January 30, 2004

My PSP Wishlist

I have been thinking about the Sony PSP over the past few days, thinking about ways it can differentiate itself from the other handheld(s). This is my PSP wishlist. Ten things I think need to happen for it to be a success (especially if it has a high price point).

  1. The right games - Choose your PS2 and PSone ports wisely. Give me the best of the best RPG's, the best action and adventure games, and the best music games. I want wireless LAN versions of Dynasty Warriors, WipEout, Amplitude, Tony Hawk, and SOCOM. I want to be able to get on-line with a game quickly and painlessly. Localize games that were never brought to the US during the lifespan of the PSone and PS2. Give us classic PSone game collections of the Tomb Raider, Colony Wars, Resident Evil, and Crash Bandicoot series.
  2. More games - The PSP is powerful enough to run some quality arcade and previous console games under emulation. It's probably a given, but bring out a complete Namco Museum collection, Midway/Williams Arcade Classics collection and more. I want Sega to release a System 16 collection and Capcom to release a CPS collection.
  3. TV-out cable available at launch - I want to be able to play my PSP on my home television when I'm not playing it on-the-go. The Sega Nomad did it almost 10 years ago, and so should the PSP. Standard A/V, S-video and component cables should be options for people with those capabilities. With 7.1 channel support, it seems that Sony intends to have output to something other than the TFT screen, but it should happen on day one. Also, make the TV-out cable long enough so I can play from a comfortable distance from the television.
  4. Quick game saves - This may be up to software developers moreso than hardware designers, but saving games must be as close to instantaneous as possible. The write speed on a Memory Stick is approximately 1.5 MB/sec, plenty fast, but quick-save, auto save, and "sleep" features are common on the Game Boy Advance. Make it so on the PSP. Also, drop the price of the Memory Stick. Just a little.
  5. MP3 playback from Memory Sticks - The PSP will be a gaming device, no one will doubt that. However, MP3 playback support is out of the box, so make storage and MP3 management as easy as possible. Let users manage Memory Stick storage from the PSP, a PC/Mac or a PS2/PS3/PSX via USB. Allocate a manageable partition of memory to game saves on any size stick, and let users fill any or all part of the stick with MP3's. Do the same for other supported files, like MPEG video.
  6. Button lock - A common feature in portable electronics is a "lock" or "hold" switch, which cancels any button input, letting you put your handheld in your pocket without fear of sending a command to the device. This has been a feature lacking on Game Boy models, an exclusion that has always annoyed me. The lock feature should take the place of the current "pause" button, and its design should make it instantly visible whether the PSP is currently locked or not.
  7. PS2/PS3/PSX connectivity - Nintendo often gets raked over the coals for using (or requiring) a Game Boy Advance as a controller for Gamecube games. While the appeal may be limited, with the increased control options in the PSP (4 face buttons, 2 shoulder buttons, analogue control), playing games on your Sony console of choice with your PSP could be a very attractive option. Pick your plays in Madden 2005 on your PSP screen. Choose your fighter in Virtua Fighter 5. Quickly check your inventory in the next Champions of Norrath multiplayer game without bringing up a menu. The infrared port on the PSP could be exploited to try to read (or "hack") other PSP's in the room. Don't make connectivity an afterthought, make it essential.
  8. No territorial lock out for games - The GBA, and the Neo Geo Pocket Color, were very lax about territorial lockouts for games, but it seems that Sony is intent on enforcing a regional software setup for the PSP. This is unfortunate, due to the possibility of a number of US gamers again missing out on a number of European- and Japan-only releases.
  9. Let me run a home server - I want to be a hot spot for my PSP. Make it easy for the gaming community to run their own servers, without too much restriction from Sony.
  10. Wireless game download subscriptions - I will pay up to $10 a month to have access to a number of quickly downloaded puzzle, word and card games. There hundreds of thousands of people on MSN Zone, PopCap Games and Yahoo Games at the time of this writing, playing these types of games (instead of working). Make it easy to download, store on a Memory Stick, uninstall and pay for these games. Don't make it a pay-to-play model.

One more thing. Bring back the Net Yaroze project.

Posted by geek