PlayStation Vita

PSP Firmware 6.35 Now Live, Adds Capability for Unlimited Cloud Music Service via Qriocity

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 2, 2010 | 11 comments

Those who own a PSP or PSPgo can now boot up the system and scroll over to the system update to find a new firmware 6.35 available. The newest update in some time for PSP owners, 6.35 adds the capability for Sony’s cloud based music service, dubbed Qriocity. Users will notice that under the music tab, a new icon will give them access to the Qriocity service. Beating Apple to the punch, Qriocity is meant to be a unlimited cloud based music service, which users can log into and enjoy an endless amount of music. Think Pandora, but you actually have a say in what you want to listen to. Though the firmware is now live, those who proceed to use the service will only be greeted with the option of entering the app which then notifies them that the service is coming soon.

Sony has yet to announce the availability of the firmware or the price of membership for Qriocity, but this is a good indication that an announcement is to follow soon. Otherwise, the firmware would not be live. It will also be interesting to see when this firmware makes it onto the PlayStation 3 and other Sony devices as it adds a real cutting edge difference between Sony’s already do-everything device, other consoles, and even Apple.

PSP2 and the Playstation Phone Are Two Different Products

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 17, 2010 | 10 comments

Lately, there has been plenty of talk about the next generation PSP, so far being called dubbed as the PSP2. During the same week when rumors hit an all time high for the device, there were also leaks about the upcoming Playstation Phone, and the internet exploded with speculations and rumors, sometimes mixing both devices into one. The first fact that needs to be discussed is that the PSP2 and the Playstation Phone are two different projects, both of course headed by Sony. While it’s no shocker that the Playstation division is working on the PSP2, Sony is also tapping into its Sony Ericsson partnership for the Playstation Phone as this is meant to be a fully functional phone that is also a gaming device. It’s very important to note that these are two different products for the fact that it seems Sony is taking completely different approaches with each. Many might jump to the iPhone/iPod Touch strategy that Apple employs where both products are very similar, yet one of course is a fully functional phone with internet capabilities all the time while the other instead relies on Wi-Fi to jump on the net, yet still boasts the same power and screen factor.

Hit the jump for the rest of this article.

PSP2 Specs Revealed?

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 26, 2010 | 7 comments

Artist Rendering

There have been plenty of sites reporting on some of the leaked specs of the PSP2. Although nothing is solid, reports are coming from supposed developers who have seen early versions of the eventual PSP successor. So far, the new PSP is said to have:

High definition screen
Larger/wider (probably proper 16:9)
Backside panel touchscreen

The screen resolution is not so much a rumor as it is a no brainer. I could have told you in 2004 when the PSP originally launched that the next version would have a higher resolution screen. As far as the back panel, the iPhone 4 was rumored to have that as well and that didn’t come to fruition. What the actual use might be of something like this might be limited by the cost. Other no brainers are: a more powerful processor, a graphic engine, and the probable use of touchscreen and a camera. But in all reality, anything you hear in the upcoming months will be nothing more than speculation, really.

PSPgo Gets Price Cut, now $199

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 26, 2010 | 2 comments

With a little over a year into its life cycle, Sony has cut the price of the new Playstation Portable system, the PSPgo, to $199, down $50 from the original launch MSRP. The system, which boasted a sleeker design, longer battery lifetime, built in 16GB of memory with expandable M2 stick, as well as the ability to download games all via the web like the iPod Touch, has yet to really gain the attraction that Sony was looking for, while its bigger brother, the PSP-3000, fairs much better.

Many blamed the initial high price range that Sony was looking for, although to be fair, at the time, the 16GB iPod Touch was $299 and now, the Touch is $229. In both cases, Sony was offering a gaming device with the same memory and expandability for a lower price. Other point to the fact that a game that you can buy on UMD (Universal Media Disk, the system the PSP-3000) were the same price as their downloadable counterparts. Again, this puts Sony in a tough spot. They don’t want to piss off their retail partners like Gamestop who makes money on selling UMD games where they see nothing from downloaded games for the PSPgo. But a clear example of this again can be Apple where retailers love carrying the iPod Touch, even though they see no income from the music, videos, apps and games sold on it, simply due to the high volume sold and the income from that, as well as the ecosystem of docs and cases that surround most Apple products.

Will this drop in price be enough? I hope so, but again, Sony still lacks the marketing so a price drop without a media campaign might not go too far. Sony also needs to realize that at the end of the day, Gamestop and other retailers are only dedicated to themselves. If pissing off Gamestop and offering cheaper downloadable games (since the user dosent pay for the packaging and there is no cost of shelf space and transportation), means selling a lot more of the PSPgo, then Sony needs to do this now. Downloadable content is the future, as Apple has shown. One day, your Playstation 5 will have no disc drive, nor will your computer, and so Sony needs to jump on that bandwagon now instead of protecting partners who only care for themselves. All this now begs the question, will $199 get you to join the PSPgo community?

Sony Not Pulling PSP Dev Kits Because of PSP2

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 14, 2010 | 4 comments

A lot of websites the last few days have been reporting on the fact that Sony has notified publishers out there that pst November 15th, they will no be able to purchase a developer kit.

SCEE will no longer be selling the PSP Development Tool (DTP-T2000A) or Testing Tool (DTP-H2500A) past November 15th. Please order in advance if you require these development units.

We will advise you when a new model becomes available.

Now many people assumed that this had to due with the fact that there has been many rumors about the inevitable PSP2. While this sounds good and I’m not denying that there is a PSP2 in the works, why would Sony stop all support on the current PSP? Last I checked, there is over 50 million of them out there. Remember for how long the PS2 continued to sell and outsell current generation units? Anyways, the real reason, straight from Sony:

“Due to the certification on the current development and test tools expiring, we will be stopping selling them on the 15th November. However, we will continue to provide loan stock for registered and new developers, until a new certified model is available.”

Sony PSPs help trapped Chilean miners pass the time

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 9, 2010 | 1 comment

If you don’t know by now, 33 Chilean miners are trapped 2,300 feet beneath the surface where everything collapsed around them during a mining operation. It took 17 days, but finally on August 22nd, the miners were found to be alive but in poor health. The authorities since then have been in constant communication with them while the rescue attempt is being put into place. It is believed that the operation itself can take up to four months. During this time, the miners are receiving capsules of supplies, which include rehydration tablets and high-energy glucose gel.

Food and health supplies aside though, these men need entertainment as well to keep their minds and thoughts from not getting the best of them. The chosen entertainment device? The Sony Playstation Portable. Although details are scarce whether Sony was a part of this or not, we know that a few PSPs have been lowered down via a tube to the miners to offer them entertainment during this time and give them something to do.

If Sony is reading this, we hope that they take the time and offer those men some more goodies (just remember, it has to fit inside of a tube) so more PSPs, games and battery packs seem to be just what these miners need. I’m sure some FIFA games will especially go over very well down there.

Sony Blasts Mobile Phone Gaming, Winks at Apple

by Sohrab Osati | Aug 17, 2010 | 33 comments

This new commercial from Sony pretty much says all it needs to say. Sony is no longer just concerned with Nintendo in the handheld gaming market but is very well aware of the fact that Apple has taken a big leap with the App Store and the cheap games it offers. The message here is simple: on the PSP, you can get high quality games starting at $9.99. Sony also offers the Mini games as well which have a starting price of $2, but those are more like the content and sometimes straight ports of games on the App Store. Being a lover of my iPhone, I have to say that although the games on the Apple platform are fun for a few minutes, they are nowhere near the quality of a game designed for the PSP, especially AAA titles like God of War, Final Fantasy and LittleBigPlanet which offer far superior graphics, depth, and storyline. Of course, price plays into all of this as well and I think Sony is on the right track. It needs to further increase the presence of the PSP and let gamers know of the variety of titles it has, including Minis. From there, Sony needs to reach to the small time publishers of the App Store and let them know that the content they create is welcomed on the Playstation platform and then formulate a delivery method so they can actually pass those games to Sony.

Click Me For Video Because I Can't Embed Flash On Here...

DC Brings Its Comics To PSP

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 29, 2010 | 4 comments

DC is throwing its support behind the PSP and will now be offering its comics in the Playstation Comic Store, joining the likes of Sony Comics, Marvel and others. DC will be starting off with 80 titles; there will be more coming in the future. DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee went on to announce that there will be: “actually a fairly wide and diverse offering of kids comics like Tiny Titans, DC core titles such as Batman: Hush and critically acclaimed classics like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman”.

Lee also confirmed that the prices of the comics will range from $1 to $3. For those who want to try out this service, there will be several free issues and samples, including a 10-page preview of “Superman No. 700,” stories from “Batman: Black and White” and the first installments of “Bayou,” “Fringe,” “Mirror’s Edge,” and “Resistance.”

Some other launch titles include:

“Batman: Hush,” “Green Lantern: Rebirth,” “Fables: Legends in Exile” and “Planetary: All Over the World,” “Other Stories,” “Superman/Batman,” “Resistance,” “Free Realms” and “God of War.”

Gamer Log: PSPgo Saved My Night

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 27, 2010 | 21 comments

So here is a fun one. Last night, I had my girlfriend over. We had finished dinner with the family and we were going to eventually pop in a Blu-ray to watch. A few days prior to all of this, I had introduced my girlfriend to the Tester series on PSN. So while we waited for the rest of the family to get together, we decided to watch a episode or two. One down, no problem and we were into the next episode when the family was ready. We skimmed my now 197 Blu-ray titles (take that, Blockbuster) and we came on “The International” (from Columbia Pictures) and started to watch away. Half way through the movie, my girlfriend wasn’t feeling all that well so we decided to retire the night upstairs in my room. My room is geek heaven but there is no HDTV there so I haven’t even bothered buying another PS3 yet. But we were both also a little bored and wanted something entertaining to watch. Thats when it hit me. I grabbed my PSPgo off the Sony Dock, jumped on PSN and downloaded episode 5 of the Tester (135MB) in about 3 minutes and we finished that episode in bed. It’s times like this when that little guy really shines and I look at the Nintendo DS and cant help but wonder why Sony isn’t pushing more of these devices out.

Playstation Plus Content Revealed For Month 1 & 2

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 25, 2010 | 3 comments

If you’re wondering what the Playstation Plus is all about, we gave you a nice breakdown feature by feature to let you know what you have to gain from this new service from Sony. Now, here are all the goodies you will be getting:

Month 1: June 29th – August 3rd

Intro offer: Qore (LittleBigPlanet for Europe)
PSN PS3: Wipeout HD
minis: Field Runners, Age of Zombies
PSone: Destruction Derby
Full Game Trial: Shatter, Savage Moon
Discounts: LBP God of War Pack – 50%, LBP: LocoRoco costume pack – 50%, Gravity Crash – 20%, Fat Princess DLC – 20%
Premium Game Element: KillZone 2: Steel & Titanium DLC
Push demo: ModNation Racers, Heavy Rain
Themes: LBP Theme, SCEE produced: PlayStation “Game Is Just The Start” Dynamic Theme
2 x Fat Princess Premium Avatars

Month 2: August 4th – September 1st

PSN PS3: Zen Pinball
minis: Blast-Off, Alien Zombie Death
PSone: Medievil
Full Game Trial: Inferno Pool, Mushroom Wars
Discounts: Zen Pinball Earth Defence Table – 20%, Warhawk Triple Combo Pack – 50%, Super Stardust HD – 20%, WipeOutHD Fury – 20%
Premium Game Elements: Motorstorm Pacific Rift: Adrenaline Pack
Push Demo: Flower, Pixel Junk Shooter
Themes: “SCEE produced: PlayStation + Dynamic Theme (in production), Heavy Rain Crime Scene Theme
2 x Heavy Rain Avatars (Bird and Butterfly)

Playstation Plus: Full Details

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 24, 2010 | 11 comments

I’ll be giving my thoughts on PSN Plus later on, but I can tell you that indeed I will be getting this new service from Sony when it launches in the US and Europe on June 29th. Because the internet seems to go nuts and lose sight of what’s really going on, I will have to point out that all the remaining services you enjoy on your Playstation 3 and PSP will continue to be free. So online gaming, access to the Playstation Store, firmware updates etc. will all continue to be free. So what does Playstation Plus give you? Lots of content. Lots and lots of content. So what are these?

Games
Discounts
Exclusive items on PlayStation Store
Full Game Trial
Automatic Downloads

Hit the jump for full details and breakdown of every feature.

I Don't Use My PSPgo Because I'm Cheap

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 10, 2010 | 5 comments

On October 1st, 2009, I was a giddy person. It was the PSPgo launch date and I had my unit already paid for and only needed the UPS man to bring it to my door. It was a little opposite of the PSP-1000 launch as I waited in line that day at a GameStop store. The original PSP was one of my favorite gadgets. Before I had an iPod, that little guy would hold my music, I had a load of UMD movies and had downloaded Anime on my memory stick and a load of games. Fast forward the PSPgo launch: I received my unit, fired it up and was in love. I immediately downloaded Grand Turismo and a few other games and took my PSPgo with me everywhere. But I noticed I kept going back to my PSP-1000 and it was for the simple reason that I still needed to beat Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7. Because of lack of option of playing Crisis Core on my PSPgo, my PSP-1000 had me in. But now I owned this beautiful unit and I couldn’t even give it the attention it needed. Soon I noticed that Amazon had a fantastic deal on Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Of course, this was on the UMD version, but for $20, how could I say no?

It’s with this that I noticed that the reason I don’t use my PSPgo is because I’m cheap! Seriously, one of the reasons I have been playing my original PSP more than my PSPgo is because I can go on Amazon and get cheaper prices or sales on games. Plus, at the end of the day, it will be the same game because yes the PSPgo is sexier and has a better screen, but the game itself is and will be the same. So while I do love my PSPgo, I don’t want to pay extra for games when I don’t have to. Also, the whole point of digital distribution is that there is no shipping, no packaging, no producing and booklets and boxes, so does it not make sense for the digital version to be cheaper? Plus, the big worry with game publishers right now is secondhand selling and how they don’t get a cut of that market. Well have the UMD version for $40 which can go be sold again and the PSN version for $30 because I cannot share those and sell that copy.

That is ultimately not the only solution. Sony needs to give a retailer like Amazon the capability go also put the PSN versions on sale as well as the UMD and give the buyers a choice (remember, there is a PSN store on Amazon as well for those who want to gift games or just buy them some other way). So to wrap this up, I’m not against digital downloads. I own 2 iPhones (soon 3) and my iPad, and I have nearly 30 PSN games on the PS3, but when I can get the same game for cheaper on the PSP as opposed to the PSPgo version and they are of the same quality, capitalism and supply and end demand indicate that the PSPgo will flop and so far, its been true, sadly.

Here’s a funny thing: in order to take the picture I did for the profile, I had to plug my PSPgo back in and charge it up and during its initial setup, I felt very guilty about this post and the lack of attention I have given that unit and the lack of marketing and attention Sony has given it as well because it feels so damn nice in the hand. Dammit Sony!

PSP Promos and Deals in June!

by Jenni Petot | Jun 2, 2010 | 1 comment

Kristin Neirinckx, Sony’s Marketing Manger for PSP, announced yesterday three new promos/collections for the PSP, and they are very exciting.

Deal #1: Introduction to $9.99 “Favorites” Software line. These games are obviously a great value and include many games you love or want to try. Included in the lineup are:

Ape Escape: On the Loose
Buzz Master Quiz
LocoRoco 2
PixelJunk Monster Deluxe
SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo
Twisted Metal: Head On
Sims 2
Justice League Heroes

Deal #2: The PSP will now have a “Greatest Hits” collection just like the PS3. I usually buy games on launch date but there have been a few that I purchase once they are greatest hits. It’s a great way to buy the best games at a low cost. The PSP titles in this collection will be $19.99. Included are:

Gran Turismo
Little Big Planet
Resistance: Retribution
Secret Agent Clank

Deal #3: For those of you that don’t have a PSP Go and have been on the fence about it, here’s something to guide you to the right side. When purchasing a PSP Go from now until March 31, 2011 you will get a e-mail voucher for 3 free games! Up to an $80 value, amazing and a wide variety of games will be available for purchase. As seen below, this bundle will give you a great start to a path to quality handheld gaming. [Via Sony Blog]

PSP Go Buyers Will Now Get 10 Free Games

by Jenni Petot | May 28, 2010 | 10 comments

Sony’s making an offer you can’t refuse.

The PSP Go was released fall of last year and since then Sony has been finding a way to boost their not so high sales. It was announced this week that Sony will give PSP Go buyers 10 free games bundled with this handheld system starting next month. That’s right, 10. This deal will also apply to existing buyers who got this system after April 1st. The catch? This only applies to buyers in the UK. (Boo!) The games included in the free bunch are impressive too and not duds. Titles will include: Little Big Planet, Grand Turismo, Wipout Pure, FIFA World Cup 2010 and Need for Speed Shift. SCE UK sales director Mark Howsen revealed a scheme during an interview:

“On PSP Go we’ve decided to innovate with that particular business model. Next month we’re launching a free ten game offer. And this isn’t just older titles – we’ve worked with third parties and there’s some really good core products. We’re using it as a method to drive the hardware as well by making the whole proposition much more appealing.”

There’s no indication this amazing deal with be offered to us in the U.S. but I’m hoping for it! I’ll sure jump on board and purchase one and enjoy with a slice of the PSP cake. This deal is like Sony is giving the hardware for freeeee. Man I love that word, free.

You Can Now Eat Your PSP

by Sohrab Osati | May 26, 2010 | 36 comments

One thing I’ve always wanted to do is experience a surprise and have it be a cake of something I love. So if anybody out there wants to, please make me a Matrix or Lost or PS3 or iPad cake. Chocolate, too. But the folks over at Debbie Does Cakes have now gone out and pulled at my taste buds in another way: A PSP cake! What’s freaking amazing too is the amount of detail on this thing. From the yellow port for the power plug, to the button placement and logos to the rough design over the joystick. If I didn’t love chocolate stuff so much, I would almost feel bad about eating this. Now, I want to see a PSPgo cake!

[Via Walyou]