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makingmusic476 on 11 August 2010
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famousringo said:
superchunk said:
famousringo said:

I view this as Sony basically bowing out of the handheld gaming market. It's Google's platform now, Sony is just one amongst many competing hardware vendors.

What's to stop HTC from making an almost identical handset that runs all the same software?


How is this bad for Sony? They would still make money from the hardware they do produce as well as a potentially exponential growth in PSN and what woudl have been similar to 1st party titles on a PSP on all Android devices.

From a long term growth point of view for Sony's gaming division this is really smart and I would want this phone.

Not to mention, most other hardware vendors wouldn't want to build device with those gaming controls, especially if this device becomes available on all of the carriers.


This is bad for Sony because, historically, they don't make any money on their gaming hardware. They subsidize the hardware and make money by charging licensing fees to software publishers.

Now pretend you're a publisher with a game that you've made for the PSPhone. Your game is perfectly capable of running on many other Android devices, so why restrict yourself to the revenues from the PSPhone only? You could be selling to an install base that is much, much larger. And if publishers really can persuade the whole Android Market to go for their games, you can bet that HTC, Samsung, and/or Motorola is going to build some competing game-centric hardware.

The console business model relies heavily on exclusivity. Android is about as far from exclusive as you can get.

I believe this device will simply be an Android-based phone that will also support PSP titles.  Developers will have two options:  Make their game compatible with all PSPs and the PSPhone, or make their game compatible with the PSPhone and every other Android device (a regular Android app).  I think this device is intended to simply add to the current PSP line.

superchunk said:
makingmusic476 said:

It sounds like an Android smartphone that happens to play PSP games.  Meh.

I like the idea of a PlayStation Phone, but I'd want it to be a full successor to the PSP (PSP2), and I'd want it to have the PSN/XMB at its core, much like the PSP/PS3.  Any Android features I'd like to be secondary to PS functionality, and I'd want it to continue and improve upon the PSP's functionality and compatability with the PS3.

This just sounds like an X10 with buttons and a section on the Android Marketplace for PSP titles.  No PlayStation Store anymore?

It doesn't feel like a true PlayStation product.

You're being way too narrow minded here.

With the new Sony/Google agreement I'm sure there will be a PSN app for android phones. Sony is very smart for creating this agreement as it takes their Playstation brand and greatly multiplies its potential market accross all current and future Android based devices which is quickly becoming a lot more than just phones.

So the PSN and other content that wouldn't be on the higher end home console could sell like crazy on the easier to distribute Android platform.

Also, you must consider that both Sony and Nintendo are not stupid. They realize the impact of the success of the iPhone and the subsequent rise of smartphone use in general on mobile gaming. Nintendo however, is not nor will ever be a distributer of cell phones, so they must focus on experiences and uniqueness that will still keep their handhelds very strong. However, Sony is a producer of all things electronic, so taking advantage of that cross platform capabilities is brilliant. Dropping the PSP line for a PSPhone line is by far the best long term move for Sony and packing that with an already fantastic OS (Android) is another brilliant move that will benefit a great number of their products from TVs, Bluray players, future Playstation devices, and of course phones.

This is the first time Sony has excited me. I almost feel like the headline should have Nintendo in it instead.


I doubt Sony would agree to bring any such app to anything other than Sony hardware, piracy being only one of the many reasons why.  Hell, going with such a strategy would effectively make Sony a third party developer for Google, and as FamousRingo said, in such situation, why make a game for PSP, which requires paying Sony licensing fees, when you could just make a game and toss it on the Android Marketplace instead?

However, I do believe Sony would be willing to incorporate Android in any attempt to create a PS Phone, in order for the device to be a competent phone in addition to a competent gaming platform.  This looks to be the first sign of this, and I think we'll see something more involved for PSP2 (which I do believe is still coming, especially given the rumors over Tegra issues from the same people that leaked the 3DS' internal hardware).