E3 Anticipation: PlayStation Portable

By Louis Bedigian
GameZone.com

Sony has said that it remains committed to PSP, but until E3 begins, many are left to wonder what that commitment means. After all, Sony has been pretty committed to the system since it launched in North America in March 2005. Other than the announcement of further price cuts and additional sequels, what could be done this late in the game?

PlayStation 3 might hold the answer. At launch, Sony wanted everyone to know that PS3 could play Blu-ray DVDs. Likewise, when the PSP first arrived, Sony wanted everyone to know that it could play UMD movies, as well as downloadable videos that could be saved to a memory stick. Blu-ray proved to be a much better selling point to consumers than the UMD format, but that wasn’t enough to ward off the success of Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360.

Fast-forward to 2010 and you will discover a much different Sony, one who is promoting PS3 with big games, a new motion controller, and the addition of 3D. While any one of these could intrigue the Average Joe, Sony is wisely using them to appeal to the core gamer market – the same market that made PS2 a record-breaking success.

If history is to repeat itself (and it always does, doesn’t it?), Sony may very well use a similar strategy to reinvigorate the PSP this year. While I don’t expect 3D gaming or a motion adaptor to be announced, all signs point to some very big first- and third-party game announcements. But when you consider that most of the big sequels (such as God of War) have already been announced, it is very possible that the next batch of games will be from entirely new franchises.

Now let’s think back: the last big franchise Sony created was LittleBigPlanet. The last niche franchise was Echochrome. If another new franchise is coming, E3 2010 will be unforgettable.

E3 Predictions: PSP Announcements

PSP Gets Another Update?: Sony could and will most likely use E3 to reaffirm its support for the current PSP, as well as the PSP Go, just as the publisher said it would. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t hear a peep about the PSP’s successor. All things likely, the PSP2 (or whatever it’s called) will launch in the fall of 2011. Just as Sony used E3 ’05 to announce and hype PlayStation 3 a year early with tech demos and teaser trailers (a strategy likely aimed at combating Xbox 360, which was due that fall), it is possible that Sony will do the same with its next handheld. That way, when gamers line up to get a 3DS, they’ll have the looming release of another promising handheld on their minds.

Download Frenzy: Even if Sony avoids mentioning the next PSP, the publisher will surely use E3 to lay the groundwork for its console and handheld future. A big part of that future will be content that is only available online. On PSP, Sony is bound to announce additional ports of PSone classics that will be available later this year. I also expect them to unveil new mini-game-style downloads that will attempt to further encroach on the iPhone market.

PSP Savings: At E3, Sony could merely reiterate its lineup of existing Greatest Hits releases and promote the freebies currently being offered with the PSP Go. But to gamers, that’s already old news. If Sony is going to use E3 to promote anything in the dollar sign department, it will be to announce additional savings (likely a new bundle for PSP and/or PSP Go).

Survival/Horror: Something tells me we’re going to hear about a new survival/horror game at E3, likely from a third-party developer that’s known for making hit survival/horror games.

New LittleBigPlanet: With LittleBigPlanet 2 heading to PlayStation 3, Sony is bound to be working on a handheld follow-up as well. But if the handheld sequel isn’t due till 2011, we may not see or hear about it till next year. Either way, my inner crystal ball tells me that LBP2 will interact with the PSP sequel in some capacity. If this game ends up heading to the next-gen PlayStation Portable instead of the current PSP, then I predict that the level editor will be almost entirely cross compatible with the PS3 version, allowing players to design levels on one system and play them on the other, and share them with players of both game machines.