• 28Jun 09

  The PSP Phone is coming

  In my last blog I wrote:
  
  
  "I'm still convinced that the PSP will turn into a cell phone one day.
  Maybe in the generation after the PSP-GO? Or as an alternative next to it.
  It just makes too much sense to combine those real developed game capabilities, with cell phone technology.
  Now that it has the shape of a smart phone?
  You have to be blind not to see that.
  Add a touch screen, GPS and such, and you have something to compete with the iPhone."
  

  
  

  And today, there are countless articles talking about the PSP phone.
  
  Like CNET's article for example.
  
  http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10274415-1.html
  
  With the rest of my last blog I was right too. The people whining in their comments, didn't understand it, or they did not read it, or both.

  • Posted Jun 28, 2009 8:08 am PT
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• 9Jun 09

  Why the Sony E3 Press Conference 2009 was a bore!

  So, I've finally seen the whole show (some people have a life).
  And, I was right when I called GT5 the new vaporware.
  Kazunori Yamauchi wasn't even on stage to present the latest pre-rendered GT5 fantasy.
  Him not being on stage, while the GT5 trailer is running, is a statement.
  Now, Kazunori Yamauchi might be the perfectionist in person, and that trailer might have been the most that Sony could get out of him. Cause everything is so far away.
  Sony cannot tell Kazunori Yamauchi what to do anymore, not after his success.
  But the message for the (intelligent) gamer is, that GT5 is still far, far, away.
  Perfectionism is good if it makes a great product, but you can get stuck in it, and not come up with any results anymore.
  I think Shigeru Miyamoto one time said, that a producer has to have a limit, a deadline, otherwise he will never get finished, cause he constantly wants to make things better.
  And I think that is the case here, cause Kazunori Yamauchi was so successful, that nobody can tell him what to do anymore.
  Now Kazunori Yamauchi just has to see another racing game that might have a detail that his GT5 production is still missing, he gets frustrated, and......that adds another 6 months to his production.
  
  So much noise, far away previews, or non exclusive titles.
  Or how about the new Rockstar exclusive, that was featured with THE WHOLE NAME OF THE GAME?! Whoa, sign me up, the anticipation is killing me. NOT!!!
  Are you kidding me?
  
  One example how PS3 previews can turn out (next to the nowhere near GT5),
  a game called "Eight Days", that had a great trailer at E3 2006, and...............was just canceled last year. Duh!
  So much about the value of previews.
  If a game isn't 90% finished, ready to be shown in a live presentation, and about to hit the shelves in the upcoming holiday season......., just don't mention it! Right??? Right.
  I guess we've all had it with games that make their rounds through the press for years and years, with great promises, and once they finally arrive, they are a disappointment, or people are already sick and tired of them.
  Hey, whatever happened to Rockstars "L.A. Noire"? Wasn't that supposed to be a PS3 exclusive too? It's nowhere to be found that's for sure.
  Who knows, maybe the development team of the game didn't deliver, and they can be found at the bottom of the Hudson by now.
  
  "God of War" seems to be the next seasons big thing for Sony and the PS3.
  But whoever isn't into the whole fantasy and slashing madness, can.......do whatever.
  
  The new PSP looks good. The sliding mechanism was the way to go.
  That was the only way to make it really portable. Like a cell phone.
  For the PSP games, the online distribution makes sense. UMD is the new MiniDisc, nobody needs it anymore.
  And how portable is a system with a stack of discs?
  One thing I like is the integration of Bluetooth, and the most likely A2DP that comes with it.
  Cause this way, the gamer can get a really good sound with a wireless Bluetooth headphone.
  I like how Sony integrates the A2DP wireless audio distribution in many products.
  
  I'm still convinced that the PSP will turn into a cell phone one day.
  Maybe in the generation after the PSP-GO? Or as an alternative next to it.
  It just makes too much sense to combine those real developed game capabilities, with cell phone technology.
  Now that it has the shape of a smart phone?
  You have to be blind not to see that.
  Add a touch screen, GPS and such, and you have something to compete with the iPhone.
  
  Another good one was the demonstration of the new motion controllers, even though they looked like s-- toys. Really, they do! ......might want to change that.
  They seem to work really good. And for the people who are whining and finger pointing, who cares if Nintendo was first?
  Nintendo had a great idea, and that makes things better, for everybody. Like every innovation that makes sense.
  
  I stick with my first assessment.
  Uncharted 2 looks really good. The graphics, and it seems to have a character that people can relate to.
  Cause that is another minus, if there is a line up of games with characters nobody can relate to.
  That would be called PC gaming.
  It doesn't matter if the character is Carl Johnson (GTA-SA, one of my all time favorite games), Super Mario, Leon Kennedy.....
  A real character gets you involved in the story.
  The opposite is PC gaming with it's hordes of nothingness.
  
  Sometimes, really just sometimes, the hordes can be fun, and that would be the second game I already mentioned, MAD.
  What was it, 250 gamers online in one stage? That sounds interesting.
  
  
  Non the less, the Sony Press Conference 09 was a bore! Don't give Kaz Hirai a microphone, you are likely to die of boredom
  The things that were interesting could have been shown in 30 minutes.
  Long winded speeches and statistics, the usual slogans how Sony has a leading role in gaming...
  Their upcoming Holiday line-up looks far from spectacular.
  What do they always say, you haven't seen the best things yet?
  Well, in the case of the PS3, the people won't, for a long time.
  
  Microsoft's Press Conference 09 was ten times better.
  They really have learned to shut up, and present games LIVE on stage.
  And they have real games coming the next Holiday Season.

  • Posted Jun 9, 2009 10:01 pm PT
  • Category: Rant
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