A gadget fetishist at Boingboing has posted a huge editorial on the flaws of the PSP and what Sony should do with the PSP2, complete with VGChartz citation. It singles out internal divisions and lack of co-operation within Sony for failing succeed at crafting a convergence device. Here's the writer's presciption for Sony's second handheld:
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/02/11/the-psp2-and-the-ret.html
Here's what the next PSP should be: an iPhone with buttons.
Sure, it can be slightly wider, but only by millimeters, not centimeters. Same goes for thickness to accommodate shoulder buttons and the largest battery Sony can cram inside. But it should be an attempt at the ultimate convergence device for Sony, one that take all the same risks that Sony tried to make with the original PSP, but going even further. So much further, in fact, that it would shake the fundamental way Sony has sold products in the past.
The next PSP should be a fantastic point-and-shoot camera and camcorder.
The next PSP should be a top-quality GPS unit for both pedestrians and drivers. (Without buying an additional module.)
The next PSP should have a touchscreen.
The next PSP should have accelerometers and a compass.
The next PSP should come with a great web browser.
The next PSP should be offered in two flavors: one with a phone inside, one without.
The next PSP should be able to download and purchase games over-the-air via 3G or Wi-Fi, saved to copious internal flash memory. (Something the current PSP is finally seeing in part through the PlayStation Network, but perhaps Sony should abandon retail entirely. It's worked for the iPhone, Gamestop and Wal-Mart be damned.)
The next PSP should be Sony's best mobile gaming device. (Although it need not be much more powerful computationally than the current PSP.)
The next PSP should cost $500—or $200 when subsidized by wireless carrier.
I don't think I agree with that price point at all. Perhaps the non-phone version would have a more reasonable price tag. And are buttons and first-party game development really enough to differentiate this proposed PSP2 from an iPhone?
"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event." — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.
