PS3 following in the PSP's footsteps?

[sieanr]

finalsquall said:
Also why is UMD a failure?  Even if it other products don't use it. PSP is doing fine and as long as the psp is around it's here to stay. I like the steps Sony takes in trying to get products out there. I like the old Mini Disk idea and UMD is another cool format. Man, Even Betamax is still getting used by TV stations. Sony make some good quality shit :P

Because Sony intended for it to be a small, ultra portable movie format, and in that regard it has failed. Saying that its successful just because the PSP uses it would be like saying the N64 Carts were a successful form of media.

To the OP. Of course the PS3 is going to mimic the design philosophy of the PSP, just as the Wii and DS do the same - its because its the same company. The one thing you didn't touch on was the multimedia abilities of the PSP being a foreshadowing of the PS3, and the odd features of the DS, like pictochat, foreshadowing the Wiis channels.

The one thing to note here is that the DS was an experiment by Nintendo to see if such alternative control methods could win over graphics. The fact that the DS was a success paved the way for the Wii, and if the DS had bombed we would have gotten a very different console. On the other hand the relative failings of the PSP should have made it clear to Sony what the PS3 needed to do different - namely cost and problems with developer support. However Kutaragi was still in charge then, and I guess his vision won over making some sensible concessions to the PS3s design.