Kutaragi: PSP designed to work badly

CE · Post by CE » Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:18 am

http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=4263

It seems that Sony was so worried that they made the PSP flawless that they had to intentionally add problems. What could be a more memorable flaw then making one of the buttons completely unusable? The X button on the PSP is placed such that pressing it straight down does not register a button press. If some other company had done this, it would have been a huge mistake, but not for Sony! Ken Kutaragi says that the X button's misplacement has "a clear purpose, and it wasn't a mistake."

I bow before the unmistakable might of Sony Computer Entertainment.

Post by **Esrever** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:31 am

STAB THEM IN THE EYE WITH A DS STYLUS

Neo Yi · Post by **Neo Yi** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:45 am

I'll actually worry about this when I want to get a PSP and currently, I'm not interested.
~Neo

The Doc · Post by **The Doc** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 7:43 am

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life, and I myself have said some pretty fucked-up things. You've gotta imagine what that meeting was like.

Executive: How are we doing on the PSP?

Guy: Never better! We've made the control on this thing perfect, the design is sleek, and the battery life is phenomenally long! We're gonna beat the Nintendo DS within an inch of its life. We'll make billions!

Executive: Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down there, Tonto. That sounds flawless. Too flawless. I've got it! Let's FUCK IT UP!

Guy: ...W-what?

Executive: Yeah! Reposition one of the buttons so that it doesn't do anything! And that long battery life? Chop it in half or something.

Guy: Sir, I don't understand. I thought the point here at Sony was to make quality hardware that doesn't malfunction in any way, shape, or form!

Executive: You weren't here for the PS2, were you?

Guy: But sir, I still don't get it. Why wouldn't you want the PSP to be perfect? More people will buy it and we'll make fortune upon fortune!!!

Executive: ...You're fired.

Frieza2000 · Post by **Frieza2000** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 8:58 am

First the Ngage, now this. Designers today don't make sense to me.

Double-S- · Post by **Double-S-** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:03 am

I thought it was the Square button because the screen is too big they moved the button detector to the right a little.

chriscaffee · Post by **chriscaffee** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:40 pm

Shoddily designed software is nothing new. What sort of surprises me is that "the customer is always right" has turned to "fuck you, just deal with it."

Not that I plan on wasting my cash on a shitty portable anyway, but if I was to buy something like the PSP I wouldn't it mind being an extra centimeter for the buttons to work right. I understand that portability is important for portables, but playing the actual games shouldn't be second to that. Otherwise you might as well carry a rock with you.

Double-S- · Post by **Double-S-** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:30 pm

The producers are never wrong, in Sony's mind, apparently.

"This is the design that we came up with. There may be people that complain about its usability, but that's something which users and game software developers will have to adapt to. I didn't want the PSP's LCD screen to become any smaller than this, nor did I want its machine body to become any larger..."

Lololol, "users and gave software developers will have to adapt to." Maybe we can have games where in one spot you have to wrestle with a sticky button, or rusted level, and you press Square until it works! It's real-life interaction of trying to get a half-broken feature to do what it's supposed to!

"The button's location is [architectured] on purpose. It's according to specifications. This is something that we've created, and this is our specification. There was a clear purpose to it, and it wasn't a mistake".

He just absolutely refuses to admit they made a mistake. God, he's worse than Kojima and Itagaki in terms of inflated ego-ness.

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:47 pm

I hate Sony more now than I used too.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:49 pm

I'm adding Kutaragi to my list of favorite industry personalities.

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 3:38 pm

Man. At first I thought the DS would get creamed by the PSP. It's a confusing and silly-looking machine.

But Sony's doing such a good job at fucking this up. The button. The pixel problem. The short battery life

Compared to it, the DS looks like the goddamned pinacle of advanced hardware design and taste.

Post by **big_smile** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 3:48 pm

I fully believe KutaragiÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s claim that the design was on purpose, as I suspect that Sony are planning to release a PSportable (along the lines of PSone and PStwo), which will lack all the faults of the current model.

I also think it's very likely that Nintendo have a DS-SP planned, with an analogue stick, Gameboy Classic support and a telescopic stylus.

Releasing slightly flawed consoles (either in terms of life span or design), which consumers can replace or Ã¢â‚¬ËœupgradeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ a few years later appears to have become an additional source of revenue for the industry.

^_^

Post by **Segaholic2** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 4:01 pm

It's sad that big_smile is so right.

I guess I'll wait a long while longer to get a DS.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 4:05 pm

Exactly why I never buy any new hardware on release, you can get a <i>cheaper</i> AND <i>better</i> one in a few months.

Post by **Esrever** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:05 pm

And hell, usually the launch games are all shit anyhow.

Double-S- · Post by **Double-S-** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:32 pm

Yeah. Dreamcast still had the best launch lineup out of any console launch I've witnessed.

Protodude · Post by **Protodude** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 8:28 pm

Please don't talk about the Dreamcast, I just might get all weepy and cry.

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:21 pm

DREAMCAST!

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:24 pm

I fully believe KutaragiÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s claim that the design was on purpose, as I suspect that Sony are planning to release a PSportable (along the lines of PSone and PStwo), which will lack all the faults of the current model.

The question is - is it just that? Or are these companies in such a rush to be the first to get their systems out that they're willing to fudge on the quality?

I also think it's very likely that Nintendo have a DS-SP planned, with an analogue stick, Gameboy Classic support and a telescopic stylus.

No doubt. I'm not so sure on the analog stick, though. While it's a good idea, you have to remember the problem with the N64 analog stick in the first place. It wore out. That's fine and dandy with a 25-dollar controller, but for an 150 dollar videogame system - you don't want to have to replace that every 8 months when the controls wear out.

But yeah - usually the "improved" system comes out just before or just after that system's Pokemon games, on the Nintendo platforms anyways. Which suits me just fine.