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Koller responds to UMD-less PSP 2 rumor: partially true, the rest is 'no comment'

Posted Feb 27, 2009 at 9:06AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Interviews, News Tags: David Perry, interviews, John Koller, SCEA, Sony, Twitter

PSP2 - Image 1

After David Perry's Twitter Tweet made waves across the blogs, he later elaborated (and insisted) that a PSP 2 does exist. Explaining his Tweet to Kotaku in full, he reveals that a developer let him in on the secret, making him believe that a UMD-less PSP would eventually come out.

SCEA's PSP brand manager, John Koller has now responded to these claims. He does admit that Perry did get at least one part of Sony's plans right - that digital distribution weighs greatly on their minds right now. Speaking to MTV Multiplayer, Koller comments:

I canÂ’t go too much into detail other than to say there are no new hardware development kits out there. I will say that we have constantly looked at ways PSP can innovate. [For the PSP-3000,] we wanted to make sure the screen stayed intact. We wanted to make sure the resolution was better. And we added the microphone for the social communication function.

We look at areas like that rather than I think Dave talked about some wholesale shifts in design. I will say, though, because I did read his piece earlier that SonyÂ’s making a big push to digital distribution. That partÂ’s true. And weÂ’ve been making a concerted effort to really over-emphasize the ability for publishers to publish on the PSN. Fits our view of the world. Eventually the digital distribution arm will have some leverage. I think consumers right now are choosing some tangible benefits of the disc. But we saw how that movie ended with music. And we know there are certainly some benefits to promoting that part of it now.

So Perry got part of Sony's plan right - the whole digital distribution part. But what about the rest of Perry's claims? Here's an annoyingly vague answer from Koller.

MTV Multiplayer: Ok. Just so we can have this as clear as we can get it: the rumor out there is that thereÂ’s going to be a new PSP that doesnÂ’t use the UMD coming out by the end of the year. True or false?

Koller: CanÂ’t comment either way, but I will reiterate that the digital component is very important to us. ThatÂ’s all we can say at this point.

...umm. Right. Let's see if he's ready to make his "comment" about that come E3 2009.

As a side note, this isn't the first time Koller's tried to stifle rumors of a PSP 2 either.

Visit: QJ.NET PSP development forums

Rumor: PSP2 won't have UMD drive, says David Perry *UPDATE* PSP 2 is real, says Perry

Via MTV Multiplayer

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Because all you are doing is destroying this new PSP 2 before its even released, if its hackable then developers will steer clear of it, and never release great games as has happened on the first PSP, only just now are a few AAA titles being released for our PSP's due to the fact the PSP 3000 is unhackable so far, so no piracy, its that simple, give the console a chance first.

Surely you can see my point of view.

# making this a digital only device? Is Sony trying to fail? — s*****man 2009-02-27 11:57

I don't think Sony should kill off the UMD. Whatever they decide, they should sell us something on disc. Weather it's UMD, Mini Blu-Ray or whatever. Give us something we can hold onto and install a digital secure version onto our memory cards.

Personally I would like to see a new drive that could do Blu-Ray-mini and provide backwards compatibility with all our existing UMD discs. I NO NOT consider Sony offering all the old PSP software over PSN "backwards compatible" Do they expect us to pay full price for everything we already bought? My guess would be YES. :(

# -_-;; — RlKUZAKl 2009-02-27 11:58

So glad I didn't waste any money on the 3000.

# I love the PSP — kupomogli 2009-02-27 12:06

But I'm a huge collector just as much as I'm a gamer. If they go towards digital distribution without the option of buying a physical copy then I'm not picking up the system.

# Piracy killing the PSP??? NOT! — PigVenus 2009-02-27 12:47

Yep, just like piracy is killing the Nintendo DS. Yeah....

The DS piracy rate has to me many, many times higher than the PSP. First of all because it is sooo much easier - ridiculously easy in fact. For less than $15 one can buy a flashcard and the roms are all over the internet. Nothing could be simpler - copy the files over to a microSD, insert, and play. On the other hand, hacking the PSP is very difficult by comparison - you have to make sure you get the right version, right tools, figure out the custom firmware, etc etc. Long story short, Joe-six-pack can "hack" the NDS in about 15 seconds, yet it will take several hours of in-depth study to figure out the PSP. Cost wise, its about the same to hack either platform, but the PSP is much trickier.

Yet....mysteriously, somehow the NDS is printing money!

I think the real reason the PSP didn't take off was either marketing or Sony didn't encourage the developers enough. (I was going to say that maybe it was hard to program for like the PS3 -many argue that this is why the PS3 has been slow to take off- but, the PSP should be about the same to develop for as the PSOne.)

No, piracy has very, very little to do with the PSPs success rate. Maybe Sony should lower the price to compete with the NDS and make a point of showcasing them side by side in the stores. A couple of top-notch games would make up the lost revenue easily enough.

# be that as it may — Stealth! 2009-02-27 13:09

Any system is hackable. Nothing is hackaproof.

Sony realizes and has not issues with the hacks or CFW, in fact they support it. Compared to Nintendo and MS who continues to dislike it and try to make it unhackable and then it backfires. Sony's prime objective is getting great games on the PSP and making tweaks within the system. That's all. People love the PSP cause you can get SNES, NES, Genesis games on the go on the PSP. That's why.

# piracy is still not justified — senaiboy 2009-02-27 13:24

@PigVenus: That does not mean piracy is justified.

It might be true that piracy is not killing PSP, but it plays a part. Together with the lack of push from Sony, which leads to lack of interest from developers, and lack of quality games. In turn leading to lack of sales, which turn off developers even more.

In the end it's us PSP owners who lose out.

Now that Sony is trying to prove that they are supporting the PSP by getting first- and third-party games out, the least we could do is show our support.

And I'm tired of the excuse "Oh, I'm trying the game out first before I buy it". Seriously. Would you buy the game after you have finished it? If you're so afraid of buying a sucky game, read the reviews, watch the gameplays, heck, borrow one to try it out or something.

# ... — cory1492 2009-02-27 13:58

Current PSP dev units already ARE umd-less.

# - — mr.x256 2009-02-27 15:50

My guess is that this PSP will have BOTH UMD and Digital Media Download, much like current gen PSPs but easier to get hold of downloadable versions of games.

All they have to do is produce a better UMD drive that supports original UMD and a higher density & higher speed UMD. That way a backwards compatible disc drive is available then all thats needed is a PSP1 CPU. Infact it may even use 2 PSP CPUs.

# if they make everything only downloadable — papakep 2009-02-27 17:07

then gosh darn it they better put 802.11g in the psp so the downloads are faster!

# I disagree with Pid — hush404 2009-02-27 18:12

I think you under-estimate the wide-spread of piracy on the PSP greatly. By your description, out of 50mil PSPs a few thousand are pirated. WRONG. Have you seen the amount of sites and pages dedicated to showing you how to hack your PSP for playing backed up games? Do you ever do a search for PSP on any torrent site? Honestly.

The DS has just as easy piracy... but! When you have the system selling like hotcakes to 9 year old girls and their grandma's - it just isn't going to be hacked in those cases. Where as with the PSP - there is a higher percentage of owners who do decided to hack the system.

That said, I don't think Piracy is the only factor. First off, Sony has been very slow in getting behind the PSP both with first party games and functionality. They also need to rethink their pricing for games. I can go into ebgames and browse some DS games, most ranging from $15-$30 brand new - where as PSP games are rarely below $30 new, some going up to $50.

At the end of the day, I have a lot of fun with my DS but honestly enjoy a number of games a lot more on my PSP and wish Sony all the best with it and it's future handhelds.

# Well a suggestion to Sony — SeRosiS 2009-02-27 19:15

If they in fact make the PSP2 UMD-less they should at least implement an application to rip and encrypt the original UMDs on the current PSP. If they wanted to of course, keep their current customers from buying a completely new PS Store copy. lol

# Cool! — ov3rkill 2009-02-27 20:32

There will be UMD-less cause mini-Bluray disc here we come. HAHA. Anyway, yeah more and more companies are doing the digital distribution just ala iTunes and Steam. Now they're focusing on PSN store. I just hoped, once again it gets synchronize among regions so most titles will be available to whatever region you're at and also it should be centralize. Just the servers I think should be regional so it wouldn't cause that much traffic in case there will be more people preferring the digital download goodies.

All in all can't wait for more new good awesome updates on the PSP.

# i bet you all — xche78x 2009-02-27 22:16

playstation 2 portable can also play ps2 games from the PSN store! 5-20 bucks each.

# Piracy doesn't run rampent on PS3 — symbyosis 2009-02-28 02:15

but it still fails to deliver sales even remotely close to the HIGHLY pirated Xbox 360....gee your "Piracy" theory doesn't seem to work here? Also kid, did you ever hear of the Nintendo DS cards that allow you to play on an unmodified DS? The point is..crappy games/poor marketing, or both kill systems, piracy might have SOMETHING to do with a lack of sales, MIGHT, but the majority of the people who probably pirate it don't even have an interest in buying it at all period...I own over 40 UMD games all original, bought on release date...did my contributions help? Probably, but not enough to pull the company's defecits out...so if someone wants to run a Sega Genesis or SNES emu on their PSP and relive past glory...hell even PSX Titles not yet out on the PS Store, ie: Project:Overkil l, or the FF series, then let them, they bought the PSP, whatever they do from the point they void their warranty on, is THEIR problem

# ZOMG!!! — CityNightRush117 2009-02-28 02:16

It's about time Sony actually gives us a confirmation of something we've had our eye on for a while. Oh, but hey, I meant to ask this the PSP 0 Patent QJ, but, has anyone ever looked a bit closer at it? Does it not seem that it can be held upright and look like an iPhone? Does it not have a disc tray on the bottom-left of the system? Does said sic tray not look like it has a case-less UMD inside?

# BAD MOVE!!!! — Hekynn 2009-02-28 03:27

Bad move SONY! If you guys cut out the UMD discs people are not gonna buy it I know I wont!!

# For your information, i am No kid....OK — KingPepper 2009-02-28 04:43

PS3 WAS over priced and had very few descent titles available hence why it was not selling very well, and that was down to Sony's bad marketing of the console, as you said.

But for your information, it is not easy to flash the drives firmware on a XBOX360, and then playing copies on one, so that means there are far less Pirated XBOX360's out there, than you think, because the average person is not able to do it.

Anyway back to topic.......

i just mentioned piracy at the end, i was NOT talking about that, what i was trying get across was the fact that if a PSP 3000 or the new PSP 2, is hacked straight away, lets say within a month of it release, then Developers, will STOP making any new games for our PSP's, which will piss us all off, for buying the new console, for nothing.

that is why we have one descent game out at the moment, God of War. with the yearly updates of FIFA soccer, oh yeah can't wait for FIFA 2010. NOT.

As for Emulation, if you own a PC, do it on there, or buy a Pandora portable console, which is geared up for that type of thing, and will be 5-10 times better on.

i have been on there web site, and PS1 emulation is only using software emulation at the moment, and its running PS1 games at 1.5 x Full speed already, imagine what the machine is capable of running.

The more i see and hear about this machine, the more i want it.

Here is the web site: h**p://openpandora.org/index.php

# I hope — StingBlah 2009-02-28 05:51

the PSP2 never gets pirated. That way devs will make good games, and I can pirate them on my good ol' phata$$ PSP-1000

If they make PSP2 truly, extremely AWESOME however, then I may make the switch...

# cool — LilPspBoy 2009-02-28 06:13

How will anyone play thier games on the PSP?

Using the memory Stick?

I have phat PSP it is the 2006 one.

Is Slim better or Phat better?

# fk piracy — danielakadanny 2009-02-28 06:37

its because of piracy tht sony and other companies don't make good games 4 the PSP because they will waste good money on making a great game and then someone will just rip the data out of the umd and make it an iso so then they wont get any money back they will still be in the negatives but im not sayn that custom firmware is piracy because no games r being illegally downloaded (at times)

# huh — SeRosiS 2009-02-28 07:44

there is no gravity, which was a great homebrew demo and now a full fledged sony pushed game.

which I downloaded out of spite.

# Yaay — Kexbut 2009-02-28 09:33

I'm a PSP owner, i've been buying UMDs since 2004 ! HEY its 2009 time to trash them now !! woohoo !

# on piracy — Seoulfood 2009-02-28 10:20

Piracy doesn't kill a system. It kills software sales. Which then kills production for a system.... which then yes... can eventually kills the system. But I don't think that's the case this time around. It hasn't caught up to PSP or DS sales just yet.

# Hacking Does Not Factor Here — Deerwings 2009-03-02 04:30

Again, Hacking the PSP has absolutely NOTHING to do with devs steering clear of it. If you look at the PSP Hacking community, the PSP suffered from poor title libraries long before the Hacking Community was able to start running UMD's on it. Devs have to want to produce for a platform. There are many other factors involved for them to decide to do so (Multiplatform, portability, potential sales, contracts, licensing, etc) that hacking has little to no impact. Piracy has little to no impact. They cannot know which games will be pirated and which will not, and do not make decisions based on that. Why? Because if they did, nothing would EVER get made.

This tired old broken record argument 'Wah, wish the new PSP was unhackable!' is really getting old. If you couldn't figure out how to hack your PSP, or couldn't figure out any useful applications you'd want to use, or how to use them, doesn't mean you need to be angsty about it. The rest of us who use our PSP for other things than officially Sony-sanctioned UMD Games, enjoy being able to use our purchase in any way we see fit and a majority of the time, piracy isn't even involved. Get over it.

# Lots of Sites does not equal rampant piracy — Deerwings 2009-03-02 04:34

The majority of sites are mirror sites for information on hacking. Come up with a new app and post it on one site, and another site will mirror it. But that does not mean that you suddenly magically have twice the hacking community. It just means that news is spreading. Yes, there's a lot of sites out there on how to hack the PSP, but to say that it's representative on how rampant hacking is, is like saying that all the Real World news websites are representative on how the world is falling apart. It doesn't. They all repeat the same story that happened once.

# broken record — tikyo 2010-10-04 02:28

This tired old broken record argument 'Wah, wish the new PSP was unhackable!' is really getting old. If you couldn't figure out how to hack your PSP, or couldn't figure out any useful applications you'd want to use, or how to use them, doesn't mean you need to be angsty about it. The rest of us who use our PSP for other things than officially Sony-sanctioned UMD Games, enjoy being able to use our purchase in any way we see fit and a majority of the time, piracy isn't even involved. Get over it.dissertation proposal

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Koller responds to UMD-less PSP 2 rumor: partially true, the rest is 'no comment'

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