then why do they still make games for the 360 then

Maybe it has to do with selling lots of software? Call me crazy Kaz!

yh i know that i was just makeing a point that a console that is easy to chip can still sell lots of software, i think it has more to do with lack of software

PSP has the worst piracy issue of any game system right now. I think PC and 360 have this as a big issue aswell but not on the level of psp. Surprisingly the Wii has this issue aswell [it's a surprise to me anyway]. The ps3 same ok [for now since:

Blank Bluray is pretty expensive

Game's are Pretty Huge [mainly exclusives] making downloads long

Does anyone even rip PS3 gameS??? Can they yet?? [pretty huge]

Firmware took over a year to hack so I don't see that going mainstream anytime soon

Piracy is a double edged sword, a system that is easily pirated tends to sell more hardware because some people will buy the system will little intentions of buying games; but at the same time a system that is too easy to steal games on (PSP, Dreamcast) builds a userbase that is entirely focused on stealing games and no one buys games (which eliminates the incentive to develop games for the system).

PSP has a new contender who is more a multimedia device than PSP is but also can play games..

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/07/17/star-wars-the-force-unleashed-for-iphone/

Ill say upfront I don't hack PSP.

PSP slim is still hackable, its just a pain in hte ass and requires you to buy a magic memory stick and pandoras battery, which totals about $40. Now, witht the fat, people could hack much more easily, and maybe still buy games and then run emus of older games With the slim, hacking to play old games is so much trouble, its only worth it if you hack new games aws well. It is still entirely hackable though, and thus software sales plummet.

IMO the biggest problem is that software is too pricey. I got daxter with my PSP and bought patapon... and other than Patapon 2 if its $20 and may be sonic rivals since it is players choice, I plan to buy all my games used off amazon for $8-$25.

Worst case is PSP2 comes out fall 09... that would screw over SE though with their Kingdom Hearts: Birth by sleep project. PSP is still a great buy. I bought one recently with the anticipation of all its good titles to be behind it that I can buy for $10 or less once it dies (sxo far I have found 70 good PSP games to buy) yet more have coome out/are coming out: God of War, Wipeout Pulse, Crisis Core, Patapon, Secret Agent Clank, Hot shot gold 2, Strar ocean 1 and 2, patapon 2, loclo roco 2, stardust portable, killzone, kingdomh hearts... PSP is far from dead imo.

Am planing to buy one very soon but I think that many people in the Us buy it from other stores besides gamestop.

Piracy, etc., didn't become a 'problem' until much later, though I'd argue that it ultimately is the only thing keeping the system limping along at this late date.

No, the PSP's fate was sealed because:

1. The software was/is too expensive for a portable system.

2. The hardware was/is too expensive for a portable system.

3. The battery life was/is awful for a portable system.

4. The DS exists.

The first three problems would have been potentially surmountable if the fourth had been a traditional, steady-as-she-goes, portable--unfortunately for Sony, Nintendo made a 'bet the company' play and came up huge. I also need to stress that these issues apply to garnering a mass market audience, and I am not addressing the typical gamers Sony was initially targeting via 'Game Machine 101' marketing.

I also think there is a huge problem in that, outside of Monster Hunter (and that only applies to Japan), there hasn't been a single break-out hit on the PSP that really defines the hardware and/or captures the general imagination (in this case, Nintendogs basically curb-stomped the PSP and it never really had a chance after that).

Sure, later on, piracy became an issue/concern but, as others have already cited, it's a double-edged sword and, personally, I don't think the PSP would have sold nearly as many units without it nor is it nearly as easy (or safe) to pirate as the DS and GBA, both of which haven't suffered in the least for it.

As for the notion that the PSP is doomed to be discontinued sometime in 2009, who can say? I think that, ultimately, the PSP line will end up being folded into Sony's cell phone division so that it emerges as more of an iPhone competitor than a traditional game machine. I say this mainly because Sony had enough trouble figuring out what the market really wanted with the PS3 and, short of straight-up copying all aspects of the DS--including the general thrust of its software (PSParrots anyone?)--they might be a bit gun-shy about charging back into a head-to-head confrontation with Nintendo. Whether this means the PSP is officially abandoned in 2009, though, I have no idea.

Note: personally (and speaking as a typical gamer, i.e. someone that's been playing since the dawn of time), I *do* like several games on the platform and own about 30 titles, all told (unfortunately most bought used or discounted since I just didn't care enough about 90% of them to buy them when they hit the shelves), but it just hasn't brought much of anything to the table I couldn't get somewhere else (and generally better, to boot).

Note 2: the parallels between the PSP and GameGear are manifold to a point where it's amost scary: subsitute GameBoy for item number four above and you basically have all the reasons the GameGear ultimately failed (not to mention it, too, relied far too heavily on console re-treads, etc., to sell it).