While thinking about the declining sales of the PSP and the
(relatively) low popularity of the PS3, it dawned on me that Sony can
save, or at least reinvigorate, the PSP by one, releasing way more game
demos, and two, making the PSP PlayStation Store titles playable
without a PS3.

The
first one may not seem obvious at first, but when you think about it, a
robust, wi-fi capable handheld without a plethora of game titles to
preview is practically heresy. This is made especially apparent to me
by the Xbox 360, which has approximately 80 game demos to choose from.
This wide selection of playable content adds enormous value to the
platform, as anyone with an Internet connection can instantly have
something to play without having to make a trip to the store or buy a
magazine to get the demos. Additionally, offering a wide range of first
and third party demos will boost the declining game sales for the PSP,
all at an effectively zero cost to Sony.

The second step Sony
needs to take is to get rid of the PS3 requirement for PlayStation
Store titles. While it may seem to them as a clever ploy to lure buyers
into purchasing the $600 behemoth, I can't imagine dropping that kind
of cash simply to play a five dollar PSOne game. What I would be
willing to do, however, is pay a few bucks to download my favorite
titles from yesteryear directly to the handheld, sans PS3, even if it's
a limited deal.

By this point in the game, however, Sony may
have already dug its hole too deep. With decreasing PSP hardware sales,
lack of interest in the PS3 (for the time being, at least) and recently
the Jack Tretton fiasco, Sony may never be able to reclaim it's lost turf in the console wars.

Dead Beat Thumbs