Would Sony eliminate PSP features?

by Andrew Yoon { Nov 9th 2006 at 8:00AM }

Sony recently sent out a survey to Ratchet & Clank beta testers, and after a series of expected questions about the game, it moved on to more... interesting matters. One question asked users which feature they find to be of least value in the system, and can be eliminated. What?! There's absolutely no reason to get rid of any of PSP's features, even if they're sparingly used. I know I use every single feature listed in their survey, but the one I could probably live without would be the ability to view photos (but how will I add wallpapers to my system?).

Why would Sony ask such a terrifying question? Are future firmware upgrades taking up too much space? Maybe the functionality of the system has expanded beyond what the firmware internal memory is capable of holding. Let's hope not, because I want my PSP to do everything it possibly can.

Tags: beta, feature, survey

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Alien @ Nov 9th 2006 8:08AM

For me it would be the RSS feed , I really dont find that usefull :?

stylemo @ Nov 9th 2006 8:25AM

Hey I think I find everything on the list useful. I mean I use all of those features almost everyday. When I go to work I use my PSP to store my files I need for work, when I'm on my way to work, I listen to music using the PSP. At lunch time, I watch short video clips I've downloaded on my PSP. During work I listen to live music RSS feeds. And finally when I go home, I use the photo viewer to browse on the photos of my designs. When I get home, I check my email thru my PSP's browser.

If they'd be removing even one feature from that list, I'd probably not be upgrading anymore. It's a very horrible thing to do.

Why would Sony wanna remove a feature? C'mon guys? Hello?

Michael Anderson @ Nov 9th 2006 9:07AM

Hey - at least they didn't have 'video games' on that list , so there is still hope for us :D

Sponge @ Nov 10th 2006 12:56PM

Maybe thy need to free up some of that flash memory for the new 3.00 firmware?

Fred @ Nov 9th 2006 9:18AM

Sony have removed many features from the PSP ROMs since the first release. Why is everyone surprised? However, this question probably doesn't make clear it's intention (which is common in polling). They are probably asking "why feature do you not want us to further develop". I doubt they will be removing it.

Carnie @ Nov 9th 2006 10:31AM

I dont' find any sense in this for the fact that they are only using a sample of people to take this survey....I can probly gaurentee that if they did an entire public survey that they would not have many people anwser it either that or if they added and option:

I like them all.

@#2 I would think that sony, given that they are thinking about the future, would have made the psp with the ablility to use these and possibly the ablility to use more.

...I don't use the Rss feed but i know alot of people that do...and if sony was smart i'm shure they research sites like this and others to see what the public really thinks...

*croses fingers*...heres to hoping....

flyers241 @ Nov 9th 2006 10:47AM

Or maybe Sony will take away some functionality, and then make you pay for it to be re-installed!

Nah, they wouldn't do that, they're not like EA or anything.. uh, I hope.

Please Sony, don't nickel and dime us, we already have XBox Live for our nickel and diming needs.

Give me Stars or Give me Death! @ Nov 9th 2006 11:34AM

"Hey - at least they didn't have 'video games' on that list"

I thought they had mostly moved away from the pesky 'video game' thing anyways.

Gonzo @ Nov 9th 2006 11:38AM

Use as storage devise/flash drive? I never thought of that but I guess so. Isn't it a bit bulky for a flash drive though, isn't it? I can give up the flash drive functionality, especially considering I never use it as such.

Don @ Nov 9th 2006 12:18PM

15. Which of your children are of least value to you and can be eliminated? [check all that apply]

[_] Bobby
[_] Sally
[_] Lisa
[_] Joe jr.

Nice. Sure there's 1 feature in that list that I could maybe do without. But I'm not gonna play Sony's crappy "would you rather be knifed or shot?" game, so I decline to even answer.

bxbailey @ Nov 9th 2006 12:48PM

If they remove anything I'll stop using it. Sony needs to come forward with thier customers and stop being so damn secretive.

Ask Direct Questions.

alex @ Nov 9th 2006 1:11PM

maybe they should take it all away, give homebrew back and then let people work out how to do it themself!
wishfull thinking!

Aaron @ Nov 9th 2006 1:47PM

Why isnt play games an option ?

pentapenguin @ Nov 9th 2006 2:39PM

As a proud PSX, PS2, and PSP owner, I officially say that Sony has proved once again that they are completely brain-dead. The right question to ask is "what new features would you like?" I thought the PSP was a mobile media platform? Please Sony, make up your mind for once! :'(

AwRy @ Nov 9th 2006 5:24PM

IMHO, Sony needs to be much more focused on ADDING functionality to the PSP, not to mention fixing the stuff that's already there! For instance, the web browser still has major cache issues, and is like 3 or 4 versions behind in FLASH support. Also, we still can't listen to music while "surfing" or browsing photes. What a bunch of douche's...

calllus @ Nov 9th 2006 4:57PM

they did this when they re released the n-gage, nokia sent me a servey as a not so proud n-gage owner asking what i dont use., then took away several features including mp3 player and radio, perhaps sony is thinking of downsizing functionality for the next psp,. thoughts?

pixelator @ Nov 9th 2006 6:05PM

"I thought they had mostly moved away from the pesky 'video game' thing anyways."

Yeah, like the DS and all the cooking, brain training, etc.

Troll.

Luscher @ Nov 9th 2006 7:24PM

I think you should take out the RSS Feed, I barely ever use that and I use everything else

p0stal_sean @ Nov 9th 2006 7:44PM

well i dont use the rss feed but im sure some do. the internet exlorer i only use to check my yahoo mail and play some flash. the video i absolutely need unless they decide to downsize it to make it just play umds and release blank umd,s to the public. aint gonna happen cause of piiirracy, well that aint stopping people from doing so now with the mem sticks .And ud bee getting a ton of sales as the blanks would almost completely wipe out mem stick sales. the photo viewer aint nothing to spacial but could be agruable as one of the most used features in the psp. and without music great disinterest in the psp will quickly arise unless like previously stated u allow blank umd,s but put a restrictor like the custom tracks for gta lcs that only copiyrighted material could be allowed, but ud halfa sell em cheap to almost nuthing cause fubling with umd's will be a great hassle. like the old saying goes u half to give to recieve. if they established a second stick reader on the psp and republished 32mb umds with customizable firmware on each. and made the second drive a firmware reader then it would greatly eliminate this problem for now and always. sigh well i told sony i cant wait to see the potential of there hardware, but i didnt mean like this.

Silver R. Wolfe @ Nov 9th 2006 8:21PM

If the rumours of a more cost friendly PSP version are true, then something like this would make sense. However, since most of the things on that list are all software related, it doesn't seem to make much sense. Wouldn't save you much overall. >.>

dion @ Nov 9th 2006 7:53PM

i dont really use web browsing. or rss feeds. ive gota computer which can do it just fine. and here in the usa there arent hotspots all over the town city country. at any rate, its to darn hard long and borign to even type in a url. so why bother. i have a computer which does teh job a zillion times better. a pretty small laptop which can doa better job on the go. location free i never seen it used anywhere in the us that ive been has anyone else ? i agree if your gonna take it out make them available via a application you can run from the game folder. i dotn listen to music on the psp. why well if i dotn plan on gaming ill just use the vision m or ipod. with tons of room. photo viewing. bluh. though its great for custom backgrounds. aside from that. i dont think its useful.. watchign video content. dont dare take that away!!!!!!! ill hunt them down like dogs :) its the only portable that is worth taking to view movies. ipod vision m takes eye sight away from the miniture screens ;)

elDom @ Nov 9th 2006 9:14PM

Its to save RAM space, theyre getting cramped
why not use the MS stick as a RAM stick, give up some free partiotioning tools for eat, and use that?

Darren Tilley @ Nov 10th 2006 5:36AM

I use the RSS feeds every day. Name another portable device other than a full laptop that you can use to automatically keep up to date with podcasts (both audio and video) while on the go.

If they remove RSS, as I know it will be listed as the least popular feature by many people. I am going to consider legal action against them. Many of us used these features as a means to justify our purchases, so to have them taken away would be a case of false advertising.

There is a potential Class-action lawsuit here, so I really believe it would be a very bad idea to pursue the idea of eliminating any of these.

Marty @ Nov 10th 2006 10:49AM

I really hope that they don't get rid of any of those things. I love them all!

racX @ Jul 14th 2007 4:16PM

"They should add not delete"

Hey idiots;

There's not enough room on the flash! The last update was 28 megs something which leaves 4 megs on the flash. That's barely enough. It's better to delete stuff few/no one uses to get room for better features.

mafia1ft @ Nov 11th 2006 4:08AM

if they need more flash room just drop all the protection that stops homebrews

Dark Mark @ Nov 12th 2006 5:13PM

If SONY finally added homebrew in the new firmware releases, then users would have all of the enlisted features on their PSPs by simply launching appropriate programs from memory sticks and the firmware would fit on the flash memory. Of course SONY would no longer care about all the software updates. In either way SONY is hurting not only the users, but also itself...