Should Sony Team With Google On a PlayStation Phone? 182
donniebaseball23 writes "The PSP2 is already in the hands of developers, but will Sony take the right direction in the portable sector? Following a recent op-ed on fixing the PSP business, leading game industry analysts came to the consensus that the best avenue for Sony to take is to offer a PlayStation Phone, and a strong partner like Google would do just the trick. 'Sony has the opportunity to redefine the portable games category. I think the best move would be to get out in front of Microsoft's inevitable Xbox LIVE Arcade Mobile and take on the App Store and carrier deck portals. ... They could put out a proper PlayStation Phone (and a PlayStation Pad) but these should compete with smartphones and tablets, not dedicated gaming devices. To do this quickly, Sony could partner with Google and take advantage of Android's considerable momentum,' said Billy Pidgeon of M2 Research."
Short answer: No (Score:5, Interesting)
Sony's instinct is to use proprietary formats and lock stuff down. I bought a PS3, but psbuntu on it and intended programming it. Couldn't do anything could since Sony locked me out. I learned my lesson not to use their stuff.
Google on the other hand are the opposite. They are pretty open with their technologies and using them is a joy in comparison. While there are restrictions on some stuff (Map API) the rest of it can pretty much be used as you wish and for no cost.
These two collaborating would probably work as well as a marriage between a neurotic, secretive but immaculately coiffured woman and a hippy.
Re:Yeah, not going to happen. (Score:3, Interesting)
Err, where do you get the red laser thing from?
You could (AFAICT) use HD-DVD formatting on a dual layer DVD to get 9.4 GB of HD format data on it, that's about it. HD-DVD proper used a blue laser to achieve higher data density.
The format war was a fix anyway, with a lot of companies in both camps and the end of the war negotiated in the boardroom, not fought out in the open market.
Re:Yeah, not going to happen. (Score:3, Interesting)
A combination PSP and telephone is a "great idea"? Why not a combination toaster and hedge trimmer?
I'm probably in the minority here, but I really don't see playing some online game and having a phone call come in on the same device as the road to great entertainment.
Maybe it makes me a curmudgeon, but I don't see how this is going to improve things for those of us who are serious about gaming. But then I also hate third-person shooters and what they've done to the gaming landscape. I guess people will buy anything.
Portable gaming could be great, but the social gaming/advertising platform that Sony is envisioning doesn't do anything for me. Nor will it do a whole lot for those who rely on wireless networks to get work done. Maybe with Sony going all out with the Sony Store purchase/download requirement just to play a game some other company will use the opportunity to make a portable platform for real gaming. I'd like to see a couple more companies competing with the tired Playstation/XBox/Wii cartel.. With the iPad being locked down, maybe something to play on the multitude of cheap and decent new tablets that are being made over in China?