GDC 07: PSP will realize its potential this year
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Mar 8th 2007 at 11:30PM }
In tonight's blogger meeting, I had a chance to talk to Sony president Phil Harrison about his keynote and the suspicious absence of the PSP device: "We didn't talk about the PSP because [the keynote] was 45 minutes," he tried to explain.John Koller, the man responsible for the marketing of the PSP, then joined in: "We're absolutely not overlooking the PSP." He hinted that the future of the PSP looks very similar to what has been planned for the PS3. "We could start talking about PSP in the same manner as Phil."
Sony recognizes the potential of the system, and promises that in May, they will be revealing some more exciting news. "The promise is there ... [yet] we're well aware of the market realities." What specifically the PSP will be evolving into is still unclear, but it appears as though downloadable media and PS3-style Network features are in the works. From the smiles on their faces, it's clear that some truly exciting things will be happening to the PSP this year.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
patrick @ Mar 9th 2007 12:50AM
Well good maybe now everyone can calm down and stop all the whining. I think everyone kinda over reacted to the fact that the PSP wasn't mentioned in the keynote. The PSP isn't being abandoned and it will all be fine.
Kichigai Mentat @ Mar 9th 2007 1:34AM
I agree that it's likely that the PSP isn't being abandoned, but it is being ignored, a bit. But then again, if you look at the PSP's success versus the PS3's, there's kind of a reason they're not focusing on it.
So, I'm assuming that when Sony says the PSP will realize its potential, they mean they're going to legitimize homebrew? Because I'd say things like ScummVM, No-Gravity, Super Mario War, and Net Tac (Networked Tic-Tac-Toe demo, that can communicate with the DS), in addition to other projects like the defunct PSP Radio, Full-Res video playback, and the ability to convert our old PSOne games into something the PSP can play are pretty much trying to fulfill the PSP's maximum potential, whether Sony wants it or not.
Saigon @ Mar 9th 2007 1:11AM
Hopefully one those exciting things will be the psp having direct access to the ps1 game downloads, or maybe a pc version of the playstation store.
txa1265 @ Mar 9th 2007 6:16AM
Maybe I've been working in a big company for too long, but couching a phrase with 'but we realize the market realities' is significant for a company that not long ago said they didn't even consider Nintendo a competitor.
The bottom line is that they have said more concrete things long ago, and delivered on pretty much none of it.
theMediaman @ Mar 9th 2007 9:52AM
Evolving? Nice.
Evolving only if you spend $600 on a PS3? Not so nice.
Still waiting for 3.x firmware I can care about.
pete @ Mar 9th 2007 3:20PM
@3, they wont legitamize homebrew. by legitamizing homebrew they would also be legitamizing ROMs and other game copying things. There was an article here a few weeks ago about an interview with some guy from Sony that talked about that.
i think they should make it so that instead of download game demos, people could make games that you can download legally.
punk @ Mar 9th 2007 5:44PM
"The Keynote was only 45 minutes"... what a lame excuse. The truth is that they totally overlooked the PSP:
http://portablevideogamer.com/2007/03/gdc-2007-reactions-to-sony-keynote/
Of course we can't blame them because the PSP is selling fine while the Ps3 might be in trouble.