I don't think the issue that Sony has is with the homebrew applications, but rather with the fact that homebrew hacks also allow for rampant pirating of games.

And you say that the platform sucks - what do you say sucks about it? Just off the top of my head, I can think of a whole bunch of top notch games: GTA, FF Tactics, Jeanne D'Arc, Lumines, God of War, Ratchet & Clank, etc etc. And yet, the PSP is extremely pirated. I thought that pirates would supposedly buy any game that was good?

The major issue I have with the PSP is its lack of dual analog sticks. I love Ratchet & Clank, and own it for my PSP, but I can barely stomach playing it. I feel like I have to do finger gymnastics to get the character and camera to move at the same time, the way I want it to.

When I pick up the PSP nowadays, my first instinct is to poke/tap the screen with my finger. My brain can no longer accept a handheld device with a giant screen that I can't use as a touchscreen.

But that hardly speaks to the point of piracy. Yes, that's a huge hardware flaw, but there are plenty of games that get around it (in my above examples, GOW and the two strategy games don't need camera control). Those are still great games.

No, but what he was saying was that the platform sucks, and that's why sales suck overall, not because of piracy. Whether that's true or not, I can't say.

I can say that the major reasons I don't play my PSP as much as I otherwise might:

1.) the exposed screen makes it a pain to carry around, as the case that's required to protect the screen makes the thing enormous.

2.) The UMD load times are awful. Yes, that's been improved in later revisions, but hasn't been enough of an improvement to make me want to drop $180 to pick up another PSP.

3.) The analog stick is such a f**king godawful piece of worthless s**t that it's impossible that the original hardware designer HAD HANDS.

4.) The battery drains too fast in standby mode. I can leave my DS in standby mode FOREVER and it hangs on to its charge, where the PSP is dead in a day if I leave it in standby mode. That means when I'm heading out somewhere quick, even if I want to bring my PSP, it's dead, and the DS isn't.

5.) The iPhone is always with me, and always connected to the rest of the world - which radically, radically undercuts my need for another gaming platform on the go.

I agree with a lot of the points, except the last one. The kind of gaming I get from my iPod vs the kind of gaming I get from my PSP are very different beasts. And frankly, if you have battery concerns about the PSP, shouldn't that be doubled for the iPod/iPhone? At least the PSP is just a gaming device. But with the iPhone or iPod, you might be relying on it for other functions. And with the way apps suck up battery power on those things, I always limit myself to less than an hour of playing games per charge.

And in response to the hardware sucking = no software selling... it looks like we were arguing two separate points. I thought he was originally talking about piracy not being an issue (as the claim in the article was that piracy was one of the key issues). Considering that the hardware is actually still selling fairly well but software isn't, I'd have to argue that piracy is still the biggest issue.

I'll have to agree that iPod vs PSP gaming are two different beasts. I think only the future can say what will happen. Assuming neither progress in functionality. I would have to note that I carry my iPod everywhere but my PSP collects dust, unless I know I'm going on a trip.

My main argument was that PSP sales are poor, not due to piracy, rather they are poor due to a platform that is unappealing. There may be a few good games for the PSP, but years of awful games combined with poor hardware, have resulted in a console that doesn't "wow", and thus makes little money.

I believe that if piracy stopped today, PSP game sales would not go up very much.

I'm honestly hoping to see more on the PSP2 front. It looks promising.

The concern isn't about whether I'll have enough battery life for a marathon session - the question is whether the device has power RIGHT NOW enough for a short burst of gaming. The iPhone is *always* charged specifically because I'm relying on it for other stuff. The PSP isn't, because I don't want to leave it hooked up to AC all the time, and so it's constantly dead.

re: PSP vs. iPhone - they're different beasts... sort of. And they're getting less and less different. If anything, in a way that favors the iPhone, as people begin to exploit its connectivity.

Re: short bursts of gaming - Exactly. That's what the iPhone/iPod is for. Short bursts of gaming. The battery life doesn't support longer sessions (even if you have your iPhone charged every day, you wouldn't want to risk losing your charge if you are going to be on the road for a few hours, for example). There is certainly no design reason why the iPhone can't support longer, more in-depth games, but I just feel that the battery life actively discourages that. Also, it's a multi-use device where gaming is a secondary/tertiary function of the device. If you're picking up a PSP, gaming is your primary objective, so you have a much more well-defined audience.

I think there's a clear distinction between the two platforms and both can exist with little to no damage to the other.