PSP goes basic
Game maker Sony is targeting Apple's home turf by converting its portable game kit to run the sort of games that have been popular on the iPhone.
Sony has not been doing well lately and has reported a $391 million loss on falling gadget prices and weak consumer demand globally due to the recession. This week Sony introduced a few improvements this week to position its PSP to better compete with the iPhone.In short these are the sort of games that are available on the iPhone platform. These include a“minis†offering, a section on the PlayStation Store that sells downloadable casual games for PSP, to coincide with the launch of “PSPgo,†a smaller version of the PSP console.
"Minis is yet another part of our concerted effort to expand content options on PlayStation Store as the demand for digital content will increase with the launch of PSPgo," said Eric Lempel, director of PlayStation Network and Strategic Planning, in a statement. "Minis will give developers the opportunity to create and share a variety of new and original content that in some cases, are only available on PSP."
It is also trying to take on the iPhone with a reader. This will mean that it can provide “Digital Comics†service partnering with Marvel Comics, IDW Publishing, and iVerse Media. Popular titles include X-Men, Spiderman, Transformers, and Archie.
Sony has denied that it is targeting Apple and there are some signs that this might not be the case. If it really wanted to take down the fruit themed one it would be trying to install a full mobile phone and sms system in the PSP. However it does indicate that Sony is a bit worried about Apple's App Store and its ability to flog fairly pointless cheap games.
