PSP's biggest problem is piracy?

[Niode]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/psps- ... iracy-sony

I think we had a great line-up last year. The biggest problem that plagued PSP was piracy; we have not been able to slow that down

Um, Sony think that their abysmal performance in the handheld sector is down to piracy? How about the complete lack of quality titles released for the system. The completely underwhelming launch of the PSPGO (Let's shaft the consumer by alienating existing customers with lack compatibility for software from the same damn hardware and then charging through the nose for downloadable versions of the software they already have). Maybe if Sony got their act together and put money towards getting more than 3 quality titles out a year. Hell, releasing their entire existing catalogue of PSP games for download might be a start...

I'm sorry Sony, piracy is not the reason the PSP is dying on it's arse, the DS is way more pirated than the PSP, everybody I know owns a DSTT/R4/M3/Cyclone etc. The games are easier to download and requires minimal knowledge. You actually have to know a little bit about computers to hack the PSP. The DS requires you to buy a cartridge and put your roms on an SD, that's it. The iPhone can download cracked apps right on the phone, you don't even have to plug it into a PC once it's jailbroken.

Book your ideas up Sony, the PS1 popularised casual piracy and that was the most successful console of that generation. Piracy is not the reason you are failing as a company. Stop looking for scapegoats and do some work for a change.

[GSZX1337]

Dear shit, the "We failed 'cause of piracy" excuse has jumped ship from PC to Consoles. Sony should be celebrating that they're as successful as they are. Nintendo has a fucking Monopoly on handhelds. Every other handheld competitor (Sega, Hudson, Atari) has crashed and burned after a few years.

[gtmtnbiker]

I agree that the title lineup for the PSP is not as strong as the DS. There are a bunch of good titles that I enjoy.

I do think that the percentage of piracy on the PSP is higher than the DS because of the target audience. In my circle of friends (parents with kids), I'm the only person who knows anything about mod chips/carts/etc. They don't know about it, or have heard of it but don't do it.

The PSP is popular with pre-teen & teenage boys. Once one of them knows how to hack the PSP, all of their friends jump on the bandwagon.

I do agree that PSP hacking is harder than DS but it's really not that hard.

[enderfall]

Just curious, what games are people looking for that the PSP doesn't already have? I think they offer an excellent line-up of games, but of course, I only use them when I'm traveling so the perceived lack (quantity) of games doesn't affect me...if anything I have trouble finishing games on the PSP because I might go several weeks without plying the game if my travel schedule is light.

[Hatta]

The PSP's biggest problem is Sony.

[slowslow325]

The PSP's biggest problem is Sony.

Agreed

[weasels]

I have been following this argument for a while. It's obvious that sony's argument is nothing but a mere scapegoat. And it seems to be working for them. Many of the people on the sony psp forums have taken sony's side in this matter, and covering up the fact that sony has low support for the psp systems. lets face it, many people hack their psp's not for the psp games, but for the firmware. the ability to play emulators and use youtube and other functions. sony has the ability to do these updates them self's. it's evident that if the hackers can do it, sony can too. but what does sony do? they release FW updates to try and protect from hacking instead of using that time to make the people happy and give new functions to the system. while it has been getting better, with the ps store, the comics reader, and some games that are actually worth our time, there are still signs of pointlessness. as mentioned above, the pspGO. if sony did deliver on their part, this system might of done a lot better, but it is obvious that this is not the case. in the end it was money and time down the toilet! money and time that could of gone into some cool firmware and games!

[Niode]

Exactly. I haven't bought a game for my PSP since it came out in this country. I bought Metal Gear Acid, Wipeout Pure and Lumines. I got a copy of Liberty City Stories to hack PSPs but I never played it. No games have really interested me at all. I use my PSP almost exclusively for emulators.

I think the problem with the PSP is it's trying to be a PS2-portable. It's got too many games that aren't suitable to portable gaming. I'd just rather play the games on my PS2/PS3 instead of a light version that doesn't quite sit right being on a portable.

[Hatta]

I think the problem with the PSP is it's trying to be a PS2-portable. It's got too many games that aren't suitable to portable gaming.

That's one of the things I like about the PSP actually. Sure I carry my DS with me and bang out ten minutes here and there every day. But when I'm traveling and want to kill a few hours, I find the PSP games more engrossing. I certainly think it makes sense for the PSP to try to occupy a slightly different niche than the DS.

[enderfall]

I think the problem with the PSP is it's trying to be a PS2-portable. It's got too many games that aren't suitable to portable gaming.

That's one of the things I like about the PSP actually. Sure I carry my DS with me and bang out ten minutes here and there every day. But when I'm traveling and want to kill a few hours, I find the PSP games more engrossing. I certainly think it makes sense for the PSP to try to occupy a slightly different niche than the DS.

I think that's the point for Sony. Why try to make a system that is identical to the DS (perhaps not with a dual screen, but more so on the software content side)? That'll never be successful because soccer mom's only know "Game Boy". The PSP is meant to bridge the gap for those wanting more from a portable system than the DS and it does exactly that.

I remember a time I was playing my PSP on a plane and an elderly lady asked me what I was doing (actually, she asked if what I had was a Game Boy). She explained that she had a 7 or 8 year old grandson that she was interested in getting him something to pass the time during long car trips. I could have told her that the PSP was this amazing system that could do anything, but I knew that the 7-8 year old kid would better appreciate the DS, so I told her to get her grandson that instead.

Just ignore the PSPgo...