Author Topic: Obituary: PSP 2000  (Read 5067 times)

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Offline Halbred

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Obituary: PSP 2000
« on: August 05, 2010, 04:11:40 PM »

Or why the PSP is dead to me.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/23828

I’ve owned a PSP for years. In fact, I’ve owned two: a launch version (sold to me by my brother), and a PSP-2000, which was funded by selling my launch version. Nintendo World Report readers probably don’t know that when the PSP and the DS were first announced, I was of the opinion that Sony’s handheld would dominate the market and quickly sink Nintendo’s new device. My rationale was simple: the PSP had a big, sexy screen, PS2-quality visuals, and functioned as a multi-purpose media platform. My thoughts on the DS largely amounted to “it’s a GBA with a second screen.” The launch model was also ugly and bulky—nowhere near as attractive (in terms of form) as the sleeker, blacker PSP. Well, we all know what happened next: the DS skyrocketed into the sales stratosphere where it has continued to stay ever since whereas the PSP has never actually been a big seller, or even a marginally big seller. As time goes by, I have become intimately familiar with the PSP’s many flaws, and it has many. Before I dive into the bad, however, let’s talk about the few things the PSP gets right.

First, there are some very high-profile, excellent games on the PSP: Mega Man Powered UP, Maverick Hunter X, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Patapon, Patapon 2, God of War: Chains of Olympus (which will soon—finally—get a sequel), and Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines to name a few. These are all games I treasure, although I can’t shake the feeling that most of them could’ve been downloadable PSN titles. Also of some importance, the PSP makes good use of its giant widescreen format to display really crisp, colorful, and impressive graphics.

Second, the PSP really is a multimedia device. It plays UMD movies, although they aren’t really produced anymore. It plays music from a memory card, internet radio, and Skype. If you want to play your PSP games on the big screen, you can do that with the right cables. You can remote-play some PSN PS3 games (but not nearly enough), and you can access the PS3’s menu crossbar from the PSP. A word of caution, however: playing the Patapon games on your TV results in game-ruining lag between when you tap the drum button and when it actually registers. For any other game, it’s not even noticeable. But for Patapon, it makes you lose.

That’s about it. Now let’s go for the throat.

The first, and most egregious offender is the PSP’s prehistoric operating system. It’s sort of a low-res version of the PS3’s crossbar with far fewer options. Its biggest flaw is that you cannot do anything in the background. On the PS3, you can download like eight different things at once (aside from firmware updates) in the background and still play Uncharted 2 in the foreground or continue wandering around the PSN Store. The PSP does not allow such luxury. If you want to download Patapon 2, you’re gonna have to sit there and watch its progress bar slowly fill up. You can’t play a game while you wait. You can’t even zoom out to the menu screen. You are forced to actually set your PSP down and play your DS instead while Castlevania Chronicles downloads at the speed of smell.

I wasn’t sure whether this is an OS problem or not, but the PSP’s web browser is worse than most cell phones. It is a useless exercise in tedium to try and load up your email, for example, because the page loads at the speed of a 28k modem. At least half the time, the connection will time out OR the system will run out of memory before a single word has appeared onscreen. Merely loading up the page’s background makes the PSP have a seizure. More strenuous activities, like clicking links, have actually caused my little system to crash, shutting itself off with a disturbing “pop” sound, as if one of its silicon synapses just short-circuited. The only internet pages that display property and with some modicum of speed are those that have mobile versions like Kotaku or Facebook. But in the case of the former, clicking a link to see some screenshots often results in a five-minute load followed by images displayed “at reduced quality” to conserve memory.

Let’s talk about the battery life. It’s awful. It’s less reliable while playing UMD movies than an iPod Video. My PSP-2000 came with a Family Guy compilation disk, which included four of Seth McFarlane’s favorite episodes (circa 2007). The battery will be on its last bar when that UMD is over, and that’s with the backlight on “medium.” Turn that **** up to “high,” and you can forget about watching a UMD or playing a frigging game during a plane ride—it ain’t gonna last. The battery also takes forever to charge, even though there’s clearly not much juice in the first place! And hilariously, the charging cable is like fifty feet long and unnecessarily divided into two parts: one with the power supply, and one that connects the power supply to the PSP itself. Do you know what kind of a hassle it is to pack something like that? Supposedly there’s an adaptor that lets players use their launch PSP’s battery on later versions, but you know what? I sold my launch PSP, Sony, so I could afford your “better” version.

Another point of contention? The system’s physical architecture. I speak now of the PSP-2000, which I currently own, although some of these complaints carry over to the launch version, too, and probably the PSP-3000. To begin with, the analog nub is a useless, useless device. It cramps the hand and fails to offer the kind of precise analog control one would get with a real analog stick. It’s also surprisingly easy for your thumb to begin drifting toward the edge of the nub, further hindering your efforts. Developers don’t seem to care, and they continue to make games that demand extensive use of this blasted thing. Even worse, developers continue to imagine that there’s a good way around the whole lack of a second analog nub. There’s not. If you want proof, check out the demo of that recent Resistance PSP game. The best PSP games ignore the nub entirely. I also can’t stand the placement of the power switch. It is literally encased in the meat of my hand as my thumb grasps the face buttons and my index finger gropes the R button. The slightest sudden movement causes the switch to slide upward, resulting in sleep mode. This is an asinine design decision. It has happened to me more than once.

But the most frustrating aspect of the PSP isn’t even the system’s fault: it’s Sony’s utter refusal to upgrade it in a meaningful way or even acknowledge that there’s a problem. It’s not like they’re flooding the market with quality games. LittleBigPlanet and Peace Walker are the only notable PSP releases in almost the last year. They keep changing the system’s physical architecture, but they never change the OS or everyday functionality outside of firmware updates that nobody cares about. Last year, they launched the PSP Go, which sold poorly, largely because gamers understood that it was more expensive but actually decreased core functionality (no more UMD support and no plans to digitize the entire PSP game library). Thanks but no thanks, Sony. Way to miss the goddamn point. At this year’s E3, everybody expected them to roll out the PSP 2.0, but instead they brought in…that black kid from Role Models and a new marketing campaign to revitalize the rotting corpse of the current PSP.

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Offline Enner

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2010, 07:47:21 PM »
I only have a PSP-1000. Shame I didn't get the slim but I already got my blue 1000 before it was announced.
I pretty much agree on all points. Well, except for the battery. The Sony battery that came with the system still lasts me about 6 hours of use, though a lot of the games I play are on the memory stick. As for charging the battery, it seems to take only 3-5 hours to bring it back to a full charge. I'm not sure though since I never timed the thing and I frequently use a much slower USB solution since my laptop is always on. Also, I don't think you need an adaptor to use 1000 batteries in the 2000 system. You just can't put on the battery cover any more. As for the charging cable, I guess I don't have much of an issue with that since I have other electronics that have similar power supply cables. I kind of like the breakaway for the AC cable since I don't have to worry about chaffing it when I wrap a rubber band around the charging kit for storage or transport.


The power button is bad placement, but I've only accidently switched it off once. That was when I was gripping the system more tightly than I usually do. I guess Sony didn't expect people to have a vice grip on the thing.


I'm getting what I wanted out of the PSP and that's prettier graphics. I didn't want to bear looking at the DS equivalent of Ridge Racers 2 and Ace Combat X. Sadly, those are pretty much the only games I play on the PSP.


Well, here's to PSP2 getting it better. Actually, no. I'm eager to play racing games and flight combat games on the 3DS.

Offline Stratos

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2010, 04:30:15 AM »
I've thought about getting a PSP because of a few games that interest me but the design of the system usually chases away those thoughts.

I've heard the idea tossed around that the PSP2 was supposed to be shown at E3 this year but after the amazing unveiling of the 3DS they pulling its reveal to account for all the awesomeness that 3DS was.
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Offline Nick DiMola

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2010, 07:20:45 AM »
Yeah, the PSP really is a huge disappointment. One of my biggest issues with it is the power switch and the way the thing functions. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've accidentally put the system to sleep instead of turn it off. I'll come back a week later to play something and the battery is totally dead because it was sleeping for a week. I'd much rather have a button to turn it off and a separate option in the menu to put it to sleep. Ugh.


You're also right about the lack of notable games, Zach. It's unbelievable how few there really are, and it's funny because even getting the things for review I see very few come to my door.


For the most part, the PSP is dead and everyone knows it, including Sony. Even worse is that they didn't expose some sort of plan at E3 this year for their next PSP. I'm not sure what Sony is trying to do with the system, but right now it's hard to care that it even exists.
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Offline Jonnyboy117

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2010, 11:27:04 AM »
I am just waiting for them to slash the price so I can pick up a cheap unit and catch up on the half-dozen PSP games that I care to play.
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Offline Pandareus

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2010, 01:53:41 PM »
I actually own a PSPgo. Got it when it was on sale for just low enough to be cheaper than a PSP-3000 + decent Memory Stick. The logic was that I wasn't too interested in carrying physical UMDs with me along with the PSP and wanted to go all digital. I went in knowing full well that not every game was available on PSN, but I wasn't quite prepared for just how many high profile games aren't available, like Mega Man Powered Up, and frickin' Lumines. Lumines!
 
I have to say that I almost never use it. When I first got it I played Lunar for about 20 hours, then forgot all about the system which has been collecting dust. I just naturally turn to the DS for my portable gaming fix for some reason. Picross 3D, Trajectile, Aura-Aura Climber, Dragon Quest IX and more all kept the PSP out of mind for me.
 
That said, it's pretty sad that every one of your complaints about the PSP's operating system can be leveraged against the DSi's. You have to sit through downloads, the browser is terribly slow, etc. I hope Nintendo upgrades those things with the 3DS.

Offline Halbred

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2010, 03:27:32 PM »
Yeah, but the DSi was never really intended to be a multimedia device, at least not to the extent that the PSP is. I feel more animosity toward the PSP's web browser, for example, because it's supposed to be at least functional. Nintendo doesn't even pretend to care about web browsing with Opera. Downloads are a pain, but they don't take nearly as long as PSP downloads take.

You know what? I actually would have been interesting in buying a PSP-Go, but I didn't because:

1) It was priced so insanely;
2) There was NO way to transfer my UMD games to the system. No download code, no cable transfer, no nothing. No patch. Nothing. And Sony didn't bother populating PSN with older PSP games.
3) A decent web browser would have been great for a little portable like the PSP-Go. But no.
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Offline Jonnyboy117

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2010, 05:54:05 PM »
Since I don't own any UMDs, the PSP Go was an exciting prospect for me... until I saw the price. The lack of game availability on the download store is also inexcusable. Luckily, both of these things can still be fixed, and when they are, I will probably pick up the Go.
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Offline TJ Spyke

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2010, 06:32:12 PM »
I don't think either will, the PSP Go has bombed and Sony has pretty much given up on it (they have tried to spin it by claiming it was a experiment). The problem with the PSP Go was that there was no reason for anyone to get it. For existing PSP owners; you would have to re-buy all your PSP games (at least ones Sony chose to offer), you couldn't watch any UMD movies/TV shows you own. Add in the smaller screen, the $250 pricepoint, the fact that you have to pay the prices for new game downloads since you can't buy used games, the fact that PSP Minis can be played on all PSP systems and not just PSP Go's, and that add up to no reason for potential PSP owners to pick it up instead of one the regular models. For homebrewers/hackers, there is even less reason to pick it up rather than track down a used PSP-1000 or early PSP-2000.
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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #9 on: August 06, 2010, 09:46:27 PM »
Yea it really is sad considering how much potential the device has/had. i initially got mine FOR it's multifunctionality because I didn't want to carry around both a laptop and the brick of an original DS where ever I go. but in the end I was forced to go with a custom firmware just for stupid easy things like text readers or IM support that Sony easily could have implemented long before something like their limited internet radio.
Nothing Sony has done with it has really made any sense at all. Comics alone were a shocker (especially to a nerd like me) but they STILL lack the basic functionality of a text reader.


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Offline ymeegod

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #10 on: August 06, 2010, 10:59:49 PM »
I can't really comment about the multimedia aspect of it since I bought mine just for gaming but I would have to agree with you about the annoying analog stick.  Damn thing is in the wrong freaking spot--it should be where the direction pad is because it's used the most. 

But sadly the PSP suffers the most because it simply lacked the second analog stick which is must for any 3d gameplay. Still bought my PSP 3000 quite cheap so I at least got my money out of it but the last couple of years the software has some dry spots vrs the DS which has a couple of hits each quarter that I want to play.

Still get a few titles worth playing per year, like the latest Metal Gear: Peace Walker or the upcoming VC2, Kingdom Hearts, God of War. 

I play the DS about twice as much as the PSP.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2010, 11:02:57 PM by ymeegod »

Offline KDR_11k

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #11 on: August 07, 2010, 04:13:02 AM »
I hear SCEE gives you 10 free games (and we're talking retail-grade games here) if you buy a PSPgo.

I wish my iPod had 5-6 hours battery life when playing games, the thing gets 2 hours at most. Pathetic.

Let's see if Sony is waiting for the 3DS to come out so they can steal the 3D screen and slidepad from it.

Offline TJ Spyke

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2010, 09:30:33 AM »
It's 3 games here in the US, but that still reeks of desperation as well.
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Offline LittleIrves

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #13 on: August 10, 2010, 04:22:26 PM »
Count me among the many who thought Sony's handheld was going to blast Nintendo's right out of their Blue Ocean and into an early grave.  Oops.  Chault up the DS domination as just one more example of high-tech losing to right-tech.  (As in, the right technology [design, efficiency, playability, etc.].  It sounded better in my head.)
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Offline MegaByte

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #14 on: August 10, 2010, 04:27:37 PM »
Let's see if Sony is waiting for the 3DS to come out so they can steal the 3D screen and slidepad from it.
Eh, the slidepad is pretty similar to the PSP nub.
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Offline mezz

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #15 on: August 11, 2010, 07:07:48 AM »
I doubt Sony will launch a new handheld, but if they did, the only way to 'defeat' the 3DS is to jam pack it with stuff, which results in a high price. The 3DS pretty much has it all. All Nintendo needs to do is give us a good price say $210. And then Sony is pretty much doomed.

Offline KDR_11k

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #16 on: August 11, 2010, 01:23:07 PM »
Let's see if Sony is waiting for the 3DS to come out so they can steal the 3D screen and slidepad from it.
Eh, the slidepad is pretty similar to the PSP nub.

Yes, except it doesn't suck.

Offline UltimatePartyBear

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #17 on: August 11, 2010, 07:43:42 PM »
Let's see if Sony is waiting for the 3DS to come out so they can steal the 3D screen and slidepad from it.
Eh, the slidepad is pretty similar to the PSP nub.

Yes, except it doesn't suck.

Do we actually know that yet?

Offline Stratos

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #18 on: August 11, 2010, 07:44:50 PM »
I thought initial play-test reports said it worked well.
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Offline MegaByte

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #19 on: August 11, 2010, 09:45:08 PM »
It doesn't work exceptionally well.  At least not for the way games have been traditionally controlled with analog sticks.
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Offline Crimm

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #20 on: August 12, 2010, 01:12:21 AM »
I agree with Aaron on that, but it does feel better than the PSP Nub.  I think the biggest reason for that is that it's just bigger.  You get more play in it then you do the nub.
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Offline that Baby guy

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Re: Obituary: PSP 2000
« Reply #21 on: August 13, 2010, 02:51:45 AM »
Yeah, my biggest hesitation on the 3DS has got to be the analog slide pad thing, too.  It felt pretty iffy. I wasn't sure if it was due to my lack of familiarity or the actual design, so I'm waiting to render a verdict.