The ten PSP defining moments of 2006
Rolling blobs, missing cameras and talking blue birds
Let's be objective: the PSP had something of a slow start to 2006. Limited new releases, little activity surrounding the format and seemingly no support from Sony. But by Easter things had improved, certainly in terms of software volume and quality.
The focus of this article isn't on software, however. Rather, it's a look back at the year, picking out the events of most importance. Some of these are good, a few of them are not. But then that's what you get for looking at things objectively. And we're sure you wouldn't want it any other way.
The ten defining moments for PSP in 2006| 1 Death of the UMD video To be clear, the concept of releasing films on UMD for PSP owners to enjoy at their leisure wasn't necessarily flawed – it was one of the handheld's initial selling points, and the screen does lend itself to watching, even if we, as gamers, would have preferred Sony's focus to remain solely on gaming. The flaw was in expecting consumers to pay as much, if not more, for their UMD films as for their DVD equivalent – DVDs they may already possess, let's not forget, offering the same film at a higher audio / visual quality, and on a format with increased playback flexibility (laptop, desktop, portable DVD player, standard DVD deck, and so on). The warning signs may have come early this year, with the majority of film studios rapidly abandoning UMD versions of their releases, but in reality the format was doomed the moment the absurd pricing was announced. |
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| 2 PSP/ PlayStation 3 connectivity This is separate from downloadable PSone games (see below). Specifically, it's actually to do with the moment the PSP was shown at this year's E3 (then still the world's largest video game industry event) serving as a wing mirror to the PS3 version of Formula One. That in itself isn't particularly exciting (who wants to own a console whose job is confined to being what is possibly the only expendable part of an F1 car, right?) but the prospect of what's to come further down the track as developers get to play around with the concept is, not to mention the additional flexibility it could bring to Sony's handheld. |
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| 3 TalkMan lends PSP a mic Though easily thrown into the same category as the range of Passport to… travel guides that also emerged this year, TalkMan is a more important product. Not because it's actually a terribly flawed translation application (God forbid should you require it to translate medical information to a team of foreign paramedics as an acquaintance is lying on the floor, convulsing and bleeding from their ears) but rather because of the bundled microphone, which could potentially open up new opportunities for PSP developers. |
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| 4 LocoRoco arrives LocoRoco's significance extends beyond the fact of it being a brilliant game. Its arrival in June marked a paradigm shift for the PSP, none more so in terms of how the handheld's software catalogue was perceived. Suddenly, the notion the PSP only provided a home for inferior versions of games any PlayStation 2 owner would already be familiar with began to waver. Sure, LocoRoco is just one title – and we can't remember the last time a one-man revolution proved successful – but either by coincidence or otherwise, it's likely to be remembered as the game that led the influx of original, unique titles that have since appeared on Sony's portable platform with increasing regularity. |
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| 5 Downloadable demos A bittersweet story, this. When one of the firmware updates earlier this year introduced the ability to download playable game demos directly to PSP, it looked as though things were about to take off – what better way to promote PSP's quirkier range of games than getting players to sample games they might otherwise be wary of gambling £30 on? And, sure, throw in the popular stuff, too – the more, the merrier. However, at the time of writing just six playable demos exist on Sony's site, two of them for (the admittedly brilliant) LocoRoco. To say this functionality is underused is a vast understatement, a bit like saying Top Gear's Richard Hammond was travelling slightly over the national speed limit when he had a minor prang. |
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| 6 Firmware updates The homebrew crowd will disagree, of course, but for the majority of PSP owners Sony's firmware updates are seen as a positive thing, adding an increasing number of features to their portable black, white or pink consoles. The updates have been reasonably regular (more than can be said for the downloadable game demos) and normally deliver an increase in multimedia functionality, but the gaming side of things hasn't been completely ignored. Recently, version 3.0 (the very latest is v3.03) enabled the downloading and playing of PSone titles (through a PS3), for instance. |
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| 7 Increasing online functionality Let's not light the fireworks yet – in fact, we wouldn't go as far as setting them all up in the garden – but whereas, initially, online functionality in PSP games was as rare as British trains that ran on time, it's something that has gradually improved. Of course not all games merit the inclusion, but when relevant, such as in a beat-'em-up, say, it's at least encouraging to see those not yet offering full online functionality coming up with ingenious compromises (Tekken: Dark Resurrection springs to mind). Meanwhile, ad hoc support has also made more appearances – more regularly than infrastructure play, in fact – an increase in frequency which, again, should be welcomed. |
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| 8 The release of PlayStation 3 No, not because it's another Sony console – this is hardly Fanboy Nation you've stumbled upon – but because November's arrival of PS3 in the US resulted in a 280 per cent boost in PSP sales, no doubt in some part due to the overspill of gamers unable to secure themselves Sony's latest home machine. (We'd even argue that a similar, though less pronounced effect, was seen in Europe as those initially expecting PS3's arrival here may have been swayed by the console's portable cousin as an interim solution – it's a longshot, sure, but brand loyalty does the weirdest things to consumers.) Moreover, because the PS3 is now here (well, over there, really), new PSP-specific services are becoming available, such as... |
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| 9 Downloadable PSone games Yes, we know, this only helps US and Japanese PSP owners, and then only the few with a PS3. Nevertheless, it's a noteworthy development in the life of Sony's handheld, not least because downloadable games offer the potential to massively boost the PSP's appeal to a wider crowd. But only if the right games are selected. It's therefore something of a disappointment to find that, given the PSone's massive catalogue (much of which is utter rubbish, true), Sony has so far selected titles that appear to replicate experiences already available, and in most cases, bettered, on PSP. Still, here's hoping a little more thought is applied when it comes to the selection offered to European pocket gamers. |
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| 10 The conspicuous absence of the camera and GPS add-on We understand Sony has been preoccupied with launching a next gen home console that a handful of individuals in the US and Japan are currently enjoying, but the silence over the fate of both of the PSP camera and GPS add-on has been frustrating. Both promising peripherals had been scheduled to appear here for the last three months of the year, but by the summer Sony went quiet, adopting a typical head-in-the-sand approach when questioned about them. Some even started suggesting they'd been turned into PS3 components in an effort to try and ramp up production of that hardware. On a more serious note, it's a worrying indication of how Sony's attention has seemingly drifted away from its handheld this year. Going forward, let's therefore hope the situation improves (and the indications are it might – the latest is the camera will apparently 'definitely' make it to Europe in early 2007). |
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Joao Diniz Sanches
With three boys under the age of 10, former Edge editor Joao has given up his dream of making it to F1 and instead spends his time being shot at with Nerf darts. When in work mode, he looks after editorial projects associated with the Pocket Gamer and Steel Media brands.