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Cheshire: PSP is a "bollocking useless waste of space" News

PSP News by Robert Purchese

15 March, 2010

Gavin Cheshire, Codemasters Studios vice president, isn't a great believer in the PSP.

"Well, speaking as a person who bought a PSP, the problem was that I always thought - because it was a better screen than iPod's - that I'd be doing more with it. But it was such a bollocking useless waste of space; just getting stuff on it was ridiculous," he told Edge magazine, issue 213.

"That was its downfall. Relatively speaking, [Codemasters] didn't do too badly on F1 PSP. But regarding the future, I think they've got - well... no.

"PSPgo's a lovely device," he added, "really smart - but our senior VP bought one the day it came out and has a great story, because he ended up on some customer support line just trying to do basic stuff. He had to re-download his software, do an immediate firmware update, and that's your user experience.

"Sony just hasn't got it right. Stuff like that will make people leave it alone."

Conversely, Cheshire thinks Apple's new iPad is "brilliant" and believes there's potential despite the App Store being swamped with content.

"The ecosystem's right," he said, "the straight-to-console nature of it."

Some people believe the PSP and iPhone are on a collision course. PopCap's John Vechey told Eurogamer earlier this year that as Apple revised iPhone hardware, graphics would eventually improve and match Sony's machine. What happens then, we'll leave you to speculate.

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Bealsy
15/03/10 @ 14:18
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That's pretty descriptive I think. I also like the way the sentence flows. +1
EarlBassett
15/03/10 @ 14:20
#2
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I had a Japanese PSP for about a year and absolutely loved it.
Games, homebrew, films on the way to work - brilliant.

Then the Itouch came out and made it look enormous. So I ditched it.

The only problem I had, was that all I wanted to play on it was Pro Evo. All other games were very poor.
mkreku
15/03/10 @ 14:21
#3
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The hardware is excellent. If it had been (somewhat) open source and had gotten a thriving community, it would have taken over the world.
Rirekon
15/03/10 @ 14:23
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The PSP and iPhone will never be on a collision course, that would require the PSP to be anywhere near the iPhone. Since getting an iPhone myself my PSP and DSi have sat around collecting dust
Phishfood
15/03/10 @ 14:25
#5
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I finally got myself a PSP 3000 model a month ago because I wanted to play Patapon and Taiko no Tatsujin, but apart from those games I don't find myself interested in anything else. I hate to admit it but it is starting to feel like I've wasted my money. I am looking forward to Valkyria Chroinicles 2 because I loved the first one.

The DS on the other hand I've had loads of fun with.
JahB
15/03/10 @ 14:25
#6
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somebody tell the man about Snes9x, and he will change his mind. it did for me
Eraysor
15/03/10 @ 14:28
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Get homebrew working on it and it's fine, but I'm pretty sure I would have ditched mine a long time ago if I didn't have a homebrew version of the original Quake installed on it.
kincaide
15/03/10 @ 14:28
#8
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With Peggle, Plant vs Zombies, Bejewelled 2 I can honestly I haven't played on the DS and PSP this year. I've just been blown away by how good Street Fighter IV is on the iPhone - it's loading time alone puts the PSP in the shade.

I'll keep the PSP until PeaceWalker comes out, and then I think I'll trade it in.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 15/03/10 @ 14:29
FladgeMangle
15/03/10 @ 14:28
#9
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A lack of PSP-beating graphics is not the iPhone's problem.

I hate using my iTouch for games because it's buttonless, there's no tactile feedback and screen-based "virtual" analog sticks are an abomination straight from Satan's arse.

Great for music, mouse-style apps and the web, but if you want games get a proper games machine. Get a PSP or DSi.
Jackface
15/03/10 @ 14:29
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Sort of says it all, though, doesn't it? That the only way to enjoy a PSP is to hack it and put SNES emulators on it?
Mnia786
15/03/10 @ 14:32
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Kojimasan loves it on the other-hand. I quite like it - I admit it doesnt get the love of my ds but as a medium for watching converted films or tv shows - its great. Have an ipod touch but not really wow'ed with it tbh -.-
Gregolution
15/03/10 @ 14:40
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I don't see how the iPhone and PSP are even comparable. I love my PSP, it's a great device. The difference is in game quality. If I want to play ranked online games of EOJ, beat my best time by half a second in a world renowned racing sim GT or have some online multiplayer KZ games, I'm sorted with the PSP. Is there an iPhone equivalent to any of those? No.

Granted for puzzle games and more casual stuff the iPhone is brilliant, but it doesn't come close when you want hardcore game.
Murton
15/03/10 @ 14:40
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"SHARXTREME: Extremely satisfied with PSP as portable gaming and media device"
"SHARXTREME: iPad is 500$-900$ and it doesnt even support flash or running 2 apps at the same time"

+1 for truth
Bigglesworth
15/03/10 @ 14:41
#14
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My last two purchases for my PSP have been Crisis Core and then Dissidia. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what games on the iPhone offer the same kind of depth, gameplay and production quality? I'm on the train for two hours a day; I need something more than what the iPhone seems to offer.
Johnhost
15/03/10 @ 14:47
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Not owned a PSP but I do want one. Problem with an iPhone is that it cost a bundle. Unless every game you want is DS quality or less then I wouldn't get it. What I want is a PS2 or Xbox quality game in the palm of my hand for under £200.00. The iPhone is nearly 4x the price.
SeanBeansGravyBoat
15/03/10 @ 14:49
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Since when did Eurogamer populate it's news feed simply by regurgitating stuff lifted straight from other websites and magazines??

Oh... hang on... I'll get me coat.
brazzauk
15/03/10 @ 14:54
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I am still at a loss to understand the ipad. What is the point of it?
Anthony_UK
15/03/10 @ 14:55
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I think when Nintendo announce and release the DS2, Apple and Sony will both know the feeling of what its like to get owned!
Soulwind
15/03/10 @ 14:57
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Well...Polyphony did a great job with GT5 on the PSP! I was very impressed!
Les
15/03/10 @ 14:59
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Got a PSP on the strength of its exclusives: LocoRoco, Patapon, Monster Hunter and Killzone. I truly enjoy those games but the hardware design itself isn't that great IMHO. Same goes for DSi. Both are just too big to carry comfortably along with you in your pocket. And if you want to play more than just the game in the system, you have to bring even more stuff. So I end up playing both mainly at home or on intercontinental flights when I bring a bag along with me. For true portable gaming I resort to my iPhone. And as those sessions in general are brief (e.g. waiting for an appointment), its limited battery life isn't really an issue.

But what hurts PSP most IMHO is that it is too much like your proper home console. It offers too few game experiences that can't be played elsewhere. DSi is better positioned in that regard.
reality_cheque
15/03/10 @ 14:59
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Rogue Planet on the iPhone is about the only game I've bothered to play. Turn based RTS games work well on it, can't be bothered to play anything else.

Saying that I can't be bothered to buy a PSP either.
Cosmopolitan
15/03/10 @ 15:00
#22
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@brazzauk: It's made by Apple, so everyone has to get one. There's no other point.
Jackface
15/03/10 @ 15:01
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The point of it is not aimed at you. That's all you need to know. Don't want one? That's cool, don't buy one.

@ Johnhost - if you want to get some of the App Store action for yourself , try an iPod touch which does exactly the same things except make calls and take low-res photos. Vastly cheaper too. Personally I love my iPhone but games that try to crowbar a traditional control scheme onto the touch screen really really suffer. GTA for example: awesome conversion, practically seamlessly the exact same game as DS and PSP, but those controls, man they were annoying. Deleted within an hour. Plants vs Zombies on the other hand, wicked.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 15/03/10 @ 15:04
Bertie staff
15/03/10 @ 15:02
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Since when did Eurogamer populate it's news feed simply by regurgitating stuff lifted straight from other websites and magazines??

Some things are too good to miss. Well done Edge for such a priceless quote.
Jackface
15/03/10 @ 15:05
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It was worth a wee story - some people forget the family community vibe EG was born from, they want to share funny stuff they've read and don't forget not everyone buys or can even find Edge...
NorUraeus
15/03/10 @ 15:07
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Not sure I buy the PSP versus iPhone concept. They are simply too different to really compete directly. Sure you can play games also on the iPhone, but it is a very different beast in terms of interface and what kind of games you find on it. Not that I am a heavy user of my PSP, nor am I an iPhone owner, mobile gaming simply do not interest me that much.
harhol
15/03/10 @ 15:08
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PSP is great for things like TRPGs, JRPGs, puzzle games and whatever genres Patapon & LocoRoco fall into. The problem is that a lot of people (especially those who don't own one) can't look past the big franchise games - Assassin's Creed, God of War, Killzone, Resistance, etc - which are mostly terrible. It's a great system, even if you don't consider the fact that it can play every PS1 game from every region ever.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 15/03/10 @ 15:09
drxym
15/03/10 @ 15:09
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The PSP Go is a great device ruined by cost (of hardware and games), and the lack of upgrade path for existing users. There are tens of millions of PSP users - the very sort of people who WANT to upgrade, but can't because there is no upgrade path except start from scratch. Sony have really, really screwed this one up big time.
Goffee
15/03/10 @ 15:29
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As an iPhone and PSP owner, the PSP is by far the better games machine, it just needs a bigger, better store, a modern web-browser (with decent Flash) and little Apps like Facebook and YouTube on the iPhone and it'd be fine.

What scares me is that none of those requests are complicated or expensive, or new - yet Sony seems incapable of getting off its butt.

One major point in its favour, I let my kid play with the PSP - but he's not allowed on the phone
X3Entente
15/03/10 @ 15:38
#30
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I only starting having fun with my PSP after i installed custom firmware, cos the games were shite. Cast your mind back to when the highest calibur games on the psp were the likes of metal gear acid, a fucking card game!!!! The hardware had the potential for a fully fledged MGS game but they were still stuck in the mentality that portable games have to be nerfed down. AND NO i havent pirated any games, ive copied all my ps1 games from disc, i shouldnt have to pay for them twice, i bought metal gear solid for £40 when it came out and just because it happened 10 years ago doesnt diminsh my right to not get screwed over by psn
EvilBob_leeds
15/03/10 @ 15:38
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That's a pretty devisive bit of paraphrasing there Purchese. "Codemaster dev inexplicably flummoxed by piss simple handheld interface" is pretty unimportant compared to "Codemasters' direction regarding motion control"

http://www.edge-online.com/news/codemast...
kangarootoo
15/03/10 @ 15:40
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I'm not sure corporate VPs are really the market for the PSP. The iPad on the other hand is clearly targetted at such people given that they a) will use their device for more iPad type things than PSP things, and b) not bat an eyelid at the price.

I love my iPhone and I use it a fair bit, but my PSP is where I go if I am playing portable variants of "peoper console games". There are some awesome games on the iPhone Fflightcontrol is an addictive steal at 59p), but they are for 5 minute hits at a time.

That said, the iPad will end up brining more software to the iPhone too, which can't be a bad thing.
kangarootoo
15/03/10 @ 15:41
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Also, the experience for getting content onto the PSP used to be ridiculous (install an app on your PC, download onto your PC, connect your PSP, transfer content). Now you can connect directo the PSP Store over wifi, its a much better experience.
zedzee
15/03/10 @ 15:43
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Is this guy talking about the same PSPslim versus PSPgo, as everyone else?!

Lest we forget that the PSPgo:

- Is much more expensive than a PSPfat/slim.
- It's not backwards compatible with the games you already bought on UMD.
- It's download only - no UMD - nothing tangible to hold in your hand, to say you 'own' that game.
- The storage device is not backwards compatible - say goodbye to all those Memory Sticks you bought.
- Memory Stick M2 still cost a small fortune.
- After buying a few games by download, MemSticks will run out of memory (especially if you also download demos, music, photos etc.) More MemSticks = more cost!
- You now have to consider buying a game and buying a MemStick to fit it on.
- It's screen is smaller than the previous models...hello!!!
- No Homebrew. Sony have no intention of 'opening it up' to the open source community or simplifying its SDK.
- Indented buttons suck.
- Need I go on...?

He should really put the two units next to each other and look very hard at what he's missing, if he goes for a PSPgo.

As for how they stack up against the iPhone? Well, all I can say is that any mobile phone trying to act as a games console will immediately depreciated the virtues of having a dedicated portable games device.
smelly
15/03/10 @ 15:50
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@SHARKXTREME : Me: iPad is 500$-900$ and it doesnt even support flash or running 2 apps at the same time


Me: Does the PSP?
darc
15/03/10 @ 15:52
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I like Sony products, but he's certainly got a point about Sony not understanding what people will/will not tolerate. Their product websites alone prove the point. The Playstation store is an overcomplicated mess to navigate, and Sony thinks nothing of putting 3 pages of legalese and an epilepsy warning in front of a casual video game. They just don't seem to understand the nuances of "setting a tone".
darc
15/03/10 @ 15:57
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That aside, I wish somebody/anybody would design a new portable gaming system by STARTING with a good ergonomic controller and working from there. A PSP is already a little bit too big for me to walk around town with one in my pocket, and I've come to realize that I usually don't want to play portable systems - not because the graphics are underpowered and not because there's anything wrong with the software - simply because they don't FEEL right in my hands. In fact, they're downright painful. So:

Why not begin with a really good controller, e.g. an XBox360 controller or a PS3 Dual Shock or whatever, and hang a little screen, processor, RAM, etc off the back of that? It'd fit in a backpack, or by your bedside, or whatever, and you could play games that looked decent, and *felt* right. That would be a step in the right direction IMO.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 15/03/10 @ 16:02
Toothball
15/03/10 @ 15:59
#38
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Hooray, someone else bought a PSP Go!

He's right though, it's a lovely device but the overall experience of owning one has been quite arduous. Nearly six months down the line and most of the PSP range still isn't available for download. I don't particularly like what Apple do with hardware and software, but they really know how to run a service.
Widge
15/03/10 @ 16:00
#39
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Technically, the PSPgo can run multiple instances of games in a sleep state, which is quite a nice addition if you are playing a game on a train but want to flick to music when your stop comes up.

@zedzee you can't site Homebrew as a negative against the PSPgo, its not like it is a standard feature of the standard PSPs either. Also, coming from someone who has to resort to lugging a PSP around for music purposes at the moment, a smaller size is actually a positive, not a negative.

I'm sure the 16GB of onboard memory kind of negates the entire memory stick thing too.

Not being able to put a UMD on the machine is a great shame though, and that puts me off the change. Its a hard thing to manage though, as you'd imagine people would just hire and rip off games. You'd need some sort of ripping program that requires validation from the game disc each week or something.
darc
15/03/10 @ 16:01
#40
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P.S. LocoRoco was brilliant because it was clear that somebody picked up the PSP and said, OK, this is the controller at our disposal, what mechanics will feel best for the user? It's a lovely game in every sense, but the fact that it was so perfectly tailored to the hardware in question was a stroke of genius.
PearOfAnguish
15/03/10 @ 16:06
#41
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I know lots of people get all angry when Stuart Campbell is mentioned but he does a neat job of explaining what's wrong with the PSP here.
Les
15/03/10 @ 16:08
#42
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"iPad is 500$-900$ and it doesnt even support flash or running 2 apps at the same time"

1) I'm an atheist but if iPad helps to rid the net of Flash, it'd be a godsend
2) 3rd party multitasking on the iPad is one of the big unknowns at this time. But when it comes to games, multitasking is hardly the biggest worry. E.g. PSP and DSi aren't exactly known for their multitasking prowess...
peterfll
15/03/10 @ 16:17
#43
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The PSP is a great machine, seriously comprimised by pirates and mismanaged by its creators. There was an Edge, or GamesTM article a few months ago on it that summed up the PSP situation perfectly.
MrChuckles
15/03/10 @ 16:26
#44
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Ah, Javelin Chesthair....

The biggest twat i ever worked for.
systems
15/03/10 @ 16:32
#45
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He actually says that the PSP SCREEN is a bollocking useless waste of space, not the PSP.

"I always thought - because it was a better screen than iPod's - that I'd be doing more with it. But it was such a bollocking useless waste of space".
GamesConnoisseur
15/03/10 @ 16:38
#46
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Good article from Stuart Campbell, whilst I differs by saying people who argues piracy doesn't do any harms are talking bollicks. However with PSP piracy is most secondary issue (last placed perhaps).

Good for people who loves their PSP and swears by it, but the reality is that the wider world doesn't agree as evident by the poor sales and supports from devs. Still believe Sony made huge mistake in not commiting to PSP2 instead of stopgap PSPGo. The product wouldn't help Sony's reputation any.

IPhone for me is an unmissable device for all the right reason, does pushes in a lot of new directions in games as well. Sword and Sworcery and few mores show there are still potentials. Yet yes the console experience are better fit on PSP or DS to an extent. Still there are great fun on iPhone as Sword n Poker etc. These doesn't exists on DS or PSP.
TopKatt
15/03/10 @ 16:39
#47
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Well I like my PSP, so bollocks to you Cheshire.
kangarootoo
15/03/10 @ 16:42
#48
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@zedzee

Some of your points are good ones, but...


"- It's download only - no UMD - nothing tangible to hold in your hand, to say you 'own' that game."

I think the app store shows very few people (as in, effectively none) really give a shit about that. And besides no forward thinking person in charge of new tech products should have "tangible disc to hold in your hand" anywhere NEAR a list of core requirements.

And you seem to be making the memory stick point 4 times in slightly different ways.

Otherwise, you make some fair points.
kangarootoo
15/03/10 @ 16:46
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@systems

You have misunderstood the quote, or perhaps just selectively c'n'pasted it.

The full section was...

"Well, speaking as a person who bought a PSP, the problem was that I always thought - because it was a better screen than iPod's - that I'd be doing more with it. But it was such a bollocking useless waste of space; just getting stuff on it was ridiculous"

Translation. I thought I would get more done with the PSP, as it has a better screen than the iPod, but it turned out to be useless. He ain't talking about the screen being useless. The screen was the benefit in his eyes.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 15/03/10 @ 16:48
tomjoadsghost
15/03/10 @ 16:55
#50
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I barely use my psp, i haven't bought a codemasters game since the 8 bit days.

I think it's nice to acknowledge those moments when a viewpoint gets the perfect spokesman.

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