Dave Perry Talks PSP Redesign

Respected game creator Dave Perry has spoken out on what he believes would be some great enhancements to PSP, outlining his vision for a redesigned version.

Respected videogame design veteran Dave Perry, the creator of games such as Earthworm Jim, has spoken out on what he believes would be some great enhancements to PlayStation Portable, outlining his vision for a redesigned version of the Sony handheld system.

Speaking to UK gaming site SPOnG, Perry commented: "It's pretty clear from our industry's history that there's a mad rush to get hardware product out, then the hardware companies start to look at ways to fix the problems they encountered."

He continued: "I would propose they make the PSP with a clamshell design, to protect that lovely screen, and they should have made the screen at least DVD resolution instead of the current 480x272, so if there's a scene in a movie with a letter we're supposed to read, we can read it. Or if there's important text on the screen, we know what it's saying.

"I would also kill off the UMD disc, remove it entirely and shrink the device size. It was nearly a very good idea until you realized for the same price as a DVD you got a highly compressed, low resolution movie, with no DVD features. I'm a gadget freak and even I didn't go for their movies.

"If they wanted to be forward thinking, they could offer modern features like game demos, trial music from new artists, item sales, vast customisation of items, characters and in-game objects from databases too vast to store on the PSP."

Perry also advocates user-created content, saying it would be good for Sony to change its attitude: "Sony also have a policy of forcing users to upgrade the internal software in their PSP or they can't play a new game they just bought. They do this so they can stop the "homebrew" developers writing software for the PSP.... Did user-created content hurt YouTube? Why not open the PSP? Welcome indie games, welcome development, get the users promoting the device."

Dave Perry is the former head of Shiny Entertainment and now heads up a business called GameInvestors and a new MMO game, 2 Moons. Perry's full comments make for interesting reading so have a look here.

Kikizo Staff