Pandora Has Compettion

[christo930]

Sony announced a new psp today with 3.8" screen and 16gb flash no umd drive.

$249
150 pounds
I wonder what this will do to the Pandora?

Chris

 

[joseluisjazz]

I wonder what this will do to the Pandora?

Nothing?

 

[Loonie]

Nothing more than the other one did, since apart from the new form factor and lack of UMD it is spec-wise identical to the existing PSP.

 

[samuraicrow]

The Pandora has 2 non-proprietary flash drives so I'd say it is the better deal anyway.

 

[Mithrildor]

Nothing

 

[fade]

Sony will no doubt be employing the same anti homebrew techniques they've used in the PSP-3000 models. So commercial games only. I don't see any threat to the Pandora.

 

[WoD]

Not to mention that Sony also announced Dual SD card slots, Bluetooth, dual analogue, a slide-out keyboard, expanded USB host capability, a 10 hour battery life and the ability to install a YellowDog linux variant that will allow homebrew development and the launching of PSP games from within the linux environment....


Oh.. WAIT... no... I just made that all up. It doesn't compete with the Pandora after all.

I'd say: "Are you new around here?" ... but you're not... so quit smoking that stuff, it messes with your head.

 

[RajTakhar]

The PSP2 being announced is a threat to the Pandora as it will draw potential buyers away from Pandora.

Longer Pandora takes to get to market the less presence it may have for general gamers - who may be attracted to the PSP2.

Its kind of like the old XBox360 coming out before PS3 scenario

I'm not knocking either - but had the pandora come out ages ago - its market appeal before DSi and now potential PSP2 may have been bigger.

At the moment we are seeing tasters but no concrete dates (i know I'd like bugs ironed out as much as next guy) or final build (case/nub/PCB), being shown, which invariably means as more exposure given to PSP2 the press goes that way.

However the Pandora is unique in size and functionality, just wish is was coming out sooner

And yes I have been waiting since Pre-Orders began!

 

[christo930]

Nothing more than the other one did, since apart from the new form factor and lack of UMD it is spec-wise identical to the existing PSP.

I thought it was kinda odd that the news blip I read didn't mention processor or memory or anything other than screen size and on-board flash. If Sony isn't going to upgrade the unit I just don't see why people will want it? Why would anyone want last years' hardware that can't play last years' games and for more money (actually, that's debatable with double digit inflation coming).

Chris

PS.. When I said I wonder what this will do to the Pandora, it wasn't a rhetorical question.

 

[dadioflex]

Not to mention that Sony also announced Dual SD card slots, Bluetooth, dual analogue, a slide-out keyboard, expanded USB host capability, a 10 hour battery life and the ability to install a YellowDog linux variant that will allow homebrew development and the launching of PSP games from within the linux environment....

That would be pretty good, though.

 

[WoD]

"Longer Pandora takes to get to market the less presence it may have for general gamers"

You mean the whining, unwashed masses who keep asking about running Windows on the Pandora? I, for one, would not lose much sleep over their timely departure.

I quite like my PSP, but the new one doesn't offer any features, it just takes them away. For a start, it'll be a while before it's hacked and allows homebrew and, more importantly, how the hell am I supposed to loan or borrow a game?

Removing UMD isn't a feature, it's an affront to the second hand games market and the concept that people own and can therefore loan games that every console manufacture is DYING to kill stone cold dead.

I don't have to worry, I don't need to buy games, but I still think we're on the cusp of a very slippery slope when games move from being vaguely tangible, physical items to being something we exclusively buy from an online store and have absolutely no rights to resell.

Of course, if they reduce the price of games accordingly maybe people will feel better about it.

Also, why bother releasing a UMD free console? Unless every single game is available for download that is currently available on UMD you're losing out. And they can't just stop releasing games to UMD either.

 

[lulzfish]

It won't do anything noticeable.

The Pandora has some crazy features that apparently nobody's thought of before [free development? storage standards? That's insane!!], so anybody who is going to buy the Pandora isn't going to be dissuaded by a PSP re-design.

There's a small chance that some PSP fan will see it and say, "Not this shit again", then somehow find the Pandora instead.

 

[renegadechic]

really the PSP-go isnt competing with the Pandora but with the iPod Touch. the touch is a PMP with touchscreen that can be used for basic gaming, the old PSP was a gaming system with UMD video but the PSP-Go is making the system more pocketable and discrete like a PMP but with dedicated gaming control. with the new PSN connections and the internal harddrive, its a direct shot into the iPod Touch market more than anything else. if it had telephony id have even said it was a stab at the iPhone. they should have thought about adding touchscreen and maybe some more direct online functionality though to really get in there.

in terms of pulling people away from the Pandora, if people know what they are buying it will make no difference. if people thought they were getting a commercial games console with the Pandora, then they may go for the PSP-Go. i think a bigger draw away is actually all the rather good looking games they announce for the PSP.

 

[WoD]

I don't know what it's like in other countries, but the one thing you quickly find when buying something like an iPod Touch or, in future, a PSP Go to use all the wonderful internet-based features on is that you can only use the goddamned things at home, meaning you might as well just enjoy your lovely HDTV and HD-capable games console.

Unless they start tossing 3g into these things, most of the internet tablet functionality is irrelevant and is slowly but surely being stomped into oblivion by increasingly more functional and heavily subsidized mobile phones.

As far as media playing goes, sure the PSP Go looks set to do an admirable job, but 16GB of internal storage is so... well... 2000.

I could just buy an Archos 5 for a little over £200, with 60GB of storage and no pressure to buy some stupid, overpriced memory to expand it. Then I could keep my perfectly good, original "fat" PSP, its custom firmware and its UMD-based games.

There's also the Archos 5g. It's more expensive, but 3g is what *makes* an internet tablet an internet tablet and not just an inconvenient mess of tethering.

 

[Squidge]

The PSP2 being announced is a threat to the Pandora as it will draw potential buyers away from Pandora.

Longer Pandora takes to get to market the less presence it may have for general gamers - who may be attracted to the PSP2.

Its kind of like the old XBox360 coming out before PS3 scenario
Apart from the fact that the Pandora never attempted to compete with Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. It's quite happy in its own corner of the market.

If people want to play lots of commercial game titles from big name companies, they will never even think of the Pandora, as it provides none of that.

So I fail to see how yet another handheld from Sony is going to change anything, and therefore moving this topic out of the Pandora forums.
(My first question to Sony would be: What the hell? Your dumping your established market of games already? Or do you intend to expect your game publishers to port all there games onto another storage medium now?)

 

[Prometheus]

like a PMP

Speaking of PMPs, it reminds me of these from a couple of years back.

 

[renegadechic]

I don't know what it's like in other countries, but the one thing you quickly find when buying something like an iPod Touch or, in future, a PSP Go to use all the wonderful internet-based features on is that you can only use the goddamned things at home, meaning you might as well just enjoy your lovely HDTV and HD-capable games console.

Unless they start tossing 3g into these things, most of the internet tablet functionality is irrelevant and is slowly but surely being stomped into oblivion by increasingly more functional and heavily subsidized mobile phones.

As far as media playing goes, sure the PSP Go looks set to do an admirable job, but 16GB of internal storage is so... well... 2000.

I could just buy an Archos 5 for a little over £200, with 60GB of storage and no pressure to buy some stupid, overpriced memory to expand it. Then I could keep my perfectly good, original "fat" PSP, its custom firmware and its UMD-based games.

There's also the Archos 5g. It's more expensive, but 3g is what *makes* an internet tablet an internet tablet and not just an inconvenient mess of tethering.

i agree with this, though its quite easy to lump these things in with the iPhone rather than iPod market. in terms of online functions, nearly all high end screen based players have wifi of some sorts be it the Archos, the iPod Touch, iRiver, etcso i can see why they wouldnt think it redundant. with the storage... well its like the difference between the classic iPod and the Touch. for all those extra features and better battery life you go for smaller SSDs which arent that huge in PMPs yet (as far as i am aware).

i personally think that sony missed a trick here with the PSP Go. capacitive touch screen and proper 3G through sony ericsson would have blown not only the portable gaming competition out of the water but it would have stuck two fingers to the iPhone and really gone next gen. they wouldnt have needed a keypad for typing and numbers and it would have been an incredibly "must have" device. then again i dont know if the PSP hardware is as powerful as the iPhone to have achieved all that?

 

[BackAssward]

Given it's specs, and it comes from Sony... who uses proprietary media and who routinely shits on its customers: I say it is as much "Compettion" as you are at a spelling contest

Edit: Oh, and the crappy looking, shallow, non-dpad d-pad.

 

[HackModford]

Since it weights 150 lbs. I'll stick with the pandora. :lol:

 

[craigix]

Someone asked Sony why they didn't make it open in an interview today, the guy smirked, laughed and said that was not part of sonys business model.

Good.