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To PSP or not to PSP, that is the question.

Posted on April 25, 2005 by Mike

I’ve been thinking about getting a PSP. But I’m not yet entirely sure. I think most of us know why the PSP, Sony’s new portable gaming device that plays video, music and games, is a pretty cool little doo-hicky, so I bother going into that. However here are my issues with it:

1. You would need to get a bigger memory stick. To be able to put any decent sized video on there, the 32 MB stick that comes with it, just won’t cut it. Unforuntally, those little memory sticks aren’t cheap. A 1 gig stick is roughly $120 or more if you get the offical Sony one.

2. The games aren’t cheap. $40 – $50 bucks isn’t unheared of for games, I know, but that doesn’t make them easier to swallow.

3. Although there are lots of future promises, as of now, you can’t browse the web, check email, or do any “computting” features on it. There is talk of Sony supporting those features in the future, but who knows if they will decide that those features should be a pay addon or included in a future version.

There are some cool things, like the great software that has come out for syncing files from your Mac to the PSP, but alot of the future promise of this device, so far, is empty, and the added costs that allow you to really use it to its potential are a bit heafty.

Does anyone out there have one of these yet, or can someone expand this discussion further on either side?

  • danielcole

    I don’t have much to say about points 1 2, but regarding #3:
    It’s *usually* always better to wait for the second-generation product to fix a bunch of bugs. However, with the plethora of hacks already surrounding the PSP I’d worry about Sony crippling it to make more $$$ just like T-Mobile did with the Sidekick II.

    It’s up to you to gamble if Sony really will expand the feature set in the future or decide to make the PSP tougher to crack.

    Given Sony’s proprietary nature, I’d bet on the latter.

  • danielcole

    Also, I saw 5 PSP boxes sitting at Hastings this weekend. I take it they’re not flying off the shelves anymore?

  • danielcole

    I don’t have much to say about points 1 & 2, but regarding #3:
    It’s *usually* always better to wait for the second-generation product to fix a bunch of bugs. However, with the plethora of hacks already surrounding the PSP I’d worry about Sony crippling it to make more $$$ just like T-Mobile did with the Sidekick II.

    It’s up to you to gamble if Sony really will expand the feature set in the future or decide to make the PSP tougher to crack.

    Given Sony’s proprietary nature, I’d bet on the latter.

  • danielcole

    Also, I saw 5 PSP boxes sitting at Hastings this weekend. I take it they’re not flying off the shelves anymore?

  • http://hellyeahbitch.com Mike

    Thats what I’m worried about, if Sony will add the features or if they will wait for the next version. If they could just add those features (Web, Email, Instant Messaging…) and keep working on the sync software to the Mac I would get on board. (And if someone could figure out how to get some games for free, I would be really excited.

    …also, where they ever really in short demand? I heard reports of people waltzing in any time on the day they came out and having no problem picking one up.

  • http://hellyeahbitch.com Mike

    Thats what I’m worried about, if Sony will add the features or if they will wait for the next version. If they could just add those features (Web, Email, Instant Messaging…) and keep working on the sync software to the Mac I would get on board. (And if someone could figure out how to get some games for free, I would be really excited.

    …also, where they ever really in short demand? I heard reports of people waltzing in any time on the day they came out and having no problem picking one up.

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