|
ONCE
upon a time, tech pundits predicted
Sony’s
PlayStation Portable (PSP) would be an “iPod
killer” because of all its flashy features. But the PSP
has suffered from a slightly unfortunate image among
gamers and gadget lovers: it’s the device that can do
pretty much anything, from surfing the Web to playing
games, but that actually seems to spend most of its time
gathering dust. As the PSP hits the third anniversary of
its US launch this month, Sony is cranking up the fight
again. Updates to the operating software have introduced
Internet radio stations, for example, and Sony recently
made voice-over-Internet service
Skype available on the device, meaning users can
make cheap or even free phone calls to anywhere in the
world.
Later
this year Sony is rolling out a GPS service for the
gadget, with which users will be able to navigate the
real-world streets with 3-D versions of major US cities,
including Washington. A video download store for the PSP
is on the way.
But the
biggest selling point may be coming this week, with a
new game called God of War: Chains of Olympus. It’s the
latest installment of one of Sony’s most popular
franchises, and the only version to premiere exclusively
on the mobile device. The move represents a serious push
for the gadget, which is about the size and shape of a
car’s rearview mirror.
While
not a household name like Halo or Grand Theft Auto, God
of War is a big business for Sony. When a sequel was
released last spring on the
PlayStation 2, it was the No. 1 seller for the
month; the next game on the list sold only half as many
units. The game’s popularity helped Sony’s console
outsell even the mighty Wii—if only for a month or so.
Full
disclosure: My own PSP sits around ignored most of the
time, but an early copy of the blood-soaked game has me
pretty psyched about the device again.
The
games’ star is an angry, muscular Spartan warrior dude
named Kratos, who hacks and slashes his way through
hundreds of mythical monsters on a mission to avenge
something or other. Imagine a set from Raiders of the
Lost Ark, dressed in Clash of the Titans wardrobe, and
dosed with gore. (Parents, this is not a game for young
kids.)
For the
nongamer—and, okay, maybe even for us gamers—God of War
might look like pretty cheesy stuff, but somehow it
works, and the new version is as addictive as its
predecessors. I’ve squandered eight or nine hours of
commuting time on the game so far, in any case.
Early
write-ups are already in: Chains of Olympus has earned
the biggest rave reviews of any title released on the
device, according to review aggregate site
Metacritic.com.
Now, on
the game news sites, a new line is displacing the cliche
about the PSP’s rep as a dust gatherer: Some say,
they’re buying Sony’s gadget just to check out God of
War.
In
recent years, tech pundits have sometimes wondered
whether Sony would give up on the PSP as a result of
what seemed to be ever-lowering expectations for it.
Sony had pushed a movie format for use on the device,
called Universal Mini Disc, but that sold poorly enough
that many major movie studios eventually abandoned it.
Sony, naturally, is still supporting the format, a
silver disc that’s half the size of a DVD.
But
Chains of Olympus is showing up at the beginning of a
year when the PSP’s fortunes have already seemed to be
improving, if modestly. Sales were up 10 percent in
January over the same period a year ago, according to
market research firm
NPD Group. Sony recently increased its 2008
worldwide sales projections for the device to 13 million
from an earlier estimate of 10 million. The PSP cost
$250 when it first launched; a slimmer, updated version
runs $170.
Will the
macho Kratos be strong enough to pull the PSP to a
broader audience? Right now, all the rage is for more
mainstream “casual” games, especially on devices like
this one where most users probably only want a 10- or
20-minute diversion.
Analyst
Michael Pachter of
Wedbush Morgan Securities thinks Sony has taken a
wrong step in making PSP games that are too demanding of
a player’s time—and not paying enough attention to
“casual” games that only require a few minutes.
As a
gaming device, the PSP hasn’t made much of a dent on
Nintendo’s audience, he said—the company has sold
twice as many of its own portable device, the DS.
“[Sony
is] certainly at the critical mass point where they’re
making money, but they’re not doing as well as they
could have,” Pachter said.
Though
he was an early advocate of the device, Pachter admits
he only uses the Sony device on long airplane trips
these days. At home, he tends to play classic Mario
games on his family’s two Game Boys with his daughters.
When the
PSP launched in the
United States,
I quoted Pachter in an article as saying that Sony had
finally come up with a world-class device that was a
worthy successor to the Walkman. This was a time before
the
iPhone and even before the
iTunes store featured video content; within five
years, he said, the iPod would be just a fading memory.
Okay,
well, it doesn’t look like anybody’s forgetting about
the iPod just yet. But, as Pachter now says, there’s
room for more than just one slick gadget in the world.
|
