Analyst Pachter says 'blame Japan' for Sony's PSP mis-management
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Aug 27th 2008 at 10:00PM }
Analyst Michael Pachter doesn't see a bright future for the PSP. In fact, he believes that we're nearing the end of the syste's run, due to the paltry release lineup for the remainder of the year. The introduction of the PSP Brite is seen as a sign of weakness, suggesting the redesign will confuse and anger more than excite. "Constant tech tweaks and upgrades might work for telephones, but they're not what gamers want ... it creates confusion, and leaves many users with older models feeling inadequate," Pachter told Das Gamer.Because everyone needs someone to blame, Pachter offers this advice: "Blame Japan," he says. He believes that Sony is being much too ambitious, handling the PS2, PSP and PS3 simultaneously. "[Japan]'s instructing the US to play catch-up with Microsoft on Xbox Live, step up its online game with Home, offer movie downloads and push the Blu-ray home theater initiative just to begin with. Something had to give. The company has been spreading itself too thin."
Ironically, PSP's strongest territory is Japan, where new releases continue to be announced on a regular basis. While we'd disagree that PSP is on a deathbed, it's obvious that drastic work needs to be done to change the current state of the PSP.
[Thanks, Ronnie D.!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gurbinder @ Aug 27th 2008 10:05PM
Not the end of psp, end of umd maybe.
gurbinder @ Aug 27th 2008 10:17PM
"He believes that Sony is being much too ambitious, handling the PS2, PSP and PS3 simultaneously."
So hes saying to give up on PS2? PS2 is still legendary and still alive, its not going to die for atleast another one or two years , maybe more.
acefondu @ Aug 27th 2008 10:10PM
The PSP is doing great in Japan, Patcher is a goon for putting the blame in the only region it's dominating.
Gerry @ Aug 27th 2008 10:19PM
I dont agree with him at all as I dont believe the PSP to be dead or on its last legs. But I do agree with him regarding the potential of Sony being overstretched or focusing on too many things. I do agree with this and think that there is a danger in Sony attempting to support soo many platforms, add-ons, and all of the other bells and whistles it does. There is a danger that the quality will go down if the company is stretched to thin.
In any event, I'll be still supporting the PSP for as long as their are games and yes, I'll be buying my PSP-3000. I'm not confused by it nor do I feel inadequte. Then again, my last name isnt Patcher.
aj @ Aug 27th 2008 10:29PM
But....the PSP doesn't have a platry release line up in Japan. It's North America that has the dirth of games.
I've heard that it's the rampant piracy of games that's hurting the PSP and limiting the releases. The PSP-3000 and the newer firmware is an attempt to stop that. (And it should stop. Seriously. If you pirate PSP games you should get cancer.)
lonesomefolly @ Aug 27th 2008 11:16PM
Because we all know that the japanese have no piracy!
pixelator @ Aug 28th 2008 3:41AM
The guy is right. The PSP (for the USA market) looks to be on its last legs. The Japan market gets everything - so yes, it's SOJ behind these choices.
Piracy hasn't done squat. Poor sell-through and low support and marketing in the USA has done the PSP in, here. One need only look at Asian markets - or the DS, which has its share of flash carts for pirating games, to see that piracy (which is rampant in Asia) doesn't keep a system from succeeding.
You can blame Sony. They're the ones who introduced the thing at $300 to start with and held back the Japan-only Basic Pack at first, the ones who have failed to localize hot JP titles, failed to properly promote the system in the USA and flatly refused to bring the nebulous keyboard or port peripherals like the camera, TV module, downloadable video/MP3 content and more. How long have we waited for the damned GPS?
Sony sucks. Sorry to say it, because they've made some amazing hardware in the past (PalmOS based CLIE line of handhelds comes to mind) but they just repeatedly shoot themselves in the feet with needlessly competing devices that interfere with their own products like the Mylo stealing the PSP's internet potential with its keyboard and so forth.
The PSP, I'm afraid, is all but deceased. As the USA market, so will eventually follow the rest of the regions. We can only hope the PSP 2 will feature proper net support with GOOD downloadable content, aggressive 1st, 2nd and 3rd party dev support from the get-go, a UI closed to hacking (so publishers and Sony can't blame piracy for poor sales) and a host of peripherals available to ALL markets, not just Japan. I for one hate being relegated to the mostly-junkware, kiddie-fied, eyeball-straining and limited capability DS for hot new upcoming titles.
Bah. Who am I kidding?
Christopher @ Aug 28th 2008 3:13PM
Piracy? That would be ridiculous since the -hub- of game piracy is Japan. You can go down to Akihabara and buy disks full of ROMS. So if that's the case, why is PSP so hot in Japan?
Erik Stroud @ Aug 28th 2008 6:02PM
Actually, its china that is the piracy hub. Though, Americans fuel the piracy even more. Also, Why blame Japan? The reason they keep coming out with these redesigns and making the PS3 what it shouldn't be is mostly because of us. We want everything in one box causing them to forget about the games. I don't mind having separate things for each task. Bu,t the public wants Sony to do so.
Sony of Japan has some effect on us, but, Sony here makes its own decisions. So, it not right to blame one part of the company. If you are too blame any thing, its Sony being to big headed because of the PS2.
Joe @ Aug 27th 2008 11:12PM
I too believe that pirates have hurt the PSP but in no way is the PSP dead yet. I still think it will sell for some time more. Plus Apple makes new Ipods almost every year and people do not get mad at them I see no reason people should get mad at Sony for the PSP. I see no reason I need a new one so I will not be getting another one.
Also Sony some time back said they would keep changing the PSP with new PSP even this site posted about it. So for some time Sony has had this in there plans and I believe that Sony might still be making a new PSP.
So may be some time you might have to update to a new PSP but at this point in time there is no need.
I also wonder if Andrew you were trying to say sstem and not syste.
Christopher @ Sep 6th 2008 10:06PM
"I too believe that pirates have hurt the PSP"
That's not even logical. If it hurts the PSP, then why in the hub of Piracy that is Japan is the PSP doing so HOT? Seriously, you can go to many parkets and buy ROM disks ON THE STREET.
If Sony seriously wanted to stop Piracy, they could take a big chunk out of it right on their own doorstep.
smi04 @ Aug 27th 2008 11:24PM
Nor does Sony have to compete with Xbox and Xbox Live in japan. Patcher is saying Sony Japan is being unrealistic in its expectations outside of Japan, as even a company as large as Sony has limited resources.
KarlW @ Aug 28th 2008 12:48AM
I'd agree. Japan is to blame for the failure of the PSP. Not the consumers, but the management. SCEJ don't know how to manage a console in a competitive environment. They think the reason the PSP isn't selling is because there aren't enough colour varieties.
Phil Harrison had a similar point about the Japanese not really getting Western gaming. It's true. The number of games that appeal to Western gamers are abysmal on the PSP. It's getting better, but it's too little too late.
Social gaming is big in Europe, and FPS and Action games are big in the US. Japan likes gimmicky tamogotchi-like games with fuzzy creatures and characters with hairdos that defy gravity. That's what SCEJ focuses on, which is why the PSP is big in Japan.
Games that don't fit the Japanese market - like GT Mobile and Resistance, aren't given much support from SCEJ. Even Japanese developers aren't given enough support or encouragement, if they aren't developing a cute and fuzzy game.
There needs to big some big shake-ups in the Sony management if the PlayStation is going to survive in this increasingly competitive industry.
Manuel @ Aug 27th 2008 11:43PM
I think that analyst made a mistake:
PSP=HOME for PS3
Jacksons @ Aug 27th 2008 11:53PM
Blame Canada! Blame Cana---oh. Japan? Right.
aj @ Aug 28th 2008 1:55PM
Canadians are to blame. Long bitter from having the North American market referred to as "America", and all games releases in Canada being labelled as "American", we've decided to be generally surly. But Canadian game studios will still pump out the games for you ungrateful yanks!
Justin @ Aug 28th 2008 1:22AM
you really couldnt put in any other way I LUV the Psp series No scracth that i luv sony But sony continues to treat America like we are some kind of unknown planet The psp is capable of so much yet america has not even seen half of its potential. Do WE have to go on strike just for them to listen to us cause i will.
thoraxe112 @ Aug 29th 2008 4:28PM
amen brutha
sony treats america like the kid who has an older brother and a little brother
Asia (lil bro) gets everything new stuff every week blah blah blah it makes me sick
and Europe (big bro) gets cool new gadgets at regular realeses
and we are stuck with older versions of japanese games and im tired of this crap
but i dont think japan is to blame i think that freakin SCEA has to pull their heads outta their asses and find someone who can actually get people excited to make cool new psp games and ps2 games
and personally i think i could manage the psp's situation better than those bucket heads
david0 @ Aug 28th 2008 1:37AM
"characters with hairdos that defy gravity" funniest thing Ive read today
sony has nothing to worry about with ressistance,star wars,KH,and dissidia coming to the psp but these are the ony games I am excited about so the psp just needs more games
(Wheres DMC?)
Smokey @ Aug 28th 2008 1:47AM
Can't believe what im reading, seriously. Japan leads the way in serious game development, whether they're puzzlers or big epics.
smi04 @ Aug 28th 2008 4:32AM
Serious game development of Gundam and Mahjong games more like..
Hilarioustragedy @ Aug 28th 2008 9:23AM
It is pricing that is the doom of psp. I bought three psps at random from ebay last week. two of these were on ofw 2.71 and one was on cfw 3.52OE-A. I know this is a very tiny cross section but it leads to the deduction that those with ofw are only playing older games and the only ones that can afford newer games are those running cfw, i.e. getting them for free. I know a lot of people who would like a psp but I know no one besides myself who actually owns one because they represent a massive outlay that is beyond the pocket of the average consumer. A survey was done recently which showed that the average consumer owned 3-4 games. As I own 11 I must assume that many people own 1 or 2. This is making almost no use of the system. Is it any wonder people are losing interest, they spend hundreds of pounds and only get a handful of games. In this scenario you want every game to be worth it but I am afraid many are simply not worth the prices.
andwhyisit @ Aug 29th 2008 12:26AM
I own somewhere near 15 UMD titles and CFW, do I win?
Oh and I needed to upgrade in order to play crisis core. Others might upgrade for new pops versions. And a sample of 3 psps will not give you any conclusive evidence, buy 50,000 at least. lol.
Maurice @ Aug 28th 2008 1:06PM
Resistence Retribution, Patapon 2, Loco Roco 2, FF Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts, 3rd Birthday, FF XIII Agito, and new games from Capcom... I don't think that this is a poor line-up
Jurgen @ Aug 28th 2008 8:09AM
It's all the damn games they keep releasing exclusively to Japan. Damn it, we want our share because we bought a PSP just like them.
Dr Haisook @ Aug 28th 2008 8:29AM
The average American gamer will not accept nor enjoy an average Japanese game which on average is sophisticated, complicated, and long. In other words, the average Japanese gamer would play more hardcore games than an American counterpart. That's why a lot of Japanese games are not released in the US, and that's also why the PSP is doing better in Japan. People there ARE WILLING to sit down and play very complicated games until the end, while here people would get frustrated quickly.
pixelator @ Aug 28th 2008 3:13PM
"The average American gamer will not accept nor enjoy an average Japanese game which on average is sophisticated, complicated, and long."
Have you seen many Japanese DS games?
Look at big US released titles: God of War, GTA, Ratchet and Clank, Daxter, etc. The problem isn't that US games are too simple, or that Japanese games are too complex. It's that if you look at all the big titles on Metacritic, they're mostly from 2005-2007! In the top 30 critically ranked PSP games they list, FIVE are from 2008 and most are either sequels of popular franchises or straight ports from consoles like the PS2.
THAT is what's wrong with the PSP right now. And what's wrong with the US games isn't a lack of complexity but the fact that so many of them just plain SUCK or are mildly warmed over rehashes of older games - like the mountain of junkware licensed cartoon crap on the DS. It's almost all from the USA. There's exceedingly few truly original game ideas on this side of the Pacific these days.
thisguyrighthere @ Aug 28th 2008 9:22AM
PSP has been in it's death throes for a while now. The 2000 should have been a chance for everyone on the fence about the PSP to adopt but there aren't any must have games for the thing outside of the world of Sony fanboys. What little surge there was has long since faded. The release of the 3000 is just embarrassing.
Maybe if the few decent titles the PSP had were actually playable (dual analog, hello?) I wouldn't had hated the thing as much as I did and currently do. SOCOM, Syphon Filter, MoH, all should have been amazing. Instead, they were frustrating and playing them made one feel handicapped and half-retarded.
The PSP was doomed the moment some board decided the UMD was great and one analog stick was enough. It's like those who approved it were secretly working for Microsoft and trying to make Sony look like a bunch of clowns.
Look at all the great colors their clown machine comes in!
I hate you PSP.
strike @ Aug 28th 2008 9:10AM
Nice picture. Blame's a great anime =P
Back to the point...... I don't think the psp is dead yet, there are still many games to come, such as dissidia, birth by sleep, resistance, super stardust portable......
Anyway, I've just sold my psp for a ps3, but I am definitely planning on buying the psp-3000. I hope the dissidia psp is a brite....
Wazzim @ Aug 28th 2008 9:27AM
the only thing SONY can do now is put some money in the psp (they never really invest in the handheld) world wide marketing, get more games for it, more colours and more marketing (again). Present the psp as something new and fresh, entertainment, file browsing (powerpoint etc.) , many WIFI functions. The PSP2 is not needed and would not help, people must get used to have a PSP with them for anything (blackberry but than with more entertainment) slogan:
THE PSP IS NEW AND FRESH AND FAR BETTER THAN THE DS!
Edge @ Aug 28th 2008 10:54AM
Actually, I tend to agree that PSP still has a solid life ahead of it... and that such a life has nothing to do with the UMD format. The approach needs some tweaking though.
The UMD games for the PSP should die off and digital distro should be the primary distribution method... for EVERY game.
But the most unfortunate truth is that the PSP has a hard time standing on it's own without a PS3 to support it.
will @ Aug 28th 2008 11:14AM
i just bought a psp, mostly because i have been travelling a lot. there are a bunch of great games in the back catalog for me to play (at least 20 or so titles worth buying) but for people who have had these for a long time, I have to admit the future doesn't look great.
Kratos @ Aug 28th 2008 12:06PM
I don't see it dying off. Sales in the US are getting better and we are getting better "Western" games. As long as they keep making shooter/military games for the psp, they will sell in the U.S. and to some degree in Europe.
I also agree that just because there is a new version, it doesn't mean I feel like I have to get it. Mine slim work fine. When it breaks, I'll get a new one.
j.howlett @ Aug 28th 2008 12:42PM
i just wish they'd make it easier to get stuff through the ps3. i shouldn't need a PC if the ps3 is online.
GoBob @ Aug 28th 2008 1:57PM
This is the place where we discount an analyst's opinion and scream, "B-B-B-BUT PIRACY!!!111" without understanding that correlation does not imply causation, right?
biffpow @ Aug 28th 2008 5:27PM
Go Bob indeed.
Nicely put.
andwhyisit @ Aug 29th 2008 12:11AM
rofl.
Don @ Aug 28th 2008 10:12PM
I hate Sony. But I truly love the PSP.
Tyler @ Aug 28th 2008 10:59PM
Want to know why the real reason why the PSP is not doing well? Well, because you are insane if you think you can beat nintendo at the handheld market, a market that they have had over 90% control of in the last 20 years. SIF SONY!
andwhyisit @ Aug 29th 2008 12:10AM
Well the PSP had no trouble beating the DS over in Japan. I call BS.
andwhyisit @ Aug 29th 2008 12:06AM
If anyone doesn't understand the article yet me help by summing things up.
- Sony of Japan take on PSP, PS2, and PS3 at once, with great success.
- Sony of America follow suit except they can't handle all three at once.
- Sony of America spread themselves too thin and decide to mostly focus on the consoles instead and let the PSP sell itself.
- PSP starts dying from lack of support by Sony and eventually devs.
- Everyone stupidly blames piracy.
Wreckard @ Aug 29th 2008 9:37AM
It's pretty obvious that no one in the comments here actually read the article, which made a lot of very reasonable points about the struggles.
Hell, I think half the people here just read the headline and nothing else.
Tyler @ Aug 29th 2008 12:50AM
Well, actually, no, the psp isnt beating the ds in japan, at least this month. Figures show that Nintendo DS is outselling the PSP by about 10000 consoles at the moment. VGchartz.com thats where you get the real figures, not the ones from the company promoting the consoles
andwhyisit @ Aug 29th 2008 1:06AM
I know that. Did you hear any present tense? No.
something @ Aug 29th 2008 10:58AM
I think most have misinterpreted his meaning. The reason he wants to blame Japan is because they as developers and companies are not spreading. They are staying local, hiding in their sandbox where it is safe. MHP2G will not see the light of day anywhere but in Japan. There will be no American release of Phantasy Star Portable. Sony is probably even reluctant to export their Final Fantasy PSP games out of Japan. Sony America is really dragging its feet. I don't see any more PSP related advertisements and my trusty game store no longer has a "new release" shelf for the PSP. Hardware sales for Sony is amazing in Japan, so it's very obvious why they are making new hardware. Software is plentiful there as well. But in the US, no new games, so no need for new console. The old ones work just fine and won't cost $170 to do what it's already been doing: collecting dust from lack of releases.
Japan sells pirated media (games, movies, CD's) for less than $1. I spent $100 and even now I haven't seen all the movies, played all the games, or listened to all the music. No bitching about piracy Sony America, you just have the tip of the ice burg and still don't sell as much.