The cost of Piracy - PSP is dying

[doobiwan]

So gentlemen (and ladies) here we have exhibit
a. "Sony must act on 'worrying' PSP performance"
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=21229

So piracy doesn't hurt anyone you say? With all the fanboys going off on the forums how great their PSP's are and how great the games are, no one is buying PSP games. More importantly, it has a very low attach rate.

Can anyone say Homebrew? Romz?

That's what I thought.

EDIT: Before you flame me, I know that's not what the article is about, this is an opinion, the article just got me thinking.

 

[AntiThesis]

Hate you tell you this but the PSP has been dying for a while now. Also, where do you get that the games are awesome? Fanboys I've seen tend to say stuff like: "In reality the last good game we had was Dark Mirror and before that the ground was pretty thin games wise."

Notice also that the reason the PSP is dying isn't because everyone is going out there and pirating all their games but because the DS is kicking its ass all over the place.

 

[killadoob]

ummm to be honest that says nothing about piracy

500-700 rand a game rofl

come on now

pirate the damn games

 

[doobiwan]

Hiya Anti,

I never said the games are awesome, it's what I keep hearing from the PSP fans.

Agreed the DS is going ape, but the PSP is still selling decent numbers, about 20000 units a week in Japan alone, that's no slouch. I imagine the installed base is about the same as the 360, but the game sales are waaaay off.

I don't attribute the PSP's failure totally to piracy, but I think it's definitely a contributing factor.

EDIT: Killa, I totally agree, I do not know how anyone can justify that cost for a portable game. I think some of the DS games are also overpriced. R300 for 20 year old Tetris?

 

[Syndyre]

"In terms of sales of the actual units, it's not doing so great.

So according to the article its actual PSP sales that are the problem, not piracy.

 

[SlickNick]

"and develop a serious digital download content strategy."

It seems that Sony is already doing this, as if you go to www.yourpsp.com you will see the PSP Store. Just about everything in there is free at the moment, I think it is because the store is still new. You can download game demo's and video's and stuff. The service isn't mind blowing yet, but I do hope that they will add better content.

The thing to note is that with the next firmware release, which will be 3.0 or 3.1 they will add a PSOne emulator although you will still need a PS3 to get the PSOne games onto your PSP. Hopefully we will be able to have a work around or hopefully Sony will enable it without the use of a PS3. So for the moment things are picking up on the PSP side.

And let's not forget, the PSP is not just a gaming machine. It is a portable entertainment system.

PS: They will be releasing 8GB Memory Sticks for the PSP soon, for which the 3.0 firmware will add support.

 

[noxibox]

Homebrew is perfectly acceptable. If people prefer to tinker or run independent games because Sony is too incompetent to release decent games, then that's just too bad. This wouldn't be the first product with technical merits to die. I've repeatedly considered getting a PSP, but I can only find one game I'd pay to play, one that might be interesting and one I can also buy for the PS2. Not a compelling reason to spend R1500. And although it looks to be very interesting to tinker with it I already don't have enough time to tinker with the other consoles I own, and for which I also own more games than I have time to play.

For me the XBox 360 is the same game-wise for the moment. Kameo is the only game I'd definitely play, although Perfect Dark Zero looks like it might interest me.

To what can we attribute the success of the Nintendo DS? It is much easier to run copied games on it and they're easier to distribute, being significantly smaller than PSP games. At the same time it is cheaper than the PSP and there are several games which I'd buy if I decided to get a DS. Plus ultimately the PSP is just flashy hardware where the DS is actually an interesting platform.

Despite the belief of the entertainment industry to the contrary they're not a charity and we have no obligation to finance them or their products. If Sony wants to sell us PSPs they're going to have to come with a reason better than it being a cool piece of hardware.

 

[diabolus]

erm....what does this have to do with piracy? :

"In terms of sales of the actual units, it's not doing so great. The DS is going gangbusters, the sales volumes are going up exponentially.

I believe the article is talking about the UNIT , not the software...i don't think you can "pirate" the PSP itself yet ?

 

[noxibox]

The thing to note is that with the next firmware release, which will be 3.0 or 3.1 they will add a PSOne emulator although you will still need a PS3 to get the PSOne games onto your PSP. Hopefully we will be able to have a work around or hopefully Sony will enable it without the use of a PS3. So for the moment things are picking up on the PSP side.

And let's not forget, the PSP is not just a gaming machine. It is a portable entertainment system.

PS: They will be releasing 8GB Memory Sticks for the PSP soon, for which the 3.0 firmware will add support.

If I could play my favourite PS2 games on it, then we'd be talking. But I'd need to be able to get them on there without buying some other overpriced piece of Sony hardware. If I could do this I'd go out and buy one right now. I'd buy one for my girlfriend too.

Being able to play music or watch a movie is a nice extra, but not a good reason to buy a fairly bulky game machine. And I'm quite happy to carry a real music/movie player.

And I'm not keen on having to waste money on Sony's proprietary flash memory.

 

[kronoSX]

Like i said before many times to people,The last game i played was dark mirrior
I dont use my psp,s for games.And there is many people that dont use it for games.we all love homebrew.There are hundreds of things you can do with a psp,and for me games is not one of them.Lets make 1 example

I can use my psp to control 2000 remote control devices..like tvs..dvd players aircons,the list is endless.And best of all its compateble to ps3 93%

 

[bullfrog]

I can use my psp to control 2000 remote control devices

Please tell me how to do that! I have a friend who has a psp and he would just love to do that

 

[SlickNick]

For those who do update their firmware... Firmware version 3.1 is now available for download from www.yourpsp.com

Now I just wait for the playstation games to become available without the need for a ps3.

 

[RichardP]

I have to agree with some sentiments.... the PSP imho, was over-hyped piece of Sony junk (Like the PS3 .. it cant even download a movie trailer and play a MP3 at the same time!) - at R700 a game, it takes 3 game purchases to replace a PSP (not much for a Return on investment)

 

[kronoSX]

Please tell me how to do that! I have a friend who has a psp and he would just love to do that

HE must have a homebrew friendly psp meanin A 1.5 to a 2.71 firmware psp
Then install irshell2.2 on his psps and get the remote files from remote cental or google it

 

[ActivateD]

HE must have a homebrew friendly psp meanin A 1.5 to a 2.71 firmware psp
Then install irshell2.2 on his psps and get the remote files from remote cental or google it

You mean 1.5 and 2.71SE-C not Sony's 2.71.Firmware 3 is out its pretty good as you could control your ps3 with your psp and so much more.

RichardP the PSP can multi task you just need to get the right program like irshell and the games costing R700 its a shame