Playstation Phone in Development?

Posted on Wednesday 27th October 2010 at 18:39 by Neal

Depending on which source you trust, Sony is either working on some kind of Playstation Phone or isn't involved in a project whatsoever. Engadget has released images of a leaked prototype of the phone, which looks like a typical slideout-keyboard phone, except instead of a keyboard, there's the makings of a Playstation controller. Along with the typical Sony makeup, it also includes a long touchpad in the middle that reportedly supports Multitouch. The machine would use MicroSD cards.

However, according to Gama Sutra, the initial response from Sony said that this was "definitely fake" and didn't offer any further comment. They changed their stance later from "definitely fake" to "no comment" and saying that it was just "rumor and speculation".

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For me, this is interesting on many levels. First off, from the screenshots and the articles, the phone would be running the Android phone OS - potentially 3.0. As a current user (and lover) of the Android system, this would be a big win for both Google and Sony. Second, despite the title of the Gama Sutra article, this does NOT appear to be some sort of PSP - some commenters are speculating that this could be the PSP2, but it definitely will not have any sort of backwards compatibility with the current PSP system, judging entirely on the MicroSD technology. However, and most importantly, the system specs are much more powerful than the current PSP ("...runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 chip supported by 512MB of RAM. The current PSP, by way of comparison, has a 333MHz processor with 32MB of RAM..."), so it could be the next wave of portable gaming for Sony.

I didn't realize until last week the popularity of the current PSP - I had written it off as an unimpressive and unsupported console, but was completely floored when I wandered into the PSP section at Fry's and saw a ridiculous selection of quality games. It would be an incredible risk to ask gamers to switch their phone to enjoy the next generation of games - especially when the people most likely to enjoy this sort of gaming are probably the same people who are already owners of SmartPhones. They certainly wouldn't convert people over from the iPhone, and current users of the Android system would have to be persuaded to switch over to the new hardware simply for the addition of the gaming functionality.

I kinda hope this isn't true.

Source: Engadget, Gama Sutra

Posted in: Gaming Industry News

Written by

Neal

Fanart Editor & Data Manager

Member Since: 2001-01-01

News articles posted: 52

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Comments

laszlow

Comment 1: 2010-10-27 18:50

This has been rumored for months, and I feel it's logical. Sony has from the beginning played up the multimedia functionality of the PSP, and turning it into a full-on phone is an unsurprising next step. In a few years, when my PSP is worn out and I'm looking for a new phone, I'd probably consider getting one.

And honestly, the PSP was only a failure for the first year or so of its development. It's sold better than the Wii, 360, or PS3 in Asia, and certain series of it have been multi-million sellers in Japan. In the West it's extremely far behind the DS in support, but its sales have increased every year with every new model other than the PSP Go (which has been a failure by pretty much every definition). Particularly due to Monster Hunter, Disgaea, and Dissidia, for the past few years I've played my PSP more than any other console or handheld.

trismegistus

Comment 2: 2010-10-27 19:10

Agreed. I'm lagging way behind on 7th gen consoles (I only have three 360 games and don't even own the other two consoles, though I'd like a PS3), but I do enjoy my PSP. I still would rather have the games on a console, but I'll make due, and hopefully they'll port some more classic games to PSN someday. If I'm ever in the market for a new phone and have cash to burn, I would look toward a PSP phone pretty readily.

Rangers51

Comment 3: 2010-10-27 19:29

I can't picture myself ever wanting a Sony phone. Call me a fanboy (tip: I'm totally not), but I love my iPhone and I don't see myself getting any new phone that's not one for a while yet.

Even so, if I were a commuter, a PSP-capable phone would be a strong draw for me. The fewer devices I have to carry in my bag for work, the better off I am, especially during those times where I would have to take public transport (which, admittedly, were few and far between even before I started working from home again).

What's really funny about this is that this is essentially bolting wireless telephony and, one assumes, internet onto a PSP Go. And everyone hates those. However, the phone capabilities could make it more attractive than a Go, and the fact that it uses MicroSD means that UMD-less PSP gaming could work better, and much cheaper than Memory Stick Pro Duos for the same or greater capacity. Heck, that's the one thing I don't like about my PSP-1000: the fact that storage is almost proprietary.

laszlow

Comment 4: 2010-10-27 20:44

The reason that the Go's a failure isn't that it doesn't take UMDs. It's that it doesn't take UMDs, only a medium-sized proportion of all PSP games are available digitally and legally, and there is no solid method for exchanging a UMD for a legal digital version. If those last two conditions improved, I would own a Go or a similar PSP instead of the one I currently use. Guilt-free.

But alas, that isn't the case, so Sony's dream of 100% digital distribution is still only a dream. The PSP Go has the right idea, but at the wrong time.

Death Penalty

Comment 5: 2010-10-28 14:43

I read this, then looked at my second-gen Razr, and then laughed. If this happened any time in the near future (aka before I recieve an offer to have my current phone placed in a museum), I'd probably be willing to switch over to a sony phone. Assuming it's any good, of course, and not terribly expensive. I've never had a phone with anything more high tech than the ability to play a sound card, so it would feel much more logical than switching over from an Android or an iPhone. Of course, as the folks in chat know, it would probably take me the entire life of the phone just to figure out what it does

Overall, I'm not sure how successful such a venture would be, however.

Rangers51

Comment 6: 2010-10-28 15:42

Quote (laszlow @ 27th October 2010 15:44)

Yeah, but none of those things would be a problem if the Go took UMDs. I'm oversimplifying, sure, but the root issue is pretty much that there's no UMDs and then no other way to get most of the games, just like you say.

laszlow

Comment 7: 2010-10-28 18:42

New PSP

No phone capabilities mentioned, but it's Go-esque in the lack of a UMD drive. Still a lot of maybes and unconfirmed specs, but twice the RAM of a 360? Jayzus.

Tonepoet

Comment 8: 2010-11-14 03:00

Captain Jean Luc Picard: Data, plot in a course for starbase coordinants one zero three five mark two.
Lt. Commander Data: Plotting in a course for those coordinants right now, sir.
Captain Jean Luc Picard: Alright, N-gage.

.... What? Oh I have to say more?

I'd be inclined to say that phones and games might not mix very well at this point. Yeah the iPhone has plenty and there's a market for them there. However it seems more of an added bonus than a primary draw to the unit and judging from some of our news posts not a whole lot of excitement gets generated over any particular titles.Lots more apathy for Final Fantasy Tactics on the iPhone than I would've expected and for the longest time it seemed like nobody even cared for this (I'm surprised to see it earned a comment since I last checked.)

On the other hand, if they do go through with this idea in particular, Sony has the advantage of having a much deeper grasp on the gaming portion of the market than its predecessors did. Also the PSP's primary draw over Nintendo's alternative, did seem to be as a multimedia device before the iStuff took over. Or at least so one would believe when watching the PSP's final speech here. So perhaps there's a bit of a chance for a new precedent, if they play their cards right.

Rangers51

Comment 9: 2010-11-14 03:41

Quote (Tonepoet @ 13th November 2010 22:00)

However it seems more of an added bonus than a primary draw to the unit and judging from some of our news posts not a whole lot of excitement gets generated over any particular titles.Lots more apathy for Final Fantasy Tactics on the iPhone than I would've expected and for the longest time it seemed like nobody even cared for this (I'm surprised to see it earned a comment since I last checked.)

I think using CoN news posts as a bellwether for whether people are interested in something is not a good way to illustrate the enthuisasm. Nobody comments on our news posts. Or, even ignoring that, I'm not completely sure the userbase for CoN really syncs up with the iOS install base either. If you don't have a platform to play a game, how excited would you really get for it?

Though, that makes me wonder, maybe I should start a poll to see just how many people actually have an Apple device to begin with?

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