With the PSP now semi-utilizing the PlayStation Network, Sony has the unique opportunity of branching out their Trophy system to the handheld platform. Both upcoming retail and downloadable titles could feature Trophies that, when unlocked, could sync up to the PSN to add to your total level. But will they make it happen?
Of late, Sony has been slow on the uptake when it comes to enhancing the features of the PlayStation Network, especially on the PSP. With the PlayStation Store now running natively on the handheld, there’s no reason other PSN features couldn’t be worked in as well, particularly friends lists and messaging. There’s really no technical reason these features can’t be added. The same goes for Trophies. There is enough internal flash memory to store that information along side the firmware or even on the memory stick. The network functionality is in place to keep everything synchronized. It’s not a matter of logistics, it’s a matter of putting in the work to get it done.
The PSP has long had a fairly low attach rate. Between piracy and extended dry spells of good game releases, not many people are buying titles for Sony’s handheld. Think of the increase in sales the company would see, as well as third parties, if Trophies were a staple of all handheld games on the PSP? There are enough Trophy-whores out there that would be buying these games up left and right, not to mention the core and casual gamers would see added benefit from playing the games. It would be a fairly simple way to bolster sales of hardware and software.
Will we see this happen? Probably not for a while. At the rate Sony is going with rolling out new features, it could take years. Maybe it’ll be part of the PSP2, who knows. Either way, it’s something that should be addressed by the head honchos at Sony pretty soon.
I highly doubt it. There is a technical problem.
Trophies are not triggered from save states. I can only assume then that once an event is triggered a message is instantly sent to the server where the trophy is unlocked and saved. The psp, being a mobile system, probably won’t ALWAYS have this connection and so unless you wait to play all your games when you’re connected online I don’t see how they can bypass cheating to obtain trophies.
Although I haven’t tried to achieve a trophy offline…it may work I’m not sure…but judging from the fact that save states don’t trigger trophy unlocks I’d say until the FCC rolls out that nationwide free wi-fi this won’t be a possibility.
@Ramage – Actually, the PS3 doesn’t even send Trophy information to the server until the user manually sends that information. It doesn’t work like the Xbox 360. On the PS3, all Trophy data is stored locally until you go to view your own gamercard or compare Trophies with other. At that point, you’ll see a message “Synchronizing Trophy Information…”
I know a few people who have unlocked a TON of Trophies on PS3 but haven’t done this yet, so when I compare Trophies with them, it shows they have none.
Since this is how the system already works, it could be the exact same thing on the PSP. Store the Trophy information locally until the user initiates the sync by comparing Trophies or viewing their gamercard while connected to a WiFi network.
The PSN in my eyes would be the biggest selling point for Sonys Playstation brand if they would just roll out a few updates to incorporate it into the PSP.
The PSP is the only console out right now that can keep up with the Nintendo DS and Wiis popularity so I don’t get why Sony doesn’t release an update to add the Friends List, Messaging and Trophies.
But who knows maybe they’ll do it sometime soon.
What I wish 1st & 3rd parties would do is not only add trophies to their PSP games but also to all their back catalog of games. I mean how long would it take to add trophy support to all their games. I would think about a 3 weeks to a month and it would re-ignite sales for their back catalog of software, with all the trophy collectors out there I think that it would be a good investment of their time. Although I doubt this will happen since developers are always moving forward and rarely look back.
[...] in December, I questioned whether Sony would ever bring Trophies to the PSP. It’s a logical extension of the service. [...]