Been thinking a lot over the past few days about the PSP-3000.
I was shocked that Sony would throw out their PSP-2000 model not even a year after introducing it. Over the year, PSP sales increased upwards of 30%. But this is just another example of what a shitty company Sony is. As a Sony consumer, they've treated me terribly. I had problems with their PC PlayStation Store; one day for no reason it stopped allowing me to download content. I phoned up Sony customer support and their response was, "well, then you can't use it." Last I checked there's no HELP link *anywhere* on the site. What kind of commercial website has no way to contact & troubleshoot? A shitty one, apparently.
But Sony's lack of customer service is now extending into their hardware. Not only is PSP-3000 a quickie revision of a less-than-1-year-old piece of hardware, Sony's MP3 player division has been doing the same thing; releasing an mp3 player, then a few months later, discontinuing that model & releasing another model with pretty much the same features except maybe 1 or 2... either added OR taken away. It's random.
Sony sucks, basically. But by some miracle they created a wonder device back in 2005, the Sony PSP. And even though the promise & legacy of that great platform is being watered down, the PSP-3000 is still a fairly impressive piece of kit.
For me, I wouldn't have been all that concerned about the PSP-3000 based on the initial news of its new features: I don't use Skype, so I'd probably never even use the built-in mic. A less reflective screen sounds really nice, but that alone isn't enough to make me want to upgrade.
What really makes me mad is the added "enjoy games on a non-progressive (non-HD) tv".... because that's a feature I *REALLY* want. I love being able to play video on my standard-definition 27" 4:3 Mitsubishi tv. I love that I can watch video on my PSP Slim when I'm out, then finish it off when I get home on the big screen, or vice-versa. That's what I'd do with games if I could have. Why couldn't Sony have had that feature in the PSP-2000, instead of crippling it like they did?
So that, and the new screen, are the big reasons I want to upgrade to the PSP-3000. But I already have 1 PSP-1001, and 2 PSP-2000.... they are both the Star Wars white edition. I bought the 2nd SW white PSP Slim early July 2008, to replace my broken one if it isn't/can't be fixed properly. I don't really want a 4th PSP. And I sure don't want to send a message to Sony that I like what they're doing, far from it.
I'm now eying everything Sony-related with suspicion. I saw a great sale on some games next week, one of them is Secret Agent Clank, on for $20.00. Normally I'd jump at that, but now I'm wondering if Clank might be part of a future PSP-3000 bundle, like for the pearl white PSP-3000. They haven't given any details about that model, if it's going to be released as a bundle, but it probably is. So stores might be trying to blow out copies of Secret Agent Clank before it hits. This is all speculation, but I saw the exact same thing with Daxter a few months before the Daxter pack came out, and with God of War: Chains of Olympus before that bundle hit stores. If I decide to get the pearl white PSP-3000, I don't want to be stuck with a game I already own if it comes bundled with it.
I don't know if Sony just thinks they made their $$$ off of past customers, so forget them, or what? That's the way they've been treating their customer base lately. Not just PSP-3000, that's only the latest symptom.
If I was sensible, instead of shelling out that $200.00 for a PSP-3000, I'd put it towards getting an HD tv, I guess.....
later
don
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