PSP Minis is one of the big reasons why I’m looking forward to the PSPgo, especially with Sony promising huge freedom of development and easy approval. Despite the much-lauded freedoms, however, it appears that Minis will be subject to some pretty tight restrictions, such as a lack of multiplayer, and the inability to provide download content or updates. Sony, however, is claiming that these regulations are somehow a good thing.
“When you look at it from a testing perspective, you have to do more QA. [Allowing wireless multiplayer, DLC and updates] would defeat the purpose of having a dedicated service for smaller content,” explains Sony’s Justin Cooney. “It increases the barriers. From our perspective, if we’re going to reduce the time it takes to get through our internal process, it helps that we don’t have to check multiplayer features.”
Multiplayer will only be allowed for people “taking turns” with a single PSP, but that, to be honest, sucks. It seems that Sony is intent on dampening the benefits of the PSPgo, first by revealing that downloadable games will cost the same as retail ones, and now by severely gimping PSP Minis. It’s almost as if Sony can’t have one good idea without also having two bad ones.
The only real positive is that Minis will be able to launch quicker, but now that we know they can’t be patched, perhaps customers may not be as quick to drop the dollars. Seriously, Sony, if you’re really intent on fighting Apple, you really need to get your sh*t together.
