PlayStation Store heads to your PC -- Home delayed until 2008

We could get used to this new effort on Sony's part at "openness," and even if this one's just a new way to access Sony's closed ecosystem of PlayStation Store content, it's a start at least. You can now use your humdrum, maybe-not-even-Sony-built PC to purchase and download PlayStation Store content -- including PSOne games -- and transfer it to your PSP, instead of relying on a 'spensive PS3 to do the trick. Sony has been promising this function for a few months now, but they've finally delivered, and apparently you can get in on the action today, at least in Japan. Also announced at TGS07 is future PSP Remote Play functionality (pictured) that allows you to turn on and off your PS3, and the ability to use your PS3 as a hub while PSPs act as a second screen, extra controllers and offer other networked functionality. No word on when these fanboy dreams will see light as a true-life firmware update. Oh, and before you get to thinking that the PSP is getting all the love here, Sony also announced a new function for Home called "dress," with "everybody's fashion entertainment" for a tag line. Whatever that means, Sony's going to be delaying the launch of Home into 2008, so we can't say we're exactly stoked about the new feature.

Read - PSP Remote Play

[Jonathan Keim @ Sep 19th 2007 11:16PM]

Awesome! Too bad my psp is bricked after trying to expand functuality...

[xSplice @ Sep 19th 2007 11:20PM]

Pandora's battery...

[Jonathan Keim @ Sep 19th 2007 11:21PM]

I need another homebrewed PSP to use it though...

[The Monitor @ Sep 20th 2007 12:19AM]

slim?
...

[GJP303 @ Sep 20th 2007 7:18AM]

I'm satisfied with the PSP's funtionality. It plays music with mp3's and wma's, videos, photos, download video podcasts, stream audio podcasts, go on the internet, and play good games, all with a superb screen! Im not a sony fanboy at all but, i must say, its one of the easiest ways to get all your podcasts right when you want them.

[angelsvairwaves1 @ Sep 19th 2007 11:21PM]

why the last gen psps?

[i.c. weiner @ Sep 19th 2007 11:26PM]

well, sony's having a field day.

[Matt Dunavant @ Sep 19th 2007 11:53PM]

Let me just get this out of the way for people: "Wouldn't someone need to buy a PS3 first lol." K now that that is gone, I would like to see how this rolls out and if they can actually make it good.

[Fruition @ Sep 20th 2007 12:04AM]

What? You mean the previously PS3-exclusive ability to transfer PSOne games to my PSP can now be done from any old PC? I guess this is great news for non-PS3 owners, but for me, it kind of removes one of the uses I had for my PS3. Kind of silly to complain about, but still.

Oh well, such is life. Now what I'd like to see is the PS3 gain the ability to make an image of any PSOne game you insert, and have it convert it into a ROM playable on the PSP. It'd probably be buggy as heck, and violate a bajillion copyrights but the thought is cool.

[Tyler @ Sep 20th 2007 12:14AM]

i get so confused by this
but w/e ive got Ps3 and PSP so good for me

[Alistair loveless @ Sep 20th 2007 1:04AM]

I'm not impressed to say the least.

a little background: I was REALLY excited about the psp when it was first coming out. I waited in line for it. I NEVER waited for a release before. I even bought more than I planned too because I thought it was the coolest thing ever.I saw how much potential it had. I hard about all the features they promised. PSone games. GPS. Cam, online gaming, Using it with your ps3... you get the idea.

And the promises only came true with homebrew. Homebrew is the best thing to happen the the psp.
i have 3 games for my psp and the only one on the horizon I would even spend money on is crisis core.
I play with my psp games MAYBE 5-10% of the time. Otherwise i play genesis or SNES or NES and GBA.
I STILL WANT AN APOLOGY FOR INFECTED AND ASTONISHA STORY! One was a terrible port of an old pieced together rpg from like the 90's and the other was just terrible all around. YOUR BLOOD CAN EXPLODE CRAPPY PIXELATED "ZOMBIES"? Seriously?

Granted, Sony didn't make it.. but this is why nightclubs have bouncers .. keep out the riff raff! Everything about the psp has turned out to be a let down for me other than homebrew. Talkman would have been niche but cool. But not released in the states! Map this is cool but again thats homebrew. I At the very least is be able to watch streams and my ORB CAST on my psp. Location free? wasnt that a failed product originally tied in with the ps1 japan media center the PSX?

SO then i waited and thought, "Hey ya know what, I can still play my ps3 anywhere in the world through my psp, how cool is that? i mean the ps3 cant be THAT expensive when it comes out!"

Then the price. What gets me is sony thought i would spend 600 on a machine that would
a. have no good games
b. cost as much as my first car ( but go nowhere other than my living room.... and can't give rides to fresh outta highscgool jewish chicks trying to piss off theyre conservative parents and hang out with me and purple and black mohawk and subsequently sleep with me in my 87 pontiac grand am, then go to college and marry a lawyer)
c. RIIIIIIIDDDDDGE RAAAAAAAAACER
d. offer mediocre media center functions AT BEST
e. all of the above


fine, I thought. No big Deal.. I'll wait to come down in price and I'll wait for better games. But really I'm done. I like the idea of blue ray I like the idea of the promises... im just done with all hype and NO delivery. remember the EMOTION ENGINE hype and demos? remember the hype? No look at HOME. Sony let this be a lesson to you and your ps3. YOU CAN'T POLISH A TURD!

Sony there is nothing good about who you are or what you do.

[Garrett @ Sep 20th 2007 1:16AM]

All those things happened without homebrew.

[JKL @ Sep 20th 2007 3:34AM]

"i have 3 games for my psp and the only one on the horizon I would even spend money on is crisis core.
I play with my psp games MAYBE 5-10% of the time."

No shit, you have 3 games.

[KC @ Sep 20th 2007 3:57AM]

"Then the price. What gets me is sony thought i would spend 600 on a machine that would
a. have no good games
b. cost as much as my first car ( but go nowhere other than my living room.... and can't give rides to fresh outta highscgool jewish chicks trying to piss off theyre conservative parents and hang out with me and purple and black mohawk and subsequently sleep with me in my 87 pontiac grand am, then go to college and marry a lawyer)"

That made me spill my drink! hahah!

[SimbaDogg @ Sep 20th 2007 6:56AM]

there's so many things i wanna say about your post...but probably the most, well irrelevant...why the hell would u spend as much on a gaming system as you spent on your first car? 600 bucks for a car? i think i'd be lucky to find a 83 GM w/ 200k+, bad breaks, leaky radiator, rusty panels, and 2 busted windows for that cheap

[Gilbert Tang @ Sep 20th 2007 5:06AM]

Just confused as to why people keep referring to the PS3 as expensive. A 120GB XBOX 360 Elite + the add-on HD-DVD drive (I know you have a choice, but in this case, apples to apples, please) costs $629.00. The 80GB PS3 costs $599 bundled with the $60 Motorstorm. Personally, I'd rather have the extra 40GB than the shitty game, but the point remains you're still spending an additional $30 for the privilege.

PS3 lover or hater, this kind of editorializing unfairly casts a false shadow on a company that, at least in this particular case, doesn't deserve it.

[Yardman @ Sep 20th 2007 8:59AM]

Because it your choice...it's not force on you...get with it man...

[James @ Sep 20th 2007 1:39PM]

The problem people have with the PS3 is that it's overengineered, and you pay for that. Sony wants to shove their BD format down the consumers' throats, to have the PS3 be an "insertion point" for BD into the living room, like how the PS2 was for DVD -- there was a story a while back about how X thousand/hundred thousand/million people had the PS2 as their first DVD player, and Sony wants to repeat that success (probably because they get a cut of every BD movie sold). I for one don't think any kind of HD movie is worth what they charge for it (seriously, 30 bucks for a movie I might watch two or three times? Pass.), and I don't think I'm alone.

I got my 360 for $300 with a hard drive on sale; now, you can find them at that price all the time. 20 GB HDD is plenty enough for most peoples' purposes -- downloadable games are capped at 150 megs each, saves are a few megs tops, and how many movie rentals are you going to have out at a time? HDMI is included on new $350 Premium systems, and you don't need it anyway unless you want to watch HD-DVDs on a 1080p TV, about which see above.

So the point is, I and many others like me can rightly gripe about the price, because Sony tried to pack too much crap into their box. They misjudged the market, and are still paying for it -- the NPD numbers bear out my argument. Most people (apparently) would rather get the $350 Premium 360 than any $400-$600 PS3 model, because the extra money doesn't give them anything they value. That's why I have a right to call the PS3 "too expensive".

[Gilbert Tang @ Sep 20th 2007 2:34PM]

Since when have geeks complained about anything being over-engineered? We're talking about apples to apples. The choice, as I said, is yours. I'm proving that in reality the 360 is at the same premium the PS3 is. Nevertheless, I appreciate your sentiment I really do.

The problem, however, is this. We typically talk about iPods being UNDER-engineered in relation to the competition. Offerings from Microsoft, Sandisk, as well as other manufacturers are much more feature-packed, yet they cost less. iPhones, which while I admit were revolutionary, are in no way can as comprehensive in terms of capabilities as either the PS3 or 360, were $599--the same as the top-of-the-line PS3--when they came out, yet nearly 1,000,000 people jumped at the chance to own one.

Because it was marketed well as a value proposition, people, while reluctant for sure, made the jump. To prove the existence of the value proposition, take the recent events into account, where Apple cut the price $200. Early adopters were up in arms! That's because Apple essentially said, "Look, that $200 you paid wasn't really because it's an iPod+a phone+an internet appliance, it was because, well, you would pay it." Sony has not done this.

Look at the difference. Sites like Engadget, IGN, et al, ripped the PS3 pre-release for it's price, even though there was a real value proposition there. I assure you, if the format war was over and Blu-ray were the clear winner, it would be a no-brainer for most people--and it more than likely eventually will be, especially given the recent positive events surrounding the format (increased retail presence, etc), and its current proliferation.

Let's continue the comparison. Now the iPhone costs $399 and there is a new kid in town, the touch. Now Apple, whether you realized it or not, has pulled an Xbox: they gave you a choice, phone or no phone. At the same time, they inadvertently set a value on their phone feature at $100. (8GB touch at $299 costs, 8GB iPhone at $399.)

Again, Sony has never, ever devalued their PS3 in this way. Yet, Apple is synonymous with Jesus and Sony is synonymous with Satan in many eyes. This has everything to do with goodwill and nothing to do with the actual cost of the product, and if current sales numbers are any indication, this is more fact than theory, as the PS3 picks up the pace every month. I should also mention you do have a choice as well, only it doesn't involve another thing you have to plug into your console; it involves price level. There exists a $499 version, and--I'm certain of this--there will be a less-expensive version (or price cut) come holiday time.

Now, from a credibility standpoint, I should note the following. First, I do NOT own a PS3, because while a legitimate value proposition exists, it does not a value compatible with my needs. I don't game anymore really, and I don't need HD. However, when I get a TV nice enough to support 1080p, the choice will be clear.

Second, I love Apple and its products. I'm typing this on a Macbook Pro as we speak. I have three iPods, and tons of accessories to boot. And soon, I will give the employees of my company iPhones for a very unique (albeit currently confidential) purpose.

I approach this from a purely logical point of view.

Lastly, one person mentioned the convenience of being able to bring the HD-DVD drive to a friend's house for playing HD movies. Again, all things being equal, wouldn't that mean your friend has an xbox 360? In other words, both of you have already invested about 65% of the cost of HD-DVD ownership?

If me and my friends did the same with a PS3, no carrying is necessary because everyone would have blu-ray, not to mention HDMI. And if you planned on bringing your whole system, well, PS3 owners could do that as well, I suppose, however silly.

[Stef @ Sep 20th 2007 4:17PM]

you forgot to add on the $100 on the xbox for wireless. that comes to $730 for xbox elite with 120 gigs vs $600 for a 80 gig ps3 with card readers, blu ray built in(we all know that blu ray has won this) and a $60 game that isnt all that bad for a launch title, gameplay is good and online is fun. another point - ps3 has FREE online play, compared to the extra $60 per year for xbox. so that ends up at $600 for ps3 with everything neat and built in, card readers, wifi, a better controller (in my opinion, sixaxis has potential), online play, and a decent game. or $789 for xbox 360 with all the functionality of a ps3, but an extra 40 gigs of HDD. and for your $200 more, you still dont have a game to play yet. also another point is the PS3's HDD is removable, so you can upgrade it whenever you want, to up to 250 gigs i believe (for now, wait for even more). also the remote play and other functionality between psp and ps3 has done it for me, if done right, you can have this amazing console with your 250 gigs of movies, games, music and pics, with you wherever you are. that means amazing ps3 graphics on something that fits in your hand, whenever you want it. so i cant see the complain with the pricing here, personally

[jd @ Sep 21st 2007 3:22PM]

Apples to apples? Please. GAME console to GAME console. Sony chose to put blu-ray into their game console which isn't necessary for gaming, so stop throwing that in. (And no, blu-ray has no where near "won this"). Card readers? Who cares? Wifi? Hard wire the damn thing, its better that way anyways. Online? Yeah, it's free on PS3 but come on, it doesn't hold a candle to xbox live. Also, xbox live is not $60, its $50 for a year and you can almost always find deals to get it cheaper. Oh and don't forget that Sony screws people over by not including a high def cable. So add yet another $50 to the already EXPENSIVE PS3.

[Brandon @ Sep 20th 2007 9:23AM]

I am sick and tired of waiting for "home".

[John Stracke @ Sep 20th 2007 10:27AM]

I still don't understand why they don't just let the PSP download its own games.

[stevieb @ Sep 20th 2007 10:43AM]

At last we get the option to download via a PC rather than buying a PS3. I hope they don't make us in the UK wait months for this option.

[Martin Davies @ Sep 21st 2007 3:24AM]

I love my PS3 :)