PSP battery issues flare – Two hour chatter and development restrictions abound
The cost of silence – SCE announcement baulk causes concern
Last week Nintendo and Sony met in the town square of Videogame Town to duel it out over the portable gaming market moving into the next generation.
The encounter seemed like a fair match – The old master, having been burned by dealing with the young upstart back in the early nineties, sought to assert its position as owner of the handheld sector. Sony, bullish after a decade of rampant success, saw no stumbling block in showing its PSP, a portable PlayStation 2 no less, to an eager industry.
But Nintendo had come somewhat better armed. With both machines launching pretty much side by side, Nintendo delivered specific release dates, price points and battery life. Either one of two things could have happened.
Either SCE saw Nintendo’s announcement and decided to hold its own for a later date, perhaps to allow for a reassessment of certain R&D procedures, financial margins and global logistics; or else it simply didn’t have the information to hand.
Aside from the wild speculation about pricing, some of which stems from SCE executives who seemingly had missed last minute briefings to keep mum, the issue of battery life of the embryonic handheld rocketed to the top of the industry’s thinking.
And the situation has been compounded by Sony's reticence in showing the PSP running with an internal battery, with demo units all seeing a rather bulky satellite power supply. To date, there has been one picture of the PSP running without this battery, enclosed behind a case at TGS.
And current rumour has been suggesting that the PlayStation Portable may launch with a play-time power life as low as two hours, a disaster if proven true. Contacting SCE’s press office today, the official line is still no comment. “We've not made any announcement about PSP battery life (same for price), and as with any speculation, we don't make any comment on it,” said a spokesman this afternoon.
And in other news, stories from disgruntled developers are staring to surface in the UK telling of harsh coding guidelines, centred around battery usage, for the machine.
The heavily delayed preliminary development sets are said to include stringent requirements on battery use, including screen usage, UMD access and processor usage routines, all of which are described by some sources as restrictive.
The main cause for concern for possible purchasers of the PSP is that if these rumblings prove to have substance, a heavily restricted development drive centred on power conservation will impact negatively on the quality of software it can deliver.
Heat issues have also cropped up in various outlets, with many claiming the PSP is alarmingly hot to touch.
Talk has today emerged of a revised development kit featuring solid-state test power cells and a power usage emulator, though this couldn’t be confirmed at time of press.
The encounter seemed like a fair match – The old master, having been burned by dealing with the young upstart back in the early nineties, sought to assert its position as owner of the handheld sector. Sony, bullish after a decade of rampant success, saw no stumbling block in showing its PSP, a portable PlayStation 2 no less, to an eager industry.
But Nintendo had come somewhat better armed. With both machines launching pretty much side by side, Nintendo delivered specific release dates, price points and battery life. Either one of two things could have happened.
Either SCE saw Nintendo’s announcement and decided to hold its own for a later date, perhaps to allow for a reassessment of certain R&D procedures, financial margins and global logistics; or else it simply didn’t have the information to hand.
Aside from the wild speculation about pricing, some of which stems from SCE executives who seemingly had missed last minute briefings to keep mum, the issue of battery life of the embryonic handheld rocketed to the top of the industry’s thinking.
And the situation has been compounded by Sony's reticence in showing the PSP running with an internal battery, with demo units all seeing a rather bulky satellite power supply. To date, there has been one picture of the PSP running without this battery, enclosed behind a case at TGS.
And current rumour has been suggesting that the PlayStation Portable may launch with a play-time power life as low as two hours, a disaster if proven true. Contacting SCE’s press office today, the official line is still no comment. “We've not made any announcement about PSP battery life (same for price), and as with any speculation, we don't make any comment on it,” said a spokesman this afternoon.
And in other news, stories from disgruntled developers are staring to surface in the UK telling of harsh coding guidelines, centred around battery usage, for the machine.
The heavily delayed preliminary development sets are said to include stringent requirements on battery use, including screen usage, UMD access and processor usage routines, all of which are described by some sources as restrictive.
The main cause for concern for possible purchasers of the PSP is that if these rumblings prove to have substance, a heavily restricted development drive centred on power conservation will impact negatively on the quality of software it can deliver.
Heat issues have also cropped up in various outlets, with many claiming the PSP is alarmingly hot to touch.
Talk has today emerged of a revised development kit featuring solid-state test power cells and a power usage emulator, though this couldn’t be confirmed at time of press.
Companies:
Sony
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Comments
GeoffreyBa 30 Sep 2004 15:06
1/15
I've got one thing to say about this.
HAHA Sony.
HAHA Sony.
LUPOS 30 Sep 2004 15:32
2/15
GeoffreyBa wrote:
I've got one thing to say about this.
HAHA Sony.
HAHA Sony.
i get a real big bulge in my pants when i hear that sony did somethign stupid, as you can imagine i have a hard time walking most of the day!
you know what might help this problem... if they didnt have to spin that stupid propiatary disc drive thing and just went with a solid state(flash memory cards), but that cost to much, so the games would cost more(like 100 a piece to have a decent amount of room)... wait.. you mean inorder to have currecnt generation quality graphics on a portabel system that doesnt suck i would have to pay more?
thats crazy!
as cool as the psp may be.. its a BAD idea
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acidviper 30 Sep 2004 16:17
3/15
I can see the lawsuits now, kids with their pants on fire from overheated PSP's. Maybe that is why the battery lasts only 2 hours - so it doesn't burn through their skin.
Actually I don't see the battery issue as much of a problem. In 3-5 years someone should be able to make a decent supersmall/cool battery, but by then PSP will be in the same bargain bin as the N-Gage and Game Gear.
Actually I don't see the battery issue as much of a problem. In 3-5 years someone should be able to make a decent supersmall/cool battery, but by then PSP will be in the same bargain bin as the N-Gage and Game Gear.
TigerUppercut 30 Sep 2004 16:30
4/15
Joji 30 Sep 2004 16:58
5/15
Time for Sony to stop the spin and tell us the truth. Once these whispers spread into the print games mags a whole lot of people are gonna be thinking "What the **** am I bothering with that for?"
Two Hours....lol...that's real comedy that is. If it's true goes to show that things are never what they seem. Hate to say it, but the hills Sony have been crossing into hand held land, have now turned into a very large mountain range. Should be interesting to see how they get out of this one and put us all at ease.
This makes my intended DS purchase make sense even more now.
Two Hours....lol...that's real comedy that is. If it's true goes to show that things are never what they seem. Hate to say it, but the hills Sony have been crossing into hand held land, have now turned into a very large mountain range. Should be interesting to see how they get out of this one and put us all at ease.
This makes my intended DS purchase make sense even more now.
vulcan4d 30 Sep 2004 17:34
6/15
I would wait for the official statement before coming to a conclusion. I think the lack of confirmed information is making people a little paranoid, I bet Sony is having the time of their lives reading all this ^^.
Interesting how we have two different approaches by Nintendo and Sony. Nintendo stated the basic, yet much needed information like Price, release date and battery life. That's about it, we havn't heard anything new on DS's hardware nor it's games since E4, and even back then the info was lacking. Then there is Sony, we have detailed PSP hardware info, lot of game info but vague battery life statements and still no price set. It's interesting how Nintendo fans say it's all about the games, yet only Sony delivered the game details and even allow you to play many games in the making.
The information has yet to be confirmed by Sony, but that's no need to exagerate on some key issues. For example, the heat the PSP gives off. For those who play cell phone games, they get more hotter then the PSP, case closed. This article is making it sound like you can fry eggs on the PSP, such statements are just fuel for you know what kind of people. Same with the restrictions stated. This is not a big hinderence like it's stated, just a reminder to developers this is a optical media based mobile device so functions like streaming are out of the question. With as much memory the PSP has, that will not even be needed for a mobile handheld.
Read these articles without any prejudices if possible, because you'll only read what you want to hear.
Interesting how we have two different approaches by Nintendo and Sony. Nintendo stated the basic, yet much needed information like Price, release date and battery life. That's about it, we havn't heard anything new on DS's hardware nor it's games since E4, and even back then the info was lacking. Then there is Sony, we have detailed PSP hardware info, lot of game info but vague battery life statements and still no price set. It's interesting how Nintendo fans say it's all about the games, yet only Sony delivered the game details and even allow you to play many games in the making.
The information has yet to be confirmed by Sony, but that's no need to exagerate on some key issues. For example, the heat the PSP gives off. For those who play cell phone games, they get more hotter then the PSP, case closed. This article is making it sound like you can fry eggs on the PSP, such statements are just fuel for you know what kind of people. Same with the restrictions stated. This is not a big hinderence like it's stated, just a reminder to developers this is a optical media based mobile device so functions like streaming are out of the question. With as much memory the PSP has, that will not even be needed for a mobile handheld.
Read these articles without any prejudices if possible, because you'll only read what you want to hear.
LUPOS 30 Sep 2004 18:08
7/15
sadly i doubt that battery life is going to improve that much in the next few years. the really arent that much better now then they where five years ago, i cant even get 2 days out of a cell phone and it takes up half the size of the phone
Joji 30 Sep 2004 18:09
8/15
That's all very well, and if it's nor true I'll still be buying a DS first regardless of what Sony do. I'll take the news with a pinch of salt, like Im sure many others will. If things go well I'll buy a PSP too, not yet though.
But Vulcan. it is about the games, and while some nice looking titles were at TGS 2004 that make me want a PSP, this news changes things slighty for me. I in no way every said that the PSP games are bad looking, infact they are quite the opposite and that's good. I might favour Nintendo and the DS, but I know a good game when I see one, and if I want to buy it or not. It the PSPs price along with those of it's games are questionable amongst other problems. What are the bets that DS games won't be 39.99? I'd put money on them being a more reasonable 24.99-29.99.
What goes around comes around. We've laughed in the past at Nintendo's and Microsoft's mistakes and debacles, perhaps it's Sony's turn and it's not the first time anyway. MD Players, the set top box PSX, ATRAC only media players (recently fixed) and now PSP.
Perhaps only when you are humbled by your mistakes, will you learn from them.
But Vulcan. it is about the games, and while some nice looking titles were at TGS 2004 that make me want a PSP, this news changes things slighty for me. I in no way every said that the PSP games are bad looking, infact they are quite the opposite and that's good. I might favour Nintendo and the DS, but I know a good game when I see one, and if I want to buy it or not. It the PSPs price along with those of it's games are questionable amongst other problems. What are the bets that DS games won't be 39.99? I'd put money on them being a more reasonable 24.99-29.99.
What goes around comes around. We've laughed in the past at Nintendo's and Microsoft's mistakes and debacles, perhaps it's Sony's turn and it's not the first time anyway. MD Players, the set top box PSX, ATRAC only media players (recently fixed) and now PSP.
Perhaps only when you are humbled by your mistakes, will you learn from them.
Metal Slug 30 Sep 2004 19:54
9/15
LOL!!
Brilliant sig there!
Anyoleway.....
As has been pointed out many many times, least of all by me..
In order to actually use the PSP as a handheld it will be necessary to have a f***ing separate battery strapped to your arm!
And lets face it, with a two hour internal life, users will just have a few exterior batts to swap around, and just use the internals to cover swap-over without crashes (if thats even possible or occured to Sonys uber-clever R&D?)
Oooooo such a user friendly portable!
*waits for the fanboys to start* ;)
Just another reason to wait for a price drop and a redesigned console!
In a way its actually dumber than Ninty not backlighting the GBA!
Still, Sony will be in good company when they have to release a revised version!
Although historically thats a bit of a dangerous game!
N-Gage? Not really setting the market on fire any more than the first model did!
GBA SP? The backlight was so badly needed, and afterburner kits had sold soooo well, that even Nintendo couldn't fail to see the need for it.
Game.com? The revised smaller version was a total failure.
Lynx 2? Atari had already missed the boat.
Brilliant sig there!
Anyoleway.....
As has been pointed out many many times, least of all by me..
In order to actually use the PSP as a handheld it will be necessary to have a f***ing separate battery strapped to your arm!
And lets face it, with a two hour internal life, users will just have a few exterior batts to swap around, and just use the internals to cover swap-over without crashes (if thats even possible or occured to Sonys uber-clever R&D?)
Oooooo such a user friendly portable!
*waits for the fanboys to start* ;)
Just another reason to wait for a price drop and a redesigned console!
In a way its actually dumber than Ninty not backlighting the GBA!
Still, Sony will be in good company when they have to release a revised version!
Although historically thats a bit of a dangerous game!
N-Gage? Not really setting the market on fire any more than the first model did!
GBA SP? The backlight was so badly needed, and afterburner kits had sold soooo well, that even Nintendo couldn't fail to see the need for it.
Game.com? The revised smaller version was a total failure.
Lynx 2? Atari had already missed the boat.
ohms 30 Sep 2004 20:19
10/15
vulcan4d wrote:
I would wait for the official statement before coming to a conclusion. I think the lack of confirmed information is making people a little paranoid, I bet Sony is having the time of their lives reading all this ^^.
Sony may have put these rumours out itself so that when the actual battery life is revealed it wont seem so bad. no way on the world they would release PSP with 2 hours of battery life.
Metal Slug 30 Sep 2004 20:22
11/15
ohms wrote:
vulcan4d wrote:
I would wait for the official statement before coming to a conclusion. I think the lack of confirmed information is making people a little paranoid, I bet Sony is having the time of their lives reading all this ^^.
Sony may have put these rumours out itself so that when the actual battery life is revealed it wont seem so bad. no way on the world they would release PSP with 2 hours of battery life.
Hey, but its a lot longer if you're listening to MP3's!!!!!
Pandaman 30 Sep 2004 20:47
12/15
It's as if Sony thought up all of the things that could make a portable system bad, combined them into a small square, and put a pretty screen on it.
Metal Slug 30 Sep 2004 22:14
13/15
Alan Poole wrote:
It's as if Sony thought up all of the things that could make a portable system bad, combined them into a small square, and put a pretty screen on it.
LOL!
It wouldn't be the first time a company had misjudged the handheld market!
Now I'm not seriously saying the PSP is anywhere near as ridiculously ill-concieved as say the Game.Com or Cybiko, but the high price and silly battery life, combined with Sony's debatable build quality could mean it ends up being more akin to the 'success story' that is the N-Gage!
I've got just about every handheld ever produced, including all the really obscure s**t! So I tend to need very little encouragment to buy the 'latest thing'.
But I think for someone like me (who just wants them all for the sake of it) the main point about all the PSP hype/spec/rumours so far, is that its a serious argument for buying a DS on day of release, and the PSP only after the inevitable redesign and price drop.
Newtynho 1 Oct 2004 05:15
14/15
Ah, the rumours! What would our world be without them? :l
Kaxxx 1 Oct 2004 07:25
15/15
'd expect something different to be announced by Sony because this kind of news can be very damaging, true or not. Battery life was the end of the Game Gear.