We’ve been demanding a PSP phone for years now. Rumor after rumor came and went, but no product appeared on store shelves or online listings. Out of the blue, technology blog,Engadget received a tip that not only is the PSP phone in development, but that it’ll run on Android.
This is a quantum leap for Sony, which has often struggled to sell the PSP outside of Japan. With four iterations to date, the PSP has sold 60 million units worldwide, compared to 132 million from Nintendo’s DS and 85 million from Apple’s iPhone. If the report is true, not only has Sony admitted that it needs to change course, but that it is willing to play nice with others to take on the competition.
Google & Sony: A Match Made In Heaven
Sony has a long history of making excellent hardware, but the company doesn’t always understand user-functionality; PS3 installations, bad patches, convoluted menu systems, and Ken Kutaragi, regarding PS3, saying that people should want to, “work more hours to buy one.”
Google knows exactly what users want, and changed the internet forever with cloud computing. With Android as the phone’s operating system, Google and Sony are poised to make not just a good phone, something which nearly every Android phone has accomplished in being, but an amazing phone. Sony Ericsson has an equally positive track record. And, the cherry on top of this most delicious sundae, Google’s been trying to get into game advertising for years now. Teaming up with one of the ‘big three’ could be the perfect solution.
Google & Sony VS. Apple
For the first time, Apple’s market capitalization ($241.5 billion) passed Microsoft’s ($239.5 billion) in May, 2010. Market capitalization is a fickle measurement, based more on expectations than performance, but it proves what we already knew; Apple is a force to be reckoned with. A Google/Sony tag-team may take them down a notch. Or two. With Google’s vast online presence and Sony’s hardware backing up the phone, plus both casual and hardcore mobile gaming on the table, consumers will very quickly begin asking themselves whether to upgrade to the latest iPhone, or to switch to Android.
Apple is technically on top in the mobile market, although precise figures are often inflated by iPods and iPads. More importantly, Android has spread like a wildfire and actually outsold iPhone on numerous occasions in 2010. Apple’s App Store has over 200,000 applications available for purchase, while Android has around 70,000. Apple commands a strong lead thanks to the iPhone’s excellent media playback and computer software iTunes, while Android has…well, simple media playback options built in and no PC software.
Oddly enough, Google could take the reigns on Sony’s Media Go software, which syncs any PSP’s games and media on the PC for easy transfer. Android is also gaining ground on the iPhone’s 200,000 apps. Perhaps more importantly for many users switching from RIM, dissatisfied with the current state of Blackberry, is that some Android models include physical keyboards. But for gaming, don’t count on it. Instead, the PSP phone will probably have the typical Playstation controller layout. We can only pray for two analog sticks this time.
Touchscreen or Buttons?
In just two years’ time, the App Store has acquired a larger game catalog than both Sony and Nintendo’s consoles combined, and most of those games are cheap, rarely $10 or more, and often free or just $0.99. GameZone has even jumped in the iPhone scene, and some of our top rated games are Angry Birds Princess Fury.
Games on Apple devices, however, work only through the touchscreen, which greatly limits the possible games developers can make. It’s very difficult to make traditional games, such as fast-paced action titles or shooters without buttons. Some games do a decent job, including Geometry Wars: Touch and N.O.V.A. but the gameplay isn’t as good as it could be.
Without buttons, and without smudging your screen, how do you precisely control the stealthy movements of Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid, or the intense action of Kratos in God of War? You don’t.
Better Phone Games, Incoming!
Perhaps more importantly is the quality of games. Android has an infestation of shovelware, free apps that no one wants, and erotica thinly disguised as games. With Sony’s backing, games could be labeled as “Playstation” titles, meaning that Sony approves of it and consumers don’t have to worry about spending money stupidly.
If Sony introduced their full line of PSP titles, as well as developer tools and competitive pricing for those games, the Android marketplace would boom at the opportunity, and both Sony and Google would make a killing. Game developers would flock to the PSP phone, knowing full well that it would sell for cheap (no less than $200, no more than $300, with a service contract) and that gamers and everyday consumers alike would line up for it. Plus, with buttons and a touchscreen, and with Sony’s and Google’s free developer tools, anyone could make a game.
A Revolution In The Making?
As an iPhone owner, I can say without a doubt that Apple makes a great phone. Gaming on it is great, as you’ve seen in our reviews, but it could be better. Mobile gaming can move beyond what it is today, and Sony may have the key to accomplishing that. Would I give up my iPhone for a PSP phone? Probably not. But an Android-based PSP phone? In a heartbeat.
