The History of PlayStation Portable. Part 3. PSP-3000

Console Development

The new PSP-3000 had only two changes compared to the PSP-2000: an improved screen and a built-in microphone. Let's start with the latter.

Why does the PSP even need a microphone? Who are you going to talk to? The answers to these questions lie in one cool game. At E3 2005, which took place in Los Angeles, the release of the game SOCOM US Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo was announced.

And on November 8, 2005, this game was released on PSP.

Initially, this series of games appeared on PlayStation 2 and was sold with a special headset that allowed you to communicate in online play or give voice commands in single-player mode.

During the release of the game for PSP, there were no headsets. However, attentive users who played the demo version of the game immediately noticed that there was a headset icon in the upper right corner.

And then everyone remembered the news from the Kotaku website, where a photo of a headset with a microphone was shown.

When this game was released on PSP, it turned out that you could both communicate in multiplayer and give commands to AI in single-player mode. But the most interesting thing was something else. And what would you use to give these commands? The PSP-1000 did not have a microphone, Sony themselves did not release any headsets and only planned to do so.

It turned out that the remote control that Sony once released supports microphone connection. But it wasn't that simple either. This remote was first introduced at the Tokyo Game Show 2004.

It should be noted separately that the PSP had a standard headphone jack, but it did not support a microphone. It could only be connected via the remote control.

At the start of sales, Sony made two sets: a regular one and a value pack.

This value pack included that very headset. The problem was only that if you bought the regular set, you didn't have it. And later, when Sony started selling other sets, they stopped including it. And then Sony managers apparently got confused, because some chaos started with this remote control.

They started selling the remote control with regular headphones that didn't have a microphone. Then they started selling headphones with a microphone separately, but without the remote control. Moreover, the set with headphones and the remote itself were white, while the headphones with a microphone were black. And after three years, Sony realized that they needed to release a single set with the remote control and headphones with a microphone.

Regular users had to buy the remote control with unnecessary headphones and then separately buy a third-party microphone.

In 2006, at another E3 exhibition, that very headset with a microphone was presented.

And then the game SOCOM US Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo (the European version of the first part and the second part of the game) started to be bundled with this headset (but without the remote control).

All these oddities do not negate the fact that the game SOCOM US Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo became a phenomenon. It received very high ratings, and players really used the capabilities that the microphone provided.

This was only the first prerequisite for the appearance of a built-in microphone in the console.

In early 2008, the CES 2008 exhibition took place, where Skype for PSP was presented.

I don't quite understand it, but Skype on PSP was also very popular.

These two applications became the prerequisites for adding a built-in microphone to the PSP-3000.

The second change in the PSP-3000 (compared to the PSP-2000) was the improved screen. Many complained about two problems: the ghosting effect and the inability to play in the sun due to glare.

Sony decided to rework the screens. First, the anti-glare protection was changed (it became better overall, but not "wow") and the viewing angles. This is best seen in the photo taken by Famitsu journalists.

Look at how the PSP-2000 (top) glares.

Secondly, the color range of the screen and the contrast ratio were increased by 5 times. Thirdly, the pixel response time was halved. Overall, the screen was heavily reworked. When the first photos from exhibitions comparing the screens of the PSP 2000 and 3000 appeared, it turned out that the changes were very impressive.

Console Announcement

For variety, Sony decided to announce the release of the new console not at E3, but on August 20, 2008, at the Leipzig Games Convention conference.

SCE President Shawn Layden took the stage and introduced the new console.

And it would have been Sony's biggest failure if not for the photos that showed the difference in screens. It's just colossal.

The richness of the image, improved viewing angles, all this is visible even in the photos.

Sony planned to release the console in three colors.

At the Tokyo Game Show 2008, which took place in early October 2008, many games were presented that were supposed to stimulate sales:

Many new limited editions of the console were also presented.

Console Release

But there was no hype. On October 16, 2008, you could calmly go to the store and buy a PSP in any color. Previously, by midday, any version would have been sold out.

In Akihabara stores, all versions of the PSP-3000 remained on sale until the end of the day.

Beautiful stands comparing the screens were prepared.

But as I wrote above, despite all the preparation and new announcements, there was no hype.

It cannot be said that the console was received very coldly. From October 16 to October 19, 2008, 141,270 PSP-3000 units were sold. Not an impressive result, but not a failure either.

Epilogue

Such an early release of the next version of the console played a cruel joke on Sony. Many players were upset that they had just bought a PSP-2000, and an improved version of the console was already coming out. Many were unhappy with the fact that the changes were so minor.

But the worst thing for Sony was that people started complaining about the new screens. Many players saw horizontal lines on the image (to be fair, another part of the community was puzzled by this and saw nothing). In fact, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Horizontal lines are indeed visible in scenes where there is a large difference in brightness, for example, white alternates with black, and then white again.

But this is also typical of previous consoles. The lines were on both the PSP-3000 and the PSP-2000, just in different planes.

In any case, this is more related to individual characteristics of the body. Therefore, many players liked the PSP-3000 for its more vibrant and colorful image.

Read the continuation in the article: The History of PlayStation Portable. Part 4. PSP GO.