3 posts tagged “sony”

I can't be the only gamer around these parts who hasn't gone to a next gen console and is still satisfied with my PS2 and the great games still coming out for it...

True, the most recent game I've purchased was Kingdom Hearts 2, but sue me. I've had Guild Wars and life to contend with as well.

I don't know what to say about Sony's schemes. I'm referring to, in praticular, their closing the proverbial door on  PS1 emulation using the PSP.

Here's the score. Currently, there are only a few titles available that you can rip from the disk, to your PS3, and then send to your PSP. The PSP hacker community have recently announced they broke the emulation program so you can play whatever PS1 game you like on your PSP, so long as you are willing to send it.

This means that Sony is telling people who have likely spent over $750 (probably more, since the PSP originally retailed around $250, and at the least expensive, a PS3 costs $500, and odds are those same people own a PS2...) that they're not willing to give them something extra for how much support they've given to the company.

Obviously, Sony could be worried about piracy, since it's concievable that people could send their games to other people's PSPs. But at this point, numbers are down on the PSP, and really, Sony could use the positive PR and the goodwill, because right now, with their abysmal launch of the PS3 where they didn't have half the units they said they were, what goodwill they've got is pretty limited.

Why stop nickel and dime-ing your fanbase when you could lose money but gain back a bunch of support that was lost?

Sony, this is how you don't do viral marketing.

It's the all I want for xmas is a psp ad campaign that went flat. It's going for the faux-thug mentality cross-pollinating it with the "h4rdc0r3" gamer community, and I suspect the proverbial streets can tell this is fake from thee hundred miles away as quickly as we can.

What irks me though is that they can sell the PSP on its own merits. Understand, they really had to try to work to have the PSP screw up as bad as it did. It has a great looking design and graphics comparable to a last generation system. Not bad at all. Then...nothing. It was treated like a gimmicky little brother to the PS2. Eventually good games were released. There's Metal Gear Ac!d, Daxter and at least a couple other compilations of early games that don't leap to mind at the moment.

This blog doesn't make me scream "I want a PSP". This blog makes me scream target audience. And now, I'm wondering if even the port of Chrono Cross will make it worth it to get a PSP a couple years down the line, or (I hope) Nintendo will release it on the DS, but that's a pipe dream.

Happy holidays. I know I don't update this thing. Maybe over the break.

And you all really should be interested in .moneen.  You'll be doing yourself well by picking up their new CD, The Red Tree.