E3: PSP

[Great Rumbler]

My biggest issue with the PSP is that, really, it's just a shrunk down current-generation console. In theory this sounds great, since you can take PS2-quality games on the go. But the problem here is going to be simply one thing: expectations. Budgets for PlayStation 2 game development encroaches and many times exceeds the million-dollar pricetag. And the GBA market has proven that US consumers aren't willing to pay a premium for portable games over console titles. But with the system's capabilities being so darn close to a PlayStation 2, gamers will expect a similar experience. So, Sony will have to set a MSRP at less than what an average PS2 game goes for. And that will cut into the profit structure of the publishers and developers, which means budgets to make these games will have to be sliced as well. It's a sticky situation that's currently a big question mark…will developers and publishers embrace the system even if it's not nearly as profitable to support as the Nintendo DS…or even the Game Boy Advance.

I never really thought about that before, but it's an interesting point. PSP games are going to cost a lot more than DS games to make unless developers do a lot of porting and that could also be a problem since people may not want to spend even more money buying an almost identical version of a game they already have on the PS2.