No, it's 'silly' to say the PS2, PS3 and PSP should be counted as 'one' platform. Sony is doing absolutely horribly this gen and no amount of lumping three entirely different platforms (that don't all run the same games) together is going to change that fact.

You don't need to ditch a UMD drive so that there's 'room' for a second analog controller or more RAM. The current PSP isn't exactly bursting its seams and it's been slimmed down a fair bit from the first release. It stands to reason all of what we want out of a PSP2 can easily fit into the current profile without abandoning current model PSP game compatibility - which would just be plain idiotic.

Gameboys and ther DS have been backward compatible, so too should the PSP2 be. In order for that to work you need a UMD drive. JUST DITCH THE CASES and it'll be fine. Mini DVD is a great medium for games - huge capacity (especially compared to the DS flash carts) and dirt cheap to make. Keeping UMD doesn't mean you can't place more focus on downloaded content, either. It just gives additional options for distribution and legacy gaming.

Ditching UMD is ridiculous. Just ditch the case. Make the slot load capable of using the caseless bare discs, which themselves work great as game media. Keeping them wouldn't hinder or affect the potential of a PSP2 to have internal storage for downloadable content. And it will keep the PSP2 backward compatible with all your current PSP games (after you pop that disc out).

We've had HOW many systems that use optical discs before the PSP? I think we can handle keeping them scratch-free or, if needed, removing scratches when they do come up. This isn't a system aimed at mostly non-gamers and kids, so we don't need flash carts like the DS does.

They could simplify the hell out of this by simply asking "Do you think PSN should be on par (or better) with XBOX Live in terms of features and content?"

Yes.

Bullsh*t. Even if there was hard evidence that the PSP has more per capita piracy and that it hurts publisher sales more than any other system (there isn't any such evidence but let's pretend), it still doesn't explain the lack of 1st Party support, imported JP titles and accessories, like that GPS, that we have yet to see.

DS software sells well. GBA did superbly. PS1 did fantastic. XBOX did pretty well. All those systems have had extensive piracy. The dirt cheap DS flash carts are now so common they're sold at local flea markets in my area - but you don't see developers complaining because thanks to Nintendo's marketing and direct development efforts and heavy use of 'evergreen' IP driven software, most DS software sells - unfortunately - because there's a hell of a lot of shovelware on it as a result. But this is as it was with the GBA and PS1 and PS2, all of which had piracy. How common are 'mod chip' lists on Craigslist?

Place blame where it's due and maybe Sony will learn from their mistakes. But keep spreading distortions and FUD making some diminishing group of tards who jump through an increasing number of hoops for CFW into the 'People Responsible for the Failure of the PSP' and you guarantee Sony will learn nothing and change not at all. The PSP2 will be a repeat of the failed promise of the current model.

I had custom firmware and while I did test out my ability to rip my UMD to memory stick, I never downloaded any games I did not already own.

PSP piracy being the reason software sales are low in the USA is an apologist/shill/ignorant crock of shit - it's no more of an impact than it is on the DS, or was on the GBA, or has been for consoles. Piracy was MASSIVE on some of the 90's and early 2000's consoles, yet because first party development was strong, third parties followed - and there wasn't so much favoring of the JP market and abandoning the US.

NOW. That said, I think it's good to 'close the back door', even at this late date and make efforts to curb future hacking of the system. It could give some devs peace of mind and stem some of the bleeding of talent off the platform, although I think the damage has already been done, unfortunately. Maybe this somewhat more proactive measure will bode better for PSP2 support.

"We stand by the belief that curbing piracy on our system is the best way to get the system back to its former glory"

I'm sorry to see PSP Fanboy taking this official stance, Andrew. Blaming end users and not Sony for low US game sales is, I think, a disservice to your readership.

I think it's clear that Sony failing to lead third party development with strong first party software of their own is a major cause of PSP market apathy in the US. Another is the lack of new games - 2008 was abysmal. This has come about not because piracy is hitting sales figures (since it seems likely that DS piracy is no less prevalent), but because people are looking to the DS or iPhone for new mobile games. GameStop has practically stuffed their PSP section in a closet, as have many other retailers. PSN support has been lukewarm at best and Sony's 3000 revision was received angrily by those in the know who dislike the refresh scanlines and by total lack of awareness by everyone else because they barely said anything about it. It's a challenge to even tell the combo and base packs apart from 2000 to 3000 - they even used the same Ratchet game. The DSi, by contrast, has quite a few new features and it, like the Lite model before it, was introduced with fanfare by Nintendo.

GPS, when? Camera, when? Scores of popular JP titles ported to the US WHEN? Please don't insult our intelligence by blaming the PSP community for killing the software market. Sony has done a bang-up job of that, already.

The disturbing thing here is that Sony is so arrogant that they figure their talking about it in general terms without a specific release date is sufficient to keep interest alive.

You'd better wake up, Sony. Your PS3 has basically been dead on arrival and you utterly abandoned your potential overachiever (PSP) in EU and US markets. You have hosed this gen of console/handheld wars bigtime and are the laughing stock of the media and gamer communities alike. People are talking more about your stock being devalued and how your future looks iffy than they are the 'oh, maybe we'll finally bring this thing over from Japan' carrots you keep dangling to your dwindling customer base.

Mostly true, but in this particular case they happened to be right.

Zippon, is the best basis for this moronic 'It's not Sony at fault, but the consumer' tripe really how many hits you get on YouTube with a 'PSP' or 'DS' + 'Piracy' search? Are you effing high?

I did that YouTube search for 'PSP PIRACY' and 'DS PIRACY'. I got 41 hits for PSP and 18 for DS. Where's the '5x MORE'? Add to that many of the PSP videos had to do with rendering VIDEO and other stuff, not PIRATING GAMES... Whereas almost every DS video that came up had something to do with howto ROM duplication, flash carts, etc.

Either way, YouTube proves nothing. There's no evidence of any sort that even vaguely implies piracy is any more prevalent on PSP than DS or anything else. There's a similar lack of evidence to prove that the US has more active piracy per PSP buyer than Japan, thus explaining the far lower software and hardware sales.

PSP owners are older? Are you aware that there are FAR more teens and adults who own DS systems in this country than PSPs? That argument falls flat on its ass. Piracy was totally rampant on GBA and probably also is on DS. Didn't stop either Nintendo handheld from being a smash hit. Why? Because it had tons of games and heavy 1st party support and accessories and imported big-name JP titles.

I did a 'handheld games' search on Piratebay. What did I find? Loads of NDS torrents, many of which are ROM collections (single archived files containing multiple games because they're relatively small) as opposed to single-file individual PSP games... So, any argument citing 'X number of DS' vs. 'Y number of PSP' downloads is likely to yield a misleading lower DS count due to so many archives. I did note however that the Top 10 'Handheld Game' files on Piratebay (order by Seeders) had equal DS to PSP. Ordered by Leechers, you get 7 individual PSP games and 3 *huge* ROM packs for the DS (each one over 14GB). One 18GB multi-ROM collection for DS is the clear leader in the Leecher category, too.

Over and over again, you piracy whiners insist on tilting at windmills while letting your beloved Sony off the hook for totally failing your system. Well, guess what - they're blaming YOU. I suppose the GPS and Camera didn't come to these shores because they were afraid those would get pirated, too? Do you people even make an effort to think for yourselves or do you swallow every new media and corporate message you're fed? Pathetic.