Sony to court iPhone devs, match App Store pricing?
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted August 14th 2009 12:54PM
posted August 14th 2009 12:54PM
[Via gamesindustry.biz]
posted August 14th 2009 12:54PM
Sony PlayStation Portable go
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wow this is actually good news, I would love a psp with cheap game content and a large developers forum developing innovative games for it. Too bad it's still missing a second analog nub...
my nub is in your girlfriend. lol kidding dude i just had to say it
Unless Sony comes out with an API as easy to use as Cocoa Touch (not likely), no iPhone developer will touch their hardware with a ten-foot pole. Console development is a completely different beast, and is not for the faint of heart.
Even the big guns has problems making million dollar games run faster than the xbox, Imagine going from iphone to PSP?? I think even the lame ass DS store has more possibilities than a PSP store.
@macserv
Their API is roughly based on OpenGL ES, and is not difficult to work with at all.
To fail!
On another note, iPhone devs sure have a lot of options!
Great, you'll get all the ladies.
Poor Gazoobee. He's going to have to delete more iPhone apps, if Sony lands some of the iPhone developers. He's going to have nothing left on his phone except for the default apps!
Worse still, since some people install OSX on their PC's and dual boot with windows, he'll have to uninstall OSX as well. And since iTunes is also available for Windows, since he hates so much he needs to uninstall that. I guess that won't matter too much though since he's gonna have to throw away his iPhone since it has Safari on it, which is also on Windows.
Well Greg, congratulations!!! Here is your big prize of shut the hell up :)
Me too! Me too! Look, I can play with big boys!
Sony, once the leader, innovator in consumer electronics, now just a sad, soul-less zombie run by clueless suits.
Yes, poor liddle Sony...
* Beat the crap out of Toshiba and Microsoft's junk HD-DVD format and got Blu-Ray established as the next gen movie format. And is easily outpacing the VHS to DVD transition while in the worst economic climate in half a century and the added need of buying a HD TV unlike with the previous transition
* The most successful non-Nintendo handheld ever made with over 50 million units sold worldwide and an insanely huge 2009/2010 exclusive game release list
* The third fastest selling console in history with the PS3 - only behind the PS2 and Wii in worldwide sales rate. And this while the PS3 is effectively double the price of those consoles.
You were say what again dimwit?
i think he's referring to sony in the 80s
Yoy, you are forgetting the Xbox 360. Which outsells the PS3. Even the Original Xbox outsold the PS3.
And as I think about it, I bet you the NES, SNES, N64, Genisis and Saturn all outsold the PS3 (And the 360 in some cases).
What can sony do? People use to care about quality. People use to care about what matter. (maybe) But lately, all people seem to care about is casual crap. Yes, instead of buying the PS3 and 360 for it's huge collection of great games, lets buy the wii for wii sports and wii fit!!! Lets buy a multimedia device that actually isn't that great at playing music or video but has tons of apps!!!
Sure, sony has had to stoop to lower levels but thats only because consumers have stooped to lower levels.
He said sales RATE, not sales cumulative. 50 miles per hour vs 50 miles.
Not that I have sources to back it up.
PSPGo = Do not want. I'm glad the regular PSP is going to still be around. I could do without the UMD drive (PSN is full of win!), but it's a lot better of a form factor for my hands, and the weird analog nub placement doesn't help. DS sessions kill my tendons.
it is funny how you are criticizing the button layout when you, which i am pretty sure of, have never tried using it.
Yes, it's OBVIOUSLY 'teh iPhone!!!'
No company would ever think of coming out with lower priced products to fill out their product line - it's OBVIOUSLY 'teh iPhone!!!'
No company would ever think of courting developers to support its platform - it's OBVIOUSLY 'teh iPhone!!!'
You're trying to hard
Don't deny facts and give credit where credit is due. The iPhone has made a huge impact and if you want to deny that, you're delusional.
Fanboy, go crawl back under the rock you came from.
ZZMitch you silly fanboy.
The PS3 is selling at a faster rate the Xbox 360 by a large amount.
Even more amazing is the fact that not only is the PS3 the most expensive console in history and 200 more expensive than the Xbox 360.
The PS3 is still easily outselling the Xbox 360 at the 3 year mark even taking into the fact that Sony(and Nintendo) use actual 'sold to retailer' numbers while Microsoft still plays the stupid old 'shipped to retailer' game to inflate their numbers.
Even with a 200 dollar price difference, last year the PS3 sold ~10 million units worldwide and the 200 cheaper Xbox 360 sold ~10 million units worldwide.
It shouldn't be any surprise that Microsoft is in a panic over the 100 dollar price drop about to hit the PS3 next week. And neither should it be a surprise how gigantic the PS3's sales lead will be when the machine drops to 200 dollars next year or early the following.
Everybody courts iphone developers these days.
Everyone courts everyone else's developers.
Always has been, always will be.
so, basically, the PSPgo is going to have cheap, generic, gimmicky games just like "teh iPhone"? just another fabulous reason to buy it.
My thoughts exactly. I bought the PSP for "real" on the go gaming not "gimmicky" games. But they will have both types of games "real" and "gimmicky" so all is well.
Ive bought games for my iPod Touch that Ive played once and never again. They got me with their clever advertising and the all so convenient touch of a button purchase.
Theyre not worried about the quality of games just the quantity because thats what brings in the money.
Cause choice is such a bad thing
Lol, as annoying as these "first." posts are, it made me chuckle to read it. Maybe because I know some adult is acting so childly that its funny. No punctuation or anything... just...
first
LOL
99% of iPhone games are utter crap, so this is not good news :)
Frankly I'm disgusted anyone has even bought the PSPGo - you should all be ashamed of yourselves for allowing Sony to wring money out of you for nothing.
The technology is obsolete, as is the concept of playing 3D video games without a second analogue stick. Sony pioneered the dual-analogue control system themselves, so they know all too well that this is the case.
Why the insistence on flogging this dead horse? Why not give the public the next generation of PSP? And if they want to re-invent the existing one, why the reluctance to rectify the top ranking criticism of the device and give the people what they want - a second analogue nub!?
I am interested to see where this leads, but as others have said i just can't help feeling sony have messed this up a little. They had a chance to put in a second analogue stick with a hardware change, yet they did not. The concept of a smaller, lighter, more functional gadget is always good, but unless one of the main complaints with the original is adressed, whats the point? I havn't given up on sony yet, i just wont be in a hurry to buy the psp go, thats all.
COUNT ME IN!!!!!!
I can't imagine a less desirable direction for the PSP than this snack-type games push and worse ergonomics / non-removable battery and non-removable storage push (I'll eat my hat if the ergonomics are better).
In short, it's as if they secretly admire Apple's hardware and software decisions. Sony has traditionally been an innovator and I believe these decisions must have had much resistance inside the company.
The accountants have taken over, I feel.
I predict abysmal sales of the PSP Go until such a time it is reduced in price less than the regular UMD-packing PSP. Even then, I have zero interest in this model.
I don't want to be limited to a non-removable battery with 300-500 charge cycles before the battery gives me totally unusable run-times with no option to replace it myself. How much will Sony charge for a new battery? I'd guess a little less than it costs for a new unit. I also don't want to be limited to one battery and having to charge it then and there if it runs out on me wherever I am. Sucky.
How long before their cameras, camcorders and Sony Ericsson phones go in this direction? I'll never understand the logic of non-removables, aside from being anti-customer bring-it-back-to-the-mothership-for-service designs that take choice and third-party competition away from the customer.
Downloads? The current unit can do it, and do it more cheaply, even when you buy your own 16GB memory stick. Reasons for this unit? Compact size and bluetooth. Bluetooth being of what benefit, exactly? Everything else is worse, including not taking UMDs.
"I can't imagine a less desirable direction for the PSP"
What the hell are you babbling about?
You are replying to some stupid iPhone fanboy writing yet another iPhone hype article that has absolutely nothing to do with reality or any 'direction for the PSP'.
Come on guy, get a clue. You can't possibly be that naive.
WrightL,
You can't possibly be that abrasive in real life.
I'll get back to you in a year or so, as the PSN is filled with snack-games, Joe User reports on comfort of new hardware (and when I try it out in-store), and the fact that the batteries and storage are still non-removable. I am responding to the fact that iPhone developers are being courted to the PSP and snack-type games are the new rage, all the while giving my 3 cents on the hardware choices of the new model.
Which iPhone fanboi are you speaking about? You'd have to be blind not to see that their games business is being shaped by Apple's successful online approach. What does it mean for the quality of their games, though? We'll see.
In any case, time will tell.
"You'd have to be blind not to see that their games business is being shaped by Apple's successful online approach."
You are so far off in fanboy fantasy land you aren't even worth wasting time with.
Sony's 2009 and 2010 PSP lineup is absolutely gigantic. Not with stupid little cellphone fart apps and all the other crap that gets sold on cellphones, but major RPGs, driving games, etc.
Real games. And in massive quantities. The PSP 2009/2010 game lineup completely dwarfs the Xbox 360s it is so large.
So, yeah, keep babbling about Teh iPhone and making a fool of yourself.
Let me guess...you also think Toaster Makers, Ditch Diggers, Prostitutes, Pharmacists, and Dog Trainers are all 'having their businesses shaped by Teh iPhone' - after all dimwits like you and other 'all know it to be true'.
@WrightL
can you give some examples of that 2009-2010 list? because I own a PSP also and man the console sucks! The gotta do something better that rely on the consumer faith of the brand!
So basically they are admitting to the public that they been ripping us blind for decades.
If you press Ctrl+A right now, a hidden text will appear above this comment of mine. It's true!
Pass it on to at least 13 people, or your monitor will burst into flames triggering World War 3.
I don't see this working out too well unless Sony does something to drop the cost on entrance for developers. The big deal behind the success of the iPhone App Store is that you can get started developing on it for less than $1000 (much less if you already own an Intel based Mac). If they really want to do this they need to release something similar to Microsoft's XNA Game Studio for PSP and PSN.
@iphonerulez
Is it similar to how Apple copied PC's Intel processors or USB? Or even how they copied Palm's touchscreen and cut'n'paste? Just curious.
I have a feeling that this PSP Go will fail miserably simply due to the somewhat saturated market for these devices(Existing PSP's, DS's, iPod Touch, upcoming Zune HD, etc).
We shall see..
I agree with you there! I love my PSP1000 (and DSLite), but with the pricing and the lacking reputation not much can be said about the future. Just recently broke the joystick pad on my PSP so I'm thinking of investing on a 3000.
@Jamesology
Apple originally were going to use intel processors in the beginning, anyhow with the switch from PPC to Intel x86 was due to something to do with broken promises (of reaching certain speeds within a certain time period) from IBM or something (I don't see how them switching to intel is relevant anyhow) as for USB, Apple was one of the first to have it as standard in their machines (I also don't see this is relevant as didn't copy it from intel, USB is still intel)
Didn't the Apple Newton MessagePad (which had a members of the team that worked at Atari which had a similar product that was never released) come out before the Palm Pilot?