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Codemasters Exec: PSP User Experience Not Right
Gavin Cheshire, vice president of Codemasters Studios, has told us that negative user experiences will put people off using Sony’s PSP.
Asked about the handheld’s future, he told us: “Well, speaking as a person who bought a PSP, the problem was that I always thought, because it was a better screen than iPod’s, that I’d be doing more with it. But it was such a bollocking useless waste of space; just getting stuff on it was ridiculous. That was its downfall.”
Other staff members at the British publisher have had similar problems with Sony’s latest portable, PSPgo, Cheshire said.
“Relatively speaking, we didn’t do too badly on F1 PSP. But regarding the future, I think they’ve got – well… no. PSP Go’s a lovely device, really smart, but our senior VP bought one the day it came out and has a great story, because he ended up on some customer support line just trying to do basic stuff. He had to re-download his software, do an immediate firmware update, and that’s your user experience. Sony just hasn’t got it right. Stuff like that will make people leave it alone.”
Cheshire also explained why Codemasters isn’t currently working on any games for Microsoft’s controller free gaming project, Natal.
“I’m sure there’ll be games attuned to Natal and that’ll be great, but what you can’t do is back-engineer it into something you’re currently doing. And that’s where it’ll fail. There are a lot of companies saying they’ve got Natal stuff coming, but it’ll be bolted on to something they already had in development, probably.
“We’re never going to say no, but to be fair to us we’re focused on other priorities right now, and we’re not big enough to just try out a few things on Natal. We’re certainly looking, and we’ve got some great ideas, but it’s how you implement them.
“Sony’s sticks are quite good, too,” he added of PS3 Move. “They’re fun, and something physical you can hold in your hand, which I prefer to just your hands in the air. But it’s the same thing for software.”
During the same interview Cheshire also revealed that the company’s working on racer Dirt 3.
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Well, IMO the problem with the PSP are the games. They should be much more simple. Graphics really don't matter on a handheld. Graphics on a handheld will always look dated comparing to a home console, so why invest in that? Just forget about graphics and pump out cheaper casual games. Casual games, because the majority of people play handhelds CASUALLY. Psp minis are a great adition to it.
I own a PSP Go, and I love it. But I only play PS1 classics.
I couldn't agree more (which is kind of sad): I bought the PSP on day one from the US and I loved it. As a device. It's sexy, heavy, has a great screen. But from the beginning there was something wrong about the games. They were too complex for handheld-stuff, too much like downsized versions of bigger games. Now, almost five years later I just dust it off once a month. The last game I played was MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, which was good, but again like a small version of the PS3-game. For music on the go I have my Creative Zen, which is smaller, has more space, uses less battery-power and is more comfortable to use. I almost never used the video function of the console, it was all too complicated and I never felt the need to watch new episodes of my favorite TV-show on the way to work. I already watched them on the big screen slacking on my couch...
Maybe I just have the wrong lifestyle for the PSP, but I simply don't find any use for the console. At least I learned a lesson, that I shouldn't buy new hardware just because it's nice to look at. Sorry, iPad... :)
He's right about the firmware thing and in general patches / updates to hardware and software has been a real cancer for console gaming.
PC gaming needs to take that shit back. We don't want it.
How can a feature that adds extra funcionality to a device at zero cost can be a cancer?
I know what you mean, when I bought my PS3 slim in January I think I had about 30 minutes of updates and sign-in before I could play Uncharted 2, but sadly these updates are usually there to help reduce piracy and are going to stay.
Codemasters is simply being 100% honest with their statements. Mr. Cheshire is just telling things the way they are when he points out that Codemasters isn't big enough to risk devoted resources 100% aimed at Natal or Sony's Move controllers. The shareholders of Codemasters should be glad, because that is actually a smart thing that is very responsible. If a company like Microsoft or Sony wanted to fund Codemasters, I'm sure they would support those new devices much more. But if Microsoft and Sony don't want to put up the cash, then they shouldn't complain. And I have to agree with Mr. Cheshire that the ultimate failure of the PSP is that it ended up being so difficult to work with; it isn't easy like an iPod.
Phew! I was beginning to wonder where you were....
So if the psp with 60million users is considered a failure according to you then what is the 360 with half the user base?And stop compare a portable console with a phone..BTW go to ign you don't fit here