Not long ago, everyone was excited about Sony’s PSP. Why shouldn’t we have been? It’s by far the most technologically advanced handheld device that has ever been conceived. It plays games, music, and movies, and even surfs the Internet when connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot. It’s a very versatile handheld device, one that could have been the biggest thing since sliced bread. But like so many gadgets that have come before, the PSP is currently sitting idle in the closets of its once rabid fan base. The biggest question is why?

Peter Redmer, a gaming enthusiast from the Chicago suburbs, is one of many disappointed PSP owners. "I was so excited about the release of the PSP. I scraped together all the loose change I could find, and even traded in some of my older games to get one, but now its been sitting completely unused for the last 9 months. Now I want a DS Lite."

Wrong Design From the Beginning, UMD Flops

Sony's first major mistake happened even before the PSP hit the market. The PSP was designed to be more than just an evolution in portable gaming, but instead as a mobile entertainment center, thereby shifting the focus of the PSP from gaming to music, video, web surfing, and everthing else in between. Sony may think this "all-in-one" approach to the PSP was also ill-concieved, considering they've recently launched a product called Mylo, which is a handheld entertainment device that oddly overlaps many functions of the PSP. Moving forward, one could expect that Sony will more heavily focus on the PSP's gaming abilities.

Designing the PSP as a mobile entertainment device ultimately led to mistake number two, called UMD, their small proprietary optical disc format that serves as the storage medium for games and movies. In concept, it’s almost the perfect format for a mobile gaming device. Examine that last statement carefully, and you’ll see I said “gaming” device, not mobile media device. I’ve always believed that proprietary formats work for gaming devices. The games are already proprietary to the system in which they run on, so who cares about the storage medium? It’s all the other aspects of mobile entertainment that fall apart when proprietary formats are chosen.

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Take movies for example. Sony managed to create quite a stir about selling commercial movies on UMD. They even managed to get the support of several Hollywood studios, creating a rather impressive catalogue of titles available for a proprietary device. In the brief heyday of UMD popularity, sales of movies on UMD were actually good… much to my surprise. I’d been predicting the demise of UMD movies since beginning. Don’t believe me? Check out this forum thread from 2005. For a short time, I thought I could be wrong. No one seemed to mind paying fifteen to twenty bucks for a lower quality version of a movie only playable on the PSP’s 4.3-inch display.

Sometimes I hate being right. It was recently announced that commercial sales of UMD movies slowed to a trickle, and not only is Hollywood basically ending support for PSP releases, but Sony is pulling the plug as well. You know there's no hope left when the captain abandons ship.

Apparently, no one wants to buy a movie on two separate formats for mobile and home playback. What a shocker…

Memory Stick to Save The Day?

Now that UMD has flopped, Sony is looking to capitalize on Memory Stick as a distributable format for commercial movies. Memory Stick, Sony’s third mistake, was merely Sony’s “me too” reaction to the flood of flash memory formats to hit the market a few years back, and would have ultimately gone the way of the Dodo if not pushed in their other electronic offerings. By the time the PSP was released, the SD format had already become the dominant removable memory format of choice for MP3 players, cell phones, and digital cameras, and was half the price of Memory Stick at any given size.

Sony recently announced the Memory Stick Entertainment Pack, which includes a 512MB, 1GB, or 2GB memory stick with a special installer disc that will extract video clips and movie trailers to the Memory Stick for PSP playback. Clips and trailers… yippee… The two largest versions also let you have one of four mediocre Sony movies in digital format. Giving away a free copy of “Hitch” with an overpriced Memory Stick is NOT a solution.

Actually, video playback from the Memory Stick has been one of the few consumer friendly ways to watch movies on the PSP, provided you can figure out how to do it. Savvy enough users have been able to convert their movies on DVD to a format playable on the PSP, making the PSP somewhat useful as a portable video player. Unfortunately, the process for doing so is time consuming and not user-friendly enough for the masses. If Sony really wanted to sell commercial movies for playback on the PSP via Memory Stick, why not create an online store where people can buy and download them in digital form?

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It's No iPod

Mobile video is only part of the PSP’s entertainment offering. It’s also a reasonable music player, although limited by proprietary offerings. Even if you look past the memory standard, music compatibility is just as important. Though audio playback was very limited in the beginning, Sony has made a reasonable effort by adding support for unsecured AAC and WMA files (if you go through the separate WMA activation process) through a myriad firmware updates. Of course, don’t expect to play your copy-protected tracks purchased through online music stores.

Unfortunately, the physical characteristics of the PSP limit its usefulness for on the go listening. "It's just too big to haul around for most daily activities, especially when compared to other dedicated MP3 players," says Peter. "In the car, working out, and traveling, the PSP just doesn't cut as a music player. The interface is cumbersome, and not as intuitive as other devices I've used like the iPod and Rio Karma."

Music capacity is another detriment. Why spend $100 for a 2GB card when a smaller, better, and more portable MP3 player with two to ten times the capacity is only a few dollars more? Peter has over 20 GB of music he wants to bring on the go, and there's just no 20GB Memory Stick out there to make the PSP comparable to higher capacity, smaller devices.

Can Games Save the Day?

The only saving grace left in the PSP is as a game system, but this is another area that the PSP is falling flat. Yes, it is capable of spectacular 3D games in a portable package, and there have been plenty of games that take advantage of the hardware. So why then is the PSP getting hammered by the Nintendo DS in sales and popularity? The hardware does have a little bit to do with it. Like I said above, UMD is a great format for a mobile gaming device, but they should have worked on the speed of the drive a little before releasing it to the market. The load times are painful.

The main reason games don’t do that well is not entirely Sony’s fault. All the power in the PSP is being used, but it’s the developers that aren’t releasing compelling games. "The reason I'm salivating over the DS Lite is because it seems to get all of the creative, unique, and truly entertaining titles, such as the Castlevania series, that the PSP seems to be lacking", says Peter. "I've been looking for a title with true character, that I will play to a point of addiction."

Instead of truly unique and innovative titles, the PSP is plagued with lower quality knock-offs of popular console titles. Sure, you can get games like Splinter Cell to look great on the PSP, but that doesn’t mean the game play translates well to a portable. The PSP has a few hits, like Lumines, which has been available since day one, but there have been few follow up smash hits to make the PSP the “must-have” game system it was touted to be. Peter said it best, "One or two great titles for a $249 portable system just isn't enough for me."

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Conclusion

So far, the PSP has been a disappointment for many buyers. For many, it now sits and collects dust; regardless of the fact the PSP is the kitchen sink of mobile devices. It does everything…it just doesn’t do much of it particularly well.

It may still be a bit early to call the PSP completely dead, given that it still has a few years of life left in it, but it would take nothing short of a miracle to rekindle the excitement and interest it used to generate. Offloading many of its entertainment functions to the Mylo allows the PSP to be rejuvinated as a gaming only device, and that's a step in the right direction. However, it's surely a move that will infuriate existing users that expected the PSP to live up to its "all-in-one" promise.

Sony’s proprietary approach to technology design and numerous fumbles has forced the PSP into an awkward position, and it’s unlikely that it will be overcome during its lifecycle. Assuming that's the case, Peter's PSP may stay in storage for quite a long time, maybe indefinitely.

We may just have to see what PSP 2 has to offer, and hope that Sony doesn’t make the same mistakes twice.

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