Sony Computer Entertainment America marketing VP Peter Dille had a lot of interesting things to say at a recent private media event. Inflating the iPhone's weaknesses and saying the PSP is due for a change, Dille all but came out and said a PlayStation-branded phone was in the works.
During the event, Dille was reportedly asked about the rumored PlayStation phone, alleged photos of which popped up onEngadgetthis week. Although he wouldn't confirm or deny whether it was a legitimate leak, Dille did use the opportunity to talk about the PSP and its shortcomings.
Above: A supposedly leaked picture of a PlayStation phone prototype, running Android and using the PSP Go control set-up.
"The PSP is a Wi-Fi device. People are used to having always-connected devices" like mobile phones or iPads, Dille said. He lamented that the six-year-old PSP platform is dry and no longer attractive to younger gamers.
The discussion then turned to the iPhone, arguably exactly what Dille's talking about - an always-connected device that's also a game platform. But, according to Dille, it's not the best portable game machine out there.
The existing slate of iPhone games "are largely time-killers. Gamers aren't satisfied with that," opined Dille. In a follow-up interview with CNN, Dille said Sony's vision of an online gamer network that people are always tuned into, like the PlayStation Network, hasn't yet been realized. But that vision is still paving the way for Sony, and connecting a gaming device to a mobile network would do the trick, he said, in so many words.
When asked if a hypothetical PlayStation phone would run on Google's Android operating system, as has been reported, a Sony spokesperson told CNN, "We have relationships with Google." Why does everything always have to be such a tease?
And is a PlayStation phone even a good idea?
[Source:CNN]
Oct 28, 2010
