1P Start

When the PSP was first announced by Sony, all of the elements were there for it to be a huge success - brilliant graphics, a great games line-up, the Playstation brand etc. Unfortunately for Sony, sales never really managed to light up the world as they were expected to, and the Nintendo DS then came in and provided a cheaper, more casual alternative. The PSP has never really recovered, but is it now too late for a recovery?

GI.biz recently interviewed Ubisoft’s UK managing director Rob Cooper, and he had some not very pleasant things to say about the platform, and the direction, or lack of it, that Sony is heading in.

Most importantly, the company isn’t releasing any games on the PSP this year, which for a major games publisher, and a major gaming platform, is a bad sign. He explained why:

“I think that Sony is disappointed with sales and it’s unsure as to which way to take it. There’s still a good market there at the right price-point. Whether or not we’re developing new products for it is a different thing. I think Sony needs to show us a bit more about what its plans are to convince the publisher to invest lots more money into it. Especially when you’ve got the DS selling at such a tremendous pace.”

“I don’t think it’s a pricing issue. As a publisher I’ll always say pricing is not the first point of call. I don’t think dropping the price of games is going to sell more product or hardware. It’s direction, a real strategic decision by Sony as to what it wants to do with that product. It’s a great shame that sales are at the level they are, because you’ve got a hardware system that is absolutely beautiful.”

“I suppose it’s almost too technical for the casual person, those that are buying the DS at the moment, who want a few buttons and not a lot more. It’s so simple what [Nintendo] has done. That’s where I think Sony has gone a little bit too complicated, they’ve over-specced it, the price is too high and they need to go back to the drawing board and start again.”

There is no doubt that the DS is currently kicking the PSP’s butt, but what the hell can Sony do, if anything, to change the little handheld’s fortunes?

I own neither a PSP or a DS, but even if Sony were to drop the price, I’d still go for a DS all the way. It has Nintendo behind it, has many more games, and a bigger variety of games too, and just has a whole different feel to it.

I can’t see the PSP regaining any ground this generation. The question now is whether Sony will bother developing a new handheld for the next gen, or whether the PSP will remain a one-off, and the company will instead resign itself to the fact that Nintendo are, and always will be, the kings of the handheld.