Ubisoft still 'strongly supports' PSP

by Jason Dobson { Jun 10th 2008 at 1:30PM }

While some may be giving Sony's handheld the cold shoulder, Ubisoft has come forward to give the old girl some love, caressing the PSP's supple buttons and running fingers down her sexy back ... lit display. The company recently told GI.biz that it views the portable as an important component of the video game market, reaffirming that it "strongly supports the PSP."

The comments were made as part of thinly veiled damage control following criticisms by Ubi's UK managing director Rob Cooper last week levied at Sony for its "directionless" PSP strategy -- particularly compared to the gangbusters success enjoyed by the DS. Even so, it's a course the publisher is keen to keep following, confirming that it plans to publish 12 or so games for the portable this fiscal year. What names exactly will make the leap to the PSP remain unknown, though Ubi notes that at least some of these will include the company's "top-selling brands," giving us reason to think that Sam Fisher and that cel-shaded Prince may be unbuttoning the PSP's potential very soon.

Tags: portable, potential, psp, sony, support, ubisoft

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

SoulBlade @ Jun 10th 2008 1:39PM

"...giving us reason to think that Sam Fisher and that cel-shaded Prince may be unbuttoning the PSP's potential very soon."

And God of War didn't? Damn.

I love the PSP - it's a really nice gadget. Custom FW makes it that much better too.

Noshino @ Jun 10th 2008 1:43PM

Big Boss, Logan and Fisher...hell yah...

Mr Khan @ Jun 10th 2008 1:43PM

The only reason Ubisoft is scoring on DS is because they're copying Nintendo's Touch Generations strategy down to the letter between their Petz series and their various "My _____ Coach" learning titles

It's easy to succeed if you copycat the best. On PSP they have to think for themselves...

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 2:13PM

Pretty much. Ubi's just mad that same priced ports months later isn't anywhere near as successful as Hamsterz Island Battlefezt Friend Adventurez.

The only company I really feel sorry for is NIS. They are bringing over some very niche RPGs which we haven't seen on a console since Working Designs efforts on Sega CD and Saturn and hardly anyone is biting while most people complain about how PSP is nothing but a portable PS2. You have tactical RPGs the like of which hasn't been seen since Dragon Wars and somehow this is a portable PS2?!?

koehler83 @ Jun 10th 2008 2:49PM

What's wrong with a portable PS2?!! PS2 is easily arguably the best console ever. And you can friggin' carry one with you anywhere! Why is that a bad thing? I do not understand.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 3:18PM

There is nothing wrong with a portable PS2 however some experiences don;t make good handheld games. Many games were simply ported without effort and suffered because of it. And many gamers will honestly have a HUGE problem picking between Star Wars Battlefront II on a console for $50 and on PSP for $50.

If PSP was treated solely as another place to put a game, it sucks. Companies that display that behavior should be ignored since never in that behavior to they accomidate for the handheld nature of the console.

However, I am going to go back on this previous statement a bit because, before DS, this wasn't a problem. All throughout the GB's lifespan, we were sold portable console games even up to DS. Sony's main falling out in this aspect is simply having a system who's main strengths mimmick a pre DS world.

But keep in mind, I'm also the guy with over 100 hours on both versions of DJ Max Portable so maybe I'm not the guy to lecture on where PSP sucks...

koehler83's dad @ Jun 10th 2008 3:27PM

koehler83- you're wrong. On many many levels the Wii is the best console. Or at least going off the sony crows old way of determining how good a system was (sales>everything else).

PS2 best at having the worst graphics last gen, the worst hardware failures.

Noshino @ Jun 10th 2008 3:57PM

koehler83's dad,

Unless the Wii starts releasing AAA games one after another for the next few years of its lifetime, I doubt it would be better than the PS2...

"Or at least going off the sony crows old way of determining how good a system was (sales>everything else)"

What the hell? You do know that the reason why most people said that the PS2 was the best one was because of the huge amount of quality titles over the amount of shovelware, the Wii, unfortunately, is the other way around....

koehler83 @ Jun 10th 2008 1:56PM

Its clear that Ubisoft strongly supports the PSP with their large list of upcoming PSP titles including.. nothing ..wait what?

Maybe by 'strongly support it', they mean they have one bolted to a steel girder at Ubisoft HQ with 8" lag bolts.

Could you pick just one side of your mouth to talk out of Ubisoft? Seriously, we're bogged down with enough bullshit as it is.

required @ Jun 10th 2008 3:06PM

12 titles are underway

Thief @ Jun 10th 2008 2:01PM

Yess! Now I can get Pets Dogz Fashion for PSP =D

Unfortunately I don't feel the same way about Ubisoft after starting game retail. Now I realize how much garbage/copycat loot they spew out onto the shelves.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 2:17PM

But the people who BUY that shit is everybit a part of the problem there and if Ubisoft selling a million copies of Turtlez is what finances Prince of Persia or Beyond Good & Evil 2, how can I really complain?

Is Ubisoft crap because they prey on the stupid or are the stupid guilty of not researching which games are good and which ones aren't? And quality is a relative term. As an example, as a child, I thought Yo Noid and Global Gladiators were good games because of the recognized branding. While it's true children today have no taste, it's equally true that we certainly didn't when I was a child either.

eldee @ Jun 10th 2008 2:15PM

italics are cool

Hamblasto @ Jun 10th 2008 4:21PM

Of course Ubisoft would support the PSP, they can just make a game on the PSP and port it over to the Wii. It's like killing two birds with one stone!

Punk Rock @ Jun 10th 2008 5:02PM

Wake up and smell the coffee, Ubi, the PSP is dead:

http://portablevideogamer.com/2008/03/is-the-psp-dead-signs-suggest-a-mid-life-crisis-for-sonys-handheld/

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 5:35PM

"Wake up and smell the coffee, Ubi, the PSP is dead:"

This is the fucktarded statement that has been repeated constantly by twips like yourself since a month after it's release. Before we declare the system dead, let's wait until the media blackout on press releases leading up to E3 lifts. We haven't heard anything from very notable PSP supporters for at least a couple months yet these same companies are hiring for PSP development staffs...

Punk Rock @ Jun 10th 2008 6:05PM

Despite the foul language in your comment, I don't see anything to convince me that a PSP renaissance is just around the corner at E3. There were some AAA titles released much earlier this year, but major developers like Ready at Dawn are refusing to make any more games for the system.

The sentiment among game developers is that creating content for the PSP is not worth the risk.

naxe @ Jun 10th 2008 6:12PM

I was bored so i read the article in your link. I have got to say.... That was the most bias garbage i have ever read. while it may be true that the psp's big hitters are finally out and it may seem that nothing is on its way. that hardly puts sony's handheld in a early grave. with the promise of the gps system along with a camera that can be used with skype. and tons of import friendly title's the psp has more room to grow... to evolve. Wich in my opinion is another 3-5 years.

quality games are hard to come by on any console more so on Nintendo's golden boy. The Wii. again in my opinion the wii has about a 7:1 ratio of crap to quality; the ds is about 20:1.and they have depleted their backlog of big hitters as well....does that mean their dead also??

the psp's main problem's stem from homebrew apps. that make it easy to pirate games and movies. also the price of games has gotten out of hand. cant remember where but i read that god of war for the psp was the most downloaded psp game off torrent sites. wich means less monies for Ubisoft. sorry its stealing

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 7:29PM

Someone named punk rock is going to give me crap about dropping the F-bomb? The spirit of Johnny Ramone is thoroughly confused...

But fine, want me to break down that article and your response bit by bit?

The entire arguement starts with a slam against having no major releases in April... APRIL. Do you even fathom how retarded this stance is? One of the slowest months of the year for games in general and PSP lacking a substantial release in April is a death knell.

Lack of mainstream games... well, that certainly makes sense. After all, when you have gamers steadily bitching about the lack of quality in shovelware on DS and Wii, to have a console not being flooded with shovelware is an insult to gamers.

New hardware revision rumors = system death... umm, Nintendo DS anyone? Hasn't a DS revision been a rumor for a solid year now?

Touching is... good?!? So the article goes from doom and gloom for PSP to a Nintendo commercial. Terrific. And, incidently and I'm thoroughly confused why I have to keep doing this, PSP is on track to being a successful handheld system. Any comparisons to DS are moot because DS really broke out of the traditional handheld market share. If we were still talking a preDS world, PSP wouldn't even be spoken about in a negative tone (should be noted that PSP is on pace with GBAs performance and higher in software sales). But when you compare it to a console that has dramatically expanded the market, it's shameful (or is it? Nintendo fans defended and cried about how N64 and Gamecube were NOT failures yet PSP beat those two systems). Facing facts, for PSP to do what it did as Sonys first go in the handheld market is a huge asset to the company. To sell so many units while facing off against two Nintendo handhelds should be applauded.

Very Few Original IPs? In comparison to what, exactly? Because DS has very few original IPs as well. PSP has started some wildly popular IPs and even reinvigorated forgotten franchises (Wipeout, Ridge racer, Megaman, twisted Metal). This is the part I find particularly hilarious... exact quote.

"It is telling that the two games fans are most excited about looking ahead in 2008 are Final Fantasy: Dissidia and Kingdom Hearts, both sequels spun off of more popular console titles."

Well, that certianly explains the amount of buzz currently being generated by , Disgaea DS, FFIV, Kingdom Hearts, and Dragon Quest IX on DS. Did they even pay attention as they made these statements? DS suffers from extreme sequel/spinoff itis. fact of the matter is, every system does.

All in all, the entire article is still based around doom and gloom predictions that PSP has been actively defying since they launched.

As for whether or not we'll see a resurgance of PSP at E3, that's not what I said. What I said is game announcements are slim this time of year. If you look at Japan, PSP is a very active market with a ton of great original titles. PSP is also widely adopted in Korea where it is eagerly awaiting one of my most hyped games, S4 League. All it takes is a few publishers to translate some games for instant title injections. And I do so mean that since just last week, PSP had seven new games. The potential for the system is still there and with companies like XSEED, Atlus, Mastiff, D3, and NIS all looking for cheap to translate projects, I expect we'll see a lot more coming out of E3.

Punk Rock @ Jun 10th 2008 7:30PM

Do you know what other game system has GPS, maps and a camera?

The iPhone ;)

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 8:15PM

Wow, very astute of you... wait, you said Game System...

Look, as much as I want an iPhone (read: interested, not actively pursuing), You have to have an AT&T contract AND pay out the ass. Which is a bad thing since not only does AT&T have HUGE dead zones all over my home state but also have issues within ym apartment build and costs twice the price of PSP.

But this is all information the Apple cult ignores as they try to convert another...

Jhongerkong @ Jun 10th 2008 5:20PM

Being a Nintendo person, I have to say, Ubisoft can die in a fire. I hope they only develop for the PSP and get rid of all the crap on the DS.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 5:29PM

All that crap doesn't sell on PSP... but does very well on DS. Can you really complain when a companies negative behaviors are fiscally rewarded?

Jhongerkong @ Jun 10th 2008 5:31PM

Cant do much about it, but it still pisses me off.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 5:38PM

Well, I can appreciate that sentiment. But I look at it this way. Those games aren't for me, so I don't buy them. Shovelware is only an issue if it stems the flow of good games or it's success discourages honorable endeavors on the hardware. Not much I'm fiending for on DS (seriously, I have three games I'm looking forward to on the system) but it's my understanding they have a steady flow of great titles.

Brad Lee @ Jun 10th 2008 7:05PM

I have to disagree with you, Sir.

The DS and Wii are like really bad buffets. Sure there may be some stuff that doesn't leave a bad taste in your mouth (and even more rare, some that actually tastes GOOD), but most will make you run to the bathroom in agony.

But, what's worse is, since so many people have been lured to the bad buffets, there's enough people to eat it up anyway, so what's the point of making the good stuff when the bad stuff sells?

The PSP is in a slightly different situation. To me, it's like yet another bland italian restuarant. No matter how you make it, lasagna is still lasagna. And while every once in a while you see an interesting, new flavor on the menu, it's like they hide it among all the other tasteless titles out there so it's almost not worth the effort to even search.

I've almost entirely given up on handhelds. Call me picky, but my intestines just can't take it anymore. Almost all the games on my GF list are 360. And if the Wii can't find any way of piquing my interest anymore (The Conduit? Animal Crossing Wii?), I may just have to get a PS3.

Dun... dun... dunnnnnnnnn.