PSP Thoughts

Loss and possession. Death and life are one.
There falls no shadow where there shines no sun.
-- Hilaire Belloc

It's an interesting feeling being able to access your PS3's hard drive from anywhere there's internet access using your PSP. Whatever music, photos, videos I have stored on the PS3, I simply hook up to the interweb, sign in to the Playstation Network, and due to some brief registration processes completed by hooking your PSP up to your PS3 through USB cable, the PSN recognizes which PS3 you're connecting to. What you see on your PSP is exactly what you would see on your PS3. The same interface, except smaller of course. Technology is amazing.

I am hoping that down the line, Sony will allow you to use your PSP much as the Dreamcast VCUs (I think that's what they were called.) were used for selecting plays in Madden or whatever, giving little dialog displays at certain points. In my dream I envision it connecting through Bluetooth, though I supposed through USB would work as well. There was talk of using the PSP in a similar fashion for the F1 racing game released this past March. It was said they were toying with the idea of using the PSP as some sort of rearview mirror. That idea fell through. I think there's also been talk of doing something similar in Gran Turismo 5. I think it might be a strange thing to look down at your PSP to see out your rearview, but then again, who really looks at the rearview when it's up at the top of screen? I know I sure don't.

Perhaps they could get it to function similarly to the second screen on the DS, especially if Sony decides to go crazy and implement some sort of touch-screen/stylus pad functionality. Of course, in September when the first re-design is released, all we'll be getting is a slimmer and lighter model with TV output capability. But maybe in the future, the PSP will function similarly to the iPhone. Touch screen, telephone, maps, plus all of the gaming, music, video, and downloadable content capabilities of the current PSP.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

It's interesting to look at this supposed PSP redesign. The entire community seems to be in an uproar because, really, this redesign isn't much of a redesign. They just made the thing smaller. There are so many things I can list right now to make the system better, and I don't spend all of my day on this as I assume people at Sony do.

• Move the analog stick somehow so that your hand doesn't cramp up when you play for longer than 20 minutes. It seems like if you were to simply move it up to where the D-pad currently is, that would help alleviate a lot of the problem. This is definitely the largest complaint I've heard by far.
• Touch screen/stylus functionality. I can't stress enough how awesome a touchscreen would be. Not a necessary addition for gameplay (though it could be great for rhythm/music games if done correctly), but it would be great for menu selections.
  
• Move the power switch. I, for one, have turned the system off accidentally simply because the way you're forced to hold the system, the switch is right where the butt of your hand is. You slide your hand up and *poof* bye-bye game/movie/music/whatever.
• You can always improve battery life. Give me 20 hours of life like I get out of my iPod.
• Allow me to charge the PSP simply by connecting it to the PS3 through the USB cable.
• Give me an on-board hard-drive instead of forcing me to carry around forty memory sticks. This would also allow me to better store PSN games on the PSP, especially if they start to release sizeable games nearing the 1GB or 2GB mark.
  
• Throw on a microphone for voice input.
• Take the microphone one step further and throw on phone functionality.
• A digital camera. Yes, we have a USB attachment that mounts on top. Why not include it?
  

Of course, the GameBoy went through a dozen different iterations over its lifecycle. It's to be expected that the PSP will undergo the same transformations. I think the outcry really centers around disappointment that Sony has this magnificent platform with which to push some boundaries and elicit some WOWs. The potential is there. Potential that I don't believe the DS has currently, which is obviously the PSP's largest competitor. It's a great system, but solely because of its simplicity, innovative inclusion of the stylus functionality, and library of games. The PSP could harness a completely different market. More hardcore gamers who want their MP3 player, their phone, their digital camera, their gaming system all in one bundle. Would I drop $600 bucks on an iPhone? No. Would I drop $600 bucks on an iPhone that plays games and allows me to access my PS3's hard drive anywhere? Absolutely.

I have wandered all of my life, and I have also traveled.
The difference between the two being this:
That we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.
-- Hilaire Belloc