaming solution, not a media solution.
@Monty: [www.milestoneinteractive.com]
Check out the link, i think you will be happy..
Yes i bought a psp recently and i am quite happy with it..then again im satisfied very easily like a two year old.
@strider_mt2k:
I have a 8GB MsPro in my PSP... Working very well.
@Hyruu: true
and @SNaKeR: just ordered a 4GB yesterday to upgrade my 1GB
"So Sony, while you may be making PSPs in 2015, that doesn't mean that we'll still be buying them"
and if the PSP was from Apple...
Giz would have said...
oh apple - please keep making them PSPs.... we will sell our soul to the devil every day for the next 10 years and keep buying your stuff.... oh yes we will... oh yes we will...
now let me bend over so you can shove an iphone up my arse!!!
PSP needs to be seen for what it REALLY is, it's a hackers platform. You hack your movies up and into it, yes you use UMD movies and games, play mp3's, hack nintendo emulation onto it etc.
They are really fun devices to hack into and have a ton of current potential and uses above (just a game platform) and with some of the comfort handles with a 5 hour battery inside makes it usefull in many ways for long flights.
my main distain is the UMD. Once again its Beta Junior.
Like Monty, Gran Turismo was the game that I was itching for for the PSP. Fortunately, I never purchased one with the hopes of getting it, and I've thus given up on it and simply game at home with my PS2 and GT4, and one day GT5 on a PS3. There's something very alluring about the device, but I have yet to see games that strike my fancy for it.
@xaflatoonx: I think these sorts of comments are venturing into the realm of douchebaggery these days, as it's a joke that's used way too often to be meaningful anymore.
@WD40:
How can you say that when Patapon and God of War came out in the span of a week?
@xtremesniper: you make a good point about media players becoming more ubiquitous, but I think you're wrong about the gaming angle. Gaming on the PSP is hardly an afterthought. And I think you'll find a lot of DS users are already buying a PSP. DS has been pretty dead (at least to me) for the last several months while the PSP has had some really stellar titles come out; God of War, Final Fantasy Crisis Core and Tactics, Monster Hunter, Ratchet & Clank, Daxter, Disgaea, Patapon, Jean D'Arc, Wipeout Pulse.. I've been overwhelmed with gameplay since x-mas. PSP is definitely gaining momentum.
I think the real danger of the iPhone and other casual gaming platforms is that they actually draw users from the DS, not the PSP. As a dedicated "serious" gaming device, the PSP really has no competition. And as both a gaming device and a media player I think it beats just about anything else out there - if I had to take any one device that I own with me on a trip - PSP, DS, laptop, Eee PC, iPod, I'd take the PSP. Will that dominance last for 8 more years? Probably not without some serious improvements to the platform.
@trailingedge:
UMD was never meant to revolutionize the movie industry. Saying UMDs failed is like saying DS carts failed. UMDs are there because they store a lot of textures for cheap.
Just snagged my PSP this Tuesday. Picked up FF7 for it, and downloaded the God of War and Patapon demos. Remote play with the PS3 is pretty cool too.
@JayD16: have not even looked at my PSP in 2 years nor have I been keeping up with the new releases...that however might change now since I just picked me up a PS3 (game console for my son, BD goodness for me) and it seems to play along with the PSP rather well, I just dusted it off and I'm going to give it a spin.
I even looked at media servers and found out that SimpleCenter is totally awesome so I will be playing around with the streaming features to the PSP, things should be better now.
Not required now we have the Eee.
People, in 5-7 years they'll be able to put the power of the PS3 into the size of a PSP. Can you nerds imagine a world where your PSP5 has an OLED screen with NAND memory and the power of a PS3?!?
I wouldn't doubt for one second that you nerds would all run out and buy one like it's the next iPhone.
@weatherman: Well I suppose my ideas about gaming on the PSP are a little dated. I admit I haven't been keeping up to date with all the latest PSP releases and such, so there's a good chance a lot of good games have come out recently.
But that's why I said "up until now". ;)
Regardless though, it all comes down to personal preference. I bought a DS to keep me busy on subway rides, but not as a console replacement. For me, I just want quick and fun minigames to keep me busy (super mario DS minigames for example) instead of an in-depth game with a long storyline.
And typically with Sony consoles, they release games that are of no interest to me (like primarily the genre of RPGs) so somehow I doubt I'll ever get a Sony console until they start releasing more games that I'll like that aren't already on other consoles that I have like the 360.
Just to point out, all of Sony's gaming machines have had a ten year life-cycle. They brought out a successor in five years but continued support of the predecessor for another five. The Playstation had a ten year cycle, the PS2 is coming close to it's tenth year, and the PS3 will get support for ten years. But that's not saying that Sony won't roll out the next gen unit.
Gran Turismo not being available for the PSP isn't the PSP's, or Sony's fault. It's Polyphony's fault, the actual makers of the Gran Turismo series. It was said that Polyphony gave up on GT on PSP at the time to focus on GT5P for the PS3. GT on PSP would just have been an extremely condensed version of GT4, with still a lack of wi-fi multiplayer gameplay anyway.
Yes, I too was initially bitter about not having GT for PSP.
I agree with everyone on here. I thought the psp was a bad buy. It sat in my house collecting dust for 1 1/2 years. Then I found out about the Pandoras Battery and Bam my life was changed. I have an ipod touch and im a huge gadget freak. I now think the PSP is one of the greatest inventions in the hacking/gaming industry. What other portable console can you play PSP games, nintendo, Capcom, Neogeo, genesis, SNES, PS1, Nintendo DS among other ummmmmmm none!!!!!! That is why they are selling like hot cakes now. I am thinking about buying another one just in case mine breaks.
@Noobs-R-Us: But it may not matter if some of the best game title require hardware that runs in oodles of gigaflops. As the PSP gets better, the games will still be too bloated for it :P
Correct me PSP users, but isn't the PSP amazing for it's performance an form factor?
I don't own one, but from what I remember the graphics are amazing.
C'mon fellas, I see this all over the internet. Yet not one author/writer has thought, wait they said the PS2 is also a 10 year lifespan product, but they released the PS3 before that. The PS2 was 6 years into its life before the PS3 released.
They didn't say it was an exclusive lifespan.
The PSP really is a NICE device, with alot of potential. The main problem is the lack of MUST HAVE titles. It just doesn't have the greatest library of games. They have been steadily getting better, ie Crisis Core, Patapon, etc.. but it is a far cry from the number of titles on the DS.
If Sony can manage to juice up some synergy with the PS3, more than just copying files, they may be able to sustain sales for quite some time. Better yet, give me a awesome title and a PS3/PSP bundle that are tied together.
What happened to all the kewl titles that would use the PSP as an auxillary interface to the PS3 in-game
@socioecoboy: It is amazing. It totally blew the Nintendo DS to dust, in my oppinion. I owned both, then sold my DS cuz it just wasn't up to par with all of the PSP features.
I love being able to watch movies in the car or on plane trips on the very nice widescreen. I'm getting FFVII Crisis Core in a few days and that game is going to blow people's socks off, among other things. Jeanne D'Arc, Patapon, Disgaea, God Of War... how can you say there are no games to play on it? And with the ability to listen to music and watch DVD-ripped movies/TV shows, it's a winner in my book. Being able to stream my entire music collection from my home network is another very cool thing.
@xaflatoonx: You said it! If one huge apple ad on the side isn't enough, we have to deal with another apple ad at the top of the screen.
Obviously, apple is paying for some great Giz-Lipservice.
With the playstation store getting some pretty regular updates now I could see the PSP lasting a long time. It would be nice to see a lot more PS1 games coming out there, and some digital releases for older PSP games.
I would like to see PSP2 coming out before 2015 though.
@helfrez: wrong. The DS has more games at this point, but a much higher crapfactor;
Titles:
DS - 406
PSP - 365
"Good" Games:
DS - 89
PSP - 110
Source: Metacritic
@anfauglir: Yeah, that is if we make it past 2012.
You might all think this is nonsense
but hey, the PS2 has been out for nearly 8 years and people are still buying them.
and yeh...the DS may be a higher seller but the psp is wayy better technologically, and people will keep buying them because of what they have.