Sony drops PSP support, litigation looms
Published April 01, 2005
Roughly once a week, Sony representatives visit the retailers who carry their products. They check on kiosks, update employees on various happenings, and set up merchandising.
This week, Sony's representatives have told a small number of employees (including myself) that the PSP is going to be pulled from the market within the next few weeks. This is news that should be staying at a store level, but it's simply not fair for someone to purchase such expensive hardware and not get what they paid for. Therefore, we've chosen to reveal what we know as of right now.
These representatives are stating numerous reasons for the decision. Chief among them is the Immersion Corporation lawsuit, as Sony stands to pay $90.7 million million if they lose the appeal. That potential loss in their games division, coupled with an astonishing number of defective PSPs due to dead pixels, has forced them to reevaluate the company's decision to release the hardware.
Sony's stockholders have shown concern. An undisclosed amount of money is being put toward development of their next-generation PlayStation, which is now where Sony will focus their efforts. When asked about the upcoming European launch, they have responded with "it will not happen."
Some software may still be released, as third parties will try and recoup their losses as much as possible. Unlikely to make it to store shelves, however, are the EA Sports titles "MVP Baseball," "NBA Street Showdown", and "FIFA Soccer." When the official announcement is made within the next two weeks, stores will be asked to explain to angry customers at a store level that the system still fully supports MP3, photos, and video playback. If the customer is still not satisfied, they should be directed to Sony's customer service line.
The signs of this action have been slowly revealed over the past few weeks, starting with the forced resignation of the PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi . Most observers expected Kutaragi to take over the top position within the company. The Japanese launch was riddled with problems, hardware sales in the U.S. have been lukewarm at best, and a staggeringly high number of those systems have been returned with the above-mentioned problems.
People will surely be disappointed as many of the "must have" titles for the PSP were just around the corner.
Matt Paprocki is the former reviews editor for Digital Press, a video game website with an appreciation for the retro side of the industry. The deep game collection which spans nearly 30 systems and 2,000 games line his walls for research purposes. Matt strives to bring credibility to video game journalism, and take it in a new direction to aid the industry in becoming respected with all forms entertainment media. He currently freelances for GameArgus.com and MultiPlayerGames.com.
- Sony drops PSP support, litigation looms
- Published: April 01, 2005
- Type:
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Culture: Humor and Satire
- Writer: Matt Paprocki
- Matt Paprocki's BC Writer page
- Matt Paprocki's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
Nice one! april fools
LOL, saw this one at Breaking Windows late last night and left a comment.
First there was the Beta format... now PSP. See if I **ever** buy Sony again!
Really!
First Apple now Sony. Whe will you employees just be grateful for your jobs and STFU. Man. AFD.
I was scared until I saw it was April 1st. If Sony were to pull any system it would be the PS2, since that's what the lawsuite is against.
Yep, TDavid was up at 1 AM reading blogs, as I put this up at exactly 12:59.
Matt and I wrote this last night, but it was his idea. Props goes to Rob Griffiths for copy editing and further suggestions.
The PS2 being pulled would not have been as funny, to be honest. Especially since the PSP came out a week ago.
Yeah, but the crappy battery life of the PSP and the pixel problems tells me this is one product that was shipped before it was ready for primetime.
stupid
I would like to contest the battery life. My PSP has no dead pixels so I am happy about that.
If you stream data from a optical disc to play a game (like home consoles) you would have NO battery life on the PSP. Remember that the PSP does not to use solid state cartridges.
I get somewhere in the realm of 5 hrs. battery life for games, less with wi-fi on.
Another thing to consider in regards to the battery life, and the load times, is that the majority of the PSP titles are fully 3D. This takes much more battery power to pull off. They also have to load all that stuff into RAM so it does not spin the disc and kill the battery life.
We have never had any portable console this powerful before. We have nothing to compare the PSP with.
People need to let off on the battery life and load times. I am sure the 2nd generation PSP titles will be better optimized. This is all 1st generation PSP software remember.
News to us, and we gather all PSP news from everywhere. Happy April Fools.
100% Handpicked PSP News Feeds, Updates Every 15 Minutes (beta)
stfu
here's the clue: Humor and Satire designation at the top and bottom of the post
this better be an aprol fools joke cause i spent 600 dollars on accesories.
I think that I can state conclusively that this is not an "aprol fools joke," whatever that is.
It is, however, a bit of humor posted on the first of April with the intention of perhaps fooling people with more money than discernment. :-)
This is the dumbest thing i have ever heard of i actually talked to the guy who made this and he said that it really was an april fools day joke!
John, there is no Aprol Fools involved in this story, I know for a fact. I have to mush sank into accesories...
John, you actually talked to him? The real Matt Paprocki? Oh my GOSH! What I wouldn't give to be able to talk to the real Matt Paprocki and have him answer. That would be, like, the highlight of my life.
Wait. Did you talk to him IN PERSON? Did he show you ID? I bet it was a fake. There are lots of Matt Paprocki impersonators out there, and there's NO WAY you got to talk to the REAL MATT PAPROCKI!
Doz anyone know Matt's phone ###. I wud do anything. e-mail me - wet@maccult.com
JERK!
Well, I have talked to the real Matt Paprocki. I have even seen him in real life. I feel so honored.
I'll sign autographs sent in a SASE for only $350 a piece. Please hurry as this limited time offer may expire at any time. Offer not valid in North Dakota.
Oh nonononono.....My ass Sony would do that to a system just because of minor complaints and nearly spending millions on the thing!! Good one! April Fools!!!
I actually knew it was when I first saw the title and how it was posted TODAY on April Fools. I know this is the same with all you other guys.
Hahahaha! This is some bad bullshit here, They have spent millions devleopin it. Becuase of this, ive had to cuss out many friends at school tryin to spread rumors there Banning Psp's, There Outlawing Psp's, there going to discontiue it. THIS IS SOME BULLSHIT THAT SOMEONE THOUGHT WAS FUNNY, BUT REALLY, THIS IS SOME STUIPED ASS SHIT!
Lol good one. I almost cried for a second, That was a very good april fool joke. It seemed very realistic Good job.
I wish!
Though i wonder why it was under google news if it wasn't true?
I bought a PSP,and seeing the game line-ups for the future the system ain't going out of style any time soon! But, it was a good April Fool's joke...
I hope you're kidding, I really do.
I would hate to consider the amount of damage to sales and reputation you have done to Sony through this act. I hope they persue you for libel because if you were damaging my company's reputation and brand like this then I would be persuing you too. You stupid little fuck.
I hope this isn't true I've been saving my pocket money for months and even doing extra paper rounds, please say its a joke.
"dontknowatall" the only "stuiped" person around here is you, get a sense of humor and a dictionary
You have let the cat out the bag - you owe us $1,000,000,000 - money we were planning to collecting from the gullible people and then shutting down the PSP division so we can replace it with a loss-making division that makes iPod clones with terrible DRM and unsupported music formats - wait, we do that already, don't we?
too bad sony doesn'y have representatives...that would show they actually cared
Gizmondo is Game Boy Advance on steroids, crossed with an iPod, that does SMS and MMS, plays really great quality video, has a spot-on GPS (Global Positioning System), a great digital camera, and connects through Bluetooth and GPRS. And it fits in a shirt pocket. And it looks sooo sexy. Awesome." There's not much more I can add to that really, is there?
Oh yeah except Fuck Sony and their PR people!!
And the Gizmonodo has a $400 price tag and hardly any game software. It's not even remotely comparable to the PSP since its main function doesn't even seem to be games.
I seriously doubt sony would pull a product that on the whole is turning out cash. Several stores have sold out in America, as well as in Japan, there is an issue with dead pixels, but a vast majority of the products remain unreturned with really satisfied customers.
If Sony is having a law suit involing a loss of funds, how much since would it make to drop something bringing them cash. It would be like getting an extra bill, so you you decide to put in less hours at work to try and make more money to pay it off.
With millions sunk into the project, a hungry fan database, and hundreds of big hitting games in the near future, the PSP is here for the next little while.
Uh... check the post date, and the comments, Macabros. The first comment provides a REALLY BIG CLUE!
Holy shiiit. That was not funny at all - I was about to flip out and fold a frisbee!!!!
;)
Looks like its true. I have just left the SONY building in Ginta, Tokyo. They are not selling any PSPs as they have been withdrawn!!
how to get game shares on your psp
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/27610)
this is a crap april's fools joke