PSP facing more Connect-ion woes?

Sony's answer to iTunes is facing more trouble, casting further doubt on PSP video-download service's future.

In January, Sony announced that its long-suffering Connect digital music service would be completely revamped with new functionality, including the ability to download movies, video, and games to the PlayStation Portable. March was pegged as the date of the relaunch, but the month came and went without word of any new functionality.

Eventually that plan was scrapped, as a Sony representative told GameSpot sister site MP3.com that no major relaunch was planned, with the company instead opting to make incremental improvements.

Now more questions about the Connect service have arisen. According to a report on GameSpot sister site News.com, Sony Corporation of America chief technology officer and Connect advocate Phil Wiser is on his way out of the company, effective Friday. Wiser will reportedly be replaced by Sony senior vice president Steve Bernstein. The article also details a frequently contentious relationship between Sony and Kinoma, an external media company whose chief executive had been put in charge of the Connect project.

It's unclear what impact this will have on the system's planned addition of support for the PSP. A Sony representative declined to speak with News.com for that story, while GameSpot's own attempt to get clarification on the status of Connect's planned PSP support has not yet been answered.

206 Comments

  • thesand212

    Posted Jul 10, 2007 11:10 am PT

    it's never gone to happen

  • floackle

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 6:58 pm PT

    Have none of you played any psp games? C'mon! The psp has quite a few good games and ones for everyone, and if they don't yet they are going to very very soon. The following games are either out or will be out by the end of the year. And look one for every type of person...

    Fighters: Tekken Dark Ressurection (WITH ONLINE! TEKKEN WITH ONLINE! PWNAGE!!!!!!)

    Platformer: Daxter

    Puzzler: Lumines (a personal fav.)

    RPG: Valkyrie Profile

    Tactics: LOTR:Tactics

    Racer: Wipeout: pure or Burnout: legends (both great)

    Shooter: Syphon Filter (sp)

    Wacky and out there: Loco Roco (go get the awsome demo)

    Other: GTA: LCS (too many things you can do to just put in one catorgory)

    Now quit complaining. PSP is great. DS is great. Ipod is..... well anyway PSP rocks!

    -Floackle out, peace

  • ace244

    Posted Jul 3, 2006 12:55 pm PT

    i have seen a lot of illegal comments in here. not all of us want to download homebrew and steal roms.

  • TheKretinousQ

    Posted Jul 3, 2006 8:21 am PT

    I don't get what the problem is! Sony has put too much into this Connect service, I mean it would be nice just to have syncable playlists like iTunes with both my W800 and PSP but hey it don't work like that.

    I think Sony should get the whole PS3 ordeal 100% sorted before they worry about anything else or else they will end up being bankrupt. And we don't want that.

  • TheKretinousQ

    Posted Jul 3, 2006 8:21 am PT

    I don't get what the problem is! Sony has put too much into this Connect service, I mean it would be nice just to have syncable playlists like iTunes with both my W800 and PSP but hey it don't work like that.

    I think Sony should get the whole PS3 ordeal 100% sorted before they worry about anything else or else they will end up being bankrupt. And we don't want that.

  • rikardo10

    Posted Jul 3, 2006 1:54 am PT

    i hope they make it better

  • MTGWARGOD

    Posted Jul 2, 2006 3:33 pm PT

    HAHAHAHA i dont even think anyone would pay money for their mp3's (fine, 99.8% of people dont pay)

    i think its a really funny thought.

  • aramitz

    Posted Jul 2, 2006 2:17 pm PT

    As has been said multiple times - what is the point in this service?.
    If you haven't been able to work out how to transfer files that you've already obtained from elsewhere in the 14 months or so it's been out then you sure as hell won't be able to work out how to do it 'the sony way''. The market is overdiluted with mp3 pay websites as it is, i'd put it right on the bottom of Sonys priority list with making some half decent games and a competitive price drop at the top.

  • nice13j

    Posted Jul 2, 2006 11:52 am PT

    the ds is also a great system as well. i also have a ds along with my psp and i love new super mario bros and kirby.nintendogs is also alot of fun as well.i think that sony has alot of work ahead of them if they want to contend with the ds but the psp can definetely do it.i have used all the psp's functions and i think it is amazing that it can do all these things and still make games that look good and play well. thats why the psp should eventually become the system to beat

  • nice13j

    Posted Jul 2, 2006 11:42 am PT

    Ok lets see. if sony had took more time to get better games out for the PSP and not launch it when it did, then everyone would be mad that sony was takin so long to put it out.i think they rushed it out and if u bought it when it first came out then u have to continuosly upgrade it.i think the psp will soon be the handheld to beat once sony starts pumpin out the killer apps like mgs:po or tekken.But until then i need to find a place that can fix PSP screens cause mine hit my xbox (ironic) and cracked the screen.

    And for those of u who are thinkin of returning your PSP,just be patient and sony will deliver in the coming months

  • Dragonmati

    Posted Jul 1, 2006 9:38 am PT

    I bought the PSP because i thought it would have been much more, apperantely i just wasted my money, waiting for a good game to be released exclusively for the PSP... and I think i will keep wait til the current pocket systems are forgetten for good, and then i will throw it away. Currently my PSP serves no purpose, except catch dust and take up space because SOny thought the PSP would evolve on it's own... SONY WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFEE YOU ARE LOSING MONEY!!!!!!

  • pstation_donkey

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 11:46 am PT

    http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/features/51374/Verdict_Sony_PSP_vs_Nintendo_DS.html

    Callm down all you nintendo fanboys.
    If you dont like the PSP flame it somewhere else.

  • soadnick947

    Posted Jun 27, 2006 10:01 am PT

    Heh, the PSP is more like the PlayStation PORTable...

  • jasper1989

    Posted Jun 27, 2006 5:34 am PT

    Everyone hates..well they dont hate the PSP, they hate Sony for going wrong with the PSP. Nearly all of the PSP games are ports of from the PS2 which isnt a bad thing but because the PSP isnt as good as the PS2, the developers have to downgrade the graphics and controls so it doesnt work properly. Most of the PSP games that aren't ports...well i could count them on one hand. The DS however, because of its "revolutionary" controls, developers HAVE to create new content which makes it a fresh experience for gamers!

  • HeroesVX

    Posted Jun 23, 2006 8:44 pm PT

    faster sony

  • assassinX01

    Posted Jun 23, 2006 4:22 pm PT

    sony needs to get their sh*t together and make up their mind; do a few thing right, not a bunch of things wrong. If they don't have the resources to do that and work on next generation while maintaining current gen material along with psp, then fine, they should just come out and say it and stop promising stuff everyone knows that they won't deliver on. I don't mind delays, so long as there is a good reason for it and not just flat out, premeditated lies.

  • donmega1

    Posted Jun 22, 2006 4:33 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • 00Rambol00

    Posted Jun 22, 2006 1:48 pm PT

    ahhh yeah too bad for Sony. Comon MaddonaProject, don't jump to conclusions about game consoles, i can already guess that your an xbox 360 fanboy, if not, your just one of those people that probably laugh at other peoples expenses... lol

    should learn to appriciate peoples work like nintendo

  • makavevli

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 4:13 pm PT

    I heard the psp sold 12 million uints....i heard the pace it's oing it will sell 12 million again...giveor take that's about 24 million units in 2 years. People acting like it's selling the ngage,gamegear,wonderswan,neogeo and the normad.

  • Australia-

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 1:09 pm PT

    STEVIO:
    "Whatever. I have an iPod, a DS, and a portable DVD player, why should I care about the PSP?

    You shouldn't.Not if you have a ds. "

    YOU CAN HAVE ALL OF THAT IN ONE SYSTEM, and psp has better games than ds, that would be horrible to carry all that crap instead of having one item with you, the psp

  • EssaregeeX

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 3:45 pm PT

    korn18m says:
    "I'm sick of people saying "Why don't they worry about making decent games?" They are already making excellent games. Why settle for "decent" when you can have better? For the people saying they bought a $200+ "paper weight"..... I don't know weither to feel bad for you, or hate your ignorance. There are 2 reasons you may think of your PSP that way.

    1)PSP's second 6 month period after launch hit a mediocre streak, and you got burned paying full price for a few games during that time, and are now overly cautious about buying new games.

    2)You don't like regular games on the go. Maybe you just want something different for a change. Maybe you don't get out much, or when you do, you are either the one driving, or are busy the whole time you are away from your house.

    On average, the top 20 PSP games are better that the top 20 DS games according to GS scoring. Everyone, before hittting "Submit" on that message you most likely typing right now intending to flame me with, please, if you doubt me for one second, do yourself this favor:
    Go to the PSP section of this site, and hit "All PSP games", then hit "Browse all results", and finally click "Score" to sort with highest scoring games shown first. Now find the average score of the top 20 PSP games. Repeat this process with DS games and make sure to count the 3 versions of Nintendogs as only one game, because really, it is. What do you get? The top 20 PSP games are on average, according to GS scoring, better that the top 20 DS games.

    PSP Top 20 Average: 8.615
    DS Top 20 Average: 8.5

    Both system have great games. One offers a unique experience, and the other offers a traditional experience."

    *FIRST OF ALL* Idiot, it's far harder to critic unique games like the ones on DS vs. traditional games for the PSP. The DS game experience is personal some people love games that might of got a 6 on GS. However, PSP is relative all around, a little mini-powerhouse with PS2 spinoffs. Goof.

    Wow, idiot. Too bad you wrote all that and slammed your own point, It's a shame uniqueness pwns traditional crap tenfold. And how about the PSP gets some games that aren't crappy spinoff ports off their PS2 successes? Honestly, hardware is nothing without software. And PSP, is seriously lacking some worthy software.

  • rl_41

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 12:56 pm PT

    Who cares. I bought it for games, don't know what everybody else is flaming it for...

  • Tapateo

    Posted Jun 16, 2006 1:07 am PT

    Just bring me my downloadable copy of Final Fantasy VII already. Mine is packed with homebrew. Some people just don't know the capability of certain electronics. I don't hate until I'm deprived from the things I'm promised.

  • AtomicEdge

    Posted Jun 15, 2006 9:28 am PT

    I just realised I haven't played my PSP for months.

    DS Lite arrives next friday, lets see how it goes.

  • Gigadragon2005

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 10:45 pm PT

    Sony is overlooking the important factor to help their handheld become a succse: Killer games!

  • phreeQue

    Posted Jun 12, 2006 4:29 pm PT

    You guys are funny. I have a PSP and I have every single NES game running perfect on it. Oh, and not to mention a very decent speed for games like Chrono Trigger and FFVI from the SNES era. I would take the full NES library of games (for free) over the DS games any day. Plus I'll be able to download PS1 games in the future and be set for a damn long time. My 1GB memory stick was only $35 btw.

  • gt4freak1985

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 7:11 pm PT

    well all an ipod can do is play music and movies, but on a damn tiny screen. The psp does have good games. It just needs time to grow up. I d rather pay $250 for a psp than $300 for a 40gig ipod for music and thats it. F that. I dont like ipods and never will. I dont hate on apple, i just laugh at their ignorance sometimes. you all bash sony, but what about ea? EA dont give a crap about their customers. They really dont, look at all of the sims2 content. $20 for objects? not even an exspansion. that is pathedic. NFSMW was a better game since those crappy nfs undergrounds, but not enough exotics and to many ricers again. ALso no incar biew, with a cam hack you can but the hands and steering wheel do not move. Also they have created a monopoly with nascar , footbal, and soon all other sports titles. EA is ruiuning gaming. Competition is good, and ea is becoming the reason for game sales dropping.

  • ImChau

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 6:05 pm PT

    fine sony, let google video make all the money

  • SoberWarock

    Posted Jun 10, 2006 10:07 pm PT

    I hope they finish it making it. Theres got to be something for the psp to be worth getting. so far there is nothing for the psp.

  • Maarty14

    Posted Jun 10, 2006 5:06 pm PT

    O Boy o berto

  • SickMinder

    Posted Jun 10, 2006 1:54 pm PT

    Jesus Christ, who gives a f***? Seriously. Just buy a USB-cable. What's the big deal? Download to PC, move files to your PSP with a USB-cable. Yay.

    Sony-haters: "-LoLZZors!!1 Sony phails11! Just liek thay did with PS1 nd PS2!!1"
    Nintendo-fanboys: "-OMGZZzzors111! 1-0 Nintendo! =))) The DS has WAY butter games!!"

  • oblivion_666

    Posted Jun 10, 2006 6:53 am PT

    See as much as i love Sony i have to say that they can be idiots sometimes. They talk about the potential of their products and all the things they will eb able to do, download demos for games, download services blah blah blah. But they never do it. Thats why PS2 online never did that well (yeh a lot of ppl play it but besides playin games it doesn't offer much). Microsoft seems to have been able to do somthin with xbox, so y can't sony. and what happened to all the things that psp was supposed to have, attachable keyboard, camera etc. The games are very lazily made, most being bad ports from PS2. I have a sps and I love it, but i dont play it that much because of the lack of decent games. The other problem is there video player. MP4 only is stupid, they dont even supply you with a program to convert, you have to go find one yourself, and you have to do a stupid thing like naming each movie M4VXXXX.MP4. I hope they don't make the same stupid mistakes with PS3. If they say they are making a proper, xbox live style central hub or woteva then they better do it. and i better not have to name mp4s in code.

  • InuyashaX64

    Posted Jun 9, 2006 8:51 pm PT

    No surprise there, i saw that coming. Its likely Sony will hold of the project until near or after the release date of the PS3. It seems like Sony is spending more time on the PS3 project than the PSP and is delaying it until things are underway with the PS3. Thats what i think.

  • paronga

    Posted Jun 9, 2006 7:23 am PT

    I dont love the PSP and i dont love Sony but this news makes me feel warm in my tumbly

  • yellbell

    Posted Jun 9, 2006 3:13 am PT

    they should focus on good games that are only on the psp first not the connect thing.

  • bgeneral81

    Posted Jun 8, 2006 7:57 pm PT

    I bought a PSP hoping for some great games like ps1 and ps2, instead we are getting half ass ps2 games, they said the psp is a ps2 on the go, but I enjoy games better on ps2 anyone agree??

  • Paper_Baggins

    Posted Jun 8, 2006 7:16 pm PT

    In my opinion PSP is great. However as many people have said, they need to focus on what we gamers like to call GAMES. Now... we are impressed that Sony has made a portable "game" system that allows play from music and video. But why call it "PlayStation Portable" when it needs to be called "Media Pocket Buddy" or something along those terms. Could it possibly be that making games for a portable system with those graphics is becoming harder than Sony expected? For a majority of the games, they have been just OK....if even that. Personally I think the only decent ones were the first 10 or 15 games that were on the day of launch. Anyways... I'm done rambling. There's my view

  • jwsoul

    Posted Jun 8, 2006 2:59 pm PT

    Oh my god what s the problem with the PSP its great comments like its a paper weight and i have this and that well 1. Paper weight boy dont buy somthing you know you wont use and 2. i own this and that kid i have a PSP that PLAYS MP3 yes thats right MP3 oh and wait for it VIDEOS anything i can think of downloading oh no theres more PICTURES from a camera or Screens from games on my PC. Oh and it plays games man whats that i can download content for my games for FREE Fired Up is a game i can GAMESHARE with my freinds and play up to 8 player with one copy of the game.

    What ever you say you can not deny the PSP its dues its a very good handheld mobile cinema and MP3 player oh picture viewer so stop wasting your money on things you know you will not use and stop coming here and slagging somthing off for the sake of it.

  • condorVII

    Posted Jun 8, 2006 9:09 am PT

    how bout some more games. Then we can start thinking about the music

  • Cross_eye

    Posted Jun 7, 2006 11:44 am PT

    and this is why we have homebrew

  • MASTERCHIEFUSMA

    Posted Jun 7, 2006 7:06 am PT

    give it some time for some more games, then the PSP will hopefully turn into more then an expensive paper weight

  • Luis612

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:08 pm PT

    sony sony sony. always doing this sh!t. always late

  • lancer-azaran

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:27 am PT

    Yeah, uh, this wasn't gonna work out well. And this really isn't needed. PSP was originally for "games", hence why it's a "portable gaming system". All of that other stuff is just for show. Sure, it's nice and all, but it's really not needed whatsoever. I play PSP for -games-. Sure, I went out and bought Advent Children for it, but that's just because AC rocked.

    To make my point, this isn't needed, it's pretty useless, and you should all stop hating Sony for having something that's not needed.

    If you need to beat on Sony for an accessory, beat on the HDD. That was something worth raggin' on.

  • shawnomac

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 12:58 am PT

    woohooforme:
    Whatever. I have an iPod, a DS, and a portable DVD player, why should I care about the PSP?

    i donno, why would you get all of those things when the psp does all of them. why is everyone complaining about the psp? if you dont like it, return it or sell it. no ones forcing you to have it. i use all of its funcitonalities and am very pleased.

  • Tekenshin

    Posted Jun 5, 2006 11:22 am PT

    It might just come out weeks or months after the PS3 launch

  • dadeisvenm

    Posted Jun 5, 2006 8:29 am PT

    Its all going to come about when the PS3 launches or earlier.

  • 3leMenT

    Posted Jun 4, 2006 10:28 pm PT

    sony needs to stop copying god, now they make it so u can download ps1 games like wii has made it so you can down load there classic games, GET OVER IT SONY AND THINK UP YOUR OWN STUFF

  • AARONRULZ1

    Posted Jun 4, 2006 6:54 pm PT

    Even if Sonys Connect Service Fails You Probably Should Still Buy PSP Anyway EVEN if You Want Only Downloadable PS1 Games or Music And Video Poor Sony...

  • Latinbro1

    Posted Jun 3, 2006 10:21 pm PT

    i would like o see connect up and running but then again i just rip my ccd's on to my memory stick. if you go to online stores now the 2b is going for really cheap (i baught mine for $60). anyway, i enjoy my psp. I don't have a portable dvd player, and ipod, or a ds so the psp knocks all those funcions for me. Recently i baught syphon filter and to my surprise i really liked it. and i agree that sony should add another analog sick and maybe even he l2 and r2 boons.. but that wouldn't make it that small.... and if they manage to still keep the system small it would probably be uncomfortable.
    m
    on a side note, i think umd movies are pointless when you can dowlnoad movies on your pc, convert them to mp4's and put 'em on your psp.. when you are done watching them just delete them and put new content in

  • Agreb91

    Posted Jun 3, 2006 3:51 pm PT

    I think the Connect service was doomed from the start.... well time to got to download music from iTunes.

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