The PSP is a great machine. Some people say it lacks great games but, while a few more would never hurt, I’ve played plenty. What’s weird is that, not long after PSP’s initial launch, Sony seem to have promoted it as everything but a games machine. New add-on devices have been announced to increase its non-gaming functionality, making its key strength even less clear. So, is it a games machine anymore? In fact, does it need to be?
In my previous entries, I’ve been unsure whether having Skype on PSP, or iPlayer on the Wii, were of any real use. We live in a world where every device competes to be everything to everyone. I understand the financial drive to achieve this, but I don’t think that’s in my interest as a consumer if no device excels at any task.
Versatile devices make us feel better about our purchases. A new range of items announced by Sony, called Go!PSP, add lots of amazing features using snazzy, little USB add-on hardware devices:
- Go!Explore - 3D Sat nav
- Go!Cam - Stills and video camera with sound recorder
- Go!Messenger - Voice and video calls, instant messaging (all using WiFi)
- Go!View - Download TV, sports and films to watch on your PSP (via a PC) at a feee
The PSP’s connectivity to the PS3 has been talked about for a long time and is still arriving slowly. I hope it will re-awaken interest in the PSP, but not just as PS3’s bitch. The PSP needs a purpose when attached to the PS3. Using a PSP as a remote screen to watch content stored on a PS3 which is acting as a PVR is a great use (ignoring the fact that you can get wireless transmitters to send TV anywhere in your house). But what about game usage when linked to a PS3? There were a handful of clever ideas of this type of connectivity with the N64 and GBA which could plug together, but they were few and far between.
Overall, anything but games that play specifically on a PSP dilute its core offering. Other applications are cool and strengthen the overall PSP benefit but this needs to be the support material for a games machine and not the main focus or it becomes a jack-of-all-trades device. Every device needs identity. If people forget the PSP is a great games machine, publishers will stop creating games for it.
In my mind, the PSP needs portraying as a games machine once again. Several years old and it still looks and plays great. Some people comment that good games for the PSP are limited but I’m not so sure. It depends what you want to play and where. For me, portable (it is the first P in PSP after all) gaming is 80% snackable games for travel and 20% console gaming experiences (like adventures or racing games) that really need long periods and somewhere stable to sit. I’ve enjoyed and completed at least 5 PSP games in the last few months - it would have been more had my DS, some books and the backs of my eyelids not all had their fair share of my daily commute time. Yes, more good games would be great, but good PSP games do exist - they’re just not identical to the gameplay of those on your home console.
Maybe it’s just my perspective as a gamer, maybe I’ve missed the point that the PSP is now a device for all things and gaming is just one of them in the list… but I think not.
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