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Even With A Hardware Update, Is The PSP On Life Support?

Despite a recent hardware update for the Sony PSP, Wedbush Morgan game industry anaylst Michael Pachter and Liquid Entertainment president Ed Del Castillo thinks the platform is in a lot of trouble, stuck in the no-man's land between the Nintendo DS and Apple's iPhone. In particular Pachter thinks the PSP was too far ahead of the curve at launch and has suffered due to Sony being drawn to thin as a company to nurture the platform.

LucasArts' producer Dan Wasson and Sony Bend directors Chris Reese and John Garvin defend the PSP but Pachter and Del Castillo poke holes in the future of the platform. Pachter in particular says, "PSP-3000 is indicative of a much larger problem: Sony's consumer electronics division beginning to have some stroke over its gaming department. Constant tech tweaks and upgrades might work for telephones, but they're not what gamers want… it creates confusion, and leaves many users with older models feeling inadequate."

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Analyst Pachter says 'blame... - pspfanboy.com | By: shadowghost752

s827 - contributor
Published: 482 days 7 hours ago | Article | Sony PSP | Industry News

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sajj316 - 482 days 9 hours ago

1 -

My goodness Pachter, do you have a clue about hardware. Hardware will always go through redesigns to reduce cost and improve ergonomics. So the DS Lite entry signifies a problem with Nintendo R & D? I don't think so. The problem with PSP and to an extent with DS is piracy. With R4DS its easy to pirate DS games. With custom firmare its easy to play a wide array of games from emulation to UMD ISOs. This is the problem with PSP software and to an extent the DS. In fact, I think the DS software sales would be higher if not for ROM emulation.

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BattleAxe - 482 days 2 hours ago

1.1 - ^^^ I agree

But on top of all of that, it still uses UMD which is all that matters. Next year Sony has the GPS package comming out, plus they just did up a new contract with all of the major movie studios to start bringing more movies out on UMD.

As far as games go, the only game I'm actually really excited about thats comming out within the next year is Resistance: Retribution. But you still have games like Tom Clancy's End War, Madden 09, Tiger Woods 09 Gran Turismo, Oblivion and Devil May Cry ect... comming out for it aswell.

Bottom line, the PSP is more than just a game system. Its not in trouble because it apeals to a wide variety of consumers.

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JoySticksFTW - 482 days ago

1.2 - Yeah, I know that this isn't the Open Zone, but from Droids to Bots...

... can ALL of us hardcore gamers agree that Patcher doesn't know what he's talking about already?

His predictions and analysis are damn near embarrassing now.

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lodossrage - 482 days 8 hours ago

2 - So by Patcher's knowledge

When we seen all those changes with the Gameboy turning into Gameboy pocket and then Gameboy Pocket being upgraded to Gameboy color it was "indicative" of a larger problem for Nintendo right?

When the DS was remodeled into DS light, it was "indicative" of a larger problem for Nintendo right?

This man Patcher is quite the failure at his job. And THAT my friend is "indicative" of his weak analysis

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Fox01 - 482 days 7 hours ago

2.1 - this guy's like a broken clock.

I can't believe he still does all these "analysis".

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Sitdown - 482 days 5 hours ago

2.2 - Are you saying he is like a broken...

clock because he is right twice a day...........or were you meaning like a broken record?

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morganfell - 482 days 4 hours ago

2.3 -

It's a military clock so he is only right once a day. Seriously though, his opinions are about as welcome as a chastity belt in a whorehouse. Why is anyone still listening to this clown.

Considering the recent sales trends for the PSP I can't believe anyone with 5 ounces of common sense would approve this story. Well, there are always those people scrambling to find bad Sony news...

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Sitdown - 482 days 1 hour ago

2.4 - Ahhh

I like the twist with the military time............bubbles for that.

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gaffyh - 481 days 16 hours ago

2.5 -

@Fox01 - He gets paid to analyse, because he's an "analyst". Easiest job ever, lol.

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kittoo - 482 days 8 hours ago

3 - More than 41 million people disagree

They prove that PSP is not in trouble.
I am one of them. I absolutely love my PSP and its the best gadget I have.

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s827 - 482 days 7 hours ago

3.1 -

But where are the games? Actual games that aren't ports?

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theusedfake - 482 days 7 hours ago

3.2 - @kittoo

you can add me to that list.
I love my psp, so many great games.
I bring it with me pretty much everywhere
i know, i'm a nerd lol

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Too_Hyped - 482 days 7 hours ago

3.3 -

@s827 : are you joking or are you serious ? There are tons of great games on PSP (the FFs, GoW, PES, Patapon, Loco Roco...)

PSP sold millions in Japan this year, the system is not at all in "life support"...

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SmokingMonkey - 482 days 7 hours ago

3.4 - PATA PATA PATA PON

PS1 games from PSN go to your PSP from your PS2

very cool and only on the PSP, couple that with remote play and file sharing, i think the PSP and the PS3 both have bright future's

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iamtehpwn - 482 days 5 hours ago

3.5 - PSP I thought WASSS close to death. Keyword: Was.

And then Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and God of war: Chains of Olympus, and I rethought that.

PSP is an amazing system. Dissidia. Agito. The 3rd birthday. Birth By sleep. Resistance.

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DJ - 482 days 7 hours ago

4 - Tons of games + Huge hardware sales = Life Support?

What the hell is Pachter thinking when he writes this stuff?

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silvacrest - 482 days 6 hours ago

4.1 -

i think the problem is hes not thinking at all

or he just likes to make fanboy flame bait...

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LeonSKennedy4Life - 482 days 7 hours ago

5 - hm...

I think most people that haven't bought it are waiting for a second analog stick, a harddrive, a unified online service (PSN), and other things...not Skype or internet radio...

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theusedfake - 482 days 7 hours ago

6 - @s827

well, here's a few

Crisis Core:Final Fantasy VII
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Patapon
Grand Theft Auto: Vice/Liberty city stories
Secret agent clank
Silent Hill Origins
Daxter
Resistance: Retribution
Jeanne D'Arc
Beats
Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops

just off the top of my head though ;)

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Halo3Mgs4 - 482 days 7 hours ago

7 - if this is true

then i guess the DS is also on life support -_-

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DA_SHREDDER - 482 days 7 hours ago

8 - Ive had 2 psp's,, gonna go on three with the new design.

The only 2 problems I have with the psp is that their is no second analog stick,, and their really arent that many games for the system. Other then that their is really nothing wrong with the hardware at all. If anything its the most superior handheld Ive ever seen.

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WengYong - 482 days ago

8.1 - Same here shredder......

I have one phat and one slim and I do wish there were more games. The PSP does need more games but there are alot of games that are hidden gems. Syphon Filter Logans Shadow ??? Thats been my fave game on the PSP so far and the multiplayer is a BLAST. If you own a PSP and dont have this game get it

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UltimaEnder - 482 days 7 hours ago

9 -

great story, we need more games!

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SaiyanFury - 482 days 6 hours ago

10 -

What is with all these "PSP needs saving" articles lately? I realize the media loves a trend and a scapegoat to pick on, but sheesh, enough already. I remember shortly after it launched and for it's entire first year in the industry, "The PS3 won't survive", blah blah blah. Now it's overtaken the 360 in worldwide sales. The PSP is also leading hardware sales in Japan and has been for months. On top of that it's selling very well worldwide. I love my PSP and I buy games for it regularly, as I'm sure many other gamers out there do as well. This Micheal Pachter really needs another career. Trying to jumpstart the industry in some direction he'd like to see it move in, isn't going to happen. The iPhone is NOT a threat to the PSP, and the DS has it's own crowd. Get over it.

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Figboy - 482 days 5 hours ago

10.1 - well,

the haters are running out of fuel to fan the PS3 flames, so they shift focus to it's little brother.

it's little brother that sold 10 million units in Japan, and a total of 40 million units worldwide.

do you know how many units the biggest competitor to Nintendo's handheld throne sold? 8 million.

it was the Sega Game Gear.

EVERY OTHER handheld gaming device released to combat Nintendo barely reached 1 million, let alone 8 or 40 million.

the PSP is doing just fine, and as long as quality games like the Monster Hunter series, Crisis Core, the upcoming FF games, and more, continue to release on the console, it will not need "saving."

i'm tired of the doom and gloom articles, myself. i much prefer talking about the actual games.

if i had known this story was about Michael Patchter before i clicked on it, i never would have bothered.

i'm an infinitely better analyst than this idiot. i think you can count the times he's had an accurate prediction on three fingers, well, two fingers...make that one finger. you know what, has this guy EVER been right on his predictions?

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solidjun5 - 482 days 6 hours ago

11 - That Patcher is silly.

Patcher analysis is like a box of "bull crap"; you'll always know what you're going to get...BULLCRAP!

There's a box like that reserved for bruceongames too.

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Hellbringer - 482 days 6 hours ago

12 -

I find it funny how he thinks PSP is on life support. The DS lite is considered Indirect competition to the PSP because they are aiming for different target markets.

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TheDesperado - 482 days 6 hours ago

13 - F*cking idiots don't know anything about hardware upgrades

You don't get your old PSP taken away from you when the 3000 comes out. If you want to upgrade, do it. If new people want to buy it, they can.

Your benefit, as an old PSP owner is the weeks/months/years you spent shamelessly playing pirated games. You have no right to complain.

It's the same for EVERY technology. Upgrades are good. And ALL of them have the same function - one won't play PSP games the others can't.

Plus, 40 mil+ sales, top dog in Japan, rising in the rest of the world.
NO, IT'S NOT ON F*CKING LIFE SUPPORT.

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divideby0 - 482 days 6 hours ago

14 -

I think this is the last revision of the existing PsP.
Eveyone wants a internal HD or large amount of flash memory and as soon as Sony has a viable digitial distribution network for the PsP...we will see a new model really supporting diskless play. I can see the PS3 being the storage medium and offloading games to the PsP. Maybe a ways out

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hokis4ever - 482 days 6 hours ago

15 - I don't Undertand

Why all these articles are being published? The PSP is selling really well, there are a number of good games currently available and will be in the future and it's a great portable multimedia device!

I don't know why everyone is so concerned?

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vlazed - 482 days 6 hours ago

16 -

Square_Enix says hello.

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pwnsause - 482 days 6 hours ago

17 -

/epic facepalm/ seriously, has anyone been looking at handheld sales lately? can everyone remind this idiot how the PSP was doing during the year?

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Auron - 482 days 5 hours ago

18 - PSP rules!

Its like the ultimate handheld. and so what if it has ps1 ports?! I freakin love ps1 with a passion! so a portable Ps1 is like a dream cometrue for me as well as others.

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Old Snake - 482 days 4 hours ago

19 -

IS this a joke? PSP has been selling like hot cakes in Japan. Last time I checked it was 2nd barely behind the DS and that is quite impressive.

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badz149 - 482 days 3 hours ago

20 - Pachter is DUMB

this is among the dumbest from him and I think there's a lot more to come! what I can see now is, Pachter spit out his prediction based on hype and trend! he heard the PS3 is gaining ground then predicted PS3 to outsold 360 and BAMM!! 360 outsold PS3 slightly in both months he said so! GTAIV came out and he predicted gazzilion PS3 and 360 sold and BAMM!! not so much! then, 360 pricecut and he spit out 360 will outsold PS3 2-to-1 then again BAMM!! PS3 still outsold 360! seriously Pachty, SHUT THE FVCK UP ALREADY!!

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Transformer - 481 days 23 hours ago

21 -

Patcher is stupid PSP will sell a ton in 09 with Kingdom Hearts, FFXiii Agito, 3rd Birthday, Resistance, Patapon 2, some other FF title, if DMC PSP comes out, GT PSP, and the new model with probably a bunch of different colors for Japan.

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SolidSnake93 - 481 days 8 hours ago

22 -

Short answer: No.

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